Mary in the Epistles by Thomas Stiverd Livius. Comments on the Epistles part 49.

THE FIRST EPISTLE OF S. JOHN THE APOSTLE. CHAPTER I.

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life :

2 For the life was manifested; and we have seen and do bear witness, and declare unto you the life eternal, which was with the Father, and hath appeared to us:

3 That which we have seen and have heard, we declare unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship may be with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ

This was S. John's ground for dignity, authority, communication of grace to others, and fellowship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ; viz., that he had himself heard, and seen, and looked upon with his own eyes, and handled with his own hands the Incarnate Word of God. [See infra, Note B, p. 279.] Think of Nazareth, and Bethlehem, and Jerusalem, and Egypt, and Nazareth and Jerusalem again—and say whether Mary had not enjoyed these privileges more intimately and abundantly, unspeakably far, than the Apostle, and whether her dignity in this respect does not immeasurably surpass that of S. John. If on this title Christians might have fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, how much more through Mary.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

" The holy Mary," writes S. Augustine, " lived without any sin. No other of the Saints was without sin. He (Pelagius) goes on to make mention of those ' who are recounted not only not to have sinned, but also to have lived justly, Abel, Enoch, Melchisedech, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Josue, . . . Joseph to whom the Virgin Mary was espoused, and John.' He adds women also, ' Debbora, . . . Elisabeth, and Mary the Mother of our Lord and Saviour,' whom, he says, 'piety necessarily obliges us to confess to have been without sin.' Except, then, the holy Virgin Mary, concerning whom, for the Lord's honour, I will have no question raised at all, in treating of sins,—for we know that more grace [Or, according to the other reading : " For, how do we know what was the greater grace conferred on her . . . who merited," etc.?] was conferred on her to be victorious over sin from every quarter, [Or, "for the entire conquest of sin," ad vincendum omni ex parte pecatum.] from the fact that she merited to conceive, and give birth to Him, Who, it is certain, had no sin. This Virgin, therefore, excepted ; could we gather together, and ask all those holy men and women, whether when they lived here on earth, they were without sin, what, think we, they would answer ? Would it be what this man says, or what the Apostle John says ? I ask you—however great the excellence of their sanctity whilst in the body—if they could be questioned, would they not cry out with one voice, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."  [S August., De Natura et Gratia, cap. 36. See supra, Rom. iii. 23.]

CHAPTER II.

1 My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin. But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just.

" We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just, 'Who also maketh intercession for us,' says S. Paul. [Rom. viii. 34] But because He is not only our Advocate, but also appointed to be Judge of the living and of the dead,' [ Acts x. 42.] and so will examine into everything, and will leave no sin unpunished; human weakness, and especially a sinner—since the just is scarcely secure before Him [1 Pet. iv. 18.] —might perhaps, not bear to approach to Him as Advocate. And consequently God most loving has provided us with an advocate in Mary who is all mild and sweet. Nothing harsh is found in her, never did a hard word come forth from her." [S. Antoninus, p. iv. tit. 15, c. 14, 7.]

5 But he that keepeth his word, in him in very deed the charity of God is perfected; and by this we know that we are in him.

In Mary then, in very deed, was the charity of God perfected. For of her emphatically the Holy Ghost records: " His Mother kept all these (His) words in her heart." [Luke ii. 52, and v. 19. See supra, Rom. ii. 13.] Again the Angel assures her from God that she is united to Him—Dominus tecum. Hence to Mary above all others belongs that supreme blessedness pronounced by her Divine Son, on those who hear the Word of God and keep it. By this we know that she, in a sense beyond all others, is in Him.

20 But you have the unction from the Holy one, and know all things.

Who had the unction from the Holy One as Mary, upon whom the Holy Ghost came, and whom the power of the Most High overshadowed ; of whom was born the Holy One ; with whom the Holy One lived and conversed so many years; on whom the Holy Ghost descended again in His fulness on the day of Pentecost ? What, then, must have been the fulness of Mary's knowledge.

CHAPTER III.

1 Behold what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called, and should be the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth not us, because it knew not him.

2 Dearly beloved, we are now the sons of God; and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. We know, that, when he shall appear, we shall be like to him: because we shall see him as he is.

