We Fly to Thy Patronage, O Holy Mother of God

 You probably have not heard the story of the man who spent his day at home, hour after hour, swatting flies.   He just went on day after day until a friend turned up and asked him "Why do you not close the window where they are getting in?".    I feel a little like that every Sunday when I go to Church.   I watch all those good people, and I do admire them, cleaning up the Church for the next Mass with their cleaning liquid and dusters, and yes, doing it for love of God, and yet like the man swatting flies, they do not realise they have left the window open.    Seating in my Church is for 72, and when that number is reached nobody else is allowed in, and it is no use claiming you have been vaccinated, for they make no difference between the vaccinated and non-vaccinated in their entrance policy.  Despite the low rate of infection they see the Covid Virus everywhere in the Church.    So they help those who are still fearful of the virus by terrifying them, though they plead they are helping the people who are afraid.

At a time when there is so much to be afraid of in society itself, with Climate Change, secular values opposing Church teaching on Marriage and the Family, the rights of the baby in the womb, the fear of being arrested for speaking up for the Church and defending the teaching of Jesus on sex and chastity, there has never been a time since the Reformation when the Catholic Church has needed so much to come together in prayer.   Yet the breakdown of parish life has made communication between Catholics so very difficult.   When Europe in the 15th Century had to face the might of the Moslem Empire at the Battle of Lepanto, they naturally turned to Mary for help.    This invasion was meant to give the Moslems a foothold in Europe from which they could conquer all of it.    But the priests and the people as one turned to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, for her intercession through the Rosary.   The odds were very much on the side of the Moslems during the battle, but suddenly the wind changed direction and started blowing against the Moslem fleet giving the Christian fleet the advantage.   It was a great victory, and Europe was saved thanks to its devotion to Mary.   A great saint of the Church St John Bosco had a vision for these times.   The Barque of Peter was under attack on the sea as it made its way towards two pillars, one of Mary, and the other Jesus in the Eucharist.   There can be no doubt that he was talking of today, for with enemies within  attacking the Church and being as one with the enemies outside, the barque of Peter has never been in such peril.   We need again a massive Rosary Campaign to Mary as at Lepanto, and yet many of our Churches are closed to us.   What we must do is organise family rosaries, perhaps one family visiting another and sharing a Rosary.   It will depend on the size of your house how many families can come    And do not be afraid to ask young people, despite being driven out of the Church, many do think about what is happening in the world, and are beginning to wonder.    Far from being a disaster, we could turn this time into a time of great blessings.

"We fly to thy patronage O Holy Mother of God.   Despise not our prayers in our necessities but deliver us from all dangers, O Glorious and Blessed Virgin"   (4th Century Prayer)