Method 3: Cling to His Most Sweet Mother
"Cling to His Most Sweet Mother". For St. Clare, Our Lady is alwaysmentioned in relation to Jesus. He is always the focus of herattention, but, being a woman deeply in love, she understands thedepths of the love that exists between them. Herself being the'mother' of at least 50 sisters in her monastery, she knows what isinvolved in this role. A mother always has time for all her childrenand has all their interests at heart. She is the unifying one in thefamily, the place of security when we are afraid, the one we canalways turn to, no matter how much we think others may not love us, orindeed, that we may not love ourselves! Jesus gave her to us as ourmother in a special way on the Cross and so, St. Clare knows that notonly can we approach her in complete confidence and know that we willnot be turned away, but we can even (and should) "cling" to her. Thisimage of "clinging" conjures up the way a child who has been lost,might cling to its mother when they are reunited. This is his place of security.
In her 3rd letter, St. Clare says,
"Cling to His most sweet Mother whocarried a Son Whom the heavens could not contain; and yet she carriedHim in the enclosure of her holy womb and held Him on her virginal lap."
She marvels that He who is the Lord of the universe not onlydeigned to humble Himself to become man, but He submitted Himself tovoluntarily living in Our Lady's womb - in total dependence upon her.In telling us to "cling" to His mother, she is suggesting that weallow ourselves to be nurtured by her, as Jesus was. To pray withthis method, is to develop a relationship with Our Lady and to reallyturn to her as a mother. If we "cling" to her, as Clare suggests, shewon't let us down.
