{"id":5403,"date":"2019-08-05T22:14:32","date_gmt":"2019-08-06T02:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/?page_id=5403"},"modified":"2022-02-17T08:24:04","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T13:24:04","slug":"our-blessed-mother-mary-her-suffering-and-ours-healing-2019","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/our-blessed-mother-mary-her-suffering-and-ours-healing-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Blessed Mother Mary: Her Suffering and Ours &#8211; Healing 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div align=\"center\" class=\"youtube-responsive-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OVRp-oUTrmQ?rel=0&amp;modestbranding=1\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"564\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"summary\">Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>Joshua discusses the importance of Our Blessed Mother\u2019s role in our lives as children of God. He talks about her origin and her suffering as the perfect example of human suffering. He urges us to pray the Rosary and begin our devotion to Our Lady, Our Mother, as she is there to help us in our healing journey to be closer to her son, Jesus Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you for watching and participating in this retreat!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Not Registered, yet? Don\u2019t miss the rest of the talks! Register for the Pray More Retreat!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-layout-1 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/2019-healing-retreat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Click Here to Register!<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"downloads\">Downloads<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"audio-mp3\">Audio MP3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/10-Joshua-Mazrin-Our-Blessed-Mother-Mary-Her-Suffering-and-Ours.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click&nbsp;here&nbsp;to download audio file.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"printable-study-guide-pdf\">Printable Study Guide PDF<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Our-Blessed-Mother-Her-Suffering-and-Ours-Study-Guide.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here to download the printable study guide.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"printable-transcript-pdf\">Printable Transcript PDF<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/10-Joshua-Mazrin-Our-Blessed-Mother-Mary-Her-Suffering-and-Ours-Transcript.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here to download the transcript of the video presentation.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"reflective-study-guide-questions\">Reflective Study Guide Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cAnd you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.\u201d<\/p><cite><em>Lk 2:35<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Scripture tells us that Jesus spoke from the Cross to give us Mary as a spiritual mother. Do you always turn to Mary in times of need in your life? How can you develop a stronger relationship with your spiritual mother? <\/li><li> We know from the story of the Wedding at Cana that Mary is concerned with all aspects of our life, even our temporal needs. Are there needs in your life that you\u2019ve been hesitant to ask for? What does Mary\u2019s role in the Wedding at Cana tell you about her desire to help you in all your needs? <\/li><li>Mary suffered a lot throughout her life. The Church tells us that Mary suffered so intensely while watching her Son die that she nearly died herself. What can Mary\u2019s deep suffering show you about suffering in your own life? In what ways can you imitate her willing acceptance of profound pain? <\/li><li>God has given Mary the power to vanquish evil. Scripture tells us that she crushes the head of the serpent. This means she can help us to overcome temptations and sin in our lives. What difficulties or evils in your life can Mary help you crush? <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"text-our-blessed-mother-mary\">Text: Our Blessed Mother Mary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Hi, and welcome back. My name is Joshua Mazrin, and in this talk we\u2019re going to be reflecting on the Blessed Virgin Mary, and she is an example of how to deal with suffering. As we look into her life, all the sufferings that she endured, and also how we can lean on her, how we can approach her, and ask for her assistance. And even receive God\u2019s grace through her in times of our own suffering, in times when we witness our family members, our friends, and our loved ones suffering. And that we can even take their needs and commend them to the Virgin Mary as well. So let\u2019s begin in prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"opening-prayer\">Opening Prayer<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\"><em>In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank You and praise You for this opportunity to serve You, to come together to meditate and reflect on Your truth, Your beauty, Your goodness, and Your mercy. We ask that You would pour forth the anointing of Your <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/how-to-be-led-by-the-holy-spirit-lent-2020\/\">Holy Spirit<\/a> upon us right now, in the name of Jesus. That You would give us disposition of openness to whatever it is You desire to speak to us. O Mother Mary, we ask that &#8211; especially as we meditate on your life, on your role in the Heavenly Kingdom &#8211; that you would intercede for an increase in grace, in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, in docility to the spirit, your well-beloved spouse. That you would also teach us of the interior life, teach us to <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/trusting-in-gods-will-lent-2020\/\">trust<\/a> as you trust, to trust your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. And we ask all this through your glorious intercession. And so we say Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Our Lady, Mother of Sorrows, pray for us. