Mary, Our Gentle Mother

Today, December 8, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.  Many think that today’s celebration is about the conception of Jesus, but in reality, it is about Mary’s conception without sin.  It is also the Patronal Feast Day of the United States.

Mary has always been a sign of peace to me.  I think of Mary as the gentle, caring, motherly type.  “Hail Mary, Gentle Woman” is a favorite hymn of mine, as it is truly a prayer about our “Gentle Mother.”

About six or seven years ago, I heard a story relating to the Hail Mary that has never left me.  The story is told about a husband and wife who went shopping at a mall together.  They decided to split up and do their own shopping – as they naturally had different stores they wanted to shop in.  About a half hour later, the woman was walking through the mall and saw EMTs running with a medical bag and a stretcher.  She was always
taught to pray a Hail Mary every time that she heard an ambulance/saw EMTs going to a call.  Well, it turned out that those EMTs were running to her husband who was having a heart attack.  Now, the husband ended up surviving the heart attack, and it serves as a reminder of the power of prayer.  To this day, I always pray a Hail Mary when I see/hear an ambulance.

Perhaps with all of the violence going on in the world, we can pray through the intercession of our “Gentle Mother,” Mary, for peace around the world.  We ask Mary, the Gentle Mother, to intercede on our behalf to her Son, the Prince of Peace.

Chris Hughes