Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.



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Subject Topic: MOTHERS' Works of Mercy Post ReplyPost New Topic
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glinNC
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Posted: April 15 2009 at 8:33pm | IP Logged Quote glinNC

I was trying to remember today how our maternal duties correlate with the Corporal & Spiritual Works of Mercy. I know I read a nice list either here (a search found nothing ) or maybe it was when this group was on Yahoo ... but since I cannot find anything, I am hoping that you wise ladies will share your thoughts with me so that I can relay this info to a needed friend.

Spiritual Works of Mercy are easier to associate with our home educating our children:
•     To admonish the sinner (correct those who need correction)
•     To instruct the ignorant (teach the ignorant)
•     To counsel the doubtful (give advice to those who need it)
•     To comfort the sorrowful (give comfort to those who suffer)
•     To bear wrongs patiently (be patient with others)
•     To forgive all injuries (to forgive others who hurt you.)
•     To pray for the living and the dead (to pray for everyone who needs our prayers)


The Corporal Works of Mercy are the ones that I need some help with:

Feed the Hungry -- the meals and snacks we endlessly prepare for our family
Give Drink to the Thirsty - same as above
Clothe the Naked - the endless loads of laundry we do and sewing we (sometimes ) do   
Shelter the Homeless - cleaning, organizing our house
Visit the Sick -
Visit the Imprisoned -
Bury the Dead -

I can't remember what was shared on those last three, and I may have even missed other details from the other ones as well.

Please share your thoughts on these maternal works of mercy! Thank you!

Blessings,
glinNC



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donnalynn
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Posted: April 16 2009 at 8:38am | IP Logged Quote donnalynn

The members of our family do get sick - and think of all the little boo-boos and tears we wipe away when they tumble and fall. I also think of the reassurance we give and calming our children's nerves before a performance (for example).

The imprisoned - might be visitng an elderly grandparent, or a homebound member of the parish.

And we also sometimes do bury the dead - such as in miscarriage or a child who dies. Even if we have never lost a child ourselves we can pray for others.
Or anytime we attend a funeral Mass for a loved one or a parish member. I also think we help when we pray for the dead and the souls in purgatory. All these things we can relate directly to motherhood and their care.

Elizabeth Foss gave such a wonderful talk on this, she especially touches on mothering in this way through the teen years. I have the CD from the 4reallearning conference - but I can't find the link now. Anyone else know if the talks are still available?




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Lauri B
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Posted: April 16 2009 at 3:32pm | IP Logged Quote Lauri B

A former neighbor cut this from the newspaper decades ago and shared it with me when my eldest was a baby. I always liked it:

CORPORAL WORKS ARE MOTHERS' WORKS

A Mother's Conversation with the Lord - Author Unknown

"I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink, naked and you clothed me, homeless and you sheltered me, imprisoned and you visited me...."

"When, Lord? When were you hungry and I fed you?"

"How could you ask that, you of the three thousand peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and the One-Hundred-Ways-To-Fix-Hamburger which could have been steak had you not been feeding me. How could you ask?"

"And you were thirsty?"

"I was in the Kool-Aid line which came in with the summer heat and flies, leaving mud on your floors and fingerprints on your walls, yet you gave me a drink."

"But NAKED, Lord, HOMELESS?"

"I was the least of these, born to you naked and homeless. You sheltered me, first in your womb, then in your arms. You clothed me with love (and spent the next 20 years struggling to pay the mortgage, and fuel bills, and keep me in jeans.)"

"Lord, I never knew I visited you in prison. I've never been in a prison!"

"Oh, yes. For I was imprisoned in my littleness, behind the bars of my crib, and I cried out in the night, and you came. I was imprisoned inside a 12-year-old body, exploding with so many emotions that I no longer knew who I was, yet you loved me into being myself. I was imprisoned in my teenage rebellion, anger, and my stereo set, yet you came and sat by the wall of my hostility, took the abuse heaped upon you, and waited in love for me to open the door.

Now enter into the kingdom my Father has prepared for you since the foundation of the world."
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Gloria JMJ
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Posted: April 16 2009 at 4:52pm | IP Logged Quote Gloria JMJ

And we instruct our children to respect the end of life when we bury our dead pets that, as St. Francis said, are our brother dog and sister cat. Those deaths impact us enough to make us cry and cherish their memories years later. Yes, Moms do it all!

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