Third Conference – Reflections on the Salve Maria

Because we were not able to get too far into the Salve Regina in our reflections the past two evenings, I think it is appropriate that we continue those reflections, and hopefully we can tie what is said this morning into the readings of the Solemnity which we just heard.

The next complete thought in this prayer/hymn is expressed as a couplet. In the Latin version it is stated thus:

Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Hevae (first line of the couplet)

At te suspiramus, gementes and flentes in hac lacrimarium valle (2^nd)

These lines translate literally as:

We exiles, children of Eve, cry out to you (first line)

We, groaning and weeping in this valley of tears, sigh up to you (2)

Like all couplets, each line expresses the same idea but in different words. Therefore the word exiles goes with the phrase in this valley of tears. The word for crying out goes with the words sighing, groaning and weeping. Finally the other words are identical and indicate that the crying out, the sighing, groaning and weeping are directed toward the Queen Mother of Mercy who is our Life, our Sweetness and our Hope.

These lines express, in a general, non-specific way, that we who utter them are sufferers. Then they state clearly that we are away from our true homeland, and finally characterize the land we now inhabit as aliens, as a valley of tears. But of course, the truths these lines state apply not only to those of us who pray and sing them, they apply to everyone on earth.

Unfortunately, not everyone knows that this earth is not our true fatherland, nor does everyone know that it is impossible for anyone to escape sorrow and suffering in this world. So whenever these words are addressed to Our Blessed Mother, the ones making use of them know full well that the unclouded, everlasting bliss our hearts crave are to be found elsewhere.

Because the kind of suffering we experience here on earth is not spelled out specifically in the Salve Regina, we can try to get an idea of what the various kinds of suffering are that afflict us and cause us to cry out sighing, groaning and weeping to Our Blessed Mother. What those specific sufferings are, are indicated by the titles and attributes of Our Lady that we have used in greeting her.

First of all, we call out to our Lady as Queen. A Queen is someone who has authority as we pointed out in the first conference. A person who enjoys authority has the power to coerce. Ordinarily, a person in authority does not want to coerce, and in most instances does not have to coerce because most of the subjects understand that what is commanded by authority is right, just and good. So a person in authority is saddened when he or she has to use coercion for the common good. As author and guardian of the welfare of the community over which h/she has jurisdiction, a person in authority must necessarily resort to coercion in order either to prevent, or to repair, damage that is done to the common good by rebellious and recalcitrant subjects.

So when we cry out groaning and weeping to our Queen, we are asking her implicitly to do something about the suffering and sadness we experience here due to the willful conduct of free agents over whom we have no control. Here we remark that it is not only the wrongful activity of free agents that can cause us to suffer, we can even suffer from the deeds of people who are acting in accordance with God’s will. As St. John of the Cross stated in one of his minor works, Even if you lived among angels, you would not understand them, implying, of course, that our lack of understanding would cause us to suffer. It would at least cause us to lose peace of mind and recollection.

As Queen, Mary is able to put a stop to the rebellious, sinful conduct of our fellow exiles that causes us to suffer. But whether she does or not depends upon her knowledge of what is best for our personal good. Perhaps that is why we do not cry out with specific complaints, because it would not be appropriate for her to relieve us of a suffering that God intends to be the occasion of greater good for our souls. Our cry to her in the Salve Regina, therefore, is really a prayer of trust in, and abandonment to, her Queenly power and authority.

But the authority of Mary as Queen goes beyond the power of coercion over free agents subject to her jurisdiction. She is Queen of the universe. Therefore her power and authority extends to all the forces of nature over which we do not have control. Some of the suffering we must endure here on earth is caused by the climatic forces of nature. Some of the suffering is caused by viruses and bacteria and whatever else can cause illness and disease to afflict our human bodies. So when we are afflicted with suffering caused by these kinds of forces, we can justifiably cry out sighing, groaning and weeping to her, fully confident that she can intervene to bring us relief. But again, we don’t specifically dictate to her what kind of relief we are seeking, since, again, we realize that she has our best interests at heart, and only gives us the relief we crave when it is for the grater good of our own souls and the souls of the people we love.

There is one form of suffering, however, that Our Lady is most anxious to deliver us from. And that is the suffering that we experience when someone we love dearly is doing great harm to his/her soul by seeking happiness in things, experiences and persons which in reality separate them from the friendship of God and kill Divine Life in him/her. Or perhaps the person we love is being led astray by false prophets who preach doctrines and moralities that are contrary to the explicit teachings of Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament, or which derive from the teaching of Jesus and the apostles in and through the Church. If that is the kind of suffering that causes us to cry out to her with tears, groans and sighs, we can be sure that nothing is more powerful to obtain from her the appropriate remedy that will rescuer the soul of our loved one from doing himself/herself eternal harm. That is because this is the same kind of suffering that tortures her maternal heart the most, and which makes her the Mother of Sorrows.

When, in our affliction we cry out groaning and weeping to her as Queen Mother, we are acknowledging that at times the dispositions of the sufferer, whether ourselves or loved ones, are not such as to merit the relief granted because it would somehow be contrary to Divine Justice. Perhaps the sufferer does not have sufficient Faith or humility, or is not sufficiently contrite or repentant. Where Jesus cannot act to grant relief because of such impediments, the merits of Mary, Mother of Mercy, makes up for the defects, and He will grant the desired relief. This really is for the eternal welfare of the sufferer.

