Mary, Ark of the Covenant, Pray for Us

This is a great podcast from Dr. Edward Sri to listen to today as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation:

Mary and the Lost Ark

 "We want to draw near to Mary, just like the Israelites had the Ark of the Covenant lead them around Jericho. We want to turn near to Mary and have her help us fight the battles that we need God's help in... so think about those walls that keep you from a closer relationship with God... Ask Mary to go before you like the Ark of the Covenant, and may those walls fall down like they did in Jericho." Edward Sri

And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God..." Luke 1:35 

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle....Whenever the cloud rose from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on their journey... The cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire in the cloud at night, in the sight of the whole house of Israel in all the stages of their journey.         Exodus 40: 34,36,38

Mary, Ark of the Covenant, pray for us!

On this Feast of the Archangels

As we celebrate the Feast of the Archangels today, here is a must read post by Father Gordon MacRae: To Guard You in All Your Ways: The Archangels on These Stone Walls. I highly recommend reading the posts on the Archangels Michael and Gabriel linked over at These Stone Walls.

Recently, I wrote A Noble Purpose which touched on the story of the Archangel Raphael in the Book of Tobit:

In Tobit is the beautiful account of the Archangel St. Raphael sent to aid in the healing of Tobit's blindness and to heal Sarah's grief on losing seven husbands, each dying before consummation of their marriage. Unbeknownst to each other, both Tobit and Sarah had cried out in anguish to God at the same time, and in God's great Mercy He answered their prayers of grief and sorrow with blessing.

In the prayers of Tobit and Sarah, they praised God and cried out with faith in His Mercy despite being deeply grieved in spirit. The Archangel St. Raphael led Tobiah, Tobit's son, to Sarah and they became husband and wife. Then they returned to Tobit and God healed his blindness.

Before consummating their marriage, Tobiah and Sarah prayed together, begging for God's mercy and deliverance. I have always loved this prayer since the first time I heard it. What a humble and wise way to begin a marriage:

Blessed are you, O God of our fathers,
praised be your name forever and ever.
Let the heavens and all your creation
praise you forever.
You made Adam and You gave him his
wife Eve
to be his help and support;
and from these two the human race
descended.
You said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone;
let us make him a partner like himself.'
Now, Lord, you know that I take this wife of mine
not because of lust,
but for a noble purpose.
Call down your mercy on me and on her,
and allow us to live together to a
happy old age.

They said together, "Amen, amen," and
went to bed for the night.

~Tobit 8:5-8

Last year, a friend gave me a book about St. Raphael by Angela Carol. In the book, it is mentioned that St. Raphael is, among other things, the patron of happy and holy marriages. May St. Raphael guide us along in our journey, encourage us in our faith and in our marriage, and aid us in opening our hearts to God's healing power.

St. Gabriel, pray for us! St. Michael, pray for us! St. Raphael, pray for us!