OF THE CHARITY OF MARY FOR HER NEIGHBOR.
Love to God and our neighbor is commanded by the same precept: “And this
commandment we have from God, that he who loveth God, love also his
neighbor.”[1607] And St. Thomas gives it as a reason for this, that he
who loves God, loves all things which God loves. St. Catherine of Genoa
one day said to God: “Oh Lord, it is thy will that I love my neighbor,
and I can love none but thee.” God answered her in these words: “He who
loves me, loves all things loved by me.” But as there never has been and
never will be one who loves God more than Mary; so there never has been
and never will be one who loves his neighbor more than Mary. Cornelius à
Lapide, remarking on these words: “King Solomon hath made him a litter
of the wood of Libanus ... the midst he covered with charity for the
daughters of Jerusalem,”[1608] says, that this litter was the womb of
Mary, in which the incarnate Word dwelt, filling the mother with charity,
that she might succor all who had recourse to her.[1609] Mary was so
full of charity when she was on earth, that she assisted unasked, those
who were in need, just as she did at the marriage of Cana, when she told
her Son of the trouble of the family: They have no wine: “Vinum non
habent,”[1610] and begged him to give them wine by a miracle. Oh! how
she hastened to the relief of her neighbor, when she went to the house
of Elizabeth on an errand of charity: She went into the hill country
in haste: “Abiit in montana cum festinatione.”[1611] She could in no
way show greater charity than by offering her Son for our salvation;
so that St. Bonaventure says: Mary so loved the world as to give her
only-begotten Son.[1612] Therefore St. Anselm addresses her in these
words: Oh, blessed among women, who dost excel the angels in purity, and
the saints in pity![1613] Neither does the charity of Mary for us fail,
says St. Bonaventure, now she is in heaven; but is much increased there.
Because now she sees more clearly the miseries of men.[1614] Hence the
saint said: Great was the mercy of Mary towards the wretched when she was
still an exile on earth; but it is far greater now that she is reigning
in heaven.[1615] And the angel said to St. Bridget, that there is no
one who prays that does not receive graces through the charity of the
Virgin.[1616] Miserable should we be were Mary not to pray for us. Jesus
Christ himself also said to the same saint: “If the prayers of my mother
did not interpose, there would be no hope of mercy.”[1617]
Blessed is he, says the divine mother, who hears my teachings and
considers my charity, in order to practise it towards others in imitation
of me: “Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily
at my gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors.”[1618] St. Gregory
Nazianzen says, that there is nothing by which we may more surely
gain the love of Mary, than by the practice of charity towards our
neighbor.[1619] Hence, as God commands us, saying, “Be ye merciful, as
your Father also is merciful;”[1620] so Mary appears to say to all her
children: Be ye merciful, as your mother also is merciful.[1621] It
is certain that God and Mary will show mercy to us, according to the
charity we practise towards our neighbor. “Give, and it shall be given
to you.” “For with the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall
be measured to you again.”[1622] St. Methodius said: Give to the poor
and receive paradise: “Da pauperi et accipe Paradisum:” for, according
to the apostle, charity towards our neighbor renders us happy in this
life and the next: “But piety is profitable to all things, having promise
of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.”[1623] St. John
Chrysostom, remarking on the words of Proverbs, “He that hath mercy on
the poor, lendeth to the Lord,”[1624] says, that he who assists the
needy, makes God his debtor.[1625] Oh mother of mercy, thou art full of
charity for all. Do not forget my miseries. Thou dost even now see them.
Recommend me to that God who denies thee nothing. Obtain for me the grace
of being able to imitate thee in holy charity towards God and towards my
neighbor. Amen.