Today is the feastday of our Sr. Miriam Esther of the Sacred Heart, CP.
Born: December 15, 1996
Professed: October 30, 2021
Esther (Hadassah), the humble Jewish girl who became Queen of Persia, is one of only two women to have a book of the Bible named after her (the other being Ruth, the grandmother of King David). The book of Esther is a thrilling read, full of action, adventure, danger, and the wonders of God’s Providence in the life of His faithful. There are two versions of the book — one in Hebrew and another, slightly longer, in Greek. Catholics, unlike Jews and Protestants, consider the Greek additions to be canonical, and so the book of Esther in a Catholic edition of the Bible has extra details, including the beautiful Prayers of Mordecai and of Esther.
The “high point” of Esther’s story comes when the young queen makes the courageous and potentially life-threatening choice to enter the presence of the King uninvited, that she may plead for the endangered lives of her people. For this reason, Queen Esther is often considered a model for intercessory prayer. An intercessor is one who enters into the presence of the Eternal King of the Ages, God Himself, to ask Him for grace and mercy for others. While our lives may not be at risk as Esther’s was, our intercession still requires us to “lay down our lives” through perseverance in prayer and willing penance for the sake of our loved ones and the whole world.
Esther may also be considered a type of Our Lady, the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Her humility and faith are what lead to her exaltation, and her intercessory prayer is incredibly powerful.
Jews celebrate the victory of Queen Esther with the feast of Purim, held in the early spring each year. The Christian liturgical feast of Queen Esther, although not celebrated in the Latin Rite, is commemorated by some of the Eastern Rites on July 1st. How appropriate for the intercessor Queen to share a feastday with the Precious Blood of Jesus, that Blood which “speaks more eloquently than that of Abel” in pleading for our salvation!