The Martyrdom of Mary Was Never Equaled
by St. Alphonsus Liguori
The words of the prophet Jeremias explain my meaning on this point:
To what shall I compare thee?
or to what shall I liken thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? ... for great
as the sea is thy destruction; who shall heal thee? (Lam. 2:13)
No, the acuteness of the sufferings of Mary are not to be compared,
even with those of all the Martyrs united. "The Martyrdom of Mary,"
says Saint Bernard, "was not caused by the executioner's sword, but
proceeded from bitter sorrow of heart." In other Martyrs torments were
inflicted on the body; but Mary's sorrow was in her heart and soul,
verifying in her the prophecy of Simeon, Thy own soul a sword shall
pierce. (Luke 2:35)
Arnold of Chartres writes that "whoever had been on Mount Calvary, to
witness the great sacrifice of the Immaculate Lamb, would there have
beheld two great altars, the one in the Body of Jesus, the other in the
heart of Mary; for on that Mount, when the Son sacrificed His Body by
death, Mary sacrificed her soul by compassion." So much so, says Saint
Antoninus, that whereas other Martyrs sacrifice their own lives, the
Blessed Virgin consummated her Martyrdom by sacrificing the life of her
Son, a life which she loved far more than her own, and which caused her
to endure a torment which exceeded all other torments ever endured by
any mortal on earth.
As a general rule, the sufferings of children are also the sufferings
of their mothers who are present at and witness their torments. This
Saint Augustine declares, when speaking of the mother of the Machabees,
who witnessed the execution of her children, Martyred by order of the
cruel Antiochus: he says that "Love caused her to endure in her soul
all the torments inflicted on each of her children." Erasmus adds that
"Mothers suffer more at the sight of the sufferings of their children
than if the torments were inflicted on themselves." This, however, is
not always true; but in Mary it was verified; for she certainly
suffered more in witnessing the sufferings of her Son than she would
have done had she endured all the torments in her own person. "All the
wounds," says Saint Bonaventure, "which were scattered over the Body of
Jesus were united in the heart of Mary, to torment her in the Passion
of her Son" so that, as Saint Lawrence Justinian writes, "The heart of
Mary, by compassion for her Son, became a mirror of His torments, in
which might be seen, faithfully reflected, the spittings, the blows,
the wounds, and all that Jesus suffered." We can therefore say that
Mary, on account of the love that she bore Him, was in heart, during
the Passion of her Son, struck, scourged, crowned with thorns, and
nailed to the very Cross of her Son.
The same Saint Lawrence considers Jesus on His road to Calvary, with
the Cross on His shoulders, turning to Mary and saying to her, "Alas,
My Own dear Mother, where are you going? What a scene will you witness?
You will be agonized by My sufferings, and I by yours." But the loving
Mother would follow Him all the same, though she knew that, by being
present at His death, she would have to endure a torment greater than
any death. She saw that her Son carried the Cross to be crucified upon
it; and, adds Abbot William, she also took up the cross of her sorrows,
and followed her Son to be crucified with Him. Hence Saint Bonaventure
considers Mary standing by the Cross of her dying Son, and asks her,
saying, "O Lady, tell me where did you then stand---was
it near the Cross? No, you were on the Cross itself, crucified with
your Son." About these words of the Redeemer, foretold by the prophet
Isaias, I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the Gentiles there
is not a man with me.
(Isaias 63:3) Richard of St. Lawrence says, "It is true, O Lord, that
in the work of human redemption You did suffer alone, and that there
was not a man that sufficiently pitied You; but there was a woman with
You, and she was Your Own Mother; she suffered in her heart all that
You endured in Your Body."
To show the sufferings endured by other Martyrs they are represented
with the instruments of their torture; Saint Andrew with a cross, Saint
Paul with a sword, Saint Lawrence with a gridiron; Mary is represented
with her dead Son in her arms; for He alone was the instrument of her
Martyrdom, and compassion for Him made her the Queen of Martyrs. On
this subject of Mary's compassion in the death of Jesus Christ, Father
Pinamonti gives expression to a beautiful and remarkable opinion: he
says, that "the grief of Mary in the passion of her Son was so great,
that she alone compassionated in a degree by any means adequate to its
merits the death of a God made man for the love of man."
