OF THE PATIENCE OF MARY.
Since this earth is a place of merit, it is justly called a valley of
tears; for we are all placed here to suffer, and by patience to obtain
for our souls eternal life: “In your patience you shall possess your
souls,”[1703] said our Lord. God gave us the Virgin Mary as an example
of all virtues, but especially as an example of patience. St. Francis of
Sales, among other things, remarks, that at the nuptials of Cana Jesus
Christ gave an answer to the most holy Virgin, by which he seemed to pay
but little regard to her prayers: Woman, what is that to thee and to me?
“Quid mihi et tibi est, mulier?” precisely for this reason, that he
might give us an example of the patience of his holy mother. But why seek
further? The whole life of Mary was a continual exercise of patience,
for, as an angel revealed to St. Bridget, the blessed Virgin lived always
in the midst of sufferings.[1704] Her compassion alone for the sufferings
of the Redeemer was enough to make her a martyr of patience; wherefore
St. Bonaventure says: The crucified conceived the crucified: “Crucifixa
crucifixum concepit.” When we spoke of her dolors, we considered all she
suffered, as well in her journey and life in Egypt, as during the whole
time she lived with her Son in the workshop of Nazareth. But the presence
of Mary on Calvary, with her dying Jesus, is alone enough to show us how
constant and sublime was her patience: There stood by the cross of Jesus,
his mother: “Stabat juxta crucem Jesu mater ejus.” Then, by the merit of
this her patience, as blessed Albertus Magnus remarks, she became our
mother, and brought us forth to the life of grace.[1705]
If we desire then to be the children of Mary, we must seek to imitate
her patience. And what, says St. Cyprian, can enrich us more with
merit in this life, and glory in the other, than bearing sufferings
with patience?[1706] God said by the mouth of the prophet Osee: I
will hedge up thy way with thorns: “Sepiam viam tuam spinis.”[1707]
St. Gregory remarks on this passage, that the ways of the elect are
hedged with thorns: “Electorum viæ spinis sepiuntur.” For as a hedge
of thorns protects the vine, so God encompasses his servants with
tribulation, in order that they may not become attached to the earth;
therefore St. Cyprian concludes, patience delivers us from sin and from
hell: “Patientia nos servat.” And it is patience that makes the saints:
“Patience hath a perfect work,”[1708] bearing in peace the crosses that
come to us directly from God, as sickness, poverty, &c., as well as
those that come to us from men, such as persecutions, injuries, &c. St.
John saw all the saints with palms, the emblem of martyrdom, in their
hands. “After this I saw a great multitude ... and palms were in their
hands;”[1709] signifying by this that all men must be martyrs by the
sword, or by patience. Be then joyful, exclaims St. Gregory: We can be
martyrs without blood, if we preserve patience.[1710] If we suffer the
afflictions of this life, as St. Bernard says, patiently and joyfully:
“Patienter, et gaudenter,” oh, how much every pain endured for God will
obtain for us in heaven! Hence the apostle encourages us in these words:
“Our tribulation, which is momentary and light, worketh for us ... an
eternal weight of glory.”[1711] Beautiful are the instructions of St.
Theresa on this subject: “He who embraces the cross,” she says, “does
not feel it.” And again: “When a person resolves to suffer, the pain is
over.” And if we feel our crosses heavy, let us have recourse to Mary,
who is called by the Church: The comforter of the afflicted: “Consolatrix
afflictorum;” and by St. John Damascene: The remedy for all sorrows of
the heart: “Omnium dolorum cordium medicamentum.” Ah, my most sweet Lady,
thou, though innocent, didst suffer with so much patience, and shall I,
who am deserving of hell, refuse to suffer? My mother, to-day I ask of
thee the grace not to be exempt from crosses, but to support them with
patience. For the love of Jesus I pray thee to obtain for me nothing less
than this grace from God; through you I hope for it.