Vessel of Singular Devotion - THE PURIFICATION OF MARY

THE FAIREST FLOWER OF PARADISE - CONSIDERATIONS ON THE LITANY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN, ENRICHED WITH EXAMPLES DRAWN FROM THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS BY Very Rev. ALEXIS M. LEPICIER, O. S. M.

"And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His Mother: Behold this Child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; and thine own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed." (Luke, ii, 34, 35.)

ACCORDING to the law of Moses, the woman who had brought into the world a man-child, was to abstain from going into the Temple for forty days. After which time, she was to journey to Jerusalem, and there offer for her purification a lamb with a pigeon or turtle-dove; or by concession, if she were poor, a pair of turtle-doves or pigeons. (Lev. xii, 8.)

The conception of Christ in the womb of our blessed Lady was the work of the Holy Ghost, and hence Mary was not subject to this law in as much as it implied satisfaction for any fault whatever. But that same spirit of humility which had induced Jesus, though immune from all stain of origin, to obey the law of circumcision, impelled Mary also to submit to the law of purification.

The Holy of Holies having come upon earth to take away the sins of the world, (John, i, 29.) chose to appear among us as a sinner. It was therefore befitting that His Immaculate Mother, destined to cooperate with Him in the work of our redemption, should teach the world, by her submission to the law of purification, this great truth, that humility is the beginning of our salvation, as pride has been the root of our ruin. And just as Jesus willed to be born in poverty, so also Mary appeared in the Temple stripped of the goods of this world, for which reason she made to God the offering of the poor.

O holy humility, how pleasing art thou in the sight of the Most High, since it was to teach us lowliness, that the Word of God came down upon earth!

Mary went to the Temple of Jerusalem not only to be purified in accordance with the Law, but also to offer to God the Child Jesus, her new-born Son: Ut sisterent eum Domino" (Luke, ii, 22.)

The Law commanded that all newly born male children should be consecrated to the Lord. This precept was designed to recall to the Hebrews the memory of the passage of the destroying-Angel, who slew the first-born of Egypt, but spared the children of the Israelites. Later on however, God having, in place of the first-born of the Hebrews, set apart for the priesthood the entire tribe of Levi, the custom was introduced that the parents should immediately ransom their first-born at the price of five shekels. Mary and Joseph offered therefore this mystic ransom at the Temple, in a spirit of obedience.

But to what purpose was Jesus thus ransomed? Why, having been once offered to God, was He restored again to His parents? Ah, it is because He was the victim destined for the sacrifice of Golgotha, and it was necessary that the victim should be kept for the day of its immolation. Mary and Joseph are well aware of this. Being fully acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, they know that the Messias must accomplish the work of redemption by His death.

But, in order that the designs of God may be brought home to them with greater force, behold the Prophet Simeon, inspired by the Holy Spirit comes into the Temple, takes into his arms the Divine Infant and, blessing God, turns to Mary, foretelling her the bitter sorrow which, like a sharp sword, must one day pierce her sinless soul.

The holy old man Simeon knew well that the Messias was born only of Mary, and that to her alone would one day belong the offering up of Jesus upon Calvary. Therefore, though his benediction equally included St. Joseph, yet it was to the Mother of God alone that he addressed the prophetic utterance. These words were, for the heart of the Immaculate Virgin, a cause of unspeakable grief, though at the same time of exceeding joy.

In fact, Mary perceived that if Jesus was to be a contradicted sign, it was by reason of the envy of men, which would drive them to such a pitch of malice, as to become guilty of dei-cide. She understood that this persecution must of necessity include herself also, the true Mother of the Redeemer.

But if the Saviour is to be for many an occasion of perdition, He will also prove, for those who are ready and willing to accept His teaching, a source of grace, so that in His name and by His power they will become victors over sin and death. This thought sufficed to console Mary and to animate her for the fulfilment of her mission.

Example The devotion of Pope Clement viii to The Blessed Virgin

Among the Sovereign Pontiffs who have nourished a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin, particular mention must be made of Clement VIII, through whom the picture of Our Lady, venerated in St. Mary Major's at Borne and known as St. Luke's picture, became a center of great devotion.

As soon as he was crowned Pope, he proclaimed a jubilee to all who should visit the chapel where the picture is preserved, and, desiring to give an example of true devotion to the Mother of God, he himself went thrice in procession to visit the shrine, followed by the Sacred College of Cardinals, the Pontifical Court, and a large body of the faithful.

When his nephew, John Francis Aldobrandini was about to set out with an army to help the Hungarians against the Turks, the Holy Pontiff wished to put the valiant soldier under the protection of Our Lady, of whom we read that she is splendid as the sun, beautiful as the moon, and terrible as an army in battle array. To this end he held a solemn ceremony in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, during which, under the motherly regard of our blessed Lady, he appointed Francis general, giving him the banner under which the Christian name was to triumph.

But what especially distinguished the devotion of this Pontiff to our blessed Lady was his custom of going every morning on foot with one of the pontifical household to venerate this shrine in the Church of St. Mary Major. On arriving there, he was wont to go up the steps leading to the Basilica, on his knees, out of reverence for the Mother of God. He used to remain there humbly waiting for the "Angelus" to be rung, at which hour the Basilica would be opened. Then he recited the "Angelus" thus honoring her who is known as the heavenly dawn; after which, he went to prostrate himself before the Sacred Picture, which he contemplated in ecstasy, breathing forth the love of his heart for Mary.

Paul V, who succeeded Clement VIII in the Chair of St. Peter, wished to perpetuate the devotion of his predecessor to this sacred shrine by erecting a splendid monument to his memory in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin. Prince Marcantonio Borghese had the body of Pope Clement VIII transferred there from the Vatican, so that even in death he might render homage to her, whom he had loved so much in life.

Prayer

O Mary, who hast given us in thy Purification, so bright an example of true and sincere devotion, and whose sweet heart was at once pierced with sorrow and filled with heavenly joy at the prophecy of Simeon, grant that I may imitate thee, and obey the commandments of Jesus, in such wise, that I may have part in the Redemption which He has won for us. Amen.

Virgin Most Renowned - THE ANNUNCIATION OF MARY

THE FAIREST FLOWER OF PARADISE - CONSIDERATIONS ON THE LITANY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN, ENRICHED WITH EXAMPLES DRAWN FROM THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS BY Very Rev. ALEXIS M. LEPICIER, O. S. M.

 james christensen - annunciation

"Hail! full of grace, the Lord, is with thee, blessed art thou among women" (Luke i, 28.)

Absorbed in profound contemplation, the humble Virgin of Nazareth, Spouse of Joseph the carpenter, was pondering the ills which afflict humanity, at the same time fostering in her heart the most ardent longing for the advent of the Messias promised by the prophets. Suddenly a heavenly messenger presents himself to her. It is the Archangel Gabriel who, bowing with reverence before her, says: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee." Many holy persons had, ere this, been saluted with the words contained in the latter half of this sentence: but no one before had heard himself styled "full of grace." Wherefore, the Holy Virgin, in her humility, queries within herself what so extraordinary a salutation may mean. The Angel, in answer to her half-expressed thought, goes on to disclose to her the divine mystery: "Thou hast found grace with God." (Luke. i, 30.) And because Mary is full of grace, therefore is she destined to be the Mother of the Incarnate Word: "Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a Son." (Luke. i, 31.)

The prophets had foretold the coming of the Messias, as of Him who would refresh the earth, parched by sin, with the dew of divine grace. The patriarchs had desired Him, as the dispenser of life-giving grace. Mary herself, in her ecstasies, had foreseen Him, as crowning His elect with grace. It was fitting then, that the King of divine grace, should have for His Mother a Virgin in whom grace should reside in its plenitude.

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But the Incarnation of the Word was a mystic alliance between God and the human nature. It was not sufficient, in order to bring it about, that the Creator should will to unite Himself to His creature: this work could not be perfect, unless man himself freely consented to this union. For this end the Archangel Gabriel was sent to Mary': his mission being to disclose to the Holy Virgin, the heavenly mystery, and to receive from her, in the name of the human race, her acquiescence in the designs of the Most High.

But Mary's will was in entire conformity with the will of God: how then, could she refuse the demand of the Angel? The humble Virgin has not a moment of doubt or hesitation as to her choice. She only inquires, with holy prudence, as to the manner of the mystery's accomplishment. And hardly has she understood the divine will, than she pronounces, with ineffable love and full'submission, those sublime words, which will excite the admiration of the whole world to the end of time: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word,"— fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. (Luke. i, 38.)

In the beginning, the fiat of the Almighty had called into existence from nothingness this vast universe. Now, unutterable prodigy! Mary's acquiescence to the divine will is the starting point of a marvel without precedent: God, without ceasing to be what He is, will take our nature and become true man, as He is eternally true God.

