Day 95: Moms are Special

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames)

Episode: Day 95: Moms are Special
Date: April 5, 2026
Host: Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR (with Ascension)

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the unique and powerful role of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the story of the Wedding Feast at Cana (the second Luminous Mystery of the Rosary). Drawing on a reading from St. Alphonsus Liguori's "The Glories of Mary," Fr. Mark-Mary explores the profound relationship between Jesus and His mother, and why a mother's request—especially Mary's—holds special sway over her son. The episode is both a meditation on Marian intercession and a personal reflection on the honored place mothers hold in our hearts.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. St. Alphonsus Liguori on Marian Intercession (01:13–03:41)

• Excerpt Focus: God’s "general decree" that nothing asked by Mary would be refused.
• St. Alphonsus (quoting multiple Church Fathers) explains how, though Jesus said “My hour has not yet come,” He performed His first miracle at Cana because His mother requested it.
• Notable Quote:

  “From eternity, God had established by another general decree, that nothing the Divine Mother could ask should be denied her.” (St. Alphonsus, as read by Fr. Mark-Mary, 01:30)

• Other theologians (St. John Chrysostom, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Cyril, St. Jerome, Jansenius of Ghent) are cited as witnesses to the special influence Mary has with Jesus.

2. Clarifying Mary’s Title: “Divine Mother” (03:41–04:02)

• Fr. Mark-Mary clarifies that calling Mary “Divine Mother” emphasizes her role as Mother of God (Jesus), not as divine herself.
• Notable Quote:

  “This does not mean that Mary is divine. It means that she is the mother of God, Jesus.” (03:43)

3. The Unique Power of a Mother's Request (04:02–06:12)

• Fr. Mark-Mary shares a personal analogy: he, like many people, quickly declines requests from most others—but anything from his mom immediately gets special consideration.
• Notable Quote:

  “Requests from mom just are different. They just are different and they get treated differently. And that is right and just.” (04:07)

• He imagines listeners nodding along, especially mothers themselves—connecting our own experience to Jesus’ relationship with Mary.

4. Saints Defend and Honor Mary (05:10–06:12)

• Fr. Mark-Mary reflects on the way saints throughout history are eager to defend and honor Mary, much like devoted sons would.
• He notes the “real son, sons by grace of Mary,” and the joy with which the saints speak in her defense.
• Notable Quote:

  “I just kind of love all of the sons of the Church being, like, coming so quickly to honor and defend their mother. As is. As is right. And just.” (05:33)

5. The Tenderness of Jesus’ Relationship with Mary (06:12–07:33)

• Moves from theology to the lived, personal relationship between Jesus and Mary:
  • Mary carried, comforted, nourished, and celebrated Jesus as a mother.
  • Even ordinary, maternal gestures—feeding, comforting, caring—are rendered extraordinary as they shape the relationship that compels Jesus to respond with “great fondness and joy.”
• Notable Quotes:

  “When Jesus became incarnate, he found a home in her womb. She carried him for nine months. When he was born and cold, she held him and kept him warm.” (06:25)
  “To Jesus, the woman who makes this request of him at Cana. It's his mom. It's his mom.” (07:15)

• Ends this reflection by encouraging trust in Mary’s intercession:

  “I can hardly imagine anything that he loves to do more than to say yes to his mother.” (07:33)

6. Invitation to Meditation and Prayer (07:33–08:08)

• Fr. Mark-Mary encourages listeners to reflect on “the tenderest of loves and deepest of loyalties” between Jesus and Mary.
• Praying with confidence in Mary’s powerful intercession.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Mary’s Influence:

  “If another had asked him to perform it...because his mother asked it, he immediately performed it.” (paraphrasing St. Thomas, 02:25)

• On the Joy of Fulfilling a Mother's Request:

  “And I can hardly imagine anything that he loves to do more than to say yes to his mother.” (07:33)

• On Universal Experience:

  “Requests from mom just are different...and that is right and just.” (04:07)

• On Saints as Defenders:

  “All of the sons of the Church...coming so quickly to honor and defend their mother.” (05:33)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:13] Reading from St. Alphonsus Liguori: The special privilege of Mary and the miracle at Cana.
• [03:41] Clarification on the title “Divine Mother.”
• [04:02] Fr. Mark-Mary’s personal motherly request analogy.
• [05:10] Reflection on saints as defenders of Mary.
• [06:12] The motherly care of Mary and why her requests are so powerful for Jesus.
• [07:33] Meditation invitation: Jesus’ love and loyalty to His mother.
• [08:08–11:09] Praying the decade of the Rosary (Second Luminous Mystery: Wedding at Cana).

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Tone and Language

The episode is gentle, warm, and deeply personal. Fr. Mark-Mary speaks like a caring pastor—simple, heartfelt, and relatable—using analogies from ordinary life to illuminate profound spiritual truths. His language remains accessible while honoring the theological richness of the tradition. The tone is reverent yet down-to-earth, inviting listeners into deeper confidence in Mary’s intercession.

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Conclusion

Fr. Mark-Mary’s reflection highlights the universal truth: moms are special—uniquely honored by their children, and even more so in the divine relationship between Jesus and Mary. By meditating on the Wedding Feast at Cana and the writings of St. Alphonsus Liguori, listeners are encouraged to bring their prayers confidently to Mary, knowing that Jesus responds to His mother’s requests with unmatched love and joy.

