The Mother I Forgot

Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified reflects on forgetting the Mother who was always near

The Blessed Virgin is my Mother—and I forget her.

O good Mother, you have always protected me.
God took away my father and my mother so that He could be my only Father, and that I might have no other mother but you.
He wanted me to be poor on this earth, an orphan without father or mother, so that I would be attached to nothing here below.

In the past, when you overwhelmed me with graces, I always thought of you, my good Mother.

And now, when my soul is in sorrow, in need, I no longer think of you—my good Mother, I forget you.

Oh, how ungrateful I am!

— Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified

Prières et Cantiques, Cahiers Réservés 3

Note: This excerpt is drawn from the Cahiers Réservés (Reserved Notebooks) of Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified. The Carmel of Bethlehem shared these unpublished manuscripts with their sisters at the Carmel of Haifa, who kindly granted me permission to translate and publish excerpts at the time of her canonization.
Translation from the French by Carmelite Quotes. May not be reproduced without permission.

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How might I entrust my spiritual poverty more completely to Mary, as a true child of her heart?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

Source reference

Prières et Cantiques, Cahiers Réservés 3. Access courtesy of the Carmels of Bethlehem and Haifa. Translation from the French by Carmelite Quotes. May not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image

This detail from The Annunciation by the Italian artist Orazio Lomi Gentileschi (1563–1639) is an oil on canvas painting executed in 1623 for Charles Emmanuel I, the Duke of Savoy. It is one of the masterpieces found in the collections of the Musei Reali di Torino.
Image credit: Adobe Stock (stock photo)