{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_48887/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_48887","id":"gutenberg_48887","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48887","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint -- May devotions"],"text":"THE MONTH OF MARY.\n\n\n\n  THE\n\n  MONTH OF MARY,\n\n  ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT OF\n\n  _ST. FRANCIS OF SALES;_\n\n  OR,\n\n  Thirty-one Considerations\n\n  WITH\n\n EXAMPLES, PRAYERS, ETC.\n\n\n\n  BY\n\n  DON CASPAR GILLI.\n\n  Translated and abridged from the Italian by a\n  SISTER OF THE INSTITUTE OF CHARITY.\n\n\n\n  ROBERT WASHBOURNE,\n  18 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.\n  1890.\n\n\n\nNihil Obstat\nFR. T. A. SMITH, O.P.\nCensor deputatus\n\nImprimatur\nHENRICUS EDUARDUS,\nCard. Archep. Westmonast.\n\nDie 14 Martii, 1890.\n\n\n  CONTENTS.\n\n\nAuthor's Preface\nProtestation\nPreliminary Instruction\nThe Eve of the Month of Mary: The Immaculate Conception\n   Example: Devotion of St. Francis of Sales to the Blessed Virgin\nMary\nFirst Day: Mary, a Model of Perfect Self-denial from her Birth\n   Example: The Miraculous Medal of the Immaculate Conception\nSecond Day: Mary consecrates herself to God in the Temple\n   Example: The two Invocations of St. Philip Neri\nThird Day: Continuation of the Preceding Subject\n   Example: The Feasts of the Blessed Virgin\nFourth Day: Fidelity of Mary in following the Call of God\n   Example: Lamps and Candles burnt in Honour of Mary\nFifth Day: Mary is a Model to Religious Persons in her Presentation in\nthe Temple\n   Example: The edifying Death of St. Jane Frances de Chantal\nSixth Day: The Annunciation of the Most Holy Virgin\n   Example: St. Bernard's Love for Mary\nSeventh Day: The Excellence of the Virginity of Mary\n   Example: The Love of St. Alphonsus for Mary\nEighth Day: The Visitation\n   Example: The Pilgrimage of St. Francis of Sales to Loreto\nNinth Day: The Charity of Mary in the Visitation\n   Example: Consecration of the Saturday to Mary\nTenth Day: By the Visit of Mary, Elizabeth is filled with the Holy\nGhost\n   Example: Devotion of St. Thomas Aquinas to the 'Ave Maria'\nEleventh Day: Humility of Mary\n   Example: Origin of the Rosary\nTwelfth Day: Through the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist\nreceives the most special Graces\n   Example: Conversion of the celebrated Pianist, Hermann Cohenn\nThirteenth Day: The Trials and Consolations of the Blessed Virgin\n   Example: A Fortunate Mistake\nFourteenth Day: Mary at Bethlehem\n   Example: The Devotion of the Saints to the 'Angelus'\nFifteenth Day: The Union of Charity and Humility in the Heart of Mary\nat the Incarnation\n   Example: The Efficacy of the 'Salve Regina'\nSixteenth Day: The Purification of the Blessed Virgin\n   Example: Punishment of the Profaners of a Sanctuary of the Blessed\nVirgin\nSeventeenth Day: Mary, the Model of Perfect Obedience, in the Mystery\nof the Purification\n   Example: A Conquest of the Blessed Virgin's\nEighteenth Day: The Flight into Egypt.--Trust in Providence\n   Example: The Excellence of the 'Hail Mary'\nNineteenth Day: Mary, at the Marriage of Cana, teaches us the Best\nMethod of Prayer\n   Example: The Advantages of the 'Hail Mary'\nTwentieth Day: The Petition of Mary at the Marriage of Cana was full\nof Confidence\n   Example: Further Advantages of the 'Hail Mary'\nTwenty-first Day: Mary obtains the first Miracle from Jesus by her\nlively Faith\n   Example: Most pleasing to Our Blessed Lord is our Devotion to His\nMother\nTwenty-second Day: Mary chose the Better Part\n   Example: Beauty of the 'Ave Maris Stella'\nTwenty-third Day: The Blessed Virgin did not neglect the Duties of\nMartha\n   Example: The 'Magnificat'\nTwenty-fourth Day: Mary in her Sleep\n   Example: Devotion to the 'Salve Regina'\nTwenty-fifth Day: Mary on Calvary is the Mother of all Christians\n   Example: The 'Regina Coeli'\nTwenty-sixth Day: Mary after the Ascension of Christ\n   Example: A courageous Son of Mary\nTwenty-seventh Day: Mary in the Upper Room at Jerusalem\n   Example: The Prayer 'Memorare'\nTwenty-eighth Day: How precious in the Sight of God was the Death of\nMary\n   Example: Letters addressed to the Most Holy Virgin\nTwenty-ninth Day: Mary, like Jesus, dies of Divine Love\n   Example: The Fourteen Joys of the Most Holy Virgin\nThirtieth Day: The Death of Mary was sweet and tranquil\n   Example: Novenas in Honour of the Blessed Virgin\nThirty-first Day: The Resurrection and Assumption of the Blessed\nVirgin\n   Example: The Novena of St. Gertrude to the Blessed Virgin\nAct of Consecration of St. Francis of Sales to the Most Holy Virgin\n\n\n\n  PREFACE.\n\nOF the many who by their writings have laboured to celebrate the\nsublime prerogatives and virtues of the Mother of God, there is not\none whose language is more adapted to the devotions of the month of\nMary than St. Francis of Sales. Everything, says a pious author, in\nthis admirable Saint enchants and fascinates us; whoever reads his\nwritings attentively, feels constrained, not only to honour and\nvenerate him, but also to love him. With him there is a peculiar grace\nto console, as well as to perfect, the soul. He adapts himself to the\ncapacities of humble minds, whilst no one has more knowledge than he\nof the most exalted perfection.\n\nThe sweet mildness of this Saint sprang from the meekness of which his\nsoul was full. It is a difficult task to preserve peace in the soul,\nand well he knew it, declaring that he 'lived in a continual fear of\nlosing, in one quarter of an hour, all that meekness which he had\nacquired by twenty years of combat.' St. Bonaventure learnt all his\nscience at the foot of the Crucifix, and it was there, also, that St.\nFrancis acquired all his benignity, fighting for it, we may say, hand-\nto-hand against his natural impetuosity. This virtue by degrees\npenetrated the inmost parts of his soul, so that it was not only\nmanifested in all the actions of his life, but it directed also his\npen, and enabled him to make use of the most delicate comparisons and\ningenious images. All that is sweet, and pure, and amiable in Nature--\ndoves, bees, flowers, all took hold of his imagination. From his lips,\nas well as from his pen, issued loving invitations to perfection. His\nsingular privilege, however, is that this meekness and grace appear\nalways fresh to the devout reader, and are ever pleasing, even when he\nlays open the festering wounds of the heart. The great Fenelon, whose\nspirit and heart so vividly retraced the holy Bishop of Geneva, thus\nwrote to a lady: 'The books most useful for you are those of St.\nFrancis of Sales. Everything in them is amiable and consoling;\neverything is solid experience, simple practice, and the feeling and\nlight of grace. _To have become accustomed to this kind of food is a\nmark of great perfection._' Bishop Parisis also says: 'Everything that\ncan contribute to make this most amiable of Saints more known to the\nworld, is of the greatest utility to the cause of religion.'\n\nFor this reason we have composed this little work. It is a sort of\nresume of the doctrine of St. Francis of Sales upon the prerogatives\nand virtues of the august Queen of Heaven, and we may gather a\ndelicious bouquet for her month of May. Hence the devout reader will\nalways meet with the genuine text of the Saint without any paraphrase,\nthough not always in consecutive order. In each of the thirty-one\nconsiderations we have been obliged to discard those matters which did\nnot relate to our subject. However, such suppressions only produce\ngreater clearness in the whole work. We must say two words upon the\nmanner in which this exercise can be rendered fruitful:\n\n1. If you are not able to assist at the public services or devotions\nin honour of the Blessed Virgin in your own church, erect a little\naltar to Mary in your house, and adorn her picture, or statue, with\nflowers, and there, every day, either alone or with others of your\nhousehold, meditate upon her virtues, and implore her powerful\nintercession.\n\n2. It will be an excellent preparation to spend the last day of April\nin holy recollection, and to examine what is the principal passion\nthat you will sacrifice to Mary during the course of the month, and\nthe grace or virtue that you propose to obtain from God by recurring\nto her intercession. Do not fear to ask too much, she is the Mother of\nGod, and our Mother also.\n\n3. Read every day the appointed meditation, with tranquillity and\nrecollection, that your soul may relish the subject, and apply what is\nread to its own necessities. After your lecture, follow this advice of\nSt. Francis of Sales: 'When you have concluded your prayer, take a\nlittle walk and gather a small nosegay of devotion from the\nconsiderations you have made, that you may inhale its spiritual odour\nthroughout the day.'\n\n4. You should consider it a duty to approach the holy Sacraments more\nfrequently than usual during the month, and never leave the Altar of\nMary without having made a spiritual communion.\n\n5. Let no day pass, or, at least, no Saturday, without practising some\nmortification, sanctified and directed by obedience. 'Our devotion,\nhowever small,' said St. John Berchmans, 'is always pleasing to Mary,\nprovided it be constant.' But let us not forget that interior\nmortifications are the most perfect; such as to abstain from speaking\nor looking about without necessity, etc., because in such\nmortifications there is less danger of vainglory, and they attack our\npassions in the innermost depths of the heart.\n\n6. Endeavour also to become familiar with ejaculatory prayers to Mary.\n'This kind of prayer,' says St. Francis of Sales, 'may supply for\nevery other kind, but no other kind of prayer can supply for this.\nSpiritual exercises without aspirations are like a firmament without\nstars, or a tree without leaves.'\n\n7. The month should be concluded by an offering of the heart to Jesus\nand Mary, after Holy Communion. And that you may more securely\npersevere in the service of the best of all Mothers, let it be your\ncare to renew your resolutions every Saturday, to examine in what\nmanner you have kept them, and by a protestation of sorrow for past\nomissions, and a determination of greater fidelity for the future, to\nrepair the failings of the week.\n\nThe sovereign Pontiff Pius VII. has granted to all who shall say some\npublic or private prayers in honour of the most holy Virgin Mary\nduring the course of the month of May, three hundred days Indulgence\neach day, and a Plenary Indulgence once in the month if, having\nconfessed and Communicated, they pray for the holy Church.\n\nThe same sovereign Pontiff has granted to all the faithful who, with a\ncontrite heart, shall recite the Litany of Loreto, three hundred days\nIndulgence each time. All these Indulgences are applicable to the\nsouls in Purgatory.\n\n\n\nPROTESTATION.\n\nIN conformity with the decree of the sovereign Pontiff Urban VIII., I\ndeclare that I wish to give only a purely human authority to all the\nmiraculous facts related in this work, excepting those that are\nconfirmed by the decisions of the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman\nChurch, to whose infallible judgment I intend to submit my person and\nmy writings; nor shall I cease to declare myself her respectful son,\nbelieving all that she proposes to my belief, because she is the sole\ndepositary here on earth of sound doctrine, of faith, and of catholic\nunity.\n\n\n\nPRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION.\n\nDoctrine of St. Francis of Sales upon Devotion to Mary.\n\nHOLY Church, speaking of the most Blessed Virgin, says that she went\nup from the desert of this world _flowing with delights, leaning upon\nher Beloved_. In fact, all the praises bestowed upon the Saints, and\nupon Mary in particular, terminate in Christ our Lord; because all\nthese praises should be directed to the glory of her Divine Son, Who\nled her by His grace to the most exalted degree of merit and\nhappiness.\n\nIt is related in Scripture that the Queen of Saba, taking a multitude\nof gifts to Jerusalem, offered them _all_ to Solomon. It is thus that\nall the Saints act--and the Mother of God especially. She is ever\nattentive to recognise that her virtues, her perfections, her merits,\nand her happiness proceed from the mercy of her Divine Son, Who is\nalone their source, their origin, and perfection: _Soli Deo honor et\ngloria_. All honour and glory to God alone; all should return to Him,\nbecause _from Him alone is every perfect gift_.\n\nIf Mary be holy, who is it that sanctified her but her Divine Son? If\nshe be saved, who was her Saviour but Jesus Christ?--_Innixa super\ndilectum suum_. Her whole happiness has its foundation in the mercy of\nher Divine Son. She may be called a lily of purity and innocence. This\nlily has acquired all its purity by being washed in the Blood of the\nImmaculate Lamb. She is a rose, on account of the ardour of her love,\nand her rich vermilion can be nought else than the Blood of her Son.\nIf she is likened to fumes of odoriferous sweetness, the fire which\nproduces them is the charity of her Divine Son and the wood of the\nCross; in a word, everywhere and in everything, Mary is leaning upon\nher Beloved. Behold, devout souls, how we ought to be jealous of the\nhonour of Jesus Christ. Do not imitate the enemies of holy Church, who\nthink that they honour the Son more perfectly by refusing all honour\nto the Mother. On the contrary, the worship of the Mother is referred\nto the Son, and thus exalts His glory and mercy all the more.\n\nIn order to show more clearly the purity of the worship which holy\nChurch pays to the most Blessed Virgin, I will mention two contrary\nheresies, both equally injurious to the veneration deservedly due to\nOur Lady. One of these heresies sinned by excess; calling Mary _the\nGoddess of Heaven_, and offering sacrifices to her as such; the other\nsinned by default, condemning all honour paid to Our Lady. The Church,\nwho walks in the royal road of moderation, in which virtue consists,\ncondemned both these heresies, defining against the former that no\nsacrifice whatever could be offered to Mary, as she was a pure\ncreature; and against the latter, that this holy Virgin, being Mother\nof God the Son, was worthy of special worship, infinitely less than\nthat of her Son, but incomparably greater than that of all the other\nSaints. To the first, she says, that the Virgin is simply a creature,\nyet so holy, so perfect, so closely united to her Son, and so much\nloved by God, as to render it impossible to love the Son sincerely\nwithout loving and honouring the Mother. To the second, she says,\nsacrifice is the supreme worship of latria, due to the Creator alone,\nand the Blessed Virgin is simply a creature, although most excellent.\nIndeed, in speaking of Mary, I call her more the creature of God and\nof her Son than the rest of creation; because God created greater\nperfections in her than in all other creatures, and she had a greater\nshare in the Redemption than all others, being rescued not only from\nsin but from the power and inclination to sin. And who does not know\nthat it is a greater benefit to rescue a person from slavery before he\nis made a slave, than to deliver him after he has become captive! How\nfar are we then from placing the Son and the Mother on an equality, as\nour adversaries falsely assert?\n\nIt is true that we call her beautiful, and the most beautiful amongst\ncreatures; but she is beautiful _as the moon_, which receives its\nlight from the sun; because all her glory is communicated to her by\nher Son. Pliny writes that the thorn, named _aspalathum_, is not\nnaturally odoriferous, but that if the rainbow rests upon it, it\nquickly exhales a rare and sweet odour. The holy Virgin is a thorn of\nthat burning bush which Moses saw and which was not consumed, as the\nChurch says: '_Rubum quem viderat Moyses incombustum, conservatam\nagnovimus tuam laudabilem virginitatem_'. Of herself alone, she is\ncertainly unworthy of our worship, for she is without odour. But when\nthe great sign of reconciliation between God and men came and rested\nupon this holy thorn--first, by His grace in her Immaculate\nConception, and afterwards at the Incarnation, when God became her\nSon, and reposed in her immaculate bosom--then, indeed, so great\nbecame the fragrance of this thorn that no other plant ever could\nproduce before God so sweet and pleasing an odour. Nor will He ever\nreject the prayers that are perfumed in this fragrance. We repeat that\nall this perfume came to her from her Divine Son.\n\nJesus Christ is our Advocate, and so is Mary; but with what\ndifference! In right of justice, the Saviour is alone our Advocate,\nbecause when He pleads our cause He justifies His petition by showing\nHis Blood and His Cross. He does not hide our debts from His Father;\nbut at the same time He urges the value of the price that He has laid\ndown for our salvation. Mary and all the Saints exercise, also, the\noffice of advocate in our favour; it is only by way of intercession.\nThey entreat the Divine Justice to pardon our iniquities; but it is\nthrough the merits of the Passion of Jesus Christ. In a word, they do\nnot add their prayers to the prayers of the Saviour, but to ours; in\norder to help us to obtain the graces which are necessary for our\neternal salvation.\n\n\n\n   THE MONTH OF MARY.\n   ---\n   THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.\n\nTHE wonderful variety which is observable in the works of nature gives\nus a very high idea of the immeasurable riches of the Almighty\nCreator. And yet He manifests His power still more in the supernatural\norder, and the wonderful diversity of the works of grace preaches more\nloudly the munificence of His mercy. God, in the excess of His\ngoodness, did not merely grant a general redemption to men, sufficient\nfor the salvation of each one, but He diversified and multiplied the\nsupernatural gifts which accompany this redemption with infinite\nliberality and wonderful variety. But His highest favours were\nlavished upon the most holy Virgin. From all eternity the Heavenly\nFather had ordained in His love to form her heart to the perfection of\ncharity, that she might love His Divine Son with the most perfect\nmaternal love--as He had loved Him from all eternity with the most\nperfect paternal love. The Son of God cast His eyes upon this Virgin,\nand chose her for His Mother, and co-operator in the great work of the\nworld's redemption, a merciful Mother, a most powerful advocate of\nmankind--the most amiable, the most loving, and the most beloved of\nall creatures.\n\nIt is the opinion of many theologians that our Lord sanctified St.\nJohn the Baptist in the womb of St. Elizabeth, by a ray of His light\nand grace, and gave him the use of reason together with the gift of\nfaith, so that he knew his God, hidden in the immaculate womb of Mary,\nadored Him, and consecrated himself to His service. If such a grace\nwere granted by Our Lord to His precursor, who can doubt for a moment\nthat He should have granted not only a similar, but a much greater\nprivilege to her whom He Himself had chosen for His Mother, and that\nHe should not only have sanctified her in the womb of her mother, St.\nAnne, but should have, moreover, raised her from the very first\ninstant of her conception to a state of purity and sanctity?\n\nThe adorable Redeemer of the human race, the eternal object of the\nlove of His Heavenly Father, considered His Mother from that first\nmoment, as a delicious garden which was to produce the fruit of\neternal life, and He cultivated this garden in order that every kind\nof perfection should flourish therein. He adorned her with the gold of\ncharity and with a wondrous variety of virtues, that she might be able\nto sit at His side as a Queen--that is to say, occupy the first place\namongst the elect, and, in this manner, enjoy the delights that are\nfound at the right hand of the Eternal God.\n\nThis Divine Mother was redeemed, therefore, in a manner becoming the\ndignity of the Son, for Whom she was created. Hence she was preserved\nfrom reprobation and from all danger of it, because she was enriched\nwith the perfection of grace and with everything necessary for its\npreservation. Well is she compared to a beautiful aurora, or dawn,\nwhich, from its very beginning, went on increasing until it reached\nits perfect day. O first-fruit of the Redemption! O masterpiece of the\nRedeemer! It is just, indeed, O my Divine Saviour, that as a Son full\nof love and devotion towards Thy Mother, in preventing her with the\nblessings of Heaven, Thou shouldest have preserved her, not only from\nsin like the Angels, but even from every danger of sinning, and\nshouldest, moreover, have removed from her path all that could hinder\nor even retard her in the exercise of Thy holy love. It was written in\nThy eternal decrees that Thou wouldest at one day prefer her to all\nrational creatures who were dear to Thy Divine Heart, and that Thou\nwouldest call her _the beloved object of Thy predilection, Thy dove,\nThy spotless and beautiful one, perfect beyond compare_.\n\nA special privilege was reserved for Mary, worthy of a Son Who loved\nher with an infinite love, and Who, being infinitely good, wise and\nperfect, was to choose for Himself a Mother, and form her according to\nHis own heart. He willed then that the grace of Redemption should be\napplied to her as a preservative remedy. Like the waters of the Jordan\nthat, in the days of Josue, interrupted their course through respect\nfor the Ark of the Covenant, so the stream of original corruption\nstayed its course at the feet of Mary, at the conception of this\nliving tabernacle of the Eternal Covenant.\n\nFrom the first instant of her conception, Mary knew her God, and loved\nHim sovereignly; from that moment she became impeccable, through the\nspecial assistance of the divine protection, and through the continual\ninflow of efficacious and preventing graces, to which she never\noffered the slightest resistance. God not only adorned her with the\nmost abundant habitual grace, but He preserved it in her, keeping her\nalways free from every evil inclination, every idle thought, and every\nfeeling in the slightest degree contrary to the most perfect sanctity.\n\nAs to her body, we may believe it was endowed with singular\nperfections. St. Joachim and St. Anne received her from God through a\nparticular, and we may say, even a miraculous grace, so that she was\none of the most excellent works of the Holy Ghost, and breathed only\nsanctity and purity. This Queen loved, then, her virginal body, not\nonly because it was docile, humble, pure and obedient to Divine Love,\nbut still more because from it was formed the Body of her Saviour.\n\nTruly has this holy Virgin been called _elect as the sun_, because as\nthe sun shines resplendent above all the stars, through the excellence\nof its prerogatives, so there is no one amongst all the Saints who has\nobtained, or can ever obtain, graces superior to those bestowed upon\nMary. There are Saints who have received signal graces from our Lord,\nand these, compared with the rest of the world, are like queens\ncrowned with charity, and occupy a distinguished position in the love\nof our Divine Saviour. But His most blessed Mother is the Queen of all\nQueens, for she is not only crowned with charity, but with the\nperfection of charity, and to use an expression of the Holy Spirit,\nWho says that _the Son is the crown of the Father_; her crown is in\ntruth her Son; that is to say, the sovereign object of charity, the\nEternal Love, forms her crown.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nHow lovely is the rose! and yet it causes great sadness in my soul. It\nreminds me of my sin, on account of which the earth was condemned to\nproduce thorns.--_St. Basil._\n\nMary, conceived without sin, is compared to the incorruptible cedar,\nthe scent of which puts serpents to flight.--_St. Alphonsus Liguori._\n\nHow great will be our happiness in heaven, where we shall be able to\ncontemplate Mary, to love her and be loved by her; for she alone forms\na paradise of delights. Mary is truly, after God, all that is\nbeautiful, sweet, glorious and amiable in that celestial realm; all is\nin Mary, all through Mary, all, in fine, is hers.--_St. Bonaventure._\n\nNothing is of greater service to our soul, nor more sustains and\nstrengthens it, than the frequent thought of Mary.--_St. Teresa._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_Devotion of St. Francis of Sales to the Blessed Virgin Mary._\n\nOf all the festivals of the most holy Virgin there was none more dear\nto the tender piety of St. Francis of Sales than the Immaculate\nConception. When but a subdeacon he instituted a confraternity of\npenitents, under the title of the Immaculate Conception. Every year he\nprepared for this feast by fasting and prayer, and his zeal induced\nhim to proclaim this day a festival of obligation throughout his\ndiocese. In order to place his episcopate under the protection of the\nImmaculate Virgin, he chose this solemnity for the day of his\nconsecration, and during the ceremony he was rapt in ecstasy, and saw\nthe most Holy Trinity working in his heart all that the Bishops were\ndoing exteriorly, and moreover, he saw the most holy Virgin take him\nunder her protection.\n\nOnce, as he was making the visitation of his diocese, he arrived at\nthe foot of a steep and rugged hill, upon the summit of which was the\nchurch of the most Blessed Virgin of Nancy-sur-Cluses. He climbed it\nwith great difficulty, whilst blood streamed from his feet; but in\nreply to those who would dissuade him from the attempt, he said: 'It\nis true that I am almost sinking from fatigue, but whilst I am ashamed\nto be so unaccustomed to labour for the service of God, I feel the\ngreatest joy to shed my blood in honour of the Mother of God.'\n\nContinuing his visitation he found three parish churches in succession\nwhich were dedicated to Mary. 'What a consolation I feel,' said he,\n'to see so many churches in my diocese dedicated to the Mother of God!\nWhenever I enter a place consecrated to this august Queen, well do the\nbeatings of my heart tell me that I am in the house of my Mother; for\nI am the son of her who is the refuge of sinners.'\n\n_Prayer._--O Mary! Immaculate Lily of Purity, I rejoice with you that\nyou have been filled with grace, endowed with the use of reason, and\nhave loved God more than the Seraphim from the first instant of your\nImmaculate Conception. May the most Holy Trinity be eternally thanked\nand adored for so many and such rare privileges bestowed upon you. I\nhumble myself profoundly before you, seeing that I am so devoid of\ngraces and poor in merits. O my most loving Mother, make me a partaker\nof the graces which you have received so abundantly, that I also may\nbe able to love God ardently during life, and not be separated from\nHim in death. Amen.\n\n_Practice._--Recite three _Paters_, three _Aves_, and three _Glorias_,\nto thank the most Holy Trinity for the grace of the Immaculate\nConception conferred upon Mary.\n\n_Aspiration._--O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have\nrecourse to you.\n\n\n\nFIRST DAY.\n\nMARY, A MODEL OF PERFECT SELF-DENIAL FROM HER BIRTH.\n\nLET all who are devout to the most holy Virgin approach the cradle in\nwhich lies the royal infant, Mary. Consider attentively this sacred\nchild, and you will see how perfectly she practises every virtue. Ask\nthe Angels, the Cherubim and Seraphim, who surround her, if they equal\nthis little creature in perfection, and they will all reply that they\nare immensely inferior to her in graces, in merits, and in virtue.\nContemplate, Children of Mary, those heavenly spirits around her\ncradle, and you will hear them repeat in ecstasies of admiration of\nher beauty the words of the Canticle of Canticles: _Who is she that\ngoeth up by the desert as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices of\nmyrrh, and frankincense . . . Who is she that cometh forth as the\nmorning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an\narmy set in battle array?_\n\nThis virgin child is not yet glorified, but glory is already promised\nher; she expects it, not like others, in hope, but with certainty. On\nthis account the celestial spirits, enraptured by such incomparable\nperfection, cease not to celebrate her praises.\n\nMeanwhile, this most perfect Virgin lies in her poor crib, and there\npractises, in a most special manner, the virtue of self-abnegation.\nConsider, I beseech you, how, amidst angelic praises, she wishes to\nappear like all other children of Adam. Who will not be filled with\nadmiration and love, to behold Mary in her cradle, full of grace,\nendowed with the perfect use of reason from the first instant of her\nImmaculate Conception, able to meditate upon the perfections of God,\nfilled with His love, and entirely resigned to His holy will; and yet,\nnotwithstanding such privileges, wishing to be considered and treated\nas a poor little infant, without in any way manifesting the precious\ngifts she possessed? O my God! how attractive is such a spectacle; and\nnot only attractive, but wonderful; and how clearly does it convince\nus of her perfect renunciation of all that savours of worldly pomp and\nglory and ambition!\n\nThe second kind of abnegation which this august Virgin teaches us to\npractise, is the renunciation of the flesh, of which in her nativity\nand infancy she offers us most moving examples. Children are obliged\nto make many sacrifices, and the more they are attended to, the more\nare their affections and inclinations opposed. These mortifications,\nnevertheless, are not occasions of merit to them, for they have not\nyet acquired the use of reason. But the most holy Virgin, being\nendowed from her infancy with the perfect use of reason, exercised the\nvirtue of self-abnegation in a wonderful degree, enduring voluntarily\nall these contradictions and mortifications.\n\nThe third kind of renunciation is that of our own judgment and will,\neven in things which seem to us better than those that are commanded\nus. This includes what is most difficult and meritorious in the way of\nChristian perfection. How excellently did the most holy Virgin\npractise this abnegation in her nativity! Although possessed of the\nuse of reason, she never made use of her liberty to manifest it. We\nalways see in her a constant state of dependence. When she goes to the\nTemple she is led by her parents; through obedience to them she gives\nher hand to a humble carpenter, although she had consecrated her\nvirginity to God. She leaves Nazareth for Bethlehem, flees into Egypt,\nand returns to Nazareth; and in all these journeys, as well as in all\nthe other vicissitudes of her life, she maintains perfect subjection\nand docility. She even assists at the death of her Son and her God,\nthrough submission to the decrees of Heaven, her will being perfectly\nunited to that of the Eternal Father. It was not by constraint, but\nwith the full concurrence of her will, that she assented to the death\nof this Divine Son, and with humble resignation embraced and adored a\nhundred times that Cross upon which she saw, without shedding a tear,\nher only Son expire. What abnegation do we not find in the most holy\nVirgin! The tender loving soul of this most sorrowful Mother was\npierced by unheard-of dolours; indeed, who can ever describe the pains\nand anguish of her most sacred heart, as she stood immovable at the\nfoot of the Cross? She knew that the Eternal Father willed that Jesus\nChrist should thus die, and that she should be present at His death,\nand this knowledge gave her strength to stand there and endure it all.\n\nIn imitation of Mary, let us resolve to die to everything and to our\nown will, that we may live for God alone. Jesus Christ tells us to\ndeny ourselves, to take up our cross and to follow Him. The way of\nperfection is a Calvary, where it is necessary to crucify ourselves\ncontinually, in company with our Saviour; thus forcing nature to die,\nthat grace may live and reign within us. In a word, it is necessary to\nstrip ourselves of the old Adam, and clothe ourselves with the new\nAdam, and this cannot be done without suffering. I will not deceive\nyou; Christian perfection is difficult, and very great courage is\nrequired for so high an undertaking. This perfection consists in an\nentire self-abnegation, and in a total renunciation of all earthly\nthings. [1]\n\nO my God! when will Our Lady be, as it were, born in our hearts? As\nfor myself I see clearly that I am quite unworthy of such a favour;\nand as for you, what are your sentiments? Her Divine Son was born in a\nstable. Let us take courage and prepare Him a place in our hearts; a\nplace made deep by humility, low by simplicity, and wide by charity.\nIt is such a heart as this that Our Lady loves to visit, She dwells\nwillingly near the manger and at the foot of the Cross. Little matters\nit to her that she lives unknown in Egypt, provided her Divine Child\nlives with her.\n\nWhether our Lord sends us to the right or to the left, or howsoever He\ntreats us, or makes us as a sign against which all the evils of the\nworld are turned, we will never abandon Him until He has blessed us\nwith eternal blessing. Let us be assured that He is never so near to\nus as when He appears to be furthest from us; never does He guard us\nwith more jealousy than when He seems to abandon us, and never does He\nengage in combat with us, but to take more intimate possession of our\nheart, and load us with His blessings. Meanwhile, let us go on; let us\nwalk through the valley of humble virtues, and how many roses shall we\nnot find amongst the thorns! Charity, which shines in the midst of the\nmost trying afflictions, as well interior as exterior, the lily of\npurity, the violet of mortification, and how many more! But the lowly\nvirtues that are dearest to me are these three: meekness of heart,\npoverty of spirit, simplicity of life, together with the practices of\nvisiting the sick, serving the poor, consoling the afflicted, and such\nlike. However, all must be done without solicitude, and in true\nliberty of spirit. Our arms are not long enough to reach to the cedars\nof Lebanon--let us then be content with the hyssop that grows in the\nvalleys.\n\n\n[1] In the way of prayer, at first everything seems painful, and with\ngood reason; because it is a continual war against ourselves. But when\nwe set to work, our Lord on His side assists us so powerfully, and\nloads us with so many favours, that all the pains and labours of this\nlife become as nothing.--_St. Teresa_.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nThere shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, says Isaias, and\na flower shall rise up from its root. This root, writes St. Jerome, is\nthe Mother of the Saviour; a plain and simple root, but fruitful in\nits unity, like the Eternal Father. The flower of this root is Jesus\nChrist, _like to a flower of the field and to a lily of the valley_.\nThis flower is possessed of as many leaves as there are functions and\nexamples. If you wish to have the flower you must first bend the stem\nby your prayers. If this flower rises high through the excellence of\nits Divinity be not afraid; because through excess of love its stem\nmay be bowed.--_St. Bonaventure_.\n\nI am firmly resolved to desire no other heart than that which shall be\ngiven me by this Mother of hearts, this Mother of holy love. O my God!\nhow much do I desire not to lose sight, not even for an instant, of\nthis gracious Star, during the whole course of my journey!--_St.\nFrancis of Sales_.\n\nAs the lily has no fixed season for its growth, but flowers sooner or\nlater, according to its depth in the earth, in like manner the heart\nwhich aspires to Divine Love will blossom very late, and with much\ndifficulty, if it be absorbed in earthly cares. However, if it be\nattached to the world only so far as is necessary for its engagements\nin life, it will flourish in charity and spread around it gracious\nfragrance.--_The same_.\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_The Miraculous Medal of the Immaculate Conception._\n\nPerhaps I can relate nothing more suitable in regard to the origin of\nthis celebrated medal, so justly styled _'miraculous,'_ than by\ntranscribing the letter addressed to the author of the book, 'Mary\nConceived without Sin,' by the spiritual Director of the Sister of\nCharity to whom the medal was revealed:\n\n'Paris, 17th March, 1834.\n\n'Towards the close of the year 1830, Sister M., a novice of one of the\ncommunities in Paris, dedicated to the service of the Poor, saw,\nwhilst in prayer, a picture representing the Blessed Virgin, standing\nwith her arms extended. She wore a white garment, a blue and silver\ncloak, and a veil coloured like the aurora, whilst rays of dazzling\nsplendour issued from her hands. At the same time the Sister heard\nthese words: \"These rays are the symbol of the graces which Mary\nobtains in favour of mankind; and that part of the globe upon which\nthey fall with greater abundance is France.\" Around the picture was\nwritten the invocation, _\"O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us\nwho have recourse to you.\"_ The Sister having considered it for a\nmoment, cast her eyes upon the other side of the picture, and saw the\nletter _\"M\"_ surmounted by a Cross, and below it, the Sacred Hearts of\nJesus and Mary. Then the voice said again: _\"A medal must be struck\naccording to this model; and whoever shall wear it, properly blessed\nand indulgenced, shall be protected by the Mother of God in a most\nspecial manner.\"_\n\n'The novice came quickly to narrate the vision to me; and I, supposing\nit to be a mere pious illusion, simply addressed a few words to her\nupon true devotion to Mary, pointing out to her that the imitation of\nher virtues ever was, and will be, the true means of honouring her.\n\n'After about six months, she had the same vision, and I made her the\nsame reply. Finally, after another interval of six months, she saw the\npicture again, and heard the same words, except that the voice\nexpressed how much it displeased the Blessed Virgin that there was so\nmuch delay in having the medal struck.\n\n'This time, however, I attached greater importance to the revelation,\nwithout allowing the novice to perceive it; and I began to reflect and\nfear lest I was not seconding the designs of her who is so justly\ninvoked by the Church under the sweet name of \"Refuge of Sinners.\"\n\n'A short time afterwards I had the opportunity of seeing the\nArchbishop, and gave him an accurate account of these visions. He\nanswered me that \"he saw nothing whatever objectionable in this medal\nbeing struck, as it was conformable to the faith of the Church and to\nthe piety of the faithful towards the Mother of God; and that it might\ncertainly contribute to the promotion of her honour.\"\n\nThe medal was finally struck in the month of June, 1832.\n\n'In one of the three visions, the novice asked if it were not\nnecessary to insert some words on that part of the medal where the\nletter _\"M\"_ and the Cross, with the two Hearts, are represented; but\nshe was answered that these objects spoke with sufficient eloquence to\nthe faithful soul.\n\n'When the medal was struck, it was quickly circulated amongst the\nSisters of Charity, who, when they learnt its origin, wore it with\nmuch devotion, and began to hang it on the necks of the sick under\ntheir charge, and these shortly experienced happy results. Three cures\nand three conversions were wrought in a miraculous manner in Paris,\nand in the diocese of Meaux. Then the desire to possess the\n_miraculous medal_, or the medal _that cures_, became universal.\nMothers of families gave it as a New Year's gift to their children,\nand as a preservative to their innocence. As soon as it became known\nin a place, pious persons hastened to become possessed of it. But what\ngreatly surprised and edified me, from the beginning of its\npropagation, was that all the children of two of our provinces agreed\ntogether to take this medal as the protection of their youth. In many\nplaces entire populations addressed themselves to their Pastor to\nprocure it; and, at Paris, an officer purchased sixty for as many\nprivate soldiers who had asked him for it.\n\n'Whilst the medal was miraculously propagated in all classes and\nprovinces, the most consoling accounts were sent me by the Parish\nPriests, Vicar-Generals, and even by Bishops. They say that _\"it\nreanimates fervour in populous towns as well as in the country; it\ngains our entire confidence; we look upon it as a means sent by\nProvidence to enkindle faith, which in our days has so visibly\ndecreased; and in reality it daily awakens this faith in many hearts,\nin which it seemed to be extinguished; it re-establishes peace and\nconcord in many families; and there is no one who wears this medal who\ndoes not experience its salutary effects.\"'_\n\n\nNot only in France which is specially under the protection of Mary\nMost Holy did the faithful of every age, sex, and condition, rival one\nanother in zeal and solicitude to possess the _miraculous_ medal; it\nspread also like lightning throughout Switzerland, Piedmont, Spain,\nItaly, Belgium, England, America, in the Levant, and even in China;\nand we can certify that in the present day the number of these medals\nexceeds thirty millions. In every place it is asked for by indifferent\nChristians, by obstinate sinners, by the impious, by Protestants,\nJews, and Turks, and worn with veneration. Heaven grant that it may\nnot be without fruit!--that she, to whom the Church applies those\nwords of Holy Scripture, _'He who shall find Me shall find life, and\nhave salvation from the Lord,'_ may conduct and confirm us in the way\nof salvation!\n\nPlenary Indulgences at the hour of death, and on all the principal\nfestivals of the year, and on the feasts of the Apostles are attached\nto this medal when blessed by anyone who possesses the faculty.