From the Heart

I was praying the rosary before mass, and, at the same time, feeling somewhat irritated by the wanderings of my mind. Then she came. She knelt down and prayed alongside me. It was a prayer so powerful it was almost physically palpable; Intentions so pure that it made my own prayers seem... hollow and imperfect.

"How do you do it? How do you pray such prayers which are capable of moving mountains and parting oceans?", I asked. Her reply was simple, gentle, pure, "It comes from my heart."

It struck me, there and then. Everything she did, every single act, every breath she took -- it came from her heart. She did it with one reason -- for God and his people, her children. And it came from her heart. So much so that her every action, her every breath -- it became a prayer; She had no need for words. 

There's a special place in my heart for Our Lady: she possesses a certain beauty, a beauty far greater than any living creature, past or present. That beauty is her Immaculate Heart, from which flows her life force. She is the best example of what it means to pray, to intercede, constantly, unceasingly. She doesn't live on a prayer; Instead, she lives a prayer -- her every thought and deed and word is a prayer, and what a powerful prayer it is! For it comes from her heart, her beautiful, Immaculate Heart.

The dictionary defines immaculate as impeccably clean and spotless, free from any stain or blemish. And that could be said of Our Lady's intentions -- completely pure -- because they flow from her heart, for impurity cannot come out of purity.

As YISS draws near, it is just as well that the month of Mary has begun. Let us emulate Our Lady in praying; In making our thoughts, words, actions and yes, our studies, our work and our play a prayer of intercession. Let us not try to pray occasionally, or even to pray frequently. Instead, let us pray constantly, and from our hearts. It goes beyond offering up actions and deeds -- it is about giving our all, putting our entire heart, into everything we do (yes, even work and studies) in intercession for God's glory to be displayed. It's time to storm the heavens.

Queen of all Intercessors, Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Pray for us, and pray with us.

Amen.