had shown so clearly before, when He was only twelve years old, that
His "Father's business" must come first--that He is perfectly
indifferent to all natural ties when that is concerned, and that His
followers have got to be the same. He is preaching to the people--that
is His work, and not even for a desire of His Mother will He interrupt
it. He preaches by example what He had already preached by word: "He
that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he
that taketh not up his cross and followeth Me is not worthy of Me." (St
Matt. x. 37.)
Incidentally, He shows us what we may do with our interruptions. We are
so prone to let them worry us, to think that they spoil our work, to
say: But for these endless interruptions, I could do so much more! What
did our Lord do with His interruption, which was a very real one, and
far more disturbing than are many of ours of which we complain so
readily? He turned it into good use, so that His work was the gainer by
it and not the loser. If we cannot always follow His example literally
by making the interruption a _direct_ help to our work, we can always
make it help _indirectly_ by taking it as a message from GOD, Who would
give His Apostle an opportunity of practising patience, self-control,
and self-repression. Our work will gain more by these divinely planned
interruptions than by the smooth, easy, methods which we had planned for
ourselves.
_Point III._--A LESSON ON RELATIONSHIPS
To the interrupter He said: "Who is My mother? and who are My brethren?"
And, looking round on them who sat about Him, He saith: "Behold My
mother and My brethren! For My mother and My brethren are they who hear
the word of GOD and do it." It is the same lesson that He gave to the
woman, who probably was one of the very crowd He was now addressing, and
who could not refrain from proclaiming before everyone the
_blessedness_ of His Mother. To her He said: "Yea, rather, blessed are
they who hear the word of GOD and keep it." (St Luke xi. 27, 28.) The
lesson, then, is that He holds as His nearest and dearest those who do
His Father's Will. His Mother was, it is true, dearer to Him than all
besides, was, it is true, blessed above all women; but only because she
did His Father's Will more perfectly than any other.
Who is My mother? Any of these in the crowd have as much right to Me as
she has, if they do My Father's Will as she does it. This is the lesson
that Mary is giving Him the opportunity of teaching.
Would I be dear to Him as His Mother was; would I have that close union
of heart; would I see things from His point of view; would I be willing
to be put in the background and kept standing there if it furthers the
"Father's business"; would I be ready to suffer anything for the spread
of His Kingdom? There is only one way--do as she did. "Whosoever shall
do the will of My Father that is in Heaven, the same is My mother."
_Colloquy_ with Mary standing in the background. Thou whose
unique privilege it is to be the Mother of GOD, teach me to
do His will in such a way that I may share in some degree thy
_spiritual_ maternity. This was thine by _detachment_--even
from the visible presence of JESUS, by a perfect _performance
of the will of GOD_, and by _suffering_. By thy ceaseless
intercession help me to struggle ceaselessly till I know
something of these three things.
_Resolution._ To prove my close relationship with JESUS and
Mary to-day by the way I do GOD'S will.
_Spiritual Bouquet._ "His Mother stood without."
The Fourth and Fifth Dolours
"_And thy own soul a sword shall pierce._" (St Luke ii. 35.)
_1st Prelude._ (1) Mary meeting JESUS with His Cross.
(2) Mary witnessing the Crucifixion of Her Son.
_2nd Prelude._ Grace to understand what a precious gift
suffering is.
_Point I._--MARY'S SUFFERING
Mary, with the knowledge which she had all her life of her Son's
Passion, must have known when the hour was approaching. She had noticed
the ever-increasing envy and hatred of the Chief Priests. She knew of
the various attempts on His life, and of the organised plot to kill Him.