\n\n_Prayer._--O Lovely Child, who, in your happy Nativity, didst console\nthe world, rejoice Heaven, terrify hell, and become the relief of\nsinners, the consolation of the afflicted, the health of the sick, and\nthe joy of all men, I entreat you, with all the fervour of my soul, to\nbe spiritually born in my heart through your holy love. Attach my soul\nonce for all to your happy service, and my heart to yours, that my\nlife may be adorned with the virtues which will render me dear to you.\nO Mary! produce in me the salutary effects of your sweet name, and\nobtain that the invocation of this holy name may be my strength in\nsufferings, my hope in dangers, my shield in spiritual conflicts, and\nmy support and comfort in the agonies of death. May it be honey to my\nmouth, music to my ears, and the only joy of my heart! Amen.\n\n_Aspiration._--Morning Star, pray for me.\n\n_Practice._--Visit the altar of the Blessed Virgin, after having\nadored the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.\n\n\n\nSECOND DAY.\n\nMARY CONSECRATES HERSELF TO GOD IN THE TEMPLE.\n\nMARY was no sooner born than she consecrated her entire being to the\nservice of Divine Love, and as soon as she acquired the use of her\ntongue she employed it in chanting the praises of the Lord. He\ninspired her, when she had attained the age of three years, to leave\nthe home of her parents and retire into the Temple to serve Him more\nperfectly. During her tender years the life of this glorious Virgin\nwas full of wisdom and discretion, and the cause of astonishment to\nher parents, for her actions and words were very different from those\nof other children, since she had the full use of her reason. It was\ntherefore necessary to hasten the period for taking her to the Temple\nand consecrating her to the Divine service, amongst the other maidens\nalready consecrated. They, therefore, took the little Virgin and\npartly led and partly carried her to the Temple of Jerusalem. Mary\ncertainly had nothing to fear from the influences of her home, but she\nwished to teach us by her example that we should omit nothing, as St.\nPaul so earnestly teaches, to make our calling and election sure.\n\nAll who repaired to the Temple to present their offerings chanted as\nthey went the Psalm: _Beati immaculati in via qui ambulant in lege\nDomini--'Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of\nthe Lord'_. With what grace and melody must not our glorious Queen and\nMistress have intoned this canticle when she walked towards the\nsanctuary where her God wished to prepare her to become, not only His\nSpouse, but His Mother, the blessed among all women! The very Angels\nwere so pleased at the sight of such love, fervour, and humility, that\nthey descended in choirs to listen to the harmony. With what joy was\nshe not filled when she arrived at the threshhold of the Temple, and\nwhen she mounted the fifteen steps of the sanctuary! She came to\ndedicate herself unreservedly to God. If her youth had not forbidden\nit, she might thus have addressed the holy matrons who had charge of\nthe consecrated children in the Temple: Here am I; consider me in your\nhands as a piece of soft wax; dispose of me as you will, I shall never\nmake any resistance. She was so docile that she allowed herself to be\nguided by others in such a manner as never to show the slightest\ninclination to one thing more than another. She abandoned herself\ntotally and perfectly to the Divine Will, so that she was a marvel to\nall who knew her.\n\nIn order to profit in a Christian manner by the example that Mary\ngives us in this mystery, three points can be considered: firstly,\nthat Mary was presented to God in His Temple from her tenderest\ninfancy, and thus separated from her parents; secondly, that she makes\na great part of the journey on foot, and the rest of the journey she\nis carried in the arms of her parents; thirdly, that she dedicates and\noffers herself entirely to God, without any reserve.\n\nAs to the first point, which is to dedicate one's self to God from\none's infancy, how, you will ask, can we imitate Mary in this, for we\nhave already passed the age of childhood, and it is impossible to\nrecover lost time? You are deceived. If virginity can be repaired by\nmeans of humility, cannot lost time be repaired by making a fervent\nand good use of the present? I acknowledge that the happiness of those\nwho have dedicated themselves entirely to God from their infancy is,\nindeed, enviable, and He seems to receive such an offering with\nspecial complacency. He complains, through one of His prophets, that\n'_men had so perverted their way, that even from their youth they had\nabandoned the path of salvation for that of perdition_.' Children are\nneither good nor bad so long as they are incapable of distinguishing\ngood from evil. But when they have attained the use of reason, too\noften they turn to that which is evil. Hence God says by His prophet:\n_Dereliquerunt me fontem aquae vivae--'They have forsaken Me, the\nfountain of living water, to follow the way of iniquity_.'\n\nAnother proof of the ardent desire of the Divine Goodness for our\nyouthful service is found in the words of the same prophet; _Bonum est\nviro cum portaverit jugum ab adolescentia sua--'It is good for a man\nto have borne the yoke from his youth_.' But it need not be supposed\nthat the youth of which the prophet speaks is only that of years. When\nthe Beloved in the Canticle of Canticles turns to her Spouse and says\nto Him: _Oleum effusum nomen tuum, ideo adolescentulae dilexerunt te--\n'Thy name is as oil poured out, therefore young maidens have loved\nThee_,' do you believe she speaks of maidens who are young in years?\nNo; but of those who are young in fervour and courage, but who have\nconsecrated to the service of Holy Love all the moments of their life\nand all the affections of their hearts.\n\nIt is the present time, the present moment, that we should turn to\nprofit; because the past has escaped us, and the future is not in our\npower. But you ask, How can we repair lost time? You can do it by the\nuse of fervour and diligence during the time that remains for your\npilgrimage upon earth. Stags do not always run at an extraordinary\nspeed, but yet, when pursued by the hunter, they quicken their\nmovement and seem rather to fly than to run. This is a model for us.\nWe must not only run, but fly in the way of perfection. Therefore let\nus, with holy David, beg our Lord to give us _the wings of a dove_,\nthat we may fly without stopping, until we gain our hiding-place in\nthe walls of the holy city of Jerusalem; that is to say, until we find\nourselves united to our Lord crucified upon Calvary, through an entire\nand perfect mortification of all our inclinations and affections.\n\nOh, how happy are those souls who follow the example of this Sacred\nVirgin, and dedicate themselves from their tender years to the service\nof God! Fortunate are they to have retired from the world before they\nwere known to it! Like delicate flowers scarcely yet open, nor touched\nby the heat of concupiscence, they exhale a most sweet odour in the\nDivine Presence by means of their virtues and innocence.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nMary was like a most beautiful flower, which diffuses its perfume from\nits very first budding. Flowers differ in their method of diffusing\nfragrance, as, for instance, roses and carnations. Roses smell sweeter\nin the morning before mid-day; but carnations and pinks shed a more\npleasing scent in the evening. The glorious Virgin was like a most\nbeautiful rose amongst thorns, and although never for an instant did\nshe cease to diffuse an odour of surpassing sweetness, yet the\nfragrance of her infancy was the most acceptable to the Divine\nMajesty.--_St. Francis of Sales._\n\nChastity is the lily of virtues, because it renders men equal to the\nAngels; if virtues be separated from purity, they are no longer\nvirtues. Purity is chastity, and it possesses a glory of its own, for\nit clothes both soul and body with its beauty.--_The same._\n\nAs the busy bee flies to all the flowers, and sucks from each its\npurest juice with which to form honey, so should a religious soul\nobserve the virtues of others, and learn, for instance, modesty from\none, science from another, and obedience from a third; in a word, he\nshould take from each one that which he perceives to be most perfect,\nand copy it in his own person.--_St. Antony._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_The two Invocations of St. Philip Neri._\n\nOf the many ejaculatory prayers of St. Philip Neri to the Most Holy\nVirgin, two were very familiar to him. The first was, 'Virgin Mary,\nMother of God, pray to Jesus for us'; the second consisted in the two\nwords, 'Virgin and Mother'. He used to say that they contain all the\npanegyrics of Mary, both because they express her admirable name, and\nbecause they declare her two miraculous privileges of _Virginity_ and\n_Maternity_, and the incomparable title of _Mother of God_. He\ncomposed a rosary with these two invocations, which he recited\nfrequently with his penitents, and had always in his hands.\n\nA pious person, who was continually tormented by evil thoughts, asked\nhim one day for a remedy. The Saint counselled her to recite this\nrosary of his, which consisted in repeating these two invocations\nalternately, sixty-three times. She followed his advice, and in a\nshort time recovered her peace of soul.\n\n_Prayer of St. Gertrude_.--O Mary, Mother of Jesus, and my own dear\nMother! clothe me with the fleece of the true Lamb, your Son Jesus,\nthat His love may receive me, nourish me, possess me, and sanctify me.\nShining Lily, my only hope, after God, deign to speak to your Beloved\nSon in my favour; say an efficacious word to Him, and faithfully and\nearnestly plead my cause. I beseech you, O my Mother! by your love for\nJesus, to accept me as your child; be solicitous for my welfare\nthroughout the whole course of my life, and especially at the hour of\nmy death take me entirely under your protection. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation_.--Mary, Virgin and Mother! make me a Saint.\n\n_Practice_.--Let all your actions this day be done in union with Jesus\nand Mary.\n\n\n\nTHIRD DAY.\n\nCONTINUATION OF THE PRECEDING SUBJECT.\n\nTHE second point presented to our consideration in the presentation of\nOur Lady is that in order to consecrate herself to God in the Temple\nshe was carried part of the way by her parents, and walked the\nremainder, being, however, always assisted by them. When St. Joachim\nand St. Anne arrived at a spot where the road was level they placed\nthe little maiden on the ground, and allowed her to walk, but even\nthen she lifted up her little hands to clasp theirs, that she might\nnot stumble, and when they came to the rougher parts of the road they\nagain took her in their arms. It should not be supposed that the\nintentions of her parents in allowing her to walk was to relieve\nthemselves; they allowed it because of the satisfaction which they\nexperienced in seeing their little daughter directing her first steps\nto the Temple of the Lord.\n\nNow, it is in these two ways that our Lord leads His faithful servants\nin their pilgrimage through this miserable life. At times He conducts\nus by the hand, making us walk with Him; and very often He carries us\nin the arms of His Providence. He leads us by the hand when He makes\nus walk along the path of the exercise of virtues, because if He did\nnot help us it would be impossible for us to take one step along this\nblessed road. And do we not perceive that the steps of those who have\nabandoned the paternal hand of Providence are almost always so many\nfalls? The Divine Goodness wishes to lead us by the hand along our\nroad, but He also wishes us to make use of our feet; that is to say,\nthat we ourselves do all that is in our power, by the assistance of\nHis grace. Therefore Holy Church, like a tender mother desirous of the\ngood of her children, teaches us to recite daily a prayer by which we\nbeg God to deign to accompany us during the whole course of our\npilgrimage upon this earth, and to succour us by His preventing and by\nHis accompanying grace, because without both these graces all our\nefforts to make one step in the way of virtue would be unavailing.\n\nBut after our Lord has led us by the hand along the road of good works\nwhich require our co-operation in order that they may become\nmeritorious, He carries us in His arms, producing certain effects\nwithin us, in which we seem to take no part, as, for instance, in the\nSacraments. Tell me candidly, what is it that we do in order to merit\nthe reception of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, which contains\nall the sanctity and sweetness of heaven and earth? Does not our Lord\ncarry us in His arms in permitting us to receive Him in this\nSacrament?\n\nOh, how happy are those souls who so pass through this mortal life as\nnever to leave the arms of His Divine Majesty, except to do all in\ntheir power to labour in the practice of virtue, still keeping hold of\nthe hand of their Lord! Let us never believe ourselves capable of\ndoing the least good of ourselves. The Sacred Spouse of the Canticles\nteaches us this truth when she says to her Beloved: _Trahe me post Te\nin odorem curremus unguentorum tuorum--'Draw me, and we will run after\nthee to the odour of thy ointments_.' She says '_draw me_,' to teach\nus that our soul can do nothing of itself unless it be drawn,\nassisted, and anticipated by Divine Grace. But to show us that she\ncorresponds voluntarily to this attraction, she quickly adds: '_We\nwill run_,' as if she wished to say: If only, my Beloved, Thou stretch\nout Thy hand to draw me, I shall not cease to run, until Thou hast\nreceived me into Thine arms, and united me to Thy Divine Will.\n\nLet us now pass to the third point: the consecration and dedication\nour glorious Lady made of her whole self unreservedly to the Divine\nMajesty; it is this, O faithful souls, that we should try to imitate.\nOur Lord does not certainly expect us to be more liberal to Him than\nHe is to us; nevertheless, if He shows the greatness of His goodness\nto us by giving us His whole Self, is it not just that He should\nrequire of us the total dedication of ourselves to Him? But what means\nthis total dedication of ourselves to God? It means that we make no\nreserve whatever in our consecration, not even of the least of our\naffections or desires; it is this that He requires of us. Listen, in\nfact, to this Divine Saviour of our souls: _Fili praete mihi cor tuum--'My\nSon,'_ says He to each one of us in particular--_'My Son, give Me\nthy heart.'_ 'Ah!' you will add, 'how shall I dare to give my heart to\nGod when it is so full of imperfections and sins? How can He accept\nthe offering of this heart in which He finds nothing but disobedience\nto His Most Holy Will?' Ah! be not troubled on this account, but offer\nit to Him all the same, because He does not require of you a pure and\nspotless heart, like that of the Angels and of Our Lady, but He says:\n'Give Me thy heart,' such as it is. Ah! let us not refuse it to Him\nthen, although it be full of miseries, weaknesses, and imperfections,\nfor we know that all that is placed in the hand of His Divine Goodness\nis converted into good. Let us not fear, then, for when He holds this\nheart of ours in His hands He will know well how to render it perfect.\nTo make it less unworthy of God let us resolve to imitate Mary; for\namongst all the Saints who are proposed to us as a model we should in\na special manner consider our most glorious and dear Patroness, the\nQueen of all Saints. What mirror more beautiful, more precious, or\npurer, can we place before our eyes? Is she not the most excellent\nexample of evangelical teaching? Who amongst creatures is more adorned\nand enriched with every kind of virtue and grace? _Multae filiae\ncongregaverunt divitias, tu supergressa es universus--'Many daughters\nhave gathered riches, but thou hast surpassed them all.'_ Certainly it\nis beyond all doubt that there is no Saint comparable to her, because\nthis glorious Virgin surpasses in dignity and excellence not only the\ngreatest Saints, but the very Cherubim and Seraphim. She consecrated\nherself perfectly to the Divine service, from the very first instant\nof her Immaculate Conception.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nWhen the senses are not well guarded, they are mysterious inlets by\nwhich our enemies insinuate themselves into our souls. A glance of\ncuriosity changed holy King David into an adulterer and a murderer.\nHow many have reason to exclaim with Jeremiah, _'My eye hath been the\nthief that has robbed my soul of every good'!--Riva_.\n\nThe choice of a state of life is so important that it constitutes the\nonly foundation of a good or of a bad life.--_St. Greg. Naz._\n\nThe Christian who abandons himself into the hand of God, lives for God\nalone.--_St. Francis of Sales._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_The Feasts of the Blessed Virgin._\n\nThe days upon which the Blessed Virgin Mary shows herself bountiful of\nher favours, are the feasts celebrated in her honour; and if we desire\nto profit by them, we must sanctify them fervently. Let us approach\nthe Sacraments on those days, and propose to practise some particular\nvirtue of the Blessed Virgin, adapted to the mystery of the day. For\ninstance, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, let us propose to\npractise purity of intention; on that of her Nativity, a renewal of\nfervour, banishing all tepidity from our soul; on that of the\nPresentation, detachment from those desires which require to be\nmortified; on the Feast of the Annunciation, of the Visitation, on the\nFeast of the Purification, obedience to Superiors; and on the Feast of\nthe Assumption, preparation for death. Such was ever the practice of\nall the true servants of Mary; amongst others, of St. Bernardine of\nSiena, of St. Gertrude, and of St. Vincent Ferrer.\n\nMary herself made known to St. Gertrude, as we read in the tenth\nchapter of the 'Revelations' of this Saint, that she rewards this\npractice with every kind of favour. On the Feast of the Assumption,\nwhilst the Divine Sacrifice of the Mass was being celebrated, the\nBlessed Virgin showed the Saint a great number of young girls, whom\nshe carefully guarded under her rich mantle. 'My dear daughter,' said\nshe to her, 'behold here those souls who do all in their power to\ncelebrate this festival worthily.'\n\nBrother Gerard, one of the first lay-brothers of the Congregation of\nSt. Alfonso de Liguori, had the most tender confidence in Mary. At the\napproach of her feasts he took care to adorn all the altars of the\nmonastery, and his devotion was especially great to the Immaculate\nConception. He wished that the faithful would fast on all the vigils\nof her feasts; on which days his nourishment was but a little bread\nand water, and he gave himself the discipline to blood. During all her\nnovenas, he performed some abstinence or good work in her honour. When\nhe was allowed by his Superior, he spent the night preceding her\nfestivals prostrate before her altar in fervent prayer. It is narrated\nby Fathers Petrella and Giovenale that the Blessed Virgin, touched by\nthe love of her servant, appeared to him during one of those nights,\nand enriched him with favours of many kinds.\n\n_Prayer of St. Gertrude to the Sacred Heart of Mary._--O Immaculate\nHeart of Mary, I have nothing to offer you that is worthy of you; yet\nhow many thanks should I not render you for all the favours that you\nhave obtained for me from the Heart of Jesus! What reparation should I\nnot offer you for my languor during Divine service! I would wish to\nrender you love for love: the only good that I possess is the Sacred\nHeart of Jesus, which you have yourself given to me. I offer you,\nthen, this treasure of infinite value--I can do nothing more, and\nnothing less do you merit from me. Accept, then, this gift, which is\nso dear to you; and nothing more do I desire except that you will\ndeign to accept, also, my poor heart. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--Mother of Good Counsel, pray for me.\n\n_Practice._--Make a sincere act of contrition for the time that you\nhave spent away from God.\n\n\n\nFOURTH DAY.\n\nFIDELITY OF MARY IN FOLLOWING THE CALL OF GOD.\n\nLET us consider in this meditation the punctual care with which Mary\nalways followed her vocation.\n\nGod had uttered in her ears, or rather in the interior of her heart,\nthe words of the psalm: _Audi Fili, inclina aurem tuam, et obliviscere\npopulum tuum, et domum patris tui et concupiscet rex decorem tuum--\n'Hearken, my child, incline thine ear to Me; forget thy people and thy\nfather's house, and the King shall desire thy beauty_.'\n\nPonder attentively these words: '_Hearken, child_'--_Audi Fili_. They\nimply that, in order to hear well, it is necessary to listen, first,\nvery attentively--'_inclina aurem tuam_;' it is to the humble alone\nthat God deigns to make known His Will. '_Forget thy people and thy\nfathers house, and the King will greatly desire thy beauty_.' This is\nas if He would say, do not confine thyself to listening to the word of\ninspiration, and abasing thyself in order that thou mayest understand\nit, but further strip thy heart of all affection for thy country and\nthy relations, and then I shall be delighted with thy beauty. O, holy\nand Divine seed which our Lord sows in the hearts of so many! And yet\nhow many there are who hear the Divine call, without making one step\nto leave their country and go whither God calls them! Diligence is\ntaken to examine and consider attentively whether the inspiration\ncomes from God, or from the enemy of all good, or if it be the\ndeception of self-love; and meanwhile, through our own fault, the\nDivine vocation fails in its effect. I do not wish to condemn the\nconsiderations which ought to be made in order to discern well the\nnature of the inspiration. By no means; but after having made your\nexamen with simplicity, in the presence of God, and recognised His\nvoice, go forth quickly and enter the land which He points out to you.\nListen no longer to so many discourses and reasonings suggested by the\nspirit of the world, because procrastination under such circumstances\nexposes you to very serious dangers. Do not, then, lull yourself to\nsleep, but follow diligently the Divine attraction.\n\nWith what assiduity and with what solicitude did not the glorious\nVirgin obey the sacred call of God! She had no need of protracted\nself-examination, because she was endowed with the grace of\ndiscernment. Therefore, although but a child, she repaired without\ndelay whither her God led her, and the King of Heaven, won by her\nbeauty, chose her not only for His Spouse, but also for His Mother.\n'_Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it_.'\n\nCertainly, all are not called to follow the same path, and yet they\nmay all follow the Divine inspirations. We will explain. The Church\nmay be considered as the Court of a great Prince or King, in whose\nkingdom are many vassals or under-lords. All these vassals are invited\nto Court, and all share in the favours of their Sovereign, but\ndifferently. Some are favoured in a very special manner, and He treats\nthem with greater confidence than the rest, and repeats to them His\nsecrets. But besides the graces which He grants in general to all the\nmembers of His Church, to some amongst them He bestows more precious\nfavours; for instance, religious persons, whom He admits into His\nCabinet--that is to say, into holy religion--in order to entertain\nHimself with them familiarly, and disclose His secrets to them in the\nclosest union of Heart.\n\nAmongst those who have received this grace, the Most Holy Virgin has\nbeen singularly privileged, Our Lord having made known to her secrets\nand mysteries which have been revealed to no other creature. Happy was\nshe to have heard the word of God and kept it, and how happy also will\nyou be, pious souls, if you endeavour, in imitation of her, to follow\npromptly the inspirations by which God manifests to you His Most Holy\nWill!\n\nI am well aware that for many it is necessary that they should live in\nthe world. These persons should use, but not abuse the riches, honours\nand dignities which they are allowed by the law of God to possess; and\nif they endeavour, in the use of these possessions, to conform their\naffections to the commandments of God, without following the counsels,\nthey will be as truly blessed, and will attain to the joys of eternal\nlife.\n\nThere are many persons who wish to consecrate themselves to God, but\nat the same time wish to reserve always something for themselves. They\nwill say, for instance, I will give to God what belongs to God, and\nreserve for the world what is due to the world, without however doing\nwhat would be an offence to His Divine Majesty, or contrary to His\nmost holy law. Such as these listen, it is true, to the inspirations\nof God, but do not correspond to them with their whole heart, and\nalthough they may be saved, yet they never will reach a high degree of\nperfection and glory.\n\nThere are others who are quite resolved to follow steadily the\ninspirations and Will of God, and also desire to live united to Him,\nbut not in a _perfect manner_. Observe well that there is a great\ndifference between being _all_ given to God and _wholly_ given to God.\nThese persons of whom we speak wish to reserve to themselves the\nchoice at least of their spiritual exercises, in order, as they say,\nthat they may the better serve God. But to how much danger of being\ndeceived do not they expose themselves! Regulating themselves\naccording to their own notions, they refuse to submit to others, and\nthey mark out for themselves a mode of life according to their own\ncaprices. I would say to such souls: Do you not perceive that with\nthese ideas you do not belong _wholly_ to God? Their answer would be:\nBut I act so in order to serve God. But this is not the example that\nour most Blessed Lady, the glorious Virgin, gives us. On the day of\nher presentation she consecrated herself to God entirely, without any\nreserve, and never again made use of her own will or choice. O\nfaithful souls, you ought continually to keep before your eyes the\nlife of our dear Lady, and meditate upon it, so as to be able to\nconform all your actions and affections to this perfect model. You are\nher children, and therefore you ought to follow her, to imitate her,\nand make use of her as a mirror in which you should always view and\nstudy yourselves well. The sweetness which will flow from the\nconsideration of her virtues will be received in earthen vessels;\nnevertheless, its fragrance will be none the less sweet. The balsam\nthat is contained in an earthen vase is as sweet as that in a vase of\ncrystal.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nMost yellow flowers keep turned continually to the sun, but the\nsunflower turns not only its flowers but also its leaves towards the\ngreat luminary. In like manner the elect turn the flower of their\nhearts--that is, their obedience--to the commands of God's will.--_St.\nFrancis of Sales_.\n\nThe virtues of the friends of God are ennobled and raised to the\ndignity of holy works by the excellence of the heart which produces\nthem. All their virtuous actions are dedicated to God, for how can a\nheart that has given Him itself not give to Him all that belongs to\nit? Does not he who gives a whole tree give also the leaves, and\nflowers, and fruit?--_The same_.\n\nThe rose possesses the property of killing by its odour all the snails\nthat come around it. Similarly, the devout soul, who is as a rose\nbefore God, should chase away and destroy all the creeping things that\ngather around her heart--that is to say, the coldness and tepidity\nwhich are an obstacle to her advancement in the way of God.--_The\nsame_.\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_Lamps and Candles burnt in Honour of Mary._\n\nIt is a custom amongst Catholics to have lamps or candles burning upon\naltars, or before pictures of the august Mother of God for one, or\nthree, or nine consecutive days, so as to obtain spiritual or temporal\nfavours. This touching practice, springing from the love of Mary,\ncomes down from the remotest antiquity. Oil and wax, as all know, have\na deep signification. The flame is a symbol of the vivacity of our\nfaith and of the firmness of our confidence; fire symbolizes the\nardour of charity, and the ascent of the flame is a type of our hope.\nThese flames intimate that we must keep the fire of charity ever\nburning in our hearts, so as to be always ready to receive our Divine\nMaster whensoever He shall call us to the nuptials of the Lamb. Lamps\nlighted before the statues or pictures of Mary represent to us more\nspecially the prayer of intercession, which goes direct to the Heart\nof God. They awaken a singular emotion in the heart of him who has\nfaith. The oil that feeds the flame has often cost the poor man the\nsweat of hard labour, but he thinks little of this voluntary\nsacrifice, because it was the fruit of love. No one who has not\nvisited Italy, and in particular Rome and Naples, can form an idea of\nthe honour that is paid to the Blessed Virgin. You will find her image\non all the roadsides, in the public squares, houses and shops, with\nlamps, often many at a time, burning before them, and the amount of\noil that is consumed in this manner is considerable. This is a\nvoluntary contribution of the poor as well as of the rich, and it is\nan expense that every pious family considers as necessary as their\ndaily bread. At Rome there exists a sweet custom of writing a short\nprayer, often with the indulgence attached to its repetition, under\neach image or picture, and it is repeated by the passers-by. Who can\nsay how many passions are repressed, how many unhappy creatures\nconsoled, and how many hopes aroused by this short invocation?\n\n_Prayer of St. Germanus_.--O you, who are, after God, my powerful\nprotectress and my true consolation in this world, you who are the\ncelestial dew that sweetens my pains; the light of my soul when\nplunged in darkness, my guide in my journeys, my strength in my\nweaknesses, my treasure in poverty, the remedy of my wounds, my joy in\nall my sorrows, my refuge in all dangers, the hope of my life and of\nmy salvation, deign to hear my prayers, to take an interest in my\nwoes, and to show me that compassion which peculiarly belongs to the\nMother of a God Who entertains such love and goodness towards men. He\nis their Father, and He has constituted you their Mother. Ah! place me\nthen amongst the number of your dearest children, and obtain for me\nfrom God all the graces which you know to be necessary for the\nsalvation of my soul. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation_.--O Mary! be my guiding star.\n\n_Practice_.--Examine what has been your fidelity in following your\nvocation, and how its obligations have been fulfilled.\n\n\n\nFIFTH DAY.\n\nMARY IS A MODEL TO RELIGIOUS PERSONS IN HER PRESENTATION IN THE\nTEMPLE. [1]\n\nGOD had commanded all the Hebrews to visit the Temple, but all, rich\nand poor, were forbidden to enter it empty-handed: _Non apparetis in\nconspectu meo vacuus_. The offering, however, was not the same for\nall. The rich were to give according to their riches, the poor\naccording to their poverty, and thus all were able to observe the\nprecept. From this we may understand that when seculars come to God\nand offer Him the desire and will, they entertain to follow and\nobserve His Divine commandments. He will be satisfied with this\noffering, and if they put it in practice faithfully, they will obtain\neternal life. But let those souls who are rich in means for doing\ngreat things for the glory of God, such as religious persons, beware\nlest they present themselves with the offering of the poor--that is,\nof seculars; for God will not be satisfied with such an offering. Our\nLord, in calling you, my dear sisters, into Holy Religion, enriched\nyou with His graces, and on this account He requires much from you;\nthat is, He will have your offering to be of all that you are, and of\nall that you possess, without any reserve.\n\nThe Blessed Virgin, in her Presentation, made an offering pleasing to\nGod; offered not only the dignity of her person (the most excellent\namongst pure creatures), but all that she possessed. How happy are the\nReligious who, by means of their vows, have consecrated all to God,\ndedicating to Him their bodies, their hearts, and all that they\npossess; renouncing riches by the vow of poverty, pleasures by the vow\nof chastity, and their whole will by the vow of obedience! Worldlings,\nyou may enjoy your riches if you will, but do not abuse them, nor\nwrong anyone. The pleasures that Holy Church permits are lawful; you\nare not prohibited in a thousand circumstances from following your own\nwill, provided it be not contrary to that of God. But you, Religious,\nshould offer all to God, without any reserve. He wishes your offering\nto be entire, such as is the gift He makes to you of Himself in the\nDivine Sacrament of the Altar. Forget not that you cannot deceive Him,\nand if you say that you wish to consecrate yourselves perfectly to His\nDivine Majesty, and do not really do so, you are in danger of being\npunished like Ananias and Sapphira, who lied to the Holy Ghost.\n\nNow, the Blessed Virgin was always perfectly obedient to the Will of\nGod, from the first instant of her conception, without ever changing\nor suspending for a moment the resolution she had formed to serve Him.\n\nDo we not daily experience how changeable is man in his good\nresolutions? How often, even in one hour, do we not like and dislike\nthe same thing, and allow ourselves to be moved by excessive joy or\nexcessive sadness! This was not the case with Our Lady; she hourly\nbecame more perfectly united to God, and merited fresh graces, and the\nmore she received, the more did she render her soul worthy to receive\nthem. By these means she was always strengthening her first\nresolution, so that the only change that could have been perceptible\nin her was the progress she made from one degree of perfection to\nanother, through the practice of every virtue. It was for this purpose\nthat she wished to retire into the Temple, not through any need she\nhad of this retreat, for her perseverance was assured by her\nconsecration at the first moment of her existence, but in order to\ninstruct us, who are so changeable and inconstant, that it is our duty\nto make use of every means in our power to strengthen and preserve our\ngood resolutions.\n\nImitate the Most Holy Virgin also in this. Dedicate, therefore,\nyourselves entirely to God; and whenever you renew your consecration,\nyou will acquire new strength and vigour in the service of His Divine\nMajesty. Renew your resolutions, renew them frequently and with\nfidelity, to the end of your life. This was the careful practice of\nall the Saints of both the Old and of the New Testament. Our nature is\nof itself weak and easily depressed when there is a question of\nvirtuous resolutions. The earth itself has its periods of weakness,\nand refuses to be always yielding its produce; so it lies barren in\nwinter. But when the spring arrives it renews itself, and having\nrecovered fresh vigour, it gives us the benefit of its fruits.\n\nFor this reason Holy Church, like a wise Mother, puts before us from\ntime to time, during the course of the year, special festivals, to\nanimate us to renew our good resolutions. Who will not renew his soul\non the solemn festivals of Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas, by holy\naffections and firm resolutions to live more virtuously? But besides\nthe observance of all these festivals, it has ever been a laudable\ncustom for persons more especially consecrated to God, such as\nReligious, to choose one day in particular during the course of the\nyear upon which to renew their vows, and by so doing to obey the great\nApostle, who counsels us to confirm our vocation.\n\nDivine Providence has permitted for our instruction, that Our Lady\nshould renew in her Presentation the sacrifice which she had made of\nher whole self at the moment of her Immaculate Conception. Do you,\nthen, religious souls, make this renewal in imitation of her, and do\nit with great fervour of spirit, with profound humility, and ardent\ncharity. Place your hearts, your souls, and your entire being in the\nhands of this Holy Virgin; she will present you to the Most Holy\nTrinity, and you will obtain a thousand blessings in this life, and\nwill be enabled to arrive at eternal glory in the next.\n\n\n[1] It is an ancient and well-grounded tradition that Mary was led to\nthe Temple to be presented to the Lord at three years of age, and that\nshe dwelt in that sacred abode until the age of fourteen that is to\nsay, as long as was permitted by the laws of the Sanhedrim. St.\nBonaventure relates to us the life led by the Most Holy Virgin in that\nvoluntary retirement. 'We may learn,' says this Father, 'what Mary did\nin the Temple from her own revelations to one of her faithful\nservants, supposed to be St. Elizabeth.' Amongst other things we read\nas follows: 'As soon as I was left in the Temple by my parents, I\ndetermined in my heart to look upon God as my Father. I often\nconsidered what I could do to merit His grace, and I began to instruct\nmyself in His holy law. But of all the Divine precepts, these three\nprincipally occupied my attention: (1) Thou shalt love the Lord thy\nGod with thy whole heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy\nstrength; (2) thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; (3) thou shalt\nhate thy enemy.\n\n'I kept the commandments in my heart, and I quietly embraced all the\nvirtues that they contain. It is thus that I wish you to conduct\nyourself. In fact, the soul can possess no virtue whatever if it do\nnot love God with all its powers, because it is from this love alone\nthat the fulness of grace (without which virtue will never be\npreserved in the soul) descends to us; but it will pass like running\nwater and vanish if the _soul hates not its enemies_, which are _sin\nand vice_. He who desires to acquire and preserve grace must accustom\nhis heart, then, to the exercise of this love and of this hatred, and\nit is in this that I wish to be imitated by you.'\n\nThe faithful servant of Mary, having heard these words, replied: 'My\nsweetest Lady, wast thou not already full of grace and virtue?' The\nBlessed Virgin replied: 'Be certain that I believed myself to be the\nvilest sinner, and, like you, unworthy of grace. You perhaps believe,\nmy daughter, that all the grace which I possessed was acquired without\ndifficulty. But it was not so. On the contrary, I received no grace or\nfavour without constant prayer, ardent desire, deep devotion, and many\ntears, with long afflictions, excepting, however, the grace of\nsanctification, which was given to me from my conception in my\nmother's womb, and, as far as I knew, I never said or thought of\nanything but what was pleasing to my God.' She added: 'Be assured also\nthat no grace descends into the soul, except through the channel of\nprayer and corporal mortification. But as soon as we have given to God\nall that we possess, He Himself comes quickly to dwell within us,\nbringing with Him such inestimable gifts that the soul feels her heart\nto fail; she loses the remembrance of having ever done or said\nanything acceptable to God, and she becomes more and more vile and\ncontemptible in her own eyes.'--_Maria Regina e Madre Dei Santi_, by\nl'Abate Guyard, Vic. Gen. of Montalbano.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nFlowers fade quickly if they are much handled, but if they are not\ntouched they may be preserved a long time.--_A Kempis_.\n\nThe root of the plant is hidden under ground and trodden under foot;\nit has neither odour nor beauty, and yet it gives life to the flower.\nThus a humble soul may, like Mary, be despised, it may be trodden\nupon, forgotten; but this is the way for it to produce flowers and\nfruits for eternal life.--_Nouet_.\n\nThe lily is the symbol of chastity; it preserves its whiteness and\nsweetness in the midst of thorns, so long as it is left untouched, but\nas soon as ever it is plucked it emits so overpowering an odour that\nit causes headache.--_St. Francis of Sales_.\n\nWhiteness is not an essential property of the rose--indeed, red roses\nare more beautiful and of sweeter odour; but it is the property of the\nlily. Let us endeavour to be what we are, and as justly and perfectly\nas possible, that we may do honour to our Maker.--_The same_.\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_The edifying Death of St. Jane Frances de Chantal._\n\nIt was on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary that this\nSaint was attacked by the first serious symptoms of her fatal illness.\nOn the eve of the feast she was in the refectory, and after the\nblessing of the table she knelt down, and with her arms in the form of\na cross repeated twice these words: _O Mater Dei, memento mei_. She\nthen commented upon these words thus: 'Holy Mother of God, by your\nImmaculate Conception, remember me and assist me always, especially at\nthe hour of my death.' She remained for a long time afterwards in the\nsame posture, absorbed in profound recollection.\n\nThe following day she was confined to her bed to rise no more. Her\nillness increasing every hour, she knew that her end approached, and\nthought only of preparing herself to appear before God. She received\nthe last Sacraments with striking fervour, and preserved her calmness\nand serenity amidst the tears and sobs of all the community. During\nher intense sufferings she was heard to address the following prayer\nto the Most Holy Virgin: 'O Mary, Mother of Grace, Mother of Mercy,\ndefend me from the snares of the infernal enemy, and receive my soul\ninto your hands at the moment of my death.' She kept a picture of her\nProtectress always near her bed; and when her speech failed she made\ngreat efforts to turn her eyes frequently towards this dear picture,\nand before she breathed her last asked to kiss it once more, and to\nhave it buried with her in the tomb.