Mary Is My Master Educator in Virtue
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October
12, 2019. Memorial of The Blessed
Virgin Mary
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Father James Swanson, LC
Luke 11:27-28
While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed." He replied, "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it."
Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are the master of the
universe, and yet You wish to listen to me and guide me. You know all things
past, present and future, and yet You respect my freedom to choose You. Holy
Trinity, You are completely happy and fulfilled on Your own, and yet You have
generously brought us into existence. You are our fulfillment. Thank You for
the gift of yourself. I offer the littleness of myself in return, knowing You
are pleased with what I have to give.
Petition: Lord, help me to imitate Mary.
1. Mary’s Masterpiece: The woman in this passage has a great
insight. She senses the greatness of Jesus. Probably she intuits that he is
the Messiah. It is doubtful if she has guessed that he is also God-made-man.
But from Jesus’ greatness, she is able to infer the greatness of Mary. It is
obvious to her that whoever produced this masterpiece of humanity must have
been a masterpiece of humanity herself. And she is right. The humanity of
Jesus is Mary’s masterpiece. All of what she is, she imparted to him. While
we cannot credit Mary with the perfections of Jesus’ divinity, we would be
doing her a grave injustice to think that Jesus’ human virtues and
perfections were not positively impacted by her example.
2. The Immaculate Conception: God desired Jesus to come into this world
like every one of us, as an infant, and so Jesus needed a mother. God wanted
him to have the finest mother, a perfect mother, and so he gave Mary many
gifts, starting with her Immaculate Conception, preserving her from original
sin. Who could imagine Jesus – pure and innocent – wrapped in flesh polluted
by sin for the first nine months of his existence? Would such an innocent
child ever have been able to stop crying while being tended to by a sinner?
The Father wanted the best for his Son and gave him the best, even though he
had to provide the miracle of the Immaculate Conception in order to do it.
3. Jesus’ Educator: Being truly human, Jesus had to learn just
like any one of us. Because of his divinity, his human capacities were
untainted by sin, but it was Mary who taught him how to use them, who honed
them in the everyday life of the family until they were perfect – just as any
mother would. Mary was the perfect one to bring out all the perfections in
Jesus’ human nature. Being immaculately conceived, Mary’s mind was not
wounded by sin and so was always able to discover ways of parenting and
teaching that were perfectly suited to Jesus’ human nature. To educate
doesn’t mean to just give knowledge. In its fullest sense, it means to train
in virtue. Mary’s continuous example of virtue – hearing the word of God and
observing it – was certainly compelling for Jesus in his educational
upbringing.
Conversation with Christ: Dear Jesus, it’s hard for me to understand
that, as human, You needed education just like anyone else. Help me to see
that You were truly and fully human like me. Moreover, since You have already
given me Mary to be my Mother, ask her to educate me too, to form me in all
the virtues the way she formed them in You.
Resolution: Do I really think of Mary as my educator in
the full sense, in the sense of teaching me virtue? What is the virtue I need
the most? I will ask Mary to educate me in it in a special way today.
Excerpts from the
DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
6 I am to write [3]
down the encounters of my soul with You, O God, at the moments of Your
special visitations. I am to write about You, O Incomprehensible in mercy
towards my poor soul. Your holy will is the life of my soul. I have received
this order through him who is for me Your representative here on earth, who
interprets Your holy Will to me. Jesus, You see how difficult it is for me to
write, how unable I am to put down clearly what I experience in my soul. O
God, can a pen write down that for which many a time there are no words? But
You give the order to write, O God; that is enough for me.
25 During the night, the Mother of God visited me, holding
the Infant Jesus in Her arms. My soul was filled with joy, and I said,
"Mary, my Mother, do You know how terribly I suffer?" And the
Mother of God answered me, I know how much you suffer, but do not be
afraid. I share with you your suffering, and I shall always do so. She
smiled warmly and disappeared. At once, strength and a great courage sprang
up anew in my soul; but that lasted only one day. It seemed as though hell
had conspired against me. A terrible hatred began to break out in my soul, a
hatred for all that is holy and divine. It seemed to me that these spiritual
torments would be my lot for the rest of my life. I turned to the Blessed
Sacrament and said to Jesus, "Jesus, my Spouse, do You not see that my
soul is dying because of its longing for You? How can You hide Yourself from
a heart that loves You so sincerely? Forgive me, Jesus; may Your holy will be
done in me. I will suffer silently like a dove, without complaining. I will
not allow my heart even one single cry of sorrowful complaint."
