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 tenth invocation: Mother most amiable, pray for us.
To say that the Blessed Virgin Mary is our Mother most amiable is to say that she is the most friendly, most sociable, most congenial, and most pleasing, according to Webster. The Latin invocation is Mater amabilis. The Lewis and Short Latin Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon, 1879) gives the double definition: lovable, and worthy of love, for “amabilis.” The Latin root is amare, amo, meaning to love. The Hebrew term is ahabah. The Douay and Vulgate editions of Sacred Scripture use amabilis four times each (2 Samuel 1:26; 12:25; Ester 2:15; Zephaniah 2:1). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (+1791), among others, has set the prayer Mater Amabilis to music.
In the Visitation (Luke 1:39-45) we can see Saint Mary’s friendship with her cousin Elizabeth. Saint Mary is our loving friend and Mother. In the Wedding Feast at Cana (John 2:1-11) we can see Saint Mary’s sociability, helping out the newlywed couple in need. Saint Mary in her generous love is happy to help us also. Throughout the ages whenever she has answered prayers and worked miracles Saint Mary’s congeniality is made evident. Even now from her place in Heaven Saint Mary supports our life in Christ her Son, even as she supported Him in His life and ministry. We love Our Lady because she is the Mother of the Lord and He has given her to us as our loving and lovable Mother (John 19:27). In loving Saint Mary, our Mother most amiable, we are keeping the Fourth Commandment in her regard (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16; Matthew 15:4; Mark 7:10; Ephesians 6:2). As full of grace (Luke 1:28), Mary is very pleasing in the sight of the Lord, free from any and every stain of sin. Saint Joseph, as her husband (Matthew 1:16), knew of Saint Mary’s chaste lovability. Saint Mary is the most amiable Mother in both ascending and descending manners. Saint Mary’s ascending love for God is without any bars or hindrance of sin or selfishness. Saint Mary’s descending love is for us, her adoptive children in the order of grace. Our Lady intercedes for us with her divine Son. She has set a loving example for us to follow.
In all these ways, and more, the Blessed Virgin Saint Mary is our Mother most amiable in the order of grace. May we who are devoted to her be no less lovable by God’s grace at work within us. May our love for God and neighbor mirror that of our most amiable Mother Saint Mary.
Father John Arthur Orr