Mary, Queen of Apostles

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St. John Berchmans (1599-1621) seemed to live for no other purpose than to love his Divine Savior and His most Holy Mother. On certain days he would go to pay his homage to Mary in the neighboring chapel of Montaigu. He preferred to walk there alone, that he might have the opportunity of praying on the way without distraction. On the day preceding these pilgrimages, he deprived himself of breakfast and dessert, which he gave to the poor. So great was his purity, that he did not even know the name of the contrary vice. He entered the Society of Jesus, pro­posing to aim at perfect sanctity. On his deathbed, he never ceased to recommend devotion to the Mother of God, to those around him, stating that the least sacrifices pleased her provided they were persevered in.

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The Church styles St. Aloysius Gonzaga an "angelic youth". His mother's life was exposed to great danger at his birth. She had recourse to the powerful intercession of Mary, to whom she promised to dedicate the fruit of her womb. Her prayer was heard; and Aloysius thought he could not better employ his life than in consecrating it to the service of her who had obtained it for him. During childhood he always pronounced the holy names of Jesus and Mary with the greatest respect and affection. He was particularly attached to the devotion of the Rosary. Inorder to prcve his affection for the Queen of Heaven, he thought he could not do anything more pleasing to her than imitate her example by dedicating his virginity to God. This he did, by a vow which he pronounced before the altar, over which is a miraculous picture of the Blessed Virgin, in the church of the Annunziata in Florence, Italy. In honor of Mary, he fasted on bread and water on all Saturdays, as well as on the vigils of all her festivals.

Under the inspiration of the Blessed Virgin he dedicat­ed himself to God in the Society of Jesus, and endeavored to prove himself a faithful child of his heavenly Mother by imitating her virtues. The examples of Jesus and Mary were constantly before his eyes; the love of them was ever in his heart, and their sacred names were continually on his lips. He died in the twenty-second year of his age, after leading a most holy life.

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St. Benedict Joseph Labre was, born in Amettes France. He visited Italy and venerated the sacred shrines of the Apostles. He made a pilgrimage to the Holy House at Loreto, in which the Mother of God dwelt while on earth. The extraordinary graces he received there inspired him with a lasting affection for this venerated place, which he visited no less than ten times during the remaining years of his life.

This holy man embraced a life of voluntary poverty, and seems to have been destined by Providence to recall to men's minds the poverty of Christ. His food consisted of the fragments he received as a mendicant, and he was happy in suffering hunger, thirst, and all the incon­veniences of traveling. He continually had before his eyes the mortified life of the Most Holy Virgin, and always wore a Rosary around his neck. One could not but feel deeply moved, seeing him pray before an image of Mary. During the eight years of his residence in Rome, he daily spent many hours motionless on his knees praying in the church of Our Lady of the Mountains.

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St. Philip Neri, one of the greatest ornaments of the Church in the sixteenth century, by his wonderful zeal for the promotion of God's glory in the city of Rome, procured for himself the title of the apostle of that holy city. His devotion to the Mother of God was particularly remark­able. He labored incessantly to promote her honor among men. No child had ever so tender an affection for his mother as Philip had for Mary, whom he called his "love", his "joy", his "consolation". These words were spoken with so much feeling that those who heard him were greatly affected and usually moved to tears.

St. Philip was often favored with supernatural visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. One of these, which occurred when he was advanced in years, is particularly remarkable. He lay dangerously sick, and. his physicians had little hope of his recovery. Suddenly, he was heard to cry, "O most holy Mother! O most amiable Mother! O most beautiful Mother! O most blessed Mother!" A physician and some priests ran to him, and found him elevated somewhat from the bed in which he lay. They heard him say: "O my dear­est Queen, I am not worthy, - I do not deserve that thou shouldst come to visit and to heal me. What shall I do for thee, if thou healest me, for I have never done anything good?" Amazed at what they saw and heard, some wept for joy; others trembled with fear. When the physician asked him what he wished for, he replied: "Have you not seen the Holy Virgin, who has come to take away my ailments?" While he spoke thus he came to himself, and as he per­ceived that the room was full of people, he covered his head through shame and began to weep. The physician, fearing that this might be detrimental to him, begged him to desist, and asked to feel his pulse. "I do not require your assistance any longer", replied the saint; "the most Holy Virgin has been here and has restored me." And from that moment he was cured. The holy man said always to those who visited him: "Believe me, there is no more powerful means to obtain God's grace, than to employ the interces­sion of the Holy Virgin. Say to her often: 'Virgin Mary, Mother of God, pray to thy dear Jesus for me ' ".

