OF THE HOPE OF MARY.
From faith springs hope, for God enlightens us by faith with a knowledge
of his goodness and his promises, that we may rise by hope to the desire
of possessing him. Mary, then, having the virtue of an extraordinary
faith, had also the virtue of an extraordinary hope, which made her say
with David: “But it is good for me to adhere to my God, and to put my
hope in the Lord God.”[1645] Mary was, indeed, that faithful spouse of
the Holy Spirit, of whom it was said: “Who is this that cometh up from
the desert, flowing with delights, leaning on her beloved?”[1646] For
she was always perfectly detached from affection to the world, which to
her appeared a desert; and placing no confidence either in creatures or
her own merits, but relying entirely on divine grace, in which alone she
trusted, she always advanced in the divine love; and thus Ailgrin said
of her: She ascended from the desert, that is, from the world, which she
deserted and esteemed such a desert, that she turned away from it all
her affection. Leaning upon her beloved; for she trusted not in her own
merits, but in the grace of him who bestows grace.[1647]
And the holy Virgin plainly showed how great was her confidence in God:
first, when she saw the trouble of her holy spouse, Joseph, because he
knew not the mode of her miraculous pregnancy, and thought of leaving
her: But Joseph ... minded to put her away privately: “Joseph autem ...
voluit occulte dimittere eam.”[1648] It appeared then necessary, as we
have already said, that she should discover to Joseph the hidden mystery;
but no, she would not herself reveal the grace she had received; she
thought it better to abandon herself to divine providence, trusting that
God himself would protect her innocence and her reputation. Cornelius à
Lapide makes precisely the same remark, commenting upon these very words
of the Gospel: The blessed Virgin was unwilling to make known this secret
to Joseph, lest she should seem to boast of her gifts, but resigned
herself in perfect confidence to the care of God, trusting that he would
protect her innocence and reputation.[1649] Moreover, she showed her
confidence in God when, as the time for the birth of Christ approached,
she saw herself in Bethlehem shut out from the lodgings even of the
poor, and obliged to bring forth her Son in a stable: “And she laid him
in a manger, because there was no room for him in the inn.”[1650] She
did not then utter a single word of complaint, but abandoning herself
to God, trusted that he would assist her in her need. The divine mother
also showed how much she trusted in the divine providence, when warned
by Joseph that they were obliged to fly into Egypt, she set out the same
night on so long a journey to a foreign and unknown country, without
preparation, without money, without other company than that of her
infant Jesus and her poor spouse: “Who arose and took the child and his
mother by night, and retired into Egypt.”[1651] But much more did Mary
make known her confidence, when she asked from her Son the favor of the
miracle of wine at the marriage of Cana; for having said: They have no
wine: “Vinum non habent;” Jesus answered her: “Woman, what is it to thee
and to me? my hour has not yet come.”[1652] But after this answer, by
which it seemed clearly that he refused her request, she, trusting in the
divine goodness, directed the people of the house to do as the Son should
order, because the grace was secure; Whatsoever he shall say to you, do
ye: “Quodcumque dixerit vobis facite.” And Jesus Christ did, indeed,
order that the vessels should be filled with water, and then changed it
into wine.
Let us learn then from Mary to trust in God as we ought, but principally
as to what concerns our eternal salvation, in which, although our
co-operation is necessary, yet we ought to hope from God alone the grace
necessary for obtaining it, entirely distrusting our own strength, and
saying with the apostle: I can do all things in him who strengtheneth me:
“Omnia possum in eo qui me confortat.”[1653]
Ah, my most holy Lady, of thee Ecclesiasticus says, that thou art the
mother of holy hope: “Mater sanctæ spei.”[1654] The holy Church says of
thee that thou art hope itself: Hail, our hope: “Spes nostra salve.” What
other hope then am I seeking? Thou, after Christ, art all my hope; thus
St. Bernard called thee, thus I also wish to call thee: The whole reason
of my hope: “Tota ratio spes meæ;” and I will always say to thee with St.
Bonaventure: Oh salvation of those who invoke thee, save me: “O salus te
invocantium salva me.”