On the Virtues of the Most Holy Mary

St. Augustine says that to obtain the favor of the saints more surely and abundantly, we must imitate them, because when they see us practicing the virtues they themselves exercised, they are all the more moved to pray for us. The queen of the saints and our first advocate, Mary, after she has rescued a soul from the clutches of Lucifer and united it with God, desires that soul to set about imitating her; otherwise she cannot enrich it with her graces as she would wish, seeing it opposed to her in its conduct. For this reason Mary calls blessed those who diligently imitate her life: Nunc ergo, filii, audite me: Beati qui custodiunt vias meas (Prov. 8:32). Whoever loves either finds himself like the person loved or strives to become like her, according to the celebrated proverb: Amor aut pares invenit, aut facit. Therefore St. Jerome exhorts us that if we love Mary, we must seek to imitate her, for this is the greatest homage we can offer her: Dilectissimi, Mariam colite quam amatis, quia tunc vere amatis, si imitari volueritis quam amatis. Richard says that those who strive to live according to her life are and may call themselves true children of Mary: Filii Mariae imitatores eius. Let the child, then, concludes St. Bernard, strive to imitate the Mother, if he desires her favor; for then, seeing herself honored as a mother, she will treat and favor him as a child.

Speaking then of the virtues of this Mother, although we read but little of them recorded in detail in the Gospels, nonetheless, since it is there said that she was full of grace, we are well assured that she possessed all the virtues and all in a heroic degree. In such a way, says St. Thomas, that while other saints have each excelled in some particular virtue, the Blessed Virgin excelled in all and in all virtues has been given to us as an example: Alii sanctorum specialia opera exercuerunt, alius fuit castus, alius humilis, alius misericors; sed B. Virgo datur in exemplum omnium virtutum.

And likewise St. Ambrose said: Talis fuit Maria, ut eius unius vita omnium disciplina sit. Whence he also left us this: Sit vobis tamquam in imagine descripta virginitas vitaque Mariae, in qua refulget forma virtutis. Hinc sumatis exempla vivendi... quid corrigere, quid fugere, quid tenere debeatis.

And because, as the Holy Fathers teach, humility is the foundation of all the virtues, let us see first of all how great was the humility of the Mother of God.

Section 1 -- On the Humility of Mary

Humilitas, says St. Bernard, est fundamentum custosque virtutum. And rightly so, because without humility there can be no other virtue in a soul; should it possess all the virtues, all will flee when humility flees. And on the contrary, St. Francis de Sales used to say, as he wrote to Blessed Sister Jane de Chantal, that God is so fond of humility that he runs at once to wherever he sees it. Humility, this beautiful and so necessary virtue, was unknown in the world, but the very Son of God came down to earth to teach it by his example, and he willed that we should seek especially to imitate him in it: Et discite a me, quia mitis sum et humilis corde (Matt. 11:29). And Mary, as she was the first and most perfect disciple of Jesus Christ in all the virtues, was also in this virtue of humility, by which she merited to be exalted above all creatures. It was revealed to St. Mechtilde that the first virtue in which the Blessed Mother singularly exercised herself from childhood was humility: Prima virtus in qua Virgo nata, et infans se singulariter exercuit, fuit humilitas.

The first act of humility of heart is to have a lowly opinion of oneself; and Mary always had such a lowly opinion of herself, as was revealed to the same St. Mechtilde, that although she saw herself so enriched with graces beyond all others, she never preferred herself to anyone: Ita modeste de se sentiebat, ut cum tot gratias haberet nulli se praetulit. Abbot Rupert, explaining the passage Vulnerasti cor meum, soror mea sponsa... in uno crine colli tui (Song 4:9), says that this strand of the bride's neck was precisely the humble opinion Mary had of herself, with which she wounded the heart of God: In uno crine, idest in nimia humilitate cordis tui. Iste est crinis colli, humilis cogitatus... Quid uno crine gracilius? Not that the Holy Virgin considered herself a sinner, for humility is truth, as St. Teresa says; and Mary knew she had never offended God. Nor that she did not acknowledge having received greater graces from God than all other creatures, for a humble heart indeed recognizes the special favors of the Lord in order to humble itself all the more. But the divine Mother, by the greater light she had for knowing the infinite greatness and goodness of her God, knew all the more her own littleness; and therefore she humbled herself more than all others and said with the sacred Spouse: Nolite me considerare quod fusca sim, quia decoloravit me sol (Song 1:5). St. Bernard explains: Appropinquans illi me nigram invenio. Yes, because, says St. Bernardine: Virgo continue habebat actualem relationem ad divinam maiestatem et ad sui nihilitatem. Just as a beggar-woman, if she is clothed in a rich garment given to her, does not grow proud of it, but on seeing it humbles herself all the more before the giver, since it all the more reminds her of her poverty; so Mary, the more she saw herself enriched, the more she humbled herself, remembering that all was a gift of God. Whence she herself said to St. Elizabeth the Benedictine: Pro firmo scias quod me reputabam vilissimam et gratia Dei indignam. And so, said St. Bernardine, no creature in the world was ever so exalted, because no creature ever humbled herself as much as Mary: Sicut nulla post Filium Dei creatura tantum ascendit in gratiae dignitatem, sic nec tantum descendit in abyssum humilitatis.

Moreover, it is an act of humility to conceal heavenly gifts. Mary chose to hide from St. Joseph the grace of having been made Mother of God, even though revealing it seemed then a necessity, at least to free the poor spouse from the suspicions he might have of her purity, seeing her with child, or at least from his distress. As it was, St. Joseph, unable on the one hand to doubt the chastity of Mary, and on the other not knowing the mystery, in order to free himself from his distress, voluit occulte dimittere eam (Matt. 1:19). And if the angel had not made him understand that his spouse was with child by the work of the Holy Spirit, he would already have left her.

Furthermore, the humble person refuses praise for himself and refers it all to God. Behold Mary, who is troubled on hearing herself praised by St. Gabriel. And when St. Elizabeth said to her: Benedicta tu inter mulieres, and so on: Et unde hoc mihi, ut veniat Mater Domini mei ad me?... Et beata quae credidisti, and so forth (Luke 1); Mary, attributing all those praises to God, responded with that humble canticle: Magnificat anima mea Dominum. As if to say: Elizabeth, you praise me, but I praise the Lord, to whom alone honor is due. You wonder that I come to you, and I marvel at the divine goodness, in which alone my spirit rejoices: Et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo. You praise me because I have believed; I praise my God, who has chosen to exalt my nothingness: Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae. Whence Mary said to St. Bridget: Ut quid enim ego me tantum humiliabam, aut promerui tantam gratiam, nisi quia cogitavi et scivi nihil a me esse vel habere? Ideo nolui laudem meam, sed solum datoris et creatoris (Rev. 2:23). And so, speaking of the humility of Mary, St. Augustine said: O vere beata humilitas, quae Deum hominibus peperit, paradisum aperuit, et animas ab inferis liberavit.