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"abraham-and-isaac\">Abraham and Isaac<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">It&#8217;s such a blessing to be on this journey, retreat, these meditations, and these reflections with you. It\u2019s good for me to go over these things as well, to constantly be reminded that we have to look to the Virgin Mary, that we have to ask for the infilling of the anointing of the <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/growing-in-relationship-with-the-holy-spirit-healing-2021\/\">Holy Spirit<\/a>, and that God just has so many plans for each one of us. So in this talk, as I said, we\u2019re really going to reflect on Mary and her role in our suffering by looking to her example, as she suffered. And also just the wonderful treasury of graces that are available to us through her intercession and through Marian devotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, of course we know that all good Catholic doctrine and dogma is the authentic interpretation of scripture. So for us to approach Mary, the best thing for us to do would be to look into the bible, where she\u2019s primarily shown in the New Testament. But in order to understand the New Testament, we have something called typology, which is: There are types of things in the Old Testament that find their fulfillment in the New Testament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, to begin, I want to call to mind the story of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham, who God promised would have descendants as countless as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore. He waits for a long time, and even tries to kind of push this prophecy to happen by having Ishmael, his son. And eventually, he finally has Isaac. And then what happens? You\u2019ll remember the next part of the story is that later on, when Isaac is a teenager, you know, a well, able-bodied young man, Abraham calls him to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">So Abraham, truly being this man in <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/purifying-our-faith-advent-2020\/\">faith<\/a> &#8211; our father in faith actually &#8211; willingly consents to this. And he gets Isaac, and he gets wood for the altar, and the fire, and the knife, and they start going up Mount Moriah together. And Isaac notices that they don\u2019t have a ram for an offering, so he asks his father, and Abraham responds in such an interesting way. Pay attention to the words that he uses. He says \u201cGod will provide Himself for a sacrifice.\u201d Abraham might not have known what he actually meant, or the truth behind these words, but Isaac very well could have just got up and ran away. He could have overpowered his father. But he knew that he was going to be the one that was going to be sacrificed. Abraham was well advanced in years at this point, and Isaac was a young man, you know, in great physical condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">So Isaac consents and puts himself on the altar, Abraham ties him down, and right as Abraham\u2019s going to sacrifice his only son, his legitimate son that\u2019s meant to be the person, the heir though whom the fulfillment of all these prophecies and promises, the generational blessing that was going to be given to the whole world. And the angel steps in and stops Abraham because his willingness and faith in <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/trusting-god-in-the-unknown-healing-2019\/\">trusting God<\/a> was enough that all these promises would come to be. So then they spot a ram in the thorn bush, and they go and they cut it out, and they sacrifice this ram that, because he was cut out of this bush, is wearing a crown of thorns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"mary-participates-in-the-suffering\">Mary Participates in the Suffering<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">So fast forward to where we find the true fulfillment. Of course, we see the connection. Of course, also, even that Mount Moriah is in the same mountain range as Calvary. So Jesus is crucified in the same mountain range that this sacrifice was going to happen. And we see the similarities, the parallelism, where Jesus is consenting to the offering to His Father. But also, on Calvary, there\u2019s another person that\u2019s there. Mary\u2019s there. And just like Abraham, she comes and she <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/trusting-god-in-the-unknown-healing-2019\/\">trusts in the will of God<\/a>, and she goes to offer her only Son up to the Father for all of our sake. But Mary has to go through with it. Mary does actually sit and watch her only Son be offered, on that same mountain range, up to the Father for our sins. And the church says that she even participates in this. It says that Mary suffers the fullness of the crucifixion in her heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So Mary is not only going through suffering where she\u2019s witnessing, just as if any of us are going through suffering as maybe we lost a loved one, or we have somebody in our family, or one of our friends that has cancer is in the hospital. Mary not only has to watch this, where she actually loses her only Son, but she participates in the suffering. And this calls to mind Simeon\u2019s prophecy to her. He says \u201cAnd to you too, a sword shall pierce your soul, that the thoughts of many would be revealed.