An Apology to The Blessed Mother

Nellie Edward/ PaintedFaith

Dear Blessed Mother,

I owe you a long overdue apology. Recently, in adoration, while contemplating the suffering and death of Jesus, I glanced upon an image of you. I thought of you watching the torture and death of your Son. I realized that it was thoughtless of me to never have told you that I am sorry for my part in his passion and crucifixion.  My sins, added to the sins of the world caused his suffering. That means that my sins also caused your suffering.   

I have apologized to Jesus for my part in his agony, but I also share the blame for your tears.  It is hard for any mother to watch her child suffer. What must it have been like for you, Blessed Mother, to watch your beaten and bruised Son, drag his cross to Calvary and then to be nailed upon it? You were the perfect mother with the perfect son---yet, you had to stand by and watch unimaginable horrors inflicted upon him by the very people he came to save.

Your will is always united to God’s will. You accepted that your Son—God the Father’s only-begotten son--should be born simply in a manager and eventually die in our place. “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).  

At the foot of the cross, Jesus gave you over to St. John the Apostle and to all of us.  You have been a loving mother, hearing our pleas and interceding to Jesus for us, just as you did at Cana where he performed his first miracle.

By Nellie Edwards 

Thank you for everything you have done for us, from bearing Jesus and accepting your suffering, to your beautiful devotions.  The 15 promises of the rosary that you gave to St. Dominic, walks us through the Gospels and according to St. Padre Pio, is “the weapon.”  

  Thank you for the powerful spiritual tools you have given us to make reparation for our sins and the offenses against you. The Seven Sorrows Devotion that has been passed on by St. Bridget, grants seven graces to those who honor you daily by meditating on your tears and sorrows.  Contemplating your sorrows brings me closer to Jesus:

The prophecy of Simeon

The flight into Egypt

The loss of the Child Jesus in the temple

The meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross

The Crucifixion

The taking down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross

The burial of Jesus

Thank you also for the opportunity to atone for the sins of the world and for the outrages against you through the 5 First Saturdays.  You promised St. Lucia, who as a child was present during the Fatima Apparitions, that at the hour of death, you will be present with the actual grace of final perseverance for those that practice that devotion.   And through St. Louis de Montefort, you have invited us to consecrate our lives to you, so that everything we do will be taken in your arms up to your Son.

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Artwork is by Nellie Edwards at PaintedFaith