Mater Christi: Meditations on Our Lady

What must Mary's prayers have been during those nine days! She was now more united than ever to her Son; her eye of faith saw Him at the Right Hand of God in Heaven; she saw eye to eye with Him; she knew all His interests and intentions; she had still a Mother's right to command Him; she knew that nothing in their relationship was changed, and that He would not refuse her behests in Heaven any more than He had done on earth. And so, as her eyes swept the wide horizon which was now hers, the Mother of the Church made a Novena for Pentecost, praying with all her knowledge and all her power, for the Holy Ghost to come down upon her children – to come and fill that Church of which she was the Mother, that Church which her Son had founded, for which He had given His life.

These first Retreatants had no books. They needed none – their lives were so closely bound up with the life of Jesus; the Holy Spirit prayed within them; and Mary was ever with them directing, and setting them an example. In proportion as these things are true of us are we independent of exterior help in our prayers. And the more we are able to dispense with exterior help, the more interior and real will be our prayers.

Then "when the days were accomplished" – when the Novena was over – the Holy Ghost came down as Jesus had promised that He should – came down as a tongue of fire upon each one: a proof that He had entered into each one of those expectant, faithful souls, filling each according to his capacity, and giving each the power needful to carry on the work that was appointed for him to do.

What, then, must have been the measure with which Mary was "filled with the Holy Ghost," for what was the Apostles' work compared with hers? She had always been "full of grace" – she had long been the spouse of the Holy Ghost, ever since He had overshadowed her at the Incarnation, and He had always been filling her according to her ever-increasing capacity. We have seen how, under her Son's training, her horizon was ever enlarging – how much wider it became on Calvary, how pain and joy had dilated her heart, how her intercourse with her Divine Son during those forty days had still more widened her outlook; and now, with all the fresh territory over which she was to reign, in her mind and in her heart, she had been praying – the Holy Ghost had been praying within her – for Him to come and overshadow her once again, and fill her with grace that she might be able to meet all her new responsibilities as Mother of the Church. Mary had more need of the Holy Ghost than any of the hundred and twenty souls gathered in the Cenacle; her desire to receive Him too was greater than theirs; and so we may well believe that she received Him in a fuller measure. She had no need of the gifts of tongues and miracles, which were a necessity to the Apostles, to help them in the beginning of their difficult work. Her work during the remaining years of her life was that of intercession, and it was to be carried on in secret and obscurity. The gifts she needed from the Holy Ghost were those of hiddenness, patience, humility, conformity to God's will. She needed Him in all His plenitude to pray within her with "unutterable groanings" for all the needs of the Church throughout all time. Her work was still, as it ever had been, to ponder in her heart – to meditate and hold colloquies with her Divine Son, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, about all the interests which they had in common.

Colloquy. "Our Lady of Light, Spouse of the Holy Ghost, I offer thee my whole heart, my soul and my body, to keep for Jesus, that I may be His for ever. Our Lady of Light, pray for me." (Prayer of Blessed Grignon de Montfort.)

Resolution. To think more of the Holy Spirit praying within me.

Spiritual Bouquet. "Sacrarium Spiritus Sancti, ora pro nobis." (Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, pray for us.)

Mary's Exile

"Woe is me that my sojourning is prolonged." (Ps. cxix. 5.)

1st Prelude. A statue or picture of Our Lady.

2nd Prelude. Grace to learn how an exiled child of Eve should live.

Point I.– Mary's Exile

Tradition tells us that St John took the Holy Mother to his house in Jerusalem, and that it was there that she died, though she spent some of the time of her exile at Ephesus. In solitude and silence she pondered over all the wonderful mysteries of her life; she interceded for her new-born child, the Church, which had already so many needs; and she helped the Apostles by her prayers. They were soon scattered in different directions, "making disciples of all nations," as their Master had bidden them; and it would only be at rare intervals that they could come and see their Mother, and talk over their difficulties, and get the advice of her who saw eye to eye with her Son. But what a comfort and strength it must have been to them to know that she was always there, telling her Divine Son of their needs!