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St. Charles Borromeo had a most tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Daily, on his knees, he recited the Rosa­ry and Office of this glorious Queen; he fasted on bread and water on the vigils of her feasts, and he never failed to kneel down when the bell tolled for the "Angelus", even if he happened to be in the street and it was raining. He had in his cathedral a chapel and confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary, and established a solemn procession on the first Sunday of each month in honor of the Mother of God. He placed all his institutions under her protection, and caused her image to be placed at the entrance of all parish churches in his diocese. He warned the people that if they would enter into Heaven, they should implore the interces­sion of Mary, whom the Church styles the "Gate of Heaven.

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Our Lady showed her special love for Venerable Mary Francis Libermann, son of a rabbi, who became a Catholic and a priest. He founded the Missionaries of the Holy Heart of Mary, the first missionaries to carry the light of the Gospel into the darkness of pagan Africa (1843). At the request of the Holy See, Father Libermann united his Congregation with the Congregation of the Holy Ghost. He was chosen Superior General of the united Societies, a post which he occupied until his death. Because of illness his ordination was delayed for several years. It was only after he made a pilgrimage to our Lady's House of Loreto that he regained his health sufficiently to be ordained a priest. Father Libermann retained his deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin to the end of his life.

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Another convert from Judaism, Alphonse Ratisbonne, was favored by an apparition of the Blessed Virgin in the Church of St. Andrea delle Fratte in Rome on January 20, 1842. Eleven days later he was baptized. Burning with ardent love for Jesus and Mary, he was ordained a priest in 1847. Together with his brother Theodore, also a convert and a priest, he labored until his death on May 6, 1884, for the conversion of the Jews. They founded two societies: the Fathers of Sion, and Our Lady of Sion (Notre Dame de Sion) for women, whose mission is the conversion of Isra­el.

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St. Theresa of the Child Jesus had a tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin from her earliest youth. Once during a severe illness when she could find no help on earth and was suffering great pain, she turned to the Heavenly Mother and begged her pity. Suddenly the statue in her room, so she tells us in her autobiography, "seemed to come to life and grow beautiful, with a divine beauty that I shall never find words to describe. The expression of Our Lady's face was ineffably sweet, tender, and compassionate; but what touched me to the very depths of my soul was her gracious smile. Then all my pain vanished...."

Later in life she wrote: "I picture my soul as a piece of waste ground and beg our Blessed Lady to take away my imperfections - which are heaps of rubbish - and to build upon it a splendid tabernacle worthy of Heaven, and adorn it with her own adornments".

All who have performed great things for Christ not only had a heart overflowing with love for the Savior, but also a burning zeal to spread His Kingdom on earth. They have also loved His Mother intensely and looked upon her as their Mother and Queen, feeling that she was watching over them, praying for them, and waiting for the day when she would welcome them with joy into the heavenly King­dom.

We firmly believe that the Will of God is that all men should come to the knowledge of the Truth and be saved. For that end Jesus performed miracles, founded His Church, suffered and died. Therefore, to work for the sanctification and salvation of souls is to enter into His de­signs, and to give Him an irrefutable proof of our love.

Today the enemies of God and religion are striving to destroy the souls of men; to blot the name of God and religion from the face of the earth. Unless the followers of Jesus and Mary arise from their sleep and take up the Cross and preach Jesus to the multitude, His enemies will make further and greater advances in the ranks of the faith­ful. Personal sacrifice, self-forgetfulness, renunciation out of love for Christ, are necessary for every apostle. To achieve success requires struggle and sacrifice, daily pray­er, frequent reception of the Sacraments, and union with Jesus, Who does not ask His apostles to fight the battle a-lone. He accompanies them and labors with them. Never was there a time when His cause was so much in need of valiant, brave, holy men and women to defend it and to bring His Church to those who "sit in darkness".

