St Luke tells is in his Gospel in the account of Our Lord’s presentation in the Temple: ‘Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the fall[] and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.”’

Our Lady is the finest example of the pure in heart, called ‘blessed’ by her Son in the Beatitudes. As the Song of Songs expressed it: ‘You are all fair, my love; there is no flaw in you’. In that purity of love, her gaze rests upon us in mercy and truth, drawing us ever closer to her Son.

May she pray for us this day, and may God bless you.