Mary: Our Lady, Refuge of Sinners

Today, August 13, we celebrate the feast of Our Blessed Mother, Mary: Our Lady, Refuge of Sinners.


O Mary, Mother of Mercy and Refuge of sinners, we beseech thee, be pleased to look with pitiful eyes upon poor heretics and schismatics. Thou who art the Seat of Wisdom, enlighten the minds that are miserably enfolded in the darkness of ignorance and sin, that they may clearly know that the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church is the one true Church of Jesus Christ, outside of which neither holiness nor salvation can be found. Finish the work of their conversion by obtaining for them the grace to accept all the truths of our Holy Faith, and to submit themselves to the Supreme Roman Pontiff, the Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth; that so, being united with us in the sweet chains of Divine charity, there may soon be one only fold under the same one Shepherd; and may we all, O Glorious Virgin, sing forever with exultation: Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, thou only hast destroyed all heresies in the whole world. Amen. (Pope Pius IX)

Our Blessed Mother is the refuge of sinners—that is, each of us. Despite our unworthiness, she does not distance herself from us, but rather intercedes for us with constancy and love in heaven. The immaculate purity of the Blessed Virgin—Our Mother—is a spring, constantly renewing itself in the purity of God, from God, and inaccessible to sin. Through this purity, we are able to partake in the holiness of Jesus—a privilege granted to Mary as Mother of God, and begun in her Immaculate Conception. Even in the worst of our sins, we can enjoy perfect holiness within the prayers and grace of Mary, our refuge.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

By asking Mary to pray for us, we acknowledge ourselves to be poor sinners and we address ourselves to the "Mother of Mercy," the All-Holy One. We give ourselves over to her now, in the Today of our lives. And our trust broadens further, already at the present moment, to surrender wholly to her care at "the hour of our death." May she be there as she was at her Son's death on the Cross. May she welcome us as our mother at the hour of our passing to lead us to her Son, Jesus, in paradise

Prayer to Mary, Refuge of Sinners
by Saint Alphonsus Liguori

O most holy and pure Virgin! O my Mother! You who are the Mother of my Lord, the Queen of the world, the advocate and refuge of sinners! I, a most wretched sinner, now come to you. I honor you, great Queen, and give you humble thanks for the many favors which have come to me in the past through your intercession. I love you, Lady most worthy of all love, and by the love which I bear you, I promise ever in the future to honor you, and to do what lies in me to win others to your love. Receive me as your servant, and cover me with the mantle of your protection, you who are the Mother of mercy! And since you have so much power with God, implore him to deliver me from all temptations, and to give me the grace ever to overcome them. Pray for me that I may love Christ in this world as you love him, and intercede for me that I may have the grace of a good death. O my Mother! by your love for God I beseech you to be at all times my helper, but above all at the last moment of my life. Cease not your supplications until you see me safe in heaven, there for countless ages to bless you and, your holy company, to worship and adore your Son, for ever and ever. Amen