The kind of suffering that seems to be indicated by our Lady’s title of Mother is probably that which we have brought upon ourselves. It is the suffering we experience because we are weak, ignorant, sick and wounded children of Eve. The text of the Salve Regina suggests this also because Mary, as our Spiritual Mother, is the antithesis of Eve. The disabilities just mentioned, are the fruit of Original Sin, to which Eve was the first to succumb. That is bad enough in itself, but most often we aggravate those evils and sufferings by our own personal sins. How painful this condition can be is suggested to us by that passage in the letter of St. Paul to the Romans where he bewails his inability to overcome the law of sin and death that resided in the members of his body. He bewails his inability to put into effect and abide by the law of Life that resided in his soul through Faith. He asked to be delivered from the body of that death.

We experience this kind of suffering when:

- we cannot manage to love God more than we love our families, or rather, when we cannot bring ourselves to give to God all that He is asking of us because of the opposition of members of our families.

- when we cannot bring ourselves to turn the other cheek

- when we find it impossible to give to whomever asks; or to give more than what is asked for; or never to turn away from a would-be borrower.

- when we cannot bring ourselves to endure the physical pain or emotional suffering that at times is associated with publicly acknowledging either in word or conduct that we are disciples of Jesus.

- when we find it impossible to forgive or to return good for evil.

No matter what the category of suffering that afflicts us because of our own sinfulness and weakness, Mary, as a compassionate Mother, and as Mother of Mercy, is the one who is most anxious to restore us to health and spiritual vitality. Actually, in this and in all other kinds of suffering, we have spoken of above, which are the occasion of the bitterness we spoke of yesterday evening, we have reason to cry out to her as our Sweetness as well, as we suggested yesterday. Mary is most sweet when she relates to us as our Mother.

Again, yesterday evening, we spoke of Our Lady as our Hope. There are certain kinds of suffering that make it appropriate for us to call out sighing, groaning and weeping to her under this title. There are times when, in spite of our knowing in an abstract way by Faith that the Wisdom, Power and Mercy of God are always operative in our lives, we cannot overcome the feelings of discouragement and despondency, confusion and fear that afflict us in the midst of trials and crosses. These feelings and similar emotions keep us from being able to retrieve from our memory the evidence of those attributes of God we have stored there, as well as the instances in which people of the Old and New Testaments, who had undergone our same kind of suffering, had found the relief they so needed for the good of their souls by relying upon the Wisdom, Power and Mercy of God. These feelings and emotions also make it impossible for us to pray, because our best prayer is also based upon our remembrance of all that God is and has done for us. It is at this time that we can most appropriately cry out to Mary as our Hope and cling to her as the embodiment of all the marvels of grace that God’s Wisdom, Power and Mercy have performed on our behalf.

Discouragement, despondency, confusion and fear erode our morale and make it impossible for us to carry out our good intentions and desires. But when we are in the embrace of Mary, our Mother of Mercy and our Hope, we find that her nearness alone powerfully restores our peace of mind, our morale, and the enthusiasm and optimism we need to continue on our pilgrimage with the courage and confidence that guarantee we will reach our desired homeland. Thus far our reflections on the Salve Regina.

Having said all that, can we find a connection with the readings of today’s Solemnity? Can we, indeed, say that our having frequent recourse to our Blessed ever-Virgin Mother thorough the praying/singing the Salve Regina identify us with Elijah in the first reading? Or with those St. Paul is addressing in the second reading? Or with St. John at the foot of the Cross in the Gospel passage? All of which we just heard? I think we can answer yes to all those questions.

As we come to the conclusion of the Salve Regina, we ask Our Lady to show us Jesus, the fruit of her womb once this exile is over. Thereby we are admitting that all graces come to us through her, because Jesus is the sum total of all the graces God can possibly create and grant, and He has come to us through Mary, as we stated in the homily two evenings ago. Thus she is identified with the little cloud that Elijah saw arise from the sea, grow large, draw all other moisture into itself, and finally to shower it all upon a parched, infertile earth.

Mary did indeed arise from the same sea of humanity to which we belong, but free of all the sinfulness associated with original sin, the sterile salt that made it impossible for us to bear fruit in goodness, and which is the cause of all the bitterness that afflicts us here on earth. Being full of grace at the time of the Annunciation, she subsequently gathered all other possible graces into herself by continuing to say FIAT to the will of God at each event and each moment during the rest of her life. Then, like any decent Mother, she showers, she lavishes, everything of good that she is and has upon her children.

The second reading of today’s solemnity, while affirming that we have received a spirit that enables us to call God our Father, also makes clear reference to Mary, though not mentioning her name. Again, the Salve Regina allows us to identify with all those who have received adoption as children of God, because no one can possibly have God as a Father who does not have Mary as his/her Mother.

Then, finally, the Salve Regina does enable us to identify with St. John the Beloved Disciple at the foot of the Cross, as in the Gospel reading today. It was one thing for him to be told by Jesus that Mary is His mother, but it was another thing for him to make a place for her in his home. I believe that it is the frequent use of the Salve Regina as our hymn/prayer to Mary that constitutes one very effective way of assuring that we have made a place for her in our homes and hearts.

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