Mary Spouse of The Holy Ghost, part 2. BY MONSIGNOR JOHN T. MCMAHON, M.A., PH.D.

MARY’S INTERIOR LIFE

At the finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple the Gospel narrates: “And His Mother kept all these words in her heart.” (St. Luke 2. 51). That single sentence could be looked upon as the life story of Our Blessed Lady on this earth. She stored all that she heard from Her Divine Son in her heart. Hers was a silent, hidden, interior, meditative life.
We shall thank the Holy Ghost for Mary, His Spouse, by devoting a few minutes each day in silence and solitude to thinking things over. We are frightened by the word “meditation,” thinking that it is only for priests, religious, and chosen souls.Mary at Fatima did not use the word “meditation” but asked us “to keep her company,” that is, to chat with her, to share her thoughts, and to apply the lessons of the Rosary to our own lives as we re-live in imagination the scenes of the fifteen Mysteries of her Rosary.

THE GIFT OF PENTECOST

In making a novena to the Holy Ghost, especially during the one in preparation for Pentecost, let us turn our eyes more often to Mary as she led the Apostles in the Supper chamber with prayer, instruction, and penance while they waited for the coming of the Holy Ghost. No one prepared more carefully for His coming than she did. As before, by her prayers, virtues, and ardent desire, she drew the Son of God to her womb, so now at Pentecost the Holy Ghost was drawn down on the Church by the prayers and sighs of the Mother of God. How ceaseless were her prayers and penances! She knew the importance of the Mystery which was at hand, by which the work of her beloved Son was to be completed and crowned by the Holy Ghost. Thus in a spiritual sense Mary filled the office of Mother at the birth of the Church. For that we should thank her sincerely and ask her to take us by the hand and lead us to the Holy Ghost
No one ever received the Holy Ghost in such fullness as she did. It is true that His gifts of grace did not appear on her in such an outward manner as they did on the Apostles, but grace was stored up in her as spiritual capital from which the early Church drew, and the Church today continues to draw.
The Pentecostal gifts to Mary had an extraordinary effect on the infant Church, and continue to have on the interior life of the Church of today, which belongs to her as the Mother of God. in Apostolic days she encouraged, comforted and instructed the Apostles. They consulted her on their missions and brought home to her all their problems. It may have been on her advice that St. Peter went to Rome to establish the headquarters of the Church at the centre of the world.
It was she who instructed the Apostles and enlightened the four Evangelists on the Mysteries of the Redeemer’s earlier life of which she was the sole witness. Her presence on earth blessed every undertaking of the Apostles. The infant Church harvested a rich crop of souls because Mary was there to petition the Lord of the harvest to grant fruit to the seed sown by His Apostles and disciples.

THE FEAST OF GENEROSITY

Pentecost is the feast of generosity for the Holy Ghost; it is the great Gift of God to us. How the Lord loves the generous giver! And who was more generous in her offering than Mary! “Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done unto me according to thy word,” is the golden thread with which Mary weaved every day of her life a glorious tapestry of generosity for God alone.
We shall thank the Holy Ghost for His gift of Mary to us by striving to be generous to Him. He never asks us to attempt anything beyond our limited powers but only to be ungrudging within limits, to give to God the little more that means so much. It is the little extra, the bit over and above that spells generosity, which captivates the heart of God.
O Holy Ghost, the Gift of Pentecost, make us more generous towards You.
O Spouse of the Holy Ghost, His Gift to us, inspire us and strengthen us to answer “Yes” to the whispered invitations of the Holy Ghost.

THANK THE HOLY GHOST FOR MARY. . .

The Angelus is a prayer of thanksgiving to the Holy Ghost for the Mystery of the Incarnation. While saying it let us thank the Holy Ghost for selecting Mary as His instrument, for having her in mind since the Garden of Eden, for the careful choice of her parents, for so richly endowing her, and for making her His Bride.
The ejaculation: “Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of Thy divine love” should be offered through Mary as an act of gratitude. When we say: “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost” let us form the letter M with a finger on the page, on the kneeler, or in the air, anywhere so long as it is inconspicuously done. This little act acknowledges the threefold relationship of Mary to the Divine Persons, daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, and Spouse of the Holy Ghost. This small, unnoticed gesture acknowledges that as we receive every grace and blessing from the Blessed Trinity through Mary, so through Mary we render thanks to the Three Divine Persons and give Them glory always.
A frequent turning of the heart to Mary will create a spirit of devotion to the Holy Ghost and that develops into a habitual act of thanksgiving. Let us keep a favourite picture of Our Lady in our Missals and books of devotion. Let it be a bookmark, projecting above the pages to catch the eye and remind us that all prayer gains in its passing through her hands, and that Mary does add something to every prayer to God. Even if the prayer or exercise is not directed to Mary, let us conclude it with an Ave or a Marian ejaculation, that she may endorse this devotion. Whenever God grants us a grace He expects us to accept that favour through Mary and to acknowledge her in doing so.

A SPIRIT OF CONSECRATION

We thank the Holy Ghost for Mary by cultivating a spirit of consecration to her, an utter dependence upon her. Each morning let us consecrate ourselves to God through her and frequently let us think of that consecration during the day. We have no standing before God except that we are her children.
From the moment of the Annunciation when she said: “Be it done unto me according to thy word” we belong to her and God only deals with us as united to Mary. St. Louis Marie de Montfort assures us that the image of the unborn babe in its mother’s womb is the true image of our dependence upon Mary. A babe in arms is not a true picture because such a babe has a little life of its own apart from its mother. A mother may desert such a babe and the babe’s life goes on. The unborn babe is absolutely dependent on the mother who carries it.
Let us cultivate the spirit of consecration to Mary as a habitual thanksgiving to the Holy Ghost. Each day is Mary’s day. But there must be order in our spiritual lives, regular hours for prayer, and a few minutes each day for thinking in the heart.

