One of the titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary is Health of the Sick. Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O. P. (b. 1877- d. 1964) writes about this Marian title in his book, The Mother of the Savior. Traditionally, the Catholic faithful have called upon Our Lady to remember them in their needs (a.k.a., their sicknesses) through the prayer of the Memorare; but more on that prayer in a bit. First, here is an excerpt from Fr. Garrigou- Lagrange’s The Mother of the Savior, which explains the assistance Our Lady obtains for us when we ask for her help:
“Mary is Health of the Sick by the many providential or miraculous cures which have been obtained through her intercession in Christian sanctuaries up to our own days. So many have these cures been that it may be said that Mary is a fathomless ocean of miraculous healing. But it is to help the infirmity of the soul that she cures the body. Her most important cures are those of the four spiritual wounds which we have suffered as a result of original sin and our personal sins —- the wounds of concupiscence, of weakness, of ignorance, and of malice.
She heals concupiscence —- a wound of our sensibility—- by diminishing the ardor of our passions and by breaking our sinful habits
. She helps the sinner to begin to will what is right with sufficient firmness to enable him to reject evil desires as well as the appeal of honors and riches. In this way she cures the concupiscence of the flesh and that of the eyes.
She heals the wound of weakness too, our feeble pursuit of the good, our spiritual sloth. She makes the will constant and firm in its practice of virtue and helps it to despise the attractions of this world by throwing itself into the arms of God. she strengthens those who falter and lifts up those who have fallen.
She heals the wound of ignorance by lighting up the darkness of our minds and providing us with the means to escape from error. She calls to our minds the simple and profound truths of the Our Father, thereby lifting our minds up to God. St. Albert the Great, to whom she gave the light to persevere in his vocation and to see through the wiles of Satan, said frequently that she preserves us from losing rightness and firmness of judgment, that she helps us not to grow weary in the pursuit of truth, and that she leads us eventually to a relish of the things of God. He himself speaks of her in his Mariale with a spontaneity , an admiration, a freshness, and a fluency which are rarely found in the works of great students.
She heals us finally of the wounds of malice, by urging our wills Godwards, sometimes by gentle advice, sometimes by stern reproaches. Her sweetness checks anger, her humility lowers pride and restrains the temptations of the evil one. In a word, she heals us of the wounds which we bear as a result of original sin and which our personal sin has made all the more dangerous.