Blessed Amadeus also writes, that "Mary suffered much more in the
Passion of her Son than she would have done if she herself had endured
it; for she loved her Jesus much more than she loved herself," Hence
Saint Ildephonsus did not hesitate to assert, that "the sufferings of
Mary exceed those of all Martyrs united together." Saint Anselm,
addressing the Blessed Virgin, says, "The most cruel torments inflicted
on the holy Martyrs were trifling or as nothing in comparison with your
Martyrdom, O Mary." The same Saint adds, "Indeed, O Lady, in each
moment of your life your sufferings were such that you could not have
endured them, and would have expired under them, had not your Son, the
source of your life, preserved you." Saint Bernadine of Sienna even
says, that "the sufferings of Mary were such that had they been divided
among all creatures capable of suffering, they would have caused their
immediate death." Who, then, can ever doubt that the Martyrdom of Mary
was without its equal, and that it exceeded the sufferings of all the
Martyrs; since, as Saint Antoninus says, "they suffered in the
sacrifice of their own lives; but the Blessed Virgin suffered by
offering the life of her Son to God, a life which she loved far more
than her own."
The Martyrs suffered under the torments inflicted on them by tyrants;
but Our Lord, Who never abandons His servants, always comforted them in
the midst of their sufferings. The love of God, which burnt in their
hearts, rendered all these sufferings sweet and pleasing to them. Saint
Vincent suffered, when on the rack he was torn with pincers and burnt
with hot iron plates; but Saint Augustine says that "the Saint spoke
with such contempt of his torments, that it seemed as if it was one who
spoke and another who suffered." Saint Boniface suffered when the flesh
was torn from his body with iron hooks, sharp reeds were forced under
his nails and melted lead was poured into his mouth; but in the midst
of all, he could never cease to thank Jesus Christ, Who allowed him to
suffer for His love. Saint Lawrence suffered when roasting on a
gridiron; "but the love which inflamed him," says Saint Augustine, "did
not allow him to feel the fire, or even that prolonged death itself."
The greater the love of the Martyrs for Jesus Christ, the less they
felt their pains: and in the midst of them all, the remembrance of the
Passion of Christ sufficed to console them. With Mary it was precisely
the reverse; for the torments of Jesus were her Martyrdom, and love for
Jesus was her only executioner. Here we must repeat the words of
Jeremias: As the sea is all bitterness, and has not within its bosom a
single drop of water which is sweet, so also was the heart of Mary all
bitterness, and without the least consolation: Who shall heal you? Her
Son alone could heal her and heal her wounds; but how could Mary
receive comfort in her grief from her crucified Son, since the love she
bore Him was the whole cause of her Martyrdom?
"To understand, then, how great was the grief of Mary, we must
understand," says Cornelius a Lapide, "how great was the love she bore
her Son." But who can ever measure this love?
Blessed Amadeus says, that "natural love towards Him as her Son, and
supernatural love towards Him as her God, were united in the heart of
Mary."
These two loves were blended into one, and this so great a love that
William of Paris does not hesitate to assert, that Mary loved Jesus
''as much as it was possible for a pure creature to love Him." So that,
as Richard of St. Victor says, ''as no other creature loved God as Mary
loved Him, so there was never any sorrow like Mary's sorrow."
Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother. Let us stay
awhile to consider these words before concluding our discourse; but I
entreat you to renew your attention.
There stood. When Jesus
was on the Cross, the disciples had already abandoned Him; they had
done so from the moment in which He was taken in the Garden of Olives:
then the disciples all leaving Him fled. (Matt. 26:56) The disciples
abandoned Him; but His loving Mother did not abandon Him; she remained
with Him until He expired.
There stood by. Mothers
fly when they see their children suffer much, and are unable to give
them relief; they have not the strength to endure the torment, and
therefore fly to a distance. Mary beheld her Son in agony on the Cross;
she saw that His sufferings were slowly depriving Him of life; she
desired to relieve Him in that last extremity, but could not; but with
all this she did not fly, she did not go to a distance, but drew nearer
to the Cross on which her Son was dying.
She stood by the Cross. The
Cross was the hard bed on which Jesus Christ had to die. Mary, who
stood by its side, never turned her eyes from Him; she beheld Him all
torn by the scourges, thorns, and nails; she saw that her poor Son,
suspended by those three iron hooks, found no repose. She, as I have
already said, would have desired to give Him some relief; she would
have desired, at least, that He should have expired in her arms; but
no, even this is forbidden her. "Ah, Cross!" she must have said,
"restore me my Son; you are a gibbet for malefactors, but my
Son is innocent." But wait, O sorrowful Mother; God's will is that the
Cross should only restore you your Son when He has expired.