3 And every one that hath this hope in him, sanctifieth himself, as he also is holy.

O charity in manner yet more admirable, bestowed upon Mary, that she should not only be the elect one, blessed above others amongst all God's daughters, but moreover be called, and really be His own beloved Mother!—a charity wherein we are made to share, in that we also have His Mother for our Mother, and are called, and in truth are, the children of Mary. May we not well say: Behold what manner of charity our Lord Jesus Christ from the Cross hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called by Him, and should be the children of Mary His own most holy Mother, and that thus He should become our own Brother. We need not wonder that the world knows not but rejects Mary—her dignity, her holiness and her power; and that it opposes her servants and children, and sets itself against the practice of devotion to her.

If such will be the manifestation of all the children of God, what will be the glorious manifestation of His chosen one, of Mary His own most perfect Mother ? As we are unable to conceive the blessedness of Mary's assured hope of the beatific vision, so neither can we comprehend the sanctification by which she prepared herself for it.

8 He that committeth sin is of the devil: for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God appeared, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

9 Whosoever is born of God, committeth not sin: for his seed abideth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

10 In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil.

13 Wonder not, brethren, if the world hate you.

The Apostle here takes us back to the beginning, and evidently refers to the primeval prophecy and promise contained in Genesis : [Gen. iii. 15.] " I will put enmities between thee (the serpent) and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel." Whether it is there said that the Woman (Mary, the Second Eve), or her Seed, that is Jesus Christ her Son—and in and by Him all His true members, the faithful—should destroy the power of the devil, is immaterial. We see that what there is called "the seed of the woman " is here by S. John called the children of God, those born of God. Hence we may learn that it is one and the same thing to be children of God, and children of Mary. We must not wonder, then, that the world, that is, the seed of the serpent, who are the children of error, should hate the children of God and Mary; since it had been prophesied long before, even from the beginning: " I will put enmities between thy seed and her seed."

16 In this we have known the charity of God, because he hath laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Mary was ready a thousand times to lay down her life for her children, had such been the will of God. She did in effect, what cost her far more. She was transfixed in her heart with the wounds of her Divine Son. The same sword which pierced Him pierced her maternal soul through and through. Mary at the foot of the Cross laid down for us a life dearer far than her own.

21 Dearly beloved, if our heart do not reprehend us, we have confidence towards God:

22 And whatsoever we shall ask, we shall receive of him: because we keep his commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight.

23 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ: and love one another, as he hath given commandment unto us.

24 And he that keepeth his commandments, abideth in him, and he in him. And in this we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

If the prayers of good Christians in the grace of God are thus powerful, what must be the exceeding power with God of the prayers of Mary His Mother, who possessed, as the Spirit of truth expressly testifies, in such an excellent degree all the conditions here mentioned for favour and acceptance in His sight. Mary had confidence towards God, so that when her petition to her Divine Son was seemingly refused, she still with confidence pressed her suit. [John ii. 3-5.] She kept God's Word. [Luke ii. 52.] She did what was pleasing in His sight. " Thou hast found grace with God." [ib. i. 30.] She was strong in faith. " Blessed art thou that hast believed." [ib. i. 45.] She abounded in fraternal charity, so that Jesus from the Cross gave her to us, His beloved ones, to be our Mother, giving her at the same time a Mother's heart and a Mother's love.[John xix. 26.] She abode in God. " The Lord is with thee." She knew and had full assurance of her union with Him by the Spirit, which was given to her. [Luke i. 28, 35. See Acts i. 14 ; ii. 1, 4 ; 1 John iv. 12, 13.]

CHAPTER IV.

1 Dearly beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits if they be of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

2 By this is the spirit of God known. Every spirit which confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God :

3 And every spirit that dissolveth Jesus, is not of God: and this is Antichrist. [The Apostle again denounces in his Second Epistle (v.v. 7-11) the heresy of which he here speaks.]