And when the Passion itself began, we may be quite sure that, even if
she were not actually a witness of some of the scenes, the Apostles kept
her informed of what was going on. She would hear of the Agony in the
Garden, of Judas' betrayal, of the desertion of the Apostles; then of
the trials, of the scourging and crowning with thorns, of Pilate's vain
attempts to save Him; _she_ knew that they would be vain. And when at
length the death sentence was passed, she set out with the other
ministering women to be as near to Him as she could while He carried His
Cross to Calvary. _Once_, at any rate, on the Way of the Cross they
caught sight of each other, and had that unspeakable consolation which
no one could give to JESUS but Mary, and no one to Mary but JESUS. But
though it was a consolation, it was also an anguish so great, that this
meeting of JESUS with His Blessed Mother is counted as one of the seven
swords that pierced her heart. It is the _Fourth Dolour_. Then, on
Calvary's hill, she must have heard, even if she did not see, the nails
being driven in; and heard, too, something that gave her strength and
courage at that terrible moment--her Son speaking to His Father, the
crowning point of Whose "business" He had now reached: "Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do." Who can measure what the pain of
this _Fifth Dolour_ was to Mary! What was it that gave her an almost
superhuman courage? The firm belief that everything she saw and heard
was GOD'S will; and such was the intensity with which she had said her
_Fiat_, that His will was nearer to her even than her own sufferings. In
proportion as this is the case with us shall we get the good that GOD
intends out of suffering, and join, as Mary did, our prayers with those
of JESUS by asking GOD'S forgiveness for all who cause us suffering.
_Point II._--MARY'S SACRIFICE
Then, as soon as the darkness permitted her to draw near without
observation, she allowed John to take her to the Foot of the Cross, and
there took up her stand. Her sacrifice was very near to its completion
now. This is what she meant when she said her _Fiat_ to the Angel
Gabriel thirty-three years ago. This is what she meant when she
presented Him to the Lord when He was forty days old. The three days'
loss, and the separation when He left His home at Nazareth, had been a
foreshadowing of this. Now the consummation of her sacrifice had
arrived: "And there stood by the Cross of JESUS His Mother"! She had
never flinched, had never looked back. It had been _Fiat_ all along the
line. She was a "valiant woman" to the end, bravely doing her part, and
offering her Son to GOD.
This was Mary's sacrifice--but what is her part in the Sacrifice that
her Son is offering to His Father for the world's redemption? Just this,
that she provided the Victim. She did not withhold her Son--her only
Son. (Gen. xxii. 16.) JESUS on Calvary offered Himself to the Father;
and Mary assisted--not only by the perfect union of her will and
intention with His, but _actually_, by providing Him with the Body which
He was offering to His Father. Her position was that of the Deacon at
High Mass. His part is not the offering of the Sacrifice--the Priest
alone can do that--but He provides the Priest with the bread and wine
which he is going to use for the Sacrifice, and without which there
could be no Sacrifice. "A _Body_ hast thou prepared Me"; and that Body
came from Mary--it was with Blood drawn from her veins that He redeemed
the world. But the Sacrificial Act was His, and His alone: "I have
trodden the wine-press alone." (Isaias lxiii. 3.)
_Point III._--MARY'S LEGACY
As she stood there taking her part, how her heart was enlarging! He was
dying for the whole world--for the whole human race, past, present, and
future--and she was His Mother; she was standing by and assisting; all
His interests were hers. She had seen the conversions worked by Him on
the Way of the Cross; she had seen the change in the dying thief; now
JESUS addressed Himself to her, and by His Third Word from the Cross
made her the Second Eve, the Mother of all living--of all for whom He
was dying. "Woman, behold thy son!" Again He used the official
title--_Woman_; He was not treating her now as _His_ Mother, but rather
as the Mother of all. Behold thy son; take John for thy son, and with
him take the whole human race. He counted on her power of suffering, and
it was through that suffering that she became the universal Mother. He
knew how the sword would stab when she heard that she was to take John
in His place, but He knew also that the wound made by that sword-thrust
would enlarge her heart to take in her new family. He was dying, and His
legacy to His Mother was the whole human race. The idea was not a new
one to her, for He had been gradually training her up to it, as we have
seen, ever since the Incarnation. He added another word to make all
sure. He spoke now to John as the representative of the human race:
"Behold thy Mother!" The immediate meaning of His words John very well
understood--that he was to cherish, support, and take care of her; be a
son to her now that her own Son was being taken from her. But He had an
intention in that word for each one of us. To each and all He said:
"_Behold Thy Mother!_" and from that moment all who will, have the right
to take her to their own.
To what extent have I taken this word seriously? Have I really believed
that JESUS had me in His mind as well as St John when He said: "Behold
thy Mother!" that it was of me that He thought and to me that He spoke?
