MI Canada: Lady Dressed in Blue
by Sylvia Leaver, mi
lmost every Catholic child I knew, when I was growing up, knew
the poem "Lovely Lady Dressed in Blue" by heart. It
is a beautiful prayer in childlike simplicity. It introduced
me to Marian spirituality and what prayer should be, simple and
childlike:
"Lovely Lady dressed in blue,
Teach me how to pray!, God was just your little boy, Tell me
what to say?
Lovely Lady dressed in blue, Teach me how to pray! God was just
your little boy, And you know the way."
Marian devotions were as much a
part of my growing up as visiting grandparents. Everybody I knew
could recite the Rosary. The statue of Our Lady was in every
home and on church altars. While I believed that prayer was necessary,
it became perfunctory for me at times when I was tired or distracted.
Reciting the Rosary as a child was done more in obedience to
my parents than as a conscious, loving act. Growing up was also
challenging, especially since strict discipline was the norm
in my house as well as the culture of my society.
I can't remember when I stopped saying the Rosary every day.
There was a time in my life that I found it repetitive and meaningless.
Even going to daily Mass had ceased. I was in absentia at First
Fridays and First Saturday devotions, attending Mass only on
Sundays. I felt my relationship with Mary, the Mother of God
at a low ebb.
Then I also cut myself off emotionally from my own mother. I
felt the family responsibilities that fell on my shoulders were
an abdication of my mother's duties when my father died. The
strains from my emotional withdrawal were terribly punishing
both for my mother and me. I became more and more unhappy. I
needed to get rid of my resentment. Our Blessed Lady, somehow,
has a way of pulling her errant daughter back to herself. At
some point I came to a gradual reawakening. I realized that my
childhood discipline, which had lain dormant, needed a bit of
polishing, that my relationship with my mother could only be
healed by renewing my relationship with Mary. If I wanted my
lukewarm affection for my mother to be reignited, I had to ask
Our Blessed Lady "dressed in blue" to teach me how
to pray afresh.
Around this time, a kindly priest and his volunteers were promoting
membership in the Militia of the Immaculata. On enrolling myself,
I also became involved in their Eucharistic workshops. It was
when I was working with the M.I. office, at St. Peter's Church,
that my mother would sometimes drop in. She would help sort literature
for public distribution. Then somehow I started to say the Rosary
again daily. It was the turning point!
It was as if both my mother and I were drawn together again to
Mary, to her maternal love. Mary, indeed, was listening, beckoning,
and voila-I was back on track. My own mother and I, without words,
hugged each other. Before she died, our relationship became even
closer and warmer than before. Realizing Mary's continual love
and protection inspired me to double my efforts in her service.
She needs helpers to continue her Son's redemptive work on earth.
I focused on two groups: the elderly and the young people. Every
week I visit the residents in three nursing homes to pray the
Rosary with them, assist them to Mass, bring them Holy Communion
or simply be present to them. I also visit five schools to pray
with the children and explain to them a Marian theme or mysteries
of the Rosary.
Our Blessed Lady "dressed in blue" taught me how to
pray and to love. I know Mary will always be with me. Mary has
helped me trust God completely, especially during times of sorrow.
I learned to understand her own sorrows at the Passion and death
of her Son, Jesus, when I witnessed the sufferings and death
of my own 16-year old son from cancer.
Mary's serenity, humility, trust and gratitude are virtues to
emulate. Her joyful heart radiates peace. I feel secure in Mary's
wonderful ways in leading me close to Jesus and in invoking God
our loving Father and her Spouse, the Holy Spirit, to guide,
heal, nourish and love me to the end of time. Our Lady "dressed
in blue"-thank you!
(c) Copyright 1998-2004 The Militia
of the Immaculata. All rights reserved.
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