My dear parishioners,
Peace! On the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, 7 October, 2019, Pope Francis established the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, to be observed each year on the 10th of December. At the same time Pope Francis proclaimed a Lauretan Jubilee Holy Year to run from 8 December, 2019 through 10 December, 2020. There are fifty-one invocations in the Litany of Loreto. The following is a reflection on the fifth invocation: Mother of divine grace, pray for us.
The Litany of Loreto invokes Our Lady, Saint Mary, as the Mother of Divine Grace. What does it mean to invoke Our Lady this way? There are more than two hundred verses in Sacred Scripture (Douay-Rheims) which mention “grace.” The Greek words charis/caritoo, like the Hebrew word chen are translated as “grace.” Saint Paul identifies seven certain specific graces: wisdom, knowledge, working of miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, diverse kinds of tongues, interpretation of speech (1 Corinthians 12:8-10). The Catechism of the Catholic Church(1992) treats “grace” in at least seventeen articles (§§1996- 2005, 2017-2018, 2021-2027). Citing Sacred Scripture we are taught that grace is favor, the free and underserved help that God give us to respond to His call to become children of God (John 1:12-18; 17:3; Romans 8:14-17; 2 Peter 1:3-4). Saint Augustine (+430) is called the “Doctor of Grace.” In his volume On Nature and Grace Saint Augustine mentions “grace” more than one hundred times as he combated the errors of Pelagius. Saint Thomas Aquinas, OP (+1274) in his Summa Theologiae treats “grace” in six questions (I-II Q. 109-114). It is by sanctifying grace that we are united to God. “Gratuitous grace” allows us to cooperate in the justification of another through teaching, persuading, example. While many different sorts of grace may be identified, examined, implored, the essence of grace is one. The Catholic Encyclopedia (1909) includes articles on “actual grace” and “sanctifying grace” which further identify illuminating grace, prevenient grace, cooperating grace, efficacious grace, sufficient grace. Jansenism and Pelagianism are two heresies which distort the power and need we have of God’s grace at work within us. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia stresses God’s power and the role of grace in justification when treating “grace.”
Saint Mary the Virgin is Mother of divine grace because grace and truth come through Jesus Christ (cf. John 1:17). The Lord Jesus comes to us, grace comes to us, through Our Lady. The Archangel Saint Gabriel says of Mary: “Hail, full of Grace, the Lord is with you…” (Luke 1:28). We are able to be full of grace too, thanks to God’s goodness and Our Lady’s cooperation with God’s grace. May we always cooperate with God’s grace, renouncing sin and Satan and the glamour of evil while pursuing holiness. The sacraments, especially Baptism, Eucharist and Penance, are for us the ordinary channels of grace. The residual graces of Confirmation, Marriage and Orders dispose us similarly, to live holy lives always pleasing to God.
Father John Arthur Orr