Why We Desperately Need Our Lady of Mental Peace

Our Lady of Mental Peace is a title for Mary I had not encountered until relatively recently. When I found this particular title for Mary, I was beyond thrilled! For the first time, I felt that, in a particular way, Mary understood me more completely. The title Our Lady of Mental Peace is a banner under which we can approach Mary with our interior struggles and ask her for the graces we so deeply need.

When I look at this title of Mary, I do consider it to fall under a similar devotion, Our Mother of Perpetual Help. Sister Mary Agatha (CMRI) noted that the icon and devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help can be traced back to the year 1495, and describes this icon of Mary in the following way:

“Mary’s mouth is small to indicate her spirit of silence and prayer. Her eyes are large, for they see all of our troubles and needs, and are always turned toward us....Surely this, along with the symbolism we see in the picture, should assure us of the loving concern and tenderness our Blessed Mother has for us, and her ardent desire to be a source of perpetual help to all who call upon her.”

So we see that for hundreds of years, people have turned to Mary time and time again. And for these many years, Mary has been a constant help to us, showing us a desire to meet us with her maternal empathy and compassion.  I believe that in this time in history, now more than ever, the need for Mary, Our Lady of Mental Peace, is paramount. Amidst heightened levels of global unrest, we also carry our own broken relationships, aching heart and real wounds. We still grapple with our own weakness while the world seems like it is crumbling around us. So now more than ever we turn to Jesus through Mary. 

In The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis aptly refers to Mary as “Our Lady of Help” and in a public address, he noted that Mary “is close to us, so that we may never lose courage before the adversities of life, before our weakness, before our sins: she gives us strength, she shows us the path of her Son.” Can you see a pattern emerging? Throughout time, Mary is being referred to as our true and constant help, a gentle light for a darkened world and a soothing and healing balm for those who have a broken spirit. Mary, Our Lady of Mental Peace desires to meet us in our brokenness and lead us to her Son.

Mary lived upon this earth body-and-soul and also experienced the breadth and depth of human emotion. *It is important to note, though, that Mary's experience of human emotion was set-apart, as it was perfectly ordered towards God and never self-centered or self-seeking.

Think of her initial fear at encountering the Angel Gabriel at the Annunciation. Think of the worry she experienced when she was looking for Jesus in Jerusalem. And, think of the deepest and most painful sorrow Mary experienced at the foot of the cross of her Son. In fact, ever since Mary gave the Angel Gabriel her 'fiat', her life became set apart and marked with a particular kind of suffering that only God could allow.

The prophet Simeon foretold Mary's future suffering at the presentation of the child Jesus, when he said that “a sword will pierce your own soul too” (Luke 2:34). This is not an easy or happy prophecy. Think, God never once told her that her life would be marked by happiness or ease. Instead, through Simeon, God communicated part of Mary’s role as His handmaid: to suffer beside and with Him in life. Just as Christ’s heart was physically pierced on the cross, Mary’s heart was pierced with the most unfathomable pain, grief and sorrow at seeing her son tortured and crucified.  

So, when we start to look at Mary, we begin to see more clearly that she understands our emotional pain in a real way. Mary wants to meet us in our struggles and walk with us into the light of hope. She wants us to invite her into our difficult moments, for she can help us see that the light of the Resurrection will always come.

Will we allow Mary into our hearts and minds to keep vigil with us? Will we allow her to touch the most tender and painful places in our minds and hearts, and ever so gently, lead us to her Son, Jesus? 

Invitation to Prayer: Our Lady of Mental Peace, I need your help and your presence in my life. Please enter into my darkened mind, my aching heart, and gently bring the saving light of your Son into my being. Dispel the darkness and help me to remain close to you and your son, Jesus. Wrap me in your mantle and keep me close. Our Lady of Mental Peace, pray for me! Amen.

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References:

 Article: Our Mother of Perpetual Help- History of the Miraculous Icon; Sr. Mary Agatha, from the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen (CMRI) https://cmri.org/articles-on-the-traditional-catholic-faith/our-mother-of-perpetual-help/ 

 Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium of the Holy Father Francis; Article 288: http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html#II.%E2%80%82Mary,_mother_of_evangelization

 Address of the Holy Father Pope Francis, Saturday, May 4, 2013; Article 2; http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2013/may/documents/papa-francesco_20130504_santo-rosario.html