\u201d So in a very interesting way, in a very unique and singular way, for all of us, Mary participates in the saving action which brings redemption to all of us, to all mankind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So she\u2019s there not only to be an example, but also to do something for us. And this is why, on the cross, Jesus looks up, and of the seven things He says to us &#8211; so, you know, He\u2019s dying on the cross, the things that He chooses to say must have so much importance, so much weight that He would say them at such crucial time when He was in so much anguish. He looks down at Mary and John, the beloved disciple, and says \u201cWoman, behold your Son.\u201d \u201cSon, behold your mother.\u201d Jesus gives us this gift, this gift of a spiritual mother. He gives us His mother for ours, to take care of us and the whole church. And He does it as such an intense and important time. He finds it of such great importance, that this needs to happen. And He does it in a time of suffering so that, particularly when we\u2019re going through suffering, we have a mother to help us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"who-is-this-mother\">Who is This Mother?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>So who is this mother? Who is Mary? We have so many great teachings on Mary throughout the church. We have all these doctrines, and dogmas, and old devotions, and I\u2019m sure you see all the groups at your churches that will pray the Rosary, and you have The Knights of the Immaculate, The Militia Immaculata, that group, and you have The Legion of Mary, and you have all these devotional groups to Mary. But who is she? I want to kind of focus first on The Annunciation. An angel appears to her says \u201cHail, full of grace,\u201d \u201ckecharitomene\u201d \u201cHail you, who have already been perfected by grace.\u201d That\u2019s what that word means in Greek by the way. It\u2019s one of only two places that something similar is used in the Greek, but it\u2019s the only place that it\u2019s used that particularly to talk about a person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the angel showing up and using this word in the tense and the grammatical way that it\u2019s used is called the perfect passive participle, which means an action that is conveyed on a person that has already happened to completion, and it is accomplished perfectly. So Mary, he\u2019s saying \u201cYou, who have already been perfected by grace,\u201d the action of her receiving grace has already happened and she\u2019s been perfected in it. It\u2019s already happened, it\u2019s in past tense, and it happened to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Basically, he\u2019s referring to the Immaculate Conception. And we think of the Immaculate Conception as just Mary having sin kept from her, but we\u2019ll talk about it a little more after we go through Mary\u2019s responses here, but the Immaculate Conception actually gives Mary her identity. It\u2019s the grace given to her in view of her being the Mother of God, in virtue of her being Mother of God, which gives her this deep and intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">So the angel shows up and says \u201cHail, full of grace.\u201d And look closely at Mary\u2019s responses. She is this perfect woman filled with the <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/renewing-covenant-god-lent-lent-2018\/\">Word of God<\/a>. She sits, and she meditates, and she wonders what kind of greeting this is, and then the angel expounds on it. And she responds by asking these important questions, of \u201cWell, how is this going to be accomplished?\u201d Kind of like \u201cWell, how will this be?\u201d And she goes through this perfect way of responding to God\u2019s Word, where she\u2019s in this position of docility. And she responds by, in faith, \u201cHow is this going to happen? How is it going to apply to me? How does this happen in my life?\u201d And then she stands on it. She does the Magnificat, you know, \u201cBe it done to me according to Your Word.\u201d And then later on, \u201cAll generations will call me blessed.