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 thirty-sixth invocation: Health of the sick, pray for us.
What does it mean to say that Saint Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mother of God is the “Health of the sick”? In the Gospels we read about the many healings worked by the Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry before His death and resurrection: the blind receive sight, lepers are cleansed, the paraplegic and lame walk, the hemorrhaging woman, the deaf hear (cf. Matthew 11:5; Mark 1:40-44; 2:2-12; 5:25-34; 7:31-35). Acts 3:1-10 records a healing worked by God through Saints Peter and John of a man lame from birth. The cures wrought by God, even through second class relics of Saint Paul, are recorded in Acts 14:8-10; 19:12.
There are two Sacraments of Healing, namely Penance and Anointing. While these are concerned primarily with spiritual healing, there have been physical cures. As the Sacraments have been instituted by Jesus Christ and Our Lady, Health of the Sick, is the Mother of Jesus Christ Our Lord and God, she is very much a part of His Sacraments. The Sacred Scripture is silent when it comes to the child Jesus suffering from a scraped knee or runny nose (cf. John 21:25). But, since He is like us in all things but sin (cf. Hebrews 4:15), He may have need Saint Mary’s matzo ball chicken soup…
All of this is a preamble to Our Lady as Health of the Sick. She is the Mother of the Divine Physician (cf. Luke 4:23). Like Saints Peter, John and Paul any cures worked by Our Lady, Saint Mary, are worked through intercession with Almighty God. Each year on the 11th of February Holy Mother Church celebrates Our Lady Health of the Sick under her title Our Lady of Lourdes. Saint Bernadette Soubirous (+1879) had mystical experiences with Saint Mary in 1858. Many cures have been worked there ever since. Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal has also been known to work many cures since revealing herself in 1830 to Saint Catherine Laboure (+1876). While not on the Universal Roman Liturgical Calendar, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal has been celebrated on 27 November. So, whether through invocation of Our Lady of Lourdes or Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal or Health of the Sick, pray for healing, physical and spiritual. If God should give a cure through Our Lady’s intercession we can thank God. If the healing is only spiritual we can still thank God for the ability to unite our sufferings to Christ the divine physician (Colossians 1:24).
Father John Arthur Orr