Mẹ là Ngôi Sao Sáng....
soi lối cho con lúc vượt biển thế gian...
I remember singing this hymn when I was a little girl. My family used to gather around a beautiful statue of Mary, pray the Rosary, and end with these haunting words.
As an adult, I finally connected the meaning of the lyrics with the plight of so many Vietnamese refugees who fled their homeland on little boats. Floating in the vast Pacific Ocean, they looked towards the night sky with its starry firmament and used the constellations as a compass. They knew hunger, storms, and pirates could claim their lives.
The morning star promised that the endless night will give way to a new day, new hope, and new life. Appearing right before dawn, it was the brightest object in the sky next to the sun and the moon. My parents told me this, as I was only a child and my brothers were not much older.
My parents left Vietnam so that my brothers and sister could have a better life. And like so many other Vietnamese families, we have found material prosperity. I wonder if the cost of this material prosperity is spiritual malnourishment.
Mary is such a quiet lady. Although I belong to a religious community which bears her name, "Missionary Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the World" or "Dòng Nữ Tu Thừa Sai Dức Mẹ Trinh Vương", it has been only recently that I discovered her love and her power. Although a quiet lady, Mary is powerful.
Perhaps St. Bernard of Clairvaux says it best:
If the winds of temptation arise;
If you are driven upon the rocks of tribulation look to the star, call on Mary;
If you are tossed upon the waves of pride, of ambition, of envy, of rivalry, look to the star, call on Mary.
Have you looked to the star?
Have you called on Mary?
If you have, you know she is the shining Star of the Sea, the Morning Star that promises the Sun.
I remember singing this hymn when I was a little girl. My family used to gather around a beautiful statue of Mary, pray the Rosary, and end with these haunting words.
As an adult, I finally connected the meaning of the lyrics with the plight of so many Vietnamese refugees who fled their homeland on little boats. Floating in the vast Pacific Ocean, they looked towards the night sky with its starry firmament and used the constellations as a compass. They knew hunger, storms, and pirates could claim their lives.
The morning star promised that the endless night will give way to a new day, new hope, and new life. Appearing right before dawn, it was the brightest object in the sky next to the sun and the moon. My parents told me this, as I was only a child and my brothers were not much older.
My parents left Vietnam so that my brothers and sister could have a better life. And like so many other Vietnamese families, we have found material prosperity. I wonder if the cost of this material prosperity is spiritual malnourishment.
Mary is such a quiet lady. Although I belong to a religious community which bears her name, "Missionary Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the World" or "Dòng Nữ Tu Thừa Sai Dức Mẹ Trinh Vương", it has been only recently that I discovered her love and her power. Although a quiet lady, Mary is powerful.
Perhaps St. Bernard of Clairvaux says it best:
If the winds of temptation arise;
If you are driven upon the rocks of tribulation look to the star, call on Mary;
If you are tossed upon the waves of pride, of ambition, of envy, of rivalry, look to the star, call on Mary.
quoted from http://campus.udayton.edu/mary//questions/yq/yq17.html
Have you looked to the star?
Have you called on Mary?
If you have, you know she is the shining Star of the Sea, the Morning Star that promises the Sun.
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