Furthermore, it is characteristic of the humble to serve; and Mary did not refuse to go and serve Elizabeth for three months. Whence St. Bernard said: Venisse Mariam mirabatur Elisabeth, sed magis miretur quod ipsa non ministrari venerit, sed ministrare.

The humble keep themselves withdrawn and choose the lowest place; and therefore Mary, as St. Bernard reflects, when her Son was preaching in that house, as St. Matthew relates in chapter 12, wished to speak with him but would not enter the house on her own: Foris stabat, says St. Bernard, nec materna auctoritate sermonem interrupit, nec in domum intravit ubi Filius loquebatur. For this same reason also, being in the upper room with the Apostles, she wished to take the last place; and so St. Luke wrote: Hi omnes erant perseverantes unanimiter in oratione, cum mulieribus et Maria Matre Iesu (Acts 1:14). Not that St. Luke did not know the merit of the divine Mother, for which he ought to have named her first; but because she had placed herself in the last position in the upper room, after the Apostles and the other women, St. Luke described them all, as one author reflects, according to their place. Whence St. Bernard said: Merito facta novissima prima, quae cum prima esset omnium, se novissimam faciebat.

The humble, finally, love contempt; and therefore Mary is not recorded as having appeared in Jerusalem when her Son on Palm Sunday was received by the people with such great honors; but on the contrary, at the time of her Son's death she did not refrain from appearing publicly on Calvary, accepting the dishonor of making herself known as the mother of the condemned man who was dying an infamous death. Whence she said to St. Bridget: Quid contemptibilius quam vocari fatua, omnibus indigere, omnibus indigniorem se credere? Talis, o filia, fuit humilitas mea, hoc gaudium meum, haec voluntas tota, quam nulli nisi Filio meo placere cogitabam.

To the Venerable Sister Paula of Foligno, in an ecstasy, it was given to understand how great was the humility of the Holy Virgin; and when she later gave an account of it to her confessor, she said, overwhelmed with wonder: "The humility of Our Lady! Oh Father, the humility of Our Lady! In the whole world there is not even the slightest degree of humility, compared with the humility of Mary." And the Lord another time showed St. Bridget two ladies, one all pomp and vanity: "This," he said to her, "is pride. And this other one you see, with head bowed, respectful to all, and with God alone in her mind, who esteems herself as nothing -- this is humility, and her name is Mary" (Rev. 1:29). By this God wished to reveal to us that his blessed Mother was so humble that she was humility itself.

There is no doubt, as St. Gregory of Nyssa says, that for our nature, corrupted by sin, there is perhaps no virtue more difficult to practice than the virtue of humility. But there is no help for it: we can never be true children of Mary unless we are humble. Si non potes virginitatem, says St. Bernard, humilis, imitare humilitatem virginis. She abhors the proud and calls to herself only the humble: Si quis est parvulus, veniat ad me. Richard said: Maria protegit nos sub pallio humilitatis. The Mother of God herself explained this to St. Bridget, saying to her: Ergo et tu, filia mea, veni et absconde te sub mantello meo; hic mantellus humilitas mea est. And then she added that the consideration of her humility was a good cloak that gives warmth; but, she then said, just as a cloak does not warm one who wears it only in thought and not in deed, so nec humilitas mea proficit, nisi unusquisque studuerit eam imitari. Ergo, filia mea, she concluded, indue te hac humilitate. Oh, how dear humble souls are to Mary! St. Bernard wrote: Agnoscit Virgo et diligit diligentes se et prope est invocantibus se; praesertim iis quos videt conformes sibi factos in castitate et humilitate. Whence the saint exhorts all who love Mary to be humble: Aemulamini hanc virtutem, si Mariam diligitis. Marinus, or rather Martin de Alberto of the Society of Jesus, out of love for the Virgin, used to sweep the house and gather up its refuse. The divine Mother once appeared to him, as Father Nieremberg relates, and as if thanking him said: "How dear to me is this humble act done for love of me!"

Therefore, my Queen, I can never be your true child unless I am humble. But do you not see that my sins, after having made me ungrateful to my Lord, have also made me proud? Oh, my Mother, remedy this: by the merits of your humility, obtain for me the grace to be humble, and so to become your child. Amen.

Section 2 -- On the Love of Mary for God

St. Anselm says: Ubi maior puritas, ibi maior caritas. The purer a heart is and the emptier of self, the more it will be filled with love for God. The Most Holy Mary, because she was all humble and empty of self, was therefore all filled with divine love; so that she surpassed the love of all men and all the angels for God, as St. Bernardine wrote: Superat omnium creaturarum amores in Filium suum. Whence St. Francis de Sales rightly called her the Queen of Love.

The Lord has already given man the command to love him with his whole heart: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo (Matt. 22:37). But by men, says St. Thomas, this commandment will not be perfectly fulfilled on this earth, but in heaven: Plene et perfecte in patria implebitur hoc praeceptum; in via autem impletur, sed imperfecte. But here Blessed Albert the Great reflects that in a certain way it would have been unbecoming of God to give a commandment that no one had perfectly fulfilled, were it not for his divine Mother, who perfectly fulfilled it; here are Albert's words: Aut aliquis implet hoc praeceptum, aut nullus; si aliquis, ergo beatissima Virgo. And this is confirmed by Richard of St. Victor, who says: Emmanuelis nostri puerpera in omni fuit virtutum consummatione perfecta. Quis illud primum mandatum sic umquam implevit: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo? In ea divinus amor adeo concaluit, ut qualiscumque defectus in eam incidere non posset. Divine love, says St. Bernard, so wounded and pierced through the soul of Mary that no part of it was left unwounded by love; whence she then fulfilled without defect this first commandment: Amor Christi Mariae animam non modo transfixit, sed etiam pertransivit, ut nullam particulam vacuam amore relinqueret; sed toto corde, tota anima, tota virtute diligeret, et esset gratia plena. And so Mary could well say: my Beloved has given himself wholly to me, and I have given myself wholly to him: Dilectus meus mihi, et ego illi (Song 2:16). Ah, even the Seraphim, says Richard, could have come down from heaven to learn in the heart of Mary the way to love God: Seraphim de caelo descendere poterant, ut amorem discerent in corde Virginis.