\n\n_Prayer._--O Mary, the purest of Virgins! terrified at my weakness and\nat the dangers that surround me, I recommend to thy loving care with\nall confidence the chastity of my soul and body. Permit me not, O\nQueen of the Angels, to be defiled by the least stain after having\nbeen adorned with purity and innocence, like a vessel of honour and\nglory. Banish from my heart all sensual desires, evil thoughts, and\nirregular affections. To thy love, O my good Mother, do I confide my\nheart; purify it, render it worthy to be offered to thy Beloved Son,\nthat, having here on earth imitated thee in the most beautiful of thy\nvirtues, I may enjoy with thee for ever in heaven the happiness\npromised to the clean of heart. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--Grant, O my God, that through Mary I may belong\nentirely to Jesus!\n\n_Practice._--If you should meet with any contradiction to-day,\npreserve your peace of soul.\n\n\n\nSIXTH DAY.\n\nTHE ANNUNCIATION OF THE MOST HOLY VIRGIN.\n\nWE read in the Gospel that the Angel Gabriel visited Our Lady in the\ntown of Nazareth; and, as the word 'Nazareth' signifies 'flowers,'\nwell is the Church represented in this town! What, in fact, is the\nChurch but a house or a town adorned with flowers? All actions\nperformed according to her laws are as so many flowers.\nMortifications, humiliations, prayers--in short, all pious exercises\nare acts of virtue, which, like most beautiful flowers, diffuse a\npleasing fragrance before God. Most justly, then, may we call the\nChristian religion a garden of flowers, that are delightful to the\nsight and most salutary to those who breathe the air impregnated by\ntheir fragrance. Our Lady herself was a flower distinguished for\nbeauty and excellence above all other flowers--a flower of\nincomparable fragrance, possessed of the power of producing many other\nflowers: _Hortus conclusus, soror mea, sponsa--'Thou,'_ says the\nsacred Spouse in the Canticles, _'art a garden enclosed:'_ a garden\nall studded with the most magnificent flowers that can be produced.\nNow, tell me to whom belong so many charming and sweet-scented\nflowers, with which the Church is so gloriously adorned, but to the\nMost Holy Virgin, since they were produced by her example? It is\nthrough her that Holy Church is so well furnished with roses in the\nmartyrs who were invincible in their constancy; with every kind of\nflower, in the confessors who were nursed in her bosom; and with sweet\nviolets, in so many holy widows, who lowly, humble, and hidden,\ndiffuse the most odoriferous sweetness. In fine, is it indeed not to\nher that belong, in a special manner, so many lilies of purity and\nspotless virginity, innocent souls, bright and clear as a resplendent\nmirror? There can be no doubt, that if so many virgins have\nconsecrated their hearts and bodies to His Divine Majesty, by\nindissoluble vows, it was that they might imitate the example of the\nMost Holy Virgin.\n\nShe was the first to consecrate her body, her heart, and her whole\nself to God, by the vow of virginity. Hardly had she been _drawn_ by\nGod than she quickly drew after her a large number of souls who\nconsecrated themselves to God in like manner, under her sacred\nauspices, in order that they might run in the way of inviolable\nchastity and virginity: _Adducentur regi virgines post eam_. You,\nbeloved souls, were seen by the glorious Virgin, when she exclaimed:\n_Curremus--'We shall run,_ thus assuring her Beloved that many would\nfollow her standard, and that under her protection they might combat\nand vanquish every kind of enemy.\n\nWhat an honour for us to be able to walk under the standard of the\nQueen of Virgins! Our Lady is undoubtedly the honour, the Protectress,\nand model of all Christians, of men and women of all classes who live\nvirtuously; yet, undoubtedly, young virgins contract by their\nvirginity a closer alliance with her than other Christians, for their\nresemblance to her in purity enables them more easily and more closely\nto approach her. [1]\n\nIt is said that when the Angel came down from heaven to venerate the\nspotless Virgin, and announce to her the Incarnation of the Son of God\nin her most chaste womb, she was alone in her room. Faithful souls are\nhere instructed to have a love of retirement from the world, but this\nis not enough; they ought also to retire within themselves that they\nmay lead a solitary life, and thus render themselves better prepared\nto enjoy the conversation of their Beloved. Each should look upon his\nheart as a celestial cabinet where he lives alone with Him. O faithful\nsouls, if you conceal yourselves thus, the Angels will know how to\nfind you, as the Archangel Gabriel found Mary because she was alone.\n\nNothing should be so pleasing to holy virgins and to true Religious as\nthis state of withdrawal, because they then contemplate better the\nbeauty of their Divine Spouse dwelling in the depths of their hearts.\nOn this account the Psalmist said that 'All the beauty of the King's\nDaughter is within'--_Omnis gloria filiae regis ab intus_. The\ngreatest diligence is necessary to preserve and increase this interior\nbeauty, and at the same time to guard it continually from everything\nthat could tarnish it, remembering that although men see only the\nexterior, the Divine Spouse penetrates into the inmost recesses of the\nheart. This is the motive which induces the loving spouse (I speak of\na soul consecrated to the Divine service, in order to please God\nalone), to live retired within her own heart, and thus prepare an\nacceptable abode for His Divine Majesty. It is on this account that\nsolitude is so much recommended to religious persons; its utility is\nseen by the diligence with which Our Lady practised it, and which\nmerited for her the sublime privilege of being chosen to be the Mother\nof God!\n\nOur Lord being the only rest of those who have abandoned all worldly\ncares in order to listen to Him speaking to their hearts in solitude,\nit follows that if they do not attend to the interior word of Jesus\nChrist that solitude becomes a long martyrdom to them. Instead of\nbeing the habitation of peace and tranquillity their solitude is a\ncause of sadness and disquiet.\n\nThose who lead like Martha a life of great activity may still enjoy\nthe tranquillity of Mary, if they are careful to refer all their works\nto God: this _one aim_ being _the eye which touches the heart of the\nDivine Spouse_. In order not to lose the security of our habitation,\nwe must seek it, not so much in a _cell_, as in _God Himself_. Thrice\nhappy are they who dwell in this House, which not only belongs to God,\nbut is God Himself, for He will be their abiding rest throughout ages\nof ages.\n\n\n[1] _It is the opinion of a Doctor of the Church that the Holy Virgin\nMary instituted some congregations of young girls, and that when she\nlived at Ephesus with the Apostle St. John she gave rules and\nconstitutions to one of them. How happy were those Religious to have\nbeen instituted by the Queen of Doctors, who gathered her wisdom from\nher Son, who is the Wisdom of the Eternal Father!_--'Month of Mary.'\n_St. Francis of Sales._\n\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nWhatever flower the bee rests upon, it always extracts honey from it.\nSo will it be with an interior soul: if she never leave her home but\nwhen it is necessary for the glory of God, she will always return to\nit laden with the honey of good works.--_A Father of the Desert._\n\nWhen grace speaks it is time to act, not to hold discourse. Long\nprayers unaccompanied by mortification are nothing in the sight of\nGod, but time spent uselessly.--_St. Teresa._\n\nWhoever abandons prayer casts himself into hell.--_The same._\n\nHoly prayer is a water of benediction, which refreshes the plants of\nour good desires and makes them flourish. It washes our souls from\ntheir imperfections, and extinguishes the fire of passion in our\nhearts.--_St. Francis of Sales._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_St. Bernard's Love for Mary._\n\nThe luminous star of the Middle Ages, St. Bernard, who was the soul of\nthe Crusades instituted for the defence of religion and of civilized\nEurope, the counsellor of Bishops, Popes, and Kings, may be said to\nhave had infused into him at his baptism a special devotion to the\nMost Holy Virgin. In his tenderest infancy he leaped for joy when he\nsaw by chance a picture of Mary, or when he heard her name pronounced.\nHe was ever thinking of her, and wished everyone to be speaking to him\nalways of her. To correct in him those defects which are common to\nchildhood, it sufficed to tell him that such and such a thing was\ndispleasing to Mary, and he immediately took care not to repeat the\nfault, and he eagerly embraced those practices of piety which he was\ntold were dear to her. She, on her side, did not delay to manifest the\ncare she took of him, and undoubtedly the great love he had for holy\npurity was a special gift from the Queen of Virgins. Other favours,\nhowever, were in store for him in the hands of his powerful\nbenefactress.\n\nOn Christmas Eve the young Bernard was waiting in the church with his\nrelations for the commencement of the midnight service, when, having\ninclined his head, he fell into a kind of ecstasy, and saw in spirit,\nby means of supernatural light, the mystery of Bethlehem, and he\nquietly contemplated the Divine Infant miraculously born from the\nvirginal womb of His Mother. This vision penetrated him with so warm a\nfeeling of gratitude towards Jesus and Mary, that he immediately\npromised to consecrate himself entirely to their love and service\nhenceforth. The writings of St. Bernard breathe a tender piety towards\nMary, and unite all the most beautiful and moving expressions of love\nand veneration for her, which were written in former ages, and he\nunited in his heart all the affections of the most zealous of her\nservants. With what respect, confidence, and love towards this good\nMother are we penetrated when we read the pious works that he has\nwritten for her glory! His emotion, when under the influence of these\nsentiments, frequently rapt him in ecstasy.\n\n_Prayer of St. Andrew of Crete._--Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord\nis with you! Hail you, O source of our joy! through you the sentence\nof our condemnation was changed into a sentence of benediction! Hail,\nO Temple of the glory of God, sacred dwelling of the King of the\nheavenly kingdom! You are truly blessed amongst all women, because you\nwere chosen to be the Mother of your Creator, and all nations shall\ncall you blessed.\n\nO Mary, I place in you a holy confidence, and from you I expect my\nsalvation. I shall walk without fear in the midst of all my enemies,\nif you will deign to number me amongst those whom you protect. Sincere\nlove of you is the safest weapon with which to fight and overcome;\nnumber me, then, amongst your children, for I have chosen you for my\ntender Mother. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--_Sub tuum praesidium confugimus, sancta Dei Genitrix_--We\nput ourselves under your powerful protection, O Holy Mother of God!\n\n_Practice._--Recite to-day the _Angelus_ with great fervour.\n\n\n\nSEVENTH DAY.\n\nTHE EXCELLENCE OF THE VIRGINITY OF MARY.\n\nLET us consider attentively the virtues that were practised by the\nMost Holy Virgin on the day of her glorious Annunciation. The first\nwas virginity and purity so perfect that nothing can be compared to it\namongst the purest creatures. Secondly, a most profound humility,\nunited with a most ardent charity.\n\nAlthough the angelic virtue of perfect chastity belongs more\nparticularly to Angels than to men, nevertheless, Our Lady infinitely\nsurpassed all the Angels in this virtue, because it possessed three\ngreat excellences not conceded to the Angels.\n\nThe first is that in Mary it is fruitful, whilst in the Angels it is\nsterile. The virginity of Mary is not only fruitful in having produced\nand borne the sweet fruit of life, our Blessed Saviour, but it is\nfruitful also because it produces a multitude of virgins, for (as we\nobserved in the preceding consideration) if so many young persons\ndedicate and consecrate their purity to God, it is that they may\nfollow her example. But the pure virginity of Mary not only possesses\nthe property of being fruitful, it can also restore virginal purity in\nthose souls who have defiled this virtue by the contrary vice. In her\nlifetime she had already called many virgins to follow her, who became\nher inseparable companions; among others, St. Martha and St. Marcella.\nBut it was also through her means that St. Mary Magdalen, who had been\nthe scandal of Jerusalem, was enrolled after her conversion under the\nstandard of virginal purity, and became like a brilliant crystal vase,\ncapable of receiving and containing the most precious waters of grace.\n\nThe virginity of Our Lady, therefore, is not sterile, like that of the\nAngels, but it is so fruitful that from the moment she vowed it to\nGod, until the present time, it has always borne its fruit. A soul\nthat is perfectly dedicated to the service of God is never alone; many\nothers, drawn by the sweetness of its perfumes, flock after to copy\nits example. It is on this account that the Spouse says to her\nBeloved: _Trahe me post te, curremus--'Draw me and we shall run.'_\n\nSecondly, the virginity and chastity of the Blessed Virgin surpassed\nthat of the Angels in this, that they are chaste by nature; and we do\nnot, properly speaking, praise a person for the gifts of nature, since\npraise is not due where there is no merit. But the virginity of the\nMost Holy Virgin is, on the contrary, worthy of praise, because it was\nchosen and preferred by her, and consecrated by her to God. Although\nshe was united in marriage to St. Joseph, it was without any prejudice\nto her virginity, because he to whom she was espoused had also\nconsecrated his virginity to God.\n\nThirdly, the virginity of Our Lady surpassed that of the Angels,\nbecause it was subjected to the severest trials, whilst that of the\nAngels could never be tempted or tried. In this sense St. Augustine,\naddressing the Angels, says: 'It is not difficult for you, O blessed\nspirits! to be pure and remain virgins, because you neither are, nor\ncan be, tempted.'\n\nSome may, perhaps, wonder that I have said that the purity of Our Lady\nwas exposed to the severest trials; and yet so it was. But we must not\nsuppose that these trials were similar to our own. As she was all\npurity, these assaults could not be like our own. The temptations\nwhich come to us, who, unhappily, bear their incentives within our\nhearts, could never have ventured to approach that wall of her\nvirginal integrity. But was it not a great trial for Our Lady when the\nAngel appeared to her in human form? And did she not manifest this in\nthe fear and perturbation which assailed her, so that the Angel was\nobliged to reassure her in these words: _Ne timeas, Maria--'Fear not,\nMary'?_ By them he wished to remove the disquiet which her virginal\npurity suffered; it was as if he were to say: You see me in human\nform, but I am no man, nor do I come to you on the part of any man.\n\nModesty, says a holy Doctor, is, as it were, the sacristan of\nchastity. The sacristan of a church keeps an eye always to the altars,\nthat nothing may be stolen, and he fastens the door with care. In like\nmanner virginal souls are jealous to preserve this virtue unspotted,\nand no sooner do they perceive danger, or even the shadow of danger,\nthan they are quickly alarmed. Thus it was with the Most Blessed\nVirgin, who was not only the Virgin _par excellence_ of all in heaven\nand on earth, but also the most humble of all, and she manifested in\nthis mystery of the Annunciation, the most sublime act of humility\nthat a pure creature could make. When she heard herself called by the\nAngel _full of grace_, and received the announcement that she should\nbecome the Mother of a Son Who was to be both God and Man, she was\ntroubled, and filled with fear; because, although she had conversed\nfamiliarly with the Angels, she had never heard them utter a single\nword in her praise.\n\nThe Most Holy Virgin would here teach us the dangers to which purity\nis exposed by the desire of praise. Humility is the inseparable and\nnecessary companion of virginity, which could not long be maintained\nin a soul that was not humble. It is true that in persons who live in\nthe world one of these virtues may subsist without the other, as we\nsee in the married life, but in regard to virgins, it must be\nabsolutely asserted that one who does not profess both these virtues\nhas neither of them except in appearance.\n\nOur Lady, being reassured by the Angel, and having understood what her\nLord had decreed to work within her, made a sublime act of humility,\nsaying: _Ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum--'Behold\nthe handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to Thy word.'_\nIt was thus she expressed herself at the very moment when she saw\nherself raised to the sublimest dignity that can be imagined. An\nincomparable dignity, indeed, is that of Mother of God, but it does\nnot disturb the humility of Mary. Although she is raised above all\ncreatures, nevertheless she simply declares that she is, and ever will\nbe, the servant of His Divine Majesty; and to show the truth of her\nprotest she adds: _Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum:_ 'Be it done unto\nme according to Thy word.' She abandons herself to the Divine Will,\nand proclaims that of her own choice she would never have come forth\nfrom her state of humility and lowly self-esteem. How well did the\nMost Holy Virgin know that humility is ever the inseparable and\nnecessary companion of virginity!\n\nAlthough, as we have said, humility and virginity can dwell singly in\npersons who live in the world, yet such a separation can never be made\nbetween humility and charity, these virtues being absolutely\ninseparable. They are like the ladder of Jacob, by which the Angels\nascended and descended. This was not done simultaneously, but\nalternately; the Angels descending first, and then ascending\nafterwards. Similarly, as soon as humility has abased us, charity\nquickly raises us up towards heaven. It might seem that the virtue of\nhumility in some degree removes us from God, Who is at the summit of\nthis mysterious ladder, because it causes us to descend very low in\nself-abasement. On the contrary, however, in proportion as we lower\nourselves we become more and more worthy to mount towards the summit\nof this mystical ladder of perfection, where our Heavenly Father\nawaits us. Our Lady, then, obtained the dignity of Mother of God by\nabasing herself, and acknowledging herself unworthy of it; for\nscarcely had she protested her lowliness, and abandoned herself, by an\nact of incomparable charity, to the Divine Will, than the mystery was\naccomplished. If we thus regulate our conduct, and, in imitation of\nMary, unite virginity with humility, we shall be certainly helped by\ncharity. This Divine gift will lift us up the mystical ladder of\nJacob, and introduce us into the presence of the Eternal Father, Who\nwill enrich us with every kind of heavenly consolation. We shall sing\ncanticles of Divine praise with our most holy Patroness, and eternally\nglorify Our Lord for the grace we have obtained to imitate her\nvirtues, and fight under her standard.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nHumility made the Son of God descend from Heaven into the immaculate\nbosom of Mary, and by the same virtue we may also cause Him to descend\ninto our souls.--_St. Teresa._\n\nIt is not humility to acknowledge ourselves to be miserable, for this\nneeds but a little understanding of our condition, but to _wish_ and\n_desire_ to be treated as such is true Christian humility.--_St.\nFrancis of Sales._\n\nWe ought never to make use of our heart, eyes, and words for the\nindulgence of our own humours and inclinations, but only for the\nservice of the Celestial Spouse.--_The same._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_The Love of St. Alphonsus for Mary._\n\nThe love of St. Alphonsus Liguori for the Blessed Virgin Mary was so\nburning that he desired to inflame with it the hearts of all mankind.\nHe was often heard to say: 'O men, what are you doing? Why so much\naffection for earthly creatures, for false deceivers, who make you\nlose both body and soul, both Paradise and God? How is it you love not\nMary, who is ever most amiable, most loving, and most faithful; and\nwho, after having enriched you with consolations and graces in this\nlife, will obtain for you from her Divine Son the eternal glory of\nParadise?'\n\nHe loved her so tenderly from his childhood, that one day he said to\nher quite simply: 'O my sweet Virgin Mary, I do not wish that there\nshould be anyone in the world who loves and hononrs you more than I\ndo;' and this desire of his heart was fully gratified. He thought of\nher even in sleep, and made use of this tender aspiration: 'O Mary,\nhow beautiful you are! O how beautiful you are!' No one could speak to\nhim without receiving a recommendation to be devout to Mary. 'Be\ndevout to the Holy Virgin Mary,' he would say; 'whoever is devout to\nher will certainly be saved.' He inculcated the pious practices of\nvisiting her images, reciting the Rosary, and fasting in her honour,\non Saturdays and on the vigils of her festivals. But in a special\nmanner he wished all to recite, every morning and evening, three _Ave\nMarias_ in commemoration of her Immaculate Conception and perpetual\nvirginity, adding this ejaculation to each Ave Maria: 'By your sacred\nvirginity and Immaculate Conception, O Mary, obtain for me purity and\nsanctity of soul and body.' He gave pictures of her to everyone,\nsaying: 'Here is the image of your Heavenly Mother; give her your love\nand confidence.' At other times he repeated: 'Love the good Virgin\nmuch, because Mary is the Mother of perseverance; and whoever loves\nJesus and Mary will become holy.'\n\n_Prayer._--O Mary! you are truly the valiant woman in whom the Lord\nfound rest, and whom He has chosen to be the depositary of all His\ntreasures. The universe honours you as the most pure sanctuary of the\nDivinity, the true Temple of the Lord, in which was begun the\nsalvation of the world, and in which took place the grand\nreconciliation between God and man. You are that privileged field\nwhich sin could not enter and devastate; you are that magnificent\ngarden in which Our Lord planted all the flowers that adorn His\nChurch. You, O Mary, are the Paradise of God, whence springs the\nfountain of living water which waters and fructifies the earth: obtain\nfor me, by your powerful intercession, that, being washed in this most\npure water, I may be admitted with you to the nuptials of the\nImmaculate Lamb. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--Most pure Virgin, pray for us.\n\n_Practice._--In temptations against holy purity invoke Mary, Virgin\nand Mother.\n\n\n\nEIGHTH DAY.\n\nTHE VISITATION.\n\nTHOUGH Mary had thus humbled herself before God, she did not stop\nthere, because she knew that humility and charity do not attain their\nhighest degree of perfection until, for God's sake, they are exercised\nin behalf of our neighbour. True fraternal charity proceeds from the\nlove of God, and in proportion as this increases, the love of our\nneighbour becomes more intense. The Apostle of Charity teaches us this\ntruth, when he says: _Qui enim non diliget fratrem suum quem vidit,\nDeum quem non videt, quomodo potest deligere?_--'For he that loveth\nnot his brother whom he seeth, how can he love God whom he seeth not?'\nIf we desire, then, to show our love to God, we must love our\nneighbour, we must serve him, help him, and relieve him in his\nnecessities according to our power. How profoundly was the Blessed\nVirgin penetrated with this truth! No sooner had she heard that her\ncousin had conceived in her old age, than she arose and went with\nhaste (the Gospel says, _cum festinatione_) over the mountains of\nJudea to the city of Ephrem.\n\nConsider that Mary is become the Mother of the Son of God, and having\nwith all humility and sweetness obtained leave of her Holy Spouse to\ngo and visit her cousin Elizabeth, she bade a painful adieu to all her\nneighbours. With great eagerness did the Most Holy Virgin undertake\nher long and fatiguing journey, as the Gospel says, she _went with\nhaste!_ The first movements of Him Whom she bears in her womb\nincreased her fervour, and she began her journey with haste but\nwithout mental flurry. The Angels are ready to accompany her, and St.\nJoseph gladly conducts her. One would wish to have known something of\nthe conversation of these two great souls, and willingly should we\nlisten to the account thereof. It is probable that the Holy Virgin\nconversed only of Him Whom she bore within her, and breathed only for\nher Saviour. St. Joseph, on his side, thinks only of his Redeemer, Who\nmoves his heart with a thousand sentiments and affections. As wine\nlocked up in the cellar acquires the scent of the flowery vines, so\nthe heart of this Holy Patriarch insensibly participates in the\nperfume and the vigour of the Divine Infant Who blooms in His\nbeautiful vineyard. The profound humility which Mary exercised in\nserving one who was in every respect her inferior, is indeed most\nworthy of our admiration. It is true that Elizabeth was of noble\nbirth, because she was of the royal race of David, and was, moreover,\nunited in marriage to the High Priest of the tribe of Levi. However,\nthis nobility is nothing in comparison with that of the Most Holy\nVirgin, whose incomparable greatness can only be expressed by the\ntitle of Mother of God--_Mater Dei_--and yet where can we find more\nprofound humility? Her humble heart is not satisfied with calling\nherself the handmaid of the Lord, but she leaves her house, and for\nthree entire months is as a handmaid to her venerable cousin. The\nGospel, moreover, gives us to understand that when the Divine Mother\nentered the house of Zacharias she was the first to give the\nsalutation, and this through her great humility: _Intravit in domum\nZachariae et salutavit Elizabeth_.\n\nRemark also the conduct of Our Lady amidst the praises and blessings\nwhich Elizabeth bestowed upon her. Assuredly it was very different\nfrom that of women in the world, who instead of humbling themselves\nwhen they are praised, become more puffed up. Was it not vanity that\npossessed our poor mother Eve, who, on hearing that she was created to\nthe image and likeness of God, became thereby so presumptuous that she\nstrove to become equal to Him, and gave ear to all the suggestions of\nthe infernal enemy? But as the Most Holy Virgin had come into the\nworld to regain all that Eve had lost by her vanity and pride, she\nthinks only of the abyss of her nothingness, and calls herself the\nhandmaid of the Lord, although proclaimed by the Angel His Mother;\nwhen she is declared by Elizabeth to be the most blessed of women, she\nreplies that her blessings are accorded because the Lord has looked\ndown upon her lowliness and her littleness: _Quia respexit humilitatem\nancillae suae_. What an excellent sign is humility of heart in a soul\nthat has made progress in the spiritual life! When such souls humble\nthemselves before God and before all creatures, in proportion to the\ngreatness of the favours received, and place all their happiness, like\nMary, in this alone, that the Divine Goodness has looked down upon\ntheir lowliness and misery, it is a sure indication that the graces of\nGod are not received in vain.\n\nThe effects of grace in the heart of the Most Blessed Virgin were a\nprofound humility and a burning charity towards God and towards her\nneighbour. The Apostle St. Paul in relating to us the love that our\nSaviour bore to the virtue of humility, says that 'He humbled Himself\nunto death, even to the death of the Cross'--_Humiliavit semetipsum\nusque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis;_ and he would have us learn from\nthis that we should not be satisfied to have practised this virtue in\nsome particular circumstances, nor for a certain time, but that we\nmust practise it always and on all occasions. We must practise this\nvirtue not only _until death_ but _unto the death of the Cross;_ that\nis to say, unto the perfect mortification of ourselves, humbling our\nself-esteem and our self-love. Let us not deceive ourselves by a\ncertain appearance of humility; as, for instance, in speaking of our\nimperfections, or in performing external acts of reverence and\nhumility, for the virtue of humility does not consist in this. True\nand Christian humility makes us esteem ourselves absolutely as\nnothing, as unworthy to live, as deserving only of universal contempt.\nIt moves us to embrace generously the precept of our Saviour, that we\nrenounce ourselves if we wish to follow Him: _Si quis vult post me\nvenire, abneget semetipsum._\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nHumility is the root of every virtue. As the flower receives its\nnourishment from the root, and withers when it is cut off from it, so\nvirtue, however perfect it may be, languishes and dies if it be not\nrooted in humility.--_Nouet._\n\nBees suck honey from the lily, the iris and the rose; but they draw it\nalso from the smallest flowers, such as rosemary and thyme. Indeed,\nthey gather more honey from the latter, and it is of a better quality;\nbecause more closely confined in the smaller flowers and better\npreserved. Thus is charity practised, both more frequently and with\nmore humility, in lowly exercises of devotion, and consequently with\ngreater perfection and holiness.--_Francis of Sales._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_The Pilgrimage of St. Francis of Sales to Loreto._\n\nSt. Francis of Sales was always thinking of the honour of the Most\nBlessed Virgin, and had made a vow from his youth to visit the holy\nChapel of Loreto. In his travels through Italy, made by order of his\nfather, his great desire was to fulfil the promise he had made to\nvenerate the Most Holy Virgin in the Sanctuary where she had received\nthe visit of the Angel and the sublime dignity of becoming the Mother\nof God, and he did so with wonderful piety. He was rapt in admiration\nin beholding those walls that had enclosed such wonders. He prayed\nmotionless for a long time before the Altar of the Queen of Heaven,\nthanking her devoutly for all she had done for himself, exhorting her\nto continue her holy protection, and renewing his promise to imitate\nher angelic virtue of purity during his whole life. Ineffable were the\ngraces and consolations that he then received; his mind was illumined\nby celestial light, and his heart was inflamed with such ardent\ncharity, that from that moment nothing appeared to him impossible,\nwhen there was question of the glory of God and the salvation of\nsouls.\n\n_Prayer of St. Germanus._--Hail Mary! you are the hope of Christians,\nand it is in this quality that I turn myself to you. Receive, O tender\nMother, the prayer addressed to you by a poor sinner, but a penitent\nsinner, who honours you, and who, after God, places in you all his\nhope for his conversion and salvation. I am indebted to you for so\nmany graces, but grant me, I beseech you, one grace more. Confirm me\nand establish me in the grace and love of your Divine Son. You are the\nconsolation of the afflicted; deign, then, to intercede in my favour\nwith your Divine Son, my Saviour, Jesus, that He may deliver me from\nthe burden of my sins, dissipate the darkness of my understanding,\nremove every irregular affection from my heart, and restrain all the\nefforts and temptations of my enemies, that, being aided by this\ngrace, I may henceforth so order my life that, under your protection,\nI may arrive at the happy port of eternal life. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--O Holy Virgin! may I always remember you, and have\nrecourse to you in all my necessities.\n\n_Practice._--Visit the altar of Mary, either in the church or in your\nroom, to obtain from her sorrow for your sins.\n\n\n\nNINTH DAY.\n\nTHE CHARITY OF MARY IN THE VISITATION.\n\nWE must not imagine that the Blessed Virgin Mary was moved to\nundertake this long journey to visit her cousin, St. Elizabeth, by\ncuriosity to know if what the Angel had told her were true, for she\nhad not the slightest doubt of it. Our Blessed Lady was moved by a\nsecret impulse of God, Who wished to commence the work of Redemption\nand the sanctification of souls in this visit, by the sanctification\nof the infant St. John.\n\nThe most ardent charity and most profound humility animated her, and\ngave her wings to fly across the mountains of Judea, and these two\nvirtues were also the cause of her journey. As St. Ambrose says,\ncharity or grace knows no delays nor cold deliberations: _Nescit tarda\nmolimina sancti spiritus gratiae_. It need not therefore surprise us\nif the Most Holy Virgin, filled as she was with charity (because she\nbore in her womb Him Who is Love itself), should exercise it in\ncontinual acts towards God, to Whom she was closely united by the\nsacred bond of perfect love, and towards her neighbours, whom she\nloved so tenderly and sincerely that she sighed for the salvation and\nsanctification of the whole world. She went with all alacrity, because\nshe knew with what happy results her visit would be attended, in the\nperson of St. John, and also because she wished to congratulate her\ncousin who, notwithstanding her age and sterility, had conceived the\nlong-predicted precursor of the Word Incarnate. She went that they\nmight rejoice together, and excite each other to glorify the God of\nall mercy, and to thank Him for so many favours and benedictions.\n\nSt. Luke would teach us by the words, _Exurgens Maria abiit cum\nfestinatione in montana in civitatem Juda_--'Mary arose and went into\nthe mountain country with haste, into a city of Judea'--the care and\nreadiness with which we also ought to correspond to the Divine\ninspirations. As it is the work of the Holy Spirit to banish all\ntepidity and negligence from the heart, so He would have us execute\nHis Divine Will with all care and diligence, and He is offended by any\nkind of delay. The virginal purity of Mary, which so dearly loved\nsolitude, also caused her to go with haste, for the best protection\nfor virginal purity is to appear as little as possible in the tumult\nof the world.\n\nHaving reached the house of Zachary, she entered it. She saluted\nElizabeth. The Evangelist does not relate that she saluted Zachary\nalso, for her love of purity was so great that she spoke little with\nmen. Let virgins learn from this that they cannot take too great care\nfor the preservation of this virtue.\n\nWho can imagine the sweet fragrance of this most beautiful lily in the\nhouse of Zachary during the three months that she remained there? How\nwell did she spend every instant! What honey, what precious balsam,\nmust those sacred lips have distilled in the few but excellent words\nthat they uttered! Indeed, Mary could speak only that which filled her\nheart, and _that_ was Jesus!\n\nLet us consider the meaning of the words, that 'Elizabeth was filled\nwith the Holy Ghost'--_Et repleta est Spiritu Sancto Elisabeth_--that\nElizabeth, who had already received the Holy Ghost with all His gifts,\nreceived a new fulness and a new increase of grace by this visit.\nAlthough the Lord grants His graces to the just _in full measure_,\nyet, as the Gospel says, this measure can be so augmented as to\noverflow on all sides: _Mensuram bonam confertam et coagitatam et\nsupereffluentem dabunt in sinum vestrum._\n\nLet us well understand this important truth. The grace of the Holy\nGhost can never be granted to us in this life in such full measure\nthat it cannot be augmented; therefore, let us beware of saying: 'It\nis enough; I am sufficiently enriched with graces and virtues.\n_Mensura conferta est_--the measure is filled up, further progress in\nmortification is unnecessary.' He who should speak thus would only\nshow too clearly his misery, or, rather, his presumption, and the\ngreat danger to which he exposes himself. _Omni habenti dabitur et\nabundabit, ei autem qui non habet et quod videtur habere auferetur ab\neo_. This text signifies that to him who has received much--that is to\nsay, who has laboured much, and never gives up--much shall be given.\nSuch a one believes that he has never done enough; but, conscious of\nhis own misery, he continues to labour with holy and sincere humility.\n_He, then, who possesses much, shall receive with usury, and\nsuperabundantly;_ but from him who profits not by the grace received,\nletting it lie idle and fruitless, because he believes he is rich\nenough, _from him shall be taken that which he thinketh himself to\npossess and that which he does not possess_. This means, that graces\nalready received shall be taken away, because he has not traded with\nthem, and those which have been prepared for him shall not be bestowed\nupon him, since he has rendered himself unworthy of them by his\nnegligence. All this, however, is not to be understood of _sufficient_\ngrace, which is never denied by God to anyone, but of _efficacious_\ngrace, which, by a just judgment of God, is not granted to tepid and\nungrateful souls.\n\nThe thirst for riches and honours, by which worldlings are tormented,\nnever allows them to say, _Enough_. And yet they ought to be contented\nwith a little, for experience teaches us that the highest dignities\nand honours and great wealth frequently occasion the loss of souls. It\nis in regard of such temporal matters that we should say, _I have\nsufficient_. But, with regard to spiritual goods, let us never believe\nthat we possess them in sufficient abundance, so long as we remain in\nthis land of exile, but let us make every possible effort _to advance\nday by day from virtue to virtue_.\n\nExperience teaches us that plants and fruits do not attain maturity\nuntil they have produced their seeds, which are necessary for the\nreproduction of their species. In the same way our virtues will never\nbe sufficiently perfected, or reach their maturity, until they produce\nwithin us an ardent desire to make further progress. This desire is\nthe spiritual seed which produces new degrees of virtue.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nMary is a most beautiful rose, which dared not open its petals even to\nthe gentle breeze of an Angel!--_St. Ambrose._\n\nHow precious and how delicate a flower is purity! A sigh, a look, a\nword is enough to wither it! On this account chaste souls continually\ndistrust themselves, and flee from the slightest occasions of\ndanger.--_Nouet._\n\nThe rose is the symbol of love and charity; its petals are red, and\nformed like a heart. Such should be the actions of the spouses of\nJesus Christ. They should have as many hearts as they have petals--\nthat is to say, hearts full of love, and like petals in the little\nesteem they should have of their actions.--_St. Francis of Sales._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_Consecration of the Saturday to Mary._\n\nHoly Church is ever desirous to maintain a tender devotion in the\nhearts of the faithful towards the Most Blessed Virgin, and from the\nearliest ages of Christianity she has encouraged the consecration of\nthe Saturday to her. It is related that there was in the church of\nSanta Sofia at Constantinople a picture of the Mother of God which was\nveiled during the rest of the week, but on Friday evening the veil was\nraised without human aid, and lowered on the evening of Saturday. Thus\ndid Almighty God manifest His Will that _Saturday_ should be dedicated\nto Mary. It was on Saturday she took so great a part in the work of\nour redemption, and it was fitting that on the morrow of the day when\nshe so bitterly wept over the sorrowful scene of Calvary we should\nremember her tears shed for us in a special manner. Again, on Saturday\nGod rested from His work in the creation of the world, and the Church\nconsecrates this day to her, to honour the mysterious repose of the\nHoly Ghost in her Immaculate Heart, and that of Our Blessed Saviour in\nher chaste womb. Saturday is the introduction to Sunday--the symbol of\neternal rest--and the Holy Virgin is truly invoked under the title of\n'Gate of Heaven'--_Janua Coeli_.\n\nSaturday, moreover, is the day between Friday, the day of mourning,\nand Sunday, the day of joy--and the Holy Virgin is the mediatrix\nbetween God, Who is Eternal Beatitude, and man, who is subject to\nendless evils and miseries. Mary is the way to arrive at Jesus, and\nSaturday is a prelude to the solemnity of Sunday. Saturday is as a\nmagnificent portal consecrated to the Mother of God, by which we enter\nthe Sanctuary of God Himself. The Saints held this day in great\nesteem--on it they redoubled their pious exercises--and many begged,\nas a signal favour, that they might die on a Saturday.\n\n_Prayer._--O Sovereign Queen of Angels! you are the Mother of Orphans,\nas your faithful servant, St. Bonaventure, says: _Mater Orphanorum_.\nSinners are truly orphans--for they have had the misfortune to lose\ntheir God, the most tender of Fathers. To you, therefore, I have\nrecourse, O Mother of Mercy. I have had the misfortune to lose my true\nFather, by sin; and yet, since you have not abandoned me, O my Mother,\nI feel a lively hope that through your goodness you will deign to\nintercede for me, and reconcile me to my Father, Whom I have so\ngrievously offended. O Holy Virgin! he alone can perish who does not\nhave recourse to you. I confess, indeed, that I am a most unworthy\nsinner, and, nevertheless, to you do I fly, animated by sweet\nconfidence in your love. Your mercy is greater than all my miseries;\nand, although my iniquities are enormous, they will never exhaust the\ntreasures of your Son's mercy, nor your own. I sincerely detest, from\nmy heart, all my sins, and hope, through your intercession, for a\ngeneral pardon. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--O Mother of God and my Mother, the confidence I place\nin you is to me a pledge of my eternal salvation.\n\n_Practice._--Let all your prayers and actions this day be offered in\nsuffrage for the holy souls in Purgatory.\n\n\n\nTENTH DAY.\n\nBY THE VISIT OF MARY, ELIZABETH IS FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST.\n\nLET us continue our Meditation on the sweet mystery of the Visitation.\n\nThe visit which this incomparable Virgin made to St. Elizabeth was not\nuseless, nor, like the visits of worldly people, a matter of ceremony.\nSuch visits result in harm to the conscience, in offences against\nchastity or charity. The Most Holy Virgin was induced to visit her\ncousin Elizabeth from pure motives of charity, and the days she spent\nwith her were not employed in useless occupations, but in praising and\nmagnifying God. How holy, pious, and devout was not this visit! It\nfilled the whole house of Zachary with the Holy Spirit, and admirable\neffects were produced in St. Elizabeth. The first effect was humility.\nAs soon as Our Lady appeared in the house of her cousin the Saint was\nfilled with astonishment at such a favour, and exclaimed: _Unde hoc\nmihi ut veniat Mater Domini mei ad me?_--'Whence is this to me, that\nthe Mother of my God should come unto me?' This is the virtue that the\nHoly Ghost first produces within us; a profound humility, which forces\nus to annihilate ourselves in the sight of the infinite greatness of\nGod, and acknowledge our own baseness and worthlessness.\n\nThe second effect was to confirm St. Elizabeth in faith, as is\ngathered from the words she ad dressed to the Most Holy Virgin:\n'Blessed art thou that hast believed; blessed art thou among women,\nand blessed is the fruit of thy womb'--_Beata es quae crededisti;\nbenedicta tu inter mulieres, et benedictus fructus ventris tui_.\nIndeed, one of the chief operations of the Holy Spirit is to ground us\nin faith and convert us entirely to God, and make us acknowledge Him\nas the Source of all the graces and blessings granted to mortal\nbeings.\n\nTruly may St. Elizabeth have said, you are blessed amongst all women,\nbut your blessedness proceeds from the Fruit of your womb, the God of\nblessings. We do not usually praise the fruit on account of the tree,\nbut the tree on account of the excellence of its fruit. Thus, although\nwe ought to render to the Most Holy Virgin a worship or veneration\nbeyond that which we render to the Saints, yet our homage and\nveneration should never equal that which we give to God. God alone\nshould be sovereignly adored; but, as the Most Holy Virgin is the\nMother of Our Saviour, and a co-operator in our redemption, she is\nworthy of such a special worship as all true Christians have ever\ngiven to her. When the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we love and\npraise God alone above all things, as our Sovereign Creator; and after\nHim, Mary, His Most Holy Mother.\n\nThe third effect that the Holy Ghost produces in those upon whom He\ndescends is a complete change of heart, as is represented in the joy\nof the Baptist yet unborn: _Ecce enim ut facta est vox salutationis\ntuae in auribus meis, exultavit infans in utero meo_--'Behold, as soon\nas the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears,' said Elizabeth to\nOur Lady, 'the Infant leaped in my womb.' Thus was St. John\nsanctified, going forth as it were out of himself, and casting himself\nbefore his Maker. And so it is with those who receive the Holy Spirit:\nthey go out of themselves and lose themselves in God; that is to say,\nthey live no longer according to nature and the senses, but they\nfollow the inspirations of grace. If you desire, then, to know whether\nyou have received the Holy Ghost, examine your actions.\n\nIt was through the intervention of Most Holy Mary that St. Elizabeth\nreceived the Holy Spirit. This teaches us that we should make use of\nher as a mediatrix with her Divine Son in order to obtain heavenly\ngraces. It is true that we can address ourselves directly to God in\nour petitions, without employing the mediation of the Most Holy Virgin\nor the Saints; but this is not according to the order ordained by God,\nWho wished that there should be a communication between us and His\nSaints. Hence the Church militant and triumphant form but one Church,\ndirected and governed equally, though differently, by God Himself; and\nHe wishes us to have recourse to Him through the Most Holy Virgin and\nthe Saints, and He bestows the most precious graces upon us by their\nintercession.\n\nFor the concluding point of this meditation we may add that it is of\nthe greatest advantage to our souls to be visited by the Most Blessed\nVirgin; and her visits are always accompanied by many blessings and\ngraces, as in the case of St. Elizabeth. O God! you will say, I do,\nindeed, desire that she would deign to honour me with one of her\nvisits during prayer, since her visits fill the soul with sweet\nconsolation. However, we must bear in mind that Mary often visits us\nwith inspirations and interior lights, to aid our progress in\nperfection; and these are precisely the visits that we are unwilling\nto receive.\n\nEndeavour to receive Holy Communion devoutly, and you will contract a\nspiritual relationship with the Most Holy Virgin, since the Most\nPrecious Body of Our Saviour, which we receive in Holy Communion, was\nformed by the Holy Ghost of her most pure blood.\n\nIn this manner, and by the imitation of her virtues, the relationship\nwhich you will contract with her will be much more excellent and more\npleasing to her than that of Elizabeth, which was merely of flesh and\nblood. Our Lord says: 'Whosoever shall do the will of My Father Who is\nin heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother' (Matt. xii. 50).\n\nIn order to have some share in the visits of this Holy Virgin, we must\nnot look for consolations, but generously resolve to accept even\ncontempt and sorrow. In fact, Mary did not visit St. Elizabeth until\nshe had suffered the ignominy and humiliation of her sterility. It is\nimpossible to lead a devout life without trouble, and merit is in\nproportion to suffering. Finally, if we desire to receive the favour\nof this visitation, we must be transformed; we must die to self, and\nlive only to God and for God: in a word, we must humble ourselves\nprofoundly, according to the example of St. Elizabeth. Be faithful\nthen, pious souls, in this exercise, during this short and miserable\nlife, that you may afterwards chant eternally in heaven with the Most\nHoly Virgin: _Magnificat anima mea Dominum!_--'My soul doth magnify\nthe Lord!'\n\nMy God! how ashamed I am to be still so full of myself, when I have so\noften come to Holy Communion! O dear Jesus! may we always bear Thee in\nour hearts, that we may no longer breathe but Thee? How is it that I\nam so little united to Thee, since Thou art always in me? Why do I\nstray so far from Thee, whilst Thou art always close to me? Thou\ndwellest in my heart, how is it that I do not abide in Thine?\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nChastity is the unblemished beauty of the Saints, which, like the\nrose, adorns the soul and body, and fills them with sweet and pleasing\nfragrance.--_St. Ephrem._\n\nA slight breath of wind suffices to make the flowers fall from the\ntrees in spring; and sometimes one flattering word, of itself, is\nenough to ruin a chaste soul, which is infinitely more delicate and\ntender than any flower.--_Nouet._\n\nAs the bee gathers from flowers the dew of heaven and the sweetest\njuice of the earth, forming it into honey and carrying it to its hive,\nso the Priest takes from the altar our Blessed Saviour (the true Son\nof God, Who descended like dew from heaven, and came forth from the\nVirgin Mary as a flower from the earth of our humanity), and places\nHim in your mouth, and He becomes to you a delicious and spiritual\nfood.--_St. Francis of Sales._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_Devotion of St. Thomas Aquinas to the 'Ave Maria.'_\n\nThe most tender devotion towards Mary was, as we may say, innate in\nSt. Thomas Aquinas. One day, when he was a little child, his nurse\nobserved that he kept a piece of paper in his hands, which she wished\nto take from him: but the child resisted with loud cries, and made\nevery effort to retain it. This singular resistance excited the\ncuriosity of his pious mother, the Countess Theodora. She therefore\ntook hold of the piece of paper, opened it, and found, to her\nsurprise, written upon it the Angelical Salutation. Whilst she was\nreading it, the infant redoubled his cries and tears, so that she was\nobliged to return it to him. Thomas had no sooner received it, than\nputting it into his mouth he swallowed it with great eagerness. This\nfact foreshadowed the devotion which the Saint ever had for the\nAngelical Salutation, on which he has left us a most pious and learned\ncommentary, full of the praises of Mary.\n\n_Prayer._--Holy Virgin and my tender Mother! You are the channel by\nwhich the graces of God reach us; you are the depositary of all\ncelestial treasures, and you yourself declare to us that you possess\nall the wealth of heaven, to enrich those that love you: _ut ditem\ndiligentes me_. O Divine Mother! you see that my poverty is great, and\nmy indigence extreme; but remember, I beseech you, that I trust in\nyou, and hope that you will be moved to compassionate my miseries, and\nto obtain for me a remedy. I love you, O Holy Virgin; you are, after\nGod, the great object of my affections. Have compassion on me then,\nand never abandon me to the snares of the enemies of my salvation, but\nsuccour me during the whole course of my life, and above all at the\nmoment of my death, so that I may come one day to your feet, in the\nabode of eternal happiness. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--O Holy Virgin, help those who groan in misery!\n\n_Practice._--Mortify self-love, by some act of obedience or meekness.\n\n\n\nELEVENTH DAY.\n\nHUMILITY OF MARY.\n\nTHE Blessed Virgin Mary surpassed all the Angels and Saints in\nperfection and merit; and of all creatures none as she was so pleasing\nto God. Who, indeed, ever possessed so ardent a charity and so\nprofound a humility? Where shall we find humility equal to that which\nappeared in Mary when, in answer to Elizabeth, she confessed that the\ncause of her happiness was that the Lord had deigned to regard the\nhumility of His handmaid, and that therefore all generations should\ncall her blessed?--_Quia respexit humilitatem anciliae suae; ecce enim\nex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generations_.\n\nMany Doctors of the Church are of opinion that, when Mary said, 'the\nLord hath regarded the humility of His handmaid,' it was not her\nintention to speak of her virtue of humility, because, although she\nwas profoundly humble, she did not believe herself to be so; but that\nshe thought only of her lowly state, her baseness, and abjection as a\ncreature of God, and of the nothingness from which she had been drawn.\nThere are others, however, who hold a contrary, and perhaps more\nprobable, opinion, and say that Our Lady intended to speak of her\nvirtue of humility, being well aware that it was this virtue that had\nattracted Our Saviour to her chaste womb. We may well believe that\nMary was aware that she possessed this virtue, and that she had no\nfear of losing it, being intimately persuaded that it was the effect\nof the grace of God within her and not of her own merits.\n\nIndeed, we find the great St. Paul acknowledging that he possessed the\nvirtue of charity, and in such decisive terms as would seem in others\npresumptuous rather than humble. He writes: 'Who shall separate me\nfrom the charity of Christ?'--_Quis me separabit a charitate Christi?_\n'Shall tribulation, or distress, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger,\nor persecution, or the sword? I am sure that neither death nor life\nnor Angels shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is\nin Christ Jesus our Lord.' See Rom. viii. 35-39.\n\nNotice the confidence with which this great Apostle speaks when he\nprotests that there is no power in the world, or in hell, that is\ncapable of separating him from the charity of his God. He believed\nthat he possessed this virtue of charity; and in speaking thus he\nconfided entirely in grace, and in his own merits _by grace_. The\nglorious Virgin knew well that the virtue of humility has more power\nto attract the Heart of God to our hearts than all other virtues. The\nDivine Spouse in the Canticles seems to signify this, when he\nexpresses his admiration for the beauty of the footsteps of his\nbeloved: _Quam pulchri sunt gressus tui in calceamentis, filia\nprincipis!_--'How beautiful are thy steps in shoes, O Prince's\ndaughter!' (Cant, vii. 1), and then enumerates her other beauties.\nJudith did not captivate Holofernes so much by the rare beauty of her\ncountenance and the splendour of her attire as by her sandals, or her\nshoes, which were probably embroidered with gold.\n\nIn like manner the Eternal Father, considering the variety of virtues\nthat adorned Our Lady, was in admiration of her beauty; but when He\ncast His eyes upon her sandals He was so pleased that He sent His Only\nSon to become Incarnate in her chaste womb. What is signified by these\nsandals or shoes of Mary but her humility? These articles are the\nleast valuable part of our attire, and the soonest covered with dust.\nNow, the spirit of true humility continually abases the souls who\npossess it, and annihilates them in their own eyes, and keeps them\nunder the feet of everyone. Such is the property of this virtue of\nhumility, which is the foundation of the whole spiritual life. It was\nthis lowliness that the Lord looked upon in the Most Holy Virgin with\nso much complacency, and this look of His formed her whole greatness:\n_Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae, ecce enim ex hoc beatam me\ndicent omnes generations_. All generations shall call her blessed\n_because_ God had regarded her.\n\nWhichever of the two significations given to these words: God hath\nregarded _the humility of His Handmaid_ be accepted, we find that the\nHoly Virgin always spoke with so much humility as to leave no doubt\nwhatever that she considered all her happiness to proceed from her\nLord having looked upon her lowliness. On this account the words of\nthe Spouse of the Canticles are applied to her: _Dum esset Rex in\naccubitu suo nardus mea dedit odorem suum_--'While the King was at his\nrepose, my spikenard sent forth the odour thereof.' The plant on which\nthe spikenard grows does not grow up high like the cedars of Lebanon.\nBut lowly as it is, it delights all by the sweetness it diffuses\naround. What a precious plant was the Most Holy Virgin, who never\nsought to exalt herself, although enriched by God with the most signal\nfavours! She was always penetrated by the sense of her own abjection\nand nothingness; and in virtue of this humility she spread around,\nlike the spikenard plant, so sweet a perfume that it ascended to the\nThrone of the Divine Majesty, and attracted the Son of God to descend\nand take flesh in her immaculate womb.\n\nWe see, then, how dear humility is to God! Our Saviour taught this\ntruth in His memorable reply to the woman who exclaimed aloud: _Beatus\nventer qui Te portavit et ubera quae suxisti_--'Blessed is the womb\nthat bore Thee, and the paps that gave Thee suck.' 'Yea,' said Our\nLord, 'rather, blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep\nit'--_Quinimmo beati qui audiunt verbum Dei et custodiunt illud_. That\nis to say: 'My Mother is indeed blessed on account of having borne Me\nin her womb; but more blessed is she on account of the humility with\nwhich she listened to the words of My Heavenly Father, and kept them.'\nAnd this He again taught when He said that they who heard the Word of\nGod and practised it were to Him as His Mother and His Brethren.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nJesus Christ built His throne upon the ruins of the world. Before the\nfruits of grace can be gathered the flowers of prosperity must fall.\n\nThe present moment's grace may be that which will decide our\neternity.--_Nepveu._\n\nThe Heart of Mary is a garden of delights, in which we can gather the\nmost precious fruits. This most beautiful garden is closed against the\nimpure spirit; it is full of Divine perfumes, cultivated by a Heavenly\nHand, and adorned with the most charming flowers of virtue. Of these\nthere are three which particularly attract our admiration, and fill\nthe house of God with the sweetest fragrance--they are the violet of\nhumility, the lily of chastity, and the rose of charity.--_St.\nBernard._\n\nThe less you seek after praise and your own interests, the more do you\ndeserve to be praised and rewarded by God.\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_Origin of the Rosary._\n\nThe Rosary of the B. V. M. in its present form was instituted by St.\nDominic. But as early as the year 1094 Peter the Hermit had invented a\nkind of rosary of beads of wood, upon which the Crusaders, who were\ngenerally uneducated men, recited a certain number of _Paters_ and\n_Aves_, varied according to the solemnity of the feasts.\n\nHistorians also relate that even before that time pious persons were\nin the habit of reciting a series of _Paters_ and _Aves_ upon knotted\ncords. In the East it was the custom to present crowns of roses to\npersons of distinction. St. Gregory Nazianzen, moved by ardent piety\ntowards the Mother of Our Redeemer, offered to her, instead of a\nmaterial crown of roses, a spiritual crown of prayers. It consisted of\na long string of the highest praises and most glorious titles and\nexcellent prerogatives of Mary.\n\nSt. Bridget, Patroness of Ireland, who lived in the fifth century,\ndeveloped this pious idea of St. Gregory by substituting for those\nprayers which were unknown to the people the more popular and more\nbeautiful prayers of the _Credo_, the _Pater_, and the _Ave Maria_.\nAnd to regulate the number of prayers to be recited, the Saint adopted\nthe method of the anchorets of threading beads of stone or of wood\ntogether in the form of a crown or chaplet.\n\nThe word 'Rosary' signifies a crown of roses, and the prayers, the\nexpression of the heart's affections, of which it is composed, are\nspiritual roses with which we adorn the head of our dear Blessed\nMother.\n\nIt is said that a holy solitary was watching one day a poor old woman\nreciting her rosary with great devotion, when he observed an Angel by\nher side holding a golden thread, upon which he strung a rose for\nevery _Ave_, and a lily for every _Pater_; afterwards he placed this\ngarland in the form of a crown upon the head of the old woman, and\ndisappeared, leaving behind him a sweet fragrance of roses. This\nfragrance was often perceived in former days in churches, after the\nrecital of the Rosary.\n\n_Prayer._--O Mary, my good Mother! obtain for me an ardent love for\nyour Divine Son, my Saviour Jesus Christ. From Him you can obtain all\nthat you desire; obtain, then, for me the grace to be always so united\nto the Divine Will that I may never again be separated from it. I ask\nyou not, my Mother, for earthly goods, nor honours, nor riches; but I\nask of you that which you have much more at heart, the grace to love\nmy God. Is it possible that you should refuse to assist me in a work\nwhich is so agreeable to you? No; you will help me, my good Mother--\nyou will pray for me. Pray then, O Sacred Virgin, and cease not to\npray for me, until you see me in heaven, out of danger of losing my\nGod, and certain of loving Him throughout eternity. May I be able to\nthank Him for ever, with you, my good and charitable Mother, for so\ngreat a mercy. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--Make me like unto you, O Mary, who were so sweet and\nhumble of heart.\n\n_Practice._--Make an act of external humility in union with Mary.\n\n\n\nTWELFTH DAY.\n\nTHROUGH THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST RECEIVES THE\nMOST SPECIAL GRACES.\n\nWHO could number all the graces and favours showered upon the house of\nZachary, when the Holy Virgin entered it? If Abraham received many\ngraces for the hospitality he gave to three Angels; if Jacob was the\ncause of so many blessings to Laban, an idolater, in whose house he\ndwelt; if Lot was saved from the fire of Sodom, for having given\nshelter to two Angels; if the Prophet Elias filled with oil all the\nvessels of the poor widow who entertained him; if Eliseus raised to\nlife the son of the Sunamitess his hostess; if Obededom obtained so\nmany favours from Heaven, for receiving into his house the Ark of the\nCovenant--how great and precious must have been the graces and\nblessings poured upon the house of Zachary for having lodged for three\nmonths the Angel of the great Council, the Divine Prophet, the real\nArk of the Covenant, Our Lord Jesus Christ inclosed in the immaculate\nwomb of Mary! Who could understand the Divine sweetness poured into\nthe heart of Elizabeth during the time of that Divine visitation? How\nprofound must have been her meditation on the mystery of the\nIncarnation, and what thanks must she have offered to God for all the\nfavours bestowed upon her. But, above all, very special favours were\nconferred by Our Lord upon His precursor St. John Baptist.\n\nFirstly, according to the common opinion of the Fathers, St. John\nreceived the use of reason; secondly, from that moment he was\nsanctified; and thirdly, he was filled with the knowledge of God and\nof His Divine mysteries. Even then he loved his Saviour, he adored\nHim, and leaped for joy in His presence, as we learn from Elizabeth\nherself, in the words she addressed to the Holy Virgin: _Ecce enim ut\nfacta est vox salutationis tuae in auribus meis, exultavit infans in\ngaudio in utero meo_--'Behold, as soon as the voice of the Salutation\nsounded in my ears, the Infant in my womb leaped for joy.'\n\nSuch extraordinary joy was not surprising. Jesus Christ, speaking to\nthe Jews, says: _Abraham frater vester, exultavit ut videret diem\nMeum_--'Abraham, your father, rejoiced to see My day.' All the\nprophets desired ardently the promised Messiah, and rejoiced that at\nHis coming their predictions would be fulfilled. We may well believe,\ntherefore, that St. John rejoiced at the presence of this long-desired\nMessiah, in the immaculate womb of the Holy Virgin, Who had come to\nvisit him and begin the work of Redemption, delivering him from\noriginal sin. It would not have been fitting that he, who was chosen\nto prepare the way of the Lord, should, at his birth, bear the stain\nof original sin. On this account, therefore, Our Lady repaired to the\nhouse of St. Elizabeth, that the Child, Whom she bore and Who was the\nSanctifier of souls, might, in this visit, purify the glorious St.\nJohn from original sin and sanctify him. This He did with such fulness\nof grace that many Doctors are of opinion that he never sinned even\nvenially. The charity, of which the heart of our glorious Queen was\nfull, caused her to co-operate in this work of sanctification. No\nwonder that she should have been so ardent in love and zeal for the\nsalvation of men when she bore in her bosom Charity Itself, the\nSaviour and Redeemer of the world! All faithful souls should rejoice\nwhen they are visited by our Divine Saviour in the Most Holy Sacrament\nof the Altar, or by the interior graces which are so often vouchsafed\nthem, or by the many inspirations and loving words which He addresses\nto them when knocking at the door of their hearts. Under what an\nobligation are they not to correspond to so many favours, and with\nwhat care and fidelity should they not fulfil the Most Holy Will of\ntheir Divine Saviour!\n\nO my dear Sisters, Daughters of the Visitation of Our Lady and of St.\nElizabeth, since you have Mary for your Mother, you should have\nnothing so much at heart as to imitate her particularly in her\nhumility and charity. These are the two virtues which especially\nanimated her when she visited the house of Zachary. Like her, you\nshould visit, diligently and joyfully, your Sisters, when they are\nsuffering, and endeavour to aid each other in your spiritual and\ntemporal infirmities. Be most careful and diligent in those things in\nwhich humility and charity are most required. To be numbered amongst\nthe Daughters of Our Lady, it is not sufficient to live in a house of\nthe Visitation and wear the Religious habit. If you would not wrong\nsuch a Mother, you must imitate her in her virtues and the sanctity of\nher life. Be careful, then, to conform your life to hers. Be mild,\nsweet, humble, charitable, good; magnify Our Lord continually with\nher, and be assured, beloved souls, that, if you fulfil your duties\nwith humility and fidelity during the whole course of your life, you\nwill, after death, be admitted to the Holy Virgin in heaven, singing,\n'_Magnificat anima mea Dominum_.' [1]\n\n\n[1] As soon as the Most Humble Virgin heard herself praised by St.\nElizabeth, she humbled herself, and referred all the glory to God in\nthat most beautiful and admirable canticle of the _Magnificat_, which\nfar surpasses the canticles by the women of the old Law. It is far\nmore excellent than that of Judith; more beautiful than that of the\nSister of Moses, after the passage of the Red Sea; more sublime than\nthat of Deborah and Baruch, after the victory gained over the enemies\nof the Hebrew people. The canticles of Zachary and of Simeon, with all\nthose of the Old Testament, cannot be put in comparison with this\nDivine Canticle.\n\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nA soul dedicated to God entirely, in act and in will, deserves that\nGod should give Himself entirely to her.--_St. John of the Cross._\n\nWe ought always to have our eye fixed upon the Will of God alone,\nrecognising it, and with all joy, or at least courage, following it\ncarefully in all our actions. But even this is not enough; we should\nalso love this Will of God, whatever it may cost us.--_St. Francis of\nSales._\n\nIt is a highly valuable exercise of piety, to follow always the Will\nof God, instead of our own natural humours and inclinations.--_The\nsame._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_Conversion of the celebrated Pianist, Hermann Cohenn._\n\nThe compassionate mercy of the Most Holy Virgin has at times been\nadmirably displayed in behalf of the Sons of Israel. To the name of\nthe Abbe Ratisbonne, so well known to the servants of Mary, we must\nadd that of another Jew, converted by the Mother of Divine Grace.\n\nHermann Cohenn, a German by birth, and a Jew in religion, had acquired\ngreat fame in Paris as a pianist and composer of music. He says of\nhimself: 'I was courted and applauded in society, and as I possessed\nunderstanding beyond my years, I soon had instilled into me all the\nfearful doctrines that the powers of hell have taught in the earthly\nhell of Paris. Atheism, pantheism, socialism, licentiousness of\nmanners, etc., all found a place in me, so that I had become one of\nthe most zealous propagandists, and therefore a great favourite of all\nthe new prophets of hell. . . . '\n\nWhilst this second Saul was thinking out ingenious projects for the\nperversion of innocent hearts, he was requested by the Prince of\nMoscow to take the direction, during his absence, of a choir of\nsingers who were going to sing the praises of the Blessed Virgin Mary\nat a church in Paris during the month of May of 1847. Although he was\na Jew, still he consented; and it was there, before the Altar of Mary,\nthat grace awaited him. Whilst he was rendering external honour to the\naugust Mother of God, she pleaded his cause before her Divine Son. His\nmoment of grace and benediction came at the very moment when he was\nlooking with scorn and derision upon the piety of the faithful. . .\nSuddenly he feels an invisible weight upon his shoulders, which forces\nhim, in spite of the obstinate resistance of his will, to bow his head\nand bend his knees; his mind is quickly illuminated by the light of\nFaith, and he feels his heart opening to the salutary impressions of\ngrace. It would take too long to narrate the many obstacles which hell\nopposed to his conversion, but at last he triumphed over all, and on\nthe Feast of St. Augustine, he was washed in the waters of Baptism,\nwith the most heart-felt emotion; and upon the Feast of the Nativity\nof Mary, had the ineffable consolation of making his first Communion,\nand of receiving the Scapular.\n\nSome time afterwards, finding himself called to Religion, he retired\ninto a community of Marist Fathers, that he might there meditate\nseriously on his vocation; and finally, by the counsel of his\nDirector, he chose to enter the austere Order of Carmel.\n\nHaving visited Rome and obtained the necessary dispensation, he was\nafterwards ordained Priest, and consecrated himself entirely to the\nglory and honour of Jesus and Mary.\n\nHe employed his great musical talent for the honour of the Queen of\nAngels. In order that all Christian tongues might bless the mercy of\nthat Divine Mother, who had delivered him so wonderfully from the\ndarkness of error, he composed _a collection of hymns for the month of\nMay, and for the principal festivals of the year,_ set to music for\nthe organ or pianoforte.\n\nThe following extract from the dedication of these compositions will\nshow his tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin: 'Morning Star! you\nappeared to me in the obscure night, in which I was lost! Health of\nthe sick, you cured the mortal wounds of my heart! Refuge of sinners,\nyou opened to me an asylum in your Immaculate Heart! . . .'\n\nGlory then to Mary, and to the sweet and salutary devotion of the\nmonth of May, which procured us a new brother in Christ, and a new\nmasterpiece of the grace of God and of the mercy of Mary!\n\n_Prayer_ (from St. Augustine and St. Bernard).--Remember, O most\ncompassionate Virgin Mary! that it was never heard in any age that\nanyone who implored your protection has been abandoned by you.\nAnimated by this confidence, I have recourse to you, O Mother of God,\nVirgin of virgins. Do not despise my prayers, Mother of the Divine\nWord, but graciously hear and answer me.\n\nO Mother of God! you pray for all, and above all, for sinners; deign,\nthen, to pray for me, a more obstinate sinner than any other, and\ntherefore a more worthy object of your pity! You see plainly the\nurgent need I have of your intercession; therefore interest yourself\nin my regard, and obtain for me, from your Divine Son, the grace of\nsincere conversion and holy perseverance. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--I place myself for the whole of my life under your\nprotection, O Mother of my God! O show that you are my true Mother!\n\n_Practice._--Be very attentive in all your exercises of piety during\nthe day.\n\n\n\nTHIRTEENTH DAY.\n\nTHE TRIALS AND CONSOLATIONS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.\n\nWE can never meditate too much upon the great and cruel sorrows with\nwhich the heart of the august Virgin Mary was afflicted during the\nwhole course of her life; yet she was the most holy of creatures, the\nmost beloved by God. 'You,' exclaims St. Chrysostom, 'who bitterly\nweep and lament, under the contradictions and afflictions that assail\nyou, are you not ashamed to desire and seek for such a happiness as\neven the Holy Family did not enjoy? Ponder, I beg of you, the\nvicissitudes and changes to which they were exposed!'\n\nMary receives the glad tidings that, by the operation of the Holy\nGhost, she should conceive a Son, the Lord and Saviour of the world.\nWhat a joy to her heart is this! and what rapturous delight filled her\nsoul at the moment of the Incarnation of the Word in her most chaste\nwomb! But this celestial joy is quickly followed by sorrow. Her\nSpouse, St. Joseph, is alarmed at the prodigy, and thinks of secretly\nabandoning her. Oh! the affliction of Mary when she sees the\nperplexity of St. Joseph, whom, through her humility and modesty, she\nis unable to comfort. After this most excruciating trial, the Angel\ndiscloses the celestial secret to her Spouse, and orders him to remain\nwith her. What consolation fills the heart of these two Angelic\nSpouses at this announcement! But God had prepared new afflictions for\nthem. They must abandon their happy retirement, and journey to\nBethlehem in obedience to the order of the Emperor Augustus. Faithful\nsouls, lose not sight of Mary in this mystery; remain near this\nMother, and abandon her not for an instant, whilst she journeys from\nNazareth to Bethlehem. Without any painful solicitude, but with most\nardent desires, she awaits the birth of the Blessed Fruit of her\nimmaculate womb. You will see this beautiful Lady, the fortunate\nDaughter of Sion, beg hospitality, and not find a shelter in the whole\nof Bethlehem, although she is the Mother of the King of Glory.\nHowever, she blushes not for her poverty and misery, but considers it\nrather an honour to have to endure it.\n\nMany holy affections are awakened in our hearts by this Divine birth;\nbut we are especially taught the spirit of perfect detachment from all\nworldly pomps and worldly gratifications.\n\nIt seems as if there were no mystery that so much unites tenderness\nwith austerity, love with rigour, bitterness with sweetness, as this\nmystery of the Nativity. Where can we find a poorer, and yet a more\nillustrious birth, or a Mother so blessed? She who gives birth to the\nSon of God has certainly no need of the consolations of the world!\n\nLet us then delight to dwell near the sacred manger, where the Saviour\nof our souls so powerfully speaks to us in His silence and teaches us\nso many virtues; and let the joy and consolation of the Son and of the\nMother form all the happiness of our souls! How well it becomes Mary\nto caress this Infant! How enchanting her charity in allowing all who\nwish it to look at Him, to touch and embrace Him! Do you also ask her\nto give Him to you, and she will do so.\n\nO my Jesus! what a sweet night is this! The Church sings that the\nheavens everywhere distil honey. It would seem that those blessed\nAngels, who make the air resound with their song, gather this\ncelestial honey from the breast of the sweet Virgin Mary, and from her\nchaste Spouse St. Joseph.\n\nWhat is there that we can give to our little King that we have not\nreceived from His Divine abundance? Let us, then, give Him our hearts,\nwhich He prizes above all. O Saviour of our souls, transform our\nhearts into gold, through charity; into myrrh, through mortification;\ninto incense, by prayer; and then receive us within the arms of Thy\nDivine Protection, and let us hear Thee say, from Thy Sacred Heart, 'I\nam thy Salvation for ages of ages.'\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\n'A bundle of myrrh is my Beloved to me. He shall abide between my\nbreasts' (_Cant_. i. 12), in order that I may incessantly inhale its\nbitterness.\n\nThe afflictions of this life are like the flowers that precede the\nfruits of glory; and the blood which we shed is as a royal unction\nwhich consecrates us to immortality.--_St. Greg. Nyssen._\n\nThe rose grows amidst thorns; and the most beautiful and most solid\nvirtues grow amidst the severest contradictions.--_St. Francis of\nSales._\n\nNo one will be crowned with roses, if he be not first crowned with the\nthorns of Our Saviour.--_The same._\n\nOur actions are like roses, which, though more pleasing when fresh,\nare yet sweeter and more agreeable when faded. Thus, although works\nperformed with consolation are more pleasing to us; yet if they be\ndone in the state of aridity, they have a sweeter odour, higher value\nbefore God.--_The same._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_A Fortunate Mistake._\n\nThe following is related by an eye-witness of the event: 'One evening,\nin December, 1855, a Priest named B---, having returned to his house\nafter a hard day's work, sat down and began to recite his Office, when\nhe heard a knock at his door. He opened it, and saw a young girl, who\nasked him to go and visit a dying lady, living at No. 28, --- Street.\n. . . The good Priest was ready to interrupt his prayer to follow the\nlittle messenger, but she told him there was no hurry, provided he\nwent in the course of that evening; so he wrote down the address of\nthe sick person, and told her to say that he was coming shortly.\n\n'After finishing his Office, the good Priest went to the street named,\nand entered No. 18, thinking this was the number mentioned. It was a\nwretched house, and as there was no one in charge of the door he\nwalked in, groped up the poor staircase, and knocked at the first door\nthat he came to. A man opened it, and at the sight of the\necclesiastical dress, fell into a passion, and to the inquiry made as\nto whether this were the house of the sick lady, he made an impudent\nanswer, and shut the door in the face of the Priest. Patient and mild,\nlike his Divine Master, the Priest knocked at the next door, and met\nwith no better reception. He then went up to the second story, where\nhe found a boy playing in a passage. \"Can you tell me, my child,\" said\nhe, \"where I can find a poor lady dangerously ill, who lives in this\nhouse, and is called G---?\" \"Yes; down there, Reverend Sir; my father\nsaid that she would not be able to live through the night; but I do\nnot think that you have said her name correctly.\" \"Never mind the\nname; lead me, I beg of you, to her door.\"\n\n'The Priest, preceded by the child, entered the room and found a woman\nin her agony; a man about fifty was sitting near her bed, and at the\nsight of the Priest he immediately arose, evidently annoyed. \"Are you\nMr. G?---\" said the Priest; \"how is your sick wife?\" \"No,\" replied the\nman bluntly, \"I am not; who has sent you here to meddle with other\npeople's affairs?\" \"I was requested to come,\" replied the Priest with\nsurprise. \"I was told that a poor lady, named G---, was seriously ill,\nand wished for the last consolations of religion. I may have mistaken\nthe street, or the house, or room; but undoubtedly this sick woman has\nmuch need of my ministry. The Divine Mercy has certainly led me here,\nand allowed this mistake to occur.\" \"Yes, man of God!\" murmured the\ndying woman, \"yes, it is God Who has led you hither.\" \"Nothing of the\nsort,\" said the husband angrily; \"for ten years no Priest has set his\nfoot in my house; you shall not confess my wife. I am her master; mind\nyour own business.\" \"You are much mistaken, sir,\" answered the Priest,\nfirmly and mildly; \"the first Master of your wife is God, and you have\nno right over her soul. If she desire, I shall hear her confession,\nand I can only withdraw when she freely and of her own will refuses my\nministry.\" Then, approaching the sick woman, he said: \"Madam, do you\ndesire to be reconciled with God, and die a Christian death?\" The poor\nwoman raised her hands to heaven, and shed tears of joy, exclaiming:\n\"Blessed be the Divine Goodness that has allowed this mistake! for\nthree days I have been asking my husband for a Priest, and he has\nanswered me only with insults. I do truly wish to be reconciled to my\nGod, Who has had so much compassion on my poor soul.\" \"Do you hear,\nsir?\" said the Priest to the husband; \"be pleased to leave me alone\nwith her for a few moments.\" These words, pronounced with much\nfirmness and resolution, forced the man to retire, although he did so\ngrumbling.\n\n'The dying woman then pointed to a rosary hanging over her bed, and\nsaid: \"See, this has saved me; I had the weakness to fear my husband\nmore than God, and to avoid disturbances and quarrels, for ten years I\nhave given up every practice of religion. One only thing have I\npreserved--the love of the Most Holy Virgin, and confidence in her\nintercession. I have recited her Rosary almost every day; it is she\nalone who has led you here, and she, the true Mother of Mercy and\nrefuge of sinners, saves my soul.\" The Priest was deeply moved by this\ntouching narrative. He consoled the sick woman, helped her to make her\nconfession, and then told her to prepare to receive the Holy Viaticum\nand Extreme Unction, whilst he went to give notice thereof to the\nParish Priest.\n\n'On leaving the house he looked at the address which the little girl\nhad given him, and saw that the number was not 18 but 28. Blessing God\nfor this fortunate misunderstanding he hastened to No. 28, where he\nfound the sick lady expecting him. After complying with the duties of\nhis sacred ministry here also he immediately went to the Parish Priest\nto see about the other Sacraments which the two sick persons required;\nbut meanwhile, the poor woman at No. 18 died. She had received the\npardon of her sins by the sacramental absolution, and the fervour of\nher will would assuredly supply before the God of All Mercies for the\nother succours of religion.\n\n'The man of God, full of faith and gratitude towards the Most Holy\nVirgin--the refuge of sinners and consolation of the afflicted--then\nproceeded to fulfil the duties of his sacred ministry towards the\nother dying lady.'\n\nThis most touching fact shows once again the treasures of benediction\nthat result from piety towards the Most Blessed Virgin, and the great\nMercy of Our Adorable Saviour towards those who love His Holy Mother.\n\n_Prayer of St. Bernard._--O Mother of Mercy! even when on earth you\nwere deserving of our veneration and confidence; but now that you are\nraised to the highest heavens your faithful servants look to you as\nthe help of all nations. We beseech you, then, All Holy Virgin, to\nsuccour us by your patronage and prayers. Your prayers are more dear\nto us and more valuable than all the treasures of earth; they are so\nefficacious that they obtain from God the abundance of His graces; so\npowerful that they suppress and bring to naught all the efforts of our\nenemies, who labour for our destruction. Scatter them, O Mother of\nMercy! confound all their designs, strengthen our weakness against\ntheir malice, and show yourself the true Mother of all the faithful\nwho place their confidence in you. You are all my hope, and will be so\nas long as I have breath. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--I place all my confidence, after God, in you, O Mary,\nmy dear Mother.\n\n_Practice._--Bear patiently, and in a spirit of penance, all the\ncontradictions you may meet with this day.\n\n\n\nFOURTEENTH DAY.\n\nMARY AT BETHLEHEM.