And during those long years – according to some opinions fifteen, to others, twenty-three – what was Mary's strength? The same as it had ever been – union with her Son. Every day, tradition tells us, she received Him in the Blessed Sacrament at the hands of St John. What Communions must those have been, when Mary said again: Ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum, and her God was again incarnate within her! What made those Communions so intense? The fact that His love and desire in coming were reciprocated. The love and desire are never wanting on His side, but unfortunately there is so little of either on ours! It takes more than one to make a good Communion. A joining together of two is the meaning of the word. If the union is to be strong, fervent, real, lasting, each must do his part. Oh, teach me, dear Mother, how to receive thy Son in Holy Communion. Thy whole life was centred in Him; thy every thought was with Him; everything thou didst was done for Him; every moment of thy exile gladly borne for Him; every sigh a spiritual Communion; and when each day the glad moment of actual Communion came, it was just His embrace – He pressed thee to His Heart for a few minutes, telling thee it would not be long before thy exile would be over, and thou wouldst see His Face again. Thy Communions were an ecstasy of love – help me to put a little more love into mine; teach me to regard them as the Bread from Heaven sent specially for the exile; teach me to make them the centre of my life; teach me to live my whole life with Him, so that my Communion may never be interrupted. This should be the aim, surely, of every communicant; it is the ideal life; it is the life that Jesus intended when He said: "He that eateth Me, he shall live by Me." It is possible; but oh, how far I come short!

Point II.– The Reason for Mary's Exile

Why did her Son leave her behind to suffer so intensely, as He well knew she would, from the separation? Would not the Beatific Vision in Heaven have been better than her Communions on earth? Could not her intercession for the Church have been even more effectual had she been close to her Son's throne in Heaven? Could she not have been the Mother of Good Counsel in Heaven for those who had to guide the Church in its infancy, as she has been ever since?

We can think of many reasons why Jesus left her in exile for a time: —

1. She had to nurse the new-born Church by strengthening and encouraging the Apostles with her example, so like that of the Master Himself, and by supplying the Evangelists with many details of His life, which they could not have learnt from any lips but hers.

2. She had to establish her position as Mother of the Church – the tradition was to be handed down by the Apostles that it was she who guided, and tended, and cared for the Church during the early and tender years of its existence; that it was to her they turned in times of perplexity and doubt; that her constant intercession for them was their strength. This could not have been so had she left the earth with her Son. During those long years of exile the new child learnt to regard Mary as its Mother, and when she was taken away into Heaven, it was quite natural to it still thus to regard her, and to teach all who came after to do the same.

3. Our Lord would give her still more time to increase her merits by suffering. He wanted her crown to be the most beautiful possible, and even for the Mother of God there was only one way to make it so – the way of suffering, which intensified her love and humility and submission to God's will.

4. May not another reason have been in order that she might be the better able to sympathise with the exiled children of Eve (exules filii Evæ)? Had He taken her with Him, they would surely have felt that their Mother could not quite understand their position. And what is such an effectual barrier to sympathy as the feeling that we are not understood?

So Mary was left in exile to gain much that she could not have gained otherwise.

I am one of the exiled children of Eve. What have I got to do as an exile?

1. I have to establish my position. There is a certain place prepared for me in Heaven, which may be mine through all eternity. What is to decide whether I get it or not? The way I "pass the time of my sojourning" here. By the time my exile is over, I must so have lived that there must be no doubt about it that I belong to the Heavenly land; that I am a child of God and an heir to His Kingdom; that I seek not the things of earth but those which are above; that Heaven is my Home. And what will be my position there? Mary earned her position as Queen of Angels, of Patriarchs, Prophets, Martyrs, Virgins, as Mother of the Church. What position shall I earn? That depends, as Mary's did, on my fidelity to grace. I shall have just that degree of glory and merit to which I have attained when I am called hence to give an account of my stewardship – no less and no more. The position I have to establish, then, during my exile, is that of being known by all the inhabitants of Heaven – all the Angels and Saints – as one who is sure to join them one day. "Make your calling and election sure."