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Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and this is the Rosary in

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a Year podcast, where through prayer and

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meditation, the Rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day 95. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a year, visit ascensionpress.com forward/rosary in a year or text RIY to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each month and it's a great way to track your progress. The best place to listen to the podcast is in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full rosary. On behalf of myself and the whole team here at Ascension, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's helped support this podcast financially. Your support is so appreciated and helps us to reach as many people as possible. And if you haven't already, please consider supporting [e-mail] forward slash support. Today we'll be meditating upon and praying with the second luminous mystery, which is the Wedding Feast at Cana, enriched by an excerpt from a reading from Saint

[A]

Alphonsus Liguori from his work the Glories of Mary.

[B]

So I've already had an opportunity to introduce you to our author today, Saint Alphonsus Liguri, Doctor of the Church. So we're going to get straight into the reading and it is. It's a slightly longer excerpt than normal, but I think it's worth it. I love it. All right, now we'll have our reading from St. Alphonsus Liguori, with a special emphasis on this God's other general decree. If the time appointed for miracles was the time of preaching, how could it be anticipated by the miracle of the wine, contrary to the Divine decree? Nothing, it may be answered, was done contrary to the divine decrees. For although generally speaking, the time for signs had not come yet from eternity, God had established by another general decree, that nothing the Divine Mother could ask should be denied her. And therefore Mary, well acquainted with her privilege, although her Son seemed to have then set aside her petition, said notwithstanding, that the water pots should be filled as though the favor were already granted. This St. John Chrysostom would express when commenting on the passage of John above o woman, what is that to thee and to me? He says that although Jesus had answered thus, yet for the honor of his mother, he did not fail to comply with her demand. St. Thomas confirms the same when he observes that by these words my hour has not yet come. Jesus Christ wished to show that he would have deferred the miracle if another had asked him to perform it. But because his mother asked it, he immediately performed it. St. Cyril and St. Jerome confirmed this, according to Barada. And Jansenius of Ghent says, commenting on the same passage of St. John, that he might honor his mother, he anticipated the timing of working miracles. The end of the reading. Thanks be to God. Saint Alphonse Liguri writes, from eternity God had established by another gentle decree that nothing the Divine Mother could ask should be denied her. To be honest, I get this, and I'd say I get this from within. But for going into it a little bit more, just a quick clarification, St. Alphonsus, he used the language referring to

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Mary as the Divine Mother.

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This does not mean that Mary is divine. It means that she is the mother of God, Jesus. I think a lot of priests are in this position, and I certainly am, just because of some of the public nature of my ministry, that I get invitations and requests all the time.

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All the time.

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I get new requests to come help out with a retreat or to come give a talk, to travel to some sort of event. But actually, like, I'm not. I'm not a traveling speaker. I just don't really feel super called to it as like a normal thing I do. So these requests, they pretty much all just get a quick no from me. However, if I get one of these requests, like it comes from in an email or something like that, and the sender is my mom, right? It immediately gets moved to a whole different category of requests. In this little category, there's a table for two mom and dad. And I presume that that's relatable to a lot of folks listening. Requests from mom just are different. They just are different and they get treated differently. And that is right and just. And I presume that that's relatable to a lot of you who are listening. And I imagine, you know, there's some moms here driving their van with some kids in the car, like, hey, listen to this priest. He knows what he's talking about, right? One other little detail I love of this writing from St. Alphonsus is like, if we read the words of our saint here from the same perspective, that he and the saints understand themselves like the real son, sons by grace of Mary, who is really their mother too. You can see it's. If they're coming in to defend their mom because they feel like somebody is being disrespectful of her or doubting her, as St. Alphonsus, right? He puts his own words. And St. John Christendom said, and then St. Thomas said, and then St. Cyril says, and St. Jerome says, and Jansenius of Ghent said, I just kind of love all of the sons of the Church being, like, coming so quickly to honor and defend their mother. As is. As is right. And just. But just like, if we want to look at this not just, like, as a theological reality, but I want to look at, like, the specific nature of the relationship that Jesus has with Mary and why it just makes so much sense that he is committed to responding to her requests with a great fondness

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and joy in doing so.

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Why does Mary have such a special influence on Jesus? By divine decree, yes.

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But also right.

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Because when Jesus became incarnate, he found a home in her womb. She carried him for nine months. When he was born and cold, she held him and kept him warm. When Jesus spoke his first words or took his first step, she celebrated him.

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And as a young boy, if he

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fell and scraped his knee like, she comforted him and kissed him where it hurt and wiped his tears right when he was hungry, she made him his favorite food. To Jesus, the woman who makes this

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request of him at Cana. It's his mom. It's his mom.

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And this is the woman who continues to intercede on our behalf so that when she asks something of him, like, of course he does it, and he

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loves to do it.

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And I can hardly imagine anything that he loves to do more than to say yes to his mother. It's what he loves to do and what the Heavenly Father has asked him to do by an eternal decree. As we pray today, let us meditate on the tenderest of loves and deepest of loyalties that Jesus has for his mother. And may this increase our confidence in her intercession whenever we come to her.

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Now with Mary, let us pray. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

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Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done

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on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

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And lead us not into temptation, but

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deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.

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Amen.

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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Thanks so much for joining me and praying with me today.

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I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow.

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Poco. Poco. Friends, God bless y'.

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All.