Have I felt the responsibility as well as the honour of being a child of
Mary, and that it is my bounden duty to love and cherish her, to support
and take care of her--that is, to stand up for her and shield her from
those who _will_ not behold her as their Mother? O my Mother, I want
more than ever to take thee to _my own_, as thy first adopted son did.
Come home with me, live side by side with me, talk to me of JESUS, and
thus help to pass the time when you see me getting weary; help me to
imitate Him as thou didst, and to share His work by my prayer and
sacrifice as thou didst. And then, Mother, thou wilt always be there to
show me what sacrifice really means--how it enters into all the little
details of everyday life--to show me what having my will united to thy
Son's means. Thou wilt be there to put a restraining hand upon me and
make me live as a child of Mary should; thou, to whom JESUS was subject,
wilt teach me what real submission means. Yes, I am decided that to-day
it shall be recorded of me in Heaven: "From that hour that disciple took
her to his own."
_Colloquy_ with Mary.
_Resolution._ To take Mary as the special gift of JESUS to
me.
_Spiritual Bouquet._ "There stood by the Cross of JESUS His
Mother."
The Sixth and Seventh Dolours
"_And Joseph, buying fine linen and taking Him down, wrapped
Him in the fine linen, and laid Him in a sepulchre which was
hewed out of a rock._" (St Mark xv. 46.)
_1st Prelude._ A picture of the Thirteenth Station.
_2nd Prelude._ Grace to be unselfish in my grief.
_Point I._--MATER DOLOROSA
As Mary stands at her post, praying for her new family for whom her Son
is dying, and uniting herself more closely than ever with His
intentions, the sword never ceases to pierce afresh her wounded heart.
She has to listen to the cry: "I thirst!" from the parched lips and
throat of Him from Whom she had never heard a complaint; and she has to
appear to be deaf to His needs. Again she hears a cry, more full of
agony even than the last: "My GOD, My GOD, why hast Thou forsaken Me!"
and she who once lost her Son for three days (the _Third Dolour_) can
understand in some small degree the anguish of that cry. Then after His
next words: "All is consummated," she hears Him commend His Soul to His
Father, and she watches Him die. She is alone! And not only is she
alone, but she has a sense of responsibility. Just as on the occasion of
a death among us, the one next has to rise to the responsibility and act
_at once_, so it was with Mary. She was the one _next_. She knew that it
was to her that the Apostles and all His friends would turn to know what
to do--what He would like done. He who had died on the Cross "was indeed
the Son of GOD," and she was His Mother; she, if anyone did, must know
all about Him. So, although all is over, there is no time for Mary to
relax and give way to her grief. There is work to be done--work that He
has left her. "It is finished" for Him, but she is only just beginning
her work as Mother of the Church. And so she still stands at the Foot
of the Cross, reverently worshipping the dead Body to which the Divinity
is still united.
Her meditation was suddenly interrupted--"One of the soldiers with a
spear pierced His Side"; and again Simeon's prophecy was fulfilled:
"Thine own soul a sword shall pierce." Soon followed what is called her
_Sixth Dolour_--the taking down of her Son from the Cross. He was in the
hands of friends now, and all was done with the greatest reverence and
loving tenderness. But nothing could stay the sword from piercing Mary's
heart when she received into her hands the blood-stained Crown of Thorns
and the rough nails. Nothing could stay it when she had her JESUS once
more in her arms, and was able to see for herself the cruel wounds as
she washed them and bound them up. Then when the precious Body had been
wrapped in the winding sheet, she accompanied the little cortege which
carried It to the tomb. And when, after a few minutes' adoration, she
beckoned them all away, and the great stone was rolled to its place, the
sword pierced her heart again--it was the _Seventh Dolour_--the burial
of JESUS.
She allowed John to escort her past the three crosses, along the way
which He had trodden, back to the Cenacle. "That disciple took her to
his own." The next time we make the Way of the Cross, let us make it
with Mary as John did. She will explain to us better than anyone else
can, the meaning of each "station."
