Our devotion to Mary
We have a strong devotion to Mary, Mother of God. One of our three Provinces is dedicated to Our Lady of the Americas. Our founder, Blessed Edmund Rice, was well known for his devotion to the rosary.
We try to imitate Mary’s “Yes” at the moment of the Annunciation. Her “Fiat” – “Thy will be done”, serves as a guide for how we live our lives as Presentation Brothers.
Here are two Marian devotions that are particularly strong in our congregation…
Presentation of Mary in the Temple
Our name, Presentation Brothers, comes from an event in the childhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The event is not mentioned in the New Testament but there is an account in the apocryphal Gospel of St James. According to that text, Mary’s parents, Joachim and Anne, brought their child to the Temple in Jerusalem and, as an act of Thanksgiving, presented her or consecrated her to God.
That moment has been captured in art (see above) and is known as the Presentation of Mary in the Temple.
The feast of the Presentation is celebrated on November 21st each year. It is known by many as ‘Pres Day‘.
Our Lady of Good Counsel
We have also had a long devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel (Mater boni consilii). This is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary and takes its name from a fresco located in the thirteenth century Augustinian Church at Genazzano, near Rome. Her feastday is on April 26th.
Here is a prayer we say in our communities to Our Lady of Good Counsel:
Most Glorious Virgin, chosen by Almighty God to be the Mother of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, treasure of divine grace and advocate of sinners, we, your unworthy children, beg you to be our guide and counsellor in our journey through life. Intercede for us with your Son, that we may obtain the grace to live good lives here on earth and to be worthy of eternal happiness. Grant that the church of Jesus Christ, with the message of hope and peace, may spread throughout the whole world uniting all people in the love of each other and of our Father in heaven. Amen.
Take a look at this two minute video on the tradition of devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel…