Let their healing redound to the glory of God

People burdened with sufferings of all sorts often come to the monastery to ask for our prayers. I often recommend enrolling the sick, the burdened, and the troubled in our Benedictine Eucharistic Guild and — mostly importantly — I remember those recommended to our prayers at the altar in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

I also turn, on their behalf, to our friends, the saints in heaven, knowing that that intercession of the saints is powerful over the Heart of Jesus.  Does not Saint James write: “When a just man prays fervently, there is great virtue in his prayer. Elias was only a mortal man like ourselves, and when he prayed and prayed that it might not rain on the land, there was no rain for three years and six months; then he prayed anew, and rain fell from heaven, and so the land yielded its harvest” (James 5:16–18). During this Mectildian Jubilee Year (1614–2014), it  is fitting that we seek boldly the intercession of Mother Mectilde de Bar. Given the significance of this, the 400th anniversary of her birth, Mother Mectilde will, in some way, be constrained to hear our petitions and present them at the throne of the Lamb.

Supplica to Mother Mectilde of the Holy Sacrament

Mectilde of the Holy Sacrament,
humble daughter of Saint Benedict
and spiritual mother of countless souls,
incline a kindly ear to this our supplication,
and take pity on our distress.

Thou art no stranger to the ravages of war, of famine, and of sickness;
thou knowest well the anxiety of the homeless,
the wanderings of the exile,
and the sorrows of the broken–hearted.

Thou who didst so love Our Lord Jesus Christ,
hidden and silent in the adorable Sacrament of the Altar,
and the Blessed Virgin Mary, His Mother,
co–victim with Him in His sacrifice,
come now to teach us thy way of abandonment
to the mysterious designs of God.

Thou who wast docile to the guidance of the Holy Ghost
in tribulation’s darkest hours,
and wast comforted by the gift of fortitude in times of desolation,
teach us to heed the Divine Advocate’s most gentle voice,
and to welcome the outpouring of His gifts.

To thee, Mother Mectilde, God gave a heart to adore and to make reparation;
school us, then, in adoration in spirit and in truth,
such as the Father desireth,
and in prayer without ceasing.

Thou hast become a mother to generations of souls
who, following thy example and enriched by thy teaching,
have offered themselves freely as victims to the God of love,
in imitation of the spotless victim Christ
who never having known sin,
took sin upon Himself for our sakes,
so that in Him we might be turned into the holiness of God.

Give us now, the blessed assurance,
that our tears are precious in the sight of the Lord
and that our light and momentary afflictions
will bring with them a reward multiplied in every way,
and an eternal weight of glory.

Allow us, through thy intercession,
to experience the wondrous reality that is the Communion of the Saints.
Thou who didst shew compassion for every human misery,
come to close to us now;
let us experience thy solicitude and thy tender care.

Mother Mectilde, we ask thee boldly
to intercede for the physical emotional, and spiritual healing of those
for whom we pray now with urgency and with confidence: N. and N.
Let their healing redound to the glory of God;
let it turn many souls to the radiant countenance of Jesus Christ
hidden for us under the appearance of the Sacred Host,
and to His Face disfigured and sorrowful
in the poor, the sick, and the dying.

Finally, through thy prayers,
may it be given us to experience the maternal Heart of the Immaculate Virgin Mary,
your heavenly Abbess and our Queen,
and to find close to her
an inexhaustible spring of pity and of hope,
of purity and of joy. Amen.