VIRGIN MOST RENOUNED

(1) MARY, you are the Virgin Most Renowned because you are the Mother of God. We respect the angels and saints in heaven more than anyone on earth of high position and power. But angels and saints are servants of God, while you are His Mother.

You are deserving of the highest respect and veneration. The Church fervently sings your praises: "Blessed art thou, holy Virgin, and worthy of all praise, because from thee has come forth the Son of Justice, Christ, our God." You are excelled by no one except by Him who created you. You yourself humbly attribute to your divine motherhood the praise which would be given you by all men. Being, greeted by your cousin Elizabeth as the Mother of God, you gratefully exclaimed, "He has regarded the lowliness of his handmaid; for, behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed; because he who is mighty has done great things for me" (Luke 1,48).

You inspire all the faithful with a holy zeal; they never grow tired of singing your praise. Writers, poets, painters, sculptors and musicians of every nation and in every age have combined their efforts to proclaim your praises and to pass down to future generations the sentiments of religious veneration which they themselves felt.

(2) MARY, you are also renowned because of your sanctity. Although the dignity of divine motherhood is a privilege and grace which you could not merit, yet it was bestowed upon you as a reward for your worthiness. No young maiden during your lifetime served God as zealously as you, and none loved God with such perfect love. Your sanctity made God look upon you with the greatest delight and to choose you to be the Mother of His Son.

Jesus Himself declared that you are to be praised, not alone for being His Mother, but in a far greater degree for being a saint, for faithfully observing what God wills and teaches. When the woman in the Gospel raised her voice and said of Jesus: "Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the breasts that nursed thee," He replied, "Rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it" (Luke 11,28). Being the Mother of Jesus would not have meant so much if you had not had the great happiness of carrying also in your heart Him whom you bore in your womb.

Virgin Most Renowned, I join the praise with which the whole Church greets you, and I wish to venerate you daily with the most fervent devotion. Since the imitation of your example is the praise that is most pleasing to you, help me to make every effort to be like you in humility, chastity, contempt of the world, self-denial, obedience, meekness, patience, and love of God and my neighbor.

(3) MARY, you are renowned on account of the benefits which you have conferred and still confer upon the human race. Holy Mother Church attributes to you the praise which the Jews gave the pious widow Judith who cut off the head of Holofernes and delivered her city from ruin: "Thou art the glory of Jerusalem, and thou art the joy of Israel, thou art the honor of our people. For thou hast done manfully, and thy heart has been strengthened, because thou hast loved chastity ... therefore also the hand of the Lord has strengthened thee, and therefore thou shalt be blessed forever" (Judith 15,10).

You deserve even greater praise because you delivered your Son to death in order to make the redemption of the world possible, and you saved all nations from eternal ruin. You continue to apply to us the fruits of redemption, for you are a most affectionate Mother, and you never feel happier than when you find an opportunity to give to your children proofs of your motherly goodness and mercy.

Lord Jesus Christ, You have given us Your Mother Mary that she might be our Mother of Perpetual Help, whose beloved image we venerate; grant, we beg of You, that by earnestly imploring her motherly help, we may deserve to enjoy at all times the blessings of Your Redemption. Who live and reign forever. Amen. (Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, June 27)