God, who is love -- Deus caritas est (1 John 4:8) -- came down to earth to kindle the flame of his divine love in all; but no heart did he so inflame as the heart of his Mother, which, being all pure from earthly affections, was wholly disposed to burn with this blessed fire. Thus says St. Jerome: Totam eam incanduerat divinus amor, ita ut nihil esset mundanum, quod eius violaret affectum, sed ardor continuus et ebrietas profusi amoris. Whence the heart of Mary became all fire and flame, as we read of her in the Song of Songs: Lampades eius, lampades ignis, atque flammarum (Song 8:6). Fire, burning within from love, as St. Anselm explains, and flame, shining outwardly to all through the exercise of the virtues. Mary, then, on earth, while she carried Jesus in her arms, could well be called ignis gestans ignem -- fire bearing fire -- better than in another sense a certain woman carrying fire in her hand was once so called by Hippocrates. Yes, for St. Ildephonsus said: Mariam, velut ignis ferrum, Spiritus Sanctus totam ignivit; ita ut in ea Spiritus Sancti flamma tantum videatur, nec sentiatur, nisi tantum ignis amoris Dei. St. Thomas of Villanova says that the heart of the Virgin was already symbolized by the bush Moses saw burning without being consumed. For this reason she rightly, says St. Bernard, was seen by St. John clothed with the sun: Et signum magnum apparuit in caelo: mulier amicta sole (Rev. 12:1). Because, says the saint, so closely was she united with God through love that it seems a creature could not be more closely united with God: Iure ergo Maria sole perhibetur amicta, quia divinae sapientiae, ultra quam credi valeat, penetravit abyssum; ut quantum sine personali unione creaturae conditio patitur, luci illi inaccessibili videatur immersa.

Hence St. Bonaventure attests that the Holy Virgin was never tempted by hell: for, he says, just as flies flee from a great fire, so from the heart of Mary, all aflame with charity, the demons were driven away, so that they did not even dare approach her: Sicut magnus ignis effugat muscas, sic a sua inflammata caritate daemones pellebantur, quod non ausi sint illi appropinquare. And Richard likewise says: Virgo principibus tenebrarum terribilis fuit, ut ad eam accedere eamque tentare non praesumpserint, deterrebat eos flamma caritatis. Mary herself revealed to St. Bridget that in this world she had no other thought, no other desire, no other joy than God: Nihil nisi Deum cogitabam: nulla mihi nisi Deus placuerunt. Whence her blessed soul, remaining almost always on this earth in the contemplation of God, the acts of love she made were without number; thus wrote Father Suarez: Actus perfectae caritatis, quos B. Virgo habuit in hac vita, innumerabiles fuerunt, quae fere totam vitam in contemplatione transegit, et tunc amoris actum frequentissime repetebat. And still more pleasing to me is what Bernardine de Bustis said: that Mary did not so much repeat acts of love one after another, as other saints do, but rather with a single continuous act, by a singular privilege, she always actually loved God: Tamen ipsa gloriosissima Virgo de privilegio singulari continue et semper Deum amabat actualiter. Like a royal eagle, she always kept her eyes fixed on the divine sun, in such a way, says St. Peter Damian, that neither the activities of life hindered her from loving, nor did love hinder her from acting: Adeo ut nec actio contemplationem minueret, et contemplatio non desereret actionem. So that the propitiatory altar, says St. Germanus, on which the fire was never extinguished, neither by day nor by night, was a figure of Mary.

Not even sleep prevented Mary from loving her God. And if such a privilege was granted to our first parents in the state of innocence, as St. Augustine asserts, saying that Tam felicia erant somnia dormientium, quam vita vigilantium, it certainly ought not be denied to the divine Mother, as Suarez and Abbot Rupert with St. Bernardine and St. Ambrose well grant, the last of whom left written, speaking precisely of Mary: Cum quiesceret corpus, vigilaret animus, verifying of her what the Wise Man said: Non exstinguetur in nocte lucerna eius (Prov. 31:18).

Yes, for while her blessed body took its necessary rest in a light slumber, Anima eius, says St. Bernardine, libere tunc tendebat in Deum: unde illo tempore erat perfectior contemplatrix, quam umquam fuerit alius dum vigilavit. So that she could well say with the Spouse: Ego dormio et cor meum vigilat (Song 5:2). Tam felix dormiendo, quam vigilando, as Suarez says. In short, St. Bernardine asserts that Mary, while she lived on this earth, was continually loving God: Mens Virginis in ardore dilectionis continue tenebatur. And he says further that she never did anything except what she knew to be pleasing to God, and that she loved him as much as she judged she ought to love him: Nihil umquam elegit, nisi quod divina sapientia demonstrabat; tantumque dilexit Deum quantum a se diligendum existimabat. So that, as Blessed Albert the Great says, it may well be said that Mary was filled with such charity that hardly more could be received by a pure creature on this earth: Credimus etiam, sine praeiudicio melioris sententiae, B. Virginem in conceptione Filii Dei caritatem talem accepisse, qualis et quanta percipi poterat a pura creatura in statu viae. Whence St. Thomas of Villanova said that the Virgin, by her ardent charity, made herself so beautiful and so enamored her God that he, captivated by her love, descended into her womb to become man: Haec Virgo sua pulchritudine Deum a caelis allexit, qui amore illius captus est et humanitatis nostrae nexibus irretitus. And so St. Bernardine exclaims: Behold a maiden who by her virtue has wounded and ravished the heart of God! O virtus Virginis Matris! una puella vulneravit et rapuit divinum cor!

But since Mary loves her God so much, she certainly asks nothing else of her devoted servants so much as that they love God as much as they can. Thus she herself said to Blessed Angela of Foligno one day when she had received Holy Communion: "Angela, be blessed by my Son; strive to love him as much as you can." And to St. Bridget the same Blessed Virgin said: "Daughter, if you wish to bind me to you, love my Son: Si vis me tecum devincire, ama Filium meum." Mary desires nothing more than to see her beloved, who is God, loved. Novarino asks why the Holy Virgin, like the bride of the Canticle, begged the angels to make known to her Lord the great love she bore him, saying: Adiuro vos, filiae Ierusalem, si inveneritis dilectum meum ut nuntietis ei quia amore langueo (Song 5:8). Did not God already know how much she loved him? Cur vulnus ostendi quaerit dilecto, qui vulnus fecit? The author answers that the divine Mother thereby wished to make known not to God but to us her love, so that just as she was wounded, she might wound us too with divine love: Ut vulnerata vulneret. And because she was all fire in loving God, all those who love her and draw near to her are inflamed by Mary and made like herself: Quia tota ardens fuit, omnes se amantes, eamque tangentes incendit, et sibi assimilat (St. Bonaventure). Whence St. Catherine of Siena called Mary Portatrix ignis, the bearer of the fire of divine love. If, then, we too wish to burn with this blessed flame, let us always strive to draw near to our Mother with our prayers and our affections.

Ah, Queen of Love, Mary, the most lovable, the most loved, and the most loving of all creatures -- as St. Francis de Sales said to you -- ah, my Mother, you burned always and wholly with love for God; deign to give me at least a spark. You prayed to your Son for those spouses who lacked wine: Vinum non habent; and will you not pray for us, who lack love for God, whom we are so greatly obliged to love? Say then: Amorem non habent; and obtain for us this love. No other grace do we ask of you but this. O Mother, by the love you bear Jesus, hear us, pray for us. Amen.

