Comforter of the Afflicted

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

“As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the babe in my womb leapt for joy” (Luke 1:44), so said St. Elizabeth when Our Lady visited her.

Throughout her life, Our Lady must have been a great source of consolation, joy, and support to anyone with a weight that may have felt too heavy to bear alone.

On that night in Bethlehem, when St. Joseph explained the pressing need for lodging, going door to door to one house after another, and he found that no door would open to them, Our Lady must have given St. Joseph words of encouragement (cf. Luke 2:7).

One smile from Our Lady would have been enough for St. Joseph to find the strength to go and make the most of whatever he had found—a stable on the outskirts of the little town.

On the flight into Egypt, she would have been a tower of strength for him and helped him to set up things again in that country (cf. Matt. 2:13-15).

Joseph himself was a man of fortitude, but it would have been easier for him to do what he must do to fulfill the Will of God when he was sustained by the encouragement of Our Lady.

Her neighbors in Nazareth must have always found encouragement, upliftment, and understanding in her words.

The apostles found refuge in her company, particularly when everything turned dark and meaningless after the death of Christ on the Cross. They were united in prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus (cf. Acts 1:13-14).

When they returned from placing the Body of Our Lord in the sepulcher, at a time when families in Jerusalem were getting ready to celebrate the Paschal feast, those very apostles, who had fled numb with shock and disoriented, must have turned automatically to Our Lady.

From then on, she has never ceased to comfort those who are oppressed by sorrow, loneliness, or suffering—particularly those who may have a broken heart.

This world is full of broken hearts, and Our Lady allowed her own heart to be pierced by a sword, a spiritual sword, on the Cross (cf. Luke 2:34-35).

God willed it that way so that she could always be a refuge for all time, for everybody in the world who might be suffering from a broken heart, or who knows somebody who has one.

“She has shielded innumerable Christians from persecution, freed many souls possessed by the devil or besieged by temptations, saved countless peoples imperiled from anxiety. She has strengthened and helped many of the dying by reminding them as they lay on their deathbeds of the infinite merits of her Son” (Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, The Mother of the Saviour).

If ever our life becomes a bit of a misery, or we’re overwhelmed by apparently insoluble difficulties, or crushed by illness, or daunted by seeming failure in our dedication to an apostolic task, or we’re threatened by discouragement in the effort of bringing up our family, or dismayed at the obstacles that just keep piling up—then we can turn to Our Lady, Comforter of the Afflicted.

We know that we will always find encouragement and strength to fulfill the lovable Will of her Son. We can say to her slowly, “Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, hail, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.” Blessed Álvaro del Portillo liked to point out that with Our Lady, how sweet everything is.

From her, we will learn how to console and hearten others in their struggle. We will be compassionate and reach out to those who are in need of our help—people who may be in situations of disaster or in minor worries.

We will know how to give a word of encouragement here, a word of condolence there, with a merciful attitude that is so pleasing to Our Lord.

Our Lady is Comforter of the Afflicted because, first of all, we favor those that we love, and nobody has had a greater love than Our Lady for those who belong to the family of her Son. In her we can find every grace that we need to win through in the fight against temptation, in our apostolate, and in our work.

She will remind us that in the Rosary we have a powerful weapon with which to overcome all the obstacles that we may meet along the way.

Following the constant teachings of the Roman Pontiffs, many Christians throughout the world have made the daily Rosary a part of their life of piety. They often recite it as a family prayer, or alone in a church, while walking along the street, or travelling in some form of transport.

The Book of Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) says, “In me is to be found every grace of doctrine and of truth, every hope of life and of virtue” (Ecclus. 24:25).

In Friends of God, St. Josemaría says. “How wise the Church has been to put these words on Our Mother's lips so that we Christians do not forget them. She is our safety, the love that never fails, the refuge ever open to us, the hand ever ready to caress and console” (Josemaría Escrivá, Friends of God, Point 279).

n the Psalms we pray, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains, from where shall come my help? My help shall come from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Ps. 121:1-2).

Very often that pathway that Our Lord gives to us to find that help is in Our Lady. She is always there for us. She will always listen to the petitions that we make to her.

She wants us to be persevering in prayer, like that tireless widow in the Gospel. The widow never stopped asking and banging on the door.

And after many refusals to hear her case, the unjust judge finally relents. And so, the weaker party has triumphed.

The reason for the victory of that poor widow does not lie in any conversion on the judge's part. The widow has just worn down the defenses of the judge to the point of his capitulation by not giving up (cf. Luke 18:1-6).

Our Lord in that parable concludes by saying, “Now will not God see justice done to those who cry to him day and night, even when he delays to help them?” (Luke 18:7).

God, who is full of mercy, awaits our steadfast prayer. Our Lady must be waiting for something similar. She wants us to really want the things that we ask for.

