Second Day
MARY'S HOPE
Hope takes its
rise in faith; for God enlightens us by faith to know His goodness and the
promises He has made, that by this knowledge we may rise by hope to the desire
of possessing Him. Mary then, having had the virtue of faith in its highest
degree, had also hope in the same degree of excellence; and this made her say
with David: 'But it is good for me to adhere to my God, to put my hope in the
Lord God.' Mary was indeed that faithful spouse of the Holy Ghost of whom it
was said: 'Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights,
leaning on her beloved?' For she was always perfectly detached from earthly affections,
looking upon the world as a desert, and therefore in no way relying either on
creatures or on her own merits, but relying only on Divine grace, in which was
all her confidence, she always advanced in the love of God.
The most holy
Virgin gave a clear indication of the greatness of her confidence in God in the
first place, when she saw the anxiety of her holy spouse St. Joseph. Unable to
account for her wonderful pregnancy, he was troubled at the thought of leaving
her: ‘But Joseph . . . minded to put her
away privately.' It appeared then necessary that she should discover the hidden
mystery to St. Joseph; but no, she would not herself manifest the grace she had
received; she thought it better to abandon herself to Divine providence, in the
full confidence that God Himself would defend her innocence and reputation. This
is precisely what Cornelius à Lapide says, in his commentary on the words of
the Gospel quoted above: 'The Blessed Virgin was unwilling to reveal this
secret to Joseph, lest she might seem to boast of her gifts. She therefore resigned
herself to the care of God, in the fullest confidence that He would guard her
innocence and reputation.' She again showed her confidence in God when she knew
that the time for the birth of our Lord approached, and was yet driven even
from the lodgings of the poor in Bethlehem, and obliged to bring forth in a
stable: ' And she laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for Him in
the inn.' She did not then let drop a single word of complaint; but, abandoning
herself to God, she trusted that He would assist her. The Divine Mother also
showed how great was her confidence in Divine providence when she received
notice from St. Joseph that they must fly into Egypt. On that very night she
undertook so long a journey to a strange and unknown country, without provisions,
without money, accompanied only by her Infant Jesus and her poor spouse: 'Who
arose and took the Child and His Mother by night, and retired into Egypt.' But
much more did she show her confidence when she asked her Son for wine at the
marriage-feast of Cana; for when she had said, ' They have no wine,' Jesus
answered her: 'Woman, what is it to thee and to Me? My hour is not yet come.'
After this answer, which seemed an evident refusal, her confidence in the
Divine goodness was such that she desired the servants to do whatever her Son
told them; for the favour was certain to be granted: 'Whatsoever He shall say to
you, do ye.' It indeed was so: Jesus Christ ordered the vessels to be filled
with water, and changed it into wine.
Let us, then,
learn from Mary to have that confidence in God which we ought always to have,
but principally in the great affair of our eternal salvation: an affair in
which it is true that we must cooperate; yet it is from God alone that we must
hope for the grace necessary to obtain it. We must distrust our own strength,
and say with the Apostle: ' I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me.'
EXAMPLE
This example
is not recorded in any book, but was told me by a priest, a friend of mine, as
having happened to himself. This priest was hearing confessions in a church (to
compromise no one I do not mention the name of the place, though the penitent
gave him leave to publish the fact), when a young man stood before him, who
seemed to wish, but at the same time to fear, to go to confession. The Father,
after looking at him several times, at length called him, and asked him if he
wished to confess. He replied that he did; but as his confession was likely to
be very long, he begged to be taken to a private room. The penitent there began
by saying that he was a foreigner, and of noble birth, but who had led such a
life that he did not believe it possible that God would pardon him. Besides the
other innumerable shameful crimes and murders he had committed, he said, that
having entirely despaired of salvation, he committed sins no longer from
inclination, but expressly to outrage God, out of the hatred he bore Him. He
said, amongst other things, that he wore a crucifix, and that he beat it out of
disrespect, and that, that very morning, only a short time before, he had communicated
sacrilegiously. And for what purpose? It was, that he might trample the sacred
particle under his feet. And he had indeed already received it, and had only
been
prevented from executing his horrible design by the people who would have
seen him. He then consigned the sacred particle in a piece of paper to the
confessor. Having done this, he said, that, passing before the church, he had
felt himself strongly impelled to enter it; that, unable to resist, he had done
so. After entering, he was seized with great remorse of conscience, and at the
same time a sort of confused and irresolute desire to confess his sins; and
hence the reason for which he stood before the confessional; but while standing
there, his confusion and diffidence were so great, that he endeavoured to go
away; but it seemed to him as if someone held him there by force. 'In the meantime,'
he said, ' Father, you called me; and now I am here making my confession, and I
know not how.' The Father then asked him if he ever practiced any devotion
during the time, meaning towards the Blessed Virgin; for such conversions only
come through the powerful hands of Mary. 'None, Father. Devotions, indeed! I
looked on myself as damned.' 'But reflect again,' said the Father. 'Father, I
did nothing,' he repeated. But putting his hand to his breast to uncover it, he
remembered that he wore the scapular of Mary's dolors. 'Ah, my son,' said the
confessor, ' dost thou not see it is our Blessed Lady who has obtained thee so
extraordinary a grace? And know,' he added, ' that to her this church is
dedicated.' On hearing this the young man was moved, and began to grieve, and
at the same time to weep: then, continuing the confession of his sins, his
compunction increased to such a degree, that with a loud sob he fell fainting
at the Father's feet. When he had been restored to consciousness, he finished
his confession; and the Father with the greatest consolation absolved him, and
sent him back to his own country entirely contrite, and resolved to change his
life, having his full permission to preach and publish everywhere the great
mercy that Mary had shown him.
PRAYER
Immaculate and
Blessed Virgin, since thou art the universal dispenser of all Divine graces,
thou art the hope of all, and my hope. I will ever thank my Lord for having
granted me the grace to know thee, and for having shown me the means by which I
may obtain graces and be saved. Thou art this means, O great Mother of God; for
I now understand that it is principally through the merits of Jesus Christ, and
then through thy intercession, that my soul must be saved. Pray then, O Mary,
for me, and commend me to thy Son. Thou, far better than I do, knowest my miseries and my wants. What more can I say? Pity me; I am so miserable and
ignorant, that I neither know, nor can I seek for, the graces that I stand the
most in need of. My most sweet Queen and Mother, do thou seek and obtain for me
from thy Son those graces which thou knowest to be the most expedient and
necessary for my soul. I abandon myself entirely into thy hands, and only beg
the Divine Majesty, that by the merits of my Saviour Jesus, He will grant me
the graces which thou askest Him for me. Ask, ask then, O most holy Virgin,
that which thou seest is best for me; thy prayers are never rejected; they are
the prayers of a Mother addressed to a Son, who loves thee His Mother so much,
and rejoices in doing all that thou desirest, that He may honour thee more, and
at the same time show thee the great love He bears thee. Let us make an
agreement, O Lady, that while I live confiding in thee, thou on thy part wilt
charge thyself with my salvation. Amen.
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