2. I have to suffer. One of the actual reasons for my being here on earth is that I may suffer– not that suffering is in itself good, but it gives me the means – perhaps the greatest means – of developing the virtues which must be mine if I am to enter the Kingdom one day. Our Lord chose for Himself and for His Mother a life of suffering, to make us understand and to show us how suffering may aid us – yes, the very same suffering which hardens the sinner. What is the secret, then, of suffering? That by means of it, and because of it, we may make Acts of Love and Contrition and Submission to God's Will. Suffering is too powerful an instrument to leave our human nature untouched by it; we must do something under it – either curseGod and die, as Job's wife advised him to do, or bless Him all the more fervently, as Job did. Let me remember, then, that one of the things I have to do as an exile is to see to it that God gets, out of each piece of suffering that He sends me, the extra love that He expected would result from it.

3. To do the work God wants me to do; to work in my little corner of His vineyard; to co-operate with Him in His great work of the salvation of souls; and to show sympathy and kindness to my fellow-exiles.

Colloquy. The Salve Regina: – "Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy; hail, our life, our sweetness, and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning, and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed Fruit of thy womb, Jesus: O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary." (Anthem from Trinity to Advent.)

Resolution. To learn the exile's lessons.

Spiritual Bouquet. "For we have not here a lasting city, but we seek one that is to come." (Heb. xiii. 14.)

Mary's Death

"They that work by me shall not sin." (From the Epistle for the Vigil of the Assumption, Ecclus. xxiv. 30.)

1st Prelude. A picture of Mary's death.

2nd Prelude. To prepare for death by living "by Mary."

Point I.– "The sting of death is sin" (1 Cor. xv. 56)

Sin had never touched Mary; there was therefore for her no sting in death. She had no penalty to pay, neither had she to die for others as her Son died. Why, then, should Mary die?

1. Because she had a mortal nature. She belonged to the great human race, and it was therefore appointed unto her to die. (Heb. ix. 27.)

2. Because she chose to die (the Fathers say her Son gave her the choice) that she might be conformable in all things to her Son, and also that she might be the better able to help, and pray for, and sympathise with her children, who throughout all time would be constantly saying: "Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death."

3. Because Our Lord wanted her to have a specially chosen death – one that came neither from old age nor sickness, but simply from love. Her love for Him was so great that her body could no longer hold her soul captive.

4. Because God would not deprive her of the inestimable privilege of making the sacrifice of her life to Him, and such a life! This practice it is which makes the death of His Saints precious in the sight of the Lord. (Ps. cxv. 15.)

Let us learn two lessons: —

1. To choose to be in all things conformable to Jesus, even though this choice means death to self.

2. How precious a thing in God's sight is the sacrifice of their lives to Him by His children! Let us resolve to make Him this sacrifice often beforehand – at least every night before we take from His Hands the precious gift of sleep which "He giveth His beloved."

Point II.– Mary's Preparation for Death

We are told that some little while before her death an Angel (probably Gabriel) was sent to tell her that her time was at hand. She answered: Ecce ancilla Domini ("Behold the handmaid of the Lord"), and made once again the sacrifice of her life. She then told the news to John, who made it known to the faithful. How great their sorrow must have been at the prospect of losing such a Mother! St Denis tells us that Our Lord brought all the Apostles and missionaries, who were scattered all over the world, to witness her death. She blessed them, and encouraged them to continue their work, saying that she would help them powerfully in Heaven. Her joy was full because the time, which was to unite her to her Son, had come at last; but Mary was not selfish in her joy any more than she had been in her grief. She did not forget the sorrow of her children; they were still to be exiles, but exiles with a Mother in the Homeland – a Mother who would be there to befriend them and take an interest in all they were doing.

Do I realise this – that while I am an exile here I have a Mother in Heaven who is taking the keenest interest in all that concerns me, in all that is preparing me for my Home; a Mother who is waiting there for me, ready to welcome me?