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The human mind will never perfectly understand how much the Incarnation, accomplished in Mary at that moment when she uttered the epoch-making fiat, has ennobled her and rendered her blessed.

Yet, who would think it? At the moment when she was raised high above all angels and men, she abased herself as much as is possible to a creature. Her greatness was equalled only by her humility. Holy humility, how pleasing thou art to the King of glory, since His preference is for those who possess thee!

Christian soul, cultivate, after the example of the Mother of God, the fair flower of humility. It is only by this means that thou canst call down upon thyself the divine blessings.

As the fall of the angels, like that of man, had for its origin rebellion against the law of God, so it is pride which puts the finish on the eternal damnation of the reprobate. On the other hand, it is in the sincere imitation of the humility of Jesus and Mary, that both the basis and apex of our salvation are to be found.

Example - St. Philip Benizi

It is the will of God that the Blessed Virgin should be loved, honored and venerated the whole world over, .as the true Sovereign and Mistress of heaven and earth. Of all the saints who have largely contributed toward propagating this devotion to the Mother of God and in bringing the Christian people to realize the advantages which all may derive from this excellent practice, St. Philip Benizi, fifth General of the Order of Servants of Mary, holds a prominent place.

He was born on the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, by whom, when a youth, he was called to join the Order which she had recently founded in a most marvelous manner at Monte Senario. Having been elected Superior of his Order, he devoted himself entirely to promoting the glory of the blessed Mother of God, drawing as many people as he could to submit themselves lovingly to her.

Obeying the command of his heavenly Queen, he went forth from Italy into France, Germany and Poland, preaching everywhere the glories of Mary and founding monasteries, from which the devotion to the great Mother of God could be spread among all the faithful.

Numerous wonders confirmed his preaching. Many times being lost in thick forests, he was led by an angel on to the right path. He converted many notorious sinners, and saw the good effect of his preaching on his hearers. Many young men of noble families knelt at his feet, begging for the habit of the Servants of Mary.

Desirous of propagating the kingdom of Christ, St. Philip sent many bands of Religious among the barbarians in order to bring the welcome tidings of salvation to people who were wholly submerged in darkness and in the shadow of death. Many of these missionaries fell victims to the sword of persecution, while invoking the holy names of Jesus and Mary.

Right up to the end of his life, St. Philip Benizi did not cease preaching the glories of Mary. Death overtook him while on a journey undertaken for the honor of his heavenly Queen. During the visitation of the monasteries of his Order, in which he encouraged the faithful in their devotion to the most holy Mother of God, he breathed forth his soul, holding in his hand the image of his Crucified Lord, which he was wont to call his most cherished book. This took place on the twenty-second of August, 1285, being the octave day of the Assumption of Our Lady.

Prayer

O glorious Virgin, who hast merited by thy humility to be filled with grace and to become Mother of the Author of all good, obtain for me, I pray thee, of thy Son, that I may never by my pride, put any obstacle to the work of grace in my soul. Amen.

Mother of Our Saviour MARY THE CO-REDEMPTRESS OF THE HUMAN RACE

THE FAIREST FLOWER OF PARADISE - CONSIDERATIONS ON THE LITANY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN, ENRICHED WITH EXAMPLES DRAWN FROM THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS BY Very Rev. ALEXIS M. LEPICIER, O. S. M.

"Thou hast not spared thy life, by reason of the distress and tribulation of thy people, but hast prevented our ruin in the presence of our God." (Judith, xiii, 25.)

MAN having fallen from his first dignity by original sin, became the slave of the demon and the prey of death. But God pitied him and decreed, of His infinite goodness, to rescue him from his misery and re-establish him in the state of grace in which he had been created.

To this end, He sent His only-begotten Son upon the earth, in order that, being made man, He should redeem by His blood the human race from the slavery of sin, and make us the adopted sons of God, and heirs to eternal life. Thus the Angel revealing to Joseph the cause of Mary's pregnancy, commanded him to call the Child which should be born, by the name of Jesus, a name which signifies Saviour, "for," he added, "He shall save His people from their sins. (Matt, x, 21.) And when Jesus came into the world, the angels announced Him as the Saviour of mankind. (Luke, ii, 11.) Jesus, my Saviour and my God, be Thou blessed for having delivered me from death. May Thy Holy Name remain so deeply impressed upon my heart, that it may always be for me a pledge of salvation.

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As God created man without the assistance of any creature whatsoever, so also He alone could save him. He willed, however, that His Immaculate Mother should cooperate with Him in this great enterprise, thus associating her in the work of our redemption in an altogether singular manner.

Jesus redeemed us by offering Himself as a victim of expiation to the Eternal Father. For not only did He pray for our salvation, but furthermore He gave Himself up to suffer all the torments which should be inflicted on Him, by the combined efforts of men and demons. He immolated Himself even to the excess of yielding His life upon the cross.

And how did Mary take part in our redemption? In: the first place, by obtaining for us, through her ardent desires and fervent prayers, the accomplishment of the great mystery of the Incarnation; secondly, by consenting to become Mother of the Word, giving to Him that humanity of ours, by which He was to save us; finally, by offering Jesus to the Eternal Father as a victim of propitiation and suffering together with Him woes without measure to satisfy the punishment due for our sins.

Such being the case, it is the duty of every Christian to compassionate the dolors which Mary, in cooperating with Jesus in the work of our redemption, did suffer for love of us: "Forget not the groanings of thy mother." (Ecclus. vii, 29.) Not charity alone, but justice also prompts us to share in the sorrows of the Mother of God, for it was for us solely that she suffered.

Happy he, whose devotion impels him, not only to pay homage to Mary's greatness, but also to nourish a tender compassion for her sorrows: he can but partake in the priceless boon of the Redemption.

"May we obtain, O Virgin Mary, salvation through the wounds of Jesus Christ!" (Office of the Seven Dolors.) 

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Since Mary did cooperate with Jesus in the work of our salvation, it is our bounden duty to render to her our most heartfelt thanks.

The virtuous Esther exposed herself to the danger of death to rescue the people of Israel: the chaste Judith braved the army of Holofernes to deliver the city of Bethulia: Mary offered herself with Jesus, a victim of expiation, not for one town or for one nation alone, but for the whole world.

Let us not, then, forget in our acts of homage, in our affection, in our thanksgivings, to join in one our most holy Redeemer and his Mother, for it is to Mary, after Jesus, that we owe our salvation. In the passion of Jesus and the sorrows of Mary God has placed all our hope of salvation.

It is just, therefore, that we proclaim Mary co-Redemptress of the human race, and honor her as such. This is the most beautiful title that we can give her, because it sums up all the benefits we owe her as our Mother. It is the end of he? singular predestination, the principal motive of her Immaculate Conception, the source of her incomparable glory.

Example - St Alphonsus Mary De Liguori

St. Alphonsus Mary de Liguori deserves to be mentioned as one of the most devout servants of our Lady. While still a young man, he was accustomed to fast every Saturday in her honor, and he did not allow any one day to pass without visiting her shrine and honoring her with special reverence and love. Being inspired to leave the world in order to dedicate himself entirely to the service of God, he wished to confirm his holy purpose by hanging up his sword at the altar of Our Lady of Mercy, in this way avowing that he was determined to dedicate his whole life to the service of this glorious Queen of heaven and earth.

Hardly had he embraced the ecclesiastical state when he began to propagate devotion to Our Lady, honoring her with endless fervent' practices, and speaking of her to all who came his way. He loved to preach to the people on the glories of Mary and on her excellent virtues and powers, which office he performed with such zeal and perfection that often a marvelous light shone on his face and he appeared as if enraptured. Especially did he cherish a tender devotion toward the sorrows of the great Mother of God. He compassionated with lively affection the bitter sufferings which she endured in the passion of Jesus, striving to make others join in this spirit of filial compassion toward her who is truly called the co-Redemptress of the human race.

In his preaching, Alphonsus never failed to impress upon the faithful the powerful patronage of Mary, her beneficence in welcoming sinners and her motherly assistance especially in the hour of death. And this he performed with such advantage to souls, that often he was successful in converting sinners steeped in vice. In order that his teaching might come to the notice of a greater number of the faithful, he wrote several pious works in which he exalted the glories of this heavenly Mother and impressed upon all Christians the efficacy of devotion to her. Moreover, he introduced the pious custom of preaching, in the course of a mission, on the power and mercy of Mary, and this always produced a powerful effect upon the people.

After a long life spent entirely in promoting the good of souls, St. Alphonsus breathed forth his spirit to God in his ninetieth year, on the first of August, 1787.