116 My Jesus, You know what my soul goes through at the
recollection of these sufferings. I have often marveled that the angels and
saints hold their peace at the sight of a soul suffering like that. Yet they
have special love for us at such moments. My soul has often cried out after
God, as a little child who cries as loudly as he can when his mother covers
her face and he cannot recognize her. O my Jesus, honor and glory to You for
these trials of love! Great and incomprehensible is your mercy. All that You
intended for my soul, O Lord, is steeped in Your mercy.
161
Immaculate Virgin,
Pure
crystal for my heart,
You
are my strength, O sturdy anchor!
You
are the weak heart's shield and protection.
Mary
you are pure, of purity incomparable;
At
once both Virgin and Mother,
You
are beautiful as the sun, without blemish,
And
your soul is beyond all comparison.
Your
beauty has delighted the eye of the Thrice-Holy One.
He
descended from heaven, leaving His eternal throne,
And
took Body and Blood of your heart
And
for nine months lay hidden in a Virgin's Heart.
O
Mother, Virgin, purest of all lilies,
Your
heart was Jesus' first tabernacle on earth.
Only
because no humility was deeper than yours
Were you raised above the choirs of Angels and above all
Saints.
220
O my eternal Lord and Creator, how am I going to thank You for this great
favor; namely, that You have deigned to choose miserable me to be Your
betrothed and that You are to unite me to yourself in an eternal bond? O
dearest Treasure of my heart, I offer You all the adoration and thanksgiving
of the Saints and of all the choirs of Angels, and I unite myself in a
special way with Your Mother. O Mary, my Mother, I humbly beg of You, cover
my soul with Your virginal cloak at this very important moment of my life, so
that thus I may become dearer to Your Son and may worthily praise Your Son's
mercy before the whole world and throughout all eternity.
260 I had permission to visit Czestochowa while on my
journey. I saw the Mother of God [image] for the first time, when I went to
attend the unveiling of the image at five in the morning. I prayed without
interruption until eleven, and it seemed to me that I had just come. The
superior of the house there [Mother Serafin[75]]
sent a sister for me, to tell me to come to breakfast and said she was worried
that I would miss my train. The Mother of God told me many things. I
entrusted my perpetual vows to Her. I felt that I was her child and that She
was my Mother. She did not refuse any of my requests.
309 Before heaven and earth, before all the choirs of
Angels, before the Most Holy Virgin Mary, before all the Powers of heaven, I
declare to the One Triune God that today, in union with Jesus Christ,
Redeemer of souls, I make a voluntary offering of myself for the conversion
of sinners, especially for those souls who have lost hope in God's mercy.
This offering consists in my accepting, with total subjection to God's will,
all the sufferings, fears and terrors with which sinners are filled. In
return, I give them all the consolations which my soul receives from my
communion with God. In a word, I offer everything for them: Holy Masses, Holy
Communions, penances, mortifications, prayers. I do not fear the blows, blows
of divine justice, because I am united with Jesus. O my God, in this way I
want to make amends to You for the souls that do not trust in Your goodness.
I hope against all hope in the ocean of Your mercy. My Lord and my God, my
portion-my portion forever, I do not base this act of oblation on my own
strength, but on the strength that flows from the merits of Jesus Christ. I
will daily repeat this act of self-oblation by pronouncing the following
prayer which You yourself have taught me, Jesus:
"O Blood and Water which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a Fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You!"
316 Once, the Mother of God came to visit me. She was sad.
Her eyes were cast down. She made it clear that She wanted to say something,
and yet, on the other hand, it was as if She did not want to speak to me
about it. When I understood this, I began to beg the Mother of God to tell me
and to look at me. Just then Mary looked at me with a warm smile and said,
You are going to experience certain sufferings because of an illness and the
doctors; you will also suffer much because of the image, but do not be afraid
of anything. The next day I fell ill and suffered a great deal, just as
the Mother of God had told me. But my soul was ready for the sufferings.
Suffering is a constant companion of my life.
