Our Lady of Silence

There are many words one could use to describe our Lady...beautiful, loving, sweet...well, just think of the Litany of Loreto and you can get a list of descriptive words. How about silent?

A few years ago one of my dear sisters gave me a very lovely book as a gift. The title of this little treasure is A Woman Wrapped in Silence by John W. Lynch. This narrative poem was written in 1941 and is considered a classic.

I would like to share a touching part of the book here. It is at the Crucifixion and our Blessed Lord had just spoken one of the seven last words:

"Behold thy mother..."

"The sounding of His words
Repeated and returned within her when
He'd done with speaking, and His parched lips closed.
Returned. Returned within her. Over. Over.
"Son. They mother." He was saying..."Woman.
Son. They mother." A And His meaning bent
And dark, and poised above the pain, descended
On her in demand so huge, so weighed,
She found her instant summoning of answer
Could not be, save in the whole bequeathing
Of her heart to void, and in complete
Oblation that should leave no more of her.
He'd asked He be to her no longer son!..."

Oh there is so much more beauty in the words that are contained in that book...so much pain suffered by our Lady!

It is a book you will read and read over again. Its words and imagery will stay with you a long time. It will be invaluable aid when meditating on the Holy Rosary of our Lady.

This brings me to the following:

On a previous post I shared the following:

Silence is a very important part of the spiritual life. It fosters prayer and holiness. It fosters listening to God and hearing God’s will for us. It also helps our emotional life for it helps us to be calm, ordered and still. "Be still and know that I am God," we are told in the Bible. It is interesting and significant that we are told—not to read, or learn or study—but to be still to know God. God speaks in the silence of our heart. God speaks to us, mostly, when we are still and silent.

Our Lady can help us to be or to become silent. If we turn to Our Blessed Mother in prayer and ask for the grace to be silent, to have silence in our life, then we shall be enriched by the blessing of silence. Each day we should set aside at least a few moments for a time of silence with Mary, placing ourselves in Our Lady’s presence and being quiet, still and silent. During this prayer time we will be renewed and refreshed by graces of silence and stillness given to us by Our Lady. Here’s a little verse that might help:

Mary, Mother of God teach me to be still.
Then listening I'll understand to do God’s Holy Will.

These graces must be cherished throughout the rest of the day. Turn off the T.V., the radio; turn off the noise. Seek silence. Be still and prayerfully quiet. Our world is filled with noise. Break the noise habit. Another encroachment upon silence is the "noise of news." By learning the news even from the newspaper, our hearts can be disturbed and our minds filled with worries. A dose of the world’s tragedies can be unsettling and unsilencing. Strive to be more peace-filled. It does take effort, it does take prayer and it takes giving up things—like noise.

Ask Our Lady to help you to increase the silence in your life. Spend time each day cultivating silence. Tell your loved ones what you are doing so they'll understand. And when you have cultivated a more silent and calm mind and heart return thanks to Our Blessed Mother for this precious, priceless gift.

Then there is another form of silence. It is more difficult. To be silent when hurt, or insulted. To be silent when angry. To refrain from uttering hurting, cutting words. To be silent when opposed or contradicted. This isn't easy. Ask Our Lady for help. Ask to be a little like Her Son, who was silent before His accusers.

Let’s have a special devotion to Our Lady of Silence. Fr. Abram Ryan, the priest-poet, referred to walking "down the valley of silence." Let’s make an effort to visit that valley. Let’s give silence a place in our life, our minds and our hearts. It will help us to be holier, calmer and healthier. Let’s start today. But we need help. Let’s turn to Our Lady of Silence, to Mary Our Mother.