Prayer

O Mary, inseparable companion of Jesus in the work of our redemption, interpose, I pray thee, thy powerful mediation with thy Son, that the immense sufferings which He endured for me may not be wasted: but that I may find in His sacred wounds all my consolation in this life, and eternal salvation in the hour of my death. Amen.

Mother of Our Creator - RELATION OF MARY WITH THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

THE FAIREST FLOWER OF PARADISE - CONSIDERATIONS ON THE LITANY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN, ENRICHED WITH EXAMPLES DRAWN FROM THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS BY Very Rev. ALEXIS M. LEPICIER, O. S. M.

The original Miraculous Icon of the Iveron Mother of God is on Mount Athos

"I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree on Mount Sion. I was exalted like a palm tree in Cades, and as a rose plant in Jericho." (Ecclus., xxiv, 17-18.)

BY THE very fact of becoming Mother of God, Mary entered into relationship, so to speak, with each of the Three Divine Persons. She became so intimately united with the Holy Trinity, that no other creature has ever been admitted to anything like this close communion with the thrice Holy God. A consideration of this relationship will not be without consolation for the human heart, nor devoid of some practical utility.

In the first place, we may say that, by engendering the Word, Mary acquired a certain relationship toward God the Father, in this sense that she conceived in her most chaste womb and brought forth to the light of this world, that same Son, whom God the Father has generated from all eternity of His own substance.

The Son of God is therefore, at one and the same time, Son of Mary, though under another aspect; and just as He was generated, according to His divine nature, of the substance of the Father, so also, as regards His human nature, He was formed of Mary's own substance.

Nay, more, it is in some sort to Mary that the Father owes His authority over the Son: because as God, both Father and Son are equal, ' but as Man, the Son is subject to the Father. Consequently, it is due to Mary that the Son of God, being Himself God, could say that He received from the Father the command to die for our sins. (John. x, 18.)

I give Thee glory, O Eternal Father, because the execution of the mystery of the Incarnation was committed to Mary, by being made dependent on her consent; for by this Thou didst associate her with the splendors of Thine own eternal fatherhood.

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If the relation of Mary with the Father is so close, what shall we say of that which unites her with the Son? Was it not through Mary that the Word appeared on this earth clothed with our humanity? Was it not of her own most pure substance that the body of the God-Man was formed? If, then, Jesus Christ unites in His Sacred Humanity all created' perfections, and can thus offer them in His own Person to His Heavenly Father, it is in some respect to Mary that He owes them, in whose womb He took our humanity.

How sweet, yet potent are the bonds which unite the Son of God to His Blessed Mother! What intimacy in the intercourse between Jesus and Mary! Jesus revealing to Mary all the secrets of His Heart, and Mary modelling her every action on the life of the Saviour.

It is above all in the work of our redemption that the straitness of the ties between the Word and Mary shines forth most vividly. From the conception of the Saviour in her virginal womb to the tragedy of Calvary, Mary fulfilled her office of co-redemptress, offering continually to the Father, her beloved Son as a victim of propitiation on the altar of her heart. After that, it is easy to understand why Christians cannot separate in their worship and in their love the Word Incarnate from her who has the unparalleled honor of being His Mother.

Be Thou ever blessed, Divine Word, for having chosen Mary for Thy Mother. The virgins who follow Thee are all dear to Thy love: but none can be compared to Thine own Immaculate Mother.

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Sweet also and intimate is the relation of Mary with the Third Person of the most Holy Trinity.

Taught by the Angel Gabriel, Mary acquiesces without hesitation in the dispositions of the divine will in her regard, and becomes by the very fact the fruitful Spouse of the Holy Ghost. She belongs to herself no longer, having by her consent consecrated the gift of her own self to her Heavenly Bridegroom.

If Mary never ceased to direct all her thoughts and actions toward the Holy Ghost, He on His part let no moment go by, in which He did not exhibit the signs of His peculiar love toward the Bride of His Heart.

Be thou blessed, O Holy Spirit, God of Love, for Thy sweet communications to Thy chosen Bride, in whom Thou didst find unalloyed delight.

Example - St. Peregrine Laziosi

St. Peregrine Laziosi was born at Forli, on the first of May, 1265. In his youth he proved a noble and valiant knight, but a fierce enemy of the Church and the Pope. As his townsmen rebelled against the Pope, he became one of the boldest leaders of the revolution. But the Blessed Virgin to whom, notwithstanding his evil-doing, he had ever preserved a special devotion, watched over him.

It happened that St. Philip Benizi, the fifth General of the Order of the Servants of Mary, came to Forli at the command of the Sovereign Pontiff, to bring back that city to the obedience of the Holy See. But this dutiful son of the Church was cruelly treated by the rebels. Peregrine, more daring than the rest, not only insulted St. Philip, but even went so far as to strike him. But this great Saint meekly bore the injury and, in imitation of St. Stephen the first holy martyr, prayed fervently for his persecutors.

At the sight of so genuine a humility and charity, Peregrine, overcome with grief, ran in search of the Saint whom he had offended and humbly asked his pardon. St. Philip received the lowly penitent and assured him of pardon. He then exhorted him to change his life and to place himself under the protection of the most holy Mother of God, the better to carry out his good resolutions.

Henceforth Peregrine was changed into another man; but as he did not know what state of life he ought to embrace, he prayed fervently to Our Lady that she would herself deign to direct his steps in the way that God willed. The divine Mother heard his entreaties, and one day, as he was praying before her statue, she said to him: "Go to Siena to my Servants and there thou shalt find the way of salvation." Peregrine obeyed and, going out of the city, he found a young man dressed as a traveler, who offered himself as guide. When they arrived in Siena at the door of the Servite monastery, the young man suddenly disappeared, and Peregrine knew that he was an angel sent to guide him on his way.

The penitent received the Servite habit from the hand of St. Philip himself. Together with this outward habit, he also appeared clothed with the spirit of religious perfection. So great was his penance, that for thirty years he was not seen to sit down. His patience also in bearing infirmities was truly extraordinary, so that never a word of complaint was heard to come from his lips. Finally he died full of merits on the first of May, 1345, at the advanced age of eighty years.

Prayer

What meed of praise can I render to thee, O Mary, when I contemplate thee so closely united to the Most Holy Trinity? Grant that by my fidelity in corresponding with grace, I may always merit to possess within me the Three Divine Persons, according to the words of thy Son: "If any man love Me, . . . My Father will love him, and We will come to him and will make Our abode with him." (John. 14, 23.) Amen.

Mother Most Admirable - DUTIES OF JESUS TOWARD MARY

THE FAIREST FLOWER OF PARADISE - CONSIDERATIONS ON THE LITANY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN, ENRICHED WITH EXAMPLES DRAWN FROM THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS BY Very Rev. ALEXIS M. LEPICIER, O. S. M.

"Then Bethsabee came to king Solomon; . . . and the king arose to meet her, and bowed to her, and sat down upon his throne; and a throne was set for the king's mother, and she sat on his right hand." (3 Kings, ii, 19.)

THE Word having become Man by taking to Himself a human body in the womb of the ever Blessed Virgin, pledged Himself thereby to fulfill toward His beloved Mother all the duties of the best of sons.

The first of these duties is love. It is chiefly by love that a son seeks to repay his parents' affection. Who then can tell the ardor of that love which burned in the Heart of the Infant Jesus toward His Blessed Mother? Who can count the treasures of grace with which that adorable Son inundated the soul of His Immaculate Mother from the very first moment of His mortal life? Even in His sleep, Jesus thought of His Mother whom He enriched with His choicest gifts: "I sleep and my heart watcheth." (Cant. v, 2.)

But it was at the time of His passion, that Jesus manifested His love toward Mary in a way altogether singular, for His last thought was directed to entrusting His Holy Mother to the beloved disciple.

To such love Mary responded by a boundless love toward her Son, and this mutual love begun here below, formed the bond which unites those two Hearts now in heaven so closely, that they are as it were but one Heart: "My beloved to me and I to him." (Cant. ii, 16.)

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The reverence which Jesus showed to Mary during His earthly life, was equal to His love for her. It was not merely His own quality of Son which impelled Him to venerate Mary: it was also the acknowledgement of the sublime privileges and extraordinary sanctity wherewith the Virgin's soul was adorned.

The incomparable dignity of Mary, the absence of all sin in her and the presence of the choicest graces in her soul, were for Jesus so many motives for thus especially honoring His Mother. Thus, the Son of God teaches us by His own example, with what respect we should treat our Heavenly Queen.