497 O Eternal Truth, Word Incarnate, who most faithfully fulfilled
Your Father's will, today I am becoming a martyr of Your inspirations, since
I cannot carry them out because I have no will of my own, though interiorly I
see Your will clearly. I submit in everything to the will of my superiors and
my confessor. I will follow Your will insofar as You will permit me to do so
through Your representative. O my Jesus, it cannot be helped, but I give
priority to the voice of the Church over the voice with which You speak to
me.
564
On the feast day of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God, during
Holy Mass, I heard the rustling of garments and saw the most holy Mother of
God in a most beautiful radiance. Her white garment was girdled with a blue
sash. She said to me, You give Me great joy when you adore the Holy
Trinity for the graces and privileges which were accorded Me. And She
immediately disappeared.
620 Mary is my Instructress, who is ever teaching me how
to live for God. My spirit brightens up in Your gentleness and Your humility,
O Mary.
635 March 25. In the morning, during meditation, God's
presence enveloped me in a special way, as I saw the immeasurable greatness
of God and, at the same time, His condescension to His creatures. Then I saw
the Mother of God, who said to me, Oh, how pleasing to God is the soul
that follows faithfully the inspirations of His grace! I gave the Savior to
the world; as for you, you have to speak to the world about His great mercy
and prepare the world for the Second Coming of Him who will come, not as a
merciful Savior, but as a just Judge. Oh, how terrible is that day!
Determined is the day of justice, the day of divine wrath. The angels tremble
before it. Speak to souls about this great mercy while it is still the time
for [granting] mercy. If you keep silent now, you will be answering for a
great number of souls on that terrible day. Fear nothing. Be faithful to the
end. I sympathize with you.
Immaculate
Conception of the Mother of God.
805
From early morning, I felt the nearness of the Blessed Mother. During Holy Mass,
I saw Her, so lovely and so beautiful that I have no words to express even a
small part of this beauty. She was all [in] white, with a blue sash around
Her waist. Her cloak was also blue, and there was a crown on Her head.
Marvelous light streamed forth from Her whole figure. I am the Queen
of heaven and earth, but especially the Mother of your [Congregation]. She
pressed me to Her heart and said, I feel constant compassion for you. I
felt the force of Her Immaculate Heart which was communicated to my soul. Now
I understand why I have been preparing for this feast for two months and have
been looking forward to it with such yearning. From today onwards, I am going
to strive for the greatest purity of soul, that the rays of God's grace may
be reflected in all their brilliance. I long to be a crystal in order to find
favor in His eyes.
843
December 24, [1936]. During Holy Mass today, I was united in a particular way
with God and His Immaculate Mother. The humility and love of the Immaculate
Virgin penetrated my soul. The more I imitate the Mother of God, the more
deeply I get to know God. Oh, what infinite longing envelops my soul! Jesus,
how can You still leave me in this exile? I am dying of longing for You.
Every touch of my soul by You wounds me immensely. Love and suffering go
together; yet I would not exchange this pain caused by You for any treasure,
because it is the pain of incomprehensible delights, and these wounds of the
soul are inflicted by a loving hand.
874
Mary, Immaculate Virgin, take me under Your special protection and guard the
purity of my soul, heart and body. You are the model and star of my life.
1097
Since that time, I have been living under the virginal ', cloak of the Mother
of God. She has been guarding me and instructing me. I am quite at peace,
close to Her Immaculate Heart. Because I am so weak and inexperienced, I
nestle like a little child close to Her heart.
+
J. M. J.
1232
O sweet Mother of God,
I
model my life on You;
You
are for me the bright dawn;
In
You I lose myself, enraptured.
O
Mother, Immaculate Virgin,
In
You the divine ray is reflected,
Midst
storms, 'tis You who teach me to love the Lord,
O
my shield and defense from the foe.
Cracow,
August 10, 1937.
1410
Today [December 7, 1937] is the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
of the Virgin Mary. During the midday meal, in an instant, God gave me to
know the greatness of my destiny; that is, His closeness, which for all
eternity will not be taken away from me, and He did this in such a vivid and
clear fashion that I remained wrapped up in His living presence for a long
time, humbling myself before His greatness. + J.M.J.
