The best way to obtain graces from the Virgin Mary

Let's look at a detail of the vision that the French nun St. Catherine Labouré had on November 27, 1930, in the Rue du Bac convent of the Daughters of Charity in Paris.

It was on the eve of the first Sunday of Advent, a time of the liturgical year in which the faithful unite themselves more closely with Christ by contemplating all his mysteries.

Catherine noticed that Mary wore 15 rings on each hand (three on each finger), brightly shining and adorned with magnificent gems, although some of them had little or no sparkle. Mary explained to her:

"These are the symbols of the graces that I shed upon those who ask for them, and the gems from which no rays fall are the graces for which souls forget to ask."

Mary obtains from God, for us, all these graces symbolized by the rays of light that radiate from her open hands, on the sole condition that we dare to ask for them, with the confidence, the boldness, and the simplicity of children. This is how Mary leads us to her divine Son.

The apparition did not explicitly ask for the rosary, but the number of rings - three on each finger – without a doubt points to the fifteen mysteries of the rosary. Indeed, until very recently the rosary had only 15 mysteries, and was often prayed on a small 10-bead ring to count the Hail Marys.

This detail of the apparition was therefore a subtle indication that the best way to ask for graces is to pray the rosary, that is to say, to contemplate the life of Christ with Mary, to make our requests known to Christ with Mary, to let ourselves be transfigured by Christ with Mary, and to announce Christ with Mary.

F. Breynaert

See also: Library of Marian Writings