Section 3 -- On the Love of Mary for Her Neighbor

Love for God and love for neighbor are commanded us in the same precept: Et hoc mandatum habemus a Deo, ut qui diligit Dominum diligat et fratrem suum (1 John 4:21). The reason is, says St. Thomas, that whoever loves God loves all the things loved by God. St. Catherine of Genoa one day said to God: "Lord, you desire that I love my neighbor, and I cannot love anyone but you." And God answered her: "Whoever loves me, loves all the things loved by me." But since no one has ever loved God more than Mary, so no one has ever loved his neighbor more than she. Father Cornelius a Lapide, commenting on the passage Ferculum fecit sibi rex Salomon... media caritate constravit propter filias Ierusalem (Song 3:9), says that this litter was the womb of Mary, in which the Incarnate Word, dwelling there, filled his Mother with charity so that she might help all who have recourse to her: B. Virginis sinus fuit ferculum ferens Verbum; ideoque media caritate constratum propter filias Ierusalem, quia Christus, qui est ipsa caritas, maximam caritatem B. Virgini aspiravit, ut ipsa ad illam recurrentibus opem ferret.

Mary was so full of charity while living on earth that she would come to the aid of the needy without even being asked; as she did at the wedding of Cana, when she asked her Son for the miracle of the wine, setting forth the affliction of that family: Vinum non habent (John 2:3). Oh, how she hastened when it was a matter of relieving her neighbor! When she went on her errand of charity to the house of Elizabeth, abiit in montana cum festinatione (Luke 1:39). She could not, then, have shown her great charity more than by offering her Son to death for our salvation; on which St. Bonaventure said: Sic Maria dilexit mundum, ut Filium suum unigenitum daret. Whence St. Anselm says to her: O benedicta inter mulieres, quae angelos vincis puritate, et sanctos superas pietate! Nor has this charity of Mary toward us, says St. Bonaventure, now that she is in heaven, diminished; rather it has greatly increased there: Quia magis nunc videt hominum miserias. And so the saint wrote: Magna fuit erga miseros misericordia Mariae adhuc exsulantis in mundo, sed multo maior est regnantis in caelo. And the angel said to St. Bridget that there is no one who prays and does not receive graces through the charity of the Virgin: Ex dulcedine Mariae nullus est qui non per eam, si petitur, sentiat pietatem (Rev. 3:30). Wretched we would be if Mary did not pray for us! Jesus himself said to the same saint: Nisi preces Matris meae intervenirent, non esset spes misericordiae (Rev. 6:29).

Blessed is he, says the divine Mother, who hears my teachings and observes my charity, so as to practice it in turn toward others in imitation of me: Beatus homo qui audit me, et qui vigilat ad fores meas quotidie, et observat ad postes ostii mei (Prov. 8:34). St. Gregory Nazianzen says that there is nothing by which we can more gain the affection of Mary than by showing charity to our neighbor: Nulla res est quae Virginis benevolentiam conciliat, ac misericordia. Whence, just as God exhorts us: Estote misericordes sicut et Pater vester misericors est (Luke 6:36), so also it seems that Mary says to all her children: Be merciful, as your Mother is merciful. It is certain that according to the charity we show our neighbor, God and Mary will show it to us: Date, et dabitur vobis... Eadem quippe mensura, qua mensi fueritis, remetietur vobis (Luke 6:38). St. Methodius used to say: Da pauperi, et accipe paradisum. For the Apostle wrote that charity toward our neighbor makes us happy both in this life and the next: Pietas autem ad omnia utilis est, promissionem habens vitae quae nunc est, et futurae (2 Tim. 3:5). And as St. John Chrysostom observes on the words of Proverbs: Foeneratur Domino, qui miseretur pauperis, the saint says that whoever helps the needy makes God his debtor: Si Deo foeneratur, is ergo nobis debitor est.

O Mother of mercy, you are full of charity toward all; do not forget my miseries. You already see them. Commend me to that God who denies you nothing. Obtain for me the grace to be able to imitate you in holy charity, both toward God and toward my neighbor. Amen.

Section 4 -- On the Faith of Mary

Just as the Blessed Virgin is the mother of love and of hope, so also is she the mother of faith. Ego mater pulchrae dilectionis et timoris et agnitionis et sanctae spei (Sir. 24:24). And rightly so, says St. Irenaeus, because the harm that Eve did by her unbelief, Mary repaired by her faith: Quod Heva ligavit per incredulitatem, Maria solvit per fidem. Eve, confirms Tertullian, because she chose to believe the serpent against what God had said, brought death; but our Queen, believing the words of the angel -- that she would become the Mother of the Lord while remaining a virgin -- brought salvation to the world: Crediderat Heva serpenti, Maria Gabrieli: quod illa credendo deliquit, haec credendo delevit. While St. Augustine says that Mary, by giving her consent to the Incarnation of the Word, through her faith opened paradise to men: Fides Mariae caelum aperuit, cum angelo nuncianti consensit. Thus Richard, who on the words of St. Paul, Sanctificatus est enim vir infidelis per mulierem fidelem (1 Cor. 7:14), wrote: Haec est mulier fidelis, per cuius fidem salvatus est Adam vir infidelis et tota posteritas. Whence for this her faith, Elizabeth called the Virgin blessed: Beata quae credidisti, perficientur in te quae dicta sunt tibi a Domino (Luke 1:45). And St. Augustine added: Beatior Maria percipiendo fidem Christi, quam concipiendo carnem Christi.

Father Suarez says that the Holy Virgin had more faith than all men and all the angels. She saw her Son in the stable of Bethlehem, and believed him to be the Creator of the world. She saw him flee from Herod, and did not cease believing that he was the King of kings. She saw him born, and believed him eternal. She saw him poor, in need of food, and believed him the Lord of the universe; laid on straw, and believed him omnipotent. She observed that he did not speak, and believed him to be infinite Wisdom. She heard him weeping, and believed him to be the joy of paradise. She saw him, finally, in death, despised and crucified; but although in others faith wavered, Mary always remained firm in believing that he was God. Stabat iuxta crucem Iesu Mater eius. On which words St. Antoninus wrote: Stabat Maria fide elevata, quam de Christi divinitate fixam retinuit. And so the saint says that in the Office of Tenebrae one candle alone is left burning. And St. Leo on this point applies to the Virgin the passage: Non exstinguetur in nocte lucerna eius (Prov. 31:18). And on the words of Isaiah -- Torcular calcavi solus et de gentibus non est vir mecum (Isa. 63:3) -- St. Thomas wrote: Dicit vir propter Virginem, in qua numquam fides defecit. Whence at that time, says Blessed Albert the Great, Mary exercised a most excellent faith: Fidem habuit in excellentissimo gradu, quae, etiam discipulis dubitantibus, non dubitavit.

