Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.

I’ve been listening to Fr. Chris Alar of Divine Mercy YouTube Channel, Explaining the Faith Series.  I’m very grateful for this channel because I have been learning a lot about my Catholic faith that I’ve never learned anywhere else.

For months now, I’ve come to appreciate how wonderful it is to be a Christian who believes in the Lord, Christ Jesus and most importantly being a Catholic , the religion established by Jesus Christ himself.

As part of my appreciation for this channel, I will be sharing my notes and all my learning here in my blog site to give everyone an opportunity to learn the Catholic faith if they don’t have the time to listen to Fr. Chris talked for an hour.  But I can assure you, all his lessons and topics are worth listening to.  

I usually watch each episode randomly, relying on YouTube suggestions instead of studying them in an organized manner.  

Yesterday was about the 10 virtues of Mama Mary.  This topic reminds me about the book I just finished last month.  Or more like I just finished listening last month.  My daughter read the book Mama Mary and Her Children by Fr. James B. Reuter, S.J. , the first of the series of five books.  Every single night, she reads two stories from the book before we go to sleep.  She then became my live audio book.  In that book, it was mentioned that we Filipinos lovingly  call the Mother of God, Mama Mary.  It just goes to show the kind of devotion we have to the Mother of God.

Notes from the talk:

Mary is the MODEL OF CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP

• She is one of Jesus’ disciples and Jesus passed His authority to the apostles
• This is based on the sacred apostolic traditions
  • Sacred Apostolic Traditions are not man-made
  • According to St. Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians, “so then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.”

Mary’s 10 Virtues:

1. Mary, Most Pure
2. Mary, Most Prudent
3. Mary, Most Humble
4. Mary, Most Faithful
5. Mary, Most Devout
6. Mary, Most Obedient
7. Mary, Most Poor
8. Mary, Most Patient
9. Mary, Most Merciful
10. Mary, Most Sorrowful

Explanation:

1. Mary, Most Pure
   1. Complete self-donation
   2. Pure does not just pertain to sexual purity
   3. Being pure is not plugging your heart with a bunch of junks
      • Attachment to people, things, emotions, money, career, etc.
      • Putting someone/something else in your heart
   4. What should we do?
      • Mary did not have worldly attachments
      • Clean your heart
      • God must rule your heart
      • See people the way God does
      • No idols in the form of people or things

2. Mary, Most Prudent
   1. Prudence is the ability to judge right from wrong
   2. It is Wisdom
   3. Thinking through of the consequence of your actions or what you say
   4. What should we do?
      • Listen more
      • discern prudently
      • Follow God’s will, the law
      • Be courageous, not reckless

3. Mary, Most Humble
   1. Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less – C.S. Lewis
   2. We are not an island, you are in a community
   3. Other’s interest is as important as our own
   4. The world does not revolve around you
   5. What should we do?
      • If you are a parent, raise your kids according to God’s way. No child worship
      • Serve
        • Not be served
      • Recognize pride in your life
      • Acknowledge simply the TRUTH

4. Mary, Most Faithful
   1. Faith is a supernatural virtue, a belief
   2. Catholics are constraints by the sacraments
   3. Mary exemplified her faith during:
      • Annunciation – fiat
      • At the foot of the cross
   4. She did not stop the crucifixion of her son 
   5. She stood firm

5. Mary, Most Devout
   1. Devotion is a total commitment to a religion or a religious virtue
   2. Are you praying?  Mary prayed
      • Magnificat – “My soul magnifies the Lord…”
   3. Mary holds fast to the truth
   4. Mary was committed to the works of mercy during the wedding feast at Cana
   5. What should we do?
      • Pray
      • Act
      • Receive the sacraments
      • Do alms giving
      • Join a community

6. Mary, Most Obedient
   1. Mary is the new Eve. She undid the knot of Eve’s disobedience
   2. What should we do?
      • Give up your most prized possessions and surrender your freewill, sexuality, and other things that hold you back from completely obeying God
      • Follow the Church’s teachings
      • Follow the rules of the LEGITIMATE authority, law

7. Mary, Most Poor
   1. Poor in spirit means the ability to depend on the Lord alone
   2. Having no money is not a virtue, this poverty refers to spiritual poverty

8. Mary, Most Patient
   1. Patience is enduring all the wrongs and misfortunes without discouragement
   2. Patience makes us saints – St. Alphonsus
   3. Patience is a virtue

9. Mary, Most Merciful
   1. Being merciful is the ability to show love and compassion to those who are in need.
   2. It is having the mode of love when you encounter a situation where you have to do something immediately
   3. Not waiting to be asked
   4. Mary exemplified the virtue of Mercy during:
      • Visit to Elizabeth and caring for her while being pregnant herself
      • Wedding feast at Cana where she took care of the concerns of the wedding couple
   5. What should we do?
      • Love the unlovable 
      • Forgive the unforgivable

10. Mary, Most Sorrowful
    1. Sadness is not a virtue in itself.  It is why we are suffering or how we respond to the sadness in life that makes us virtuous.
    2. Sin is a separation from God.  Sometimes God has to break a heart to get into the heart!
    3. What should we do?
       • Embrace your cross

To watch the actual talk of Fr. Chris Alar, please click this link: Mary’s 10 Virtues in the Bible