Our Patroness – Mary, the Mother of Jesus

From the very early years of our foundress Mary Ward’s life, love for Jesus and trust in Mother Mary formed the foundation of her Spiritual life. Her devotion to Mother Mary was so great and tenderly dear that she urged her sisters to choose her as their special patroness; love and reverence her with all their strength and fly to her with filial confidence in all their necessities. She desired that our devotion to mother Mary should be the badge and uniform of our Institute. Hence, from the time of Mary Ward, the Congregation of Jesus and all its members have been distinguished by a particular reverence for Mary, the Mother Jesus.

Treasuring this sacred tradition our pioneering sisters dedicated our school to Mother Mary and christened it ‘St. Mary’s Convent School’, which today is known by the name ‘St. Mary’s Convent Inter College, Prayagraj. The sacred history of St. Mary’s Convent Prayagraj recorded by Mother Frederick Schoener IBMV in the book ‘Under Mary’s Mantle’, tells us, “The blessing of the Convent building took place in 1887 on Nov. 21st, the Feast of Mother Mary’s Presentation. There was a procession of the students, sisters, priests and people lead by Bishop Dr. Pesci of happy memories from St. Joseph’s Cathedral to the Convent. Entering the Convent they assembled around the statue of Mother Mary which had been placed on the table, decorated with flowers.”

A new beginning was created in the history of human kind when Mary was born. In God’s gracious plan she was born to Joachim and Anne in their advancing years. God chose her from the first moment of her existence in the womb of her mother Anne and filled her with the gifts needed to fulfill her special role as the mother of God. Undoubtedly, the most glorious girl child to grace this planet as “our tainted nature’s solitary boast” was Mary, the mother of Jesus. Thus Mary’s birth was a momentous event in the salvation history of mankind; and in her life we see the magnificent design of God’s plan for the human race unfolding gracefully.

At the annunciation when God consulted Mary about becoming the mother of His Son, she surrendered her life to Him saying, “Let it be done to me according to your word”, and lovingly placed herself at the service of God and mankind. The Sacred Scriptures reveal Mary as a humble yet courageous woman whose ‘Yes’ to God made possible the Incarnation. Truly her greatness was in responding freely and faithfully to what God had chosen her to be from all eternity

The beautiful harmony of Mary’s nature made her a model of being receptive to God’s Word; being prompt in saying ‘yes’ to God’s will and in being sensitive, caring and other oriented. Because of her tremendous faith and trust in God she had a praise-filled and joyful attitude towards all events of her life. With deep faith and trust in God Mary stood by Jesus from the crib to the cross on Calvary. From her life of faith and prayer we can learn how to listen to God’s word that it may bear fruit in our lives.

God entrusts his riches, his wisdom, his mysteries and his miracles only to the faithful hearers of His Word. Mary heard the word of God, kept it faithfully in her heart, pondering over it with single-minded concentration and continued unwavering in the long and hard way ahead of her. Yet in the eyes of the world Mary did not accomplish great things. She was like any other house wife engaged in chores of her day to-day life. But she lived her ordinary life in the spirit of her ‘fiat’ making it extraordinary. For Mary nothing was too small or too little; everything was important and had to be attended with equal devotion and attention. Mary was perfected through her faithfulness in little things and her glory consisted in the positive option she made for building up God’s kingdom of love, justice and peace in our world.

Mother Mary is the bright Morning Star that lights up the dark corners of our world with HOPE. As we recall with love the countless blessings we have received from her let us sing a hymn of joy and gratitude to her and pray to mother Mary in the words of Blessed Mother Teresa

“Mary, Mother of Jesus, give me your heart,
so full of love and humility.
That I may be able to love Jesus as you loved Him.
And serve Him in the poorest of the poor.”
May mother Mary ‘the empowered woman of vision and spiritual stamina’ forever remain our Mother and Companion along the road of life.