CHAPTER XXVI Of the transcendent virtues of the Blessed Virgin, and of her grief and tears
CHAPTER XXVI
Of the transcendent virtues of the Blessed Virgin, and of her grief and tears
I BLESS thee, and I praise and glorify thee, O Virgin Mary, holy Mother of God, for all the good gifts abundantly bestowed upon thee by God; for thy virtues without number; and for the very great privileges of grace, by which thou wast so remarkably distinguished above all the Saints upon earth, in being thought worthy to become the Mother of God, to hold in thy lap, to clasp in thy blessed arms, to lift and to carry about, the Word of God, Who of thy substance had taken Flesh.
I bless, and praise, and honour thee, O chosen Mother, and lowly handmaid, of God, for all the loving service, and all the needed help, which thou didst render to Christ, thy Son according to the flesh; for all the persecution and want, and for all the toil and fatigue, which thou didst so uncomplainingly undergo for Him.
I bless, and praise, and venerate thee, O illustrious Mary, Mother and daughter of the Everlasting King, for all the sweet converse which thou so often hadst with Jesus; for all the Divine words to which, as they fell from His Lips, thou didst so discreetly listen, treasuring them up in thy chaste breast, and sweetly meditating upon them in thy heart. I venerate thee for the splendid consolations which thou didst so often receive from Him; for the very great joy and rejoicing of heart which thou didst, so long, and so wistfully, experience from His presence, and from the grace breathed forth upon thee by the Holy Spirit of God.
I bless thee, and I praise and magnify thee, my adorable Lady, Holy Mary, for that most pure and holy life, so pleasing to God and to His Angels, which thou didst so long time live with Jesus in retirement, and in great poverty; in which thou wast tried by many afflictions and distresses; by which thou didst leave to all faithful servants of Christ an example to be by them devoutly imitated; and by which thou wilt have very greatly profited the universal Church, in the difficulties which she must encounter so long as the world shall last.
I bless thee, and praise and celebrate thee, O Mary, most kind and most devoted Mother of God, for all thy devout exercises and sacred meditations on the law of God by day and by night; for thy most fervent prayers, and tears and fastings, offered with such great earnestness before the Throne of God, for the conversion of sinners and the perseverance of the just; for thy profound compassion for the poor and infirm, for those tempted and in anguish of soul; and for thy consuming thirst for the salvation of the human race, the price of which thou knewest to be the cruel death of thy Son. And although thou didst love thy only Son with love unspeakable, yet didst thou not hold Him back from ascending the dreadful Cross, but didst with all thy heart submit thyself, together with thy Son, to what had been ordained of God. Thou wast ever forward in condoling with Him in all His pain and anguish, and didst bravely follow Him to the foot of the shameful Cross, taking no heed of the flight of His disciples, nor fearing the savagery of the Jews, preferring to go to death with Him, to deserting thy Son at a time of such anguish and distress.
I bless thee, I praise and extol thee, most faithful and loving Mother of God, heavenly Mary, for that constancy in firm faith and perfect love, which thou didst show, when, on the flight of some of the apostles from fear, and when others only followed their Lord, as if ashamed of Him, thou alone, in the Passion of thy Son, didst never cease to keep burning the unquenchable light of faith; nothing doubting that in three days thy Son would rise again, as He, with His Own Lips, had very clearly foretold. For, when all the friends of Jesus had forsaken Him and fled, thou, O most sorrowful Mother, passing through the raging, surging mob, didst, with a humble following of women, hasten to the Hill of Calvary; that so thou mightest be as near as could be to thy Son, about to die upon the Cross; and mightest once more behold alive Him, from Whom, before His death, thou wert about to hear the words of loving committal to Saint John.
I bless thee, I praise and heartily commend thee, O holy and immaculate Virgin Mary, for thy sorrow-stricken presence at the foot of the Cross of Jesus, where, weary and in anguish, thou didst so long stand, pierced with the sword of grief, as the prophet Simeon had foretold of thee. I praise and heartily commend thee for the many tears which thou didst at that time so freely shed; for the supreme fidelity, and unswerving constancy, which thou didst show to thy dying Son, in His last need; for the anguish of heart which thou didst so acutely feel at the moment of His death; for thy face running down with tears, when thou didst behold Him hanging before thee dead; for that loving embrace with which thou didst take Him into a Mother’s arms, and with a wail of lament didst clasp Him to thy bosom; for thy mournful journey to the place of burial, when, in spite of thy excessive grief, thou didst follow the bearers of the sacred corpse, and didst see It placed in the tomb, and enclosed therein by a great stone; for thy sorrowing return from the tomb, and for thy entrance into thy new abode, where, together with the many faithful ones there assembled, thou didst again bitterly mourn the death of the Son of thy love, and from the eyes of them all didst draw forth tears of sympathy with thy grief.
