The Mother of the Lamb and a Holy Priest

First Saturday of the Month
Today is the First Saturday of March, an opportunity to draw near to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. Pray to the Mother of the Lamb, the Blessed Virgin Mary, asking her to crush the head of the ancient serpent and to turn the eyes of all peoples to the Pierced Side of her Son.

Don Dolindo
Among the little known figures of holiness of the last century is the Neapolitan priest, Don Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970). Don Dolindo — his unusual name means Sorrow — suffered cruel persecutions, calumny, and rejection, even from ecclesiastical authorities. Like his contemporary, Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, Don Dolindo endured his trials with confident abandonment to the Father and in union with the Passion of Christ. He referred to himself as the Madonna’s little old man; the rosary was at every moment in his hands.

A lover of the Sacred Liturgy, Don Dolindo promoted Gregorian Chant. He was an ardent preacher; he also wrote extensively: commentaries on Sacred Scripture in the spirit of the Fathers of the Church, elevations for priests, meditations, and prayers. Here is my own translation of one of his prayers to the Blessed Virgin. How timely it is!

Come thou, O Mary, reign in the world!
Let new impulses of filial devotion to thee come from the Chair of Peter.
that thy most radiant light may dispel errors.
In thee didst the fallen world find salvation
and the apostate world cannot find it apart from thee,
for thou art the Queen of grace and of mercy.
Frightening is our condition;
false prophets have deceived us
and iniquity has lied to itself.
Those who promised tranquility have gone by,
passing like cyclones of destruction,
and those who promised peace,
like whirlwinds in a storm.
Fallen are the idols raised high on the limits of our eternal aspirations;
they have burned us in the impure flames of their filthy holocausts.
The leaders of the new stupidities have been unmasked,
they have been scattered.
O Mary, O sweetest Queen, O Virgin Mother of God, save us!
The universe calleth upon Thee, O Mother of tender mercy,
and asketh for Thy help.
Come then, and rescue Thy servants, O Blessed One!
Come, and for the new mercy that Thou outpourest upon the world,
be endless glory to the Father,
equal glory to the Son,
and sovereign glory to God the Holy Spirit. Amen.