Our Lady

As, therefore, we ask our friends on earth to pray for us or for others, so we should ask our friends in Heaven, the Blessed Saints, to pray for us.  First of all the Saints is Our Lady, St Mary, the Mother of Jesus.  She is nearer to him than any other human being because she is the only one whom he can call ‘Mother’.  And since she, like Jesus, looks on us as his brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2:11,12), we also can look on her as our Mother.  So, because we know Our Lady cares for us, we can confidently ask her to pray for us.

We can do this when we say the Hail Mary.  The first three lines of this prayer come from the greeting of the Archangel Gabriel himself when he announced to Mary that she was to be the Mother of Jesus (Luke 1: 28), and from the greeting of Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth (Luke 1:42).  The fourth line reminds us that Jesus is God the Son and that therefore, as Mother of Jesus, Mary is also Mother of God.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.  Amen.

We should also ask Mary to pray for us when we are in trouble, and we may be sure that she will do so