Going to Mary, The Mater Dolorosa

Those in Europe are entering into a new time of trial. Forces which hate old Christendom and monarchies based on Catholicism, which hate the spiritual power of the Catholic Church, have become obvious in the past month.

We cannot ignore the boundaries which are being set up by those who do not value what we do-free speech, freedom of artistic expression, poetry, beauty, art, music and so on.

Hell must be drab compared with the constant joy and praise which is heaven. To be a Catholic means that we partake in heaven a bit on earth, such as in the Holy Mass, or when praying the Divine Liturgy.

In my humble opinion, Catholics must face what it means to have a Catholic identity in these times and happily embrace that identity.

The first way to preserve Catholic identity is to stay close to Holy Mother Church in doctrine, dogma, sacramental life, the worship of Christ in the Eucharist, which would be central to the Faith.

The second way is to go to Mary, the Theotokos, a Woman who had to face hostility towards Her Son, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity and finally go herself into exile to Ephesus with her "adopted son" St. John.

There is no suffering the Mater Dolorosa has not experience in and through Her Son. The Seven Dolors are known to most of us: The Prophecy of Simeon, in Luke; the Flight into Egypt in Matthew; the Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple, in Luke; the meeting of Mary with Christ on the way to Calvary; the Death of Jesus Christ, in John; the Piercing of the Side and the Holding of Christ at the Foot of the Cross, the Pieta in Matthew; and the Burial of Christ in John.

In this moment of history, let us go to Mary, ponder the sorrows she endured, think about the way of suffering which can purify us all if we cooperate with grace, and stop pretending that things will go on as they always have gone on.

The days of Christendom and, perhaps, even secular humanism, are fast disappearing.

More than ever, we should go to Mary. Mary is the Mother of Europe, the Mother of the Church. She will not abandon us or ignore our prayers.