Point III.– How Mary Died

There was no sickness, no wearing out nor decay of that beautiful body, no effects in it of original sin. Of what, then, did Mary die? Of two things —love and desire; and these were so intense that even her body, strong and perfect though it was, had not the power to detain the soul captive any longer. Mary died of love, as her Son had died of grief – a grief which was the outcome of an immense love. Did Mary receive the Last Sacraments? The Sacrament of Penance was out of the question for her sinless soul; we may doubt about Extreme Unction; but with what intensity of love and desire must she have received her Viaticum! And when Jesus came with all His court to fetch her immaculate soul, we are told that she said: "Thy will be done; for a long time I have sighed after Thee, my Son and my God; nothing can be more delightful than to join Thee and be where Thou art for ever."

Then the Angels began to sing – all who were present heard them – and while they sang, Mary said her Fiat and died, and her most pure soul began its eternal happiness in the sight of the Beatific Vision. The Eternal Trinity gave it the glory which was its due – the reward of her love so pure, so generous, so constant. She had a higher degree of glory and a clearer vision of God than all the Saints, because glory depends on grace, virtue, and merit, of which she had far more than any of them.

What does Mary's death say to me? "They that work by me shall not sin." You cannot be sinless, as I was, you cannot die of love, as I did, (St Theresa and St Philip of Neri did), but you can, by keeping close to me, and doing all your work at my side, keep from all wilful sin, and you can thus love Jesus so much that when He comes to fetch you, death will have no terrors for you, and you, too, will be able to say: Ecce ancilla Domini, Here I am, Thy servant, doing Thy work. "Blessed is that servant whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching"; and the best way to watch is to work at Mary's side.

And let me never forget that my degree of glory in Heaven will be according to the amount of grace and merit that I have at the moment of my death. How thankful I should be that I still have power to increase these! And how eager and zealous to use my time to the best advantage! Death cometh when no man can work – when no more merit, no more reparation will be possible. The point I have then reached will be mine through all eternity. "As the tree falls, so will it lie." Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me now and at the hour of my death.

Colloquy with Mary, my Mother in Heaven, who is pleading for me; who is letting me do all my work close to her side; and who will be there at the hour of my death, to put me back into the Hands of her Son, Who gave me to her when He was on the Cross, saying: "Take this child and nurse it for Me." And He will see to it that none shall pluck me out of His Hands, for it is impossible for a child of Mary to be lost.

Resolution. To let love for her Son keep me close to Mary's side to-day, listening to all her directions about my work, so that I may do it to please Him.

Spiritual Bouquet. "They that work by me shall not sin."

Mary's Tomb

"I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aromatical balm; I yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh." (Ecclus. xxiv. 20.)

"In the Holy City likewise I rested, and my abode is in the full assembly of the Saints." (verses 15, 16.)

1st Prelude. The Apostles carrying the body of their Mother to the grave.

2nd Prelude. The grace of faith and love to penetrate into these mysteries.

Point I.– Mary's Body

The Angels still continued singing, while the Apostles and missionaries and women wept around the body. But the heavenly music was catching, and it was not long before the mourners dried their tears and joined in the Angels' hymn of praise. We are told that the sick and the blind and the lame were allowed to come and kiss the precious body, and that in so doing they were instantly healed. Why was Mary's body so precious? Because it had been the tabernacle of the Son of God. Why is mine so precious? Because it, too, is so often the tabernacle of Jesus Christ. Do I realise that this makes my body holy? And do I regard it as something precious, consecrated and dedicated, God's Temple, His own dwelling-place? Often have Angels adored before it! How much respect, then, ought I to show it! How careful I ought to be as to what I do with it, and to what use I put it!

We are told that when the Apostles carried the bier to the grave, near the Garden of Gethsemani, all the faithful accompanied them, and the Angels never ceased their singing. The precious body exhaled a sweet fragrance which perfumed every place the procession had to pass through, and there were miracles and conversions all along the route. They laid their precious burden in the grave, put a great stone over it, and then dispersed. But they did not leave the grave alone. The Apostles watched and prayed there in turn, listening to, and rejoicing in the Angels' song.