Therefore Mary, by her great faith, merited to be made the light of all the faithful, as she is called by St. Methodius: Fidelium fax; and by St. Cyril of Alexandria, the scepter of the true faith: Sceptrum orthodoxae fidei. And Holy Church herself, for the merit of her faith, attributes to the Virgin the defeat of all heresies: Gaude, Maria Virgo, cunctas haereses sola interemisti in universo mundo. And so St. Thomas of Villanova, explaining the words of the Holy Spirit: Vulnerasti cor meum, soror mea sponsa... in uno oculorum tuorum (Song 4:9), says: This eye was the faith of Mary, by which she greatly pleased God: Per oculos fidem designat, qua Dei Filio Virgo maxime complacuit.

Here St. Ildephonsus exhorts: Imitamini signaculum fidei Mariae. But how are we to imitate this faith of Mary? Faith is at once a gift and a virtue. It is a gift of God inasmuch as it is a light that God infuses into the soul; it is then a virtue inasmuch as the soul exercises it. Hence faith must serve us not only as a rule for believing, but also for acting. And so St. Gregory said: Ille vere credit, qui exercet operando quod credit. And St. Augustine: Dicis credo: fac quod dicis, et fides est. And this is what it means to have a living faith -- that is, to live according to what one believes: Iustus autem meus ex fide vivit (Heb. 10:38). And thus said the Blessed Virgin, in contrast to those who do not live according to what they believe, whose faith is dead, as St. James says: Fides sine operibus mortua est (Jas. 2:26).

Diogenes went about seeking a man on earth: Hominem quaero. But God, among so many of the faithful, seems to go about seeking a Christian: Christianum quaero. While very few are those who show its works; the majority have only the name. And to these should be said what Alexander once said to a cowardly soldier who was also named Alexander: Aut nomen aut mores muta. But better still, these wretches should be shut up, as Father Avila used to say, like madmen in a prison -- for they believe that a happy eternity is prepared for those who live well and an unhappy eternity for those who live badly, and yet they live as if they did not believe it. Therefore St. Augustine exhorts us to see things with Christian eyes, that is, eyes that see according to faith: Oculos christianos habete. For St. Teresa used to say that from the lack of faith all sins are born. And therefore let us pray the Holy Virgin that by the merit of her faith she may obtain for us a living faith: Domina, adauge nobis fidem.

Section 5 -- On the Hope of Mary

From faith springs hope, since to this end God enlightens us with faith in the knowledge of his goodness and his promises, so that we may thereby raise ourselves with hope to the desire of possessing him. Since, then, Mary had the virtue of an excellent faith, she also had the virtue of an excellent hope, which made her say with David: Mihi autem adhaerere Deo bonum est, et ponere in Domino Deo spem meam (Ps. 72:28). Mary was that faithful spouse of the Holy Spirit, of whom it was said: Quae est ista quae ascendit de deserto, deliciis affluens, innixa super dilectum suum? (Song 8:5). For she, always wholly detached from the affections of the world, which she esteemed as a desert, and placing no trust in creatures or in her own merits, but resting wholly on divine grace in which alone she confided, advanced always in the love of her God. Thus Ailgrinus spoke of her: Ascendit de deserto, scilicet de mundo, quem sic deseruit et tamquam desertum reputavit, ut ab ipso omnem suum averterit affectum. Innixa super dilectum suum; nam non suis meritis, sed ipsius innitebatur gratiae, qui gratiam tribuit.

And the Holy Virgin clearly showed how great was her confidence in God, first when she perceived that her holy spouse Joseph, not knowing the manner of her miraculous pregnancy, was troubled and thinking of leaving her: Ioseph autem... voluit occulte dimittere eam (Matt. 1:19). It seemed then, as was considered above, that it was necessary for her to reveal the hidden mystery to Joseph; but no, she would not of herself disclose the grace received; she judged it better to abandon herself to divine providence, trusting that God himself would defend her innocence and her reputation. Thus Cornelius a Lapide commented on the aforesaid passage: B. Virgo autem noluit ultro secretum hoc Iosepho pandere, ne sua dona iactare videretur, sed Dei curae idipsum resignavit, certissime confidens Deum suam innocentiam et famam tutaturum. She further showed her confidence in God when, near to giving birth, she found herself turned away in Bethlehem even from the lodgings of the poor, and reduced to giving birth in a stable: Et reclinavit eum in praesepio, quia non erat eis locus in diversorio (Luke 2:7). At that time she spoke not a word of complaint, but wholly abandoned to God, trusted that he would assist her in that need. Likewise, the divine Mother showed how much she trusted in divine providence when, warned by St. Joseph that they must flee to Egypt, she set out that very night on so long a journey to a foreign and unknown land, without provisions, without money, with no other companion than her infant Jesus and her poor spouse: Qui consurgens accepit puerum et matrem eius nocte, et secessit in Aegyptum (Matt. 2:14). Much more, then, did Mary show this her confidence when she asked her Son for the grace of wine for the spouses at Cana; for after she said Vinum non habent, Jesus answered her: Quid mihi et tibi est, mulier? nondum venit hora mea (John 2:4). But after this reply, by which it seemed clear that the request was denied, she, trusting in the divine goodness, said to the household servants to do whatever her Son told them, for the grace was certain: Quodcumque dixerit vobis, facite. As indeed Jesus Christ had the vessels filled with water and then changed it into wine.

Let us learn, then, from Mary to trust as we ought, especially in the great matter of eternal salvation, where although our own cooperation is also needed, we must hope for the grace to achieve it from God alone, distrusting entirely our own strength and each saying with the Apostle: Omnia possum in eo qui me confortat (Phil. 4:13).

Ah, my most holy Lady, of you the Book of Sirach tells me that you are the mother of hope: Mater... sanctae spei (Sir. 24:24). Of you Holy Church tells me that you are hope itself: Spes nostra, salve. What other hope, then, do I seek? You, after Jesus, are all my hope; thus St. Bernard called you, and thus I too wish to call you: Tota ratio spei meae. And I will always say to you with St. Bonaventure: O salus te invocantium, salva me.

Section 6 -- On the Chastity of Mary

After the fall of Adam, since the senses rebelled against reason, the virtue of chastity is the most difficult for men to practice. Inter omnia certamina, says St. Augustine, duriora sunt praelia castitatis, ubi quotidiana est pugna et rara victoria. May the Lord, nonetheless, be forever praised, for in Mary he has given us a great model of this virtue. Rightly Mary, says Blessed Albert the Great, is called the Virgin of virgins, for she, the first to offer her virginity to God without anyone's counsel or example, has produced all the virgins who have imitated her: Virgo virginum, quae sine consilio, sine exemplo munus virginitatis Deo obtulit, et per sui imitationem omnes virgines germinavit, as David already foretold: Adducentur... virgines post eam... in templum regis (Ps. 44). Without counsel and without example; yes, for St. Bernard says to her: O Virgo, quis te docuit Deo placere virginitate et in terris angelicam ducere vitam?

