VIRGIN MOST PRUDENT

(1) MARY, you are the Virgin Most Prudent because you possessed in the highest degree the wisdom of always having God before your eyes and of fearing nothing more than to offend Him. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Ps. 110,10). You loved God above all things and with your whole heart, and you hated sin above every evil.

When the angel greeted you as full of grace and blessed among women, in your humility you feared a trick of the evil spirit to make you offend God. But when an angel appeared to Joseph in sleep and ordered him to flee into Egypt with you and your child, you did not delay a moment in obeying, because God willed it. And when you stood erect under the cross, you bravely offered your Son for the salvation of the world. In all things you willingly did what you recognized to be right and good, because a childlike fear of God filled your heart.

(2) MARY, God alone was the object of your love and desires. This is true wisdom, for God made us for Himself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Him. Never has there been a human being upon earth whose heart was so detached from the goods of this world as yours.

You lived a life of poverty, retirement and sacrifice. You did not make your appearance in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday when the people received your Son with every mark of honor. But you did not fail to be present on Calvary at the crucifixion of your Son where you were exposed to shame as the Mother of a criminal who was being executed. You followed your poor, despised Jesus on the way of the cross even to His death.

(3) MARY, the love of God urged you on in the zealous practice of every virtue and good work. Faith taught you that our love for God is proved by deeds, and that God will reward us according to our zeal in doing good and striving for holiness. The more you advanced in years, the more you increased in virtue, until finally you reached so high a degree of holiness as to surpass all the angels and saints.

Virgin Most Prudent, teach me the true wisdom of giving my entire, undivided love to God and of fearing nothing more than to displease Him in the slightest degree. May the fear of the Lord accompany me in all my ways that I may seek God's will even at the cost of great sacrifices.

Teach me the rules of Christian wisdom and prudence according to your own example: to fear God, preserve a pure heart, and lead a blameless life; to live in peace and friendliness with all; to love what is true and good, but disapprove, condemn, and detest what is sinful and contrary to truth; to be kind and merciful to the needy; to be zealous in the service of God; to practice virtue and good works, and to labor daily at my amendment and perfection until the day I save my soul.

O God, You gave her who bore Your beloved Son, to be our Mother, and glorified her fair image by a wondrous apparition; grant, we beg of You, that by always following her counsels we may be able to live after Your own Heart and arrive happily in our heavenly fatherland. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. (Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel, April 26)