Elizabeth A. Boudreaux
Staff Writer
Roses of the Immaculate Heart Household sponsored a talk with the Rev. Daniel Maria Klimek, TOR, and a theology professor in the J.C. Williams Gallery on April 11.
Klimek began the talk with the common question of “why:” Why would one pray to Mary, taking what seems to be the long way around rather than pray directly to Jesus?
Klimek said, “It is not a question of why; it is a question of God’s will, and God’s divine pleasure, and God’s disposition.”
He said, “Places of deepest conversion headlining reconciliation with God, encounters of deep divine mercy, are Marian shrines, especially Marian apparition sites.”
This is the link between Mary and mercy: Mary has been given a high place of influence in Heaven, Klimek said. She pours out God’s mercy by coming to earth in apparitions. Her love for her children is so great, the very thought of that love implores God’s mercy to overflow, Klimek said.
Klimek said there was another major link between mercy and Mary: during different visions, Mary showed her children heaven and hell and how serious the spiritual battle was, so that they could prepare.
Klimek said Mary is a military commander.
Cindy Costello, professor of theology, applied Klimek’s words to her own idea of the Feminine Genius. She said Mary taught her how to be a woman.
When she was a little intimidated by the armor of a warrior in Mary’s militia, Costello said she was able to find a prayer of femininity, saying her own breast plate was “a crown of daisies.”
Costello said Mary gives motherly comfort, explaining the image of the Madonna of the Streets and Our Lady of Guadalupe, she said, “She comes to you as the mom that you need.”
Mary is truly the ideal feminine form and source of mercy, Costello said.
In Latin, the word for mercy is “misericordia,” and it is a masculine word meaning “a heart for your misery.” However, in Hebrew, the word for mercy is “rachamim,” a feminine word meaning “womb,” said Costello.
Catherine Bracy, a senior English major, said, “The talk really opened up, for me, wonderful analogies and images of what it means to truly be a child of Mary.”
Bracy especially liked Klimek’s suggestion and said, “Imagine (Mary) beside you and (speak) to her from your heart in everyday language.”