1412
+ It is with great zeal that I have prepared for the celebration of the Feast
of the
Immaculate
Conception of the Mother of God. I have made an extra effort to keep
recollected
in spirit and have meditated on that unique privilege of Our Lady. And thus
my heart was completely drowned in Her, thanking God for having accorded this
great privilege to Mary.
1413
I prepared not only by means of the novena said in common by the whole
community, but I also made a personal effort to salute Her a thousand times
each day, saying a thousand "Hail Mary's" for nine days in Her
praise.
+
This is now the third time I have said such a novena to the Mother of God;
that is, a novena made up of a thousand Aves each day. Thus the novena
consists in nine thousand salutations. Although I have done this now three
times in my life, and two of these while in the course of my duties, I have
never failed in carrying out my tasks with the greatest exactitude. I have
always said the novena outside the time of my exercises; that is to say, I
have not said the Aves during Holy Mass or Benediction. Once, I made the
novena while lying ill in the hospital. Where there's a will, there's a way.
Apart from recreation, I have only prayed and worked. I have not said a
single unnecessary word during these days. Although I must admit that such a
matter requires a good deal of attention and effort, nothing is too much when
it comes to honoring the Immaculate Virgin.
1414
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Before Holy Communion I saw the
Blessed Mother inconceivably beautiful. Smiling at me She said to me, My
daughter, at God's command I am to be, in a special and exclusive way
your Mother; but I desire that you, too, in a special way, be My
child.
1415
I desire, My dearly beloved daughter, that you practice the three virtues
that are dearest to Me-and most pleasing to God. The first is humility,
humility, and once again humility; the second virtue, purity; the third
virtue, love of God. As My daughter, you must especially radiate with these
virtues. When the conversation ended, She pressed me to Her Heart and disappeared.
When I regained the use of my senses, my heart became so wonderfully attracted
to these virtues; and I practice them faithfully. They are as though engraved
in my heart.
1742
Be praised, merciful God, One God in the Holy Trinity,
Unfathomable, infinite, incomprehensible, immersing themselves in You, their minds cannot comprehend You, So they repeat without end their eternal: Holy. Be glorified, O merciful Creator of ours, O Lord, Omnipotent, but full of compassion, inconceivable. To love You is the mission of our existence, Singing our eternal hymn: Holy... Be blessed, merciful God, Eternal Love. You are above the heavens, the saphires, the firmaments. The host of pure spirits sings You praises, With its eternal hymn: Thrice Holy. And, gazing upon You, face to face, O God, I see that You could have called other creatures before them. Therefore they humble themselves before You in great humility, For well they see that this grace comes solely from Your mercy. One of the most beautiful spirits would not recognize Your mercy, And, blinded by his pride, he drew others after him. Angel of great beauty, he became Satan And was cast down in one moment from heaven's heights into hell. Then the faithful spirits cried, "Glory to God's mercy!" And they stood firm in spite of the fiery test. Glory to Jesus, the Christ abased, Glory to His Mother, the humble and pure Virgin. After this battle, the pure spirits plunged into the ocean of Divinity; Contemplating and praising the depths of His mercy, They drown in His mercy and manifold light, Possessing in knowledge the Trinity of Persons, the Oneness of Godhead.
+The
Infinite Goodness of God in Sending Us His Only-Begotten Son.
1745 God, You did not destroy man after his fall, but in Your mercy You forgave him, You forgave in a divine way; that is, not only have You absolved him from guilt, but You have bestowed upon him every grace. Mercy has moved You to deign to descend among us and lift us up from our misery. God will descend to earth; the Immortal Lord of lords will abase Himself. But where will You descend, Lord; will it be to the temple of Solomon? Or will You have a new tabernacle built for Yourself? Where do You intend to come down? O Lord, what kind of tabernacle shall we prepare for You, since the whole earth is Your footstool? You have indeed prepared a tabernacle for Yourself: the Blessed Virgin. Her Immaculate Womb is Your dwelling place, and the inconceivable miracle of Your mercy takes place, O Lord. The Word becomes flesh; God dwells among us, the Word of God, Mercy Incarnate. By Your descent, You have lifted us up to Your divinity. Such is the excess of Your love, the abyss of Your mercy. Heaven is amazed at the superabundance of Your love. No one fears to approach You now. You are the God of mercy. You have compassion on misery. You are our God, and we are Your people. You are our Father, and we are Your children by grace. Praise be to Your mercy, that You have deigned to descend among us.
