MAY, THE MONTH OF MARY (MAY 7) – Our Lady, Comfort of Prisoners
From the garden of Gethsemane, our Lord Jesus Christ was taken by his enemies, was bound and dragged before the court.
The Son of God, innocence itself, was treated like a criminal! Jesus in his Passion made amends for all and also made amends for the evildoers and murderers.
Those who should receive more compassion in society are prisoners; yet they are either forgotten or despised. It is great charity to address to remember so many unhappy ones in prisons, because they too are children of God and our brothers and Jesus even considers what is done to the prisoners done to Himself.
How many sufferings afflicts the heart of a prisoner: the lost of honor, the deprivation of liberty, the detachment from loved ones, the remorse of the crime committed, the thought of the needs of their families! Those who suffer prison do not deserve contempt, but compassion!
It might be said: They have done evil and that they are paying for it! it is true that many are burdened in vices and it is better that they are segregated from society; but there are also in the prisons many innocents, victims of arrogance; there are others of good heart and who have committed some crime in a moment of passion, of blindness. We should visit some criminal houses to realize the sufferings of these unhappy people.
Our Lady is the Consoler of the afflicted and therefore She is also the comfort of the prisoners. From the heavens above She looks at these Her sons and daughters and feel mercy for them, mindful of how much Jesus suffered when He was imprisoned; Let us pray for them, that they may repent and return to God as the good thief did; Let us repair for their crimes and obtain for them the grace of resignation of there present state of life.
The Virgin sees in every prisoner a soul redeemed by the Blood of His beloved Jesus and an adopted son, in need of mercy.
If we want to please Mary, let us offer Her some good work of this day for the benefit of those who are in prisons; we offer especially the Holy Mass; Communion and the Rosary.
Our prayer will get the conversion to some killer, it will repair certain misdeeds, it will help to make manifest the innocence of some of the condemned and it will be a great work of spiritual mercy.
In the darkness of the night one sees the stars and thus in suffering the light of faith shines. In prisons there is much suffering and many conversions are easier.
EXAMPLE
In the Penal House of Noto, where about five hundred prisoners are detained, a course of Spiritual Exercises was preached.
How much attention those unhappy ones listened to the sermons and how many tears shone on certain haggard faces!
There are those who are condemned for life, some for thirty years and some for less time; but all those hearts were wounded and sought a healing balm, the true balm of Religion.
At the end of the Exercises, twenty Priests lent themselves to listening to their confessions. The Bishop wanted to celebrate Mass and thus have the joy of giving Jesus to the prisoners. The silence was edifying, admirable their recollection. The moment of the Communion is moving! A mass of a hundreds of condemned men, with folded hands and lowered eyes, paraded in order to receive Jesus. They seemed like real Friars in prayer.
The priests and more so the Bishop enjoyed the fruit of that preaching. How many souls can be redeemed in prisons, if there are those who pray for them!
A Little Spiritual Flower Offering to our Lady:
– Recite the Holy Rosary for those in prisons.
Prayer to Mary:
– Mary, Consoler of the afflicted, pray for the prisoners!
Adapted and Translated from:
MARIA REGINA AND MOTHER OF MERCY (Month of May) – by DON GIUSEPPE TOMASELLI
