“Woman, behold your son: behold your mother” (John 19:26)

This is the third word of Jesus from the Cross.  The first had been a prayer for his enemies; the second came a little nearer home when he made a promise to one who had been his enemy.  This third word brings him now to his nearest and dearest, to his blessed Mother and John the beloved apostle who, watching by him at the foot of the Cross, had a share in his sufferings.

It was the fearless love of Mary for her Son which brought her to Calvary, and it was her example which shamed St John into escorting her.  He could not allow her to go alone and expose herself to the sneers or insults of the mob.  And so they are together with Our Lord for his last hours on earth.

The prophecy of Simeon was now fulfilled, and the sword which he had foretold over 30 years before was piercing her soul through and through.  But how much worse was the reality than its foreshadowing!  Little did she imagine that day in the Temple when Simeon put her boy back in her arms that she was to watch him hanging from the Cross by those same hands with which childlike he then clung to her.  That was the pain that was inseparable from her privilege of being the Mother of God.

The grief of St John was very different: it was the torment of a man who had failed his Master and Friend and now found that it was too late to make amends.  He had bolted ignominiously in Gethsemane leaving Jesus deserted and alone; and in the palace of Caiaphas he could not nerve himself to utter one word of friendship or support.  There was no excuse to ease his soul as he heaped reproach after reproach upon himself; and now he was obliged to stand in all his shame and self-loathing before his Master’s eyes.

And as Jesus looked upon these two, his Mother and his friend, he saw into the hearts of each, the one broken by grief, the other by penitence; and to each he brought comfort.

“Woman, behold your Son”.  To her he gave the beloved disciple to take the place which he himself had occupied at Nazareth.  She would not have to face the years alone.  She and John would share and lighten the mutual burden of their sorrow; and from him she would be able to learn the inner story of the past three years, and so piece together the pattern of that part of her Son’s life which she had not shared.

“Behold your Mother”.  That was John’s absolution.  In what surer way could Our Lord show his forgiveness and his continuing love and trust, than by committing his most precious earthly treasure, his Virgin Mother, to the still beloved apostle.  And John, by caring for her, could make amends for his failure to stand by her Son in his hour of need.

That bitter sorrow through which they then passed could not help but have an indelible effect on their souls; and though that sorrow has now long since given place to the joy of the Lord, yet its memory can never be effaced.

But theirs is no selfish joy, making them unmindful of us who bear the name of Christian and as such are marked as Christ’s brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2:11).  On the contrary, they now pray for us in our griefs and troubles out of their own experience; and they pray not only with sympathy and understanding but with power.  For if, even on earth, as St James tells us, “The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective” (NRSV, 5:16), how much truer is that of the Saints whose holiness is so complete that they have free and open access to the throne of God himself?

So, from the early years of Christianity, the principal way in which Christians have had fellowship with their fellow Christians in Heaven has been by asking them for their prayers.

The Saints must be fully conscious of the great volume of prayer which is being offered to them by their brothers and sisters here in the world, and they pray for all who pray to them.  And when our need is great, they who “..all truth and knowledge see in the beatific vision of the blessèd Trinity” (1), they learn from God of our particular distress and pray to him for us with full understanding of our need.

Thus when we ask one or more of the Saints to pray for us, whether our need be great or small, whether we be known personally to them or are one of a throng, we take a place in their intercession and receive God’s grace and power which that intercession calls down upon us.

And as within the fellowship of Christ’s Church we can benefit so greatly by asking the blessed Saints in Heaven to remember us in their prayers, so we must be equally ready to pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in Purgatory and on earth.

The souls of the faithful departed, and especially our own departed relations and friends, rely on us to intercede for them so that they may the more quickly progress towards the perfection and the joy of Heaven and take their place among the blessed Saints.  We must not fail them.

One day we too shall long to have the prayers of those whom we shall have left behind.  And here in this troubled world, in this vale of tears, there is not one of us who does not know someone in sorrow, or anxiety or pain or distress of some kind, who could and would be strengthened and consoled if only we would remember to pray for them, and thus set in motion God’s healing and strengthening power which all prayer releases.

Let us then ask ourselves first: “What fellowship do we have with the Saints in Heaven, which is our true home, by asking them for their prayers?”

And secondly: “How much time do we give to intercession for others both living and departed, and how many do we actually pray for?”

The Saints do not forget us.  Let us be equally generous to others; for mutual prayer and intercession is the link which makes earth and Purgatory and Heaven all one.

Reference

1. Wordsworth, C. (1862) Hark! The sound of holy voices.  Available from: http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/h/h081.html (Accessed 29 March 2011) (Internet).