We find a symbol of the veneration which Jesus had for Mary, in the act of deference of King Solomon toward his mother Bethsabee. As she was going to him in order to petition a favor of him, Solomon rose up and went forward to meet his mother: then bowing before her, he ordered a throne to be placed for her, and seated her at his right hand. Thus Jesus honors Mary, His Mother, seating her at His right hand, and sharing with her the love and honor which men have for Himself. "The Queen stood on thy right hand in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety." (Ps. xliv, 10.)

It is a great thing indeed that both angels and men should pay homage to Mary, proclaiming her Queen of heaven and earth. But it passes all comprehension that God Himself should deign to lavish such singular tokens of esteem and veneration upon this marvellous and most excellent creature.

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Not only did Jesus love Mary with a most profound love, showing her a respect in accordance with her dignity, but He was even pleased to be subjected to her as long as He lived upon earth: "And He was subject unto them." (Luke, ii, 51.)

This was not in truth the submission of an inferior toward his superior, for the hypostatic union places Jesus high above all creatures. It was the act of deference of a son toward her,
whom Divine Providence had singled out to provide for the temporal needs of his life.

For it was to Mary that the noble task of attending to the temporal wants of Jesus was confided: a responsibility which she shared with her chaste Spouse, St. Joseph. Mary and Joseph had to clothe and feed the Infant Word Incarnate; they had to protect the Saviour of the world against the inclemency of the seasons and the hostility of men.

Oh, the humility of the King of kings! Oh, the unspeakable dignity of Mary and Joseph, in whose arms the Creator of the universe could rest happy and secure!

Example - The Apparition Of Our Blessed Lady At Monte Berico

In the beginning of the fifteenth century, the city of Vicenza, in Northern Italy, was visited by a horrible pestilence, which carried off numerous victims. The citizens, in their distress, had recourse to the powerful intercession of Mary. Their confidence was not in vain.

Moved with compassion at the miserable plight of the unhappy people, the Mother of God appeared in a vision to a holy woman named Vincenza, on the seventh of May, 1426, commanding her to go to the Bishop and to the Magistrate, to induce them to build a church in her honor, on Monte Berico, which is but a short distance from the city. Meantime the Blessed Virgin assured Vincenza that the awful scourge would immediately cease, if only her wish were complied with.

Vincenza readily obeyed, but her words were not believed. On the second of August, that same year, the most holy Mother of God appeared a second time to the pious woman, in the same place as before. Renewing her former behest, Mary took in her hands an olive branch with which she traced on the ground the design of the church that was to be built there in her honor.

This time the ecclesiastical and civil authorities, on hearing of this second vision, yielded to the entreaties of Vincenza. The people came together at the place appointed and promised to do what Mary had commanded. On the twenty-fifth of the same month, the first stone of the new church was laid, and from that day the plague began to be less severe, until three months after, that is, when the church was completed, the scourge which for twenty years had afflicted the city and the surrounding district disappeared entirely.

Incredible are the many graces which Mary thenceforth bestowed on those who went to visit her in this privileged church. It was reserved for Cardinal Joseph Sarto, Who was soon after to become the Sovereign Pontiff Pius X, to make solemn recognition, in the name of the Church and of all Christian people, of the favors granted by Mary to her faithful subjects. On the twenty-fifth of August in the year of Jubilee, 1900, Cardinal Sarto, in memory of the everlasting gratitude of the people to the most holy Mother of God, and in the name of the Vatican Chapter, crowned the Sacred Image of Mary, venerated in the basilica of Monte Berico, with a golden crown. Thus did the Church seal the bonds of affection and thanksgiving which unite the Christian people to the great Mother of God and men.

Prayer

O Mary, Mother truly admirable, to whose voice God Himself was made obedient! O glorious Queen of heaven and earth, exercise thy sway over my heart, and ordain that my thoughts and feelings, alas! too often alien from thine own, may become perfectly conformed to the law of thy Divine Son. Amen.

Mother Most Amiable - MARY MOTHER OF MEN

THE FAIREST FLOWER OF PARADISE - CONSIDERATIONS ON THE LITANY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN, ENRICHED WITH EXAMPLES DRAWN FROM THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS BY Very Rev. ALEXIS M. LEPICIER, O. S. M.

Stabat Mater ~ Woman Behold Thy Son by James Tissot {c.1886-94} ~ Jesus Mary St. John

"When Jesus, therefore, had seen His Mother and the disciple standing whom He loved, He saith to His Mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, He saith to the disciple: Behold thy Mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own." (John, xix, 26, 27.)

IT WAS when Mary brought forth her Divine Son to the light of day, that she became our spiritual Mother. It was impossible that she should be the Mother of Jesus, without being our Mother as well, for He is the head and we are His members.

Later, Jesus would Himself sanction, by a solemn utterance, this special dignity of Mary. Hanging upon the cross on Calvary, and on the point of rendering His soul to God, He turned suddenly to Mary. Indicating to her St. John, He said: ''Woman, behold thy son"; and to St. John referring to Mary: "Behold thy Mother." Here was the testament of the Saviour of the world.

It is impossible to imagine anything more touching than this consecration, the solemnity of which is enhanced by the circumstances of time and place, as well as by the witnesses that are present. The hour chosen by Jesus is that of His consummation of the Great Sacrifice upon the cross, and of that of Mary in her own heart: the place is Calvary, where the Divine Victim hangs dying: the witnesses are men themselves, of whom Mary becomes Mother.

I thank thee, O my sweet Jesus, for having thus thought of me in the moment of Thine agony, and for having so loved me, as to give me Thine own Mother according to the flesh, as my spiritual Mother.

* * *

The words of Jesus, like the sacraments, produce that which they signify: those which the Saviour uttered on the Cross consecrated Mary as our Mother, and inspired her soul with every tenderest and most exquisite maternal affection toward us.

Mary's motherly care embraces all. Beginning with those who were present on Calvary, she obtained for several of them, especially for the good thief, the grace of conversion and eternal life. The first Christians found also in Mary a Mother ever ready to console, to protect and instruct them in the knowledge of those mysteries, in which she herself had had so conspicuous a part.

And after her departure from this world, Mary ceased not to show men this same maternal affection. Her love is oyer us all, fostering us as her dear children. She defends us against our enemies both visible and invisible. She guards us in danger. She consoles us in affliction. She guides and instructs us in the affair of our salvation. In a word, the kindness, the care, the watchfulness of Mary in our regard, are so great, that no one is a stranger to her benefits. It is even a common teaching in the Church, that God grants no grace, except through Mary's intercession. We may, therefore, truly apply to this Blessed Mother the words of Divine Wisdom: "All good things came to me together with her, and innumerable riches through her hands." (Wisd. vii, 11.)

Rejoice, O my soul, that God has appointed thee so loving a Mother as Mary, who is able to aid thee in the difficulties of this life, and to bring thee to the harbor of eternal peace.

* * *

In appointing Mary to be Mother of men, God inspired her soul with the tenderest feelings of which motherly love is capable. So also in making us her children, He infused into our hearts the purest sentiments of love and veneration that sons can have toward their mother. These sentiments, then, are the work of that Divine Spirit, "who is the pledge of our inheritance," (Eph. i, 14.) and through whom we "have received the adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba (Father)." (Rom. viii, 15.)

Just, therefore, as we have a full confidence in God our Father, who loves us and cares for all our needs, so also we should have a boundless trust in Mary's powerful help. And this trust should be accomplished by those same sentiments of love, reverence and submission which a dutiful child entertains toward its mother.

Let our care be to love, honour and exalt Mary, our loving Mother, in such a manner that she may recognize us as her true children, and may be able to say of us: "These are my sons, whom God hath given me." (Gen. xlviii, 9.)

Example St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was born of pious and honest parents in Verosvres, a small village of Burgundy in France, on the twenty-second of July, in the year 1647.

From her earliest years she was visited by God with extraordinary favours, from which it was apparent that she was destined to perform some great work for the Church. When she had barely come to the age of reason, she manifested a great horror of sin, and at the same time an ardent desire of solitude, to which was united a special love of holy purity. So great was her fear of offending God, even by venial sin, that if she suspected this danger in any of her actions, she desisted from performing the same.

As Margaret Mary advanced in piety, she felt herself drawn in a very special way to honour the most holy Mother of God. In fact, she narrates this of herself: "I had recourse to Mary in my every want, and through her I was delivered from the greatest dangers. Not daring to address myself directly to her Divine Son, I had recourse to her and used to recite the Rosary in her honor, on bare knees, genuflecting at each Hail Mary and frequently kissing the ground." It is not be wondered at, therefore, if, through this devotion to the most holy Mother of God, Margaret was found worthy of that great vocation to which God had destined her, namely, of spreading far and wide throughout the world the devotion to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

When Margaret Mary entered the monastery of Paray-le-Monial, she strove to become more united to her Divine Spouse, by the purity of her life and the endeavour to please Him in all things. Therefore Our Lord appeared to her several times, revealing to her how it was His will that devotion to His most Sacred Heart, should be spread throughout all the world, as a beneficent river to enliven the human race, withered with the leprosy of sin, and how she herself was chosen by Him for this great work.