" Believe nut every spirit, but try the spirits if they be of God; 'for Satan himself transformed himself into an angel of light,' [2 Cor. xi. 14.] to be adored. . . . 'The spiritual man judgeth all things,' [1 Cor. ii.15.] says S. Paul, that is, discerns what should be done from what should not be done, and the fictitious from the true. Because, then, Mary was spiritual above all others she had beyond all others the discernment of spirits. When S. Anthony on seeing in spirit the whole world full of snares closely set together cried out, Oh, who shall escape these snares ? the answer was, Humility alone. The Blessed Virgin was incomparably more humble than all others; and therefore through this grace of discernment of spirits, escaped all deceits. The evil spirit is wont to tempt to spiritual pride, but the Blessed Mary never had any movement of pride. The Apostle Paul says of himself, 'We are not ignorant of his (that is, the devil's) devices.' But since Mary is more than Paul, much less was she ignorant, but had greater discernment, and was never deceived by him." [ S. Antoninus, p. iv. tit. 15, cap. 19, § 7.] The very essential ideal of everything that is most opposed to Jesus Christ is Antichrist, and the spirit of Antichrist. On the contrary, the most perfect ideal of all that is for Jesus Christ, is Mary, and her spirit, which breathes in the souls of the faithful devotion to her. For Mary is the living testimony and pledge in the Church on earth, and in heaven to Angels and Saints for all eternity of the truth of the Incarnation, that God is indeed become Man. Take away Mary and Jesus Christ is dissolved. Whoever entertains wrong thoughts and ideas of her will hold error, explicitly or implicitly, with regard to Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let devotion to Mary droop, and Catholic Faith will soon grow weak, or die. Mary is still the guardian of her Divine Son, as she is of us her children. The experience of ages has proved this. Hence the Church sings: Gaude Maria Virgo, cunctas hevreses sola interemisti in universo mundo. Dignare me laudare te Virgo sacrata. Da mihi virtutern contra hostes tuos. The Spirit of Mary is the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God.

21 And this commandment we have from God, that he who loveth God, love also his brother.

" As there never was, and never will be," writes S. Alphonsus, "anyone who loved God as much as Mary loved Him, so there never was, and never will be, anyone who loved her neighbour as much as she did. Father Cornelius a Lapide, on these words of the Canticles: ' King Solomon hath made him a litter of the wood of Libanus . . . the midst he covered with charity for the daughters of Jerusalem,' [Cant. iii. 9, 10.] says that ' this litter was Mary's womb, in which the Incarnate Word dwelt, filling it with charity for the daughters of Jerusalem; for Christ, who is love itself, inspired the Blessed Virgin with charity in its highest degree, that she might succour all who had recourse to her. So great was Mary's charity when on earth, that she succoured the needy without even being asked, as was the case at the marriage-feast of Cana, when she told her Son that family's distress, ' They have no wine,' [John ii. 3.] and asked him to work a miracle. Oh, with what speed did she fly when there was question of relieving her neighbour ! When she went to the house of Elizabeth to fulfil an office of charity: * She went into the hill country with haste.' [Luke i. 39.] She could not, however, more fully display the greatness of her charity than she did in the offering which she made of her Son to death for our salvation. On this subject S. Bonaventure says,' Mary so loved the world as to give her only-begotten Son.' Hence S. Anselm exclaims, ' O blessed amongst women, thy purity sur passes that of the angels, and thy compassion that of the saints. [Invoc. B. V. et Filii.] '- ' Nor has this love of Mary for us,' says S. Bonaventure, 'diminished, now that she is in heaven, but it has increased, for now she better sees the miseries of man.' And therefore the Saint goes on to say: ' Great was the mercy of Mary towards the wretched when she was still in exile on earth ; but far greater is it now that she reigns in heaven.' " [Spec. B. V. M. lect. x. Glories of Mary, p. 448, 9.]

Mary in the Epistles by Thomas Stiverd Livius. Comments on the Epistles part 27

THE EPISTLE OF S. PAUL TO THE EPHESIANS. CHAPTER VI.

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is just.

In the Lord, that is, conformably to the precept and also to the example of Jesus Christ, Who obeyed His parents.  This is just : Mary then received as her due, as a matter of justice, the obedience and honour of her Son. [Luke ii. 51.]

"The Lord Jesus was subject to His parents," says S. Jerome, " He honoured His Mother, whose Father He Himself was. He reverenced His nursing father, whom He had nourished, and remembered that He had been Himself carried in the womb of another, and borne in another's arms. For this cause also when hanging on the Cross, He commends to the disciples that parent, whom before the time of His Cross, He had never given up. " [Ep. 117, n. 2.]