Mary's apparitions in modern times show us that God is using His Blessed Mother, the Queen of Apostles, to awaken the hearts of men to the cause of Christ. The world today needs Mary's inspiration and intercession. It cannot afford to overlook her help in the struggle for the salvation of men.

Catholics well know, from the words of Jesus, that nothing is more necessary for them than to save their im­mortal souls. Yet there is nothing which people so neglect as this "one necessary thing". "They find time", declares St. Paulinus, to become good philosophers, but not to be­come Christians. Men labor from morning till night to a-mass money and property; all possible means are invented to succeed in trade and business; the mind and health are taxed to become richer, to live in grandeur and opulence; and the soul is forgotten, the Christian duties are neglect­ed, God and the salvation of the soul are lost sight of. Thus men live and thus they die."

"O man", says St. Augustine, "you only esteem treas­ures and riches, but which of them will you take with you at death? A rotten body and a poor winding sheet, of which ere long nothing shall be found; and if you have neglected your salvation, where shall your soul be, and where shall it spend its eternity? It is in hell, where it shall sigh, weep and burn forever and ever in raging despair."

"Wonderful thing", exclaims St. Alphonsus, "how in­genious are worldlings for earthly interests! What trouble do they not give themselves to obtain a situation and to be­come rich! What care do they not use to preserve health! They choose the severest remedies, the most experienced doctors, the best climates, and yet as regards the soul they do not trouble themselves about it. Yet it is incontestable that health, offices, honor, greatness will not last always, but the soul shall have no end."

"Let us reflect", insists St. Augustine, again, "what trouble we give ourselves to procure things which are en­tirely unworthy of our regard. What do not the revengeful, the thieves, the impure suffer to attain the wicked object which they have in view? For their soul they will endure nothing. Miserable beings, they see and acknowledge their insanity when it is too late, when death comes and deprives them of all things."

In fact, what service do riches, knowledge, dignities - all of which pass away - render, if man loses his soul, the one eternal good? And the great accomplishment, the sal­vation of his soul, can only be worked out during life; after death it will be too late. "Where the tree falls there it lies", says the Holy Ghost. This consideration has opened the eyes of numberless people. They have understood that they are not created for earth; but for God and Heaven. Conse­quently, they detached their hearts from earthly things, and constantly labored at their salvation v/ith the greatest care, and were saved. If we will be wise and prudent, we must do likewise. We must regard the salvation of our soul as the one thing necessary; and never lose sight of it. In all sincerity we must say: "At all costs I will be saved". But, in order to succeed, we can do nothing better than place this important matter in Mary's hands, and with her assistance work it out. She has the necessary means and graces at her disposal, and she longs for nothing so much as to lavish the same upon us. Being our Mother, she loves us as her children. She longs to see us happy with her in Heaven. May we, then, invoke her with confidence in all our needs.

Mary, Queen of Apostles, pray that the Lord of the harvest increase the number of apostles to labor in His vineyard.

O Mary! the Apostles left all things for the glory of God; the confessors labored unceasingly for the promotion of the same object. You surpasssed the Apostles by the perfection of your sacrifice, and by the fervor of your zeal; you excelled the confessors by the courage with which you confessed Christ when He was abandoned by all and when He expired on the Cross. O sacred Virgin! Queen of A-postles, obtain for me a portion of your apostolic spirit, a zeal for my own salvation and for that of other souls. Make me endeavor by all means in my power to extend the king­dom of your Divine Son, and to pray unceasingly for the conversion of all who are still sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, or who are estranged from the One Fold of the One Shepherd, Jesus Christ, your Divine Son. Make me ever ready to confess Him by word and work, so that, through your powerful intercession, O Queen of Apostles! I may be acknowledged by Jesus before His Heavenly Father.

O most holy Virgin Mary, Mother of all mankind and Queen of Apostles, instill into our poor hearts a greater love and zeal for the spread of God's kingdom on earth, so that we may be worthy apostles in the vineyard of the Lord. Since "the fields are white unto harvest and the laborers are few", I offer myself to thee, O most loving Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Accept me, present me to your Divine Son, and guide me, unworthy though I am, so that I may be an instrument whereby many souls may be brought to know and love the Savior.