Mary has left Him now, but she is with Him still in spirit and in
heart--hence her strength. What a lesson she gives us on how to act in
times of bereavement! We are never to lose sight of the fact that this
particular kind of suffering is intended for our sanctification. This
will prevent us from allowing it to make us morbid, selfish, gloomy,
inconsiderate, ungrateful, acting as though _our_ suffering were greater
than that of everybody else, being exacting and fastidious about things
that remind us of our lost one--even of having the name mentioned in our
presence! What about our sacrifice? Are not all such things as these a
part of it? We have no business to add to the trials of others by our
tyrannical selfishness. Sorrow ought to brace the soul up to greater
heights of sanctity; if it depresses it to a lower level of
spirituality, there is something very wrong with us. We are not copying
Mary, neither are we uniting our sufferings to those of JESUS--the only
way of making them meritorious. Let us see to it that our grief is a
source of joy and blessing to everyone else in the house. This means
self put on one side; it means a smiling face, a bright, cheery, voice
in spite of a breaking heart. It means a great sympathy with the grief
of others--and it _often_ means that we shall get the credit of not
really caring, of not having much depth of affection, not much heart!
But this again is part of the sacrifice which we gladly offer if only it
may aid suffering in doing its blessed work. There were those, no doubt,
who were ready enough to say that Mary's calm courage was unnatural. But
_we_ know that it was supernatural: let us try to copy her in it.
_Point II._--MATER MISERICORDIAE
What must have been the grief of the Apostles--their Friend, Teacher,
and Lord dead, their hopes all dashed, and their consciences ill at ease
as they thought of their base desertion of Him in His hour of need! They
were scattered everyone to his own, but probably one by one they found
their way back to the Cenacle. It was the last house where they had been
all together with Him, and it seemed natural to go there again--and
besides, His Mother was there. She was next to Him, and therefore more
to them than anyone else could be. _She_ had been faithful to the end.
She could tell them more about Him than anyone else could. Her very
voice and manner reminded them of Him. Somehow, they felt that she would
look at things from His point of view, and that if _she_ forgave them
for the wrong they had done to her Son, _He_ would. Then they would
learn from John what JESUS had said about her with His dying lips--that
they might now regard her in very deed as their Mother; that she was now
in fact the Mother of the Church which He had founded; and that they
could turn to her in their times of perplexity and difficulty. "Behold
thy Mother"--the Mother of Good Counsel and the Mother of Mercy! Was it
not just what they wanted? How well He knew! How thoughtful it was of
Him to leave us Mary!
And so we may think of Mary on Holy Saturday rallying her new family
round her, loving them for her Son's sake, making excuses for their
weaknesses, as a mother ever does, and putting fresh heart and courage
into them. And then we may think of her stealing away to ponder--to make
the first Meditation on the Passion, presenting willingly her heart to
the sword once more, that her compassion might fit her for her position
as Mother of Mercy.
_Colloquy_ with Mary, who says to me: For you, too, my child,
"I am the Mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge,
and of holy hope. Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and
be filled with my fruits. He that hearkeneth unto me shall
not be confounded; and they that work by me shall not sin."
(Ecclus. xxiv. 24-30.)
_Resolution._ To take my troubles and difficulties to Mary
to-day.
_Spiritual Bouquet._ "Mater Dolorosa, Mater misericordiae, ora
pro nobis."
The First Glorious Mystery
"_He shall reign for ever, and of His Kingdom there shall be
no end._" (St Luke i. 32, 33.)
_1st Prelude._ A picture or statue of Our Lady.
_2nd Prelude._ Grace to learn from Mary how to rejoice.
_Point I._--MARY'S EASTER DAY
"Of His Kingdom there shall be no end." It was to Mary that these words
were said, before her Son was born; and she believed them. She knew,
therefore, that He would rise again; she knew that all was not finished
when she left the precious Body in Joseph's new tomb. In all
probability, too, JESUS had told her, as He told the Apostles, that He
would rise again on the third day. And while they "believed not nor
understood," _she_ did both. But this supernatural gift of faith, which
she exercised to the full, had not the power to prevent the sword from
piercing on Good Friday and Holy Saturday. She felt the full weight of
all her sorrow, but she sorrowed, as all Christian mourners should do,
"not without hope."