\u201d These two responses of such great faith. She gives her \u201cYes,\u201d her fiat, and she does this in times of when God\u2019s calling her to do something, but also in times of suffering. So she\u2019s just this great woman of the Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-mediatrix-of-grace\">The Mediatrix of Grace<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>And here, as she gives the fiat &#8211; this is where I want to call our attention back to what I was talking about with the Immaculate Conception &#8211; the Holy Spirit overshadows her again. Because it already happened at her Immaculate Conception. She\u2019s already filled with the Sprit from the moment that she comes into existence. Because of this, she has this intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit unlike anyone else. We call her the spouse of the Spirit, but Maximilian Kolbe even says the word \u201cspouse\u201d is far too weak, because nothing can explain the depth and reality of the relationship between Mary and the Holy Spirit, where they\u2019re two beings &#8211; one creator and one creature &#8211; but they are so intimately united that they live one life. Mary does everything through the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit does everything through Mary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">So every blessing, every grace that God is giving us, He is pouring out through His Spirit of love, and mercy, and truth, and He does so through His well-beloved spouse, Our Lady. And that\u2019s why we call her the mediatrix of grace. So if you can\u2019t see already, there\u2019s a great importance to going to her. Because, just as Jesus gives her to us on the cross, He desires to bless us through His mother. He desires that we receive <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/how-you-may-be-preventing-your-healing-healing-2018\/\">healing<\/a> through her, so much so that even His public ministry started with her. Mary is present at the wedding feast at Cana, and they run out of wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-wedding-of-cana\">The Wedding of Cana<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>So, of course, we see Mary is primarily concerned with our eternal salvation. Her main goal is to get us to Jesus. That\u2019s what she wants. It\u2019s constantly to bring us to her Son, bring us to her Son. But she\u2019s also concerned with everything in your life. She\u2019s concerned with the spiritual good, but she\u2019s also concerned with your temporal well-being. And this is how Jesus\u2019 public ministry started. So they show up to her and say \u201cWe ran out of wine,\u201d which was a big, big, big, big no-no at Jewish weddings. They would celebrate for a week straight, and there was a lot of wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So they run out, and it\u2019s this very simple but completely human need. \u201cWe ran out of wine.\u201d And Mary goes to Jesus and says, gives this problem to Him, and He responds \u201cWell, what is this to do with you and Me?\u201d And that\u2019s something that\u2019s often mistranslated. A lot of people will translate it and we read it as Jesus saying \u201cWell, what does this have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.\u201d But really, He\u2019s saying \u201cWhat is this to do with you and Me?\u201d And then when He says \u201cMy hour has not yet come,\u201d in the Gospel of John when He says \u201cMy hour,\u201d the hour is always referring to Calvary. He\u2019s already referring to the Passion. That\u2019s what we talked about at the beginning: That hour that Jesus is there, the reason he says at Cana \u201cWhat is this to do with you and Me?\u201d is because He knows that she\u2019s going to be there at Calvary when they complete this act of salvation together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So she\u2019s there to start His ministry by bringing this, and right after Jesus says \u201cWhat is this to do with you and Me?\u201d she turns to the servants and just says \u201cDo whatever He tells you.\u201d So right there, she starts His ministry. So she intercedes for the very beginning of Jesus bringing healing, and mercy, and teaching, and truth, and salvation to us. She starts it. She intercedes for it. And then He even references the fact that she\u2019s going to be there at the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"gebirah\">Gebirah<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>So obviously, Mary has this such an important role. And to go back into the Old Testament again, the reason for this is that, in the Old Testament, in the Davidic Kingdom&#8230; So we know that when the angel comes and says \u201cYou will bear a Son, and He will sit on a throne of David, His father.\u201d You know, we\u2019re going to the new heavenly Jerusalem, the city that David established. We\u2019re not going to the new Heavenly Sinai. So in heaven, it\u2019s just the recapitulation, it\u2019s the fulfillment of the Davidic kingdom. \u201cJesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!\u201d He fulfills as the new David. He\u2019s the Davidic king.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, in the Davidic kingdom, it was set up in a very specific and even hierarchical way. So Jesus takes twelve disciples because David had twelve officers. Jesus picks one of those to be what we call the Pope, the vicar of Christ, Peter. And in the Davidic kingdom, David had one prime minister. So Jesus is modeling this whole thing&#8230; His kingdom, which is the church, is the fulfillment of the Davidic kingdom, and He\u2019ll be the everlasting Davidic king. But also, interestingly enough, think about how many wives David and Solomon had. It wasn\u2019t any of the wives that became the queen. They had something called the Gebirah, which in Hebrew means \u201cGreat Lady.\u201d And the Gebirah was the Queen Mother, so it\u2019s the mother of the king, and she was the one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And this did a couple of things, but one of the simpler things is that having the mother be the queen showed the dynastic succession. It showed that this person who\u2019s the king now is the rightful heir. But it also cleared up some of the, you know, confusion that might have come with having so many wives. But one of the things that the Gebirah, this Queen Mother, would do is she was called the principal intercessor for the people. The people would come and they\u2019d bring their needs to the Queen Mother, and then she would go to the king and say \u201cGrant me this request, and do not refuse me.