Memorial of Virgin Mary, Health of the Sick

Today we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title, “Health of the Sick.”  Do you remember how the little child, St. Therese, was so sick she almost died?  But then a statue of the Blessed Virgin in her room smiled at her, and Therese was instantly cured.  Even today Mary continues to work miracles of healing at her shrines like Lourdes and Fatima.  Who can count the number of hospitals that have been named after Mary?  The first hospital in the new world was established six hundred years ago by the Spanish Conquistador, Cortes, in the City of Mexico.  He called it the “Hospital of the Immaculate Conception.”

But it is primarily our eternal health and salvation that Mary desires.  In one ancient litany Mary is called the “Hospital of Sinners.”  So, at the end of each Hail Mary we say, “Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.”