Mettle is defined in the dictionary as “vigor and strength of spirit or temperament.” In other words, if you have a lot of mettle, you are VERY strong in your spirit and your even temperament. Well, for over 2000 years now, the Blessed Virgin Mary has proven to be just that, a very miraculous (the virgin birth happened to her because she was already full of grace, according to St. Gabriel), powerful, and loving instrument of the Holy Spirit to help us all to find her Son, in the fastest and best way possible.
Contrary to protestant misunderstanding, Catholics do not worship Mary, nor is she dead, as every protestant seems to say when referring to her (Mary’s dead and can’t hear your prayers, they mistakenly say!). Mary, like all souls ever created, is very much alive. Souls don’t die, they live forever. The Great Cloud of Witnesses in Hebrews 12 is NOT a huge pile of corpses! Mary’s unique position in the world is that she is the sinless daughter of God the Father, the sinless spouse of the Holy Spirit, and the sinless mother of God the Son. We know that she has to be sinless because Jesus is. The Bible tells us (Luke 6:43) that a bad tree cannot bear good fruit, and Elizabeth referred to Jesus as the fruit of Mary’s womb (Luke 1:42). So, if Jesus is pure and holy, then Mary has to be also, or else a bad tree did bear good fruit, and thus Jesus was under the stain of original sin for 9 months in Mary’s womb. FYI, Jesus was never under any stain of sin, original or committed.
In the Bible, Luke tells us that Mary’s soul (still very much alive!) MAGNIFIES the Lord (Luke 1:46). To magnify something means to make it larger, clearer, and more focused. So that would seem to most folks to be a good thing concerning Jesus. And as every kid knows, if you hold a magnifying glass just right in relation to the sun, you can start a fire. Catholics hold the Virgin Mary just right in relation to her Son so that Jesus can cast fire on the earth in the form of the Holy Spirit.
Examples of Mary’s Mettle
Mary’s vigor and strength of spirit and temperament (mettle) were told to us in the Bible several times. The first time, when the Angel Gabriel appeared to her, her strength of spirit in the unconditional acceptance of the will of God totally united her with the Holy Spirit, and there is certainly no strength of spirit greater than that! Catholics believe that Mary is still totally united with the Holy Spirit since no one in their right mind believes that the incarnation of Jesus was a “one night stand” by the Holy Spirit. No, Mary and the Holy Spirit are still totally united. This was shown to us during the Visitation of Mary to St. Elizabeth when the fetus John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit (in fulfillment of the prophecy in Luke 1:15)in Elizabeth’s womb at the sound of Mary’s voice. Not many voices can cause unborn children to leap for joy, but Mary’s did!
Mary’s temperament was demonstrated to us during the Passion of her Son. While undergoing the maximum sorrow possible, in seeing her Son who she knew to be God, tortured, mocked, dirtied, and crucified, at no time did she curse His murderers. In all probability, being filled with the Holy Spirit, she, like Jesus, prayed for His persecutors to be saved. The good news is that her temperament can be ours as well, if we, like St. Joseph, St. Elizabeth, and St. John, take Mary into our home. In all three of those instances, their homes were blessed immensely by having Mary live there. And thank God, so can our homes today be blessed by her. Just before He died, in His last will and testament, Jesus gave His most valuable possession, His Mother, to us, His family (John 19:27). It’s important to remember that Jesus never said “John,” or the beloved “apostle” when referring to who should take care of his Mother when he was departed. Rather, he said these words to his beloved DISCIPLE, which would include all of us today, who are also beloved disciples of Jesus.
Mary’s vigor is continually demonstrated to us as well because, after 2000 years of bringing souls to her Son, she is still at it. She daily crushes the serpent’s head through her intercessions for us, her heavenly sighs, her prayers, her apparitions, and her adoption of us as her spiritual sons and daughters. 2000 years is a mighty long time to be fighting the devil and our human sinful nature!
Putting the Petal to the Mettle
The word “rosary” is defined as a crown of roses. Meditation on the 20 Bible mysteries in the Rosary is the fastest and best way to access the mettle of Mary. At Fatima, she asked us six times to say the rosary for world peace. So many Catholics fail in this, so it’s no wonder that the world is going over a cliff at a thousand miles an hour. Someone once said that every time we sin, we add a thorn to the crown of Jesus, but every time we say the rosary, we are adding a rose to Mary’s crown. If EVERY Catholic (and non-Catholic as well)would start saying their daily rosary, the world would change overnight. Exorcists have said that they have seen the devils shriek in terror when the rosary is recited. We aren’t just meant to be passive observers of salvation history; rather, we are supposed to be on the front lines of the battle, fighting Satan with everything we’ve got, every day. St. Padre Pio called the rosary his WEAPON. So, put the petal to your mettle by saying it every day!
