1 February 2011: Eve of the Purification of Our Lady

(http://www.divine will.org/feastofourlady.htm)

More on the hidden life of Jesus

Jesus went beyond being a perfect model of obedience in His hidden life. He gave examples of many other virtues which we should endeavor to be in our apostolate. The Holy Spirit makes special note of three: gentleness, modesty, and piety.

‘Gentleness’, says St Thomas Aquinas, ‘is the virtue of a noble soul’ who rises above all injuries; remains tranquil even at the moment of assault, his heart at peace.

‘Modesty’, in common with gentleness, has a charm and an attraction for others, besides amplifying all other virtues. The modesty of Jesus as a child and in His youth, was more than angelic; it was divine. How wonderful was His modesty in looks, words, every bodily movement; in the simplicity and uniformity of His exterior life!

Filial ‘piety’ is that natural feeling of tenderness and devotion in the heart of a child for his father. This is the third special virtue attributed by the Holy Spirit to Jesus. He didn’t need, as we do, to unite Himself with God His Father by prayer and contemplation. And yet how diligent he was in prayer! If during his public life he spent whole nights in prayer, we can safely assume that he devoted the greater part of his hidden life to it.

Do we come close to this model of gentleness, modesty and piety? Do disquiet, impatience, irritation, anger or coldness towards others come easily to us? Do our words breathe humility, self-forgetfulness, reserve, discretion; a desire to glorify God?

Since we do not see God our Father, unless we raise ourselves to Him in spirit by prayer and contemplation, He can never awaken in our hearts the sense of filial piety. Therefore, we ought to have a great esteem for prayer, and be diligent in it.

Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp73-5

Our Lady and fulfilment of God’s Will

Christ described his new family, with ties stronger than of blood, as “Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Mk 3:31-5). Mary most eminently belongs to this new family because she carried out God’s will with greater love and perfection than anybody ever did. A double bond unites her to Jesus.

First of all, on accepting the Angel’s message, she intimately united herself to God’s will in a way we can not comprehend. Thus, she acquired a spiritual motherhood over the Son whom she conceived. She was bound still more closely to this new family of Jesus.

St Augustine says, “Maternity according to the flesh would have been of little avail to Mary, if she had not first conceived Christ, in a still more fortunate way, in her heart, and only afterwards in her body” (“On Holy Virginity”, 3). Mary becomes the mother of Jesus when she conceives him in her womb; his mother when she looks after him, feeds and protects him as any mother does.

But Jesus came to establish the great family of the children of God and “Benignly included in it Mary herself, for she did the will of the Father ... and when He spoke of this heavenly parentage to his disciples, He showed that the Virgin Mary was united to him through a new family lineage”. (St Augustine, “Epistle 243”, 9-10)

Mary is the mother of Jesus according to the flesh, and is also the ‘first’ among all who hear the Word of God and keep it in its completeness. (cf John Paul II, “Redemptoris Mater”, 25 March 1987, 20-21)

St Thomas explains that Jesus places the eternal above the temporal. Every member of the faithful who does the 'Will of God' is a brother of Christ, because he becomes like him who always did the Father’s Will. (cf St Thomas, “Commentary on St Matthew’s Gospel”, 14:49)

Do we always have the desire to do what God wants of us, in big things or small; in what we like and dislike? We can ask our Mother Mary to teach us to love this holy Will in everything even in what we find hard to understand or to interpret adequately. In this way we already belong to Christ’s family.

Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 3:124-6

Remember the source of grace

Let us recite the ‘Angelus Domini’, a prayer that is traditional and familiar, which the ringing of your parish bells invites you to every day, echoing from valley to valley. The ‘Angelus Domini’ is one of the most beautiful and comprehensive prayers of devotion to Mary: in it we contemplate God’s plan of salvation and his merciful love for all creation, a plan that is fulfilled in the choice of Mary to become the mother of the Redeemer.

The ‘Angelus Domini’ presents the Mother of Jesus to us as the true and exemplary believer, who with her ‘yes’ becomes the model for all believers. This ‘yes’ which Mary said for the first time with complete availability, was repeated by her in the most difficult situations of her life, as she journeyed all the way to the end of the road of faith.

In the ‘Angelus Domini’ we gratefully remember the fundamental event in which God came among men: ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.’ He is truly Emmanuel, 'God with us'.

Many pilgrims go to these sanctuaries to invoke God’s mercy and honor the Mother of God. Usually, when we return from a pilgrimage, we bring back a souvernir or a sign that recalls it to memory: the prayer of the ‘Angelus Domini’ could be this sign, which every day reminds us of the source of grace, Jesus Christ, the Son of the Virgin Mary.

Ref: “The Private Prayers of Pope John Paul II”, 2002, p65

Recovery

“Love Saint Joseph a lot. Love him with all your soul, because he, together with Jesus, is the person who has most loved our Blessed Lady and been closest to God. He is the person who has most loved God, after our Mother.

“He deserves your affection, and it will do you good to get to know him, because he is the Master of the interior life, and has great power before the Lord and before the Mother of God.”

Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”, 554

• Vigil of the Purification of Our Lady, at Pang. — Locrinius on the Calendar. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)

• Vigil of the Feast of the Purification. Paris. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)

• Vigil of the Feast of the Purification. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)

• Eve of the Purification of Our Lady. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)

• Baptism of St. Louis de Montfort. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)