What must her expectation have been as she knelt on that Holy Saturday
night counting the minutes till the day dawned! She knew that He would
rise again--but would she see Him? Would He come to her? He had kept her
so much in the background during His ministry, perhaps He will do so
still, and it will be to those who need Him most that He will come. No,
sweet Mother, the meek and lowly of heart ever attract Him; it is to the
heart which _desires_ Him most that He will come. A pure, disinterested
desire to have JESUS ever proves to Him an invincible attraction. No one
on earth desired to see JESUS as Mary did, and it was to her, as the
traditions of the Holy Fathers testify, that He came first--as soon as
the Easter Day dawned and "death could no longer be holden of Him." The
Evangelists are silent about this appearance of JESUS to His Blessed
Mother, for the very good reason that she told them nothing about it.
There was no need to do so, as, for example, there was to tell various
little details about His Birth, because GOD wished us to know them. At
this meeting of the Son and the Mother even Angels would fear to
intrude; and we ordinary mortals simply should not understand what took
place, even were it narrated to us. All those to whom He appeared would
take it for granted that His Mother had seen Him--why write down a thing
that everybody knew? "According to thy faith be it unto thee." Mary was
the _only_ one who had faith enough to believe that her Son would rise
again, and it was only natural that she should be the first to see Him.
She was the one who had entered most deeply into His sorrows, and she
would be the one to whom He would first communicate the Easter joy. Let
us now think a little about Mary's joy.
_Point II._--MARY'S JOY AND ITS CAUSES
What joy it must have been to Mary to see that precious Body which He
had taken from her, which she had nurtured and tended and loved, which
she had seen so recently covered with scars and gaping wounds! What joy
it must have been to her to see It in all the beauty of Its
Resurrection--to see It glorified! Her joy was so intense that the
saints tell us it was only by a miracle that her body could master her
soul and keep it still a prisoner. And then the consolation of knowing
that never again would He suffer--the joy of seeing the Five Wounds and
knowing that He would keep them always, as precious memorials of His
death and of His victory over death, of His undying love for His Church,
and of His right to give it all that it should ever claim, because with
those wounds He had more than paid for all that it would ever need.
Mary entered into all these truths as no one else could, and therefore
her Easter joy was greater than that of anybody else. Her joy was
greater, too, because her _love_ was greater. Her love for JESUS was
wholly unselfish, and so was her joy; it was wholly on account of the
joy of her Son. She forgot her own joy for the moment; she forgot the
long exile that lay before her; she forgot everything but His joy.
Her _suffering_ also was indirectly another cause of her joy. Our
capacity for joy is in proportion to our capacity for suffering. We have
seen something of what Mary's capacity for suffering was, and so we can
understand in some small measure how full was her cup of joy.
Mary had other joys too, which were incidental to the joy of seeing her
Son risen and glorified. She saw the saints who rose with Him, for He
would be sure to present them to His Mother. Some would need no
introduction--her dear spouse St Joseph, her parents St Joachim and St
Anne.
Yes, Mary's joys more than made up for her sorrows. One day, if we try
to receive our cup of sorrow as Mary did, that is, take it _for_ JESUS
and _with_ JESUS, we too shall receive the cup of joy, and we shall be
able to say with St Paul as we put the two side by side: "The sufferings
are not worthy to be compared with the glory." (Rom. viii. 18.)
Teach me, O holy Mother of GOD, something of this real joy--the joy that
is arrived at through faith, through suffering, through a perfect union
of heart with the Sacred Heart of JESUS, and through conformity to GOD'S
will; the joy of the risen life--the new life that rises out of the
death to self.
_Colloquy._ The _Regina Coeli_:--
"Queen of Heaven, rejoice,--Alleluia
For He Whom thou wast made worthy to bear--Alleluia
Hath risen as He said--Alleluia.
Pray for us to GOD--Alleluia."
(_Anthem from Easter to Trinity._)
_Resolution._ To say my _Fiat_ bravely with Mary, as the
surest way of sharing her joy.
_Spiritual Bouquet._ "Causa nostrae laetitiae, ora pro nobis."
The Second and Third Glorious Mysteries
"_All these were persevering with one mind in prayer, with
the women, and Mary the Mother of JESUS, and with His
brethren._" (Acts i. 14.)
_1st Prelude._ (1) A picture of the Ascension--Our Lady
kissing the Footprints.
(2) A picture of the Descent of the Holy Ghost--a tongue of
fire resting on the head of Our Lady, who is seated in the
midst of the Apostles.
_2nd Prelude._ Grace to enter into the dispositions of Mary.
_Point I._--MARY ON ASCENSION DAY