Miraculous Metal
Alloys are special metals comprised of other metals, that when melted together, become a totally new material called an alloy. One of the most famous of these is stainless steel, which has a very shiny surface that is resistant to corrosion. Basically, to make stainless steel, iron and several other elements (such as nickel or chromium) which are more resistant to corrosion than just plain iron or steel (which is iron and carbon)are melted together, and the impurities are then removed through several processes, such as stirring, using a vacuum chamber, and putting the product through several heating and cooling chambers (annealing).
In analogous terms, Mary is a lot like stainless steel. She has absolutely no impurities in her, and she also went through a lot of forming processes. Similar to the vacuum chamber (no oxygen), her breath was probably taken away many times while contemplating the holiness of her Son. Mary’s encounter with Gabriel certainly stirs the imagination. Like a metallic alloy, she is totally united to the Holy Spirit in such a way that she is an entirely different creature than the rest of us (In heaven, we will all be totally united to the Holy Spirit, but she was like that here on earth). Like the annealing heat process, at Pentecost, she was present when the Holy Spirit appeared as tongues of fire, which changed the spirit and mettle of the apostles, and fired them up to be saints, forever. And like that shiny stainless steel that is resistant to corrosion, Mary shines like the sun (Revelation 12) and is totally resistant to sin (Genesis 3:15) be being at enmity with the devil. If we adopt her as our own Mother, in obedience to Jesus’ announcement from the cross (John 19:27), then she will start to impart these exact same qualities to us, her children (Revelation 12:17), over time.
Miraculous Medal
Last, but certainly not least, is the Miraculous Medal of Mary. This was given to St. Catherine Labouré by Mary herself in Paris, France, in 1830. St. Catherine went to the Chapel at night, and Mary appeared to her and gave her a mission, the mission to have the Miraculous Medal struck and distributed around the world.
On one side the medal has a picture of Mary standing on a globe (the earth) with both bright rays and dark rays emanating from her hands. The bright rays are the graces men have asked for and received, while the dark rays indicate graces no one has asked for. Around the edge of the medal are the words, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” This prayer indicates that she is the Immaculate Conception, a dogma of the Church which wasn’t to be proclaimed officially for 24 more years (1854). It’s a very powerful prayer, that she wants us to say, every day.
On the other side of the medal, 12 stars (from her crown in Revelation 12, indicating her 12 virtues, the 12 tribes of Israel, and the 12 Apostles) surround the edge. A giant M (for Mary) with a cross coming out of the top indicates that Jesus was born of her and that they both have the mission together to save mankind. This is emphasized with both the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart together, below the M.
And while the Miraculous Medal is not a magic amulet or a good luck charm, it is a sacramental of the Catholic Church. Sacramentals do draw down grace on those who believe in Jesus. The Miraculous Medal is so-called because people who wear it out of faith in Jesus Christ have indeed had many miracles occur in their lives. The devil studiously avoids people who wear this medal around their neck.
To become an evangelist and order Miraculous Medals, click here.
Miraculous Medal Success Stories
St. John Vianney, a 19th-century priest, now the patron saint of parish priests, once had a female penitent who was very sad that a very handsome young man had not asked her to dance at the ball she was attending. St. John asked her if she had seen the strange blue light coming from his feet. She said yes, she had. He told her that this was none other than the devil, who had taken this appearance to tempt the young women he was dancing with. He said that he didn’t ask her to dance because she was wearing the Miraculous Medal!
Zachary King was a full-blown satanist, who obtained many earthly favors from the evil one. One day, while working at the mall in his kiosk, a woman came up to him and gave him a miraculous medal. When he held it, the mall disappeared, and Mary appeared. She told him to convert. When the vision vanished, he knew his devil days were over, and he is now a full-blown Catholic Evangelist.
Let Mary Miraculously Meddle in your Life
If you want to fulfill your mission in life to fight Satan and win souls for God, then adopt Mary as your mother. Like all good mothers, she will see to it that you are educated (bible study), cleaned up (confession), well-fed (the Eucharist), and loved by your Father (the Mass). If you decide to obey Mary’s request at Fatima to say your rosary for world peace, you will not only drive the devil out of your own life, but you will be doing more for world peace than any politician, general, or army. We aren’t down here just to make money and enjoy ourselves; rather, we were created to be totally united to Christ (1 Corinthians 6:17) and to be partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).
