Our Lady Mother of Divine Providence (Saturday before the 3rd Sunday in November)

As part of the Traditional Missal, the Feast of Our Lady Mother of Divine Providence occurs on the Saturday before the 3rd Sunday in November. This Feastday is kept by various religious orders in the Church as it is one of the Masses Said in Some Places.  

Make an effort today to say 3 Our Fathers and 3 Hail Marys for the souls in Purgatory, since we are in the month dedicated to the Poor Souls.

The following is taken from Our Lady's Feastdays by Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V.D:

1. Mary, Mother of God, the miracle of the Marriage feast of Cana shows that you are the Mother of Divine Providence. For the first time in the public life of Jesus you appeared in the exalted character of our Advocate, a character which would be yours as long as time would last. Filled with motherly compassion, you appealed to Jesus in behalf of your friends. With greatest confidence in the mercy and kindness of Your Son, you left Him free to give assistance or withhold it, as He saw fit.

Jesus rewarded your confidence and resignation by working His first miracle at your request. He wanted the strengthening of the faith of His disciples and the manifestation of His Divinity to depend upon your prayers. In this I see God's plan that in the Kingdom of Jesus all graces should go through your hands and Heart. As your prayer brought about His birth as the Sun of Justice, so also your request decided His rise and shining in His public life.

Mary, My Mother, how kindly you provided for the needs of this newly-married couple! This is but a reminder that you are equally interested in providing for all your children in all their needs of soul and body. Teach me to seek all things through your prayers, for your intercession is most powerful and Jesus can refuse you nothing. Help me to imitate your zeal in assisting my neighbor in his needs.

2. Mary, Mother of God, as the Mother of Divine Providence, you provide for us in our varied needs through your prayers in the presence of God. Your own extraordinary grace and merit, your own wondrous privileges give to your prayer an irresistible force and power. As the loving Mother of Jesus, the glorious daughter of the Father, the cherished Bride of the Holy Spirit, you can never meet with a refusal. Your slightest wish carries with it a powerful appeal. Yet more powerfully still than even your exalted merits does the Precious Blood render God merciful to the sinner, for all comes to us through the Passion and death of Christ, your Son.

But it has been the will of God, that from first to last, Jesus, as the Victim of atonement for our sins, should be presented to Him by you. It was so when you gave your consent to the divine plan of the Redemption. It was so when you renewed your consent at the birth of the Savior at Bethlehem, at His presentation in the temple at Jerusalem and finally at the foot of the cross on Calvary.

And now in Heaven, when the fruits of the Redemption are applied to our souls, and the graces won for us by the Passion of Jesus are distributed to the redeemed, being united to Him by a close and unbreakable bond, you still continue your part as Mediatrix in the work of our salvation, by offering to the Father the merits of Christ, uniting meanwhile your prayers, and, in a secondary sense, your merits, to the intercession of your Divine Son.

Mary, My Mother, as Mother of Divine Providence, remember your children in need of God's mercy and help. Plead for us in the presence of God and provide for us those graces and blessings especially which will enable us to serve God better and save our souls.

3. Mary, Mother of God, in the Kingdom of Heaven you are continually employed in deeds of kindness and mercy, therefore you are truly the Mother of Divine Providence. You are ever imploring favors for the just, as well as for sinners. Your eyes are the eyes of a good Mother, ever watchful to notice the need of your children, just as you looked out for the young couple at the marriage feast of Cana. Your Son will deny you nothing. God destined you to be a Mother of Mercy, a Refuge of Sinners and an Advocate of the Afflicted, and you fulfill these offices perfectly. You are so tender and compassionate, so watchful to relieve the needy, that it would seem you had no other desire, no other concern except this.

If you showed such compassion for the sufferings of others while on earth, and were so ready to relieve them, how much greater must your compassion be now that you are in heaven and understand so much better the difficulties your children meet with and the sufferings that afflict them? Though you are raised to the high dignity of Queen of Heaven, you have not forgotten man's wretched condition. You show your compassion toward all so that there is no one in this world who does not, if he seeks it, share in the kindness and mercy of your motherly Heart. You have become all things to all men; you have opened your Heart to all that all may receive of your generosity: the imprisoned, freedom, the sick, health, the afflicted, consolation; the sinner, pardon; and God, glory.

Mary, My Mother, your power as Mother of Divine Providence is indeed as great as your compassion and willingness to help. As you are powerful to obtain and provide, you are merciful to pardon. You can readily obtain for us whatever you will as you can listen to our woes. Then, through your compassion be pleased to send down to us, your poor servants, a rich abundance of your graces and blessing. Provide for our needs of soul and of body. May your title of Mother of Divine Providence ever give us confidence that you will never fail us, but will provide for all we need in this present life that we may attain eternal life.