May 13 and the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM)

May 13

Our Lady of Fatima

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament

Today we have another celebration of the BVM that “flavors” the month of May with Marian devotion: the appearance of Mary at Fatima, Portugal. There, she identified herself as Our Lady of the Rosary, but another title has also come to be associated with this day. Saint Peter Julian Eymard coined the title “Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament” in 1868. He founded his Congregation of the Most Blessed Sacrament at Paris on May 13, 1856, thus the connection to the day. His prayer:

Virgin Immaculate, perfect lover of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, we ask you to obtain for us the graces we need to become true adorers of our Eucharistic God.  Grant us, we beg of you, to know Jesus better, to love God more, and to center our lives around the Eucharist; that is, to make our whole life a constant prayer of adoration, thanksgiving, reparation, and petition to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.  Amen.

V. Pray for us, O Virgin Immaculate, Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

R. That the Eucharistic Kingdom of Jesus Christ may come among us!

A prayer I composed to Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament
to be said during Eucharistic Adoration:

Contemplating this Great Mystery of Love

we look with awe and reverence upon Jesus,

the Bread of Life and Child of the Virgin Mary.

To you, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, we give thanks

for the role you play and the work

that you continue to do in the mystery of salvation.

This presence of the One who is flesh of your flesh

is the gift of God made human through your cooperation.

How wonderful this miracle!

How merciful and gracious is our God!

Join with us in our prayer and praise, O Blessed Lady.

(by Deacon Jim Cummings)