“ O admirable height and stupendous condescension! O humble sublimity! O sublime humility! that the Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God, so humbles Himself that for our salvation He hides Himself under a morsel of bread.” – St. Francis, who was “accustomed to recite the Divine Office with great reverence and devotion.” May our Lady every teach us how to pray worthily, attentively, and devoutly – digne, attente, et devote – as we join in with the multitudes of angels and saints in Heaven, as well as those of the Church Militant, in the chanting of the divine praises! May the Immaculate ever guide us to pray with a purified mind and heart, in imitation of our Seraphic Father St. Thus, the friar who enters into the very spirit of our Lady, learns how to pray with Her spirit – Her spirit of recollection, of reverence, of devotion, and of holy fear. As She has preceded us in recitation of the very psalms recited during the Divine Office, these same psalms still yet conserve the perfume of her maternal voice and of her virginal lips. The Marian Franciscan strives to pray the Office in union with the Immaculate, with Her very spirit of prayer and recollection, gazing upon Her, who is the first model in our life of prayer. In this opus Dei, “it is not so much ourselves, as much as the Church, the Spouse of Christ, and together with the Church, our Order, who recite the praises of God.” It is celebrated every day in common and in its entirety, sanctifying every part of the day from morning to evening with that most sublime prayer, which is the prayer of the Mystical Body and for the Mystical Body. In our life of prayer, the Divine Office has the greatest importance after the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Francis, and the vast multitudes of Franciscan saints who’ve come before us, who daily assisted at the Mass in a true spirit of love, adoration, and contrition. May the friar gaze upon and imitate the stupendous example of our Lady, St. Desirous of reproducing in himself Jesus’ condition of victimhood, the friar will strive evermore to clothe himself with the same mind and dispositions of His Saviour – that same humble spirit of submission, adoration, love, praise and thanksgiving to the great majesty of God – daily entering more profoundly into the mystery of our redemption. With love and compassion, then, does the friar assist at the Holy Sacrifice, co-immolating himself with Christ Crucified, in imitation of the perfect co-immolation of our Mother Coredemptrix at the foot of the Cross. John and the pious women did on Calvary – with love and compassion.” John 19:25) as our Lady, in silent contemplation upon the mystery of our redemption.Ī spiritual son of Padre Pio once asked, “Father, how should we take part at Holy Mass?” Padre Pio replied, “As our Lady, St. Ever fixing our gaze upon Her who most perfectly participated in the redemptive Sacrifice, we likewise seek to “stand by the cross of Jesus” (cf. In contemplating the awesome role of our Lady in mankind’s reconciliation with the Heavenly Father, we cannot but extol Her, the Immaculate Coredemptrix, as the supreme model of active and fruitful participation in the Holy Mass. Not only do we acknowledge the blood of Christ washing away our sins, but also the compassionate tears of our Lady, which brought about our regeneration. Thus, there lay upon the altar of the Cross not one, but two Hearts, two Hearts beating together as one, for the salvation of all souls. Our Lady was most profoundly and intimately united to Her Son in His sacrificial offering, uniting Herself by Her dolorous compassion, in total abandonment to the Will of the Heavenly Father. But there beside Him was His Immaculate Mother, offering up Her Son for the redemption of mankind. As Holy Church teaches, the Sacrifice of the Cross was effected by the one and only Mediator, Christ Jesus, once and for all, in a bloody manner upon the Cross on Calvary, redeeming mankind from the guilt of sin. Each morning, the friars participate in the Holy Sacrifice, standing at the foot of the Cross in union with the Immaculate, offering themselves, through our Lady, as victims in union with the Divine Victim.Īs Marian Franciscans, we cannot fail to acknowledge the maternal role of our Lady in the redemptive sacrifice of Christ. In our life of prayer, the first place is given to liturgical prayer, particularly the celebration of the Holy Mass. “Let the entire man be seized with fear let the whole world tremble let the heavens exult when Christ, the Son of the Living God, is on the altar in the hands of the priest.” – St.
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