Serenity

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.”

As with most parents of small children, I have struggled with anxiety. There is always so much to keep track of and so many tasks that need to be addressed. However, I have recently found solace in reflecting on and praying to Mary, Mother of Sorrows.

 Our Lady of Sorrows is often depicted with her heart exposed and seven swords piercing through it, representing her seven sorrows. These are: the prophecy of Simeon, the flight into Egypt, the three days’ loss of Jesus, the meeting with Jesus carrying His Cross, His Death on Calvary, His being taken down from the Cross, and His burial in the tomb.

In the book, Treasury of Novenas, Mary’s sorrow on Calvary is said to be “deeper than any sorrow ever felt on earth, for no mother in all the world had a heart as tender as the Heart of the Mother of God.” The more I reflect on Mary’s sorrow and tenderness, the more I feel at peace in my own life. The more I reflect on the Passion and Death of Jesus, through the lens of the Blessed Mother, the more tenderhearted I myself become. Because if the perfect mother and son could endure such torment, for my sake, then surely, I can endure the challenges that arise in my own life and with my own children.

Greater still than the comparison of sufferings, however, is the conversion of the heart. When I reflect on the sorrows of the Blessed Mother, I feel a oneness with her. This oneness aids in my own internal conversion so that I can take on more of Mary’s virtues and be transformed into the kind of mother she is. I can experience a deeper union with the most patient, kind, and gentle mother to ever walk the earth. And that brings indescribable peace.

What else could grant such serenity, if not knowledge of Christ’s victory over death and trust that His victory will also be granted to us when we enter into Eternal Salvation? So long as we trust in His promise to us, let us never feel any anxiety whatsoever. He has already won.

To God be the Glory!