IN
this valley of tears every man is born to weep, and all must suffer,
by enduring the evils which are of daily occurrence. But how much
greater would the misery of life be, did we also know the future evils
which await us! "Unfortunate, indeed, would his lot be," says Seneca,
"who, knowing the future, would have to suffer all by anticipation."
Our Lord shows us this mercy. He conceals the trials which await us,
that, whatever they may be, we may endure them but once. He did not
show Mary this compassion; for she, whom God willed to be the Queen of
Sorrows, and in all things like His Son, had to see always before her
eyes and continually to suffer all the torments that awaited her; and
these were the sufferings of the Passion and death of her beloved
Jesus; for in the temple, St. Simeon, having received the Divine Child
in his arms, foretold to her that that Son would be a mark for all the
persecutions and oppositions of men. Behold,
this Child is set ... for a
sign which shall be contradicted. And therefore, that a sword of
sorrow should pierce her soul: And
thy own soul a sword shall pierce. [Luke, ii. 34, 35]
The
Blessed Virgin herself told St. Matilda, that, on
this announcement of St. Simeon, "all her joy was changed into sorrow."
For, as it was revealed to St. Teresa, though the Blessed Mother
already knew that the life of her Son would be sacrificed for the
salvation of the world, yet she then learnt more distinctly and in
greater detail the sufferings and cruel death that awaited her poor
Son. She knew that He would be contradicted, and this in everything:
contradicted in His doctrines; for, instead of being believed, He would
be esteemed a blasphemer for teaching that He was the Son of God; this
He was declared to be by the impious Caiphas, saying, He hath
blasphemed, He is guilty of death. [Matt. xxvi. 65]
Contradicted in His reputation; for He was of noble, even of royal
descent, and was
despised as a peasant: Is not this
the carpenter's son? [Matt. xiii. 55] Is not this the
carpenter, the son of Mary? [Mark vi. 3] He was
wisdom itself, and was treated as
ignorant: How doth this man know
letters, having never learned? [John vii. 15] As
a
false prophet: And they blindfolded Him, and smote His face ...
saying: Prophesy, who is it that
struck Thee? [Luke xxii. 64] He was treated as a
madman: He is
mad, why hear you Him? [John x. 20] As a
drunkard, a glutton, and a friend of
sinners: Behold a man that is a
glutton, and a drinker of wine, a
friend of publicans and sinners. [Luke vii. 34]
As a sorcerer: By the prince of
devils He casteth out devils. [Matt. ix. 34] As
a heretic, and possessed by the evil
spirit: Do we not say well of Thee
that Thou art a Samaritan and hast
a devil? [John viii. 48] In a word, Jesus was
considered so notoriously wicked,
that, as the Jews said to Pilate, no trial was necessary to condemn Him. If He were not a malefactor, we would not
have delivered Him up
to thee. [John xviii. 30] He was contradicted in
His very soul; for even His Eternal
Father, to give place to Divine justice, contradicted Him, by
refusing to hear His prayer, when He said, Father, if it be possible,
let this chalice pass from Me; [Matt. xxvi. 39] and
abandoned Him to fear, weariness,
and sadness; so that our afflicted Lord exclaimed, My soul is sorrowful
unto death [Ibid.
38]
and His interior sufferings even caused Him to sweat Blood.
Contradicted and persecuted, in fine, in all His Body and in His life;
for He was tortured in all His sacred members, in His hands, His feet,
His face, His head, and in His whole Body; so that, drained of His
Blood, and an object of scorn, He died of torments on an ignominious
Cross.
When David, in the midst of all his pleasures and regal grandeur, heard
from the Prophet Nathan, that his son should die,-----The child that is
born to thee shall surely die, [2 Kings xii. 14]---he
could find no peace, but wept,
fasted, and slept on the ground. Mary with the greatest calmness
received the announcement that her Son should die, and always
peacefully submitted to it; but what grief must she continually have
suffered, seeing this amiable Son always near her, hearing from Him
words of eternal life, and witnessing His holy demeanor!
Abraham suffered much during the three days he passed with his beloved
Isaac, after knowing that he was to lose him. O God, not for three
days, but for three and thirty years had Mary to endure a like sorrow !
But do I say a like sorrow? It was as much greater as the Son of Mary
was more lovely than the son of Abraham.
