An extract from a meditation by Chiara Lubich, 25 September 1986.
(…) As we know, we have various possibilities of being with Mary. A particular thought of ours is addressed to her during morning and evening prayer. We remember Mary at mass and during the visit to the blessed sacrament, and above all during the recitation of the rosary, in which we greet her more than fifty times with the ‘Hail Mary.’
Each phrase of the Hail Mary is beautiful, but today I would like to underline in a special way this double request: ‘Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death’, so that Mary may assist us by interceding for us before God in each present moment, and so that in the important moment of death she may be present to us in a special way.
But if all these prayers prove to be important for us during our day, what I would want particularly to bring to the surface today is the relationship that we must have with Mary. It is a relationship that must be kept alive during the whole course of the day and will grow in depth in accordance with the degree of unity that each of us reaches with her, our most beloved Mother and Leader.
Then we can also imagine that she has lead us to the Focolare, because since she loved us she wanted to also show herself in a special way to us as our mother. Now what does a mother do for her children? We know: she does everything without calculating her efforts. Then, if this is true for an earthly mother, what will our heavenly mother be like?
We must become convinced of her very special love for us and then draw a conclusion from this. Does Mary love me? More so, does she love me in a special way? I cannot but have a boundless trust in her who can do so much. Therefore I will entrust to her everything that is mine, not only my own self, but my thoughts and my worries, what weighs me down, what hurts me. Mary wants all these things for herself and she is very capable of resolving every problem of mine.
I tell you these things because I experienced that if we take her love for us seriously, our mother will not neglect to show this love to us. Try to do the same. Perhaps you have already done so. Try not to keep any burden in your heart, and to entrust everything to her. You will find one problem resolved after another.
(…) So these are just a few words on spending our day with Mary. May she allow us to experience her motherly affection and guard us as the pupils of her eyes. During these next few weeks, let’s revive our unity with Mary.
Chiara Lubich
Conference Call, Switzerland, 25 September 1986
