Part eight (*), Chapter X: Heart of Mary, Center of the Cross

Heart of Mary, Center of the Cross and

Crown of Martyrs, Doctors and Virgins

WITH much reason we may call Mary's most Holy Heart the Center of the Cross through which Salvation came to us. 'The profundity of Mary's love did not prevent her from experiencing most poignant Sorrows. Albert the Great, (1) St. Bernardin, (2) and many other Saints affirm that Our Lady would have died of sorrow at the foot of the Cross, had not divine power imparted to her extraordinary strength as she shared the Passion of Her Beloved Son. Hence the Fathers of the Church consider her to have been in truth a martyr and more. Many doctors boldly proclaim that Mary suffered more than the combined sufferings of all martyrs. No one ever could or ever can understand the depths of the sorrow of her most loving heart.

0 Mother of my Saviour, thy well-beloved Son has exalted thee with a crown more glorious and shining than the crowns of all the martyrs. Not only hast thou suffered more than they, therefore making thy sorrow more glorious, but also the holy Martyrs have revered and honored thee as their queen and their mother, through whose intercession they have obtained the grace to merit the palm and eternal crown of martyrdom. They lay their glorious crowns at thy feet, 0 Mary, for to thee, after God and thy Divine Son, they owe their triumph and everlasting bliss.

Among the countless martyrs, I shall cite three who hold special obligations to the heart of the Blessed Virgin. First is John Travers, an Irish theologian, imprisoned and burned at the stake by King Henry VIII of England. It is recorded that he prayed particularly to Our Lady for the grace of martyrdom, which she promised to him. When the tribunal of judges asked if he had written a book i n defense of the Primacy of the Pope, he cried out, showing his hand: "Here are the three fingers with which I wrote the book, and I shall never retract." Although his (1). Sup. missus est. (2). Serm. 2 de No. Mariae, Art 2, Cap. 4.

body was burned, those three fingers remained intact, nor was it possible to burn them.

Secondly I cite St. Andrew of Sio in Greece, sustained by Our Lady through most terrible and prolonged martyrdom at the hands of the Mohammedans in 1463. His mangled remains were found to have been miraculously restored in the grave, so that his body, when disinterred by the faithful, appeared whole and incorrupt, because of his constant invocation of Our Lady.

The third martyr, chosen because of the extent of his sufferings and his prayers while being dismembered, is St. James Intercis, a Persian who obtained his crown under the Emperor, Theodosis the Younger.

Now if you would derive benefit from these thoughts of Our Lady's heart considered as the Center of the Cross of Christ and as Queen of Martyrs, you must not doubt the great love of her heart for the countless souls who are crucified in this life. It will be most pleasing to her if you will commend to her special protection all afflicted persons everywhere, but particularly those held captive by the Mohammedans, and likewise those Christians who are destined to suffer the greatest of human tribulations, the persecution of Antichrist at the end of the world. Implore the Mother of Mercies that she may be the Comforter of the Afflicted and obtain from her Divine Son the grace that all their sufferings may be turned to eternal and holy profit.

Offer to Mary all your own pains of mind and body, begging her to offer them to her Crucified Son, uniting your tiny crosses to the tremendous crosses, for the Glory of God.

In addition to the crown of martyrdom, the Blessed Virgin also is called by many theologians the teacher of the Apostles and Doctors, and is crowned with a diadem of learning and virtue beyond that of saintly doctors and confessors. Therefore you must invoke her specially on behalf of those souls suffering in the darkness of paganism, heresy and sin. Have recourse to the heart of Mary in all your doubts and worries, begging her to grant you the light to avoid the snares of error in this world.

Her third crown is that of Queen of Virgins, which she possesses far more excellently than any saintly exponent of the virtue of purity, far beyond any perfection that can be written or described. Beg Mary to imprint in your soul a great love for chastity and an inconceivable hatred for impurity. 256-