Until the end of time, the Church will offer up constant supplication to God the Father through Jesus Christ in the unity of the Holy Spirit, and through Mary.

The Church prays for all the needs of her children. It is the primary responsibility of the Church and the first duty of her priests.

That’s the most important thing that each one of us can accomplish because we too are defenseless like the widow in the parable.

At the conclusion of that parable, Our Lord says, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8).

Will the Lord find faith as unswerving as that of that insistent widow? She has the faith of the children of God who believe in the goodness and power of their Father in heaven.

Man may come to shut God out of his life. He might not feel the need for God anymore. He might seek reasons and solutions to the problems in life, to which only Our Lord can provide satisfactory answers. Such as these will never find the good things, the truths, which are indispensable.

But Our Lady has told us: “He has looked upon the lowliness of his handmaid…he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away” (Lk. 1:48, 53).

Our Lady teaches us to go to Our Lord like needy children, and we have to use all the means that are required, whatever the circumstances.

The Holy Curé of Ars would tell the story of a founder of an orphanage who was considering the use of advertisements to attract donations. The saint advised that founder, “Rather than making noise in the papers, why don't you make a fuss before the tabernacle?”

Our Lord wants us to bring our concerns before Him right there in Our Lady. She has her hands open.

We have to use human means also if that will help. But down through the centuries, Christians have been moved to present their petitions to God through Our Lady.

St. Bernard teaches us that our advocate was assumed into heaven, precisely so that she could act as Mother of the Judge and Mother of Mercy. There she will work on behalf of our salvation (St. Bernard, Sermon I on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary). We should not fail to go to her with all of our needs each day.

There is a story told of a young military person who was doing military service in a certain country. In the summertime, they would go to there to do this particular job.

There was a brand-new lieutenant who showed up at the post to give orders. The lieutenant told this young fellow to go to a certain place, but to go there on horseback. This young fellow had never ridden before.

So that evening at dinner, he was asking many people around the place all about horses, looking for suggestions. Somebody said, “Look, all you have to do is to get up on the horse with confidence, and don't let the horse suspect that this is your first time, that you've never ridden before. That's absolutely critical.”

Early the next morning, the soldier got a horse and did as he was told. He climbed onto the horse, but in such a way that the animal knew immediately who was in charge. The horse took off at a trot. This young military conscript was clearly alarmed.

The horse eventually stopped when it felt like it. He began to graze, paying no attention to the rider who was pulling on the reins. Then, again when the horse felt like it, it would break into a trot along the journey. And sometimes it would canter. The young conscript was totally distraught.

Then he came across a team of army engineers who were laying some electrical cables. One of the engineers called out, “Hey, you, where are you heading?”

With an act of resignation, the young conscript with an air of confusion said, “Who, me? I'm going to such and such a place. But I don't know where the horse is going.”

We might be asked the same question: “Hey, you! Where are you going?”

We might be tempted to say, “I'm headed for love. I'm headed for truth. I'm headed for joy. What I don't know is where life is taking me!” (Ángel María García Dorronsoro, Time to Believe).

It would be marvelous if we could answer the question saying, “I'm going to God through my work, through my difficulties, perhaps through my ill health.” This is where the goods of the earth should be leading us.

It would be a pity if we had converted those things into a means and not an end.

We can ask Our Lady that she might keep us on the right track, so we might always know what our destination is, and know the means of finding God in the ordinary things of each day.

We might ask Our Lady that wherever life may seem to be taking us, it might take us in the right direction, with the guidance of Our Lady. And through the old ups and downs, or difficulties or contradictions that we might experience, Our Lady will be there to guide us to that safe home.

Our Lady is truly our hope. She helps us to put our hearts in the right place and helps us to go in the right direction, even if it might seem that everything else is going in the opposite direction.

From the earliest times, Christians have been inspired to pray to God through the intercession of Our Lady. She showed the power of her intercession at Cana in Galilee (John 2:1-11).

The Second Vatican Council has stated in Lumen gentium that in the public life of Our Lord, Mary makes significant appearances. This is so even at the very beginning, when at the marriage feast of Cana, moved with pity, she brought about by her intercession the beginning of the miracles of Jesus the Messiah.

Our Lady is always present in the salvific work of Our Lord. On that specific occasion, she not only resolved the immediate crisis concerning the wine, which Our Lord provided in great measure, but she also confirmed the faith of the disciples.

We’re told in St. John: “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11).

Our Lady is always attentive to the needs and problems of her children. She is a great intercessor on our behalf. She speeds up our petitions to Our Lord and puts them better than we could if so needed.

St. Alphonsus says, “Why are the prayers of Mary so highly regarded by God?”