\n\nGOD resolved to confer on mankind the most signal and loving benefit\nof the Incarnation, and came down upon earth into the desert of this\nworld like a celestial manna, that He might become our food, during\nour journey to the promised land of Paradise. Our adorable Saviour\nrendered Himself visible to us at His birth, as a beautiful little\nInfant, lying in a manger, and this was in the night, when the world\nwas covered with darkness. The Divine Nature of Our Lord Jesus Christ\nis represented by the honey contained in the manna--because honey is a\ncelestial liquor gathered by the bees from flowers, and it is not\ndistilled from their sap, but collected by them as it descends from\nheaven with the dew. In like manner the Divine Nature of our adorable\nRedeemer came down from Heaven, at the moment of the Incarnation, upon\nthis blessed flower of the earth, the Most Holy Virgin, and, having\nbecome united with a human nature, preserved it in the bosom of the\nMost Chaste Mary, as a sweet hive, during the space of nine months.\n\nBut let us consider more at length this miracle of Divine Mercy.\n\nThe Most Holy Mother of God gave birth to her Divine Son as the stars\nproduce their light; and on this account her name Mary truly signifies\nStar of the Sea, or Morning Star. The star of the sea is the Polar\nstar, towards which the mariner's needle continually turns; and\nthrough this star those who navigate the ocean know how their course\nis directed.\n\nThe Patriarchs, Prophets, and Fathers of the Church turned their eyes\ntowards the Most Holy Virgin, and she was ever the Polar Star and the\nchosen Port for all poor mortals who navigate the sea of this\nmiserable world, and by her means they may avoid those shipwrecks\nwhich occur so often on the rocks and precipices of sin.\n\nMary was, also, that beautiful Morning Star which brought the joyful\nnews of the coming of the Sun of Justice. The Prophets knew well that\na Virgin would conceive and give birth to a Son, at once God and Man,\nthrough the operation of the Holy Ghost, and would still remain a\nVirgin, though she became a Mother: _Ecce Virgo concipiet et pariet\nFilium et vocabitur ejus Emanuel._ How should He Who selected her for\nHis Mother, on account of her virginity, impair her integrity? How\ncould the Eternal Word, Purity itself, lessen the virginal purity of\nHis Mother? From eternity He is generated and virginally produced in\nthe bosom of His Father; and although receiving from Him the Divinity,\nit is not divided, but the Word is always one and the same God with\nthe Father. The Most Holy Virgin here on earth also produces\nvirginally her Divine Son, Our Lord. There is this difference,\nhowever, that He will never again enter the bosom of Mary, but He will\nbe eternally generated in the bosom of His Father, being One with Him,\nin virtue of the unity of the Divine Essence.\n\nThis Divine generation may indeed be made the foundation of our\nmeditations on the mystery of Our Lord's Nativity; but it does not\nadmit of a curious inspection, nor should we weary our mind by\nendeavouring to examine into that which is too sublime for our weak\nunderstanding: _Generationem ejus quis enarrabit?_--'Who shall declare\nHis generation?' says the Prophet Isaiah.\n\nBut now, after having considered the virginal purity of the Most Holy\nVirgin in giving birth to her Divine Son, let us turn our eyes to this\nDivine Infant, and see how He allows Himself to be cared for by His\nHoly Mother, as if He could not do otherwise. Why is this? It is to\nteach us how to act, Religious especially, who are bound by the sweet\nchains of the holy vow of Obedience. Our Lord certainly could not make\nbad use of His Will, or of His liberty, being the Eternal Wisdom;\nnevertheless He concealed His knowledge, and all His perfections as\nGod and those of His perfect human intellect, under the swathing bands\nof infancy. He keeps hidden under the veil of holy obedience to the\nEternal Father, Who had willed that He should be, as St. Paul says, in\nall things like to His brethren, excepting sin. Behold our Model! Let\nus often visit this Child, lying in a manger; and let us learn from\nHim how to act in all things according to His Most Holy Will.\n\nBut shall we visit Him empty-handed? The shepherds took with them some\nof their little lambs to present to Him. What can we offer more\nacceptable to this Divine Pastor of our souls than our hearts as a\nlittle offering of our love and the choicest part of our spiritual\nflock? How dear will this offering be to Him! He will look upon us\nwith mercy in return for our gift; and we shall gladden the Most Holy\nVirgin, who so much desires our welfare. Let us take with us from her\nDivine Infant one of His precious tears, the sweet dew of Heaven, and\nplace it on our heart, that it may henceforth feel no other sorrow\nthan that which rejoices this Blessed Infant--that is, sorrow for sin!\nWe should all be like so many simple shepherds watching over the\nflocks of our affections, ready to adore this our Infant Saviour, as\nsoon as the Angels call us. We should offer Him, as a pledge of our\neternal service, the finest lamb we possess; that is, all our love,\nwithout any reserve or exception.\n\nOh, how happy shall we be, and what great consolation shall we\nreceive, if we thus visit the Saviour of our souls!\n\nAs the manna had the taste of every kind of food, so this Divine\nInfant contains in Himself every kind of consolation. Each one can\nfind in Him what he desires, and proportionate to his capacity,\nprovided that he possess the requisite dispositions.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nNo flower could be a better emblem of the resplendent virtue of Mary\nand her singular privilege than the lily; whose three petals may\nsignify that she was a Virgin in her conception of Jesus, a Virgin at\nHis birth, and a Virgin ever afterwards._--Nouet._\n\nMary is the Mystical Lily without spot, in which the Eternal Word\nespoused our nature.--_The same._\n\nThe flower falls from the tree when the fruit is formed; but the\nMother of God, who is the tree of life, preserves her flower and her\nfruit, and by an unheard-of miracle unites maternity to virginity.--\n_The same._\n\nAs the lily lifts its stem on high, so the soul who often receives\nJesus Christ should direct its hopes towards heaven in imitation of\nJesus, Who is the Flower of the field and the Lily of the valley. The\nvirtue of such a soul has roots deeper than the cedars of Lebanon,\nwhich defy the winds and the storms. In the fruitfulness of her good\nworks and in her charity towards the poor, her glory is like that of\nthe olive. The fragrance of her holy life and of her sweet\nconversation is spread around like the odour of the flowers which bud\nforth on Mount Lebanon in spring-time.--_St. Cyril._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_The Devotion of the Saints to the Angelus._\n\n1. St. Alfonso di Liguori omitted no favourable opportunity for\nshowing his tender devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin. Whenever he\nheard the clock strike, whatever might be his occupation or\nconversation, he interrupted it to recite the Angelical salutation,\nsaying that one _Ave Maria_ was more valuable than the entire world.\nHe was most exact in the recital of the _Angelus_. As soon as he heard\nthe sound of the bell, he went down on his knees, even when he\nhappened to be in the public streets. When he became deaf he desired\nto be warned of the ringing of the bell, and even when at his meals he\nwould break off and kneel down to recite it. Often was he rapt in\necstasy during this prayer from the fervour of his devotion.\n\n2. St. Charles Borromeo, who was so celebrated for piety and learning,\nwas not ashamed, when Archbishop of Milan, to descend from his\ncarriage or his horse in the open streets to recite the _Angelus_ in\nhonour of Mary.\n\n3. St. Vincent de Paul, wherever he might be, or in whatever society,\neven at court, would recollect himself, and kneel down as soon as he\nheard the sound of the Angelus. He considered himself happy to be able\nto give public testimony of his filial love of the Most Holy Virgin\nMary, and those who were present always followed his example.\n\nAll who devoutly recite the _Angelus_ on their knees morning, noon,\nand evening at the ringing of the bell gain a hundred days' Indulgence\neach time, and if they continue to say it at least once a day during\nthe course of a month, they may gain a Plenary Indulgence on the usual\nconditions. Those who are unable to hear the sound of the bell may\ngain the same Indulgence by reciting the _Angelus_ at the time that it\nis usually rung. As to those who are much engaged, and who wish to\nsupplicate the Blessed Virgin thrice a day, they can supply for the\n_Angelus_ the following invocations: Virgin before the birth of your\nDivine Son, pray for us; Virgin at His birth, pray for us; Virgin\nafter His birth, pray for us. Lastly, those who do not know the\nprayers can say the _Paters_ and _Aves_ in memory of the Incarnation\nof the Word in the womb of Mary.\n\n_Prayer of St. Anselm._--We beseech you, O Queen of Heaven and\nSovereign of the Universe, by the grace which Our Lord conferred upon\nyou in raising you to so sublime a degree of glory, to intercede for\nus, that the fulness of grace with which you were enriched may render\nus one day partakers of your glory and happiness. O Mother, full of\nmercy, interest yourself in our behalf, that we may be able to enjoy\nthe ineffable happiness for which our God deigned to inclose Himself\nfor nine months in your most holy womb. If you deign to pray for us to\nyour Divine Son, you will be assuredly heard. Let the bowels of your\nmaternal mercy speak in our favour. If you, our tender Mother, have no\ncompassion for us, what will become of your most miserable children?\nWhat will be our destiny when your Divine Son, as Judge of the living\nand the dead, will call us to His judgment-seat? Have pity on us then,\nO Mother of Mercy! Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--See, O Mary, the many dangers by which we are\nsurrounded, and have pity on our miserable condition.\n\n_Practice._--Let all your actions be done this day for the sole end of\npleasing God, that you may thus be able to offer Him the tender lamb\nof your love.\n\n\n\nFIFTEENTH DAY.\n\nTHE UNION OF CHARITY AND HUMILITY IN THE HEART OF MARY AT THE\nINCARNATION.\n\nGOD is One; hence He loves unity and union, and hates all that is not\nin accordance with this unity. The reason is this--that as He is\nperfect in all His attributes, He must have a sovereign love for all\nthat is perfect, and unity is perfection. He must also be averse to\nall disunion, because whatever is disunited is so far imperfect.\n\nAs then God wished to show us how dear to Him is union, He effected\nthree distinct modes of union in the Most Holy Virgin on the day of\nHis Incarnation.\n\nFirstly, He united the Divine to the human nature; and so admirable\nand sublime is this union, that it infinitely surpasses all that human\nor angelic intelligence can comprehend. Nor could the Seraphim or\nCherubim have ever imagined anything so wonderful. Indeed, two\nopposite extremes were to meet--the Divine Nature, which is essential\nperfection, and human nature, the deepest misery: the contraries being\nthe greatest that can be conceived. Nevertheless, God in His Wisdom\nand infinite Goodness was able to find a method of uniting the two\nnatures so intimately through His Incarnation in the womb of Our Lady\nthat in one Person man was made God and God became Man, without\ndisparagement to His Deity.\n\nThe second union was that of Maternity with Virginity. This certainly\nis most admirable and beyond all the laws of nature. A virgin becomes\na mother, and remains still a virgin after maternity. This miraculous\nand supernatural union could only be effected by the omnipotent hand\nof God, Who granted this privilege to Mary; and as this union has been\neffected in her alone, so she alone will be eternally both a Virgin\nand a Mother, and the Mother of a Son Who is both God and Man.\n\nThe third union accomplished by God in our glorious Lady was that of\nthe most ardent charity with the most profound humility.\n\nReflect on these two virtues, and you will ask how it is possible that\ncharity can be united with humility, if the nature of one is to soar\non high, and that of the other to abase itself? Naturally, indeed, it\nis impossible but God, Who is One, and Who loves and desires unity,\nmanifested the greatness of His power by uniting these two dissimilar\nvirtues in the soul of Mary.\n\nIn her, charity was so united to humility that one depended on the\nother, and whilst her charity continues humble, her humility is ever\nfull of charity. Charity raised her soul above all creatures, and\nhumility abased it below them all, and yet the union of these two\nvirtues was continuous.\n\nTo what a high degree of humility and charity did not the Most Holy\nVirgin attain at the moment of the Incarnation! Ponder her words to\nthe Archangel: _Ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum_--\n'Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to Thy\nword.' No sooner did she hear herself proclaimed the Mother of God,\nthe Queen of Angels and of men, than she abased herself beneath all,\nsaying: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord!' This is a great act of\nhumility.\n\nThe Most Holy Virgin in that moment had so clear a knowledge of the\nmisery and nothingness of human nature, and of the infinite distance\nbetween God and man, that, seeing herself raised above all creatures,\nshe abased herself beneath them all, considering her own nothingness\nand the infinite greatness of God Who had chosen her for His Mother.\nTrue it is, then, that Mary never humbled herself so profoundly as\nwhen she pronounced these words: _Ecce ancilla Domini_--'Behold the\nhandmaid of the Lord!'\n\nBut see how the Most Blessed Virgin united the most perfect charity to\nher humility when consenting to the proposal the Angel made her in the\nName of God: _Fiat mihi secundum verbum_--'Be it done unto me\naccording to Thy word'--were her words; and thus, by charity, she was\nraised above the Cherubim and Seraphim, and at that very moment the\nEternal Son of God took flesh in her virginal womb, and she became His\nMother!\n\nLet us learn from the example of Our Lady that humility does not\nmerely consist in diffidence in ourselves, but it must be accompanied\nby confidence in God. This confidence in God is produced by this\ndiffidence in ourselves and in our own powers. This confidence is also\nthe source of generosity of soul, of which Our Blessed Lady gives an\nexample on this occasion when she says the words: 'Be it done unto me\naccording to Thy word.' It is true, would she say, that I am unworthy\nof this grace, in regard to what I am only in myself; but as all that\nis good in me is from God, and as that which you announce to me is His\nMost Holy Will, I believe that it can and will be done, and,\ntherefore, let it be accomplished in me!\n\nHumility conceals the virtues of a soul, in order the better to\npreserve them; nevertheless, when charity requires, it allows them to\nbe known for their increase and perfection. Thus it resembles those\nplants which close their beautiful flowers at night and open them only\nwhen the sun is high, so that people speak of those flowers as\nsleeping during the night. Humility, in the same way, conceals all our\nvirtues, and never allows them to appear, except for the exercise of\ncharity, which, being a celestial, Divine gift, not an acquired\nvirtue, is truly as a sun amidst all the virtues, and should always\nrule over them. Hence the humility, which is prejudicial to charity,\nis undoubtedly a false humility.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nLet us have a supreme contempt for all that is not God. Oh, how sweet\nit is to abandon one's self into His hands! Daily experience proves to\nus that the less we trust in our miserable efforts, the more does God\nwork in us by His omnipotent virtue. All consists in being a docile\ninstrument in His hands, and seemingly dead.--_P. Milley._\n\nIt is good to leave Our Lord sometimes to serve others for His sake;\nand we should do so, if we can prevent our devotion from causing\nannoyance.--_St. Francis of Sales._\n\nAs the olive, when planted in vineyards, communicates its savour to\nthe vine, so charity communicates its perfection to the virtues amidst\nwhich it flourishes. It is also true that when the vine is engrafted\non the olive, it not only receives its taste, but also its sap; thus\nwe should not be satisfied with the possession of charity and with the\nexercise of all other virtues, but it is necessary that all our\nvirtues be accompanied and produced by charity, and be attributed to\nthis virtue alone.--_The same._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_The Efficacy of the 'Salve Regina.'_\n\nThe following appeared in the French journal, the _Univers:_ 'We have\nalready announced the departure of five Nuns of the Cross, on their\nway to apply their admirable spirit of unselfishness to the exercise\nof works of charity in the Diocese of Natchitoches, in America.\n\n'After a painful misfortune at sea, these worthy Sisters have landed\nat Havre. They were to set out from this port, and in a letter\naddressed to the Bishop of Saint Brieux, the Mother Superior of the\nSisters of the Cross thus writes:\n\n'\"Our Sisters started about eleven, on the morning of the 10th of\nNovember, 1856. They had received the blessing of our Chaplain, and\ndid not expect ever to return; but Divine Providence had disposed\notherwise. The steamer was already before Cherbourg, when, at about\neleven o'clock in the night following their departure, a fearful noise\nwas heard throughout the steamer. All the passengers were called to go\non deck, and they came up exclaiming: 'We are lost! We are lost!'\n\n'\"One of the boilers had burst, and the explosion had wounded six men\nand set fire to the vessel. 'Have you a Priest on board?' said a lady\nto one of our Sisters. 'No,' she replied. 'So much the worse,' said\nthe lady, 'because our death is certain.' 'No, madam,' calmly and\nconfidently replied Sister Mary Agatha; 'let us invoke the Most Holy\nVirgin, and she will save us.' Our Sisters immediately went down on\ntheir knees, with their hands crossed on their breast, and recited the\n_Salve Regina_. Many passengers and sailors joined them, and their\ncries reached the heart of the Mother of God. A few moments after,\nwhen the Sisters, who had gone down into a cabin, were continuing\ntheir prayers, they were informed that the fire had been miraculously\nextinguished, and that there was no further danger. No one doubted\nthat their salvation was owing to the prayers which had been addressed\nto the Blessed Virgin Mary.\"'--_Univers,_ 30th November, 1856.\n\n_Prayer._--O most humble of Virgins, holy Mother of God, Mistress of\nlife and Lady of the universe, teach me humility and the true love of\nthis precious virtue. How great is the pride of my heart, who am but\ndust and ashes; I have eagerly sought for the praises of men, when\nshame and confusion for my innumerable infidelities should have made\nme feel my nothingness! Take pity on me, O Holy Virgin; banish the\nproud thoughts that arise in my soul, and let me imitate your humility\nhere on earth, that I may be worthy to experience, with you, the truth\nof these words: 'The humble shall exult in the abundance of peace.'\nAmen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--Pray for us, O most humble of all Virgins!\n\n_Practice._--Endeavour to-day to neglect no opportunity of practising\nhumility and charity.\n\n\n\nSIXTEENTH DAY.\n\nTHE PURIFICATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.\n\nLET us meditate attentively upon the virtues of which Mary gives us so\nmoving an example in the mystery of her Purification in the Temple.\nFirst of all, what more profound humility can be imagined than that\npractised by Our Saviour and Our Lady in their visit to the Temple? He\ncomes to be offered, like all the sons of sinful men; she, to be\npurified like all other women. With regard to our adorable Redeemer,\nit is of Faith that He, being essential purity, could not be under the\nobligation of this Law, which was promulgated for sinners. With regard\nto the Most Holy Virgin, what need had she to purify herself, who,\nfrom the instant of her Immaculate Conception, had been endowed with\npurity so excellent, and with such a fulness of grace, that the\nhighest Seraphim and Cherubim could not be compared to her? And yet,\nbehold, the Son and the Mother, notwithstanding their incomparable\npurity, present themselves in the Temple, as if they were sinners like\nother children of Adam! O truly wonderful act of humility! If the\nvalue of this act increases in proportion to the dignity of the person\nwho humbles himself, how full of useful instruction to souls tending\nto perfection is the humility practised by the Sovereign Creator of\nall things.\n\nHe shows us that this virtue was so dear to Him that He preferred\ndeath rather than relinquish its practice; for after teaching that\nthere can be no greater love than to give one's life for the object\nbeloved, He lays down His life for the exercise of humility. By\nsubmitting to die He, the immortal God, practised the most excellent\nand most sublime act of humility that can be conceived. Some persons\ndeceive themselves by regarding humility as a virtue necessary merely\nto novices and beginners in the spiritual life, and the practice of\nwhich can be laid aside after some advance. But our adorable Saviour\nshows us how erroneous is this opinion, by humbling Himself unto\ndeath.\n\nOh if we could well understand the necessity of perseverance in this\nvirtue! How many, after beginning well, have miserably fallen away\nbecause they did not persevere in the practice of humility! But Jesus\nChrist did not say he who _shall begin_, but he who _shall persevere_\nuntil death, shall be saved: _Qui perseveraverit usque in finem hic\nsalvus erit._\n\nGenuine virtue may be distinguished from that which is only apparent,\nas true balsam is distinguished from false. Balsam is tested by\ndropping it into water; if it sinks to the bottom of the vessel it may\nbe considered very pure and precious. We may know if a person be truly\nprudent, generous and noble, by observing if these virtues tend to\nmake him humble, modest, submissive; for in such a case they are truly\nvaluable gifts; but if they stay only on the surface, and love to show\nthemselves and to win admiration, they are so far false and\ncounterfeit.\n\nThe Angels, and, after them, our first parents, prevaricated through\npride. Upon this account, Our Lord, like a wise and loving physician\nof our souls, applied the remedy to the root of the evil, and came\ninto the world to plant in the place of pride the beautiful and useful\nvirtue of Divine humility, become very necessary on account of the\ncontrary vice being so general. Indeed, so common an evil is pride,\nthat humility can never be sufficiently inculcated; and on this\naccount, our adorable Saviour and our Immaculate Lady would obey the\nlaw, not made for them, to teach us to esteem this virtue. For us, who\ndeserve only humiliation and contempt, to abase ourselves is no great\nthing. However, humiliation acquires an inestimable value when\nembraced by Jesus Christ and His Most Holy Mother; and this\nhumiliation was continual with them throughout the whole course of\ntheir life. Wherefore the Apostle, speaking of the humility of Our\nRedeemer, said that 'He humbled Himself unto death, even to the death\nof the Cross'--_Humiliavit semitipsum usque ad mortem, mortem autem\ncrucis_. But if we miserable creatures humble ourselves on some slight\noccasion, we quickly seek by every means in our power to indemnify\nourselves for the transient exercise of this virtue, and the very\nthought of persevering in the practice of it alarms us. We are\nconvinced, it is true, that we are very imperfect, and yet we desire\nto be looked upon as holy and perfect, notwithstanding the example of\nMary, who consented to be clothed in the semblance of a sinner,\nalthough confirmed in grace and possessed of a more than angelic\npurity.\n\nObserve any other daughter of Eve, and see how eagerly she seeks for\nhonour and esteem; and although this defect be common to all mankind\nin general, it seems to be more marked in the female sex. Now, Our\nLady and glorious Mistress is not the Daughter of Eve according to the\nspirit, but only according to the flesh, and therefore she always\npersevered in the most profound humility, and could say in her sacred\nCanticle of the _Magnificat_ that on this account 'All generations\nwould call her blessed'--_Beatam me dicent omnes generationes_.\n\nHow beautiful is it to behold the Holy Virgin presenting herself and\nthe Infant Jesus in the Temple, and making her offering of two doves!\nHappier is she than all the princes of earth! And what shall I say of\nthe aged Simeon, who takes the Divine Infant in his arms? Let us also\nembrace Him, let us live and die in these tender embraces.\n\nPlace this sweet Jesus in your heart, like another Solomon upon his\nivory throne. Let your soul follow His steps, that you may hear the\nholy words He continually breathes. Remember that your heart should be\nlike ivory in purity and firmness; firm in its resolutions, and pure\nin its affections.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nAnything we do, however little, will have an inestimable value if it\nbe done for the love of God.--_St. Teresa._\n\nIt is an exalted degree of perfection to assimilate and conform\nourselves to the spirit of the sacred Infancy of our most humble and\nmost obedient Saviour.--_St. Francis of Sales._\n\nWhoever wishes to acquire virtue, and does not possess humility, is\nlike to one who carries dust in his hands when there is a high wind.--\n_The same._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_Punishment of the Profaners of a Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin._\n\nThe holy Hermitage of Voiron did not escape the profanations of the\nheretics. They invaded it with arms in their hands, as if they were\ngoing to besiege a fortress; they ill-treated and expelled the Monks,\ntook away the sacred vessels, the papers, documents, indulgences,\netc., committed horrible sacrileges, and at last set fire to the place\nand entirely destroyed it, and rolled the remaining stones down the\nmountain.\n\nThis atrocious impiety was not left unpunished, for soon afterwards\nall who had taken part in the destruction of the hermitage perished\nmiserably. It is remarkable, however, that in spite of all the\ndevastation effected by these impious men, they could not gain their\nprincipal object, which was to carry off the statue of the Most Holy\nVirgin, which was preserved miraculously.\n\nJohn Burgnard, a native of Chablais, who had embraced the heresy of\nthe Bernese, and was the leader of these profaners, had no sooner\nreached the hermitage, than he mounted the Altar to carry away the\nstatue of the Most Blessed Virgin. He threw a rope round its neck, and\ndescending from the Altar was walking out of the Church, dragging the\nstatue after him, and uttering at the same time these words: 'Come\nalong with me, come along with me, little black woman' (the face of\nthe statue was black); 'if you are as powerful as the Papists say, let\nme now have a proof of it. Why do you allow yourself to be thus\nshamefully dragged on the ground? Why do you not defend yourself?' He\nhad no sooner uttered these blasphemies than the statue became\nimmovable. The wretched man, finding that he was unable to drag it\nfurther, turned his head round to see what was hindering him, and by a\nsecond miracle his head remained turned in that direction, so that he\ncould never again place it in its right position; and, moreover, he\nbecame crippled in an arm and a shoulder. Being obliged to leave the\nstatue, he left the spot with great difficulty, and bore the\nchastisement of his impiety throughout his life, giving an undeniable\nproof of the sovereign power of the Queen of Heaven. But more terrible\nis the fact that he persevered in heresy, and died in despair in the\npresence of many of the parishioners of Bons. Amongst these were\nMichael Novello and Claude Ippolito Cortager, who gave testimony of\nthis fact on oath A.D. 1629.\n\nHis Highness Duke Charles Emmanuel, when at Tortona during the time\nthat St. Francis of Sales was converting the people of Chablais,\nverified the fact we have related, and ordered the secretary of the\nTown Corporation to register it, that the miracle might be transmitted\nto posterity. (See 'Life of St. Francis of Sales,' by Augustus de\nSales.)\n\n_Prayer._--Holy Virgin! when you presented your Divine Son to the\nEternal Father, you became dear to all the Heavenly Court. O present\nalso our hearts, that, fortified by grace, we may never fall into\nmortal sin!\n\nMost humble Virgin! when you placed the adorable Jesus in the arms of\nthe aged Simeon, you filled his soul with, heavenly sweetness. O place\nour hearts in the hands of God, that He may fill them with His Divine\nSpirit! Most diligent Virgin, you co-operated in the redemption of the\nworld, when you redeemed your Son Jesus with two turtle-doves; be\npleased to redeem our hearts from the slavery of sin, that they may be\nalways pure and holy before God. Most clement Virgin! when you heard\nfrom the lips of the holy Simeon the prophetic announcement of all\nyour dolours, you submitted yourself quickly and perfectly to the Will\nof God. O help us to support always with patience and resignation all\nthe tribulations of life!\n\nMost merciful Virgin! bymeans of your Divine Son you illuminated the\nProphetess Anna with supernatural light, so that she magnified the\nmercies of God and acknowledged and proclaimed Jesus as the Saviour of\nthe world. O fill us with heavenly grace, that in the abundance of joy\nwe may be able to reap the precious fruits of Redemption. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--O Mary! watch over me.\n\n_Practice._--Take every possible care to-day not to commit any sin,\nhowever venial it may seem.\n\n\n\nSEVENTEENTH DAY.\n\nMARY, THE MODEL OF PERFECT OBEDIENCE, IN THE MYSTERY OF THE\nPURIFICATION.\n\nLET us consider in this meditation how our adorable Saviour and His\nMost Holy Mother united perfect obedience to profound humility.\n\nOur Lord preferred the death of the Cross rather than fail in\nobedience. 'Jesus Christ,' says the great Apostle, 'was obedient unto\ndeath, even to the death of the Cross'--_Factus obediens usque ad\nmortem, mortem autem crucis_. And what signal obedience did not Mary\nexercise at the death of her Son, the only object of her heart's\naffection! She stood firm and constant at the foot of the Cross,\npierced with the sword of sorrow, perfectly resigned to the Will of\nthe Eternal Father. All the actions of Our Divine Saviour were\nregulated by obedience, as He Himself declared, saying: 'I am come not\nto do My Will, but the Will of Him that sent Me'--_Descendi de coelo\nnon ut faciam voluntatem meam sed voluntatem ejus qui miset Me_. Thus\nHe teaches us that the Will of His Heavenly Father was the sole guide\nof all His thoughts. Notice Our Lady's life, and you will always see\nher obedient. So highly did she esteem this virtue of obedience, that\nshe obeyed the command to espouse St. Joseph, although she was bound\nby a vow of virginity. She always persevered in the practice of this\nvirtue, and as the mystery of the Purification shows us, she presented\nherself in the Temple, that she might observe the Law she was not\nbound to observe. Thus her obedience was the more precious as it was\nvoluntary. Indeed, this is the only virtue that she has recommended to\nthe practice of mankind. The Gospel tells us that when she spoke to\nthe attendants at the marriage of Cana, she said to them: 'Whatsoever\nHe shall say to you, do'--_Quodcumque dixerit vobis facite_. Here she\nteaches the practice of holy obedience, which is inseparable from the\nvirtue of humility, because it springs from this virtue. Only those\nwho are truly humble subject themselves to the Will of God.\n\nOur Lady had no fear of being disobedient, because she was not obliged\nto obey the Law, but she shunned its very shadow. Many would have\nmisunderstood her conduct, if she had not gone to the Temple to offer\nher Divine Son and perform the ceremony of her Purification. She\nwould, therefore, remove all suspicion of disobedience, and at the\nsame time teach us not merely to avoid sin, but also its very\nappearance, and the occasions which may expose us to it. Let us learn,\nalso, not to be satisfied with the testimony of our conscience alone,\nbut to try to remove from others every occasion of thinking ill of us\nand of our actions.\n\nThe example of Our Saviour and of His Most Holy Mother should animate\nus to submit not only in those things that are commanded us, but in\nthose that are merely of counsel, that we may thus become more dear to\nthe Divine Goodness. O God! is it then so great a work to subject\nourselves to obedience, when for this alone we have been sent into the\nworld, and when the Supreme King, to Whom all things should be\nsubject, practised it?\n\nWe must learn then from the example of our adorable Saviour and of His\nMost Holy Mother, to be docile, pliable, and easily ruled, not only\nfor a certain time, and in some actions, but even unto death. But two\nfundamental conditions of this virtue of Obedience must be observed.\nThese are--firstly, that to obey perfectly we must love God Who\ncommands; and secondly, we must love the action that is commanded. All\nthe faults committed against obedience proceed from the want of one of\nthese conditions. Many love the thing commanded, but not God Who\ncommands it. For instance, some will perform their devotions, not out\nof obedience to the Will of God, but on account of the consolation\nthey experience in this exercise. In this there is nothing but\nself-love; and it will be perceptible by the repugnance, or discontent,\nwhich is felt in the performance of those observances that are not\naccording to our inclinations. In this case, it is plain that it is\nnot God Whom we love, but only the thing that He commands. If we loved\nGod Who commands, our hearts would be indifferent as to our\noccupation, because in all we should be equally sure to find the Will\nof God.\n\nOthers will love God Who commands, but not the action commanded. These\nwill say: I know very well that it is the Will of God that I should do\nthis or that, but I feel so great a repugnance, that I cannot resolve\nto do it, and were I to strive to obey, the person who, in the name of\nGod, desires me to perform the action, enjoins it so ungraciously, as\nto rob me of all the satisfaction I might experience in an act of\nobedience.\n\nThe source of all our difficulties is that we obey readily only when\nour superiors accommodate themselves to our natural inclinations. On\nall other occasions, the smallest obligations appear to us difficult\nand disagreeable. It is therefore evident that we do not regard God\nWho commands us through another, but we look at the person who speaks\nto us in His Name, to see how he is clothed so to speak; that is to\nsay, we look only at his external deportment. O God! what a mistake!\nWe ought to submit to the Will of God in obedience, without any\nexception, and from whatever quarter the order may come; and not only\nlove God Who commands, but also the thing that is commanded; _taking\nthe command and placing it upon our heads_--that is, in our inmost\nheart, to execute it with all fidelity and sincere goodwill.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nBless God for having given you Mary as your Mother. Imitate her, and\nconsider what a blessing it is for you to have so powerful an advocate\nin Heaven.--_St. Teresa._\n\nHumility cannot subsist without love, nor love without humility--and\none can never be acquired without the other.--_The same._\n\nThe more we mortify our natural inclinations, so much the more do we\nmerit to receive supernatural inspirations.--_Francis of Sales._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_A Conquest of the Blessed Virgin's._\n\nFather Paul Stub, a Barnabite, became a conquest of grace, and an\nAngel in virtue and learning, through the intercession of the Blessed\nVirgin Mary. He himself thus relates his conversion in his excellent\nbook for the Month of Mary, entitled 'The School of Mary':\n\n'A Protestant youth set out from the North, in 1826, to take a post at\nGenoa, in the family of the Consul of Sweden and Norway, who was a\nvery good Catholic. But the wife of the Consul, fearing that this\nyouth might by his conversation have an evil influence on a nephew who\nlived with them, went to the sanctuary of Our Lady of Graces, and made\nthe following prayer to the Queen of Heaven and Earth:\n\n\"'O Mary! if you see that this Protestant youth will become a Catholic\nand be virtuous, then let him arrive, but if otherwise, send his ship\nto America.\"\n\n'The ship arrived safely at Genoa, and the boy entered on his\nsituation. He was edified by the examples of virtue that he witnessed,\nbut had no thoughts whatever of becoming a Catholic--until after some\ntime, when he was in trouble, calling to mind the devotion which\nCatholics bear to Our Lady, he said to her: \"O Mother of Jesus! it is\nthe first time that I invoke you, but if you do me the favour I desire\nI will invoke you all my life.\"\n\n'The favour was obtained most completely, and after that time the\nyoung man began to pray to God to know the truth, entered upon the\nstudy of religion, and became a Catholic in 1829, to his own great joy\nand that of many others. He afterwards took the Religious habit, and\nhas since exercised his zeal for the glory of the Most Blessed Virgin\nin preaching; and, to give her a new proof of his gratitude, he\ncomposed this little book in her honour.'\n\n_Prayer._--Most pure Virgin! obtain for me the grace to understand\nhenceforth the Divine sweetness of union with God. May my adorable\nSaviour abide with me under the veil of Faith as He dwelt with you in\nthe seclusion of a hidden life! May He live in me through the union of\nmy heart with His adorable Heart as He lived in you, forming one heart\nand soul with you! Oh that henceforth I may know how to love, to\ndesire, and to relish only Jesus! May He alone, during the whole\ncourse of my life, be my strength, my life, the heart of my heart, the\nsoul of my soul, that after having been frequently nourished with His\nvirginal Body, which was conceived and born of you a Virgin, I may be\nable to say with the Apostle: '_I live now, not I, but Christ liveth\nin me_.' Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--My heart is prepared to obey you in everything, O my\nMother!\n\n_Practice._--Do everything you do to-day be done in the spirit of\nobedience.\n\n\n\nEIGHTEENTH DAY.\n\nTHE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.--TRUST IN PROVIDENCE.\n\nTHE unspeakable joy which Mary and Joseph experienced after the birth\nof Jesus was of short duration.\n\nThe Angel of the Lord came again to visit Joseph in sleep, and said to\nhim, 'Arise, and take the Child and His Mother and fly into Egypt, and\nbe there until I shall tell thee, for it will come to pass that Herod\nwill seek the Child to destroy Him.'\n\nSee how the heavenly messenger treats Mary and Joseph, precisely as if\nthey were true Religious! How many pretexts might they not have found\nto be dispensed from obeying? Could we not wait till to-morrow? might\nthey have said. What provisions have we for so long and tedious a\njourney? Who knows what we may have to suffer from the Egyptians, the\ndeclared enemies of the Israelites? Who will give us shelter in that\ncountry? These and a thousand other excuses would have been made by us\nhad we been in their place. But perfect models as they were of\nsubmission and of confidence, they set out without delay, certain that\nGod would provide for all their necessities. And so it proved, for\nthey found lodging and food, either by means of the trade exercised by\nSt. Joseph, or by the alms bestowed upon them.\n\nThat we may not lose even one of the many instructions given us in\nthis touching mystery, let us consider first that Our Lord, the\nEternal Wisdom, does not Himself take the charge of His Family. Being\nperfect God and perfect Man, He already possessed the use of reason,\nand from the first instant of His Conception He could have made known\nto Joseph and to His Blessed Mother all that was to happen to them.\nHowever, God the Father had conferred upon the Angel Gabriel the care\nof the Holy Family, and therefore Our Lord would take no part in it.\nThe Angel commands and is obeyed most faithfully, although he was\ninferior to Jesus and also to Mary, who, as Mother of God, was endowed\nwith greater graces and perfections than all the celestial spirits.\n\nBut this is not all. Observe the order that reigns in this Holy\nFamily. Who can doubt that Our Lady was superior to St. Joseph in\ndiscretion, as well as in all the other qualities required for good\ngovernment? And, nevertheless, the Angel does not inform her of all\nthat is to be done, but he informs her Spouse, St. Joseph. It might\nappear strange that he addresses himself to him rather than to Mary,\nthe Mistress of the house, who carries the Treasure of the Eternal\nFather. Had she not every reason to be offended at this proceeding of\nthe Angel, who seemed thus to ignore her? She could undoubtedly have\nsaid to her Spouse, 'Why should I go into Egypt, when neither my Son\nnor the Angel have made it known to me?' But Our Lady is silent, and\nobeys with all simplicity, without being in the least concerned that\nthe Angel had only spoken to St. Joseph. She knew well that all had\nbeen ordained by God; she does not even inquire the reason, but the\nknowledge that such is the Will of God is sufficient to secure her\nprompt submission. It is thus God acts towards men--to teach them holy\nand loving submission. A merely human mind does not wish to yield and\nto adore the secret mysteries of God and of His Most Holy Will until\nit is able to ascertain _the why and the wherefore of this and that_.