11 October: Maternity of Mary. A tale of an antiphon, image, and a little street chapel.

It is the 20th Sunday after Pentecost in the Vetus Ordo calendar.  It is also the Feast of the Maternity of Mary established by Pope Pius XI for the universal Church in 1931, commemorating the fifteenth centenary of the Council of Ephesus (431), which defended Mary’s title Theotokos, God-bearer, against Nestorian errors concerning the unity of Christ’s Person. Mary is truly Mother of God because the Child she conceived and bore is one divine Person, the Eternal Word made flesh.

In the Breviarium Romanum we commemorate the feast at Laudes with this lovely antiphon associated with St. Fulbert of Chartres (+1028):

Ant. Sancta María, succúrre míseris, iuva pusillánimes, réfove flébiles, ora pro pópulo, intérveni pro clero, intercéde pro devóto femíneo sexu: séntiant omnes tuum iuvámen, quicúmque célebrant tuam admirábilem Maternitátem.

This antiphon Sancta Maria, succurre miseris, brings this dogmatic truth of Mary’s divine motherhood down into the dust and tears of our daily lives.

Note those imperatives, 6 arranged in 2 groups: succurre, iuva, refove, etc. Run to our aid! Help! Restore! We address Mary with the confidence of children who know their Mother will hear them.

Holy Mary show thine aid to those in misery, strengthen the faint-hearted, comfort the sorrowful, pray for the people, mediate for the clergy, intercede for all women vowed to God; may all experience thy help who celebrate thy admirable Motherhood.

Nobody is forgotten. Particularly striking is the petition for priests, who must themselves bring Christ to souls even while struggling with their own weakness.

What really grabbed my attention was that succure miseris… help the wretched.

At The Parish™, there is a beautiful image of Mary, much venerated by those who come and go.

Look carefully at the lower right part of the frame.  Somewhat obscured by flowers you can see that the title of the image is Sancta Maria Succure Miseris.

This image was originally in a tiny chapel just up the street near the Monte di Pieta, which was founded by the Church to provide loans so that people wouldn’t go to the Jewish usurers in the nearby Ghetto district.   The image was transferred to the church along the way.  The little chapel was locked up and fell into a bad way, neglected, dirty, hardly to be noticed for years.

Then the priests at The Parish™ got to it, obtaining the keys.  They cleaned, replaced lights, had a copy of the original image put in place.  They took down the ex voto offerings which had been given to Mary for favors received and had then restored.  Now, during October, every Saturday after the evening Mass they make a procession to the little chapel to say the Rosary.   It creates quite a draw for the massive river of tourists and locals.

Yesterday evening I helped The World’s Best Sacristan™ carry to the chapel the restored ex voto frames and a ladder.

More work has to be done before the ex voto frames can be hung up again.  The artisan changed the location of the hooks.

Sancta Maria, succurre miseris.
Holy Mary, hurry to help us.
Hurry to help the Church!