Ogod, who in this season give your church the grace to imitate devoutly the blessed virgin mary in contemplating the passion of christ, grant, we pray, through her intercession, that we may cling more firmly each day to your only begotten son and come at last to the fullness of his grace.

. My brothers and sisters in Christ. Although silence would perhaps be preferable, this beautiful collect inspires us to turn to Mary again today to find the right words to speak of the Passion of the Lord. “The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. In a unique way the face of the Son belongs to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was formed, receiving from her a human resemblance which points to an even greater spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary” (John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, §10). We dare not imagine Mary’s state of mind as she gazed on the ruined face of her Son on that terrible first Good Friday.