\nA thousand reasons are brought forward as of greater discernment or\nexperience, and so on; but they only cause disquiet, ill-temper, and\ncomplaints. From the time we begin to criticise everything disturbs\nus. Let us be satisfied to know what God wants of us, and let this\nsuffice. But (some will say) who can assure us that such is the Will\nof God? This shows that our hearts would prefer that God should\nmanifest everything directly to us by means of secret inspirations, or\nthat He should send an Angel to announce to us His Will. And yet he\ndid not thus reveal it even to Our Lady, but wished her to come to the\nknowledge of it through St. Joseph, to whom she was subject, as to her\nsuperior. Our self-love would like to be instructed sometimes by God\nHimself by means of ecstasies, visions, etc. We indulge ourselves in\nfollies such as these that we may not be subject to the common and\nordinary path of subjection to our rules and our superiors. Let it\nsuffice for us to know that God wills our obedience without reflecting\non the mental capacities of those who command us, and we shall\naccustom ourselves to walk with all simplicity in the happy road of\nholy and tranquil humility, which will render us pleasing to God. O!\nhow many wonderful examples of obedience to the Will of God did not\nthis glorious Virgin leave us during her whole life, and, above all,\nin her flight into Egypt! Whither, O glorious Virgin, do you direct\nyour steps with that little Infant in your arms? I am going into\nEgypt, she replies. But why do you go there? Because it is the Will of\nGod. For how long? As long as it pleases God. When will you return?\nWhen He shall command me to do so. But when you return will your heart\nbe more happy than at present? O no, certainly not. And why? Because I\nfulfil the Will of God equally in going, in remaining there, and in\nreturning. When you return, will you go into your own country? She\nreplies, I know no country but the accomplishment of the Will of my\nGod in everything.\n\nO admirable example of obedience! Let us, in imitation of the Blessed\nVirgin, endeavour to submit to authority at all times and in every\ncircumstance, whether it be pleasing to us or not. Let us go with all\nsimplicity even as far as Egypt--that is, into the midst of enemies--\nbecause God Who sends us there will know how to protect us, and\nassuredly we shall not perish. On the contrary, if we remain in Israel\nwith our enemy, self-will, it will certainly be the destruction of us.\nIn imitation of Mary and Joseph, let us answer the suggestions of the\nenemy of our soul when he urges us to disobedience in these words:\n_Deus providebit_--'God will provide.' O my God! happy we if we could\naccustom ourselves to answer our heart always thus when it becomes\nanxious, and thus banish all solicitude and trouble. Great indeed is\nthe confidence which God asks of us in His Paternal care and\nProvidence; but why do we refuse it to Him when we know that no one\nhas ever been deceived in Him, but, on the contrary, has always reaped\ntherefrom the most copious fruits? And was not this the promise which\nOur Saviour made to His Apostles when He urged them to this loving\nconfidence? 'Your Father in heaven knoweth that ye have need of these\nthings.'\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nObedience has the property of changing the flower of our desires into\nthe fruits of good works. Shun singularity as far as possible, and do\nnot make yourselves different exteriorly in any way from others.--_St.\nTeresa._\n\nAs the best honey is gathered from the flowers of the thyme, which is\na small and bitter herb, so when virtues are exercised in the\nbitterness of the most humble tribulations, they become truly\nexcellent.--_St. Francis of Sales._\n\nAs the sun gives its heat no less to a rose amidst a thousand other\nflowers than if it were alone, so Our Lord does not diffuse His love\nthe less upon one soul because He also loves an infinity of others.\nThe power of His love never diminishes on account of the multitude of\nrays that it diffuses, but is always unchangeable in its immensity.--\n_The same._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_The Excellence of the 'Hail Mary.'_\n\nThe first Hail Mary pronounced by an Angel produced the greatest of\nall miracles, and was the source of the salvation of sinful men. If\nour redemption began with the Angelic Salutation, it follows that our\nsalvation depends in a special manner upon this prayer. If it gave\nbirth to the fruit of eternal life upon this dry and barren earth when\nit was brought by the messenger of Heaven, it will, if we recite it\ndevoutly, give birth to Jesus Christ in our soul. It is a celestial\ndew which fertilizes souls, and those that are not refreshed by it do\nnot produce fruit but only briars and thorns. The Most Holy Virgin\nmade the following revelation to the Blessed Alan: 'Know, my son, and\ndo not forget to make it known, that it is a probable sign of\ndamnation to have tepidity, aversion, and negligence in the recital of\nthe Angelical Salutation which brought salvation to the world.'\n\nI know nothing, O Mary, says Thomas a Kempis, that is so glorious for\nyou and so consoling for us as the Angelical Salutation: its sweetness\nis so great that no words can express it. Most certain it is, says\nanother servant of Mary, that this prayer never ascends to Heaven\nwithout obtaining great favours for the body as well as the soul;\nbecause this tender Mother always responds with some grace when we\nsalute her with the _Hail Mary_. The Blessed Virgin promised St.\nGertrude as many favours at the hour of her death as she had recited\n_Ave Marias_ during her life; and she also counselled St. Bridget to\nrecite this prayer to obtain the pardon of some acts of impatience. We\nknow that this Mother of Mercy taught St. Dominic the Holy Rosary as\nthe most efficacious means for obtaining the conversion of heretics\nand sinners. And, in fact, the historians of that period relate that\nthe first-fruits of this new devotion were manifested by the\nabjuration of more than a hundred thousand heretics, and the\nconversion of an incredible number of sinners.\n\nLet us also quote the beautiful words of a Saint. 'The \"_Ave Maria_,\"\nwell recited, is the enemy that puts the devil to flight, and the\nweapon that kills him. It is the sanctification of the soul, the\ngladness of Angels, the melody of the predestinated, the Canticle of\nthe New Testament, the joy of Mary, and the glory of the Most Holy\nTrinity. The _Ave Maria_ is a celestial dew that fertilizes the soul,\na beautiful rose which we present to Mary, and a precious pearl which\nwe bestow upon her. Finally, it is the most magnificent eulogium which\ncan be offered in her honour, and the attractions it possesses have so\nmuch power over her heart, that she is constrained to love him who\nrecites it well.'\n\nAnother great servant of the Immaculate Virgin says of himself, that\nwhenever he pronounced these words, _Hail Mary_, the world in his eyes\nlost all beauty, he felt an increase of Divine love, a more fervent\ndevotion, more firmness in hope, greater joy, and a renewal of virtue\nand strength in his whole being.\n\n_Prayer of St. Bernard._--O sovereign Mistress of Angels and of men,\nto you do we turn our eyes! We must all appear one day before the\nEternal Judge; alas! how shall we dare to present ourselves before\nHim, loaded as we are with so many sins, and who shall appease His\njust indignation? No one, O Mother of Mercy, can so assuredly do this\nbut you who loved Him so much, and who were so tenderly loved by Him.\nOpen then, O Mother of Grace, your compassionate ears to our sighs,\nand the bowels of your mercy to our tears; to you do we run as to our\ndear Mother. Ah! appease the just indignation of your Divine Son, and\nrestore us to His favour. You do not abhor the sinner, nor do you\nreject him, however unworthy he may be, if, repentant, he implores\nyour patronage. To you, then, do I have recourse, O my Mother; animate\nme to hope, sustain my weakness, abandon me not for a single instant,\nand reconcile me to my Eternal Judge, that I may be able to find mercy\nat the moment of my death. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--_Monstra te esse matrem_--Show me, O Mary, that you\nare my mother!\n\n_Practice._--Whatever contradiction you may meet with this day, accept\nit with resignation, and with the reflection that _God wills it_.\n\n\n\nNINETEENTH DAY.\n\nMARY, AT THE MARRIAGE OF CANA, TEACHES US THE BEST METHOD OF PRAYER.\n\n'THERE was a marriage,' says St. John, 'in Cana of Galilee, and the\nMother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited and His\ndisciples.'\n\nLet us consider the goodness of our adorable Saviour in not refusing\nthe invitation to the wedding. He had come to redeem and reform man,\nand therefore would not assume a rigid and austere manner. He was\nalways gentle and courteous, so as to draw men to follow Him. His\npresence at the wedding was a restraint upon all levity and excesses\nthat so often occur on these occasions. O faithful souls! what modesty\nmust have reigned at these nuptials, in the presence of Our Lord and\nof the Most Holy Virgin! The failing of the wine was pre-ordained by\nthe Will of God, Who wished, by a miracle, to manifest His power to\nthose assembled, and in particular to His Apostles. The Most Holy\nVirgin, in her wisdom and prudence, knowing that the wine failed, was\nmoved by the most ardent charity to find an expedient for supplying\nit. And how does she act? Well aware of the power and goodness of her\nDivine Son, and of His charity and mercy, she was certain that He\nwould supply what was required, all the more as the married couple\nwere not rich, and she knew He took pleasure in relieving the poor and\nconversing with them. She turned, therefore, to her Divine Son; and\nnotice well how Our Blessed Lady acted, and what she said: _Vinum non\nhabent_--'They have no wine.' These words imply, 'These good people\nare poor, and although their poverty is pleasing and dear to You,\nnevertheless, in itself, it is a misfortune, and is often the cause of\nconfusion before men. You are Omnipotent, and can relieve their wants,\nand I doubt not Your charity and mercy will make some return for the\nkind invitation they have given us to assist at this feast by\nproviding for them in their present need.' The Holy Virgin, however,\ndid not utter so many words when she asked this miracle; she was most\nskilled in the art of praying well, and made use of the shortest and\nmost suitable method that could be found, saying: 'They have no wine.'\nMary speaks to Our Lord with the greatest possible reverence. She does\nnot address Him in terms of arrogance or presumption, like many\nthoughtless and indiscreet persons when they ask, but she simply\nrepresents to Him the need of the guests, sure that He would hear her\npetition. What an excellent manner of prayer is this, to expose our\nnecessities simply to God, and then abandon ourselves into His\nadorable hands, certain that He will succour us in that way which is\nmost to our advantage! For instance, to say to Him: Lord, behold one\nof Thy poor creatures, who is desolate, afflicted, full of aridity, of\nmiseries and sins, but Thou knowest my wants, and it is enough for me\nto manifest to Thee my state. To Thee it belongs to deliver me from so\nmany miseries, in the manner and at the time that thou knowest to be\nmost conducive to Thy glory and my salvation.\n\nWe may ask God, also, for temporal blessings; of this there is no\ndoubt; for Our Lord Himself has taught us, in the _Our Father_ to ask\nfirst that _the Kingdom of God may come_ as the _end_ to which we\naspire, and that _His Holy Will be done_ as the sole means to attain\nthis _end_; and afterwards to ask Almighty God to _give us our daily\nbread_ (_Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie_). Therefore Holy\nChurch has authorized particular prayers for temporal blessings; for\npeace, in times of war; rain, in seasons of drought, and so on; and\nalso special Masses for procuring relief in times of pestilence, and\nin other necessities. No doubt we can have recourse to God in all our\nwants, both spiritual and temporal, in two ways: by merely exposing to\nHim our necessities, as did the Most Holy Virgin, or by asking Him for\nthat grace which in particular we require, but always with this\ncondition, that _His Will be done and not ours_. And yet, in general,\neven when spiritual persons ask God for His holy love, which softens\nand lightens every difficulty, they take care not to include in their\npetition those virtues that mortify nature.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nHowever slight the services we render to the Blessed Virgin Mary, they\nare always dear to God, and He rewards them with eternal glory.--_St.\nTeresa._\n\nWhen you find yourself in any great difficulty, do not take any step\nwithout having first considered eternity.--_St. Francis of Sales._\n\nHe who is capable of exercising mildness in sufferings, generosity\nunder ill-treatment, and peace amidst discord, is almost perfect.\nMildness, sweetness of heart, and evenness of temper are virtues as\nrare as is the virtue of chastity.--_The same._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_The Advantages of the 'Hail Mary.'_\n\nAfter having considered in the preceding example the esteem in which\nthis prayer was held by the Saints, let us now consider its\nadvantages.\n\nMary rejoices greatly when she is addressed in the Angelical\nSalutation, as she herself revealed to St. Mechtild, saying that of\nall the honours that can be rendered her none is more pleasing, or\ngives more joy, than this prayer, to which are added the words, 'Holy\nMary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, etc.' This prayer reminds\nher of the obligation she is under to have compassion on poor sinners,\nto pray for them, to love them. Sinners are the occasion of all her\nhappiness, 'because,' said she, 'I should not have found grace if they\nhad not lost it; I should not have been chosen to be the Mother of the\nSaviour if it had not been necessary to save them; and lastly, I\nshould not have received such an abundance of graces had it not been\nnecessary that I should become the Mother of Mercy and the Refuge of\nSinners.'\n\nBut the recitation of the _Hail Mary_ does not form the joy of Mary\nalone; it is also the joy of the Angels and of the Saints. Blessed\nAlan says that the words of this prayer convey joy to all the\ninhabitants of heaven. The Angelical Salutation is the distinctive\nsalute of the Angels to Mary; and these blessed spirits enjoy a\nspecial delight in offering it to her frequently every day. But whilst\nthis admirable prayer causes all Paradise to exult with joy, and is a\nsource of grace to faithful souls, it is also the terror of the\ndemons, who take flight as soon as they hear it pronounced. When the\n_Hail Mary_ was brought from heaven by an Angel, the earth leapt for\njoy, on account of its approaching deliverance. But hell seemed\nalready to foresee the formidable presence of the Omnipotent Who was\nto destroy the empire of Satan; and it trembled with fear when this\nsalutation was uttered. No wonder, then, that the impious, who are\nchildren of the accursed spirits, should adopt their sentiments and\nhate all that relates to the mystery of the Incarnation, and speak\ncontemptuously of the Holy Rosary and of devotion to the Blessed\nVirgin. However, experience shows us that the more a soul gives signs\nof predestination, the more does she love, relish, and gladly recite\nthe _Hail Mary_; and the more she loves God, the more does she love\nthis prayer. 'I have no surer secret for ascertaining if a person love\nGod,' says the venerable Louis Marie de Montfort, 'than to examine if\nhe love to recite the _Ave Maria_ or the Rosary.'\n\n_Prayer._--Help us, O Mother full of mercy, and do not allow the\nmultitude of our sins to weaken your love for us. Remember that our\nadorable Saviour deigned to take from you a mortal body, not to\ncondemn but to save sinners. If it were for your own personal glory\nalone that you were chosen to be the Mother of God, it might be said\nthat our eternal salvation, or damnation, matters but little to you;\nbut it was for the salvation of all men that your Divine Son clothed\nHimself with our flesh. What advantage would accrue to us from your\nhappiness and power if you did not make use of your power to render us\npartakers of your happiness? You know the need we have of your\nassistance; and therefore we recommend ourselves earnestly to you.\nHelp us, that we may not have the misfortune to lose our souls, but\nmay eternally love and serve your Divine Son with you in His kingdom\nof glory. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--Obtain for us, O Mary, by your powerful intercession,\nthe grace not to lose the place which Our Saviour has prepared for us\nin Paradise.\n\n_Practice._--Ask Mary to obtain for you from God all the graces you\nare in need of to-day.\n\n\n\nTWENTIETH DAY.\n\nTHE PETITION OF MARY AT THE MARRIAGE OF CANA WAS FULL OF CONFIDENCE.\n\nLET us endeavour, by the Divine assistance, to discover all the\nlessons contained in the petition of Mary and in the answer of Jesus.\n\nMary turns to Jesus, and says to Him: _Vinum non habent_--'They have\nno wine;' and He replies: _Quid mihi, et tibi est, mulier? Nondum\nvenit hora mea_--'Woman, what is there in common between Me and thee?\nMy hour is not yet come.'\n\nThis reply at first sight seems harsh, and it surprises us, coming\nfrom such a Son and addressed to such a Mother. Is it possible that so\nrespectful a Son should reject with asperity a prayer made with so\nmuch reverence and humility by the most loving and the most loved of\nMothers? Has the creature no part with her Creator from Whom she\nreceives her being and her life? Has the Mother nothing to do with her\nSon, nor the Son with the Mother, from whom He received His Body and\nHis Blood? These words seem, as I have said, somewhat strange, and are\ndifficult to understand; indeed, they have been misinterpreted by some\nwho, having kept merely to the letter, have unhappily originated\nseveral forms of heresy. However, the reply was most loving, and the\nHoly Virgin, who well understood its genuine sense, considered herself\nthe happiest of Mothers. This she expressed, with a heart full of\nconfidence, in her answer to the waiters. 'You have heard,' she said,\n'the reply my Son has made me, and perhaps, not understanding the\nlanguage of love, you fear that He is indignant at my petition; but it\nis not so, fear not; whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye'--\n_Quaecumque dixerit vobis, facite._\n\nThe opinions of the Doctors upon the words of Our Blessed Saviour are\nvarious; many think that His meaning was: 'It does not belong to us to\nmeddle in this affair; as we are merely amongst the invited, we should\nnot observe what is required or not required at the wedding.' However,\nthe greater number of the holy Fathers of the Church think that Our\nLord thus replied to His Most Holy Mother, in order to teach those of\nhigh position in the Church not to make use of their influence in\nfavour of their relations, in things which are contrary to the law of\nGod or to the perfection of their state. To give this lesson to the\nworld, He made use of the tender Heart of Mary, and, in doing so, He\ncertainly gives us a very great proof of His love. His words signified\nthat He knew well the tenderness and perfection of the love His Mother\nbore Him, and the firmness of her will, and therefore was well assured\nthat the apparent harshness of His words would in no way trouble her\nsoul. On this account the Most Holy Virgin did not lose confidence\nwhen she received His answer, but said to the waiters: 'Whatsoever He\nshall say to you, do ye.' Our Lord loves most tenderly those who\nabandon themselves, like His Most Holy Mother, completely to His care,\nallowing themselves to be governed by His Divine Providence, without\ncaring whether the result be sweet or bitter, certain that the\nparental Heart of God will never permit the least thing to happen\nwhich will not turn to their advantage, if they have a perfect and\nfilial confidence in Him. We ought, then, to imitate this example of\nMary on all occasions, whether prosperous or adverse; allowing\nourselves to be led by the Divine Will without ever seeking the\naccomplishment of our own. It is true that great confidence is\nnecessary to enable us to abandon ourselves thus unreservedly to\nDivine Providence; but, if we do so, Our Lord takes care of\neverything, and conducts all for our advantage; while if we reserve\nsomething to ourselves, not confiding entirely in Him, then He\nabandons us. It is as if He were to say: You believe that you are\ncapable of succeeding without My succour, therefore I shall withdraw,\nand you will see what will be the result.\n\nThis perfect abandonment must be grounded upon the infinite goodness\nof God, and upon the merits of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus\nChrist, and accompanied by a firm and perfect resolution to give\nourselves entirely to God leaving all things to His loving Providence.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nIn Arabia Felix, not only the plants which are called aromatical are\nsweet scented, but all plants without distinction, because they all\nexperience the influence of the sun's intense heat. So all the works\nof a soul that is replenished with charity or the virtue of holy love,\neven the very least, have a most pleasing fragrance before the Divine\nMajesty, Who rewards them with an increase of charity.--_St. Francis\nof Sales._\n\nIf you sincerely love God, you will often speak of Him. As bees gather\nhoney only with their mouths, so your tongue will be always honeyed\nwith the words you speak of your God; and never will your mouth taste\nsuch sweetness as when you sing the praises and blessings of His Most\nHoly Name.--_The same._\n\nAs some herbs, when well masticated, produce so great sweetness as to\nappease hunger and thirst, so one who receives from God the celestial\nmanna of interior consolation cannot in any way desire the\nconsolations of the world, though it be only to receive a momentary\nsatisfaction.--_The same._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_Further Advantages of the 'Hail Mary.'_\n\nLet us glory, says a pious author, in repeating this salutation with\nthe Angel Gabriel, the Apostles, the Martyrs, and all the Christian\nworld. Let this _Ave Maria_, which comes to us fragrant as a Canticle\nof heaven, and repeated by as many echoes as there are faithful souls\non earth, be sweet to our lips, and sweeter still to our hearts. It is\na rare and enviable favour indeed to be able to salute a queen, and\nyet every day, at every moment, men and women, old and young, all of\nevery condition, can salute the Queen of heaven and earth, who\ncontains in her hands all the treasures of God, and can be sure of\nbeing always heard, and that each salutation addressed to her will\nmeet with a corresponding benefit. . . . But can the sinner also dare\nto approach her? Yes, certainly; let him also come with humble\nconfidence and salute her who is his refuge, for she will in no wise\nbe offended by his prayer; and if the _Hail Mary_ from his lips be a\ncry of sorrow and repentance, it will become omnipotent, and will\nobtain mercy, pardon, grace, and salvation.\n\nHail Mary! _Ave Maria!_ . . . A sweet and beautiful word it is, which\nheaven sent to earth, and earth again returns so frequently to heaven!\n\nThe _Ave Maria_ is the universal prayer of each and all. The infant\nbegins to lisp it, and on his knees, with his hands raised to heaven,\nsays _Ave Maria!_ The aged, weakened by infirmity, may be incapable of\nreciting long prayers, but they will always have sufficient strength\nto repeat devoutly the _Ave Maria_. This is the favourite prayer of\njust souls. Oh, how many times in the day does it rise from their\nhearts full of burning love, and ascend, like purest burning incense\nto the throne of Mary! _Ave Maria!_ . . . it is also the prayer of\nsinners, and perhaps their only prayer. In the great number of these\nthere are some, alas! who have forgotten all other prayers, but they\nstill know and repeat the _Ave Maria_. Yes; amidst the universal wreck\nof all other prayers and practices of religion, the _Ave Maria_ or\n_Hail Mary_ has remained for them ever a means of salvation. . . . How\nmany poor wrecked souls have been led back to the haven of salvation\nby this means!\n\n_Prayer._--O Jesus! only Son of God, Who from the bosom of Thy Eternal\nFather, descended into the bosom of Mary, Thy Mother, receive the\nhomage of my adoration and love. Through Thee I go to Thy Father, and\nthrough Thy Mother I come to Thee. Like the spouses at Cana, I dare\nnot address my prayer directly to Thee, but I fear nothing when I\ndirect it through Thy Blessed Mother. O Lord! well Thou knowest that I\nhave no wine, no courage, nor strength, nor holy and generous\nresolutions; I have lost all! Ah! say not to Thy Mother, who\nintercedes in my favour: 'Woman, what is there in common between us?'\nbecause I know for certain that she is all-powerful over Thy filial\nHeart. Add not 'My hour is not yet come!' Ah, no; Thy hour, O my God,\nto benefit those who pray to Thee, through Thy Blessed Mother, is ever\nat hand. O Lord! behold, the vessel of my heart is full of the insipid\nwaters of earth; change this water into the delicious wine of holy\naffections for heaven, where the Saints celebrate the nuptials of the\nLamb amidst eternal joys. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--Succour my weakness, O most powerful Virgin!\n\n_Practice._--Endeavour to preserve confidence in God, when He delays\nthe graces you desire.\n\n\n\nTWENTY-FIRST DAY.\n\nMARY OBTAINS THE FIRST MIRACLE FROM JESUS BY HER LIVELY FAITH.\n\nTHAT we may conceive a just idea of the power the Most Holy Virgin\npossesses over the Heart of Jesus, let us meditate upon those other\nwords which He addressed to her at the marriage of Cana: _Nondum venit\nhora mea_--'My hour is not yet come.'\n\nWithout discussing the opinion of certain Doctors, who think that Our\nLord, by these words, meant to say that the wine was not yet wanted, I\nshall call your attention to this reflection: that there are certain\ntimes ordained by Divine Providence upon which our conversion and\nsalvation depend.\n\nIt is certain that God had from all eternity determined the hour and\nmoment when He would work the great miracle of His Incarnation, and\ngive to the world the first sign of His power, but yet this\ndetermination could be accelerated by prayer.\n\nThe greater number of the Fathers assert that Mary, by her loving\nsighs and aspirations, merited the acceleration of the Incarnation of\nOur Lord. Not, indeed, that He became Incarnate before the time that\nHe had determined, but that, from all eternity He foresaw that the\nHoly Virgin would beg Him to hasten the time of His coming into the\nworld; and therefore, in consideration of the great merit of her\nintercession, He ordained to become Man sooner than He would have done\nhad He not been petitioned to do so. The same may be said of the first\nmiracle, wrought by Our Lord at the wedding of Cana. _Nondum venit\nhora mea_--'My hour is not yet come,' said Jesus to His Holy Mother,\nbut as I can refuse you nothing, I shall hasten to hear your prayer.\n\nOh, how precious is that hour in which Divine Providence wills to\nimpart to us those special graces and blessings that are necessary for\nour salvation, Happy the soul who awaits this hour patiently, and who\nendeavours to prepare herself for it when it arrives. The Samarian\nwoman assuredly was converted at this hour, and upon its arrival will\ndepend also our own conversion and spiritual regeneration. We will now\nconsider how Our Lord acted when He worked this miracle.\n\nIn the hall were seven stone urns, prepared for the purification,\npractised by the Jews. Our Lord ordered them to be filled with water,\n_Implete hydrias aqua_; and as the waiters had already been directed\nby Mary to follow punctually the orders of her Divine Son, they filled\nthem 'up to the brim,' as the Sacred Text expresses it. Afterwards Our\nSaviour said something interiorly, not understood by anyone, and the\nwater was instantly changed into most excellent wine. These words\nwhich He spoke were similar, without doubt, to those by which He drew\nall things out of nothing, or by which He gave being and life to man,\nor by which, also, at His last supper with His disciples, He changed\nwine into His adorable Blood, and thus instituted the Most Holy\nSacrament of the Eucharist, giving to us, through it, that most\nexcellent wine which nourishes us for eternal life.\n\nThis fact in the Gospel shows us, moreover, the great confidence we\nshould have in the powerful intercession of Our Lady. But in order\nthat she may represent our necessities to her Divine Son, we must\ninvite her and our adorable Saviour to our banquet, because wine can\nnever fail when Jesus and Mary are present; this Mother of Mercy being\never prepared to ask it for us, and her Divine Son ever ready to\nbestow it.\n\nHowever, if we desire Our Lady to intercede with her Divine Son that\nHe may change the water of our tepidity into the wine of His fervent\nlove, we must imitate the waiters at the marriage of Cana, and do all\nthat Our Lord shall tell us. Obey Him, then, with fidelity, O ye\nservants of God, fill your hearts well with the penitential water of\nrepentance, and He will change it into the wine of His holy love. In\norder to obtain the spirit of fervour, nourish your mind with holy\nthoughts; make frequent ejaculations, and, as a general rule, if you\nwish to be recollected in time of prayer, avoid dissipation during the\nday, and waste no time in useless reflections upon yourself, or on\nwhat happens around you. Keep yourself in the presence of God, and\nrepose in the loving arms of His Providence. Bless this adorable\nProvidence continually during life, and you will glorify It eternally\nin heaven, with all the Saints and blessed spirits.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nThe Spouse in the Canticles says that her hands distil myrrh--a liquor\nwhich preserves from corruption; her eyes are like those of the dove,\nin their purity; from her ears hang pendants of gold, as a sign of\nchastity; her lips are vermilion, the symbol of her modesty in speech;\nand her nose like the tower of Lebanon, of incorruptible wood. Such\nshould be the devout servant of God--chaste, pure and unspotted in her\nwhole soul and body.--_St. Francis of Sales._\n\nClasp Jesus closely to your breast; let Him be a beautiful and sweet\nbouquet of flowers upon your heart, so that whoever approaches you may\nbe conscious of the perfume, and know that the fragrance of your life\nshould be of myrrh--the symbol of mortification.--_The same._\n\nKeep always close to Jesus Crucified, in spirit, in meditation, and in\nreality by Holy Communion. As he who is accustomed to lie down upon a\ncertain species of herb becomes chaste and pure, so your soul and your\nheart will be very quickly purified from every spot and from every\nunruly desire when Our Lord, Who is the true Lamb of God, reposes upon\nyour heart.--_The same._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_Most pleasing to Our Blessed Lord is our Devotion to His Mother._\n\nSt. Teresa relates the following:\n\n'Don Bernadino de Mendoza, to testify his devotion to the Most Holy\nVirgin, came to offer me his house, at Pico de Olmos, near Valladolid,\nfor a Convent of Our Lady of Carmel. To say the truth, I felt some\nrepugnance to found a religious house far from a town, yet the\noffering had been made so cordially, and for so holy a purpose, that I\nconsidered I ought not to refuse it, and thus deprive the young\ngentleman of so much merit.\n\n'About two months afterwards he was seized by a mortal illness,\ndeprived of the power of speech, and died without having been able to\nmake his confession. The Divine Master then said to me: \"His\nsalvation, my dear daughter, was in great danger; but I showed him\nmercy, in reward of the house he had made over for the foundation of a\nConvent consecrated to My Mother, under the title of Carmel. However,\nhe will not be released from Purgatory until the first Mass is\ncelebrated in that Convent.\"\n\n'From that time my mind was ever occupied with the thought of his\nsufferings. The foundation of Valladolid could not be formed as\nquickly as I desired. One day, when I was stopping at St. Joseph's, at\nMedina del Campo, whilst I was at prayer, Our Lord said to me: \"Make\nhaste, because this soul suffers much.\" After this nothing could\ninduce me to delay. Being arrived at Valladolid, although the house\nwas unhealthy, I prepared some cells, just for the time being, and\nprovided merely what was absolutely necessary. When Sunday arrived,\nnotwithstanding the delay of the formal authorization, permission was\ngranted to have Mass celebrated on the spot which was destined for the\nChurch. I did not, indeed, believe that the promise of Our Lord\nregarding this gentleman would be fulfilled then; on the contrary, I\nwas persuaded that the words, _until the first Mass_, related to that\nMass when the Blessed Sacrament would be reserved for the first time\nin the Church. But when the Priest turned towards us, with the sacred\nciborium in his hand, to communicate us, and I had approached the\nAltar to receive the sacred Host, I saw the gentleman by the side of\nthe Priest, full of joy and resplendent with light. He thanked me for\nall I had done to deliver him from the flames of Purgatory, and then\nascended to heaven.\n\n'Oh, how precious is any service, however small, that we are able to\nrender the Most Holy Virgin! Who can tell how pleasing it is to Our\nLord, and how mercifully He rewards it?'\n\n_Prayer._--O Mother! full of love and clemency towards us, you are\npenetrated with the same sentiments as your Divine Son, and you also\nsay with Him: 'Whenever the sinner returns to me with sincere sorrow\nfor his offences, he always finds me ready to receive him with\nkindness and tenderness. I think not of the malice, or the number of\nhis sins, but I only look at the desire he has to be converted; and I\nam always disposed to implore a remedy for his wounds, because I am,\nin deed and in name, the Mother of Grace and of Mercy!'\n\nO Mary! since you never reject the sinner who returns to you with a\nresolution to amend, and since you have the power, as well as the\nwill, to obtain the cure of all the wounds of the heart, behold me at\nyour feet, full of confidence. Behold, I beseech you, the deep and\ncankered wounds of my soul, and if you will deign to offer your\nprayers to your Divine Son for me, I shall hope everything for my\neternal salvation. Amen.\n\n_Aspiration._--Through your intercession, O tender Mother, I hope to\nobtain the eternal happiness of heaven!\n\n_Practice._--Let all the good works of this day be directed to obtain\nthe conversion of sinners.\n\n\n\nTWENTY-SECOND DAY.\n\nMARY CHOSE THE BETTER PART.\n\nWE read in the Gospel that Martha, into whose house Our Lord had\nentered, was busy and troubled about many things in her anxiety to\nserve Him, whilst her sister Mary remained at His feet, listening to\nHis words. Martha was concerned about Our Lord's bodily comfort, but\nMary, laying aside every other thought, nourished her soul with the\nsacred instructions of her Divine Master. A soul, recollected\ninteriorly before God, is sometimes so sweetly attentive to the\ngoodness of her Beloved as not even to be aware of its attentiveness,\nso simply and gently is it exercised. Such souls are like those who\nnavigate rivers the waters of which flow on so calmly that they\nneither see nor feel any motion. This delightful repose of the soul is\ncalled by St. Teresa 'The Prayer of Quiet.'\n\nMartha, moved by a slight sentiment of envy (which is an almost\nuniversal vice, affecting even devout souls), complained thus to Our\nLord: 'Master, hast Thou no care that my sister hath left me alone to\nserve? Speak to her, therefore, that she help me.' Our Lord, Who is\nInfinite Goodness, would not reprehend her seriously, although He knew\nthe imperfection of her sentiments, but He called her by name, gently\nand affectionately (for the whole Gospel is love), and said to her:\n'Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things; but\none thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part, which shall\nnot be taken from her!'--_Martha, Martha, sollicita es et turbaris\nerga plurima; porro unum est necessarium. Maria optimam partem elegit,\nquae non auferetur ab ea._\n\nWhilst Martha was thus busy serving Our Divine Saviour, Mary had but\none thought--to remain with Him and hear His words. This was also the\none thought of Our Blessed Lady, the Most Holy Virgin. Observe her at\nBethlehem, where all her efforts to find a lodging were vain; she says\nnot a word, utters no complaint, but retires into a stable and places\nthe newborn Infant in a manger! After a few days the Magi come to\nadore Him, and she receives in silence the praises addressed to her.\nShe flies into Egypt, but shows no sign of grief; she returns to Judea\nwithout any manifestation of joy. On Calvary, at the feet of her\nDivine Son, she opens not her mouth, but listens to His words, for to\nhear them is all her desire. Indifferent to all things else, 'happen\nwhat will,' says she, 'whether He console me or afflict me, I am\nequally contented, provided I be near Him and possess Him.'\n\nThus does a soul abandoned to the Will of God remain in His arms, like\na child on the bosom of his mother. When she places him on the ground\nhe walks, and when she takes him again in her arms he allows himself\nto be carried, and is in no way troubled to know whither he is taken.\nThus the soul cultivates tranquillity of heart, and advances\ncontinually in union with the Divine Goodness.\n\nThe exercise of union with God can be practised by means of short but\nfrequent aspirations of the soul to God, such as: 'Ah, Jesus, who will\ngive me to be but one spirit with Thee? I renounce all creatures and\ndesire Thee alone, for this is the one thing needful. Ah! plunge my\nsoul into the ocean of Thy Goodness, from whence it proceeds, and make\nme, O Lord, wholly Thine. Draw me, and I will run after Thy\nattractions, casting myself into Thy paternal arms, and never again\nwithdrawing myself from them.'\n\nA soul immersed in God dies not. How could it die if immersed in Him\nWho is life? It lives, then, but not in itself. As the planets do not\nshine in the presence of the sun, but the sun shines in them, so does\nit live, not, indeed, a natural life, but the life of Jesus Christ,\nWho lives in it.\n\nIn imitation of the Blessed Virgin we must make it our whole study to\nunite ourselves to Our Lord by advancing in perfection. Let us not,\nhowever, forget that our best means for attaining to this is to remain\ntranquil, and place all our confidence in Him Who alone can give\nincrease to that which we have sown and planted. Our Lord desires from\nus a peaceful solicitude, which will lead us to obey those who direct\nus and walk with all fidelity in the paths they point out. We should\nabandon ourselves in all things to His Paternal care, and maintain\npeace of soul as far as possible, because Our Lord reposes in tranquil\nand peaceful hearts. When the waters of a lake are not agitated by the\nwind, the firmament with its stars is so vividly represented therein\nthat, looking down into the deep, we can see its beauty as perfectly\nas if we were looking up to the heavens. So also when our souls are\ntranquil and undisturbed by superfluous cares or distractions, we are\nthen well prepared to receive within us the image of Our Lord. But if\nthe soul be disquieted, darkened, and agitated by the various tempests\nof the passions, and allows itself to be guided by them, and not by\nreason, which renders us like to God, it cannot reflect the beautiful\nimage of Jesus Christ Crucified and His most excellent virtues, nor\ncan He rest in the soul. We must abandon the thought of ourselves to\nDivine Providence, for anxiety of mind and the desire to know if we\nadvance in virtue is not pleasing to God, and serves only to satisfy\nself-love, which is a great busybody that seeks to have a hand in\neverything. One work well done with peace of mind is more meritorious\nthan many works performed with agitation and anxiety.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nWhen the lily springs up from the earth it produces a number of long\nleaves, but as it grows higher the leaves near the flower are fewer\nand much smaller. These leaves represent our words. The more a soul\nprogresses in the way of God and of perfection the fewer are her\nwords.--_Pere St. Jure._\n\nAs the bees go all round their hive gathering honey here and there,\nand when they have collected it take pleasure in working it up, on\naccount of its sweetness, so we meditate that we may acquire the love\nof God; and then we contemplate Him, and are attracted by His goodness\nthrough the sweetness which His love causes us to experience. Hence\nthe soul is never satiated with considering and looking upon the\nDivine Beauty.--_St. Francis of Sales._\n\nThe occupations that are necessary for each one in his state of life\nare no hindrance to piety, but increase it and adorn the work of\ndevotion. The nightingale loves its own melody when it is silent as\nmuch as when it sings; the devout heart also cherishes Divine love no\nless when it is distracted by the external duties of life than when it\nprays. Its action and its contemplation, its occupation, as well as\nits repose, equally chant the canticle of love.--_The same._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_Beauty of the 'Ave Maris Stella.'_\n\nIn this hymn are celebrated all the prerogatives of Mary. She is the\npowerful Mother of God and the most glorious of Virgins--_Dei Mater\nalma atque semper Virgo_--and at the same time the most sweet and\nhumble of Virgins--_Virgo singularis inter omnes mitis._\n\nThe Most Holy Virgin performs the function of advocate with her Divine\nSon in our favour, and offers Him our prayers--_Monstra te esse\nMatrem._\n\nShe is the Gate of Heaven. She loosens the chains of sinners, guides\nthe blind in the way of virtue, removes every kind of evil from us,\nand asks in our name for every grace necessary for us to reach the\nport of eternal life.