Do thou, then, O my soul, mourn also with the sorrowing Virgin, the weeping Mother, the loving Mary. If thou lovest Mary, thou oughtest to share her sorrow, that so she may come to help thee in thy time of need, See how the loving Mother bewails her only Son, Mary of Cleophas bewails her dearly loved Nephew, Mary Magdalene bewails the Physician of her soul, John bewails his most sweet Master, all the apostles bewail their Lord taken away from their midst. Who would not shed tears when so many shed tears together? Great indeed was that wailing in Jerusalem. Stand thou, then, here a while, and let that Virgin Mother, whose bitter tears cannot fail to stir the inmost recesses of thy heart, teach thee what mourning means. She who is now standing at the Cross’s foot, pierced through with grievous sorrow, was only a few short years ago standing by a manger’s side, her ears ringing with the music of the heavenly choir; she who is now tormented by the shrieking of the Jews, was but a short while since being comforted by the voices of Angels; she who is now clothed in a garment of mourning was not long ago being venerated by the Holy Kings. The lifeblood of that Son, Whose snow-white cheek was once pressed so fondly to her own, is now falling upon her drop by drop; she beholds, hanging between two thieves, Him Whom she has so often seen working mighty wonders in the midst of the people. She sees, made like to a leper by the loathsomeness of His Wounds, Him by the touch of Whose Hand she has seen full many a leper cleansed. She has before her eyes, racked with pain of every kind, Him, Who used to heal of every disease those who were sick. She beholds, given over to death, that Son at Whose word dead Lazarus came back to life. All that was pleasant in Him is now turned to sadness, all that was sweet in Him is now turned to bitterness. With such a tempest of evils is the bright-shining Star of the Sea surrounded; but a mind fixed steadfastly upon God is not to be overcome by the wickedness of men. She stands therefore at the Cross’s foot, constant, and faithful, patient, and loving; not heeding those who threaten her with death; not shrinking from the insults of those who heap curses upon her. She bears it all calmly, and strives to follow the example of her Son’s humility in making no answer to her cruel enemies. Not a harsh word does she speak, not an indignant gesture does she use; but she heaves many a sigh, she weeps bitterly, she is bowed down with sorrow, she suffers with each pang of her dying Son, her affliction is more than she can bear. And yet she is not angry with those who are crucifying her Son, she prays for those who are using Him so despitefully, she is sorry for those who are mocking Him, she pities the blasphemers of Christ. It was thus that the Mother of Jesus, bathed in tears, stood at the foot of the Cross, bringing comfort to all who are in trouble or distress by the example of her meekness and her patience.
O all ye who pass along the Way of Calvary, turn your eyes upon Holy Mary as she stands there in her grief. Look to the right of the Cross, and mark there Mary the Mother of Christ, and say was ever sorrow like her sorrow, was ever in the world a mother who suffered with her son in loving anguish such as hers; for in all the tortured limbs of Jesus she was herself tortured in soul, and she became a martyr every time she looked upon the bleeding wounds of her Son.
See to it then, O faithful soul, that thou lay up in the recesses of thy heart all these things. Be brave and meek when tribulation comes upon thee. Be not disquieted, nor fall into despair, if that which thou dost value most is taken from thee; or if that which thou thinkest to be needful for thee is refused thee; for it is those friends of Jesus, who are most dear to Him, who are wont to be tried the most. If God spared not His Own Son; but delivered Him up for us all to sufferings so grievous, how canst thou in this life seek for happiness? If Christ sought not Himself, but became obedient, and ready to undergo all that was most vile and painful, why dost thou shrink, as thou dost, from toil and distress, and dost not rather, for the love of the Crucified, cling to things that are hard and displeasing? If He allowed His Own most Holy Mother to be grievously afflicted in this world; if He allowed her to be often in tribulation, to endure great anguish of soul, and to shed many tears, how canst thou expect to live in this world free of worries? And if thou callest to mind all the men who were the friends of God, thou wilt not find one who passed through the waves of this troublesome world without being severely tried. Take then to thyself from Him Who was Crucified for thee, and from His Blessed Mother, an example of unwearied patience; and in return for the infinite yearning of Jesus for thy Salvation, shrink not from enduring some small affliction; that so, when His Glory shall be revealed, thou mayest have the perpetual joy of His Countenance. The most gracious Mother of Jesus knows how to suffer lovingly with those that suffer. From what she herself suffered, she has learnt to be kind and pitiful to those in distress, and she will not forget her poor ones; she will listen to their prayers; she will in due time help those who call upon her; she will show favour to all those who are devoted to her.
O most merciful Lord Jesus, sweet Son of Mary, shed down upon me, I beseech Thee, the grace of holy tears, and pierce my heart with a wound of very deep compassion, such as I know that to have been with which Thy loving Mother’s heart was pierced. Look upon me with those Eyes full of pity, with which Thou didst behold Thy Mother and Thy disciple standing in tears at the foot of the Cross, what time Thou didst commend the one to the other, and didst bid them farewell in those touching words: “Behold thy son: behold thy Mother.” Visit me, I beseech Thee, with Thy salvation before my death, and make me to hear those words which blessed John heard Thee speak to him from the Cross: “Behold thy mother”; that so, by hearing those words, my soul may be kept safe from fear of the enemy, who goes about like a roaring lion seeking to devour it.
Holy Mary, my most gentle Mistress, most faithful Advocate of all Christians, by all those excellent merits, which made thee so well-pleasing to God; by each of all those motherly services which thou didst so willingly render to thy Son according to the flesh; and by all those bitter tears, which thou didst shed when witnessing His Passion, I beseech thee, to vouchsafe to have pity upon me, thy poor suppliant; to take me, with thy wonted tenderness, into thy motherly care; and to number me among those of thy servants who are the objects of thy special love.
O glorious Virgin Mary, my only hope, come to me, I pray thee; show me thy face when the hour of my departure is at hand; and gently and sweetly turn upon me those pitying eyes of thine, with which thou didst so often look joyously upon the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, and which at His Passion were wet with so many tears. Stand then by my side, O most holy Mother of Jesus, with thy sweet virgin train, and the blessed company of all the saints, even as thou didst faithfully persevere to the end in standing by the Cross of thy dearly-loved Son, when He was about to die; for after thy only Son, my Lord Jesus Christ, I know no other who is so powerful, or so ready to help, as thou, most gracious mother of all who are in need of comfort.