October 11 — THE MATERNITY OF MARY

Presence of God. — Mary, Mother of God, accept my humble homage and grant that I too may enjoy the sweet fruits of your maternity.

Meditation

1 — Today’s feast claims for Mary her most beautiful title, her most glorious prerogative: Mother of God, title and prerogative solemnly proclaimed by the Council of Ephesus, against the heresy of Nestorius. Today the Church congratulates Mary for this her very high dignity which places her above every simple creature, on the threshold of the infinite, which constitutes her not only queen of men, but also of angels. The entire Mass of the day is attuned to this theme. The Introit reports the prophecy of Isaiah who, even in the Old Testament, had glimpsed the greatness of this singular Woman: “Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and His name shall be called Emmanuel,” that is, God with us. The Epistle (Eccli. 24, 23-31), applying to Our Lady a passage from the praise of Wisdom, sings the praises of her divine maternity: Mary is the fruitful vine from which sprang the most beautiful fruit, Jesus; Mary is the “mother of fair love” in whom is “all grace of way and of truth, all hope of life and of virtue,” since only through her did God give to the world His Only-Begotten, only through her did men have their Savior. Whoever wishes for Jesus must seek Him in the arms of Mary; whoever wishes to propitiate the Savior must have recourse to her who is His mother. Very sweet, therefore, sounds in the ear the maternal invitation: “Come to me, all you that desire me, and be filled with my fruits.” Yes, let us go to Mary and we shall not be disappointed, in her we shall find wherewith to satisfy ourselves because Mary gives us Jesus the Redeemer, Father, Food of our souls, and not only does she give Him to us, but, with the examples of her admirable life, teaches us to love Him, to imitate Him, to follow Him, to avail ourselves in the fullest way of His redeeming and sanctifying work. Precisely thus does Mary extend her maternity also to us, performs also toward us the office of mother and we can repeat with all confidence the prayer that the Church places on our lips today: “O Lord... grant that we may be helped by the intercession of her whom we believe to be the true Mother of God” (Collect).

2 — The feast of the Maternity of Mary must awaken in our hearts confidence, trust in Her who, by reason of her dignity of mother, has the greatest powers before her divine Son. Praising her Mother of God, we solicit her to commit her maternity in our favor: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.” What greater advocate could we find? What more powerful patroness? Jesus cannot resist the supplications of His Mother and Mary cannot resist those who invoke her under the sweetest title of her maternity. If every woman is moved at being called “mama,” how much more will not Mary be moved at being called “Mother of God”? Let us invoke her then as one invokes a mother, mother of God first of all and then also our mother, since Jesus, dying on the cross, willed to place at our disposal the treasures of her maternity. Our Lady has a maternal mission to fulfill toward our souls; Jesus Himself entrusted it to her, therefore it is most dear to her and she desires nothing else than to carry it to completion. Yes, Mary wishes to be mother to us, wishes to commit to our advantage the privileges and treasures of her maternity, but she cannot do so, if we do not entrust ourselves to her as docile and loving children. Even among those who are consecrated to God, not all and not always understand sufficiently the necessity of giving themselves to Mary as children, of opening the soul to her maternal influence, of having recourse to her with full confidence, of invoking her help in all difficulties, in all dangers, of placing their spiritual life under her patronage. As in the natural order the child has need of its mother and when the mother is lacking the child suffers morally and spiritually, so in the supernatural order souls have need of a mother, of the Most Blessed Virgin. Without her, without her maternal cares souls suffer, their spiritual life is labored, often withers or, at least, is not as flourishing as it could be. When, on the other hand, souls give themselves to Mary, seek Mary and entrust themselves to her, their interior life progresses rapidly, their step toward God becomes more agile and swift, everything becomes easier because there is a maternal hand that sustains them, there is a maternal heart that comforts them.

Colloquy

“Your name, O Mother of God, is full of all the graces and divine blessings. You have borne in your womb Him whom the heavens cannot contain. You have nourished Him who nourishes all. The Lord of the Universe willed to have need of you, having received from You that flesh which He did not have before. Rejoice! You have as debtor Him who gives being to all creatures; we all are debtors to God, but God is debtor to you!

“O Most Holy Virgin, You have greater goodness, greater charity than all the other saints and more than all have access to the throne of God, since you are His mother. I beseech You, therefore, I who celebrate Your glories and praise Your great goodness, to remember me and my miseries” (St. Methodius).

“O great Mother of God, I too will say to You with St. Bernard: ‘Speak, O Lady, for Your Son hears you and all that you shall ask, He will grant.’ Speak, then, speak, O Mary, my advocate, in favor of me miserable. Remember that also for my good you have received so much power and so much dignity; God willed to make Himself your debtor by taking from you human nature, so that you might freely dispense to the miserable the riches of His divine mercy.

“If you, immensely good, do good to all, even to those who do not know you and do not honor you, how much more ought we to hope from your benignity we who wish to honor you, wish to love you and confide in your help? O Mary, even if we are sinners, you can save us, because God has enriched you with mercy and power greater than all our iniquity. O sweetest Mother, to you I present my soul that you may purify it, sanctify it, make it all of Jesus” (St. Alphonsus).