17 And take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God).

18 By all prayer and supplication praying at all times in the spirit; and in the same watching with all instance and supplication for all the saints :

19 And for me . . .

" It is of this sword of the Spirit" says S. Antoninus, " that S. Ambrose seems to explain the words: ' And thy own soul a sword shall pierce.' [Luke ii. 35.] 'Simeon,' says the holy Doctor,
' shows here that Mary's prudence was not ignorant of the mystery.' The sword of the word of God therefore pierced through the intellectual soul of Mary, since she understood the word spoken by Simeon, viz., that her Son was set for the ruin of the Jewish people, and for the resurrection of the Gentiles who should be converted to the Faith : and for a sign which should be contradicted by many in regard to the truth of the mystery of the Incarnation—to wit, by Pagans, Jews, and heretics, and through the evil lives of many bad Christians. All the mysteries of Christ, of His birth, life, passion, and resurrection were, in fact, foretold and figured forth by the prophets; so that when the Blessed Virgin Mary read and heard the Scriptures, and saw the several mysteries successively accomplished, the sword of the word of God pierced through her intellectual soul by reason of the acute and perfect understanding which she had of them." [P. iv. T. 15 c. 36, 2.]

— If the prayers of Christians are of so much avail, what efficacy must the prayers of the Divine Mother possess : and if the duty of continual mutual intercession is incumbent on all, how must Mary have practised it when she was on earth, and still maintain its exercise in heaven.

24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption. Amen.

In incorruption, that is, with a pure and perfect love. Who thus loved our Lord Jesus Christ as Mary, and who so full of grace ?

Mary in the Epistles by Thomas Stiverd Livius. Comments on the Epistles part 26

THE EPISTLE OF S. PAUL TO THE EPHESIANS. CHAPTER IV.

7 But to every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the giving of Christ.

8 Wherefore he saith : Ascending on high he led captivity captive ; he gave gifts to men.

9 Now that he ascended, what is it but because he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth ?

10 He that descended is the same also that ascended above all the heavens, that he might nil all things.

11 And he gave some apostles and some prophets, and other some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors.

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Until we all meet into the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ.

As Christ gave to Mary, far, far above all others, viz., Him self to be her own true Son, so is the measure of her grace in proportion to the gift. And she is full of grace. He gave some apostles, etc., but He gave Himself one only Mother. To His Church, too, He gave but one Mother, for the perfecting of the saints, for the edifying of His body. That as she nurtured His human body of flesh, watched over and brought Him up from infancy to childhood, and on to maturity ; so also might she care for His mystical body, and each individual member of the same, until we all meet unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ.

" Now that He ascended, etc., (v.v. 9, 10). That is, He who thus most profoundly humbled Himself was exalted to a height of dignity most sublime. This is also applicable, after our Lord Jesus Christ, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, above the nine choirs of Angels, herself alone fills with her majesty a tenth choir, which is as much more glorious than the others, as she is nearer to God, and receives a more perfect participation of the divinity."

CHAPTER V.

1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as most dear children :

2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odour of sweetness.

The perfection of a creature is to copy its Creator in things imitable. " Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect," said our Lord, and in so saying, He referred especially to His perfection in bounty and mercy, even to His enemies. The perfection of a Christian is to imitate Christ in the spirit of generosity and self-sacrifice. Most strikingly was this two-fold imitation exemplified in Mary. How perfect was our Blessed Queen, both as the most dear Child of the Eternal Father, and most dear Mother of the Son. What a dolorous walk of love was that of Mary from the Crib to the Cross—every step a sacrifice, every breath an odour of sweetness in union with the Sweetness of Jesus.

" The name of Mary," says S. Ambrose, " is as ointment poured forth. May that same ointment descend into the inmost depths and recesses of our souls, whereby holy Mary was redolent not of odours of (earthly) delights, but of the breathings of divine grace." [De. lnst. Virg. c. 13.]

8 For you were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord. Walk then as children of the light.

Our Blessed Lord contrasts the children of light and the children of the world ; the former are the seed of the woman, the latter of the serpent. The children of Mary are the children of light.

18 Be ye filled with the Holy Spirit:

19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord :

20 Giving thanks always for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God and the Father.

Mary was the first to set an example in the New Testament of what the Apostle here recommends, by her Magnificat. She first gave thanks to God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ.

When the Church wants to make sweet melody and to pour out thanksgiving to God, evening by evening she borrows the words of Mary : Magnificat anima mea Dominun.

" I will sing to Thee on a harp of ten strings," says the Psalmist : In psalterio decachordo. [Ps. cxliii. 10.]

There are exactly ten chords touched by the hand of Mary in the Magnificat.