--_Solve vincla reis._\n\nNothing is more appropriate to inspire us with a tender confidence in\nMary than the _Ave Maris Stella_, for its verses contain\nconsiderations of time and eternity. Let us, then, repeat it often,\nand Mary will load us with benedictions, as many miraculous facts in\nthe lives of the Saints attest. Indeed, this Queen of Heaven herself\nshowed how dear to her is this hymn when she appeared one day to St.\nBridget, and thus addressed her: 'My Son, the Sovereign Master of\nheaven, of earth, and of hell, can Himself alone suppress all the\npowers of evil, from whatever source they may arise. I shall\nhenceforth be a shield of defence for you and for the others against\nall the attempts of the enemies of your souls and bodies, on\ncondition, however, that all your community meet together to sing\nevery evening the _Ave Maris Stella_.'\n\nThe Saint did not fail to fulfil punctually the will of the Most Holy\nVirgin, and her example was followed by her Confessor, and her\ndaughter, St. Catherine of Sweden, who caused this pious practice to\nbe adopted by all the convents of the Order of St. Saviour. Let us\nthen be glad to salute our most amiable Mother frequently with this\nhymn of the holy Abbot of Clairvaux. However, we must not be satisfied\nwith merely singing it; let us also carry it in our minds and in our\nhearts; and, above all, strive to be penetrated with all the\naffectionate sentiments it contains. Let us pray to St. Bernard to\nrecommend us himself to the Queen of Angels, and obtain for us that\nshe may be to us all that she was to him to the last instant of his\nlife. Most Blessed Virgin! be my strength, my guide, my Mother! and\nlet me never become unworthy to bear the beautiful title of Child of\nMary. _Monstra te esse Matrem._\n\n_Prayer._--O Holy Virgin and Mother of God! deign to succour those who\nimplore your assistance. Cast an eye of compassion upon us, and be\nmoved at the sight of our miseries. O Mother of Grace! have you\nforgotten men in their tribulations and need, by reason of the sublime\ndignity to which you have been raised? No, without doubt your heart\nwill be ever interested in our favour, nor can your great mercy ever\nforget misery so profound as ours. Turn then towards us, and consider\nthe many dangers to which we are continually exposed. God Almighty has\nconstituted you the depositary of His power and of His graces; pour\nthem upon us in abundance, we beg of you. The more powerful you are,\nthe more do I trust, O Mother of Mercy, that you will be singularly\nmerciful to your afflicted children who have recourse to you. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--O Mary! you are able to succour me, and I hope your\ngoodness will not refuse me this favour.\n\n_Practice._--Endeavour to recollect yourself frequently during the\nday, that you may act with greater purity of intention.\n\n\n\nTWENTY-THIRD DAY.\n\nTHE BLESSED VIRGIN DID NOT NEGLECT THE DUTIES OF MARTHA.\n\nTHE conduct of Martha and Mary give us another touching subject for\nour meditation. These two sisters well represent to us Our Lady. Like\nMartha the Blessed Virgin Mary received her Son Our Lord into her\nhouse, and into her most chaste womb, when He came into this world,\nand with incomparable care she always served Him whilst He lived on\nearth, in reward of which He exalted her in heaven to an unparalleled\nglory. Like Mary, she listened to His words in uninterrupted silence,\nand occupied herself only in loving Him. This glorious Virgin\nexercised admirably in the course of her life the offices of both of\nthese sisters. But as regards the office of Martha, with what care and\nattention did she not serve Our Lord when an Infant! What diligence\ndid she employ in avoiding the anger of Herod, and all the dangers\nwith which His life was threatened!\n\nTake notice that Our Lord reprehended Martha because she was disturbed\nand troubled, not because she was careful. Our Lady, like Martha, took\ngreat care to serve our Divine Master well--but her care was devoid of\nall disquiet and anxious trouble. The Saints in heaven are zealous for\nthe glory of God, but are not disquieted. The Angels are careful in\nall that regards our salvation, and God Himself has care of His\ncreatures, but always in peace and undisturbed calm. To us, miserable\ncreatures, however, this is difficult. Some become suddenly disturbed\nbecause they cannot do what they desire; others wish to console and\nvisit the sick, but if they meet with some hindrance they are\nimmediately troubled; others will have a great affection for mental\nprayer, and although this relates only to God, yet even here human\nnature enters, and they will be disturbed and troubled if they are\nconstrained to occupy themselves in some other employment.\n\nNow would Martha have been so much troubled if she had had no other\nend in view than to please Our Lord? No, certainly; because one only\nkind of food, well prepared, was sufficient for His nourishment, and,\nmoreover, because she saw that the whole pleasure of her Divine Master\nwas to be listened to, as was done by her sister Mary. But Martha\nmingled a little self-esteem with her desire to provide all that was\nnecessary for our Divine Master; and this moved her to wish that her\nhospitality, in receiving those who honoured her with their visits,\nshould be recognised. The good lady believed that by this external\nservice she would become a great servant of God, and surpass others;\nand through love for her sister she wished that she also should be\nsolicitous to serve the Beloved Master, and thus, as she thought,\nacquire more merit. But our Divine Redeemer was more pleased with the\npractice of Mary, into whose heart He poured forth, through His divine\nwords, graces surpassing all conception. This was the truth He wished\nalso to inculcate, when He said, that those alone were blessed who\nshould have listened to His word and practised it.\n\nAll that anxious restlessness and eager desire to do something for Our\nLord, which some devout persons look upon as real virtue, is then a\nmanifest error, reproved by our Divine Master, when He said: _Porro\nunum est necessarium_--'But one thing is necessary.'\n\nYou may ask, in reply, But how are we to prevent being uneasy when we\nare under an obligation of practising virtue? This solicitude is\ncertainly not blamable, provided it be not overanxious and troubled.\nInvoke frequently the one beautiful Dove of the Heavenly Spouse, that\nshe may truly obtain for you the heart of a dove, and that you may not\nonly be a dove in your flight towards heaven, by prayer, but also a\ndove in your nest, and with all those who surround you. Unite the\noffice of Mary with that of Martha: diligently fulfil the duties of\nyour state. Often cast yourself at the feet of Jesus, and say to Him\nfrom your heart: O my Divine Master, whether I go or stay, I am all\nThine and Thou art all mine. Thou art my only Spouse, and all that I\nam going to do shall be for Thee.\n\nAs the birds have their nests in which to hide themselves when\nneedful, so our heart should select and take possession of some spot\nevery day, either on Calvary or in the Sacred Wounds of Our Lord, or\nnear Him, whither it may retire on every occasion to defend itself in\ntemptations and recreate itself after the many exterior affairs of the\nday. Happy the soul that can truly say to Our Lord: You are my house\nof refuge, my secure home; my roof, in time of rain, and my\nrefreshment under burning heats.\n\nA remedy, however, against so many anxious cares and troubles is to\ncopy the practice of Mary, because it was praised by Our Lord Himself,\nWho called it the best and the one thing necessary. Now, this one\nthing necessary is nothing else than the exercise of Divine Love,\nwhich, as it contains in itself the perfection of all other virtues,\nproduces their acts in due time and place, according to circumstances.\nIn one word, then: _Possess holy Charity, and no virtue will be\nwanting to you, because all virtues are comprised in Charity._\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nThe Most Holy Virgin Mary is compared to an orange-tree laden with\nfruit, and diffusing the sweetest odour of Lebanon. This means that\nall her thoughts, words, and actions were so perfect that, like an\nexquisite perfume, they delighted both Heaven and earth: and that,\nlike the pomegranate, they wore the crown of perfection.--_Pere S.\nJure._\n\nThe bee sucks honey from flowers without injuring them, and leaves\nthem as entire and fresh as he found them. Devotion has this higher\nexcellence, that it adds new beauty to all that it touches.--_St.\nFrancis of Sales._\n\nRemember that when the bees make honey, they take bitter food; so,\nalso, we can never make acts of greater patience and sweetness, nor\nform better the honey of excellent virtues than by eating the bread of\nbitterness and living a life of tribulation.--_The same._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_The 'Magnificat.'_\n\nThe _Magnificat_ is the first Canticle of the New Testament and the\nmost magnificent Canticle of Holy Scripture. It presents us with most\nsublime ideas of the greatness of God, and is sung on solemn\nfestivals, whilst Priests stand and incense the Altar.\n\nWe recite the _Magnificat_ to thank God for all the graces bestowed\nupon the Most Holy Virgin. It is the only work she ever composed, and\ncontains mysteries far surpassing our understanding. Hence this\nproverb was familiar amongst the ancient authors when they spoke of\none who meddled with things beyond his capacity; such a one would\n_correct the Magnificat._\n\nThe Blessed Juliana had a special affection for this Canticle.\nSpeaking of it one day to the Superior of a convent, she declared that\nshe would not sacrifice the sweetness she experienced in reciting it\nfor all the gold that the convent could contain. She repeated it nine\ntimes a day, in memory of the nine months that the Most Holy Virgin\nbore the Redeemer of the world in her womb; and she desired ardently\nthat all would follow her example, believing it impossible that Mary\nwould not hear those who share in the joy she manifests in this\nCanticle.\n\nCardinal J. de Vitry, in the life of Ste. Marie de Ogniez, relates\nthat when this Saint was near death, and was singing the _Magnificat_,\nthe Mother of God appeared to her and told her to receive Extreme\nUnction, and she remained by her bedside in company with her Divine\nSon until the Saint expired.\n\nSt. Anselm relates of himself that when he was afflicted with various\ninfirmities, which occasioned him the most acute suffering, he was\nperfectly cured by reciting the _Magnificat._\n\n_Prayer._--August Mother of God, you are the Queen of Mercy, and I am\nthe most miserable of sinners, and consequently your subject. You\nshould then have greater compassion for me than for anyone less\nsinful. _Eia ergo advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad\nnos converte._\n\nO, our refuge and our advocate, turn one look of mercy towards us;\ninterest yourself in our behalf; be moved to compassion for our evils,\nand obtain their cure. Deliver us from our miseries, and we shall\nnever cease to sing the hymn of praise to your mercy, of which we have\nexperienced the salutary effects. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--Pray for me, O Mother of Grace, O Mother of Mercy!\n\n_Practice._--Whilst you fulfil the duties of your state in imitation\nof Martha, endeavour to have your mind and heart turned to Jesus as\nMary had.\n\n\n\nTWENTY-FOURTH DAY.\n\nMARY IN HER SLEEP.\n\nWE can begin to love God in this life, but it is only in the next that\nwe shall be able to love Him perfectly. In the expression _we_ I do\nnot intend to speak of the Most Holy Virgin, because she is the\nDaughter of beautiful Love, the one only dove, the perfect Spouse.\nYes; the charity of Mary surpassed that of the Seraphim. 'If all the\ndaughters have gathered riches, thou hast surpassed them all.'\n\nThe Saints and Angels are compared to stars, but Mary is beautiful as\nthe moon, distinguished amidst the Saints as the moon amidst the\nstars. As her charity surpasses in heaven that of all the blessed, so\ndid she exercise it with greater excellence on earth; for never having\nsinned, even venially, her love never met with any obstacle, and thus\nincreased at every instant. What progress, then, must she not have\nmade in the exercise of holy love? Say not that the Most Holy Virgin,\nlike all men, was subject to the necessities of life. It may be said,\nin the words of the Canticles, that her sleep was the sleep of Love,\nthe celestial Spouse saying, _'I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,\nthat you stir not nor awake my love till she please.'_\n\nThe Queen of heaven and earth granted to her chaste body that repose\nonly which was necessary to restore its strength, in order to serve\nGod more perfectly; and we may say that her sleep never interrupted\nthe exercise of holy love, because it proceeded from an act of most\nexcellent charity. Does not St. Augustine teach that we must love our\nbody, that it may serve us in those works which God requires of us,\nand because it forms part of ourselves, and is one day to share our\neternal felicity?\n\nThe Most Holy Virgin, indeed, had other reasons to love her body with\na virtuous love, because it was not only pure, submissive, and docile\nto all the functions of holy love and embalmed by Divine sweetness,\nbut it was, moreover, the living source of the Sacred Body of Our\nSaviour. Thus it belonged to her in an incomparably singular manner,\nso that before yielding to sleep she could truly say to it, 'Rest from\nyour fatigues, O throne of the Divinity, tabernacle of the new\nCovenant, ark of all Sanctity; recruit your strength through the\nrepose which I allow you to take.'\n\nAh! sweet Jesus! what must have been the thoughts of your Most Holy\nMother whilst sleep refreshed her body and her heart was watching! We\nmay imagine that her most frequent thought was of her Divine Son, Who\nhad so often slept upon her bosom as the lamb reposes upon the soft\nwool of its mother. She would also feel that she rested in His\nadorable side, opened by the lance on Calvary, as a white dove rests\nin the cleft of a rock. Thus her sleep, which was a sweet repose and\nan agreeable solace to her body, became a kind of ecstasy to her soul,\nthrough the spiritual effects and operations it produced.\n\nIf she also represented to herself her future glory, like Joseph, the\nsaviour of Egypt, and saw herself clothed with the sun and the moon\nunder her feet--that is to say, surrounded by the glory of her Divine\nSon, and resplendent with the glory of the Saints who form her crown\nas she rules over the universe, of which she is the Queen; or if, like\nJacob, she foresaw the wonderful fruits that Angels and men would\nobtain through the Redemption, O! conceive, if possible, children of\nMary, the delights caused by such spiritual entertainments!\n\nThere is one kind of diamond which has this special property--that\nnothing can diminish its fine water or the brilliancy which nature has\ngiven it. The Heart of the Virgin Mother, like this diamond, never\nceased to glow with the sacred fire of love that she had received from\nher Divine Son. However, though the brilliancy of precious stones does\nnot diminish, yet it does not increase; whilst the love of the Most\nHoly Virgin never remained in the same state, but made continual and\nincredible progress until she entered heaven. With good reason, then,\nis Our Lady called the Mother of pure Love--that is to say, the most\nlovable amongst all creatures, and the most beloved by her only Son,\nWho is loved by her as the most lovable and loving of Sons.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nForgetfulness of God is the sleep of the soul. The soul has been\nasleep all the time that it has forgotten its God.--_St. Augustine._\n\nThe sleep of the Saints is a prayer before God.--_St. Jerome._\n\nIt is great blindness and misery to seek repose where it is impossible\nto find it.--_St. Teresa._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_Devotion to the 'Salve Regina.'_\n\nSt. Bernard is celebrated for his love of the Blessed Virgin and for\nthe praises he has rendered to her. His language is of such sweetness,\nthat it surpasses that of all preceding ages for beauty and tenderness\nin discoursing of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This saint seems to have\ngathered together and made his own all the most loving affections of\nthe most fervent servants. Mary was his ruling thought, and he could\nnot restrain the transports of his heart when he spoke of her. The\nvery mention of her name sufficed to render him ecstatic. With good\nreason, then, did Peter the Abbot of St. Remigius, at Rheims, say to\none of St. Bernard's adversaries: 'If you have the courage to touch\nthe pupil of Mary's eye, write against St. Bernard.'\n\nThis Saint was commissioned to preach the second general Crusade\nthroughout Europe, and when he had traversed France, Belgium and the\nRhenish countries, he retired to the Abbey of Effinghem, to recollect\nhis soul in that pious solitude. One evening the Monks were moved to\ntears by a discourse of St. Bernard's in praise of Mary, and they\nbegged him to intone the _Salve Regina_, which they sang every evening\nbefore her image. As the Saint could not excuse himself, he devoutly\nintoned the _Salve_ with his powerful voice, and was accompanied by\nall the Monks. When the sweet words _Et Jesum benedictum fructum\nventris tui, nobis post hoc exilium ostende_ had been sung, all were\nsilent (because at that time the anthem ended with these words).\nHowever, the inspired voice of Bernard continued, and he gave\nexpression to the sentiments of his heart in the three invocations\nwith which it is now concluded: _O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo\nMaria!_ These words were afterwards adopted by the whole Church.\n\nIt is in commemoration of this event that the _Salve Regina_ is\nsolemnly sung every evening in the Cathedral of Spire.\n\nSt. Vincent de Paul used to say that no prayer is so suitable to us\nmiserable exiles in this valley of tears as this: _Salve Regina, Mater\nmisericordiae . . . Ad te clamamus, exules filii Hevae._\n\nSt. Philip Neri, having heard the confession of a famous criminal,\nspoke thus to him: 'My son, I shall require but little from you, and\nif you fulfil it I assure you that you will be saved. Promise me to\nplace all your confidence in the Most Blessed Virgin, the Mother of\nDivine Grace, and for this purpose recite the _Salve Regina_ seven\ntimes every day in her honour, and kiss the ground the same number of\ntimes, saying: \"I may die this moment.\"' The penitent made the promise\nand kept it. He died holily fourteen years after, full of gratitude\nand love towards his good Mother Mary.\n\n_Prayer._--Most amiable Heart of Mary, object of the complacency of\nthe adorable Trinity, and worthy of the veneration of Angels and of\nmen; Heart like unto that of Jesus Christ and its most perfect image;\nHeart full of goodness and compassion for our miseries! Oh, break the\nice of our hearts, turn our affections towards the adorable Heart of\nOur Saviour, and impress on them the love of your virtues. Watch over\nHoly Church, protect it, and be to it an impregnable fortress, so that\nit may be secure amidst all the assaults of its enemies. Be you our\nway to God, our succour in our trials, our consolation in sufferings,\nour strength in temptations, and our refuge in persecutions. Above all\nthings assist us at the point of death, when hell will exert all its\nefforts for our eternal ruin. Let us then, indeed, experience the\npower you have over the Heart of Jesus, that we may find a secure\nasylum in the bosom of His Mercy, and then, with you, praise Him\nthroughout ages and ages. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--I sleep, O Mother, but my heart watches.\n\n_Practice._--Endeavour to be reflecting upon some eternal truth when\nyou fall asleep.\n\n\n\nTWENTY-FIFTH DAY.\n\nMARY ON CALVARY IS THE MOTHER OF ALL CHRISTIANS.\n\nOUR Beloved Saviour had instituted the Sacrament of Love that He might\nremain amid His children. He had poured forth all His Blood for us,\nand He wished moreover to bequeath us a legacy in the last Testament\nof His Love. But what more could He give us? He casts a compassionate\nlook upon His tender Mother, who stands immovable at the foot of the\nCross with His beloved disciple. It is not to enrich her with His\ngrace, for she already possessed it most excellently; nor is it to\npromise her glory, she was sure of it; but it is to infuse into her\nheart, before He died, a more tender and ardent love for men than she\nyet possessed. 'Woman,' says He to her, pointing to the beloved\ndisciple, _'behold your son!'_ What an exchange was this! The servant\ninstead of the Only Son--the creature in place of the Creator! And yet\nshe does not refuse it, well knowing that she accepted for her\nchildren, in the person of John, all the followers of the Cross of\nJesus, and that she was to become the beloved Mother of all\nChristians.\n\nAlthough Our Lady gave birth to none but our adorable Saviour, yet, in\na spiritual sense, she brought forth all Christians in the Person of\nOur Saviour; because this Blessed Seed has begotten us all by His\ndeath. A seed when planted produces a tree, from which are produced\nother seeds, all of which may be said to belong to the original fruit\nfrom which the tree came forth. Thus, as the Most Holy Virgin brought\nforth this mystic Seed, which when cast on earth, budded and brought\nforth many other seeds, she has consequently brought us all forth and\nhas become the Mother of us all. How much we ought to love the Son and\nthe Mother! for they are our Divine parents, and it is impossible to\nlove one without loving the other. [1]\n\nAs Holy Church wishes to teach us to go to Jesus through Mary, she\ndirects that the Angelical Salutation should follow the _Our Father_,\nthat we may thus petition, through her, for all benefits, both\nspiritual and temporal, as far as these latter are conducive to our\neternal salvation. We also implore the intercession of Mary in order\nto receive the Holy Ghost, as it was through her that St. Elizabeth\nreceived His gifts.\n\nHonour and revere with especial love the holy and glorious Virgin\nMary, for she is the Mother of Our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and\ntherefore our most excellent Mother. Let us then have recourse to her\nas little children; let us cast ourselves upon her bosom on every\noccasion, and at every moment, with perfect confidence. Let us appeal\nto her maternal love, endeavour to imitate her virtues, and cherish in\nour heart the true sentiments of children.\n\nIn the ancient Law much honour was paid to the Ark, in which were\npreserved the manna, the rod of Aaron, and the tables of the Law. With\nmuch greater reason should we honour this living Ark of the new\nCovenant. Indeed, what does the manna prefigure but the Divinity of\nthe Son of God, come down from heaven to unite Himself with our\nhumanity? He is, also, the Miraculous Rod and the Living Stone upon\nwhich the commandments of the Law of Grace were written, being\nengraved upon His Sacred Body by the scourges, the thorns, the nails,\nand the lance. The immaculate bosom of Our Lady is then incomparably\nmore worthy of honour than the ancient ark which prefigured it.\n\nO Most Holy and Most Happy Lady, raised in Paradise to the highest\ndegree of beatitude and happiness! we beg you to have compassion on us\nwho groan in the desert of this world. You are in the abundance of\ndelights, and we in the abyss of miseries; obtain for us strength to\nendure our tribulations virtuously, always leaning on your Beloved\nSon, the only pledge of our hopes and remedy of our evils. O Glorious\nVirgin, pray for the Church, assist the Holy Father, the Prelates,\nBishops, and all Superiors; and assist England especially, which by\nyour devoted servant St. Edward, was consecrated to you as your dowry:\n_Dota Mariae_. (Translator.)\n\nYou are the Mother of Jesus, Who has deigned to become our Brother,\nand hence you are our Mother; why, then, shall we not cast ourselves\ninto your arms with perfect confidence, invoking your maternal love\nand imitating your virtues? O God, what a blessing for us to be sons\nof such a Mother! If we love and serve her with a truly filial love,\nshe will enrich us with her favours. And, meanwhile, let us present\nher with the flowers of every virtue: but, above all, with the lily of\npurity, the rose of ardent charity, and the violets of holy humility\nand simplicity. She loves nothing so much as hearts deepened by\nhumility, opened by simplicity, and enlarged by charity; and she\nprefers to be in the company of souls near the manger and at the foot\nof the Cross; that is, with the poor and the afflicted, in order to\nsuccour and console them.\n\n\n[1] Happy the soul who, like a good child in regard of her parents,\nsees only Jesus and Mary, converses only with Jesus and Mary, and\nwhose only joy and desire in this world is to know Mary in Jesus and\nJesus in Mary. This is a wonderful means, given us by God, of spending\nour lives holily during our sorrowful sojourn in this present life.--\n(J. J. OLIER.)\n\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nMary is like a lily amidst thorns: she loves and suffers at the same\ntime. When the thorns are blown about by the wind, they tear the lily\non all sides; but it revenges itself by causing to exhale, through the\napertures of its wounds, a sweet fragrance, which perfumes the thorns\nthat have so cruelly wounded it. In imitation of Mary, figured by the\nlily amidst thorns, let your only revenge for your afflictions be to\nincrease your love for those who are the cause of your pains.--_Pere\nAvrillion._\n\nMary is compared to the white lily, on account of her innocence and\nexemption from all sin; and as the lily is beautiful amongst the\nthorns where it has sprung up, so was Mary distinguished amidst the\nwomen of Judea. The lily loses nothing of its whiteness, although\namongst thorns, and the august Virgin, tortured in the Person of her\nSon, by the Jewish Deicides, preserved the innocency of her soul and\nthe purity of her heart, rendering good for evil.--_St. Francis of\nSales._\n\nMary is that most beautiful and lofty cedar, from which God detached\nthe finest branch, to transplant it on Calvary.--_The same._\n\nLose not sight of eternity, and the adversities of this life will not\ntrouble you.--_The same._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_The 'Regina Coeli.'_\n\nBaronius and St. Gregory of Nyssa relate that in the year 690 the city\nof Rome was in danger of becoming a desert, on account of the number\nof persons who became victims to a terrible pestilence. St. Gregory,\nsurnamed the Great, successor to Pope Gelasius II., who had fallen a\nvictim to this disease, saw that all human precautions and resources\nwere of no avail, and he resolved to have recourse to the Mother of\nGod. He gave orders that the picture of the Most Holy Virgin--which is\nbelieved to have been painted by St. Luke--should be carried in a\ngeneral procession of all the Clergy and laity, as far as Santa Maria\nMaggiore. The violence of the plague was such that eighty persons\nperished during the procession; but before its termination an Angel\nwas seen in human form above Adrian's Tower (called afterwards the\nCastle of St. Angelo, in memory of this event), sheathing a sword\ntinged with blood, as in the time of David; and from that moment the\npestilence completely ceased. At the same time many voices were heard\nin the air, singing: _Regina coeli, laetare, alleluia; quia quem\nmeruisti portare, alleluia; resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia_--\n'Rejoice, O Queen of Heaven, for He Whom you deserved to bear has\nrisen, as He said, from the grave; God be praised.' The Holy Pontiff\nimmediately added: _Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia_--'Pray to God for\nus, God be praised.'\n\nThis having occurred at Easter, the Church from that time ordered all\nthe Clergy and faithful to recite this Antiphon during Paschal season.\n\n_Prayer._--Oh! most desolate of Mothers! what a sword has pierced your\nHeart! All the blows which wounded your Son Jesus fell upon you. By\nHis pains you were tortured, by His wounds you were torn. His last\nadieu renewed all your sorrows; but when He breathed His last sigh\nwith what anguish was your heart oppressed, O Mother of love and of\nsorrow! Obtain, I beg of you, that I may follow your example in loving\nand suffering! Yes, Queen of Martyrs, let me share your martyrdom.\nLove gave you the Cross, let the Cross fill my heart with love; and\nif, to enable me to love, it be necessary that I suffer and die,\nobtain for me this grace, that I may love all that comes to me from\nGod, whether it be sorrows, afflictions, or death. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--Pray for me, O Queen of Martyrs!\n\n_Practice._--When you are tempted to complain, or to be impatient\nunder opposition, reflect upon Mary at the foot of the Cross.\n\n\n\nTWENTY-SIXTH DAY.\n\nMARY AFTER THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST.\n\nGOD placed two beautiful luminaries in the heavens on the fourth day\nof the Creation; one called the _greater_, the other the _lesser\nlight_; the former to rule over the day, the latter, over the night.\nAlthough God decreed that darkness should succeed the day, He, the\nincreated Light, would not allow the night to be entirely deprived of\nlight. When, in His Providence, He wished to create the spiritual\nworld in His Church, He placed in it, as in a Divine firmament, two\ngreat luminaries. The greatest is Jesus Christ, Our Saviour and\nMaster--an abyss of light, and the source of splendour, the true Sun\nof Justice; the lesser luminary is the Most Holy Mother of this Divine\nSaviour; a most glorious Mother, resplendent and beautiful as the\nmoon.\n\nThe Son of God came down upon earth, like the sun upon our atmosphere,\nto clothe Himself with our humanity, and formed our light and day; a\nmost longed-for day, which lasted about thirty-three years, during\nwhich time He illumined the Church with the splendour of His miracles,\nHis example and His doctrine. But the hour having at last arrived when\nthis precious Sun was to set and cast Its rays over the other\nhemisphere--that is, heaven--what else could remain on earth but\ndarkness and obscurity? And, in fact, night quickly spread around--the\nnight of the many persecutions raised against the Apostles. But that\nits darkness might be more tolerable, it also had its luminary in the\nperson of the Most Holy Virgin, who remained with the disciples and\nthe faithful, after the Ascension of her Divine Son. This we learn\nfrom St. Luke: the Most Holy Mary was with the disciples in the upper\nroom on the day of Pentecost, and persevered with them in communion\nand prayer.\n\nJesus Christ would leave her still in the world: firstly, that as a\nluminary she might be the comfort of the faithful immersed in the\nnight of tribulations; secondly, that by surviving her Divine Son she\nmight acquire greater merit, so that it might be truly said of her--\nmany daughters have gathered riches, you have surpassed them all;\nthirdly, that her presence might be a convincing proof against the\nheresy that arose after the Ascension of Our Lord, which held that He\nhad not taken a natural Body but one merely in appearance. Thus, even\nin her lifetime, were verified in her regard the words of Holy Church,\n'You, august Virgin, have destroyed all heresies.'\n\nThe Most Holy Virgin lived after the Ascension of her Divine Son until\nshe reached the age of sixty-three; and thus this mystic Ark of the\nnew Covenant dwelt under tents in the desert of this world.\n\nOur Divine Lord, wished that His Most Holy Mother should, after having\nbeen an example to virgins and to mothers, become the model of widows\nby her modesty and her love for the hidden life. Widows may be\ncompared to the little lowly violet, which has no brilliancy in its\ncolour but has a scent which, without being too strong, is\nmarvellously sweet. Oh, what a beautiful flower in the Church is the\nChristian widow! Lowly, through humility, and without splendour in the\neyes of the world, since she flies from it; she is unable to meet the\ngaze of men when her heart no longer desires their love.\n\nThe Apostle St. Paul orders his disciple St. Timothy, to honour those\n_who are widows indeed;_ that is, those who are so in heart and mind.\n'Blessed,' says Our Lord, 'are the pure of heart and poor in spirit.'\n\nWidows in spirit and in desire are deserving of the highest esteem;\nfor what means the word 'widow' but need and destitution. Honour,\nthen, be rendered to those who are such in mind and heart, for they\nare humble and their Protector is the Lord!\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nLet it be your desire to see God, your fear to lose Him, your sorrow\nnot yet to possess Him, and your joy to do everything that can lead\nyou to Him; you will then live in the abundance of peace.--_St.\nTeresa._\n\nRemember that you have but one soul; that you will die but once; that\nyou have but one life, and that a very short one; but one glory, and\nthat eternal; your heart will then detach itself from everything.--\n_The same._\n\nThe soul that loves God lives more in the next world than in this;\nbecause the soul lives more in the object of its love than in the\nsubject which it animates.--_St. John of the Cross._\n\nThe true widow of the Church is a little March violet. By her devotion\nshe spreads a sweet perfume. She usually keeps herself hidden under\nthe leaves of her abjection, and her mortification is seen by her\nquiet, modest demeanour.--_St. Francis of Sales._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_A Courageous Son of Mary._\n\nThe Saints are accustomed to say 'My Mother' when speaking of the\nBlessed Virgin Mary; and some time ago, under the influence of this\nidea, a touching scene took place. A countryman was at Leipsic, a town\nwhich may be called the heart of Protestantism, where he entered by\nmistake the hall of a university, in which some Lutheran Doctors were\ndisputing upon religion. He was recognised as a fervent Catholic, by a\nmedal attached to his rosary hanging from his pocket; and he soon\nbecame the object of the bitter derision of the Lutherans.\n\nThe good man, without being disconcerted, took a dollar from his old\npurse, and, throwing it on the table where the Doctors were seated,\nexclaimed, 'Well, then, who will bet with me which of us is the most\nlearned in matters of religion?'\n\nThe president laid down his piece of money; and then casting a glance\nof contempt upon the peasant's rosary, said to him, 'What is the name\nof the Mother of God?' The pious peasant replied, in a most respectful\ntone of voice, 'Her name is Mary.' Then, quickly turning to the\nDoctor, he said, 'Tell me the name of _my_ Mother.'\n\nThis question contained a mystery; a Catholic would have penetrated\nit. and would have replied, 'She is called Mary.' However, the\nProtestant Doctor was not sufficiently instructed to understand it. He\nremained silent, filled with spite at the ingenious and pious trick of\nthe countryman, who, judging that he had come off victor, took up the\ntwo pieces of money, and said, with admirable calmness, 'Gentlemen,\nwhen you dispute again upon religion, I beg of you to let me know.' He\nthen retired; and the lesson was as perfect as it was well merited.\n\n_Prayer._--O Mary, my Sovereign! O Mother of my Saviour! You are\nblessed amongst all women, pure amongst all virgins, the Queen of all\ncreatures. All nations call you Blessed. Let me exalt your greatness\nas much as it is possible for me to exalt it, and love you, as much as\nI can love you. May I call upon you continually and contribute to make\nyou honoured, as far as I am able. I should wish to see the whole\nuniverse prostrate at your feet, and all hearts burning with your\nlove, that they may all love your Divine Son, as you loved Him in this\nworld, and will love Him for all eternity. I earnestly entreat this\ngrace, O my Mother, although I acknowledge and confess myself unworthy\nto obtain it.\n\n_Ejaculation._--O Holy Virgin, enable me to speak of your greatness.\n\n_Practice._--Examine if the virtues of Mary are to you as that lesser\nluminary in whose light you walk on in the way that leads to Paradise.\n\n\n\nTWENTY-SEVENTH DAY.\n\nMARY IN THE UPPER ROOM AT JERUSALEM.\n\nTHE Eternal Father bestowed an incomparable gift upon the world when\nHe gave it His Only Son. Jesus Christ Himself said: 'God hath so loved\nthe world as to give it His Only Son;' and St. Paul exclaims: 'How has\nHe not with Him given us all things?'--_Quomodo non etiam omnia cum\nillo nobis donavit?_\n\nAlmighty God, in the ancient Law, had bestowed an infinity of\nblessings upon His chosen people; but they were given according to\nmeasure. In the Law of Grace, however, He had no sooner seen His\nBeloved Son ascended into heaven than He opened His Hands to pour\nforth His graces and gifts upon all the faithful, according to the\nprophecy of Joel, that _supra omnem carnem_--'over all men' would He\ndiffuse His Holy Spirit.\n\nIf we desire to receive this Divine Spirit, let us beg Our Lord to\nbestow Him upon us through the merits of his Most Holy Mother, the\nglorious Virgin Mary, and through the love He bore to her; and we\nshall thus, like the Apostles, be with _Mary the Mother of Jesus_. We\nshall never understand how necessary is this condition. St. Elizabeth\nhad no sooner spoken to the Most Holy Virgin than she was immediately,\nsays St. Luke, 'filled with the Holy Ghost.' Nor is this a subject of\nwonder, because Mary is the Spouse of the Holy Ghost, the Daughter of\nthe Eternal Father, and the Mother of the Eternal Son.\n\nThe Evangelist St. Luke, by observing that men and women were\nassembled in the room, admonishes us that we must all hope to receive\nthe Holy Ghost; but he mentions in particular the presence of _Mary\nthe Mother of Jesus_, to insinuate that she was there as the Queen of\nthe Apostles. How mistaken, then, are those who say that we honour the\nMost Holy Virgin too much! This august Virgin, it is true, had already\nreceived the Holy Spirit and the fulness of grace in the Annunciation,\nbut in the upper room she received a great superabundance of grace.\n\nWhoever, then, desires to receive the Holy Ghost, let him unite\nhimself to Mary; because he who separates himself from her, does not\ngather but scatters. Let us serve her, honour her, that He Who comes\ninto our hearts, by her mediation, may also receive us by the same\nmediation.\n\nTo conclude, we may learn a very useful lesson from the words of St.\nLuke about the Disciples when they had received the Holy Ghost: 'All\nspoke in divers tongues according as the Holy Ghost gave them to\nspeak'--_Prout Spiritus Sanctus dabat eloqui illis;_ that is, that\nthough all spoke, yet they did not speak in the same manner. The\nApostles preached the new Law; and those who did not preach publicly,\nanimated one another to praise and magnify the Lord. Let us, however,\nunderstand that there is an efficacious method of speaking without\neven uttering a word, and it is by the good example which we give to\nour neighbour.\n\nDavid says: 'The heavens declare the glory of God. Day unto day\nuttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.' These words\nsignify that the beauty of the heavens invites men to admire the\nmagnificence of the Creator. Indeed, when on a clear night we\ncontemplate the beauty of the heavens, we do not feel less animated to\nadmire and adore the Omnipotence and Wisdom of God, Who has studded it\nwith such beautiful stars, than when we observe the inaccessible light\nof the sun in its full meridian splendour. What conclusion are we to\ndraw from all this but that we, who are something more than all the\nrest of creation (since all things were made for us, and not we for\nthem), should, by our good example, announce the glory of God more\nperfectly than the heavens and the stars. Good example is a silent but\na most efficacious influence. In this manner we can all preach,\nalthough we have not all received the gift of tongues. Is it a less\nwonder to see a soul adorned with many sublime virtues than to see the\nheavens decorated with magnificent stars? How much, my God, do I need\nthe Spirit of strength when I feel myself so weak and infirm! However,\nI glory in my infirmity _that the Power of my God may dwell in me_.\nLet us glory in our weakness, which makes us fitting receptacles of\nthe Power of God. May He grant that this sacred fire, which can\nentirely change us into Him, may transform our hearts into His pure\nLove, that we may be all love and not lovers only. May He grant me\nalso to receive and make good use of the gift of understanding, that\nmy mind may be more enlightened to penetrate clearly the sacred\nmysteries of our holy Faith; for this understanding has a wonderful\npower to subjugate the will to the service of Him Whom it recognises\nto be so good and so worthy of love, Yet, as true love is active, we\nneed counsel, that we may be able to discern how to exercise this\nlove; and then our soul is excellently endowed with the sacred gifts\nof Heaven.\n\nMay the Holy Spirit, Who favours us with His gifts, form our whole\nconsolation, and be eternally adored by my mind and by my heart! May\nHe be always our wisdom and our understanding, our counsel and our\nfortitude, our knowledge and our piety, and fill us with the spirit of\nthe fear of the Lord.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nMary is the root of Jesse, upon whom the Holy Spirit rested. The Son\nof the Virgin is the flower thereof; a red and white flower, chosen\namongst thousands--the flower upon which the Angels gaze with\ncontinuous desire; a flower whose fragrance renews life; a flower of\neverlasting bloom, whose beauty is incorruptible, and whose glory will\nnever fade.