'THERE was a marriage,' says St. John, 'in Cana of Galilee, and the
Mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited and His
disciples.'
Let us consider the goodness of our adorable Saviour in not refusing
the invitation to the wedding. He had come to redeem and reform man,
and therefore would not assume a rigid and austere manner. He was
always gentle and courteous, so as to draw men to follow Him. His
presence at the wedding was a restraint upon all levity and excesses
that so often occur on these occasions. O faithful souls! what modesty
must have reigned at these nuptials, in the presence of Our Lord and
of the Most Holy Virgin! The failing of the wine was pre-ordained by
the Will of God, Who wished, by a miracle, to manifest His power to
those assembled, and in particular to His Apostles. The Most Holy
Virgin, in her wisdom and prudence, knowing that the wine failed, was
moved by the most ardent charity to find an expedient for supplying
it. And how does she act? Well aware of the power and goodness of her
Divine Son, and of His charity and mercy, she was certain that He
would supply what was required, all the more as the married couple
were not rich, and she knew He took pleasure in relieving the poor and
conversing with them. She turned, therefore, to her Divine Son; and
notice well how Our Blessed Lady acted, and what she said: _Vinum non
habent_--'They have no wine.' These words imply, 'These good people
are poor, and although their poverty is pleasing and dear to You,
nevertheless, in itself, it is a misfortune, and is often the cause of
confusion before men. You are Omnipotent, and can relieve their wants,
and I doubt not Your charity and mercy will make some return for the
kind invitation they have given us to assist at this feast by
providing for them in their present need.' The Holy Virgin, however,
did not utter so many words when she asked this miracle; she was most
skilled in the art of praying well, and made use of the shortest and
most suitable method that could be found, saying: 'They have no wine.'
Mary speaks to Our Lord with the greatest possible reverence. She does
not address Him in terms of arrogance or presumption, like many
thoughtless and indiscreet persons when they ask, but she simply
represents to Him the need of the guests, sure that He would hear her
petition. What an excellent manner of prayer is this, to expose our
necessities simply to God, and then abandon ourselves into His
adorable hands, certain that He will succour us in that way which is
most to our advantage! For instance, to say to Him: Lord, behold one
of Thy poor creatures, who is desolate, afflicted, full of aridity, of
miseries and sins, but Thou knowest my wants, and it is enough for me
to manifest to Thee my state. To Thee it belongs to deliver me from so
many miseries, in the manner and at the time that thou knowest to be
most conducive to Thy glory and my salvation.
We may ask God, also, for temporal blessings; of this there is no
doubt; for Our Lord Himself has taught us, in the _Our Father_ to ask
first that _the Kingdom of God may come_ as the _end_ to which we
aspire, and that _His Holy Will be done_ as the sole means to attain
this _end_; and afterwards to ask Almighty God to _give us our daily
bread_ (_Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie_). Therefore Holy
Church has authorized particular prayers for temporal blessings; for
peace, in times of war; rain, in seasons of drought, and so on; and
also special Masses for procuring relief in times of pestilence, and
in other necessities. No doubt we can have recourse to God in all our
wants, both spiritual and temporal, in two ways: by merely exposing to
Him our necessities, as did the Most Holy Virgin, or by asking Him for
that grace which in particular we require, but always with this
condition, that _His Will be done and not ours_. And yet, in general,
even when spiritual persons ask God for His holy love, which softens
and lightens every difficulty, they take care not to include in their
petition those virtues that mortify nature.