16 thoughts on “The Miraculous Mettle of Mary”
No – It’s honoring our mother, and the Mother of God….
Mary was the earthly mother of Jesus, who came to be a human. Yet, scriptures reveal that He existed before her.
How is she our mother?
John 19:27, and the fact that we are in a covenant relationship with Jesus
Isn’t what we Catholics do with respect to Mary really “worship”?
Nothing wrong with having statues and images, as long as they aren’t worshiped, like the 2 angels on top of the Ark of the Covenant, and all of the statues in the Solomon’s Temple….
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Catholics are in a Covenant relationship with Jesus. In a covenant relationship, my family (not just me) and His family (not just Him) become each other’s family, like in a marriage (Jesus is the bridegroom, after all, and we the Church is His bride). That exchange of family members includes the mother – in – law…As Gabriel said, and as Catholics agree with, HAIL MARY!
Ray:
Thanks for another really spiritually useful article.
I know that you steel yourself for on-line criticism;
but getting to read your stuff (for free) is a real steal for me!
I have file with 2000 puns I use for humor…Sometimes, they “cross” over into my articles!
Starting with Queen Bathsheeba, All Jewish kings had their mothers as Queen, IN THE BIBLE. Mary is the Mother of the Final King of David’s throne, which makes her the Queen Mother as well. You have to read your OT to know this though, you can’t just throw out personal opinions as fact. The Vision of Revelation 12 starts in the Heavens, and is a foretaste of what is to come, which is the devil and Mary being at enmity with each other. We are her children, per Revelation 12:17. The Miraculous Medal is not a graven image to be worshiped, but, like the statues on top of the Ark of the Covenant, AND all of the statues in Solomon’s Temple, are reminders of God’s presence in our lives. But, again, you have to read the bible to know this.
I read the Bible, too.
And your interpretation of it seems to be more influenced by Catholic tradition and the Magisterium than actual content.
“Starting with Queen Bathsheeba, All Jewish kings had their mothers as Queen”.
And before that?
Solomon was the son of David and Bathsheeba. She was the Queen Mother to Solomon. What about David and Saul?
The assumption of Mary is the woman clothed with the sun in Revelayltion 12, about to give birth to Jesus, who ALSO symbolizes Israel with the moon and sun and stars under her feet (frim Joseph’s dream in the OT.
In the Bible the Queen Mother was also an intercessor for the King’s subjects, like Queen Bathsheeba and Queen Esther did.
Aren’t you making assumptions? As I said, the footnote in my Catholic Bible for Chapter 12 makes no mention of Mary. Later in the same chapter, Satan is thrown down from heaven to earth and pursues the woman (that you have identified as Mary). If Mary is in heaven, how can Satan pursue her on the earth?
The writers of the NT do not assign any title to Mary, let alone Queen Mother. In fact, Mary is not mentioned many times in the scriptures.
Further, there was disagreement between early church leaders whether to call Mary the Mother of Jesus or the Mother of God.
With respect to your discussion about the miraculous medal, doesn’t God make it clear in the 1st Commandment (Exodus 20) that He abhors any graven images? Jesus did not abolish the commandments (Matthew 5). Yet, you assign some special power to a graven image, which shows Jesus, Our Lord and Savior, as an infant, in the hands of Mary. Do you not profess twice at each mass that He is seated at the right hand of God? Christ is our sole intercessor, and will return as a warrior on a white horse to destroy every sovereignty, authority, and power at the Battle of Armageddon, to hand over the kingdom to God the Father? “Christ must reign until God has put all enemies under his feet, and the last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:25-26).
Having read another of your articles, I’m reminded of Paul’s instructions to Timothy:
2 Timothy 3:16-4:5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Chapter 4
Solemn Charge. 1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: 2 proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. 3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers 4 and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths. 5 But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry.
Do any of the writers of Holy Scriptures affirm the status of Mary claimed by you? How do the words of Our Lord from the cross in John 19 equate to her becoming the Mother of the Church and our spiritual mother?
Why do we need Mary to get us to Jesus?
By the way, a footnote in my Catholic Bible says that the woman in Revelation 12 symbolizes God’s people in the OT and NT, not Mary. There is also a warning in Revelation 22 that you should heed.
Nothing in the Bible that affirms the Assumption of Mary, either.