Saint Bonaventure, considering the sorrow of Mary in the death of her
Son, writes, that "no grief was more bitter than hers, because no son
was as dear as her Son." Since, then, there never was a son more worthy
than Jesus, nor any mother who ever loved as Mary loved, what sorrow
can be compared with the sorrow of Mary? "Ah, there never has been in
the world a more amiable Son than Jesus," says Richard of St. Lawrence,
"nor was there ever so loving a Mother. Had there been less love
between this Mother and Son, His death would have been less cruel,
their griefs would have been diminished: but the more tender were their
loves, the deeper were their wounds." Mary saw that death approached
her Son; therefore, casting her compassionate eyes upon Him, she seemed
to say, "Ah, Son, You already depart, already You leave me; and are You
silent? Give me a last remembrance." Yes, He did so. Jesus Christ left
her a remembrance; it was this: Woman, He said, behold your son,
referring to Saint John, who stood near; and with these words He bade
her farewell. He called her woman, that by the sweet name of mother He
might not increase her grief: Woman, behold your son, he will take
charge of you when I am dead.
There stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother.
Let us, finally observe Mary, who stood at the foot of the Cross and
beheld her Son expire. But, a God, what Son was it that died? It was a
Son Who from all eternity had chosen her for His Mother, and had
preferred her in His love to all men and Angels: it was a Son so
beautiful, so holy, so amiable; a Son Who had always obeyed her; a Son
Who was her only love, for He was her Son and her God; and Mary had to
see Him die before her eyes, of pure suffering. But behold, the hour of
the death of Jesus has already come; the afflicted Mother saw her Son
then enduring the last assaults of death; behold, again, His Body was
already sinking, His head drooped down on His breast, His mouth opened,
and He expired. The people cry out, "He is dead! He is dead!" And Mary
also said, "Ah, my Jesus, my Son, You are now dead!"
When Jesus was dead, He was taken down from the Cross. Mary received
Him with outstretched arms; she then pressed Him to her heart, and
examined that head wounded by the thorns, those hands pierced with
nails, and that body all lacerated and torn. "Ah, Son," she said, "to
what has Your love for men reduced You!" But the disciples, fearing
that with her Son clasped in her arms she would die of grief, out of
compassion approached her, and with reverential determination, removed
her Son from her arms, wrapped Him in the winding sheet, and carried
Him away to bury Him. The other holy women accompanied Him, and with
them the sorrowful Mother followed her Son to the tomb; where, having
herself deposited Him with her own hands, she bade Him a last farewell
and retired. Saint Bernard says, that ''as Mary passed along the way,
her sorrow and grief were such, that all who met her were thereby moved
to tears;" and he adds that "those who accompanied her were weeping
rather for her than for Our Lord."
My readers, let us be devout to the sorrows of Mary. Saint Albert the
Great writes, that ''as we are under great obligations to Jesus Christ
for His death, so also are we under great obligations to Mary for the
grief which she endured when she offered her Son to God by death for
our salvation." This the Angel revealed to Saint Bridget: he said that
the Blessed Virgin, to see us saved, herself offered the life of her
Son to the Eternal Father: a sacrifice which, as we have already said,
cost her greater suffering than all the torments of the Martyrs, or
even death itself. But the Divine Mother complained to Saint Bridget
that very few pitied her in her sorrows, and that the greater part of
the world lived in entire forgetfulness of them. Therefore she exhorted
the Saint, saying: "Though many forget me, don't you, my daughter,
forget me." For this purpose the Blessed Virgin herself appeared in the
year 1239 to the founder of the Order of the Servites, or Servants of
Mary, to requested them to institute a religious order in remembrance
of her sorrows; and this they did.
Jesus Himself one day spoke to Blessed Veronica of Binasco, saying,
"Daughter, tears shed over My Passion are dear to Me: but as I love My
Mother Mary with an immense love, the meditation of the sorrows which
she endured at My death is also very dear to Me." It is also well to
know, as Pelbart relates it, that it was revealed to Saint Elizabeth of
Hungary, that Our Lord had promised four special graces to those who
are devout to the sorrows of Mary: 1st, that those who before death
invoke the Divine Mother, in the name of her sorrows, should obtain
true repentance of all their sins: 2nd, that He would protect all who
have this devotion in their tribulations, and that He would protect
them especially at the hour of death: 3rd, that He would impress upon
their minds the remembrance of His Passion, and that they should have
their reward for it in Heaven: 4th, that He would commit such devout
clients to the hands of Mary, with the power to dispose of them in
whatever manner she might please, and to obtain for them all the graces
she might desire.
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There are two kinds of
Martyrs,
one in open suffering, the other in the hidden virtue of the spirit.
For many, enduring the snares of the enemy and resisting all carnal
desires, because they have sacrificed themselves in their hearts to
Almighty God, have also become martyrs in time of peace, and if they
had lived in time of persecution, they could have been Martyrs in
reality.
---Saint Isidore
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