Mary Spouse of The Holy Ghost, part 1. BY MONSIGNOR JOHN T. MCMAHON, M.A., PH.D.

“You know well the intimate and wonderful relations existing between Mary and the Holy Spirit, so that she is justly called His Spouse.”-Pope Leo XIII.

“BEHOLD THE HANDMAID OF THE LORD.”

LET us never cease to thank the Holy Ghost for Mary. The expression of thanks that He will appreciate best is that we follow Mary’s example, model ourselves upon her, and live our lives through her inspiration and intercession.
The Annunciation shows Mary’s self-surrender, complete and absolute, with a plea that God may use her as He wishes, use her as His instrument, and thus she paid Him the highest act of worship.
Once Mary made sure of her duty as regards her vow of virginity she did not hesitate. St. Luke’s description of the scene reads as if he had received it from Mary herself. “And Mary said to the Angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man
Mary wanted instruction on this point. She was always prepared to do the will of God. The Angel answered at once, saying: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee, and therefore the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”
Now Mary knows that there was to be no question of a man in the case. To avert the possibility of a doubt in Mary’s mind, the Angel added: “And behold thy cousin, Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren. Because no word shall be impossible with God.” (St. Luke 1. 36–37).
Mary had then to decide, to accept or refuse. She was perfectly free. God, of course, knew that she would not refuse. It was certainly a dramatic moment not only in the life of Mary, but in the history of humanity.

INSTRUMENTS OF THE HOLY GHOST

Through Mary’s help let us offer ourselves, our life’s work whatever it may be, to the Holy Ghost that He might make us better instruments and use us. We all need to open our eyes more widely to His light, to open our ears more wistfully to His inspirations, and to put forth our hands more eagerly to do the will of God. Let us resolve to offer every day of our lives an act of adoration and reparation to the Holy Ghost. We do this by saying the Angelus, the Glory be to the Father, the official prayer to the Holy Ghost, the hymn or the sequence, or out of the love of our hearts let us speak to Him in our own words:
“0 God the Holy Ghost, Whom we have slighted, grieved, resisted from childhood unto this day, reveal us Thy Personality, Thy Presence, Thy Power. Increase Your Seven Gifts within us. Let the fire of Thy Love burn up and consume in us every sin and stain of the Flesh and of the spirit. Cleanse us and purify us so that You can use us as Your instrument.
“Help us to hunt down and slay our little faults. He that is faithful in that which is the least is faithful also in that which is greater. They who strive to get rid of little faults will never willingly commit greater sins ?”
During the thirty years at Nazareth Mary was the instrument of the Holy Ghost in being a Mother to the Holy Family. Her daily tasks of housekeeping, washing and mending clothes, and caring for her Divine Son from babyhood to manhood were done with great exactness because done for God. If we follow Mary’s example and do well the little duties of each day, not waiting for something big to happen, the thought that we are instruments of the Holy Ghost will light up every household task, and gilt every daily duty, no matter how trivial.

MARY LEADS US TO THE HOLY GHOST

Devotion to Our Lady, Spouse of the Holy Ghost, means putting ourselves without reserve in her hands. She will lead us to Him, the Spirit of Truth, abiding within us. Devotion is a noble word, a rich word which calls for a giving up of our own opinion. It is a challenge to our constancy and perseverance. It asks us to pause and think before we give in to our own way and inclination.
Mary, who kept His secrets in her heart, will lead us to the Holy Ghost if we ask her each morning to open our eyes to see the path that lies before us, to open our ears to hear His invitations, and to warm our hearts to follow where He leads and to do what He asks of us this very day. We may be in awe of God the Holy Ghost, but surely we can approach Mary, His Spouse, and through her we can seek and find His Divine Counsels.
When day is done let us kneel by our bedside and ask Mary to play the searchlight of His Wisdom on the doings of this day, its thoughts, words, actions, and omissions, and so let us see how we stand in the sight of God. Such a glance will make us humble, and in that humility lies our hope of sharing Mary’s faith in the Holy Ghost abiding within us.
She, the great Mother of men, is filled with love for us by the Holy Ghost. Through the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost She became the Mother of Christ, and remains “our life, our sweetness, and our hope.”

THINKING IN THE HEART

“The Kingdom of God is within you,” Our Blessed Lord assures us. The Holy Ghost is the inner Power, the hidden, silent, secret Source of holiness, as opposed to the modem platform of pomp and flash and noise and show. The Holy Ghost is the direct opposite to the idolatry of the flesh, to the Hollywood way of life, and to worldly ambition.
What is within quickens. The Holy Ghost is a spiritual Dynamo. He is the Current which carries us to that sea of peace which is holiness of life. To become holy we must become interior souls. Without the interior spirit we cannot pray and everything we do goes haltingly. No mere organization, no matter how humanly perfect it may be, can touch our hearts or the hearts of others. The interior working of the Spirit alone can alter us or reform others. The more interior life is the more perfect it is.
The mighty tree grows because it digs deep into the earth and sends its roots down so that its trunk and branches can withstand the storms that blow and the drought that withers. We also grow from within. Our moral strength is within us. And if we would build ourselves into better and holier persons we must plan a few minutes each day to think in the heart. Our lives will bear fruit in proportion as we meditate. Without meditation the breath of self-love will arrest, and, perhaps, destroy our spiritual growth. We cannot Unmask the subtle forms self-seeking assumes unless we think in the heart.