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"I have chosen you and have not rejected you." -
Isaiah 41:9
She
Comes to the Imprisoned
Saint
Catherine of Alexandria is one of the most celebrated martyrs of the early
Church, a young noblewoman of extraordinary learning who, according to
tradition, confounded fifty pagan philosophers in debate, converted the Empress
of Rome, and was ultimately martyred under the Emperor Maxentius around the
year 305.
Before her martyrdom, during her imprisonment, the tradition holds that Our
Lady appeared to Catherine with the Christ Child, consoling her, strengthening
her, and promising her the crown of heaven. It was a visitation entirely in
keeping with who Mary is; she comes especially to those who suffer for the
faith. She comes to the imprisoned. She comes to the ones who are forgotten by
the world because they would not compromise what they believed.
Catherine had used her brilliant mind in the service of truth. She had debated,
argued, and refused to recant. The cost was her life. And into her prison cell
came the Mother of God, bringing the one thing no prison wall could contain:
the certainty of love and the promise of home.
She was not abandoned in that cell. She was visited. That is what our Mother
does.
Today's
Gospel - John 16:23-28
Jesus
said: "Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete."
He was speaking to His disciples on the eve of His death, reassuring them that
even after He was gone, access to the Father remained open. Ask. Receive. Be
filled with joy.
Catherine asked for the strength to endure. Our Lady came with the answer in her
arms, the Christ Child, the joy that no dungeon could diminish. The asking was
answered before Catherine fully understood what she had asked for.
"Ask, and you will receive." It is still true. In every prison,
literal or otherwise, in every isolated and forgotten place, the access is
still open. The Mother still comes. The joy is still offered.
A Prayer
Our
Lady, you who consoled Catherine in her prison cell, console all who are
imprisoned today.
Those
in literal prisons and those in prisons of illness, grief, addiction,
depression, and loneliness. Those who suffer because of their faith and those
who suffer because they cannot yet find it. Those who feel forgotten by
everyone except you.
Come
to their cells. Bring what you brought to Catherine, not just comfort, but the
presence of your Son. Remind them that no wall is thick enough to keep you out,
and no darkness deep enough to hide the light He carries.
Our
Lady, Consoler of the Imprisoned, pray for us. Amen.
Reflection
Our
Lady came to Catherine not after she was free, but while she was still in
chains. The consolation came before the crown.
Is there someone you know who is suffering right now, imprisoned in some way,
who needs someone to visit them the way Our Lady visited Catherine? Not to fix
things, just to be present. Could you visit with them today?
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
Freely given. Freely shared.