St. Margaret faithfully corresponded to the invitation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and in a short time the monastery of the Visitation, where she lived, became the centre of this Devotion, now so widespread and so dear to the hearts of all Christian people. St. Margaret Mary died on the seventeenth of October, 1690, and was canonized by Pope Benedict XV in 1920.

Prayer

O Mary, I firmly believe that thou hast been given us as our Mother, by the voice of thy Son hanging upon the Cross, and that thou never ceasest to act toward us the part of a most tender Mother. Obtain for us so to respond to thy love, that we may merit to be ever thy devoted children. Amen.

Mother Most Chaste - THE CONCEPTION OF JESUS CHRIST BY THE OPERATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

THE FAIREST FLOWER OF PARADISE - CONSIDERATIONS ON THE LITANY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN, ENRICHED WITH EXAMPLES DRAWN FROM THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS BY Very Rev. ALEXIS M. LEPICIER, O. S. M.

The Holy Spirit as a dove in the Annunciation, by Philippe de Champaigne, 1644

"The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee, and therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." (Luke, i, 35.)

THE Incarnation of the Word is not only a mystery of our Faith, it is also the greatest miracle that the power of God has ever accomplished.

Nothing, in fact, more surpasses the powers of nature, than the union of a Person, divine, uncreated and infinite, with created and finite human nature. But God willed that another stupendous miracle should be added to the first: namely, the virginal conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary, who, by an altogether singular privilege was visited by the Holy Ghost. The power of the Most High covered her with His shadow, in order that she might conceive and bring forth the very Word of God.

As there can be no higher dignity in a pure creature, than that of cooperating immediately with the Holy Ghost in forming the body of a God, so it is not to be wondered at that God should set aside the laws of nature in order to safeguard the virginity of His Mother.

Wonder unspeakable! How dearly it makes known to us the love of the Holy Spirit for His Spouse; and how it enhances in our sight the sublime dignity of the Mother of God!

* * *

The virginal conception of Jesus Christ in Mary's womb, like every other wonderful work of God, must be ascribed to the common operation of the Three Divine Persons, who having the same nature, unite in all their works ad extra. However, it is to the Holy Ghost that we attribute this virginal conception, and that for several reasons.

In the first place, the Incarnation is a work of love, since God became Man because of the love He bore us; now the Holy Ghost is precisely, in the Holy Trinity, the con-substantial love of the Father for the Son, and of the Son for the Father.

Moreover, by its union with the Word, the most holy Humanity of Jesus became the greatest marvel of spiritual perfection, having been raised, ennobled and made glorious above all created things by the light of the Godhead: now, it is to the Holy Spirit that we attribute the work of grace, and all the fruits of sanctification flowing there-from.

Finally, the Incarnation had for its end the redemption of the human race, which Jesus Christ was to admit to participation in the graces, whereof He possessed the fullness. Now, this sanctification, which has its origin in Jesus Christ, is precisely the work of the Holy Spirit. It is just, therefore, that we attribute the accomplishment of this great mystery to the Third Person of the Holy Trinity.

For these reasons, Mary is the chosen temple, the unique sanctuary of the Holy Ghost: a sanctuary so beautiful, so rich in divine gifts, that all other sanctuaries pale in comparison.

Rejoice, O my soul, that such blessings have come to us by the operation of the Holy Ghost in Mary. Repeat with a holy exultation these words wherewith the Heavenly Bridegroom delighted to address this incomparable Mother: "Thou art a garden enclosed, my sister, my spouse; thou art a sealed fountain: thy plants are a paradise of delights." (Cant. iv, 12-18.)

* * *

The virginal conception of Jesus Christ in Mary's womb, not only brings to the fore the doctrine of the Divine Maternity together with that of the Divinity of Jesus Christ, but it is also an eloquent proof that, beyond the natural order, there exists a supernatural life, which is the end of all things created.

For, if God willed that such a miraculous intervention of the Holy Ghost should take place in the conception of the Redeemer of mankind, we can deduce from this fact that the scope of the Incarnation is beyond all that the order of nature comprehends. In fact, Jesus Christ became Man in order to give us grace in this life and the recompense of glory in the next.

Let us give thanks to the Holy Ghost for His having overshadowed Mary and thereby having given to ourselves the knowledge of this great truth: that we are made for heaven, and for heaven alone.

Example 

St. Elizabeth Of Hungary

St. Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew II, King of Hungary, and wife of Ludwig, Landgrave of Thuringia, was from her earliest youth most devout to the glorious Queen of Heaven. She always took delight in venerating her and in causing her to be venerated by all with whom she came in contact. She never wearied of saying the Angelical Salutation in honour of the Mother of God.

Among the virtues most conspicuous in St. Elizabeth, was her love of holy poverty. This she learnt in the school of our blessed Lady herself, for the Queen of heaven and earth practiced poverty during the whole of her mortal life. This spirit of poverty inspired St. Elizabeth with so great a scorn for earthly possessions, that she detested all that was not strictly necessary, and would not even retain what was befitting her dignity as queen. Once, on the Feast of the Assumption, while assisting at the solemn Mass, she took off her royal crown before all the bystanders and pushing away the cushions set for her, knelt on the bare ground, declaring that such adornments were not befitting a servant of Jesus Christ, seeing that He, the King of heaven and earth, had always lived poorly and died crowned with bitter thorns.

After her husband's death, Elizabeth underwent the fiercest persecutions. Through the envy and hatred of the great nobles, it was spread about that by her alms-giving she had wasted the Crown treasury. On this account she was driven from the court, exposed to every sort of insult, and finally obliged to take refuge in a little hut, where she suffered terribly from hunger and the severity of the weather. In the midst of these tribulations, always borne with heroic patience, she was lovingly helped by our blessed Lady, her sweet Patroness, who even deigned to appear to her and speak to her.

At last, St. Elizabeth was restored to her original dignity. But instead of peacefully enjoying the pleasures and honours of her rank, she turned her back on all the things of the world and asked to be clothed in the poor habit of St. Francis. For the rest of her life she never ceased to exercise herself in the practice of penance and humility. At last, invited by her heavenly Spouse to the wedding-feast of paradise, she exchanged the tears of her exile for the joys of heaven, dying at Marburg, in Germany, on the nineteenth of November, 1231.

Prayer

Glorious Virgin, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, wonder of the universe, I praise and exalt thee because of the matchless conception of Jesus Christ in thy virginal womb. Grant, I pray thee, that keeping always bright within me the lamp of faith, I may inherit one day the promises made to those who serve thy Son with fidelity. Amen.

Mother of Christ

MARY THE LOVING MOTHER OF JESUS

THE FAIREST FLOWER OF PARADISE - CONSIDERATIONS ON THE LITANY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN, ENRICHED WITH EXAMPLES DRAWN FROM THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS BY Very Rev. ALEXIS M. LEPICIER, O. S. M.

"She brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger." (Luke ii, 7.)

LET us transport ourselves in thought to that solemn moment when Mary, having carried in her womb for nine months the Word of God made Man, brought him forth to the light of this world. Men took no heed to provide for the new-born King of heaven and earth a dwelling-place worthy of Him: a poor abandoned stable was all that this world had to offer to its Creator. But Mary's love made amends for this extreme poverty. Who can tell with what tenderness the blessed Mother laid her new-born Son in the crib? Who can measure the intensity of those shafts of love, so pure, so chaste, so generous, which burned in her heart?

O Jesus, from Thy first entrance into this world, the hardness and coldness of mankind already prepares for Thee that bitter cup, which Thou must drink for thirty-three years, until Thou drainest the last drop upon the cross. In return Thou shalt find in the love of Thy Holy Mother an ample recompense. That love never wanes: on the contrary, it waxes in proportion as Thy sufferings increase and Thy pains grow more acute.

The love of the mother does not make Mary forget the humility of the servant. For she calls to mind that, by proclaiming herself the servant of the Most High, she was raised to the unequaled dignity of being Mother of God. Her first act at the birth of Jesus is to cast herself down before Him and adore in deepest humility her first-begotten Son, offering herself to Him as His slave. Mary adores in Jesus the world's Creator: she submits herself wholly to Him, and by this act of supreme submission and lowliest adoration, she makes to the Redeemer an honorable amend for the indifference and pride of men.