He says, “Let us remember that the prayers of the saints are the prayers of his servants. But the prayers of Mary are the prayers of his Mother. This is the reason for their efficacy and authority. Since Jesus has an incredible love for his Mother, he responds to her every request.”

St. Alphonsus continues, “To go deeper in our understanding of Mary's importance, we need only turn to the Gospel text. The wine failed at the marriage feast at Cana. The bridal party was at risk of great embarrassment. No one asked Our Lady to become involved, to seek her Son's assistance.

“Here we see the heart of Mary quick to respond with sympathy for the family. She takes the task of intercession upon herself. Acting on her own initiative, she asks Our Lord for a miracle. If this was her way of acting when no one had asked for her help, what would be her response to those who pray for her intercession?” (Alphonsus Liguori, Abbreviated Sermons).

Our Lady is a Mother who is more attentive to all our needs than any other mother on earth ever has been or ever will be.

A miracle at Cana takes place because Our Lady has interceded. It happens only because of her petition.

In the Litany, we refer to Our Lady as Virgin Most Powerful. It is the name that Christian piety has given to her, because her Son is God and cannot refuse her anything (John Paul II, Homily, October 21, 1979).

She is always aware of our spiritual and material needs. She desires, even more than we do, that we should not cease imploring her intercession before God on our behalf.

We may be so needy, and yet we may be slow to ask. We may show little trust and little patience when what we ask for seems a long time in coming.

We can turn more frequently to Our Lady, Comforter of the Afflicted. We can put more trust into our petitions, knowing that she will always obtain for us what we most need.

If she obtained from her Son wine that was not absolutely necessary, would she not find a solution for all those other needs that we have?

We’re told in The Forge, Point 807, “I want, Lord, to abandon the care of all my affairs into your generous hands. Our Mother—your Mother—will have let you hear those words, now as in Cana: ‘They have none!’ I believe in you, I hope in you, I love you, Jesus. I want nothing for myself: it’s for them.”

Our Lady is truly Our Mother in that she is continually giving birth to the supernatural life within us.

The Second Vatican Council says, “She conceived, brought forth, and nourished Christ, she presented him to the Father in the temple, shared her Son's sufferings as he died on the cross. And so, in a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the work of the Savior in restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason, she is a Mother to us in the order of grace (Vatican II, Lumen gentium, Point 61, November 21, 1964).

That motherhood, we are told by the Council, “will last forever…until the perpetual consummation of all the elect. For, having been assumed to heaven, she has not left behind the salvific mission, but through her constant intercession, continues to obtain for us the gifts of eternal salvation.

“With her motherly love, she looks after the brothers and sisters of her Son, who are still wayfarers and a prey to danger and uncertainty until they at last reach their heavenly home” (Ibid., Point 62).

Our Lord gave us Our Mother after He had been nailed to the Cross: “‘Woman, behold your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother!’” (John 19:26-27).

St. John Paul II says, “In a new way, he bequeathed his own Mother to the man: the man to whom he has transmitted the Gospel. He has bequeathed her to all men. … From that day onwards, the whole Church has her as Mother. And all men have her as Mother. The words pronounced upon the Cross are understood as being addressed to each one of us” (John Paul II, General Audience, January 10, 1979).

Our Lord looks at us one by one. ‘Behold your mother,’ He says.

John took her into his home, received her lovingly, and cared for her with the greatest respect.

“He brought Mary into his home, into his life,” said St. Josemaría in Christ Is Passing By. “Spiritual writers have seen these words of the Gospel as an invitation to all Christians to bring Mary into their lives. Mary certainly wants us to invoke [her], to approach her confidently, to appeal to her as Our Mother, asking her to ‘show that you are Our Mother’"(J. Escrivá, Christ Is Passing By, Point 140).

In giving His Mother to be Our Mother, Christ gives proof of His love for His own until the end (cf. John 13:1). In accepting the Apostle John as her son, Our Lady shows her motherly love for all men.

She has had a distinctive and decisive influence on our lives. Each of us has our own experience. Looking back, we may see her intervention behind every problem, driving us forward and with a definitive push to make us begin anew.

One writer says, “Whenever I get down to thinking about the numerous graces I have received from Mary, I feel like one of those Marian shrines on the walls of which, covered with offerings, there is inscribed only, ‘Through the grace received from Mary.’ In this way, it seems that I'm written all over, ‘Through grace received from Mary.’

“Every good thought, every good act of the will, every movement of my heart: ‘Through the grace received from Mary’” (Guiseppe Maria Masserano, The Life of St. Leonard of Port Maurice).

We can turn to Our Lady once again, Comforter of the Afflicted, and ask her to show herself to be a Mother to us, and that we will also try to prove ourselves to be good children of hers, turning to her with more faith and confidence, knowing that we will find consolation and joy for all our needs.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

NJF