A story for every day...
The vocation obtained by the august Mary.
Of all the graces we can obtain, there is none that should be dearer to us than that of our vocation: it is to this favor that our future is attached and on which our salvation almost depends. It is easy to understand that the august Queen of heaven does not leave her children without assistance at this most important moment. We could offer thousands of examples; we will content ourselves with the one we borrow from the Life of Father Varin, whose death was so precious before God.
The young Varin was at that age when pleasure has such a strong attraction. It was at this time that the Immaculate Virgin wanted to take him to consecrate him unreservedly to the work of her divine Son. One day, when he had decided to attend a worldly party, his eyes fell by chance on an old book, the first page of which presented him with the powerful prayer composed by St. Bernard: Remember, O most pious Virgin Mary. He had almost forgotten it. With the help of the book, he recited it once or twice. Finally, a third time, he repeated it from the bottom of his heart, and he added the consecration to the Blessed Virgin.
From that moment grace triumphed, and this triumph was due to Mary. The next day he went to confession. From then on, he never let a day pass without reciting the prayer to which he attributed his salvation. The Queen of Heaven, for her part, never ceased to surround him with her motherly protection. He understood that God had special plans for him and decided to join the Society of the Sacred Heart.
When he was enrolled under the banner of Jesus Christ, he embraced his friends and said: I am God’s, I am yours. Let us thank God for the great grace He has just granted me. I received it, I have no doubt, through Mary. Let us also thank this good Mother. The day after his entry, his pious mother, according to nature, died on the scaffold in Paris. Those who believe in the close union of souls and the reversibility of merits can make salutary reflections on this subject.
It was not in vain that the Queen of Heaven had conquered this soul, for young Varin had to pay his debt of gratitude. When he became a religious of the Society of Jesus, he never forgot the grace of his first vocation. From then on, he never stopped invoking Mary, venerating her and praying to her. He died a saint, after having lived for more than eighty years in the exercise of good works.
Pious children of Mary, let us know how to ask the Queen of Heaven for the grace of our vocation. The divine Mother will know how to help us find the true path to which God is calling us. It is very important for us, once we have found it, to be faithful. Ah! let us always be happy to be Mary’s!