But it is to ransom mankind that Jesus came. Consequently Mary, from the first moment of the Incarnation, begins her office of Mediatrix, presenting to the Father this same Jesus, whom she has conceived, for the world's redemption, and offering herself to be with Him one victim of expiation. Thus the deliverance of man from the bondage of sin begins to be wrought out by the infinite merits of the Word Incarnate, to which are joined, not of necessity, but of superabundance, the merits of Mary.

Virgin most holy, I unite myself with thee in adoring Jesus, thy Son. I acknowledge Him for my King, and the King of the entire universe. In union with thee, I offer Him to the eternal Father for the remission of my own sins and those of the whole world.

* * *

The mystery of the birth of Christ, a mystery which carries with it for Mary the glorious title of "Mother of Christ," invites the Christian soul to give vent, in imitation of and in company with Mary, to pious sentiments of faith and wonder. To these sentiments ought to be joined a lively recognition of the benefits which the Incarnation has brought us.

Furthermore, we should endeavor to foster in our hearts a true and sincere love for that God who has loved us to such an extent, as to abase Himself in assuming our miserable nature and abandoning Himself, for love of us, to a life of sorrows and tears.

It is also our bounden duty to adore, with sentiments of profound humility, Him who, without losing anything of His infinite grandeur, has deigned to make Himself like unto us.

Moreover, we should offer our hearts to Jesus through Mary's hands, imploring this King of love to graciously accept the offering of all that we are and of all that we have, for time and eternity.

Above all, it behoves tw to be on our guard against the insinuations of those who, whether by their harmful writings, or by their traitorous words, seek to lay snares for our faith, and so to deprive us of the great benefit of Redemption. Alas! how numberless are these emissaries of Satan, who wage ceaseless war upon the Christian, endeavoring to turn him away from his Master! In order to secure more surely their end, they do not blush to decry her who is the shortest way to come to Jesus, the glorious Virgin Mary, our Mother.

O my soul, guard with a jealous care the devotion thou hast to the Mother of God: this wholesome devotion will infallibly bring thee to salvation.

Example

 St. Alphonsus Rodriguez

Among the saints whom our blessed Lady seems to have particularly favored, St. Alphonsus Rodriguez deserves special mention. He was born in Segovia, a small town of Spain, and was, from his boyhood, so adorned with virtues, that it was easy to foresee to what heights of holiness he would one day attain. Above all, his devotion to Our Lady seemed to have been born with him. From his tenderest years he felt drawn to love and serve her and this good Mother did not cease to lavish graces and favors on him.

One day in the transport of his fervor, he spoke thus to the Mother of God: "O heavenly Lady, I do love thee. Would to God that thou also loved me thus." To which Mary made answer : "It is not as thou sayest, O my son; for the love I bear thee, is greater than the lave thou bearest me."

In the midst of worldly affairs in which he was engaged by his mother's will, the love of Jesus and Mary was what always upheld him and finally detached him from everything on earth. Moreover, Our Lord Himself, in a vision, bade him follow Him more closely; and this he did by becoming a lay-brother in the Society of Jesus. In this vocation he exercised the most heroic virtues, especially patience and charity, keeping himself always united to God in prayer, so that he could say with the Apostle: "For you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God." (Col iii, 8.)

To what degree of sanctity St. Alphonsus Rodriguez rose, is proved by the fact that his Superiors were bound to restrain the ardor of his charity, which had found expression in over-severe penances. From his devotion to Jesus and Mary he drew the needful strength to withstand the hard temptations which it pleased God to let him undergo. In his last illness he had the consolation of being visited by Our Lady and her Divine Son. Gladdened by the sweet converse of Jesus and Mary, he ended his days uttering these Holy Names, on the thirtieth of October, 1617. He was canonized 1 by Leo XIII, at the same time as the Seven Holy Founders of the Order of the Servants of Mary, on the fifteenth of January, 1888.

Prayer

O Blessed Mother, do thou thyself offer to thy Son Jesus my sentiments of love, adoration and self-surrender. Obtain that I may persevere in these sentiments even unto death, so that I may come to enjoy in heaven the ineffable vision of God, my Redeemer, the first beginning and the last end of all things. Amen.

1 Acta Leonis, Vol. viii, pp. 86, foll.

The Lily Of Israel By The Abbe Gerbet. Part 43.

CHAPTER XXXIX, MARY'S HOLY PASSING

Death of the Virgin (Caravaggio)

On the third day, when Salome and Magdalen, Mary of Cleophas and Jezel were making ready to go to the sepulcher, Mary, the Mother of Jesus, lying all these long hours as if in ecstasy upon her couch, sighed softly. It was the first hint of returning life, and gave them intense joy.

A smile irradiated her countenance. Her hands, clasped upon her bosom, were stretched out as if trying to touch some object. The deepest happiness seemed to transfigure her, and they who looked upon her knew that in some way her blessed Son was consoling her.

She who had suffered so much deserved to be comforted the first. She had followed Him in life, along every step of His journey, from the crib to the cross and the tomb.

* * * * *

And now she beheld Him glorious and triumphant. From His resurrection to His ascension the Mother and her Son were never parted in spirit. Her soul was united to God.

After that day of glory, forty days after His resurrection from the dead, that day on which, ascending into heaven, He left His disciples orphans, John, remembering the words of Jesus on the cross, took up his abode with the Mother of Jesus.

And Mary lived many years after these wondrous events. If her Son did not call her to Him sooner it is, doubtless, because He wished that His Mother should be our model, our model in the duties of life and its affections; our model when duties and affections have passed us by.

You who have survived the pomps of life and the pangs of the heart; you who have seen slowly disappear all that charmed and delighted your days; you who can scarcely finish the task begun in joy and prolonged in tears: look at Mary. Mary, who lived on earth after the ascension of Him who crowned her with glory.

She was content to do His will, though her heart sighed for Him. She spent her days in prayer, or watching at the bedside of the sick. She succored the poor, and visited the afflicted, and carried words of sweetness and mercy to repentant sinners.

"Our divine Master has suffered desolation of every kind. He chose to be poor that poverty might be made noble. He would console all those who labor and suffer, and would lift the heavy burden from the shoulders of mankind."

And if the troubles carried to her were of a heart-rending nature, as so many of earth's troubles are, she would whisper in her pure tones:

"I have seen a God, who called me His Mother, suffer and die."

And no one could refrain from tears at the terrible picture of desolation called forth by these words.

"I raised my heart to God. He succored me. Direct your thoughts to Him and pray to Him."

And to the sinner:

"Have confidence in your God. He gave His Son to redeem sinners."

Mary, the Mother, the Woman in whom such stupendous wonders were accomplished, the Woman most excellent, Eve regenerated, humbly ftdfilled the apostleship which every woman is called to discharge in her own family—the apostleship of sympathetic bounty, mildness, patience, self-denial and mercy, together with the sublime apostleship of motherhood: ay, she was the Mother of God!

She traversed the whole circle of the life of a woman, with its joys and sorrows, from youth to old age, from a life filled with high destinies, to that apex of existence when the world seems to disappear from view. Virgin, Spouse, and Mother most perfect, the hour of her release arrived at last, and with sweet tranquillity she gladly closed her eyes upon the things of earth, dying the death of love, consumed by the purest love for God who deigned to be her own Son.

After her blessed death, John, and those others who loved her, placed her body in the tomb which they had hollowed out of the rock.

But even while they kept the death-vigil, that holy body disappeared, and when they visited there the following morning, they found but fresh and glowing flowers on the couch of death.

God willed that her body, made sacred by her Son, should not follow the common law. His angels raised it, glorified, to heaven. And there a woman appears, clothed with the sun, having the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

And a voice exclaimed:

"Now is established the salvation and the reign of our God, and the power of His Christ. Wherefore, ye heavens, rejoice, and ye who inhabit the earth rejoice, for redemption has been bestowed upon you."

* * * * *

Most glorious Virgin, in the midst of thy joys do not forget the sufferings of the earth. Cast an eye of tenderness and mercy on those who are yet in pain and suffering, struggling against difficulties and tasting daily the bitter in the cup of life.

Have pity on the poor child exposed to the dangers of the world; on the mother who fears to survive her children, or who dreads leaving them orphans; on youth, so inexperienced, which weeps over every lost hope; on manhood, which understands and fears the future, while pondering on the past; on foolish old age, which, heaping days upon days without realizing their value, forgets the end to which time has hurried it.

Have pity on those that pray, have pity on those that fear. Pray for us all that all may obtain hope and peace forevermore.

Mistress and Lady, Queen of heaven and Mother of God, Lily of Israel, pray for us!

THE END

The Lily Of Israel By The Abbe Gerbet. Part 42.

CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE CRUCIFIXION

The Crucifixion - Giotto

THE greatest criminals in the world are not condemned unheard. They have a defendant. Their case is prepared. Witnesses are examined for or against, and the merits of both sides strictly scrutinized.

For Jesus there were no laws. All were forgotten, all were set aside. The judge who condemned Him declared Him innocent, but notwithstanding His innocence, He was delivered to His executioners.

His executioners! A lawless mob of ferocious animals, incited to the cruellest deeds by the devils unloosed from the pits of hell. These were the ones who surrounded Him—a God who wished to die for them—a God whose blood would fall upon them.

They dragged Him through the streets of the city, weighted down by His heavy cross. Clothed again in His own garments, led by the Roman centurion Longinus, and with four soldiers as a guard, followed by the two thieves, also guarded, who were to die with Him, He advanced along the Dolorous Way. The laughter and mockery of the crowd were His funeral dirge. The wood of the cross pressed into His wounded and bleeding shoulder.

He staggered and fell, exhausted.

Was He to perish under the very gaze of His executioners? His eyes closed. Every human help had failed. The angels had fled. The Father in heaven turned away His face from the sight of that lonely Man laden with the frightful sins of the world.

O sublime Mother, draw near! At this moment of overpowering anguish, thy loving hand alone dare touch this torn and bruised body. . . . With the majesty of grief she pushed aside those who would keep her from her Son. Her face unveiled bears the mark of such anguish that all fall back before it.

She approached her Beloved and knelt near Him, wiping the sweat and blood from His countenance. She felt indeed as if death was creeping through her every vein. But she came to afford assistance, not to seek it, and she tried to support her Son in her weak arms. Moved to pity by this sight, one of the soldiers lifted the cross, to allow the poor Victim a moment's repose.

Mary spoke a few low words. Jesus turned His eyes upon her. No human speech can interpret what passed between those two. But just then, Longinus caught sight of a stranger, who, from the fashion of his garments, seemingly hailed from the country. He had stopped to gaze at the unwonted spectacle before him, and the centurion seized his opportunity.

"Come, thou, and help here. We would not have the Man die ere we reach the place of execution," he exclaimed, roughly.

Simon of Cyrene approached as bidden. Jesus tottered to His feet once more, and the holy women who had followed came nearer, weeping bitterly and lamenting.

"Daughters of Jerusalem," He said, faintly, "weep not over Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children." ( St. Luke xxiii, 28.)

The Saviour resumed His mournful journey—followed by His Mother and her friends. Love caused her such anguish that she well-nigh died at every step. But Love again gave her such strength that the very fear of abandoning Him before the end helped her to surmount her weakness.

"My Son, my Son!" whispered the heartbroken Mother. "Every step of Thine doth save a world."

At this moment the Mother of Christ was worthy of the God who had chosen her. She too so loved the world as to give her only-begotten Son. And yet Mary was weak and a woman; those who looked upon her could scarcely recognize her countenance.

She would follow her Son to the end. She had been His pure and ardent worshiper at the first moment of His existence. She would be His pure and ardent worshiper at the last breath of His life.

The cortege had passed the city, and going out by the Gate of the Judges ascended the rough and difficult way to Golgotha. When they approached the Mount of Crucifixion the beloved disciple placed his hand on Mary's arm.

"Go no further!" he said, hoarsely. "The horror „ which is to follow is not to be witnessed by thee, His Mother. Thou canst not behold it and live."

He would have led her aside. She did not move, but looked at him with eyes which held within their depths the sorrows of the world.

"John," she said, "near or far, His sufferings can not escape me."

John knew it. He drew her away, nevertheless, striving to conceal from her view, if possible, the terrible ending to this most terrible of journeys. While the cross was placed on the ground, our dear Saviour was stripped of His garments, and, with only a linen cloth about His loins, was lifted to the little projection midway upon the upright post. His arms were tied with ropes amid the boisterous cries of the multitude, which resembled the roaring of the ocean on a tempestuous day. Then, quite suddenly, silence # intervened, punctuated by dull, regular, heavy sounds. The Virgin fell upon her knees. Her bosom heaved. John and the holy women followed her example, covering their faces, while low moans fell from their lips. With indescribable horror they heard the blows of the hammers in the hands of those who were crucifying their Lord. The crucifixion of the two thieves followed, and their screams of agony seemed doubly horrible after the silence of Christ.

One thing remained to complete this dreadful deed —the nailing above His sacred head of that title which Pilate had written in Latin, Greek and Aramaic:

THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

And even though the Jewish leaders—in the eyes of the Jews one dying on the cross was accursed of God—protested against the designation, it was in vain.

Gathering her strength, the Mother rose to her feet and advanced firmly to where her Son was enduring such cruel agony. She reached the very foot of the cross, followed by those who loved her. She touched it with her trembling hand, and then stood by the cross, the Mother of sorrows.

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," said Christ, the Son of God.

The people nearby gazed upon this scene, unfeelingly. The rulers derided Him.

"He saved others. Let Him save Himself, if He be Christ, the elect of God."

"True, true!" exclaimed those who overheard. "There is truth in v that!"

"If Thou be the King of the Jews, save Thyself!" yelled one of the soldiers, and again the words were taken up by the crowd and received with jeers and mockery.

"If Thou be Christ, save Thyself and us," said one of the dying thieves, in tones that were bitter with hatred and dislike. But:

"Lord," pleaded the other thief, "remember me when Thou shalt come into Thy kingdom!"

This confession of faith stirred Mary to the heart.

"Amen," she heard the voice of Jesus, "I say to thee this day thou shalt be with Me in paradise."

Tenderly, very tenderly, the Mother leaned forward and pressed her lips to the feet of her Beloved. Magdalen, in a transport of passionate grief, had thrown herself upon the ground at the foot of the cross, wiping away the blood that trickled along its bark with her beautiful hair. And Jesus, casting His glance downward, saw the ones He loved—His Mother and His cherished disciple.

"Woman, behold thy son!" He said. John looked tip at Him with adoration in his eyes. "Behold thy Mother!" added our blessed Redeemer, gently uniting for the rest of their mortal lives the two who were the dearest to Him on earth.

The sun, which had withdrawn behind the clouds, was still veiled from view. A darkness seemed to be settling over the earth—a darkness which would have terrified the onlookers had they not been too engrossed in the scene before them.

"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

Oh, the agony of those words!

"I thirst!" He whispered—and one of the soldiers, running, took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and putting it on a reed, held it to His mouth.

Darker and darker grew the lowering clouds. Off to the west sounded a low rumble of thunder.

"It is consummated," said Jesus,

A strange breeze sprang up; the atmosphere grew so black that even those lost in the sorry spectacle noted it with alarm. One by one the crowd began to melt away. Silence fell again. Then, with the swiftness of a lightning flash, the earth quaked beneath their feet, the rocks were rent in twain.

"Father," said Christ, the Son of God, "into Thy hands I commend My spirit."

Thus Jesus died.

But what fearful portents followed on that word! The graves opened. The bodies of the saints came forth from their tombs. The veil of the Temple, the one which separated the holy from the Most Holy Place was rent in twain. All creation trembled at this last sigh of the Man-God. The centurion and the soldiers who guarded Jesus cried out in terror: "Indeed this was the Son of God!"

The multitude, horror-stricken and afraid, fled through the darkness.

* * * * *

While Jesus, the Lamb of God and the High Priest of the New Law, was consummating His sacrifice on Mount Calvary, the Jewish priests had been offering their usual sacrificial lamb on Mount Moria. As soon as their sacrifice was over they went to Pilate, requesting him to hasten the death of those who had been crucified, that their bodies might be taken down before sunset.

Joseph of Arimathea, until then a timid and secret disciple of Our Lord, came forward boldly and asked for His body. The Roman Procurator had no objection to grant a private burial for One whom he had so often declared innocent.

Tenderly and carefully the pale form of the Saviour was taken down, wrapped in fine linen and costly spices, and laid away in the new tomb in the garden which was Joseph of Arimathea's property. And then, rolling a great stone to the entrance, they departed.

And Mary, the Mother of Jesus, accompanied by her friends, went back to the little house wherein she lived with Magdalen. She was the Queen of Martyrs, the Mother of Sorrows. . . . But her spirit beheld a vision, which alone kept life within her frame.

She saw the angels of every kingdom, of every age, of every sphere, rise from each point of space, and salute Christ on the cross.

Every century, past and future, every region, every element had its representative, and each of these in turn obtained regeneration for that which was under his charge. The suns, the stars and space; water, fire, air, and earth; science, art and genius; everything that lives and breathes on the surface of the earth or in its bosom, obtained regeneration. Myriads of angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim, moved by in solemn procession, weeping as they contemplated that frightful, though redeeming agony.