1. She magnifies the Lord—chord of adoration.

2. She rejoices in God—-chord of joyful thanksgiving.

3. Thrill of humility—He hath regarded my lowliness.

4. Exultation in His greatness and holiness, as exhibited to herself.

5. Exultation in His mercy, as exhibited to others.

6. Exultation in His power, and justice.

7. Exultation in His grandeur, and condescension.

8. Exultation in His bounty, and severity.

9. Exultation in His special love.

10. Exultation in His everlasting fidelity to His promises.

22 Let women be subject to their husbands, as to the Lord :

23 Because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is head of the Church. He is the saviour of his body.

24 Therefore as the Church is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be to their husbands in all things.

What a beautiful example of conjugal obedience did the Blessed Virgin shew in her conduct towards S. Joseph, following in all things his guidance. [See Luke ii. 5, 16, 39, 41-44, 51— Matt. ii. 14, 21, 23. Also S. Augustine's words quoted supra, 1 Cor. xi. 3.] She had at the same time wonderful motives for this submission in the enlightenment and foreknowledge which she possessed with regard to the mysteries of the Church and of her Divine Son.

29 For no man ever hated his own flesh ; but nourisheth it and cherisheth it, as also Christ doth the church :

30 Because we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

31 For tins cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh.

32 This is a great sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the church.

No man hates his own flesh. Even if he denies, and chastises it, it is from enlightened love. " He that loseth his life for My sake shall find it." [Matt. x. 39.] But Mary must have loved her own flesh in Him who was " made of a woman," far better than in herself : since in Him that flesh was deified, in her it could only be glorified, though with unutterable glory. Mary consented to see this Flesh scourged, pierced with nails, and quivering with pain, because she believed " in the operation of the might of His power, which He (would work) in Christ, raising Him up from the dead, and setting Him at His right hand in the heavenly places above all principality and power and virtue and dominion, and every named that is named." [Ephes. i. 19-21.] So Christ loves His Church, nourishes and cherishes it, even as our Lady fed the Divine Child at her breast, yet giving over its most precious members to every kind of martyrdom ; but numbering each hair of their head for eternal glory. And though He cherished most of all His blessed Mother, He made her the Queen of Martyrs.

We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. How much more she! He was of her body, of her flesh, and of her bones. We are members of His body. How then must Mary cherish us for His sake in Him. We are members of His body. How ought we then to cherish her, His Mother and ours. Is she not indeed our Mother, if we are His members ?

This great sacrament in Christ and in the Church : the mystery of the Incarnation, or the hypostatic union of the Word with human nature, is the model of the Sacrament of Matrimony, or the Christian union of man and wife. This mystery was accomplished in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was shadowed forth in the virginal marriage of Joseph and Mary, wherein were found the greatest goods of marriage, proles, fides, sacramentum, as says S. Augustine. This mystery is the model, after which, was formed the union between Christ and His Church.

" From Mary," writes S. Epiphanius, " is taken that Scripture, which is applicable also to the Church : For this cause . . . one flesh: whereon the holy Apostle says : This is a great sacrament: but I speak as to Christ and the Church. And observe, the accuracy of the Scriptures. For of Adam it is said that God formed him ; but of Eve it is not said she was formed, but was ' built. ' Since we read that God took one of Adam's ribs, and built it for him into a woman ; thus to show, that when the Lord had formed again a body for Himself from Mary, it was from the rib from her the Church was built, in the piercing of His side, and that the mysteries of the Blood and Water were made baths for us." [Haeres. 78. n. 20.]

" Let us now bring forward that celebrated passage of the Apostle," says S. Ambrose, " where is written : For this cause in Christ and in the Church. We remark, then, that by a woman has this heavenly mystery of the Church been fulfilled, in her grace been figured forth, for whose sake Christ came down, and completed that eternal work of human redemption. Hence, too, Adam called the name of his wife Life[Gen. ii. 23.] for it is by means of woman that the series and propagation of the human race is diffused through the world, and by means of the Church that eternal life is bestowed." [De Instit. Virg. iii. 24.]

Mary in the Epistles by Thomas Stiverd Livius. Comments on the Epistles part 25

THE EPISTLE OF S. PAUL TO THE EPHESIANS. CHAPTER III.

1 For this cause, I Paul the prisoner of Jesus Christ, for you gentiles:

2 If yet you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is given me towards you :

3 How that according to revelation, the mystery has been made known to me, as I have written above in few words :

4 As you reading may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.

5 Which in other generations was not known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to his holy apostles, and prophets in the Spirit.

