FIFTEENTH DAY: Entrust ourselves to Mary, our Mother!
We who are brothers of Jesus, become like little children of Mary. This gives us this grace of surrender like a child in the hands of Mary. Because Mary receives us as a mother, she receives us as sons in her womb. We must live in abandonment like little children (E078).
At their birth, Pierre Goursat and his brother Bernard were consecrated by their mother, one to the Virgin, the other to the Sacred Heart. Pierre considered, like St. John Eudes, that the Heart of Jesus and the Heart of Mary are so intimately united that they form one heart: Our rhythm of life is the rhythm of the Heart of Jesus and the rhythm of the Heart of Mary (E036). Born on 15 August, he died on 25 March; Pierre always lived in a special closeness to the Virgin Mary. He evoked in public a childhood memory that had marked him. Worried at the idea of having his appendix operated on, he had fallen asleep peacefully, reassured, because his mother had been able to be present with him at the moment of the anesthesia: I believe that one can really trust Mary. With Mary, we can trust, she is really our mother; with her, everything is simple (E039).
After his conversion, Pierre did not understand the Virgin Mary well. He spoke about this to his cousin, Father Jacques Goursat, who said to him: “You have been converted, you have received the Heart of Christ, the Blessed Virgin will come little by little into your life.” Pierre would later confide: “This is what happened. She entered little by little, very gently, into my heart. But she entered it even more following an event that happened in 1944 (T2).
A German officer in a car almost ran over Pierre Goursat near his home and he let it slip out: “Idiot! “The soldier drew his revolver and set off in pursuit of Pierre. As he entered his building, the concierge, alerted by the noise, went outside and was able to hold the German officer for a few moments. Pierre took the opportunity to go to his apartment on the fifth floor. He then heard an inner voice: “Don’t worry, you are saved. “Pierre was sure it was Mary. He then saw a ladder in the courtyard that had never been there before and managed to escape!
Pierre Goursat also told how Our Lady had cured him of tuberculosis at Lourdes. He organized several gatherings there for prayer groups and communities of the Renewal from 1976 onwards. Pierre came there every year to the Welcome House of the Emmanuel Community, near the Shrine. He liked people to sing the Angelus and pray the Rosary, contemplating Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of His Mother: O Mary, I understand your heart and that of your Son. It is marvelous: the Incarnation of a God who has a mother (M27).
Pierre was deeply moved by the humility of Mary who, in total availability to the Holy Spirit, had freely submitted herself to the Will of God (cf. Lk 1:37-38): Mary is very important for us, because she is a model of humility, purity and lowliness (E046). He asked Our Lady to guide him on this path: Mary, teach me humility.
Mother of God, Mary becomes Mother of all humanity and the Mother of the Church at the foot of the cross, welcoming the beloved disciple as her son (cf. Jn 19:26). She gives birth to the Church which is born from the pierced heart of Jesus, while her motherly heart is overwhelmed by suffering and Simeon’s prophecy is fulfilled: “A sword will pierce your soul! “(Lk 2:35). In her sorrow Mary fulfills her highest vocation as a Mother being compassionate with her suffering Son: It is a mystery of motherhood. Truly Mary gives birth to us in suffering (E058).
Like a mother, Mary consoles and relieves her children, collects their tears: Mary carries us without ceasing. She knows all suffering. She wants to strengthen us, console us and help us (T6). Mary, who is the helper of sinners, the consoler of the afflicted, teaches us compassion:
It is important to ask Mary who, at the foot of the Lord’s cross, suffered and was compassionate with Him, that she teach us to be compassionate. We exercise this compassion for the sanctification, for the conversion of souls (E058).
Mary, Mother of the Emmanuel, watches over all her children, with special care for the community that bears this name: It is very important to have a mother. Mary is the Mother of the Emmanuel (E011). Raised in the glory of Heaven, the Virgin Mary accompanies and protects the Church with her maternal love: Mary is truly the guardian of the Community. She is our mantle, with her we are protected (E031). “Fearful as an army arrayed in battle” (Ct 6:10), Mary emerged victorious from the battle against the Dragon (cf. Rev 12:1-17). She is our surest rampart in spiritual warfare: If the devil wants to attack me, there is only one remedy, it is Mary (E074).
Pierre Goursat knew that evangelizing would give rise to opposition and persecution: We will know spiritual warfare because Satan will be unleashed against us, but Mary will protect us (E029). When the Community was confronted with contradictions, Pierre gathered his brothers and sisters to invoke Mary and he invited them to go and pray in the Church of Our Lady of Victories: We are sure to be victorious through Mary. So if we rely on Mary, we have nothing to fear. We know that we have the Lord with us, that Mary is there to protect us (E044).
Through her “Fiat” which expresses the offering of her whole being, the Virgin Mary is the model of “obedience of faith”. We can only obey (ob-audire) God if we take the time to listen to Him (audire). Following the example of Mary, Pierre Goursat sought to welcome the Word of God and to put it into practice; he meditated on it in his heart (cf. Lk 2:19) in order to understand what the Lord expected of him.
Conscious of his poverty, Pierre always considered himself to be a humble servant, putting God’s will before his personal projects. Pierre Goursat surrendered his life to God every day, praying, with his brothers and sisters in community, the consecration to Mary by Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort. As we meditate on this prayer, let us ask Mary, our Mother, to present to her Son our determination to love and serve Him:
“Today we choose you, Mary, standing before all the saints, to be our Mother and our Queen. We dedicate ourselves to you, in humility and love; our bodies and souls, our gifts and our possessions, the merit of good deeds, those past, present and still to come. We freely give you the right to deal with us and everything we have, as you see fit, for the greater glory of God both now and for eternity. Amen »
PRAYER
“Today we choose you, Mary, standing before all the saints, to be our Mother and our Queen. We dedicate ourselves to you, in humility and love; our bodies and souls, our gifts and our possessions, the merit of good deeds, those past, present and still to come. We freely give you the right to deal with us and everything we have, as you see fit, for the greater glory of God both now and for eternity. Amen »