Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae.
Praised be Jesus and Mary.
So we celebrate, offer the holy sacrifice of the Mass this morning,
this Mass for the dead, for our deceased Franciscan Tertiary of the Immaculate,
Brother Gabriel, who died yesterday.
So he, as all Third Order members of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate,
totally consecrate themselves to Our Lady.
They give themselves to Her entirely, their whole being, their body,
their soul, their life, their death, all of their merits,
all of the powers of their soul and body.
Everything is given to Our Lady.
And this makes very significant one of the prayers that's said during the commendation,
and which was said yesterday as Brother Gabriel was dying,
this invocation of Our Lady.
Our Lady, may the most benign Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
loving consoler of the afflicted,
commend to her son the soul of Gabriel, her servant,
that by her maternal intervention,
he shall not fear the terrors of death,
but shall in her company enter with joy the desired mansions of our heavenly fatherland.
And so this certainly is a source of hope and consolation for those souls
who are consoled.
So, we are consecrated to Our Lady,
that we are her servants,
and we can be assured of her maternal intervention
at the moment of our death.
That she will escort us, bring us into the heavenly homeland.
This calls to mind another quote from Saint Maximilian Kolbe,
who, in one of his letters, his writings,
he talks about the particular joy that the soul
should experience the soul who is consecrated to Our Lady
when he finds himself on his deathbed.
He says, imagine how happy we will be on our deathbed
when we will be able to affirm with all sincerity,
O Immaculate, by your mercy,
I consecrated to you my entire life.
For you I labored, for you I suffered,
and now I die for you.
I am yours.
What peace, what serene joy will fill our hearts
in the hope of seeing her soon.
And this is really the fruit,
the culmination of being consecrated to Our Lady
is the moment of our death.
And we should know by faith that this is in her hands,
that she determines for each and every one of us
the place of our death,
the manner in which we die,
just as she did for St. Maximilian Kolbe.
This is why he was able to get off the train at Auschwitz
and be filled with peace,
because he knew that Our Lady wanted him there.
And so, we commend the soul of Gabriel
into the hands of the Immaculate.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Amen.
All right.
Thank you.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.