12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

13 Wherefore I pray you not to faint at my tribulations for you which is } 7 our glory.

14 For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

15 Of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named.

16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened by his Spirit with might unto the inward man.

17 That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts : that being rooted and founded in charity,

18 You may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth.

19 To know also the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fulness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that worketh in us :

21 To him be glory in the church, and in Christ Jesus, unto all generations world without end. Amen.

The more S. Paul magnifies the grace and excellence of his own apostleship, the more does he give grounds for magnifying far more exceedingly the grace and dignity of the Mother of God. For what part does an Apostle hold in the great Mystery of Christ comparable with that of Mary ? She, the little humble handmaid of the Lord, was made His Mother by the fulness of the grace of God which was given to her, according to the power of the Highest Who came upon her, and the Mighty One who did great things unto her, so that she gave to the whole world God manifested in the flesh, and showed Him first to simple Jewish shepherds, and then to royal sages of the Gentiles with all His unsearchable riches, as an earnest that He should be manifested to all mankind, "the light of the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel". It was through Mary that for all eternity the manifold wisdom of God in this mystery of the Incarnation, should be made known to all the principalities and powers in heaven ; since she, the human Mother, is there the ever-living witness and testimony of its truth, the gage and the pledge that God her Son is ever and very Man—that "great mystery of godliness, which was manifested in the flesh, was justified in the Spirit, appeared unto Angels, hath been preached unto the Gentiles, is believed in the world, is taken up to glory." [1 Tim. iii. 16.]

What was Mary's knowledge in the Mystery of Christ ? Illi solum datum est nosse, says S. Bernard, cui datum est experiri. In the Annunciation she had a full revelation of the Mystery. In the Virginal Conception an experimental knowledge. How was she strengthened by the Spirit with might unto the inward man, when that Spirit ineffably overshadowed her, that Christ might dwell, not merely by faith in her heart (though for that she was praised by the Holy Ghost Himself), but by the wondrous union of maternity. The charity, in which she was rooted and founded, was not merely that of a creature to its Creator, but that of a mother to a son. Yet it was a most supernatural charity, having God for its object, and the Holy Ghost for its author. God, Who is able to do all things more abundantly than we can desire or understand, Himself wrought these works of sanctification in Mary. Well, then, does she say, Fecit mihi magna qui potens est, et sanctum nomen ejus. More abundant are they than we could desire : but Mary had in its fulness the beatitude of the hungry : and esurientes implevit bonis. What creature, then, save the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Christ, the Incarnate Word, could be the ideal present to the Apostle's mind, as he wrote his burning words ?—Strengthened inwardly in all perfection, so far as a pure creature is capable thereof, by the Divine Spirit ; her heart united to Jesus Christ, and rooted in charity above all others ; comprehending beyond the other saints the intensity and extension of the exceeding love of Christ; approaching, as far as the finite may, to the infinite fulness of God. "Our Lord and Saviour, Himself ever-Virgin, had a Virgin for His Mother. He offered in His own person an example of virginity to men, and in His Mother to women. Whereby is clearly shown, how in both sexes blessed purity merited to have the fulness of the

Divinity, since all that there is in the Son was found in the Mother." [Int. opp. Sulpic. Sever. Ep. 2.]

In whom we hare boldness. The Apostle, in order to encourage the Ephesian converts, reminds them of the freedom and confidence wherewith Christians might have access to Jesus Christ, through faith in Him ; and entreats them by this consideration, not to lose heart on account of his own present tribulations. These sufferings, he tells them, he is enduring for their sakes, and that they are their glory. That is, the persecution of S. Paul ought to be a ground for their rejoicing and thanksgiving to God, that he, the Apostle of the Gentiles, was accounted worthy thus to suffer in their behalf for the Name of Jesus, and thereby to glorify God, and their holy faith. It was the Apostle's glory to suffer for Christ, and this his glory redounded on them. [1 Pet. ii. 19--21.] His suffer ings were their glory, too, as being an efficacious means of grace and glory to them, for whom he suffered. For his own part, the persecutions he endured for Christ so greatly strengthened his confidence, as to constrain him, with most earnest devotion and humble reverence, to beseech the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in Whose cause he suffered, to pour in abundance upon the Ephesian Christians the richest blessings of grace.