Ah, to this end, answers Sophronius, God chose this most pure Virgin for his Mother, so that she might be an example to all of chastity: Christus matrem Virginem elegit, ut ipsa omnibus esset exemplum castitatis. And therefore St. Ambrose calls Mary the Standard-bearer of virginity: Quae signum virginitatis extulit.

On account of this her purity, the Holy Virgin was also called by the Holy Spirit beautiful as the turtledove: Pulchrae sunt genae tuae sicut turturis (Song 1:9). Turtur pudicissima Maria, comments Aponius. And she was also called a lily: Sicut lilium inter spinas, sic amica mea inter filias (Song 2:2). Where St. Denis the Carthusian notes that she was called a lily among thorns because all other virgins were thorns either to themselves or to others, but the Blessed Virgin was a thorn neither to herself nor to others: Omnes aliae virgines spinae fuerunt vel sibi vel aliis; B. Virgo nec sibi nec aliis.

For by her very appearance she inspired in all thoughts and affections of purity: Intuentium corda ad castitatem invitabat. And St. Thomas confirms: Pulchritudo B. Virginis intuentes ad castitatem excitabat. St. Jerome asserts that he is of the opinion that St. Joseph kept his virginity through the companionship of Mary; for against the heretic Helvidius, who denied the virginity of Mary, the saint writes: Tu dicis Mariam virginem non permansisse; ego mihi plus vindico, etiam ipsum Ioseph virginem fuisse per Mariam. One author says that the Blessed Virgin was so fond of this virtue that to preserve it she would have been ready to renounce even the dignity of Mother of God.

And this may be gathered from the very words she said to the archangel: Quomodo fiet istud, quoniam virum non cognosco? (Luke 1:34), and from the words she added at the end: Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum -- signifying by this that she gave her consent only as the angel had assured her, that she was to become a mother by no other agency than that of the Holy Spirit.

St. Ambrose says: Qui castitatem servavit angelus est, qui perdidit diabolus. Those who are chaste become angels, as the Lord himself said: Et erunt sicut angeli Dei (Matt. 22:30); but the impure become odious to God, like the demons. And St. Remigius used to say that the greater part of adults are lost on account of this vice.

The victory over this vice is rare, as was said with St. Augustine at the beginning; but why rare? Because the means to overcome it are not used. The means are three, as spiritual masters say with Bellarmine: Ieiunium, periculorum evitatio et oratio. By fasting is meant mortification, especially of the eyes and of the appetite. The Most Holy Mary, although she was full of divine grace, was nonetheless so mortified in her eyes that she always kept them lowered and never fixed them on anyone, as St. Epiphanius and St. John Damascene say; and they say that even from childhood she was so modest that she amazed everyone. And for this reason St. Luke notes that when she went to visit St. Elizabeth, abiit cum festinatione -- to be less seen in public. As for food, Philibert relates that it was revealed to a hermit named Felix that the infant Mary took milk only once a day. And throughout her whole life, St. Gregory of Tours attests, she always fasted: Nullo tempore Maria non ieiunavit. St. Bonaventure says: Numquam Maria tantam gratiam invenisset, nisi cibo temperantissima fuisset; non enim se compatiuntur gratia et gula. In short, Mary was mortified in everything, so that of her it was said: Manus meae stillaverunt myrrham (Song 5:5).

The second means is the flight from occasions: Qui autem cavet laqueos, securus erit (Prov. 11:15). Whence St. Philip Neri used to say: "In the war of the senses, the cowards win" -- that is, those who flee the occasion. Mary fled the sight of men as much as she could; and so St. Luke noted that in her visit to St. Elizabeth, abiit in montana cum festinatione. And one author observes that the Virgin departed from Elizabeth before she gave birth, as may be gathered from the Gospel itself, where it says: Mansit autem Maria cum illa quasi mensibus tribus, et reversa est in domum suam. Elisabeth autem impletum est tempus pariendi et peperit filium (Luke 1:56-57). And why did she not wait for the birth? To avoid the conversations and the visits that were to follow the birth in that house.

The third means is prayer. Et ut scivi, says the Wise Man, quoniam aliter non possem esse continens nisi Deus det... adii Dominum et deprecatus sum illum (Wis. 8:21). And the Holy Virgin revealed to St. Elizabeth the Benedictine that she acquired no virtue without effort and continual prayer. The Damascene says that Mary pura est et puritatem amans. Whence she cannot bear the impure. But whoever has recourse to her will certainly be freed from this vice by merely invoking her name with confidence. And the Venerable John of Avila used to say that many who were tempted against chastity have triumphed solely through devotion to Mary Immaculate.

O Mary, O most pure dove, how many are in hell for this vice! My Lady, deliver us from it; grant that in temptations we may always have recourse to you and invoke you, saying: Mary, Mary, help us. Amen.

Section 7 -- On the Poverty of Mary

Our loving Redeemer, to teach us to despise worldly goods, chose to be poor on this earth: Propter vos, says St. Paul, egenus factus est, cum esset dives, ut illius inopia vos divites essetis (2 Cor. 8:9). Whence Jesus Christ exhorted whoever wished to be his follower: Si vis perfectus esse, vade, vende quae habes, et da pauperibus... et veni, et sequere me (Matt. 19:21).

Behold his most perfect disciple, Mary, who indeed followed his example. Father Canisius proves that the Holy Virgin, with the inheritance left her by her parents, could have lived quite comfortably; but she was content to remain poor, keeping only a small portion for herself and distributing all the rest in alms to the temple and to the poor. Many hold that Mary also made a vow of poverty; and it is known that she herself revealed to St. Bridget: A principio vovi in corde meo nihil umquam possidere in mundo (Rev. 1:10). The gifts received from the Magi were certainly not of little value, but she distributed them all to the poor; so St. Bernard attests: Aurum sibi oblatum a Magis non modicum, prout decebat eorum regiam maiestatem, non sibi reservavit, sed pauperibus per Ioseph distribuit. And that the divine Mother had quickly given away the aforesaid gifts may be deduced from seeing that when she went to the temple she did not offer the lamb, which was the offering of the well-to-do, as prescribed in Leviticus -- Pro filio... deferet agnum (Lev. 12:6) -- but the two turtledoves or two young pigeons, which was the offering of the poor alone: Et ut darent hostiam, secundum quod dictum est in lege Domini, par turturum aut duos pullos columbarum (Luke 2:24). Mary herself said to St. Bridget: Omnia quae habere potui, dedi indigentibus, nihilque nisi cibum tenuem et vestitum reservavi (Rev. 1:10).

