Our Lady, Health of the Sick


Our Lady, Health of the Sick
Our Lady, Health of the Sick, embrace all who are emotionally and physically ill, that they may return to good health under your tender care.
This past Lenten season, Pope Francis has placed his hope in Our Lady, Health of the Sick, asking her intercession to her most precious son, Jesus Christ, for healing across our World during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is quite a bit of history regarding this special name given to our Lady.
In biblical times: The origin of referring to Mary as "Health of the Sick" makes its first appearance in Mary's care of St. Joseph, who was enveloped by a most "happy death" in the literal sense, being in the arms of together both our Lady and our Lord Jesus Christ during his final hours. Because of this grace, St. Joseph is now commonly referred to as patron saint of the dying. How fitting, as what greater love could one receive at time of physical suffering than their Heavenly presence?
In later times: Similar titles for our Blessed Mother, such as "Hospital of sinners" and "the Joy of the sick", originated from the words of St. Ephrem, who lived in the 4th century and would more recently be declared a Doctor of the church. "Health of the Sick", however, continued to be practiced regularly. It would become one of the titles found in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or Litany of Loreto, comprised during the Middle Ages. Subsequently in modern times, the oldest hospital in North America is thought to be the Immaculate Conception Hospital, built as a tribute to Our Lady as "Health of the Sick" in 1524. Later, St. Camillus de Lellis founded a confraternity which invokes the use of the black scapular of "Our Lady, Help of the Sick.", approved by Pius IX in 1860.
Today: Our Blessed Mother continues to care for Her children not just in times of physical suffering, but in caring for our eternal health through our eternal salvation. As Christ is the DIvine Physician, sharing his Divine Mercy for souls that would otherwise be lost, so She is eternally present by his side, particularly by His passion and sorrowful mysteries. How fitting that during this Lenten season, we turn to Our Lady, Health of the Sick, for Her everlasting comfort and healing.
An English-language translation of the Pope’s prayer from March 11th is below:
O Mary, you shine continuously on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick.
At the foot of the Cross you participated in Jesus’ pain, with steadfast faith.
You, Salvation of the Roman People, know what we need.
We are certain that you will provide, so that, as you did at Cana of Galilee,
joy and feasting might return after this moment of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love, to conform ourselves to the Father’s will
and to do what Jesus tells us:
He who took our sufferings upon Himself, and bore our sorrows to bring us,
through the Cross, to the joy of the Resurrection. Amen.
We seek refuge under your protection, O Holy Mother of God.
Do not despise our pleas – we who are put to the test – and deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin.
(Source: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-03/pope-francis-prayer-our-lady-protection-coronavirus.html)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

You Raise Me Up

“ There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?” (Jn 6:9) What will you bring to the table? Music has often helped enhance my memory through catchy tunes.  A favorite song of mine is "You Raise Me Up".  I was surprised to find that what I thought was such a time and tested hymn has only been around for a little over 20 years. Its message offers so many lessons; particularly , with God's help, we can achieve the infinite.  "When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary When troubles come and my heart burdened be Then, I am still and wait here in the silence Until You come and sit awhile with me." ( Songwriters: Brendan Graham / Rolf Loevland;  You Raise Me Up lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Ab) We often think our efforts are not enough. Who am I, amongst all the pristine social media profiles advertising "success stories" of the famous and wealthy?  The young boy offering his five loaves and two fish may b
Read more

Here I am, Lord / Aquí Estoy, Señor

  SEPTEMBER 10, 2023  https://diocesan.com/here-i-am-lord/ “In the twilight of our lives, we will be judged based on how we loved.” – St John of the Cross.  How do you treat others? Do you take for granted those closest to you? Do you open your eyes to strangers in need, or look the other way? I know for myself I am extremely sensitive to criticism. It can be so hard to be around those who have hurt or offended me. Forgiveness is perhaps the most difficult of Christ’s teachings to follow in my daily life. And yet, as a Christian, we will be known by our ability to forgive. To truly love one another as Christ has loved us, we must set ourselves apart from the rest of the world. Since we are all part of the Kingdom, we need to figure out how to get along with each other – after all, we will be spending eternity together!  One day we will be judged  on how we loved. On love alone. Ultimately we have to ask ourselves, “Did I show up? Did I say, ‘Here I am’, to those who needed me?” As Abra
Read more

Pitter-patter sounds in my heart

Pitter-patter sounds in my heart. There has been a lot of time to reflect these past few weeks. It’s been extraordinarily stressful times to say the least. For me, one of the ways I best cope is my alone time, where I can sit back and process my experiences. Today, I wonder how have I contributed to the state of affairs in our society as a whole. Growing up, I cared so much about what others thought. Like many, I was brought up that interracial relationships were frowned upon. In finally entering one after many years of friendship with my now-husband, I recall remarking how the color of his darker skin didn’t matter to me. We were together because of our love for each other and that was all that mattered. But I was wrong. His skin color  does  matter because it is part of what makes him who he is. Rather than ignoring it, I need to recognize him for  all of who he is . Only by doing this can I truly know what love is. This is the same for our children. If I deny their background,
Read more