To make application of the foregoing to Mary, it is enough to suggest one or other thought which meditation will unfold. 1. What confident access [Rom. v. 2.] must His most holy Mother have to Jesus Christ her Son. 2. How great is our ground for hope, consolation, thanksgiving, and joy, in the thought of all Mary's dolours which she underwent on our account. How powerful and meritorious must these dolours render her intercession. How efficacious in obtaining mercy and grace for us. 3. What great glory must these dolours have given to God ; suffered, as they were, in union with the Passion of Jesus Christ her Son to satisfy the Divine Majesty outraged by sin.

What grateful compensation did Mary's perfect compassion render to our Saviour for all the indifference and ingratitude shewn to Him by men in His Sacred Passion. 4. How glorious are Mary's dolours for the Church of Jesus Christ and for His holy Name. 5. How fruitful in virtue, merit, and glory for herself. For since Jesus, " whereas, indeed, He was the Son of God, learned obedience by the things that He suffered ; [Heb. v. 8.] so too Mary, His Mother, had to acquire virtue and perfection worthy of her sublime dignity and office, by means, of suffering : and as it was by His sufferings He became for us before God a merciful High-priest and Saviour, so also through her dolours has Mary become for us our Mother of Mercy, and a Consoler of the afflicted, who can have compassion on our miseries, and is able to succour us in our temptations—a Mother to whom we may go at all times with confidence, beseeching her to obtain mercy, and grace to help us in seasonable aid. [Ib. ii. 17,18; iv. 15, 16.] In fine, as it behoved Christ to suffer and thus to enter into His glory, [Luke xxiv. 26.] so also did it behove Mary His Mother to earn by suffering her glorious crown.

Of whom all paternity, etc. God the Father has willed that all in heaven and earth should be brought into relationship with Himself, through our Lord Jesus Christ, His Only-begotten Son made man : and through Him the Eternal Father is the Father of all His adopted children. Equally true is it—though not in the same, but in another sense—that all these are brought also into relationship with Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, as her children. Through Him she has become the Mother of all in heaven and earth ; that is, of all those who can claim the paternity of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hence in such secondary sense of Mary it may be said, Of whom all maternity in heaven and earth is. named. [Rom. vii. 15,16. Gal. iv. 5, 6. See infra, Note A, pp. 275-0.]

Mary in the Epistles by Thomas Stiverd Livius. Comments on the Epistles part 24

THE EPISTLE OF S. PAUL TO THE EPHESIANS. CHAPTER I.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ:

4 As he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in his sight in charity.

5 Who hath predestinated us unto the adoption of children through Jesus Christ unto himself : according to the purpose of his will.

6 Unto the praise of the glory of his grace, in which he hath graced us in his beloved Son.

7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins according to the riches of his grace,

8 Which hath superabounded in us in all wisdom and prudence,

9 That he might make known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in him,

10 In the dispensation of the fulness of times, to re-establish all things in Christ, that are in heaven and on earth, in him.

11 In whom we also are called by lot, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things according to the counsel of his will.

12 That we may be unto the praise of his glory, we who before hoped in Christ.

How sublime is the Apostle's description of the grace and purpose of God in liis regard ! But were Mary to tell forth the great tilings which He Who is Mighty had done for her, what words would be adequate ? He blessed her with all spiritual blessings above all the heavenly choirs. He chose her before the foundation of the world to be holy and immaculate, from the first moment of her existence, in His sight, in charity ; predestined, as she was, to be His most beloved daughter, through Jesus Christ, according to His blessed Will, that in her His grace, wherewith He graced and made her full, might be praised and glorified through Jesus Christ His Only-begotten Son, of whom she was to be Mother, and by whom she received redemption through His Blood, in the most excellent manner, even the preservation from all stain of sin, original and actual, by an excess of richest grace, which super-abounded in her in sublimest wisdom and prudence. So that He accomplished by her the greatest mystery of His Will, the Incarnation of the Divine Word, as He had in the good plea sure of His eternal decrees purposed to do, when the fulness of time should come : viz., to send His Son, made of a woman, that He might by His Incarnate Word redeem mankind, and thus re-establish all things on earth, and in heaven also ; by filling up with the redeemed of men, those thrones which the rebel angels had forfeited. Through whose infinite merits Mary was chosen too to such an excellent dignity, and to take in this mystery so sublime a part; being graciously elected thereto from eternity, according to the Divine Will which knows how to accomplish in all things its counsel, and to bring all to shew forth His own praise and glory.

17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation, in the knowledge of him :

18 The eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what the hope is of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.

S. Paul not only preached in order to enlighten, as he says in this same epistle , [iii. 8, 9.] but he prayed God to enlighten. It requires to have the eyes of the heart opened and enlightened, in order to understand what is the present work of grace, and future hope of glory, even in the least of the saints. Who then even among the saints can know what grace and glory have done for Mary ? If the saintly Doctors tell us marvellous things of her, we must remember that the eyes of their hearts were enlightened, while ours are very dim. But what spirit of wisdom must the Father of glory have given to her in the knowledge of Himself and His Divine Son. S. Paul tells the Ephesians that from the few words he had written they might judge of his knowledge in the mystery of Christ? [iii. 3, 4.] So from the Magnificat we can form some little conception of Mary's gift of wisdom. Yet those words were uttered before her Son's birth. Now we are told with what attention she pondered over every circumstance regarding Him ; [Luke ii. 19, 51.] with what attention, then, must she have listened to all His words, and studied all His acts while He lived with her. It pleases God to reveal His mysteries to little ones. [Matt. xi. 25, 26.] Who so little as Mary in the true sense ? " No man knoweth the Son, but the Father, neither doth anyone know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him." [Ib. 27.] Did it not please Jesus to reveal His Father to His Mother ? And did not the Father reveal the Son to the Mother 1 If He revealed Him to S. Peter, how much more to Mary.

19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us, who believe according to the operation of the might of his power.

20 Which he wrought in Christ, raising him up from the dead, and setting him on his right hand in the heavenly places.

21 Above all principality, and power, and virtue, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.

22 And he hath subjected all things under his feet, and hath made him head over all the church,

23 Which is his body, and the fulness of him who is filled all in all.

In enumerating the magnificent titles of the Angelic Choirs, and thus glorifying them, S. Paul enhances, and sets off the super-eminent dignity and glory of the Man, Christ Jesus, over all of which He is placed. Surely, in thus glorifying the pre-eminent dignity and excellence of Mary's Son, the Apostle indirectly and implicitly enhances the dignity and glory of the Mother, from whom He derives that nature so exalted, and through whom He is in fact what He is, viz., Jesus Christ, the God-man, constituted King of Angels and Saints. Is it conceivable that she, His Mother, should be set lower than His servants and ministering spirits—she, to whom "the Father of the world to come" made Himself on earth subject ? No.— Sedes tua Deus, in saeculum saeculi. Dixit Dominus Domino meo, sede a dextris meis. Such is Thy glorious throne, 0 Word Incarnate : and where shall that of Thy royal Mother be ? David again shall speak. Astitit Regina a dextris tuis. The more, therefore, the Apostle glorifies the Angelic Choirs, the more does he enhance the glory of the Mother of God, which is above theirs.

CHAPTER II.

18 For by him we have access both in one Spirit to the Father.

19 Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners: but you are fellow-citizens with the saints, and the domestics of God.

20 Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone :

21 In whom all the building being framed together, groweth up into an holy temple in the Lord.

22 In whom you also are built together into an habitation of God in the Spirit.

The Apostle says that if we are in communion with God, the ever-Blessed Trinity— by the Son, in the Spirit, to the Father—we have then full communion with God's Saints ; we belong to the same city, the same household ; we form with the Saints one temple built of living stones in which God Himself dwells. How wondrously did He dwell in Mary, first in her soul, then in her body ; and by her He became the chief corner-stone, uniting all nations. No wonder, all nations and all generations call her blessed. For is it not to her co-operation in the Incarnation, and to her prayers on earth and in heaven, we owe it, that we are no longer strangers and foreigners to the Divine Family ?

Built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets. Mary is called by the Church Queen of Apostles, and Queen of Prophets. She was not one of the Apostles, who are represented by S. John as the twelve foundations of the heavenly Jerusalem. [Apoc. xxi. 14.] But she was far more. She was the subject of Apostolic teaching. She was the Woman revealed to prophets, and she herself was the great prophetess, who sketched the outlines of her Son's Kingdom, and her own glory in it. She is also one of the principal agents of the Holy Ghost in building up the living walls of the temple of God. Oh ! happy we to have part in such mysteries. " One same end, one same beatitude, one same joy, one same glory, one same kingdom with God Himself." [Tauler.] This is what we share with the Saints, and with Mary their Queen.