Our Lady in Waiting

Have you ever heard of Our Lady of Waiting? Jeff Cavins shares about this Marian devotion and explains its origin in Scripture. He encourages us to seek Mary’s intercession whenever we are facing challenges or are worried about the future.

Snippet from the Show
Mary is our mother. Not only can she pray for us, but she wants to pray for us and bring our intercessions to her Son.

Matthew 15: 21-28

At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
"Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon."
But he did not say a word in answer to her.
His disciples came and asked him,
"Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us."
He said in reply,
"I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me."
He said in reply,
"It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs."
She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters."
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
"O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish."
And her daughter was healed from that hour.

About Our Lady of Waiting

Our Lady of Waiting is a long-held tradition in the Church that says that when Jesus made his way to the Canaanite woman in the district of Tyre and Sidon, Mary stayed back and waited for him in what is now called the village of Magdousheh. While she waited, she interceded for his trip to the region of Tyre and Sidon. It’s a beautiful title for Our Lady, Our Lady of Waiting. While Jesus was dealing with the demonic possession of this woman’s daughter, Mary was waiting and praying for her son, Jesus. Beautiful!

Three hundred years later, St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, donated an icon to the Church, and it remains there to this day. This place is now called the Shrine of Our Lady of Mantara (Our Lady of Waiting). The Christian history of Lebanon goes back to Peter and Paul evangelizing the Phoenicians. If you talk to any Melkite or Maronite Catholics, you will hear that their story goes back directly to Jesus and this encounter in today’s reading.

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