Happy Feast of St. Mary, Mother of Our Lord

Today is the feast of St. Mary!

It’s the day that we remember and celebrate Mary, the mother of our Lord.

We honor her today and are thankful for her humble obedience and her “yes” to the call that God had on her life.

Mary has been celebrated by the Church from the earliest days of the Church. We are thankful for the upbringing that she provided to Jesus. We are also thankful that she continued to support Jesus in his ministry and that she was one of the few who remained with him all of the way to the end even to his death on the cross. We are thankful that even after Jesus’ death, Mary was in the upper room with the disciples, waiting and praying for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

I love what the book “Lesser Feasts and Fasts” says -

What we can believe is that one who stood in so intimate a relationship with the incarnate Son of God on earth must, of all the human race, have the place of highest honor in the eternal life of God. A paraphrase of an ancient Greek hymn expresses this belief in very familiar words: “O higher than the cherubim, more glorious than the seraphim, lead their praises, alleluia.”

Ways to Celebrate:

Make something with rosemary. Rosemary is the herb associated with St. Mary. Legend has it that the blossoms of the rosemary plant were white until Mary stopped to do laundry during the holy family’s flight to Egypt. Mary threw her blue cloak over a rosemary bush to dry and the flowers have been blue ever since.

One of my favorite ways to use rosemary is this easy roast chicken recipe from The Pioneer Woman. You use lemons, rosemary and a lot of butter. It’s tender and so flavorful!

Lemon and Rosemary Roast Chicken

1 whole Chicken, Rinsed And Patted Dry

3/4 c. Butter, Softened

3 whole Lemons

4 sprigs Rosemary

Salt And Pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (convection bake. If you're using a standard oven, you can do 425.)

Zest two of the lemons. Strip the leaves off of one of the rosemary sprigs and chop it up finely.

In a bowl, combine softened butter, lemon zest, rosemary, and salt and pepper to taste.

Line a baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil and lay the patted-dry chicken on the foil, breast side up.

Use your fingers to smear the butter mixture all over the chicken, under the skin, and inside the cavity. Cut the lemons in half and squeeze the juice of one lemon all over the chicken. Place the six lemon halves (if they'll fit!) and the three remaining rosemary leaves into the cavity of the bird.

Place the chicken into the oven and roast it for 1 hour, 15 minutes or until done. Skin should be deep golden brown and juices should be sizzling.