Catholic Meditations

In the vale we find ourselves, a place of shadow,
this place we live, this valley of tears,
the land where we stumble alone in the desert,
crying out in our loss and our hurt and our fears
how often we look for refuge, help and hope,
amid all the darkness of a sinful land,
bare, sere, and angry this place we live,
a burnt land of shard and rock and sand.

Whisper her name when the moment seems heavy,
Whisper her name when the darkness is deep,
Know that she hears and will be there to help you,
When the pain stabs your heart and your mind cannot sleep.
O pray for us now, Theotokos, our Mother,
O pray for us now in our grief and our tears,
Maria, O Mary, O Mother of Mercy,
Be with us now, and when our death nears.

Susan E. Stone, 2007

Labels: Help, Mary, Mother of Consolation

Hail, Full of Grace,
O Mother of Consolation,
You who always said yes to the Father,
You who know the depths of sorrow of the human heart,
Pray for us as we call,
lost in our tears and our miseries,
lost in our darkness,
blinded by our pain,
tormented by what we have done
or what was done to us.

Lady of Tears,
In our sorrows, we turn to you, dear Lady,
You have measured the very depths of grief and loss,
There at the foot of your son's cross,
There, the dark moment you became our mother,
you, who in your mercy,
has never left anyone unaided,
but hears our prayers,
reaches out to calm our fears,
helps us in our struggle to get back to that place
where we can do whatever He tells us to,
thank you for being our mother.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us now and at the hour of our deaths, Amen.


Susan E. Stone, 2007

Labels: Help, Mary, Mother of Consolation, Mother of Sorrows

O Mother of Consolation,
who understands the shape of our tears,
each round drop,
like a minature world holding our grief,
sorrow,
hurt,
anger.

O Mother of Consolation,
who has drank so deeply of the well of sorrow,
listen to the aching of our hearts,
the hearts torn by sin,
ours or others,
hot pain at the sudden death
that can rain out of the sky unearned and unseen,
the loneliest grief,
shut up in a room that even in bright sunlight
seems to have no windows,
the wracking pain of a hard death,
the knowledge of wrong done that haunts
and refuses to go away,
the helplessness of watching a child die
and all the other pains and griefs and sorrows
we pour into your lap.

O Mother of Consolation,
Pray for us
when we are lost in our darkness,
blinded by our pain,
tormented by what we have done
or what was done to us,
and turn to you,
whom we know has plunged
into the very depths of grief and loss,
you, who in your mercy,
has never left anyone unaided.

Remember those especially
who are so wrapped up in their pain
and the events which overwhelm them
that they do not know who to turn to,
that they do not know who will aid them,
but cry out with their wounded hearts,
"Help me!"

O Mother of Consolation,
Ask your dear Son to forgive us
for all those times when the greed of our hearts,
the desire of our minds,
the grasping of our hands
causes that pain,
and ask Him to give us hearts like his, like yours,
filled with love even when
the darkness seems overwhelming.

O Mother of our Lord,
thank you for loving,
for being our mother,
for always saying yes to God,
for being with us in our miseries.

O Mother of Consolation,
Mother of the word incarnate,
pray for us now,
and at the hour of our deaths, Amen..

Susan E. Stone, 2006

Labels: Help, Mary, Mother of Consolation, Suffering