4 DECEMBER: NOVENA TO THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Mary is the Mother of Jesus and our Mother. This should lead us to have a tender, filial relationship with our Mother, fostering confidence in her. Mary is always ready to help us.

I should ask myself, what place does my Mother Mary occupy in my life? Have I “received” her in my life, as Saint John did? Or do I leave her alone, outside, not realizing that she is the person who has helped me most throughout my life? Today, have I often called her, “Mother”?

As a model of my relationship with Mary I should think of my relationship with my own mother on earth; that should be the pattern of my dealing with my Mother in heaven, with the most sweet name of Mary.

The Lord wants me to feel that I am a son of Mary, that I may love her because she is the person easiest to love, and that I may do so by means of little details with her of refinement and of love, perhaps very small but concrete ones.

My resolutions for today:

To repeat many aspirations,

To frequently glance at the image of Our Lady,

To make acts of atonement, considering that many Christians have forgotten about her, always going to her in any necessity,

To remember her with the Angelus and praying the Rosary.

Illustration: Immaculate Conception of Carreño de Miranda