The Month of Mary, According to the Spirit of St. Francis of Sales. Saint de Sales Francis

SECOND DAY.

       Table of Contents

      MARY CONSECRATES HERSELF TO GOD IN THE TEMPLE.

      MARY was no sooner born than she consecrated her entire being to the service of Divine Love, and as soon as she acquired the use of her tongue she employed it in chanting the praises of the Lord. He inspired her, when she had attained the age of three years, to leave the home of her parents and retire into the Temple to serve Him more perfectly. During her tender years the life of this glorious Virgin was full of wisdom and discretion, and the cause of astonishment to her parents, for her actions and words were very different from those of other children, since she had the full use of her reason. It was therefore necessary to hasten the period for taking her to the Temple and consecrating her to the Divine service, amongst the other maidens already consecrated. They, therefore, took the little Virgin and partly led and partly carried her to the Temple of Jerusalem. Mary certainly had nothing to fear from the influences of her home, but she wished to teach us by her example that we should omit nothing, as St. Paul so earnestly teaches, to make our calling and election sure.

      All who repaired to the Temple to present their offerings chanted as they went the Psalm: Beati immaculati in via qui ambulant in lege Domini—'Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord'. With what grace and melody must not our glorious Queen and Mistress have intoned this canticle when she walked towards the sanctuary where her God wished to prepare her to become, not only His Spouse, but His Mother, the blessed among all women! The very Angels were so pleased at the sight of such love, fervour, and humility, that they descended in choirs to listen to the harmony. With what joy was she not filled when she arrived at the threshhold of the Temple, and when she mounted the fifteen steps of the sanctuary! She came to dedicate herself unreservedly to God. If her youth had not forbidden it, she might thus have addressed the holy matrons who had charge of the consecrated children in the Temple: Here am I; consider me in your hands as a piece of soft wax; dispose of me as you will, I shall never make any resistance. She was so docile that she allowed herself to be guided by others in such a manner as never to show the slightest inclination to one thing more than another. She abandoned herself totally and perfectly to the Divine Will, so that she was a marvel to all who knew her.

      In order to profit in a Christian manner by the example that Mary gives us in this mystery, three points can be considered: firstly, that Mary was presented to God in His Temple from her tenderest infancy, and thus separated from her parents; secondly, that she makes a great part of the journey on foot, and the rest of the journey she is carried in the arms of her parents; thirdly, that she dedicates and offers herself entirely to God, without any reserve.

      As to the first point, which is to dedicate one's self to God from one's infancy, how, you will ask, can we imitate Mary in this, for we have already passed the age of childhood, and it is impossible to recover lost time? You are deceived. If virginity can be repaired by means of humility, cannot lost time be repaired by making a fervent and good use of the present? I acknowledge that the happiness of those who have dedicated themselves entirely to God from their infancy is, indeed, enviable, and He seems to receive such an offering with special complacency. He complains, through one of His prophets, that 'men had so perverted their way, that even from their youth they had abandoned the path of salvation for that of perdition.' Children are neither good nor bad so long as they are incapable of distinguishing good from evil. But when they have attained the use of reason, too often they turn to that which is evil. Hence God says by His prophet: Dereliquerunt me fontem aquæ vivæ—'They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, to follow the way of iniquity.'

      Another proof of the ardent desire of the Divine Goodness for our youthful service is found in the words of the same prophet; Bonum est viro cum portaverit jugum ab adolescentia sua—'It is good for a man to have borne the yoke from his youth.' But it need not be supposed that the youth of which the prophet speaks is only that of years. When the Beloved in the Canticle of Canticles turns to her Spouse and says to Him: Oleum effusum nomen tuum, ideo adolescentulæ dilexerunt te—'Thy name is as oil poured out, therefore young maidens have loved Thee,' do you believe she speaks of maidens who are young in years? No; but of those who are young in fervour and courage, but who have consecrated to the service of Holy Love all the moments of their life and all the affections of their hearts.

      It is the present time, the present moment, that we should turn to profit; because the past has escaped us, and the future is not in our power. But you ask, How can we repair lost time? You can do it by the use of fervour and diligence during the time that remains for your pilgrimage upon earth. Stags do not always run at an extraordinary speed, but yet, when pursued by the hunter, they quicken their movement and seem rather to fly than to run. This is a model for us. We must not only run, but fly in the way of perfection. Therefore let us, with holy David, beg our Lord to give us the wings of a dove, that we may fly without stopping, until we gain our hiding-place in the walls of the holy city of Jerusalem; that is to say, until we find ourselves united to our Lord crucified upon Calvary, through an entire and perfect mortification of all our inclinations and affections.

      Oh, how happy are those souls who follow the example of this Sacred Virgin, and dedicate themselves from their tender years to the service of God! Fortunate are they to have retired from the world before they were known to it! Like delicate flowers scarcely yet open, nor touched by the heat of concupiscence, they exhale a most sweet odour in the Divine Presence by means of their virtues and innocence.

      SPIRITUAL FLOWERS.

      Mary was like a most beautiful flower, which diffuses its perfume from its very first budding. Flowers differ in their method of diffusing fragrance, as, for instance, roses and carnations. Roses smell sweeter in the morning before mid-day; but carnations and pinks shed a more pleasing scent in the evening. The glorious Virgin was like a most beautiful rose amongst thorns, and although never for an instant did she cease to diffuse an odour of surpassing sweetness, yet the fragrance of her infancy was the most acceptable to the Divine Majesty.—St. Francis of Sales.

      Chastity is the lily of virtues, because it renders men equal to the Angels; if virtues be separated from purity, they are no longer virtues. Purity is chastity, and it possesses a glory of its own, for it clothes both soul and body with its beauty.—The same.

      As the busy bee flies to all the flowers, and sucks from each its purest juice with which to form honey, so should a religious soul observe the virtues of others, and learn, for instance, modesty from one, science from another, and obedience from a third; in a word, he should take from each one that which he perceives to be most perfect, and copy it in his own person.—St. Antony.

      EXAMPLE.

       The two Invocations of St. Philip Neri.

      Of the many ejaculatory prayers of St. Philip Neri to the Most Holy Virgin, two were very familiar to him. The first was, 'Virgin Mary, Mother of God, pray to Jesus for us'; the second consisted in the two words, 'Virgin and Mother'. He used to say that they contain all the panegyrics of Mary, both because they express her admirable name, and because they declare her two miraculous privileges of Virginity and Maternity, and the incomparable