Fr. Thomas M. Pastorius
October 25, 2014
Spiritual Ponderings
Images of Blessed Virgin Mary

As we continue to learn more about God by exploring Jesus’ relationship with His mother let us once again reflect on a different image of Mary. This last image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is called “The Sweet Mother of Den Bosch”. For help in our exploration we will be using The Other Faces of Mary: Stories, Devotions, and Pictures of the Holy Virgin Around the World by Ann Ball. Quotes from her are in bold.

This statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary is only three and half feet tall and was carved out of oak. The artist or woodworker is unknown. According to pious legend, the statue was discarded and found by a man who was looking for firewood to start a fire. The man through the wood statue into the fire just as a monk entered the room. The monk named Brother Wouter quickly rescued the statue from the fire and was given permission from his superiors to keep the statue in his room as a private devotion.

As the monk carried the statue through the Church of St. Jan (a shortcut to his room) the statue became so heavy that he could no longer move it. The statue, that could not be moved, quickly became the talk of the town and the image began to be venerated by the faithful. It is said that the Blessed Virgin Mary answered many of the prayers of the people who asked her to intercede to her Son for them.

The statue though was always under constant threat of being destroyed. According to Ann Ball: In 1629, the city was conquered by Prince Frederik of Hendrik and St Jan (the church where the image was kept) fell into Protestant hands and went into use for Dutch Reformed church services. The Catholic faith was forbidden in the Netherlands, and during these difficult times, sturdy Catholics risked their lives to keep the faith. Mass was celebrated secretly in barns, cellars, and sheds. These were known as schuilkerken (secret Churches) Her pious devotees secretly smuggled their Sweet Mother to safety in Belgium. She was taken first to Antwerp and then to Brussels, where she remained for more than two hundred year in the Coudenberg church. It would not be until the year of 1853 that the statue would returned to the Netherland.

To wrap up this month’s reflections here are three quotes from Fulton Sheen.

Where do this coldness, forgetfulness, and at least, indifference to the Blessed Mother start? From a failure to realize that her Son, Jesus, is the Eternal Son of God. – Fulton Sheen

A Catholic boy from a parochial school was telling a university professor who lived next door about the Blessed Mother. The professor scoffed at the boy, saying: “But there is no difference between her and my mother.” The boy answered: “That’s what you say, but there’s a heck of a lot of difference between the sons.” – Fulton Sheen

There is never any danger that men will think too much of Mary; the danger is that they will think to little of Christ. Coldness toward Mary is a consequence of indifference to Christ. Any objection to calling her the “Mother of God” is fundamentally an objection to the Deity of Christ – Fulton Sheen.

PILGRIM'S PRAYER THROUGH MARY
O Virgin Mary, Help of Christians, we dedicate ourselves to your service. We concentrate our minds, hearts, and bodies and promise to work always for the glory of God and the salvation of man. Protect the young and help the aged, save sinners and console the dying. You are our hope, Mary, Mother of Mercy and Gate of Heaven. Pray to your Son for us so that we may be filled with selfless charity and deep faith. Ask Jesus for those things which we cannot obtain through our own actions and help us in this our present necessity. May we always see the Will of the Father of our lives. We ask you this, Sweet Spouse of the Spirit, so that we may come to your Son in grace. Amen.