Blessed Virgin Mary, Pray for Me!

Happy New Year, readers!

I'm very excited...because it's that time again!  It's a brand new year, so it's time to get yourself a brand new patron saint, chosen especially for you by the Saints Name Generator. 

I just got mine, and I am so thrilled to tell you that my randomly chosen saint for 2016 is the Blessed Virgin Mary!  To find out that She is going to be my chosen saint for 2016--on January 1, a feast day that honors Mary, the Mother of God--was very special.  I can't help but believe that 2016 is going to be a very good year, with Her special patronage.

In 2013, the Saints Name Generator picked St. Padre Pio for me, and it was absolutely amazing how many Padre Pio-themed holy cards and prayer books started to show up in our mailbox not long afterward.  (I blogged about these unexpected blessings here.) Although we are on the mailing lists of many Catholic organizations and charities, we had never received as many Padre Pio-related mailings before that year, and we haven't received as many since.  But it really seemed like that powerful saint was trying to befriend me in a special way that particular year.  (It seems that there truly are no accidents!)

In 2014, a lesser-known saint was chosen for me: St. Walburga.  (I blogged about her here, if you'd like to learn more.)  I am sorry to say that although I was happy to be introduced to this rather obscure saint whose name I'd never even heard before, I never felt quite as close to St. Walburga as I had to St. Padre Pio.  Perhaps I didn't try hard enough to establish a bond with her, though.  Or perhaps it is true that just as people are drawn to each other in this life, there are some saints with whom we feel a special kinship (and the amazing thing is, I think they just might feel it with us, too!).

I was so busy in 2015 (a year that started with a four-and-a-half month stint in VA, hanging out with my little buddy, G-Man, and then had my husband and me on the road so often that our fellow parishioners in NH thought we'd moved!), that I never remembered to get my new saint.

But this year, I feel so very lucky indeed to have had the Blessed Mother chosen for me!

I try to feel Her loving presence in my life every day, and we have countless reminders of Her scattered throughout our home--whether it be statues of Our Lady of Grace and Our Lady of Fatima, paintings of Her Immaculate Heart, or sets of rosary beads that are fingered daily, when reciting five decades of the Rosary (while praying fervently for the many intentions of our family, both living and dead).  I have also worn a Miraculous Medal around my neck 24/7 for the past 20 years or so, and I wear it with confidence in the graces Mary has promised to give to those who ask for them.  I frequently recite the words inscribed on the front of this medal: "O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee."

If you come here a lot, you may know that I have a first class relic of St. Catherine Laboure, which I inherited from my late maternal grandparents in 2012.  It came with an official stamped document from Rome, written in Latin, that says it is bone fragments taken from the humble French nun to whom Mary appeared and to whom She gave specific instructions for having the medal made.

I think 2016 is going to be a very good year.  I pray that it will be filled with many blessings, and that Mary will be always at my side, through all my joys and sorrows.

If you haven't done so yet, head on over to the Saints Name Generator and find out which saint has been chosen for you.  You never know what surprises might be in store for you if you take that leap of faith!