THE GLORY OF PENITENTS AND PIOUS PEOPLE.
Who are they that compose yonder bright multitude? They are headed by
a queen who does not wear a virgin's crown; and yet, she is so
beautiful, and enjoys so intimate a union with Jesus. Who is she? She
is Mary Magdalen, the bright queen of Penitents, and the star of hope
to all who have grievously sinned in this world.
She was once a sinner, and such a sinner! Her soul was the home of
seven devils! She was a hireling of Satan, to catch the souls of men.
But a flash of light came forth from the Heart of Jesus, and in that
light she saw herself sinful and hateful in the eyes of God. His
grace filled her heart with a deep and crushing sorrow for her many
sins. Prostrate at the feet of Jesus, she kissed them, and washed
them with the tears of true repentance. Jesus, who never despised or
rejected repentant sinners, commanded the devils to depart from her;
He then washed her soul, and made her clean as an angel. Her many
sins were forgiven her, because she loved much; for her deep
contrition was not dictated by servile fear, but by pure love. After
the ascension of Jesus, she shut herself up in a grotto, where she
wept and did bitter penance during the remainder of her days. When
her last hour was come, the angels descended from heaven, and took
her pure soul to the bosom of Jesus. Her intense love and her
penitential tears deserved for her a "crown of justice." They
beautified and glorified her far above many a one who never sinned
grievously; for she is crowned with the high honors of heaven, and
enjoys a union with Jesus far more intimate than many who never
offended God.
Nor is she alone in this exceeding glory wherewith an ardent love and
penance clothe sinners. Thousands of others who sinned grievously,
and imitated her penance, are now shining in glory far above others
who never sinned. Think you that St. Peter, who denied his Lord, is
below all those who preserved their innocence, and even below all the
baptized infants in heaven? Think you that St. Paul, who once
persecuted the Church, is now below all on that account? Think you
that the great St. Augustine, St. Mary of Egypt, St. Pelagia, and a
host of other illustrious penitents, are all below mere babes on
account of their sins? They certainly are not. Their intense love for
God, their sorrow, and their tears atoned for their sins, and placed
them far, very far above many who, though they never sinned
grievously, never performed an act of heroic virtue in their whole
lives.
Remember that charity, by which is meant love for God and for our
neighbor, is the greatest of virtues, and has the power of elevating
the greatest sinners to the highest glory of heaven. Mary Magdalen,
therefore, though once a great sinner, is, at this moment, enjoying a
most intimate union with Jesus, and shines like a very star, in the
presence of God.
Even in this world she is glorified far above many who were not
sinners. When Jesus sat at the table of Simon the Leper, Mary
Magdalen anointed Him with precious ointment. Some of the Apostles
complained of the waste; but Jesus defended her conduct, and added:
"Amen, I say to you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached, that
also which she hath done, shall be told for a memorial of her."*
Again, we read in the Gospel of St. Mark, that Jesus, "rising early
the first day of the week, appeared first to Mary Magdalen, from whom
He had cast out seven devils."+ Again, in the Litany of the Saints,
the Church places the name of Mary Magdalen before all the virgins.
This is certainly a high honor. Her feast, also, is one of a higher
order than that of Martha her virgin sister, and above that of many
other virgins; for she is the only woman, besides the Blessed Virgin
Mary, who, in her mass, enjoys the privilege of the Credo. No other
woman, whether a virgin-saint or not, enjoys that privilege, unless
she is the patroness of a particular church. In that case, the Credo
is said in her own church, but nowhere else; while for Mary Magdalen
it is said in every church of the world. There is, moreover, a
congregation of Magdalens, whereof she is the model and patroness. It
is attached to the order of the Good-Shepherd, and is filled, not
only with women who have sinned, but with virgins, too, who have
fallen in love with the beautiful penitential spirit of Mary
Magdalen.
* Matt. xiv. 9. + Mark xvi. 9.
All this must certainly be very consoling to those who have sinned
grievously, and who have, perhaps, thought that, on account of their
sins, they have lost all right to a high place in heaven. Mary
Magdalen, St. Peter, St. Augustine, and a host of other illustrious
penitents, teach us that a high degree of glory is ours, no matter
what sins we have committed, if we love ardently, lead a penitential
life, and practise other virtues in an eminent degree.
There is one more beautiful throng standing around the throne of God,
and enjoying a high degree of glory in heaven. It is made up of the
vast multitude of men and women who sanctified themselves while
living in the world. They are known as the Pious people. They lived
in the world, but were not of it. They did not live according to its
spirit; for its spirit is the sworn enemy of God. Many of them, while
surrounded with the wealth and magnificence of this world, practised
the virtues of the cloister. Others belonged to the middle classes of
society; and others, again, to the poorer classes. But in whatever
class their lot was cast, they all sanctified themselves by loving
God and their neighbor, and by acquitting themselves of their
respective duties. What a beautiful and glorious throng they are!
