THANKSGIVING TO MARY
(From our Constitutions)
Mary, Our Mother,
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
We thank you
because you are the Mother of the Congregation
because it was by your intervention that the Congregation
was founded,
because you brought our Founders together
to bring about this "prodigious work".
Mary, Our Mother,
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
We thank you
because you lead us to the Heart of your Son Jesus
and through you we gain entrance to, and stay in His Heart,
"to live in Him and reproduce his sentiments with us”.
Mary, Our Mother,
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
We thank you
because you are the Mother of Mercy
because from you we learn “unconditional surrender to the Lord”
and “maternal love” for our suffering brothers and sisters.
Because with You and like You
We share the pain of our sick brothers and sisters.
For the salvation of the world…
Mary, Our Mother,
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
We thank you
because you are a model for following your Son Jesus
and your teach us to give ourselves wholly to God
freely giving our love to our brothers and sisters,
because you live in poverty, reaching out in readiness to do the will of God
and you encourage us to accept, promptly, humbly and trustingly,
God's plans for us…
Mary, Our Mother,
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
We thank you
because you welcomed in the Word of God, pondering it in your heart,
are you are the model of our life of faith and our intimacy with God.
For you are present in our community and you intercede for us,
teaching us that the best way of worshipping God is by offering our lives.
Mary, Our Mother,
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
We thank you
because you protect and lovingly look after our Congregation
for you were the first Hospitaller
welcoming Jesus into your womb, and accompanying him to the cross.
For you lead us to the source of the living water
which springs from the Heart of your Son
and you clothe us with merciful love
to take your maternal love to those who suffer.
We thank you
because you teach us to discover the needs of others
and to respond to them effectively.
We thank you, Mary
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus…
And we ask you to welcome into your heart, as our Mother,
every Sister Hospitaller, and each one of us
(we recite our names)
to welcome into your heart every sick person.
Every co-worker.
And the whole Hospitaller Family.
And to teach us to remain with you and like you,
by the side of those who suffer…
(Sisters Hospitallers)