Out of love for poverty she did not disdain to marry a carpenter, which St. Joseph was, and from then on to support herself by the labor of her hands, spinning or sewing, as St. Bonaventure attests. The angel revealed to St. Bridget, speaking of Mary: Mundanae divitiae velut lutum sibi vilescebant. In short, she always lived poor and died poor, since at her death she is not known to have left anything other than two poor garments to two women who had attended her during her life, as Metaphrastes and Nicephorus relate.

Whoever loves riches will never become a saint, St. Philip Neri used to say. And St. Teresa added: "It rightly follows that whoever runs after lost things should be lost himself." On the other hand, the same saint used to say that the virtue of poverty is a good that comprises all other goods. I said the virtue of poverty, which, as St. Bernard says, consists not in being merely poor, but in loving poverty: Non paupertas, sed amor paupertatis virtus est. Therefore Jesus Christ said: Beati pauperes spiritu, quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum (Matt. 5:3). Blessed, because those who want nothing but God find in God every good, and find in poverty their paradise on earth, as St. Francis found it in saying: Deus meus et omnia. Let us then love that one good in which are all goods, as St. Augustine exhorted: Ama unum bonum in quo sunt omnia bona. And let us pray the Lord with St. Ignatius: Amorem tui solum cum gratia tua mihi dones et dives sum satis. And when poverty afflicts us, let us console ourselves in knowing that Jesus and his Mother were also poor like us: Pauper, said St. Bonaventure, multum consolari potes de paupertate Mariae et de paupere Christo.

Ah, my most holy Mother, you were indeed right to say that your joy was in God: Et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo; for in this world you desired and loved no other good but God. Trahe me post te: my Lady, detach me from the world and draw me after you, to love that One who alone deserves to be loved. Amen.

Section 8 -- On the Obedience of Mary

Because of the love that Mary bore for the virtue of obedience, when she was announced by St. Gabriel, she chose to call herself by no other name than that of handmaid: Ecce ancilla Domini. Yes, says St. Thomas of Villanova, because this faithful handmaid neither in deed, nor in word, nor in thought ever contradicted the Most High, but, stripped of all her own will, always and in all things lived obedient to the divine will: O vera ancilla, quae neque dicto neque facto neque cogitatu umquam contradixit Altissimo, nihil sibi libertatis reservans, sed per omnia subdita Deo. She herself declared that God had been pleased with this her obedience when she said: Respexit humilitatem ancillae suae (Luke 1:48); since this is the proper humility of a servant, to be wholly ready to obey. St. Augustine says that the divine Mother by her obedience repaired the damage that Eve caused by her disobedience: Sicut Heva inobediens et sibi et universo generi humano causa facta est mortis; sic et Maria Virgo obediens, et sibi et universo generi humano facta est causa salutis. The obedience of Mary was far more perfect than that of all the other saints, since all men, being inclined to evil through original sin, find difficulty in doing good; but not so the Blessed Virgin. St. Bernardine wrote: In B. Virgine nullum fuit omnino retardativum, proinde rota volubilis fuit secundum omnem Spiritus Sancti motum. Mary, because she was free from original sin, had no impediments to obeying God, but was like a wheel that moved promptly at every divine inspiration; whence she did nothing else on this earth, as the same saint says, than always behold and carry out what was pleasing to God: Virgo semper habuit continuum aspectum ad Dei beneplacitum et ferventem consensum. Of her it was said: Anima mea liquefacta est, ut dilectus meus locutus est (Song 5:6). To which Richard adds: the soul of the Virgin was like molten metal, ready to take whatever form God wished: Anima mea liquefacta est per incendium caritatis, parata instar metalli liquefacti decurrere in omnes modulos divinae voluntatis.

Mary indeed showed in practice how ready she was to obey. First, when to please God she chose to obey even the Roman emperor in making the journey to Bethlehem -- a long journey of ninety miles, in the wintertime, pregnant and poor -- so that she was then compelled to give birth in a stable. Likewise she was quick, at St. Joseph's warning, to set out that very night on the longer and more difficult journey to Egypt. And here Silveira asks why the revelation to flee to Egypt was given to St. Joseph and not to the Blessed Virgin, who would have to bear the greater hardship. And he answers: Ne Virgini subtrahatur occasio exercendi actum obedientiae ad quam erat paratissima. But above all she showed her heroic obedience when, to obey the divine will, she offered her Son to death with such constancy that, as St. Ildephonsus said, she would have been ready to crucify her Son herself had the executioners been lacking: Parata enim stetit, si deesset manus percussoris. Whence on the words that the Redeemer spoke to that woman of the Gospel, when she exclaimed: Beatus venter qui te portavit, and Jesus replied: Quin immo beati qui audiunt verbum Dei et custodiunt illud (Luke 11:27-28), the Venerable Bede wrote that Mary was more blessed for her obedience to the divine will than for having been made the Mother of God himself: Et inde quidem beata quia Verbi incarnandi ministra facta est: sed inde multo beatior quia eiusdem semper amandi custos manebat aeterna.

Hence those who are lovers of obedience are very pleasing to the Virgin. She once appeared to a Franciscan religious named Accursio in his cell; but when he was called by obedience to go and hear the confession of a sick person, he left; but on returning, he found that Mary was waiting for him, and she greatly praised his obedience. On the other hand, she strongly rebuked another religious who, when the bell rang for the refectory, lingered to finish certain devotions of his own.

Speaking then to St. Bridget of the security there is in obeying one's spiritual father, the Virgin said: Obedientia omnes introducit ad gloriam (Rev. 6:11). For St. Philip Neri used to say that God does not demand an account of things done out of obedience, since he himself said: Qui vos audit, me audit; et qui vos spernit, me spernit (Luke 10:16). Then the same Mother of God revealed to St. Bridget that by the merit of her obedience she obtained from the Lord that all sinners who have recourse to her with repentance should be pardoned: Pro obedientia mea tantam potestatem obtinui quod nullus tam immundus peccator, si ad me cum emendationis proposito convertitur et cum corde contrito, non habebit veniam.

Ah, our Queen and Mother, pray to Jesus for us; obtain for us, by the merit of your obedience, the grace to be faithful in obeying his will and the precepts of our spiritual fathers. Amen.

Section 9 -- On the Patience of Mary

Since this earth is a place of merit, it is rightly called a vale of tears; for here we are all placed to suffer, and by patience to gain our souls for eternal life, as the Lord said: In patientia vestra possidebitis animas vestras (Luke 21:19). God gave us the Virgin Mary as an example of all the virtues, but especially as an example of patience. St. Francis de Sales reflects, among other things, that it was precisely for this reason that at the wedding of Cana Jesus Christ gave the Holy Virgin that reply by which he seemed to esteem little her prayers: Quid mihi et tibi, mulier? -- precisely to give us the example of the patience of his holy Mother. But why search further? The whole life of Mary was a continual exercise of patience; for, as the angel revealed to St. Bridget, the Blessed Virgin always lived amid suffering: Sicut rosa crescere solet inter spinas, ita haec venerabilis Virgo in hoc mundo crevit inter tribulationes. Compassion alone for the sufferings of the Redeemer sufficed to make her a martyr of patience; whence St. Bonaventure said: Crucifixa crucifixum concepit.