Here are kings and queens who, in their exalted position, knew how to
be humble, and who used their wealth and position for the benefit of
their subjects. Here are representatives of all professions and
trades in society--lawyers, physicians, soldiers, tradesmen, and
cultivators of the soil. Here, too, are the servants of the rich, who
thought it a kindness to be allowed to do all drudgery, in order to
have wherewith to live. Here are good husbands and wives, who truly
loved each other, and were faithful unto death. Here are those good
parents whose first care was to teach their children the knowledge
and love of God. Here, too, are the good children who honored their
parents, and cared for them with a tender charity, when age and
infirmity had rendered them helpless. Here, too, are young men, and
young women, who, though they had no call to consecrate their
virginity to Jesus Christ, led the lives of angels amid the
fascinations of the world.
All these have led pious lives. They mortified their passions; they
were given to prayer; they frequented the sacraments; they performed
acts of charity according to their means; and practised the virtues
of their rank and calling. All these have, therefore, reached the
honors and distinctions which God distributes among them who have
served Him with fidelity. Though they are neither martyrs, nor
doctors, nor religious, they all led holy lives; they all have
received a "crown of justice," which was due to them as a reward for
their love of God, and for the virtues they practised while on earth.
Many of them were great saints, such as a St. Louis, king of France;
a St. Elizabeth, queen of Portugal; a St. Monica, widow; a St.
Genevieve, the virgin-shepherdess; a St. Zita, the angelic
servant-girl; and many others, whom the Church has placed upon her
altars, and proposed to our imitation.
You see, then, that the high honors of heaven do not belong,
exclusively, to any privileged classes, as you might imagine the
martyrs, doctors, virgins, and religious to be. A high degree of
glory is offered to all, and by the grace of God is attainable by
all, without any exception. If, therefore, you have hitherto looked
upon it as a presumption to aim at a high degree of glory, because
you were neither a consecrated virgin nor a religious, banish such a
thought from your mind. For, instead of being a presumption, it is a
virtue to aspire to a high sanctity, and, consequently, to a high
degree of union with God in heaven. Therefore, whether you are
married or single, rich or poor, learned or ignorant, you are called
upon by your Lord Jesus to fight the good fight unto the end, with a
solemn assurance that, when you have finished your course, a just
Judge will encircle your brow with a "crown of justice," and admit
you into the society of those who signalized themselves in His
service.
Before closing this chapter, we must say a few words, at least, about
the two remaining classes of the blessed, and, probably, by far the
most numerous in heaven. The one is composed of those who were not
pious, nor generous to God. Many of them sinned often, and
grievously, and did very little to atone for their sins; and the
virtues they practised were few, and never brought to any perfection.
This class also includes all those who spent their whole lives in
sin, and who were saved, like the thief on the cross, by the grace of
a death-bed repentance. Evidently, neither these, nor others who
practised scarcely any virtue, are crowned with the high honors of
heaven, which are the reward of a virtuous life. They are,
nevertheless, perfectly happy, in their own degree, and sing the
mercies of God, who saved many of them almost in spite of themselves.
Theirs may be called a crown of mercy, rather than one of justice.
The other class is composed of baptized infants, and of children who
died before they were responsible for their deeds. These form by far
the most numerous class in heaven, if it be true that one-half of all
the children that are born die before the age of seven. But in heaven
they are no longer children; for their elevation to glory has
developed them into men and women. They therefore enjoy the full
perfection of human nature, as well as those who died adults. They
are, moreover, admitted to the Beatific Vision, and, consequently,
they see, love, and enjoy God, and partake of the additional
pleasures of heaven, as well as they who lived longer on earth. They,
and they alone, enjoy the happiness of heaven entirely as a free gift
of God, without any co-operation of their own. They are in heaven in
virtue of their adoption as children of God, and through the merits
of Jesus Christ.
Whatever may be their degree of glory, we certainly can never place
them on a level with the Apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins,
religious, and pious people who have fought a good fight against the
world, the devil, and the flesh. They never sinned, it is true, but
neither did they ever make an act of faith, of hope, of charity, or
perform any other act of virtue. Hence, theirs may be called a crown
of liberality; for they enjoy their beatitude as a free gift of
God's unspeakable liberality. Their never-ending song is, therefore,
one of gratitude to God for taking them out of the world before their
souls could be defiled by sin, or their little hearts turned away
from virtue by the fascinations of the world.
Here, then, kind reader, we have the whole multitude that we saw
standing around the throne of God. Though we have divided them into
different classes, and considered their glory separately, you must
not infer from this that the blessed are really separated from each
other in heaven. For how greatly soever the glory of the highest may
differ from that of the lowest, they all, nevertheless, compose one
great family of brothers and sisters, of whom God is the Father,
Jesus Christ the Elder Brother as well as the King, and Mary the
Mother as well as the Queen. They all mingle together, converse, and
otherwise enjoy each other's society; for they are all united by the
bond of the purest charity. They all exclaim, with the royal Prophet:
"to Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell
together in unity. . . . For there, the Lord hath commanded blessing,
and life for evermore."* They all are happy, because they all see,
love, and enjoy God, as well as the additional pleasures with which
He perfects and completes the happiness of His beloved children. They
are all filled to overflowing with the happiness of which the royal
Prophet speaks, when he says: "They shall be inebriated with the
plenty of Thy house: and thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of
Thy pleasure. For with Thee is the fountain of life."+ By their union
with the Fountain of Life, which is God himself, the blessed see all
their desires fulfilled, and, knowing not what more to crave, they
rest in God as their last end, and enjoy him forever.
* Ps. cxxxli. + Ps. xxiv.