THE PRAYER OF THE LADY OF ALL NATIONS
* This prayer originated in Amsterdam in 1951. Since that time it has received many imprimaturs.
After the local bishop consulted with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2006 in regard to the prayer, the Congregation approved the text of the prayer but with the directive to change the original phrase „who once was Mary“ to „the Blessed Virgin Mary“, due to possible misunderstanding.
The prayer of the Lady of All Nations, together with her image, forms the core of the devotion.
LORD JESUS CHRIST,
SON OF THE FATHER,
SEND NOW YOUR SPIRIT OVER THE EARTH.
LET THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVE
IN THE HEARTS OF ALL NATIONS,
THAT THEY MAY BE PRESERVED
FROM DEGENERATION, DISASTER AND WAR.
MAY THE LADY OF ALL NATIONS,
WHO ONCE WAS MARY,
BE OUR ADVOCATE.
AMEN.
ARE YOU NOT ALWAYS MARY?
Of course, we can always address Mary as “Mary”, like we repeat many times in the Hail Mary when we pray the Rosary. The LADY OF ALL NATIONS, however, wants to express in this wording that even her vocation wonderfully evolved. So we are always dealing with the same person, Mary. Now though, in Amsterdam, she “who once was Mary” has the desire, at the height of her coredeeming vocation, to be called ‘THE LADY, MOTHER OF ALL NATIONS’. For Mary too became in the course of her life something that she had not yet previously been.
Through her FIAT she—the Immaculate Conception, the completely unknown and simple girl from Nazareth—became the Mother of the Divine Son. Through her suffering, united with the Redeemer, the Mother of Jesus also became the Lady, the Mother of All Nations and she wishes now in our time to be recognized and to be loved as such by all mankind.
Everything depended on correspondence and faithful cooperation, even in Mary’s case! At this point it may be helpful to show with specific examples how someone, by collaborating with God’s grace and through suffering, matures into that what God has called him:
“May the father and patron of the Church, who once was Joseph, be our intercessor!”
It may be applied to a holy pope:
“May Pope Pius X, who once was Giuseppe Sarto, intercede for us in heaven!”
When the visionary herself understood better, she also made comparisons like the following to help others understand. Just as the little, playful girl Beatrix already had the vocation to one day become the Queen of the Netherlands, so too, Mary, who once lived as a hidden, simple little girl in the unknown town of Nazareth, became the Mother, the Lady of All Nations.