\u201d It was actually her juridical role. It was like a legislative kind of thing. She had an actual hierarchical role, where people would bring their needs to her and she would bring them to the king. Well, what does that sound like for us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, they would call the Gebirah \u201cThe mother of my Lord.\u201d So when Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary, and she goes to Elizabeth, what does Elizabeth say? \u201cWhat is to me that the mother of my Lord would come to me.\u201d She\u2019s getting down, she\u2019s giving praise and adoring the Christ child that\u2019s in Mary, and John the Baptist leaps in her womb and is pre-sanctified. But she\u2019s also saying \u201cYou are the new Queen Mother.\u201d She gives that title. She said \u201cThe mother of my Lord.\u201d So we see this importance that Mary has in this Davidic kingly role. She\u2019s the Queen Mother. So we are actually supposed to bring all of our needs to her, and it\u2019s actually her job to bring them to the Son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So she continues this. The church says that she continues this saving role uninterruptedly in heaven, so she never stopped. The moment of passing in her earthly live, being assumed, body and soul, into the heaven, she continues from heaven sitting in this role as the Queen Mother for all of us. And God did it in such a perfect way where He gives us this loving, empathetic, sympathetic, merciful mother. That\u2019s even what she comes as when she appears as Our Lady of Guadalupe. She\u2019s like your merciful mother. She\u2019s come to bring mercy. She brings God\u2019s mercy to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But we have a woman who was given to us on the cross, she\u2019s our spiritual mother, she\u2019s the Queen Mother. She\u2019s literally given the ability, she\u2019s given the authority, to go to God, to go to her Son, the King, and ask for these things. And then, because of her union with the Holy Spirit, she actually brings those graces to us. And this is a woman that went through suffering herself, that suffered poverty. This is the woman that had to fly the flight into Egypt for two and a half years because she was afraid that her Son was going to be killed, the Herodian dynasty was going to kill her Son because of the prophecy that He would be the king. She was living a life of poverty. She goes through all of the normal human sufferings that we all do. She, of course, went through the loss of family members. She even goes through the loss of her husband Joseph, because by the time Jesus\u2019 ministry starts we don\u2019t see him in the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-perfect-example-of-human-suffering\">The Perfect Example of Human Suffering<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>So Mary is this perfect example of how to go through human suffering, but also she suffers more than all of us. Because the capacity to suffer comes with the capacity to love. And because of her union to the Holy Spirit, she had a greater capacity to love, which means that she has a greater capacity to understand what she\u2019s losing. So in Calvary, not only is she suffering the pains of the crucifixion, but her love for Jesus is so much further beyond what any of us could comprehend that she suffers this immensely. The church actually says that the suffering was so intense that Mary almost died. She almost died in emulation of her Son, as the suffering that she was experiencing was so, so intense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">Here we have a woman that truly understands suffering, and she truly understands us. She gives us this great example, but she also gives us the tools to receive healing and grace from God. So that\u2019s why we should take up these great devotions, that\u2019s why we should really entrust ourselves to her, that\u2019s why should bring our petitions to her, and that\u2019s why we would really accept her. Bring her into your home, bring her into your life, just as <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/st-john-paul-ii-holy-eucharist-advent-2016\/\">John Paul<\/a> II did, and bring Mary into your heart as your mother, because she wants to take care of you. Pray to her, but do so in an intimate way. Don\u2019t just go through the mindless recitation of the structured prayers. The Hail Mary is beautiful, all of the other different Marian prayers are beautiful. But just as all other prayer and devotion, we have to be doing so from our heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"pick-up-the-rosary\">Pick Up the Rosary<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>I will say though: give special attention to the Rosary. You see all the old religious with their habits, they\u2019d wear the Rosary on their left side? Did you ever think about that? It\u2019s because knights back in the middle ages would wear their sword on their left side and they\u2019d unsheathe it, because most people were right-handed. So they wear the Rosary there because it\u2019s a spiritual sword, it\u2019s a weapon that we take up against the powers of evil, against