And how much she suffered in the journey to and the sojourn in Egypt, as well as during all the time she lived with her Son in the workshop at Nazareth, has already been considered above when we spoke of her sorrows. The very fact that Mary stood by Jesus as he died on Calvary was enough to show how constant and sublime was her patience: Stabat iuxta crucem Iesu Mater eius; when by the merit of this her patience, as Blessed Albert the Great says, she became our mother, who gave us birth to the life of grace: Maria facta est mater nostra, quos genuit Filio compatiendo.

If, then, we desire to be children of Mary, we must seek to imitate her in patience. And what, says St. Cyprian, can ever enrich us more with merit in this life and with glory in the next than suffering with patience? Quid utilius ad vitam vel maius ad gloriam, quam patientia? God said through Hosea: Sepiam viam tuam spinis (Hos. 2:6). To which St. Gregory adds: Electorum viae spinis sepiuntur. Just as a hedge of thorns protects the vineyard, so God surrounds his servants with tribulations, lest they become attached to the earth. And so St. Cyprian concludes that patience is what delivers us from sin and from hell: Patientia nos servat. And patience is what makes saints: Patientia autem opus perfectum habet (Jas. 1:4), bearing in peace both the crosses that come directly from God -- that is, sickness, poverty, and the like -- and those that come from men: persecutions, injuries, and so on. St. John saw all the saints with palms -- the sign of martyrdom -- in their hands: Post haec vidi turbam magnam... et palmae in manibus eorum (Rev. 7:9), signifying by this that all adults who are saved must be martyrs either of blood or of patience. Let us then rejoice, exclaims St. Gregory: Nos sine ferro martyres esse possumus, si patientiam custodiamus; if we suffer the pains of this life, as St. Bernard says, patienter, libenter et gaudenter -- patiently, willingly, and joyfully. Oh, how much every pain suffered for God will profit us in heaven! And so the Apostle encourages us: Momentaneum et leve tribulationis nostrae... aeternum gloriae pondus operatur in nobis (2 Cor. 4:17). Beautiful were the counsels of St. Teresa on this point; the saint used to say: "Whoever embraces the cross does not feel it." And elsewhere: "When a person resolves to suffer, the pain is over."

And when we feel pressed down by crosses, let us have recourse to Mary, who is called by the Church Consolatrix afflictorum, and by St. John Damascene: Omnium dolorum cordium medicamentum.

Ah, my sweetest Lady, you, though innocent, suffered with such great patience, and shall I, deserving of hell, refuse to suffer? My Mother, this grace I ask of you today: not to be freed from crosses, but to bear them with patience. For the love of Jesus I beg you to obtain for me without fail this grace from God. From you I hope for it.

Section 10 -- On the Prayer of Mary

There has never been a soul on this earth who practiced with such perfection, as the Blessed Virgin did, that great teaching of our Savior: Oportet semper orare et non deficere (Luke 18:1). From no one, says St. Bonaventure, can we better take the example and learn the necessity of persevering in prayer than from Mary: Maria exemplum dedit, quod oportet sequi et non deficere. For Blessed Albert the Great attests that the divine Mother, in the virtue of prayer, after Jesus Christ, was the most perfect of all who have ever been or will be: Virtus orationis in B. Virgine excellentissima fuit. First, because her prayer was continual and persevering. From the first instant in which she had life and, together with life, the perfect use of reason, as was said above in the discourse on her Nativity, she began to pray. For this reason, to better attend to prayer, she wished as a child of three to shut herself away in the retirement of the temple, where among other times she had set apart for prayer, she herself told St. Elizabeth the virgin that at midnight she would always rise and go to pray before the altar of the temple: Surgebam semper in noctis medio, et pergebam ante altare templi, et ibi petitiones meas praesentabam. To this end also, in order to meditate always on the sufferings of Jesus, Odilo says: Loca Dominicae Nativitatis, Passionis, sepulturae frequenter visitabat. Moreover, her prayer was wholly recollected, free from every distraction and every disordered affection: Nulla umquam, wrote St. Denis the Carthusian, inordinata affectio, distractio mentem Virginis a contemplationis lumine revocavit, nec occupatio ulla exterior.

And for this reason the Blessed Virgin, because of the love she had for prayer, also loved solitude so much that, as she told St. Bridget, in the temple she abstained from associating even with her holy parents. St. Jerome, reflecting on the words of Isaiah: Ecce Virgo concipiet et pariet filium, et vocabit nomen eius Emmanuel (Isa. 7:14), says that in Hebrew the word Virgo properly means a virgin who lives in retirement; so that the prophet himself foretold the love Mary was to have for solitude. Richard says that the angel spoke those words to her -- Dominus tecum -- merito solitudinis quam ipsa summe diligebat. And therefore St. Vincent Ferrer asserts that the divine Mother: Numquam exibat e domo, nisi quando ibat ad templum; et tunc ibat tota composita, semper habens oculos suos ad terram. And so when she went to visit St. Elizabeth, abiit cum festinatione.

From this, says St. Ambrose, virgins should learn to flee from public places. St. Bernard asserted that Mary, because of her love for prayer and solitude, was wholly intent on avoiding the company of men: In proposito erat hominum fugere frequentias, vitare colloquia. And so the Holy Spirit called her a turtledove: Pulchrae sunt genae tuae sicut turturis (Song 1:9). Vergellus explains: Turtur est solivaga, et signat mentis virtutem unitivam. Whence the Virgin always lived solitary in this world, as in a desert; and therefore it was said of her: Quae est ista quae ascendit per desertum, sicut virgula fumi? (Song 3:6). On which words Abbot Rupert wrote: Talis ascendisti per desertum, animam habens solitariam.

Philo said that God does not speak to souls except in solitude: Dei sermo amat deserta. And God himself declared through Hosea: Ducam eam in solitudinem, et loquar ad cor eius (Hos. 2:14). And so St. Jerome exclaimed: O solitudo in qua Deus cum suis familiariter loquitur et conversatur! Yes, says St. Bernard, because the solitude and the silence enjoyed in solitude compel the soul to leave this earth in thought and to meditate on the goods of heaven: Silentium et a strepitu quies cogit caelestia meditari.

Most Holy Virgin, obtain for us the love of prayer and of solitude, so that detaching ourselves from the love of creatures, we may aspire to God alone and to paradise, where we hope one day to see you, to praise and love together with you your Son Jesus forever and ever. Amen.

Transite ad me omnes qui concupiscitis me, et a generationibus meis implemini (Sir. 24:26). The generations of Mary are her virtues.

Nec primam similem visa es, nec habere sequentem; Sola sine exemplo placuisti, femina, Christo.

(Sedulius)