--_St. Bernard._\n\nMary is the root of that beautiful flower upon which the Holy Spirit\nrests with the fulness of His gifts. Whoever then desires to obtain\nthe seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, must seek the flower upon the stem;\nbecause we reach the flower through the stem, and through the flower\nwe find the Holy Spirit, Who thereon reposes. Let us go to Jesus,\nthrough Mary; and by means of Jesus, we find the grace of the Holy\nSpirit.--_St. Bonaventure._\n\nGive your soul to God a thousand times in the day; fix your interior\neyes upon His sweetness, in imitation of Mary; place Him upon your\nbreast as a delicious nosegay, and make every possible effort to\nexcite within you an impassioned love for this Divine Spouse.--_St.\nFrancis of Sales._\n\nThere is no doubt that he who perfumes the world by the odour of his\ngood example, thus teaching others the way of justice, will one day\nshine in eternity as a most splendid star in the firmament.--_The\nsame._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_The Prayer 'Memorare.'_\n\nSt. Francis of Sales had received, in his youth, a miraculous proof of\nthe protection of Mary. Being assaulted by a violent temptation to\nbelieve himself reprobated by God, he experienced such anguish that he\ncompared it to the sorrows of death and the torments of hell. After a\nmonth passed in these desolating trials, earnestly desiring to be\ndelivered from them, he humbly prostrated himself before a statue of\nthe Blessed Virgin, and with great confidence recited the _Memorare_,\nbeseeching Our Lady to obtain from her Divine Son that, if he should\never have the misfortune of being eternally separated from his God, he\nmight at least love Him during the present lifetime with all his\npowers.\n\nThe Most Holy Virgin could not be deaf to such a petition, and Francis\nquickly recovered the peace of heart he had lost. From that time he\nhad the greatest confidence in this prayer, and recited it in every\ndifficult undertaking, and recommended it warmly to all whom he\ndirected.\n\n'I remember,' says the Bishop of Belley, 'to have learnt this prayer\nfrom him, and in order to impress it more deeply in my heart, and to\nmake use of it in all my afflictions, I wrote it down at the beginning\nof my breviary. I know, moreover, that he commended it much to the\nNuns of the Visitation. He wished it to be repeated above all in times\nof great temptations, because the Mother of God is as terrible to the\nenemy as an army in battle array; the blessed fruit of her womb having\ncrushed the head of the infernal serpent.'\n\nIt is generally believed that St. Bernard was the author of this\nprayer.\n\n_Prayer to ask for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost._--August Spouse\nof the Holy Ghost, Most Holy Virgin Mary, the inexhaustible source of\ngrace, deign to obtain for me from your Divine Spouse the gift of\nWisdom, which may detach me from the goods of the world, and make me\nlove those of heaven; the gift of Understanding, which may teach me my\nduties; the gift of Counsel, which may enlighten me in the way of\nsalvation; the gift of Fortitude, which may sustain my weakness; the\ngift of Knowledge, which may teach me the eternal truths; the gift of\nPiety, which may render the service of God sweet to me; and the gift\nof Fear, which may inspire me with a holy respect and tender love\ntowards the God of infinite mercy. Ah! my continued resistance to the\ninspirations of the Holy Spirit have rendered me unworthy of such a\nbenefit, but, aided by your prayers, I confidently hope to obtain from\nthe author of _every perfect gift_ the graces that are necessary to\nlive holily in this life, and thus one day attain to the eternal\nbeatitude of heaven. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--Pray for me, O Spouse of the Holy Ghost.\n\n_Practice._--Accustom yourself in every difficulty to say at once: _O\nMother of Good Counsel, inspire me!_\n\n\n\nTWENTY-EIGHTH DAY.\n\nHOW PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF GOD WAS THE DEATH OF MARY.\n\nACCORDING to the common opinion of the Doctors of the Church, when the\nBlessed Virgin Mary had attained the age of sixty-three she died, or\nrather, she slept the sleep of death. But how is it, some will say,\nthat Our Lord, Who loved His Holy Mother so tenderly, did not grant\nher the privilege of exemption from death, since death is the wages of\nsin, and she had never sinned? How contrary are such thoughts to those\nof God, and how far removed are such judgments from His! We know that\ndeath became precious when Our Lord permitted that its blow should\nfall upon Him, on the Tree of the Cross. Certainly, the Most Holy\nVirgin thought it no advantage or privilege not to die, but she always\ndesired death, for she saw it lovingly embraced by her Divine Son. He\nhad rendered it so sweet and desirable that the Angels would consider\nthemselves most fortunate to be able to die, and the Saints looked\nupon it as a happiness, and therefore experienced great consolation in\nit. Our adorable Saviour, who is Life Itself, gave life to death by\nHis own death, so that to those who die in the grace of God, it is the\nbeginning of eternal life.\n\nConsider this Queen, dying of a fever, that was sweeter to her than\nhealth, because it was the fever of Divine love, which, by burning up\nher heart, consumed it so completely as to open to her soul the way by\nwhich it flew into the arms of her Divine Son.\n\nAll the Saints die in the habit of holy Love; but some amongst them\ndie in the exercise of this Divine love; others, on account of it, as\nthe Martyrs; and others, by its power. But the most sublime degree of\nholy love is to die of love itself; and this occurs when the soul is\nso inflamed by charity that it can no longer be detained by the bonds\nof the flesh.\n\nIf it be true that such as is _the life of a man such will be his\ndeath_, what else can have been the death of the Most Holy Virgin but\nthe death of love? This is certain; because she who is called in the\nlanguage of Sacred Scripture, the _Mother of fair Love_ could only die\nthe death of love. We read not of ecstasies and raptures in the life\nof Our Lady, and for this reason, that they were continual. She loved\nGod with so tender, so strong, and so ardent a love, at the same time\nso tranquilly, and with so much peace, that although her love went on\nincreasing, the increase was not impetuous, but she continually, and\nalmost imperceptibly, hastened towards this so greatly desired union\nof her soul with God, like a river that calmly flows to the ocean.\n\nThe hour having then arrived when the Most Holy Virgin was to leave\nthe earth, Divine Love separated her soul from her body, and\nincomparably pure as it was, it flew directly to heaven. Ah! what\nobstacle could detain her whom the Celestial Spouse calls 'His\nbeloved, all fair and without spot'? Our imperfections and the stains\nof our sins are the only obstacle to our entrance into heaven at the\nmoment of our death; and it is these that are the origin of the flames\nof Purgatory.\n\nThe Saints are ever burning with the fire of Divine love; and by their\nexemplary lives spread a continual odour of sanctity in the presence\nof men and of God. This odour is incomparably increased at their\ndeath; hence the Prophet says: 'Precious in the sight of the Lord is\nthe death of the Saints.'\n\nIf, then, the Saints are odoriferous and burning lamps, what shall we\nsay of the Most Holy Virgin, whose perfection immeasurably surpassed\nthat of all the Saints united together? If in life she was a Burning\nLamp, fed with the perfumed oil of every virtue, what a fragrance must\nshe have exhaled at the hour of her death! So great was this fragrance\nthat young virgins, as we read in the Canticles, were attracted by it:\n'We will run after thee to the odour of thy perfumes,' 'the young\nmaidens have loved thee.'\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nThe soul of Mary was released from her body as naturally as fragrance\nsent from a flower and as the ripe fruit falls from the tree.--_St.\nFrancis of Sales._\n\nAs the palm conceals its flower until the heat of the sun causes it to\nexpand, so the just soul conceals the flowers of its virtue by\nhumility, until Our Lord, by calling her to Paradise, gives the\nhighest degree of perfection to her love.--_The same._\n\nThe thought of death is not sad for a soul who loves God, because it\nis the beginning of her eternal happiness.--_St. John of the Cross._\n\nO Death, most beautiful Death! wherefore shall we fear thee, if in\nthee is found life? He alone should fear thee who has persevered in\nsin until his last breath.--_St. Teresa._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_Letters addressed to the Most Holy Virgin._\n\nPersons filled with lively faith often write letters to the Blessed\nVirgin Mary, placing them at the feet of her image, or upon their\nheart, on some solemn occasion; and this practice is very dear to her.\n\nIt is no new practice: for we see, from the Sacred Books and the\nhistory of the Church, that the most remarkable men made use of it to\nobtain some special grace. King Ezechias carried into the Temple the\ninsulting letter addressed to him by Zennacherib, and laid it on the\nAltar as if to invite Almighty God to read it, and his prayer was\nheard, as we read in the Fourth Book of Kings.\n\nThe Emperor Theodosius, about to fight against Eugenius, wrote to St.\nAmbrose, to beg him to recommend the expedition to the God of armies.\nThe Saint, during Mass, took the letter into his hands, and presented\nit to God. The result of the battle is well known.\n\nWhen the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas, met with some difficult passage\nin Holy Scripture, he wrote down the difficulty and placed it on his\nheart when he went to celebrate Mass, and the difficulties vanished.\n\nOur Lord looks upon prayers addressed to the Blessed Virgin and to the\nSaints as though they were made to Himself. If we wish to obtain some\ngrace, let us write a letter to Mary, and place it upon our heart\nbefore we approach Holy Communion. St. Stanislaus Kostka, desired to\ndie on the Eve of the Assumption, that he might assist at its\ncelebration in heaven. He wrote a letter to Our Blessed Lady for this\npurpose, and, on the feast of St. Lawrence, placed it on the Altar,\nasking the Saint to present it to the Queen of Heaven. The same day he\nwas attacked by a most burning fever, and after four days went to\ncelebrate the feast of his dear Mother Mary in heaven.\n\n_Prayer_ (of St. Alphonsus Liguori to obtain a happy death).--O Mary!\nwhat will be my death? When I think of the moment which is to decide\nmy eternal destiny, I fear and tremble at the sight of my sins. O\nMother, full of goodness, the Blood of Jesus Christ and your patronage\nare alone my hope. Ah, console me in that terrible moment, O Consoler\nof the afflicted! If I am now tormented by remorse for my offences,\nthrough the uncertainty of pardon, the danger of falling again, and\nthe judgments of God, what will it be at that moment? I am lost if you\ndo not fly to my relief. O my sovereign Lady, obtain for me, before my\ndeath, lively sorrow for sin, true amendment, and entire fidelity to\nGod; and may I at that moment invoke you more frequently, that I may\nnot despair at the sight of my sins. Pardon me my rashness, O my\nQueen; but I beg you also to come yourself to console me by your\npresence, You have granted this favour to so many of your servants,\nand why should not I also hope for it? It is true I do not merit it;\nbut I love you, O Mary, and confide in you. I expect then your\npresence and assistance, that I may go forth from this world loving\nGod, and you also, my Holy Mother, and never cease to love you through\nall eternity. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--Do not abandon me at the hour of my death, O my Most\nHoly Mother!\n\n_Practice._--Spend this day as if it were the last of your life.\n\n\n\nTWENTY-NINTH DAY.\n\nMARY, LIKE JESUS, DIES OF DIVINE LOVE.\n\nOUR Lady died of Divine love, like her adorable Son. The foundation of\nthis belief is, that having but one life with her Divine Son, she\ncould have but one and the same death. In reality, they were two\ndistinct persons; but they had one heart, one soul, one mind, one\nlife!\n\nIf this was said of the first Christians; if Jesus Christ lived in St.\nPaul, because his spirit was dead in the Heart of his Saviour, with\nmuch greater truth could it be said that Jesus Christ and His Most\nHoly Mother had but one heart and one soul, and, consequently, one\nlife; for there never was a Mother so loving or so much loved; and the\nquality of Mother and only Son gives us the idea of all that is most\nperfect and most excellent in love.\n\nIf the Apostle St. Paul could say that he had no other life than that\nof his Divine Master, with greater reason could Mary, the Mother of\nthis amiable Master, say: 'I have no other life than that of my Divine\nSon: He lives in me and I in Him.' And having lived the life of her\nSon, she must have died the death of her Son. This death was\nprophesied to her, by holy Simeon, in these words: 'Thy own soul a\nsword shall pierce.'\n\nThree kinds of swords can pierce the soul: the first, the sword of the\nWord of God, which, in the saying of the Apostle, 'is more penetrating\nthan a two-edged sword'; the second, the sword of suffering and\nsorrow, according to the prophecy of Simeon; and the third, the sword\nof Divine Love, of which Jesus Christ speaks: 'I came not to bring\npeace, but the sword.' Now, the soul of Our Lady was pierced by all\nthese three kinds of swords in the death of her Son.\n\nWhen a heavy blow falls upon an object, everything near it feels its\neffects. Thus, although the body of the Most Holy Virgin was not\nunited to that of her Divine Son in His Passion, yet, her soul being\ninseparably united to Him, it follows that all the blows with which\nHis Blessed Body was bruised wounded her soul.\n\nLove causes us to feel the afflictions of those we love, as we see in\nSt. Paul, who was weak with the weak, afflicted with those in\ntribulation; and yet the soul of this Apostle certainly was not so\nclosely united to the faithful as the soul of Our Lady to the soul and\nbody of Jesus. No wonder, then, that the thorns, the nails and lance,\nwhich pierced the head, hands, feet and side of Our Lord, pierced also\nthrough and through the soul of His Mother.\n\nTruly may we exclaim: O Most Holy Virgin! how deeply was your soul\npierced by the love, the suffering, and the words of your Son! And,\noh, how deep a wound love gave you, when you saw the Son, Who loved\nyou so much, and Who possessed all the affections of your heart,\nexpiring through love! How bitterly did sorrow, too, wound your soul,\nwhen you saw the sufferings that led your only Son to death! And, as\nfor His words, like a strong wind they inflamed your love, excited\nyour sorrow, and almost engulfed the vessel of your heart in an ocean\nof grief.\n\nLove caused Mary to be penetrated with sorrow; and the sufferings of\nher Son were expressed in words that pierced her heart like darts.\nAnd, as a stag wounded by the hunter, flees with the arrow fixed in\nthe wound, to die afar off, and sometimes, long after it has received\nthe blow; so Our Lady, wounded by the sword of sorrow in the Passion\nof her Son upon Calvary, survived the wound she had received many\nyears, but at last it caused her death. Oh, loving wound! Oh, sword of\ncharity! how dear and beloved wast thou to the tender heart which thou\ndidst pierce!\n\nThe philosopher Aristotle narrates that when the wild goats of Candia\nare wounded by a dart, they have recourse to the herb dittany, and by\nmeans of this plant the dart comes out of the wound. Ah! who is there\nthat does not feel his heart wounded by the thought of the Passion of\nJesus Christ, contemplating Him scourged, crowned with thorns and\ncrucified? But, alas! I scarcely dare to say it: the greater number\nwho are pierced by this dart run quickly, like those goats, to the\ndittany of worldly consolations in order to remove from their heart\nthe wound of Divine love. The Blessed Virgin, on the contrary,\nzealously preserved this dart, and it formed all her glory and her\ntriumph.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nThorns are the flowers of Calvary, and sufferings the flowers of the\nCross; and this is the support sought for by the languishing love of\nMary.--_Bossuet._\n\nOh how sweet will death be to the Christian who has done penance for\nhis sins during life! He will pass instantly to the ineffable joys of\nParadise.--_St. Teresa._\n\nMystical death is accompanied by a sweetness and a satisfaction a\nthousand times greater than the full life of the senses.--_P. Milley._\n\nThe more a soul knows the perfections of God, the more does the desire\nto see Him increase within itself.--_St. John of the Cross._\n\nThe happiness of dying without regret well repays us for living\nwithout pleasures.--_The same._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_The Fourteen Joys of the Most Holy Virgin._\n\nSt. Thomas of Canterbury had the pious custom of reciting seven _Ave\nMarias_ every day in honour of the Seven Joys of Our Lady upon earth:\nthe Annunciation, the Visitation, the Birth of Our Lord, the Epiphany,\nthe Finding in the Temple, the Resurrection, and the Ascension. One\nday the Blessed Virgin appeared to him, and said: 'Thy devotion,\nThomas, is very pleasing to me; but why dost thou commemorate only the\njoys I experienced whilst on earth? Henceforth, be mindful also of\nthose that I enjoy in heaven; I assure thee that I will console and\npresent to my Son, at the hour of their death, all those who during\nlife shall have honoured the latter, as well as the former joys.' The\nholy Archbishop, filled with consolation at these words, exclaimed:\n'But how can I do so, Most Holy Virgin, when I know not these joys?'\nThe august Mother of God then taught the Saint to recite seven _Ave\nMarias_ in honour of the following joys: the honour that the Most Holy\nTrinity conferred upon her above all creatures; the excellence of her\nVirginity, which raised her above the Angels and the Saints; the\nsplendour of her glory, which illuminates heaven; the veneration paid\nto her by the Blessed, on account of her dignity of Mother of God; her\npower with her Divine Son in our behalf; the graces with which she was\nenriched when on earth, and the reward reserved in heaven for those\nwho are devout to her during life; finally, her accidental glory,\nwhich will continually increase until the Day of Judgment.\n\nMany Saints have practised this devotion with fruit, and a great\nnumber of the devoted servants of Mary have made use of it to honour\ntheir august Mother.\n\n_Prayer of St. Alfonso Maria di Liguori._--Mary! I acknowledge that\nyou are the most beautiful, the most holy, and most amiable of all\ncreatures. Ah! would that all knew you, O Holy Virgin, and loved you\nas you deserve. I rejoice that you are so revered by all the Blessed\nin heaven, and by so many faithful souls on earth, but especially that\nyou are so much loved by God. Most amiable Queen! I also love you,\nmiserable sinner that I am, and I desire to love you more; obtain for\nme, then, this love, O my dear Mother, because it is a sign of\npredestination. I know that you will help me, and by your help I shall\nconquer, if I cease not to recommend myself to you. But I fear that I\nmay not always invoke you in occasions of danger; succour me then\nalways, O Mary, my good Mother, and never permit me to offend my God.\nAmen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--In your love do I wish to live and die, my Blessed\nMother!\n\n_Practice._--Offer an act of mortification to God, through the Blessed\nVirgin, for those who are to die this day.\n\n\n\nTHIRTIETH DAY.\n\nTHE DEATH OF MARY WAS SWEET AND TRANQUIL.\n\nAs the peaceful morning dawns, not by fits and starts, but steadily\nand gradually, so that its progress is scarcely perceptible, so did\nDivine love increase in the heart of Our Lady, the glorious Virgin\nMary. Her progress in charity was tranquil, uniform and uninterrupted,\nso that she continually pursued her course towards the Divinity Whom\nshe loved.\n\nConsider that love is, in its nature, calm, tranquil, and full of\nsweetness, and becomes violent only when it meets with some\nopposition. But if its dominion in a soul be undisputed, and if\nnothing oppose its progress, then it works steadily and gains its\nvictories with ease. We may understand, then, how the heart of the\nMother of pure Love experienced all its power, without any impetuous\nmovement, for in her there was no resistance to overcome.\n\nObserve the course of great rivers: when the bed is not level and the\ncurrent is encumbered with masses of rock, the waters splash and foam,\nand roll back again with a great noise; but when the bed is smooth the\nwaters flow on placidly and without effort. Such is the case with holy\nlove, when it meets with obstacles,--and where does it not find them?\nIt is constrained to struggle with a kind of violence against the\nhuman inclinations that oppose it; to use force, and make great\nefforts in order to bend the will, to remove impediments, and to open\na passage for itself to the heart it seeks to possess. In the Blessed\nVirgin, however, everything favoured and seconded the attractions of\ngrace and of Divine love, and although her love was incomparably\ngreater than that of any other creature, it continually went on\nincreasing with the greatest calm and sweetness.\n\nIf iron were not held down by its weight it would find no obstacle to\nthe continued attraction of the magnet, and its strong and even motion\nwould continually increase in proportion as the iron and magnet drew\nnearer to each other. Thus it was with the Most Holy Virgin at her\ndeath. As there was nothing in her that could impede the action of\nDivine love, she became more and more closely united to her adorable\nSon through sweet ecstasies, until she became, so to speak, immersed\nin the bosom of His goodness; and thus, without even knowing it, she\nquitted her body and was reunited to her Divine Son in heaven.\n\nIt was fitting that as love had produced the sorrows of death in this\nDivine Mother at the foot of the Cross, so death should in its turn,\nproduce the sovereign delights of love. Ah! may this Most Holy Virgin\nobtain for us, by her prayers, grace to live in holy love, and may it\nalone be the object of all our desires, and of all the affections of\nour hearts!\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nSt. Gregory says that the pomegranate, by its bright red colour, its\nbeautiful corona, and numerous seeds so well arranged, sweetly\nrepresents charity. Charity is red, by the ardour with which it burns\nfor God, is adorned with the variety of every virtue, and obtains and\nwears for ever the crown of eternal rewards.--_St. Francis of Sales._\n\nBees never sting so sharply as when they are themselves mortally\nwounded. How can we fail to be wounded with love for our adorable\nSaviour, when we contemplate Him wounded for us, even unto death and\nthe death of the Cross; to be wounded, I say, with a wound the more\npainfully loving, as His was more lovingly painful; nor can we ever\nlove Him as much as His death and His love merit.--_The same._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_Novenas in Honour of the Blessed Virgin._\n\nIn the various tribulations of life, in great afflictions, dangers and\ntemptations, when we require special assistance from God, an almost\ncertain means to obtain it is to make a Novena in honour of the Most\nBlessed Virgin Mary. How many souls have been heard by God, by having\nhad recourse to the Most Holy Virgin through a Novena!\n\nThe Children of Mary apply themselves with special devotion and\nfervent piety to the celebration of her festivals, and, in return, the\nBlessed Virgin obtains for them an abundance of heavenly blessings.\nSt. Gertrude saw one day a great number of souls under the mantle of\nMary, guarded by her with warm affection, and she understood that they\nhad prepared themselves, by devout exercises of piety, for celebrating\nthe Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady.\n\n_Prayer._--O Queen of Paradise! raised above all the heavenly choirs,\nseated at the right hand of your Divine Son, I prostrate myself at\nyour feet, miserable sinner that I am, and conjure you to cast upon me\nthose eyes of mercy which bring grace and the friendship of Almighty\nGod wherever they are turned. Observe, O Most Holy Mary, in how many\ndangers I am of losing my soul, and shall always be as long as I am on\nearth; but I place all my hopes in you. I love you, my Mother, with\nall my heart, and wish to love you for ever. Ah! pray to your Divine\nSon for me; tell Him to protect me, and He will assuredly have\ncompassion on my poor soul. O my sweetest and most compassionate\nMother, in this hope do I rest, and wish also to live and die. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--O Mary! love gave you the Cross! May the Cross give us\nlove!\n\n_Practice._--Examine what would give you most fear if you were going\nto die now, and begin earnestly to amend.\n\n\n\nTHIRTY-FIRST DAY.\n\nTHE RESURRECTION AND ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.\n\nTHERE can be no doubt whatever that Our Lord fulfilled towards Mary\nthe precept which He gave in general to all children to honour their\nparents. Indeed, where is the son who would not raise his mother from\nthe grave to lead her to Paradise, if he had it in his power? The\ngreat triumph of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is celebrated by\nall the Saints, and by the whole Church Militant.\n\nAfter the Ark of the Covenant had dwelt for a long period under tents\nand pavilions, King Solomon ordered it to be placed in the marvellous\nTemple he had prepared for it. The joy of the Hebrews on that occasion\nwas so great that the blood of the sacrifices flowed through the\nstreets of Jerusalem; the air was filled with clouds of incense, and\nthe houses and public squares resounded with harmonious music.\n\nBut, O God! if the solemnity of the reception of the Ark was so great,\nwhat must have been that of the Most Glorious Virgin, Mother of the\nSon of God, the true Ark of the New Covenant, upon the day of her\nAssumption! O incomprehensible joy! festival of wonders! which makes\nall devout souls who are the true daughters of Jerusalem, exclaim:\n'Who is she that goeth up from the desert leaning upon her Beloved?'\nThe entrance of the Most Blessed Virgin into heaven was the most\nmagnificent that ever could or can be witnessed after that of Jesus\nChrist. She ascends from the desert of this lower world, so perfumed\nwith spiritual gifts that, except in the Person of her Divine Son, she\nhas no equal in heaven. The Queen of Saba, coming to Jerusalem to have\na proof of the wisdom of Solomon, brought with her a great quantity of\nperfumes, gold, and precious stones. But, when the Most Holy Virgin\nentered heaven, she carried with her such an amount of the pure gold\nof charity, so much perfume of devotion and of virtue, and so many\nprecious gems of patience and of suffering, that we can safely say no\none ever had so great an accumulation of merits to offer her Divine\nSon! Yes, indeed, she abounded in delights, because during her life on\nearth she had abounded in good works and in sufferings.\n\nWe may say that, in one sense, the Assumption of Our Lady was even\nmore glorious than the Ascension of Jesus Christ; because the Angels\nonly were present at the Ascension, whilst at the Assumption of Our\nLady the King of Angels Himself attended her.\n\nWhat a triumph was it for Heaven, and what a consolation for earth!\nAh, let us in spirit dwell and live in heaven, because there is our\ntreasure and our life. O my God! how beautiful is heaven now that its\nsun is Our Blessed Saviour, and His bosom is the Source of Love, where\nthe Blessed drink and quench their thirst! If we look up there, we\nshall see our names written in characters of Love, which can be read\nonly by Love, and engraved only by Love. O God! and will my name also\nbe there? Let me trust so; because although my heart burns not with\nardent Charity, it has, however, its desire and its principle, and\nbears written upon it the Sacred Name of Jesus, which I hope nothing\nwill be able to cancel. O what a joy for us when we shall see those\ncharacters denoting our eternal happiness! As for me, although those\neternal blessings occupy all my desires and affections, yet all\nParadise would be nothing to me if I did not find there the\nnever-ending Love of the Eternal God, Who lives and reigns for ever\nand  ever.\n\nLet us bear in mind that Jesus Christ looks upon us from heaven, and\nsweetly invites us to come and enjoy the delights of His goodness and\nthe abundance of His love. The Most Holy Virgin also invites us as a\nMother, saying to each of us: 'Courage, my child; despise not the\nardent desires of my Son, and my sighs and petitions for thy\nsalvation.' And yet, how often have we not preferred the miserable\nvanities and bitter pleasures of earth to those incomparable joys! Ah,\nfaithful souls; let us henceforth accept the favours which the Most\nHoly Virgin and the Saints offer us. Let us promise them to walk\nquickly on towards heaven; and let us take hold of the hand of our\ngood Angel-guardian, that we may never again stumble, but happily\nreach the gates of a blessed eternity.\n\nSPIRITUAL FLOWERS.\n\nThe qualities of the material rose vividly represent the attributes of\nMary, the Mystical Rose. The perfume of the rose signifies the joys of\nthe Most Blessed Virgin; its thorns represent to us her sorrows; and\nthe beauty of its colour her glory in heaven.\n\nMary is the beautiful Lily who looks down from her high throne upon\nall other flowers, and sees them inferior to herself.--_St. John\nDamascen._\n\nThe difference between material and spiritual rose-trees is this, that\nin the former, the roses fade and the thorns remain; whilst, in the\nlatter, the thorns pass away and the roses remain.--_St. Francis of\nSales._\n\nEXAMPLE.\n\n_The Novena of St. Gertrude to the Blessed Virgin._\n\nSt. Gertrude, a Benedictine nun, cherished a great devotion to the\nMost Blessed Virgin. On the eve of the Annunciation she had a vision,\nin which she seemed to see her religious Sisters offering nosegays of\nsweet flowers to Our Lady. These were collected by Our Lady and placed\non her bosom, and she then adorned them with precious stones, and\noffered them to her Divine Son. The Saint understood that those\nflowers were the afflictions which these Daughters of Mary and Spouses\nof Jesus had endured with Christian resignation, during the course of\nthe Novena, preceding the festival.\n\nAnother time, whilst St. Gertrude was reciting the _Ave Maria_ in\nchoir with her religious Sisters, she saw three streams come forth\nfrom the Most Holy Trinity and meet together in the heart of the\nBlessed Virgin, descending from her and flowing over those who during\nthese days recited this angelical salutation. It was on this occasion\nthat she was taught to salute Our Lady, at least once a day, in these\nwords: _Illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte_, and was\npromised that, if she per severed in this practice during her whole\nlife, she would receive the greatest consolations at the hour of her\ndeath.\n\n_Prayer._--O Mary, sovereign of the universe! our joy, our support and\nour defence! interest yourself in my favour before God, and obtain\nthat I may be one day called to enjoy the happiness of heaven! I\nbeseech you, O ever immaculate Virgin; I know you to be omnipotent\nwith your Divine Son, for the salvation of sinners, and for the\nconsolation of the afflicted, and I also know that you have need of no\nother recommendation than that of our miseries, for you are by\nexcellence the Mother of Mercy. Amen.\n\n_Ejaculation._--O my tender Mother! help me to live always united to\nyour Divine Son Jesus.\n\n_Practice._--Consecrate yourself generously to Mary, and renew this\nconsecration every Saturday.\n\nACT OF CONSECRATION OF ST. FRANCIS OF SALES TO THE MOST HOLY VIRGIN.\n\n_In concluding these pious exercises of the Month of Mary let us, in\nthe spirit of St. Francis of Sales, recite the following Act of\nConsecration, which he often repeated to the Queen of Heaven, and in\nwhich the beauty of his soul and the purity of his heart are well\ndepicted._\n\nI salute you, most sweet Virgin Mary, Mother of God; you are my Mother\nand my Mistress; and therefore, I entreat you to accept me as your son\nand your servant; I wish to have no other Mother than you. I beg you,\nthen, my good, and gracious, and most sweet Mother, to deign to\nconsole me in all my troubles and tribulations, both spiritual and\ncorporal. Remember, most sweet Virgin Mary, that you are my Mother,\nand that I am your son. You all powerful, and I poor, weak and vile.\nNevertheless, I beseech you, O sweetest Mother, to keep me and defend\nme in all my ways and in all my actions, for, alas! I am poor and\nwretched, and in need of your most holy protection. Do, then, my\nbeloved Mother, preserve and deliver my soul and body from all dangers\nand evils, and make me share in your blessings, your virtues, and, in\nparticular, in your holy humility, your surpassing purity and your\nardent charity.\n\nTell me not, gracious Virgin, that you cannot do so, because your Son\ngave you all power in heaven and on earth. Neither tell me that you\nought not to hear me, for you are the common Mother of all poor\nmortals, and of me in particular. If you could not grant my prayer,\nthen I should excuse you, saying: It is true that she is my Mother,\nand that I am her son, but she is not able to help me. If you were not\nmy Mother, then, indeed, I should have patience, saying: She is rich\nenough to be able to assist me, but, alas! not being my Mother, she\ndoes not love me. But since, most sweet Virgin, you are not only my\nMother, but are also powerful, how can you be excused if you do not\nconsole me, and come to my relief and assistance? You see, my Mother,\nthat it is difficult for you to reject any request that I may make\nyou.\n\nBe, then, exalted in heaven and on earth, glorious Virgin and dear\nMother Mary, and, for the honour and glory of your Divine Son Jesus,\naccept me for your son, without regard to my miseries and sins.\nDeliver me from all evil of soul and body, obtain for me every virtue,\nand first of all humility; and bestow upon me all the benefits and\ngraces necessary to make me pleasing to the Most Holy Trinity, Father,\nSon, and Holy Ghost. Amen.\n\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\n\n---\n\nR. WASHBOURNE, PRINTER, 18 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.\n\n\n\nMiraculous Prayer.\n\nAUGUST Queen of Heaven! Sovereign Mistress of the Angels! Thou, who\nfrom the beginning hast received from God the power and mission to\ncrush the head of Satan; we humbly beseech thee to send thy holy\nlegions that, under thy command and by thy power, they may pursue the\nevil spirits; encounter them on every side: resist their bold attacks,\nand drive them hence into the abyss of everlasting woe. Amen.\n\n_'Who is like unto God!'_\n\nAn Indulgence of 40 days is attached to the devout recital of this\nprayer.\n\nETIENNE, _Bishop of Lausanne_.\n\n---\n\nAll ye holy Angels and Archangels keep us and defend us. Amen.\n\n---\n\nO good and tender Mother! Thou shalt ever be our love and our hope.\n\n---\n\nA Prayer in time of Temptation.\n\nO Divine Mother! Send thy Angels to defend me, and drive the cruel\nenemy from me.\n\n_These prayers were approved by the Archbishop of Tours, and the\nBishops of Bayonne and Nantes in the year 1863._\n\n---\n\nORIGIN OF THE MIRACULOUS PRAYER.\n\nA pious priest of the Diocese of Bayonne, the Abbe Cestac, is the\nfounder of two Religious Congregations in the aforesaid city, viz.,\nthe Servants of Mary, who devote themselves to the work of the Sisters\nof the Good Shepherd, though not cloistered: and the Bernardines, who\nare contemplatives. To one of these devout Religious the Blessed\nVirgin deigned to make the following communication, which is contained\nin a letter from the Abbe Cestac to M. Dupont of Tours.\n\n'_Anglet, near Bayonne._\n\n'SIR,\n\n'It is not exactly correct to say that the Blessed Virgin appeared to\na good, simple saint of the Community, but rather, I should say, that\nthis soul received a supernatural communication from this Divine\nMother, or at any rate conceived she had received such communication\nfrom on high. She was at prayer, when a ray of divine light illumined\nher soul. She saw in spirit the vast desolation caused by the devil\nthroughout the world, and at the same time she heard the Divine Mother\ntelling her that it was true that hell had been let loose upon the\nearth; but that the time had come when we were to pray to her as Queen\nof Angels, and when we were to ask of her the assistance of the\nheavenly legions to fight against these deadly foes of God and of men.\n\n'\"But, my Good Mother,\" answered this soul, \"you who are so kind,\ncould you not send them without our asking you?\"\n\n'\"No,\" she answered; \"because prayer is one of the conditions required\nby God Himself for obtaining favours.\"\n\n'And the soul believed she heard the prayer I send you. Naturally, I\nwas made the depositary of this prayer, and my first duty was to\nsubmit it to my Lord Bishop, who has benignly deigned to approve of\nit. It was then that Our Lady made known to me that I should get it\nprinted at the expense of her Work, and distribute it gratis. Since\nthat time, this prayer has received the approbation of their Lordships\nthe Archbishops and Bishops of Tours, of Toulouse, of Besancon, of\nTarbes. It is being reprinted at Lille, it is being translated into\nSpanish, and spread far and wide.\n\n(Signed) 'CESTAC,\n'Priest of the Diocese of Bayonne.'\n\nIt would appear that the devil was terribly enraged at the publication\nof this prayer, for the Abbe Cestac in a recent letter to M. Dupont\ntells him that the very day on which he sent to Tours 20,000 copies\nwith an offering of 300 francs for the tomb of St. Martin (sent to him\nfor that purpose), a large building three storeys high, was cast to\nthe ground: while a similar misfortune befell the same Community at\nanother of their establishments, some distance off. In neither case,\nhowever, was anyone hurt! This occurred on the 11th of November, 1863,\nFeast of St. Martin of Tours. The Abbe Cestac adds that Providence\ncame to the aid of the good Religious, and enabled them to restore\ntheir injured property. It is likewise affirmed that seven printing\npresses were broken while in the act of printing the prayer, and that\nthe only place at which it could be printed was at Le Puy, where there\nis a celebrated Shrine of Our Blessed Lady, to which crowds of devout\npilgrims flock.\n\n---\n\n_Copies of this \"Miraculous Prayer\" at 1s. the 100 can be had of_\n\nR. WASHBOURNE, 18 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.\n\n\n\nConcise Portrait of the Blessed Virgin.\n\nShe was:--\n\n1. A true admirer of God.\n2. A real lover of her Son.\n3. A Virgin, both in body and mind.\n4. Humble of heart.\n5. Grave in speech.\n6. Prudent in counsel.\n7. Given to labour.\n8. Reserved in discourse.\n9. Fond of reading.\n\nShe excelled:--\n\n10. In Faith.\n11. In Modesty.\n12. In Piety.\n13. In Silence.\n\nNever did She:--\n\n14. Offend her parents.\n15. Despise little ones.\n16. Deride the weak.\n17. Slight the poor.\n\nIt was a principle with Her:--\n\n18. To serve God above all.\n19. To live in retirement.\n20. To cause nobody trouble.\n21. To do good to all.\n22. To honour the aged.\n23. Not to envy her equals.\n24. To shun vainglory.\n25. To love virtue.\n26. To follow right reason in all things.\n\nThere never appeared anything light or frivolous:\n\n27. In her gait.\n28. In her air.\n29. In her discourse.\n30. In her behaviour\n31. In her looks.\n32. In her actions.\n\n---\n\n_Copies of this \"Concise Portrait\" at 1s. the 100 can be had of_\n\nR. WASHBOURNE, 18 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.\n\n\n\nBOOKS FOR THE MONTH OF MAY.\n\n---\n\nOur Lady's Month;\n\nOr, Short Lessons for the Month of Mary, and the Feasts of Our Lady.\nBy Very Rev. A. P. Canon BETHELL. 18mo., cloth, 1s.\n\nOur Lady's Month;\n\nExtracts from the Writings of Cardinal Manning, Cardinal Newman, the\nSaints, and others. By J. S. FLETCHER. 32mo., cloth, 6d.; better\nbound, 1s.\n\nCorona Beatae Mariae Virginis.\n\nThoughts about the Blessed Virgin, for every day in the year, taken\nfrom the Writings of the Saints. 32mo., cloth, 1s.\n\nRegina Saeculorum;\n\nOr, Mary Venerated in All Ages. Devotions to the Blessed Virgin from\nAncient Sources. Fcap. 8vo., cloth, 2s.\n\nMary Foreshadowed;\n\nOr, Considerations on the Types and Figures of Our Blessed Lady in the\nOld Testament. By the Very Rev. Father THADDEUS, O.S.F. Fcap. 8vo.,\ncloth, 3s.\n\nThe Child of Mary's Manual.\n\nCompiled from the French. With Ordinary of the Mass. 32mo., cloth, 9d.\n\nRules of the Children of Mary in the World.\n\n1d.\n\nChildren of Mary Card of Enrolment.\n\nBeautifully designed, exquisitely coloured. With Inscription. Folio,\n1s.\n\nLittle Office of the Immaculate Conception.\n\nIn Latin and English. The Latin Text has the approval of the\nCongregation of Sacred Rites (17th May, 1876), and to which the\nIndulgence is attached. The English version is by Provost Husenbeth.\nWith Imprimatur of the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. 32 mo.,\ncloth, 6d.\n\nChats about the Rosary.\n\nBy MARGARET PLUES. Fcap. 8vo., prettily bound, 2s. 6d.\n\nThe Lord's Prayer and the Hail Mary.\n\nTales for the Young. By EDWARD Cox. Fcap. 8vo., prettily bound, 1s.\n\n---\n\nLONDON:\n\nR. WASHBOURNE, 18 PATERNOSTER ROW.","title":"The Month of Mary, According to the Spirit of St. Francis of Sales: Thirty-One Considerations With Examples, Prayers, Etc.","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":59093}