Point II.– The Empty Tomb

On the third day, St Thomas arrived from the Indies (the Apostles felt sure that it was Our Lord's plan that he should be late), and naturally wanted to look once again on his Mother's face. So they removed the stone, but only to find an empty tomb. They found the linen and clothes all in order, and they noted the delicious fragrance, but the body was gone; the soul had come back for it and fetched it to share in its glory. Then the Apostles remembered that during the morning the celestial singing had suddenly stopped, and they knew that their Mother, clothed in her glorified body, was even then sitting at the Right Hand of her Son in Heaven. Why was it? Why was her body not left in the tomb? Because it was impossible for that body, from which the Word had taken Flesh, and which had never been touched by sin, to "see corruption." Also, although Mary had to die, and to bear the separation of soul and body, there was no necessity in her case for that penalty to be prolonged. God would not keep her – a perfect human creature – in an imperfect state, which the soul without the body must ever be. So, though not yet a dogma, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary has ever been a belief of the Church. If we need a proof, let us call to mind the fact that no one has ever pretended to possess relics of Our Lady's body. Our Lord would surely never have deprived the Church of such treasures, had they existed.

Point III.– The Fourth Glorious Mystery

Let me turn from the empty tomb, and try to realise the other side of the picture – Mary in Heaven. This Fourth Glorious Mystery was foretold more than once in Holy Scripture: "Arise, O Lord, into Thy resting-place; Thou, and the Ark which Thou hast sanctified." (Ps. cxxxi. 8.) What is this ark sanctified by God but Mary's body, of which the Son of God took flesh?

"The Queen stood on Thy Right Hand in gilded clothing surrounded with variety." Who is this but the Queen of Heaven clothed with her glorious body of immortality?

"A Throne was set for the King's Mother, and she sat on His Right Hand," (3 Kings ii. 19), in all the dazzling beauty of her glorified body, surrounded by adoring Saints and Angels. Her Son on His Throne is saying to her: Ask, My Mother, for I will not say thee nay. The beauty of the scene is so entrancing, the light is so dazzling, the music is so enchanting, the mystery is so wonderful, that I feel almost bewildered and want to shut my eyes and think what it all means. It means this – that I have a Mother in Heaven, and that when her Son bends towards her from His Throne, and when all the hosts of Heaven hold their breath to catch what their Queen is saying, they hear her ask some little favour for me, her child on earth. Why? Because I am saying: "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me now." Let me, with the eye of faith and love, penetrate the thin veil, which hides these wondrous mysteries from my sight. Let me try to see things as they really are, and then my prayers will be less formal.

Colloquy with Mary on the Right Hand of Jesus in Heaven.

Resolution. To think of her there when I say my Rosary to-day.

Spiritual Bouquet. "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death."

"Who is She?"

(The Fourth Glorious Mystery)

"Quæ est ista quæ progreditur quasi aurora consurgens, pulchra ut luna, electa ut sol, terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata?" "Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?" (Cant. vi. 9.)

1st Prelude. The Angels asking three times: "Who is she?" (Cant. iii. 6; vi. 9; viii. 5.)

2nd Prelude. Grace to understand who she is.

Point I.– "Who is she?"

"Who is she?" ask the Angels, as they see Mary coming into Heaven. Once before had One clothed in the robe of His beautiful, glorified Body passed through Heaven's portals; and the Angels had said: "Who is this that cometh with dyed garments from Bosra, this beautiful One in His robe?" (Isaias lxiii. 1), and they had opened wide Heaven's gate to let in the Conqueror of sin and death, the King of glory, the Lord mighty in battle. But who is she– a woman, who, though she is beautiful as the morning rising, fair as the moon, and bright as the sun, is also terrible as an army set in array? She also has come from the battlefield; she also is a conqueror, for she has crushed the serpent's head; she has undone Eve's terrible work, and, as far as a creature can, has made reparation for it. She it is who has stood like a rock amidst the most crushing sorrows. Her strength is terrible to the devil, but the Angels rejoice in it, and her children flee to her as the Refugium peccatorum, saying: Da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos. (Give me, too, strength against thy enemies.) And so the Angels open wide Heaven's gates again, to let in the Mother of the King – the Queen of Heaven —their Queen – who has earned her right to her throne; not by being the Mother of God, but by nobly fighting the battle against sin, the world, the flesh, and the devil.