 |
Annunciation
of the Virgin by Fra Filippo Lippi detail
|
MARY’S OBEDIENCE
When the angel Gabriel announced to
Mary God’s great designs upon her, she, through love for obedience, would only
call herself a handmaid: Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Yes, says St. Thomas
of Villanova, for this faithful handmaid
never, in either thought, or word, or deed, contradicted the Most High; but,
entirely despoiled of her own will, she lived always, and in all things,
obedient to that of God. She herself declared, that God was pleased with her
obedience, when she said, He hath regarded the humility of His handmaid; for in
prompt obedience it is that the humility of a servant, properly speaking,
consists. St. Augustine says that, by her obedience, the Divine Mother repaired
the evil done by Eve’s disobedience. Mary’s obedience was much more perfect
than that of all other Saints; since all men, on account of original sin, are
prone to evil, and find it difficult to do good; but not so the Blessed Virgin.
St. Bernardine writes that, because Mary was free from original sin, she
found no obstacle in obeying God; she was like a wheel, which was easily turned
by every inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Hence, continues the same Saint, her
only object in this world was to keep her eyes constantly fixed on God, to
discover His will, and when she had found out what He required, to perform it.
Of her was said, My soul melted when He spoke; that is, as Richard explains it,
My soul is as metal, liquefied by the fire of love, ready to be molded into any
form, according to the Divine will.
Mary well proved how ready she was to
obey in all things; in the first place when, to please God, she obeyed even the
Roman emperor, and undertook the long journey of at least seventy miles to
Bethlehem, in the winter, when she was pregnant, and in such poverty, that she
had to give birth to her Son in a stable. She showed equal obedience in
undertaking, on the very same night on which she had notice of it from St.
Joseph, the longer and more difficult journey into Egypt. Here Silveira asks,
why the command to fly into Egypt was given, rather to St. Joseph, than to the
Blessed Virgin, who was to suffer the most from it; and he answers, that it was
that Mary might not be deprived of an occasion in which to perform an act of
obedience, for which she was always most ready.
But, above all, she showed her heroic
obedience when, to obey the Divine will, she offered her Son to death, and this
with such constancy, as St. Ildephonsus says, that had executioners been
wanting, she would have been ready herself to have crucified Him. Hence
Venerable Bede, explaining our Lord’s answer to the woman spoken of in the
Gospel, who exclaimed, Blessed is the womb that bore Thee! Yea, rather, blessed
are they who hear the word of God and keep it,’ says that Mary was indeed
blessed in becoming the Mother of God, but that she was much more so in always
loving and obeying the Divine will.
EXAMPLE
The Disciple relates that there was a
poor sinner, who, amongst other crimes which he had committed, had killed his
father and a brother, and therefore was a fugitive. One day in Lent, hearing a
sermon on the Divine mercy, he went to confess his sins to the preacher
himself. The confessor, on hearing the enormous crimes which he had committed,
sent him to an altar of our Lady of Sorrows, that she might obtain him
contrition, and the pardon of his sins.
The sinner obeyed, and began to pray;
when, behold! He suddenly dropped down dead from excess of grief. On the
following day, when the priest recommended the deceased to the prayers of the
people, a white dove appeared in the church, and let a card drop at his feet. The
priest took it up, and found the following words written upon it: The soul of
the deceased, on leaving his body, went straight to heaven: continue thou to
preach the infinite mercy of God.
 |
| Mother of Mercy – St. Peter weeping before the Blessed Virgin - Guercino |
PRAYER OF ST. ANSELM
We beseech thee, O most holy Lady, by
the favor that God did thee, in raising thee so high as to make all things
possible to thee with Him, so to act, that the plenitude of grace, which thou
didst merit, may render us partakers of thy glory.
Strive, O most merciful Lady, to obtain us that for which God was
pleased to become man in thy chaste womb. O lend us a willing ear. If thou
deignest to pray to thy Son for this, He will immediately grant it. It suffices
that thou willest our salvation, and then we are sure to obtain it. But who can
restrain thy great mercy? If thou, who art our Mother, and the Mother of Mercy,
dost not pity us, what will become of us when thy Son comes to judge us?
Help us then, O most compassionate Lady, and consider not the multitude
of our sins. Remember always that our Creator took human flesh of thee, not to
condemn sinners, but to save them. If thou hadst become Mother of God only for
thine own advantage, we might say that it signified little to thee whether we
were lost or saved; but God clothed Himself with thy flesh for thy salvation,
and for that of all men. What would thy great power and glory avail us, if thou
dost not make us partakers of thy happiness? O help us then and protect us:
thou knowest how greatly we stand in need of thy assistance. We recommend ourselves
to thee; O, let us not lose our souls, but make us eternally serve and love thy
beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment