Mater Christi: Meditations on Our Lady. St. Paul Mother
joy." (Jude 24.)
Colloquy. "O God, Who by the Immaculate Conception of a Virgin didst prepare a worthy habitation for Thy Son, we beseech Thee that Thou, Who through the foreseen death of Thy same Son didst preserve her from all stain of sin, wouldst grant also to us through her intercession to come pure to Thee." (Collect for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.)
Resolution. To strive to copy my model.
Spiritual Bouquet. "Be diligent, that ye may be found undefiled and unspotted to Him in peace." (2 Peter iii. 14.)
Mary's Birthday
"In me is all grace." (Ecclus. xxiv. 25.)
1st Prelude. A picture of Our Lady's Nativity. St Anne is holding up her babe, just swaddled, and offering it to God; the nurse is waiting to put the little one in its cradle. St Joachim is coming into the room. A Dove is hovering over the babe's head. Angels are looking on.
2nd Prelude. Grace to look on with the Angels, and try to understand.
What does it all mean? Why are the Angels so full of interest? Was the birth of this little one so different from any other? It was indeed miraculous, but Joachim and Anne were by no means the only ones thus favoured. No, there is something beyond this which is engaging the interest of the Angels. They see in this little babe, whom Anne is offering to God, a sight to make them wonder and adore – they see a soul which has never been touched by original sin. They had seen Adam created in grace; they had seen Jeremias, and later would see John Baptist, both spotless from their birth, but spotless because they had been cleansed from original sin before birth. In these souls, however, they saw no more than they see in each little soul as it leaves the baptismal font, grace having taken the place of original sin. But in Mary they see a sight which they have never seen before – a soul whose sanctity surpasses that of angels and of men, a soul which will glorify God more perfectly than any other creature ever has done, or will do. No wonder the Angels are lost in admiration!
They have known about the Incarnation ever since the War in Heaven; now they see one of the steps by which it was to be accomplished. They see the "tabernacle prepared," and at its side they will never cease to wonder and praise God, as long as that pure soul stays in this land of exile.
Mary was born with an end to fulfil, just as I was. She was created to praise, reverence, and serve God, just as I was; created to save her soul, just as I was. And because of her absolute purity, she understood her end perfectly from the first moment of her existence, and followed it always without swerving. While her mother was offering her to God, she, with the full use of her reason (as many hold) offered herself to fulfil the end for which she had been created. She did not know what the particular end was to be – God did not reveal to her till the day of the Incarnation, that she was to be the Mother of God – but she offered herself to do what God wished, she put herself at His disposal.
And this is what I must do every day of my life if I would fulfil the end for which God has created me. Here I am, Lord, to do Thy bidding, to do whatever Thou didst intend me to do to-day. I may not know, any more than did the Immaculate babe in her cradle, what the particular end is for which He has destined me; but that does not matter. If I am found faithfully doing my duty of the moment, whatever it may be – doing it, that is to say, for God, praising, reverencing, and serving Him in it – I shall not miss the important moment in my life when God calls me to the special work for which He has destined me. I can, if I will, do each little duty of my everyday life for God, with the pure motive of giving Him pleasure. It is the surest way of making myself indifferent as to whether or not the duty gives me pleasure! And it ensures that, from one point of view, all duties will be a pleasure. I was created by God to do this particular thing for Him at this particular moment, so I do it. What an uplifting thought! It puts me at once on to another plane – the supernatural plane – where the whole aspect is different. This is the truth, which the little one whose birthday I am thinking about to-day understood so perfectly. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord," was her cry even then. It was because Mary understood the value of the "Sacrament of the moment," as it has been called, that when the moment of her life came, and her great end was revealed to her, she was able to say: "Ecce ancilla Domini!" She was used to saying it; it was the most natural thing for her to say. And so will it be for me, if only I will practise as Mary did. I shall bow to His Will in the great crises of my life – not naturally but supernaturally – because I have formed the habit in all the little things that make up my life.
Overshadowing His spouse is the Holy Ghost. He it was Who filled her with grace at the moment of the Immaculate Conception. He it is Who will keep her "full of grace" at every moment of her life. Never for one instant will He leave her. Never for one instant will she cease to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost. (1 Cor. vi. 19.) Always will He be able to say to her: "Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee." (Cant. iv. 7.) Why? Because Mary will never "extinguish the Holy Spirit." (1 Thess. v. 19.) She will never "grieve" Him. (Eph. iv. 30.) And not only will she never resist a single one of His inspirations, but she will never let one pass by unnoticed. Her correspondence to grace will be perfect.
Oh, what need I have to turn to the little one in her cradle to-day, and say: "Pray for me now"! Pray that I may never extinguish the Holy Spirit, but live always in a state of grace. Pray that I may never grieve Him, Whose temple I am, by resisting His pleadings with me.
Colloquy with the babe in her cradle.
Resolution. To make much of the "Sacrament of the moment" to-day.
Spiritual Bouquet. "In me is all grace." (Ecclus. xxiv. 25.)
Mary's Presentation in the Temple
"In the holy dwelling-place I have ministered before Him." (Ecclus. xxiv. 14.)
1st Prelude. The child on the Temple steps.
2nd Prelude. Grace to present myself to God.
At the age of three years, tradition tells us, Mary left her home to go and live in the Temple – not merely, as other little girls of her time, to attend the Temple school, but to dedicate herself to God, and to live continually under the shadow of His Presence, as Samuel of old had done. Her desire, even at that tender age, was to confirm her parents' dedication of her at her birth, by giving herself up entirely to God, to live a hidden life with Him away from everything, however lawful, that might disturb her union with Him. She waited only for His call, and as soon as it was given, she left all and followed – even her parents must take a second place.
So, joyously and eagerly, did Mary fulfil her end of the moment. God called her, and she went to Him. She did not know what He wanted her for, nor did she seek to know. Sufficient for her that He wanted her, and was calling. At once she presented herself before Him as the little Samuel of old. "Here am I, for Thou didst call me. Speak, for Thy servant heareth." (1 Kings iii. 9.) She was ready for anything that He might want.
And this should be the attitude of all who would serve Him – a constant presentation of themselves to Him for whatever He wants. This attitude can only be arrived at by the spirit of sacrifice. To be always at liberty for God's service, the soul must be disentangled from all else, free from all that would hold it back. And this means sacrifice. Mary, presenting herself at the Temple, is specially, though not exclusively, the model of those who are called to the Religious Life. But do not let us make any mistake – a Religious is not free to give himself to God because he has left parents and home and possessions. He may go through all these preliminaries, and yet not be, by any means, at God's service. The great work of disentangling the soul and setting it free is done inside the Cloister, while the Religious is learning that it is self which stands in the way, and that until that is crushed, he is not able to render to God free and joyous service, such as Mary did. And this lesson has to be learned by those outside the Cloister too, if they would follow Mary in being always ready to answer God's calls and do His biddings.