Satan, because it\u2019s said that Mary crushes the head of the serpent in Genesis 3:15. She crushes the head of the serpent in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So pick up that Rosary and really cultivate your devotion and your personal relationship with her. Because she will crush the head of the serpent, and all of the difficulties in your life, and all of your suffering, and really just the spiritual battle that we all kind of are a part of &#8211; which is real, it is absolutely real, and we all encounter it. But also, the Rosary in such a special way, because eighteen of the twenty mysteries that we have in the Rosary &#8211; so this is including the ones that John Paul II added &#8211; eighteen of the twenty deal directly with the life of Jesus. They\u2019re pulling this from the scriptures. And as you\u2019re praying the words which, just to give practical advice, the praying of the Hail Marys, and the Glory Be\u2019s, and the Our Father should kind of be like your timekeeper, but what you focus on is the mystery you\u2019re meditating on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, in reality, what you\u2019re doing is you\u2019re meditating on scripture while praying the words of scripture, the anointed Word of God. And, as Jesus said, \u201cThe Holy Spirit will remind you all things that I have taught you.\u201d So the Holy Spirit and His relationship with Mary here, Mary will pray, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit will come and fill you. And you really meditate, and you make these mysteries present to you and yourself present to them. And this is how we really get a glimpse of the heart of God, and also the heart of Our Mother, who\u2019s there to walk with you. And as you hold the Rosary, she holds her hand through all of these difficulties and sufferings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that\u2019s what I would really offer you. Mary is this merciful mother that comes to bless us, to lead us through all of our difficulties. She comes to bring restoration in all areas. And as we really need it today, she brings restoration to the family, you know. She is this perfect example of motherhood, and she elevates motherhood, and what does motherhood do when it\u2019s elevated? But it elevates fatherhood. And then the elevation of motherhood and fatherhood elevates this family. And we need to bring the reemphasis on the family in today\u2019s culture, so then you have these people to endure these sufferings with. So, again, thank you for joining me, and let\u2019s just end in a prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"closing-prayer\">Closing Prayer<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\"><em>In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank You and we praise You for Your love and Your mercy. We ask that, after this example of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we would truly know how to walk in trust. We would walk in trust, and thankfulness, and <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/eliminating-self-comparison-for-grateful-reality-lent-2021\/\">gratitude<\/a>, particularly in times of suffering. And we say glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thank you, and God bless you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"about-joshua-mazrin\">About Joshua Mazrin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Joshua-Mazrin-Headshot.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5058\" width=\"256\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Joshua-Mazrin-Headshot.png 310w, https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Joshua-Mazrin-Headshot-243x300.png 243w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/speaker-joshua-mazrin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Joshua Mazrin<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/a>is a Catholic speaker and writer.&nbsp;He is a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville with a Bachelors and Masters in Theology, while also currently working on his PhD in Systematic Theology at Ave Maria University. Joshua also serves as Director of Evangelization for the Catholic Diocese of Venice in Florida. You can learn more about him&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.joshuamazrin.com\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/The-Pray-More-Healing-Retreat-bottom-box.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1544\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summary Joshua discusses the importance of Our Blessed Mother\u2019s role in our lives as children of God. He talks about her origin and her suffering as the perfect example of human suffering. He urges us to pray the Rosary and begin our devotion to Our Lady, Our Mother, as she is there to help us [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5374,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"plain-container","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Our Blessed Mother Mary: Her Suffering and Ours - Healing 2019 - The Pray More Retreat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/our-blessed-mother-mary-her-suffering-and-ours-healing-2019\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our Blessed Mother Mary: Her Suffering and Ours - Healing 2019 - The Pray More Retreat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Summary Joshua discusses the importance of Our Blessed Mother\u2019s role in our lives as children of God. 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