The Blessed Virgin herself revealed to St. Bridget, that, while on
earth, there was not an hour in which this grief did not pierce her
soul: "as often," she continued, "as I looked at my Son, as often as
I wrapped Him in His swaddling-clothes, as often as I saw His hands and
feet, so often was my soul absorbed, so to say, in fresh grief; for I
thought how He would be crucified."
The Abbot Rupert contemplates Mary suckling her Son, and thus
addressing Him: A bundle of myrrh is
my Beloved to me; He shall abide
between my breasts. [Cant. i. 12] Ah, Son, I
clasp Thee in my arms, because Thou
art so dear to me; but the dearer Thou art to me, the more dost Thou
become a bundle of myrrh and sorrow to me when I think of Thy
sufferings. " Mary," says St. Bernardine of Sienna, "reflected that the
strength of the Saints was to be reduced to agony; the beauty of
Paradise to be disfigured; the Lord of the world to be bound as a
criminal; the Creator of all things to be made livid with blows; the
Judge of all to be condemned; the Glory of Heaven despised; the King of
kings to be crowned with thorns, and treated as a mock king."
Father Engelgrave says that it was revealed to the same St. Bridget,
that the afflicted Mother, already knowing what her Son was to suffer,
when suckling Him, thought of the gall and vinegar; when swathing Him,
of the cords with which He was to be bound; when bearing Him in
her arms, of the Cross to which He was to be nailed; when sleeping, of
His death." As often as she put on Him His garment, she reflected
that it would one day be torn from Him, that He might be crucified; and
when she beheld His sacred hands and feet, she thought of the nails
which would one day pierce them; and then, as Mary said to St. Bridget,
"my eyes filled with tears, and my heart was tortured with grief."
The Evangelist says, that as Jesus Christ advanced in years, so also
did He advance in wisdom and in
grace with God and men. [Luke ii. 52] This is to
be understood as St. Thomas explains it, that He advanced in wisdom
and grace in the estimation of men and before God, inasmuch as all His
works would continually have availed to increase His merit, had not
grace been conferred upon Him from the beginning, in its complete
fullness, by virtue of the hypostatic union. But, since Jesus advanced
in the love and esteem of others, how much more must He have advanced
in that of Mary! But, O God, as love increased in her, so much the
more did her grief increase at the thought of having to lose Him by so
cruel a death; and the nearer the time of the Passion of her Son
approached, so much the deeper did that sword of sorrow, foretold by
St. Simeon, pierce the heart of His mother. This was precisely revealed
by the Angel to St. Bridget, saying: "That sword of sorrow was every
hour approaching nearer to the Blessed Virgin, as the time for the
Passion of her Son drew near."
Since, then, Jesus, our King, and His most holy Mother, did not
refuse,
for love of us, to suffer so cruel pains throughout their lives, it is
reasonable that we, at least, should not complain if we have to suffer
something. Jesus, crucified, once appeared to Sister Magdalene Orsini,
a Dominicaness, who had been long suffering under a great trial,
and encouraged her to remain, by means of that affliction, with Him on
the Cross. Sister Magdalene complainingly answered: "O Lord, Thou wast
tortured on the Cross only for three hours, and I have endured my pain
for many years." The Redeemer then replied: "Ah, ignorant soul, what
dost thou say? From the first moment of My conception I suffered in
heart all that I afterwards endured dying on the Cross." If, then, we
also suffer and complain, let us imagine Jesus, and His Mother Mary,
addressing the same words to ourselves.
EXAMPLE.
Father Roviglione, of the Society of Jesus, relates that a young man
had the devotion of every day visiting a statue of our Lady of Sorrows,
in which she was represented with seven swords piercing her heart. The
unfortunate youth one night committed a mortal sin. The next morning,
going as usual to visit the image, he perceived that there were no
longer only seven, but eight swords in the heart of Mary. Wondering at
this; he heard a voice telling him that his crime had added the eighth.
This moved his heart; and, penetrated with sorrow, he immediately went
to Confession, and by the intercession of his advocate recovered Divine
grace.
Prayer.
Ah, my Blessed Mother, it is not one sword only with
which
I have
pierced thy heart, but I have done so with as many as are the sins
which I have committed. Ah, Lady, it is not to thee, who art innocent,
that sufferings are due, but to me, who am guilty of so many crimes.
But since thou hast been pleased to suffer so much for me, ah, by thy
merits, obtain me great sorrow for my sins, and patience under the
trials of this life, which will always be light in comparison with my
demerits; for I have often deserved Hell. Amen. |