1746
Be adored, O God of mercy,
Because You have deigned to descend from heaven to earth. Most humbly we adore You For Your having vouchsafed to exalt all mankind. Unfathomable and incomprehensible in Your mercy, For love of us You take on flesh From the Immaculate Virgin, ever untouched by sin, Because You have willed it so from all ages. The Blessed Virgin, that Snow-White Lily, Is first to praise the omnipotence of Your mercy. Her pure heart opens with love for the coming of the Word; She believes the words of God's messenger and is confirmed in trust. Heaven is astounded that God has become man, That there is on earth a heart worthy of God Himself. Why is it that You do not unite Yourself with a Seraph, but with a sinner, O Lord? Oh, because, despite the purity of the virginal womb, this is a mystery of Your mercy. O mystery of God's mercy, O God of compassion, That You have deigned to leave the heavenly throne And to stoop down to our misery, to human weakness, For it is not the angels, but man who needs mercy. To give worthy praise to the Lord's mercy, We unite ourselves with Your Immaculate Mother, For then our hymn will be more pleasing to You, Because She is chosen from among men and angels. Through Her, as through a pure crystal, Your mercy was passed on to us. Through Her, man became pleasing to God; Through Her, streams of grace flowed down upon us.
+
God's Infinite Goodness in Redeeming Man.
1747 God, You could have saved thousands of worlds with one word; a single sigh from Jesus would have satisfied Your justice. But You Yourself, Jesus, purely out of love for us, underwent such a terrible Passion. Your Father's justice would have been propitiated with a single sigh from You, and all Your self-abasement is solely the work of Your mercy and Your inconceivable love. On leaving the earth, O Lord, You wanted to stay with us, and so You left us Yourself in the Sacrament of the Altar, and You opened wide Your mercy to us. There is no misery that could exhaust You; You have called us all to this fountain of love, to this spring of God's compassion. Here is the tabernacle of Your mercy, here is the remedy for all our ills. To You, O living spring of mercy, all souls are drawn; some like deer, thirsting for Your love, others to wash the wound of their sins, and still others, exhausted by life, to draw strength. At the moment of Your death on the Cross, You bestowed upon us eternal life; allowing Your most holy side to be opened, You opened an inexhaustible spring of mercy for us, giving us Your dearest possession, the Blood and Water from Your Heart. Such is the omnipotence of Your mercy. From it all grace flows to us.
1748
Be adored, O God, in the work of Your mercy,
Be blessed by all faithful hearts On whom Your gaze rests, In whom dwells Your immortal life. O my Jesus, have mercy, sorrowful was Your life on this earth, And in terrible torment Your work came to an end, Hanging stretched out on the wood of the Cross, And all this for the love of our souls. In Your inconceivable love, You allowed Your most holy side to be opened, And streams of Blood and Water gushed forth from Your Heart. Here is the living fountain of Your mercy, Here souls receive consolation and refreshment. In the Blessed Sacrament, You left us Your mercy; Your love deigned to arrange it so, That, going through life, suffering and toil, I might never doubt of Your goodness and mercy. For even if the whole world's miseries weighed on my soul, We must not doubt for even a moment, But have trust in the power of God's mercy, Because, with graciousness, God receives a contrite soul. O unspeakable mercy of our Lord, Source of compassion and all sweetness, Trust, trust, O soul, though you are stained by sin, For when you approach God, you will not taste bitterness. Because He is a living fire of great love, When we approach Him with sincerity, Our miseries, sins and evil deeds vanish; He will settle our debts when we surrender ourselves to Him.
(Diary of Sister Faustina
Kowalska Notebook-I-6, 25, 116, 161, 220, 260, 309, 316)
(Diary of Sister Faustina
Kowalska Notebook-I-497)
(Diary of Sister Faustina
Kowalska Notebook-II-564, 620, 635, 805, 843, 874)
(Diary of Sister Faustina
Kowalska Notebook-III-1097)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-IV-1232, 1244)
(Diary of Sister Faustina
Kowalska Notebook-V-1410, 1412-1415)
(Diary of Sister Faustina
Kowalska Notebook-VI-1742, 1745-1748)
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