Adam came, with his timid companion, and the angels saluted him with their palms of triumph—for man was now purchased for eternity. And they cried:

"Behold the Cross on which is fastened the salvation of mankind. Let us adore it. O holy God! O holy God! O holy, omnipotent, and immortal God, have pity on us!"

Their white wings raised as if they were so many shields, with golden trumpets the angels summoned Abraham, Elias, and David, who answered. Voices arose in the grand chorus:

"The iniquity of the earth is blotted out! The Lord has redeemed His people forever and the Saviour of the world shall reign!"

And an innumerable multitude rose from every point of the earth and space and filled the void between heaven and hell, whose gates quivered as Lucifer sped down toward them, followed by his evil companions.

O Mary, how thou hast loved the world !

The Tree of Life has been planted once more for humanity. It was sprinkled with most precious blood. It was made victorious over death by the unfathomable mystery of the Redemption.

* * * * *

Long centuries before, when the Israelites came into possession of the Promised Land, after their long journey through the desert, they found a tree half-buried in the earth near Golgotha. This tree was a giant of the forest. Its shape and its bark resembled none of the other trees of Judea.

Attempts were often made to convert it to some use; first, by those who built the city; and again by the architects commissioned by Solomon to build the Temple. Under Esdras they sought to use it for the new Temple of which so many wonders had been predicted.

But the tools could make no impression upon its massive sides. Any idea of utilizing it was totally abandoned, and for a long time it was called the Inviolable Timber. .

Now this tree was the Tree of Life.

It bloomed in Eden before the disobedience of man, but when Sin entered the world and upset all creation, a tempest blew from the four winds of heaven on this garden of delight which Adam had profaned.

Everything was destroyed—and the Tree of Life, blasted by the thunder, tumbled into the abyss which the cataracts of heaven had opened. During the thousands of years that intervened, it was the sport of the torrents that rolled incessantly down to bottomless gulfs. Then came the Deluge, which carried it to the vicinity of Golgotha.

That blackened trunk, that Inviolable Timber, had become historic. And yet, on the day of the Crucifixion, a young and ignorant servant, a stranger in the country, took his saw and cut it as if it were a reed.

This is the old tradition which people tell of the Tree of Life and the Cross of Jesus. A pious legend which none is asked to believe—but a sweet thought, also. That from Life Life should spring again for us!

The Lily Of Israel By The Abbe Gerbet. Part 40.

CHAPTER XXXVII. THE CONDEMNATION. Part 2.

James Tissot "Behold the Man (Ecce Homo)"

Pilate, therefore, came out to give them audience. He seated himself on the top of the steps, with his guards and servants. Two steps below him stood the Pharisees and the Doctors. The crowd remained at the bottom of the stairs, and Jesus, with His hands still bound, and surrounded by His executioners, was at a little distance between the crowd and His accusers. His Mother and the friends—men and women—who accompanied her, were ranged behind a statue of the Emperor, which concealed them from observation, and whence they could see everything.

"Well," began Pilate, austerely, "what is the accusation against this Prisoner?"

There was silence. Then one said:

"We have found this Man perverting the people. We have judged Him guilty of death. We wish you to confirm our sentence."

Stumblingly they uttered these words. Their tongues had become mute. They had forgotten what they wished to say, and moved about uneasily.

"That is no cause—" began Pilate.

"He forbids giving tribute to Caesar, saying that He is Christ the King," ( St. Luke xxiii, 2.) cried a loud voice.

Pilate descended a few steps.

"Art Thou the King of the Jews?" he asked Jesus.

"Thou sayest it," answered our blessed Lord.

Pilate looked at Him intently—at that bound form, that mud-caked garment, that bruised face, that brow, those eyes. ... A feeling of unrest stirred in his bosom. He returned to his seat.

"I find no cause in this Man," he said. (St. Luke xxiii, 4.)

His accusers had by this time collected their senses. One of them began a long and skilful discourse, in which he cited all the crimes that had been imputed to Jesus, as also the depositions of the false witness.

"This Man," he ended, theatrically, "who appears before you now in so humble a guise, is a disturber of the public peace. He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place. (St. Luke xxiii, 5.) Yes, from Galilee even to Jerusalem have the crowds followed, crying out Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed be the King who cometh in the name of the Lord!" (St. Luke xix, 38.)

"Is he a Galilean?" asked Pilate, eagerly.

"He is of Galilee!" they answered.

"Conduct Him, then, to Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee, who is now at Jerusalem. It is the right of Herod to judge Him."

A murmur of disgust arose from the crowd, and the Pharisees and Doctors muttered angrily. Pilate, however, having given his sentence, arose and went into his palace. Weak and of little discernment, he grasped at this means of delivering himself from a most difficult affair—and he seized the opportunity of making Herod his friend by thus deferring to his judgment.

The cortege resumed its march. Some of those who loved Him began to hope, seeing Jesus sent to Herod. Magdalen whispered: "It is said that Herod is much less severe than Pilate." But Mary made no comment. Jesus was accused of sedition.' That was enough to convict Him.

The coming of the Saviour pleased Herod. For a long time he had been curious in His regard, because of the prodigies that were related of Him. He even hoped that this Man, in order to save Himself, might work a miracle in his presence. He questioned Him in many ways. Our Lord said nothing. The chief Priests and the Scribes stood by, earnestly accusing Him. But still the Saviour uttered no word. Jesus, so patient toward the sinner, so merciful to the woman of Samaria and the woman accused of adultery, so mild and clement even toward Judas who betrayed Him, had no word for this great one of the earth.

For He saw in him a heart devoid of all feeling; a soul dead under the weight of the world's riches; an intellect stifled by sensual pleasures, and the wretchedness of a selfish life.

He did not answer Herod, and Herod, angered at His silence, mocked Him. And Herod's soldiers mocked Him. And when they were tired of the sorry sport, Herod dismissed them, saying:

"Put upon Him the white robe of royalty and send Him back to Pilate, that he who is the governor of all Judea may pass what sentence he will upon Him."

For which exchange of courtesies Holy Writ tells us: "Herod and Pilate were made friends that same day; for before they were enemies one to another." (St. Luke xxiii, 12.)

What a price was paid for your soul and for mine!

It was clear now that since Herod had not acquitted Him, Jesus was lost. And the Mother followed as she would follow unto the end. She faced the woe; she took the cup of sorrow to her lips and drained it to the dregs.

The troops set out again for the house of Pilate. When one of his servants brought him the most unwelcome news that the multitude had come back again with the Prisoner, he was much disturbed.

For Jesus was accused of treachery, and Pilate was ambitious. He paid court to the Roman senate. Nevertheless, when he came forth for the second time to receive the High Priests, the senators, and the people who would not enter the praetorium, he was more firmly convinced than ever of the innocence of Jesus.

"You have brought this Man before me, charging Him with attempt to excite the people to revolt. And yet, having examined Him in your presence, I find nothing guilty in Him, nor Herod more than I. I will chastise Him, therefore, and release Him." (St. Luke xxiii, 16.)

Magdalen and Jezel trembled. "'But if He is not guilty, why punish Him?" cried the young girl, with the fiery judgment of youth.

The people remained silent.

"It is customary, at the Paschal festival, to release any prisoner for whom you, the people, have a special desire. Take your choice, therefore, Who shall be released to you—Jesus, the Prophet, or Barabbas, the murderer? You may have either one or the other."

He waited complacently for the word that would release Jesus and relieve him of further responsibility. But Claudia Procula, leaning forth from one of the golden-latticed windows to discover the cause of the great commotion, saw Jesus upon the steps. Almost overcome, she called a servant to her quickly.

"Go, go to my lord," she said, "and tell him that during the night I have been greatly disturbed in my dreams because of the just Man who now stands before him. Tell him he must let Him go free— "and not inflict the slightest punishment upon Him!"

This message was carried to Pilate, and added to his indecision and restlessness. He had suggested a most unfortunate compromise. The priests would not be satisfied with anything but the death of Jesus. The people, reminded of their right to choose, rejected the limitation of their choice. True to their leaders, then, and to the passions incited by them, they began to clamor loudly for the release of Barabbas and the death of Jesus.

Pilate sat in dumb astonishment as the cry arose around him.

"What shall I do, then, with Jesus, that is called Christ?" "Let Him be crucified!" "Why, what evil hath He done?" But the tumult arose once more. "Let Him be crucified!" (St. Matthew xxii, 22, 23.)

Louder and louder surged that dreadful cry: "Let Him be crucified! Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"

The Roman governor wished to resist them still, for his wife, not trusting to the servant, had followed, and concealing herself under a purple hanging, sent him another imploring message.

"Protect this Man! Save Him from death, or shudder at the consequences."