The Silence of Pentecost

 And I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever. The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, nor knoweth him: but you shall know him; because he shall abide with you, and shall be in you
(John 14:16-17)

St Luke in his dramatic account of the first Christian Pentecost (Acts 2:1-41) focuses, naturally enough, on those whom the Spirit had called to active life. The disciples who spoke in strange languages, St Peter fulfilling his Apostolic function as preacher. We can be sure though that amongst those gathered in the Cenacle there were some followers of Jesus, like Our Lady, Mary of Bethany and St John, who were contemplatives. For those whose mission that day was to talk the Spirit appeared as a tongue of flame. Perhaps for the contemplatives it was more akin to an arrow point which was to descend and transpierce their hearts with the fire of divine love.

We each have a unique relationship with the Father through the Son, and the Holy Spirit guides us into that on the path which He knows to be best for us. We can, perhaps, infer from the Gospel how it was that He guided those saints whom He called primarily to the inward, silent life on the day that the Church, with all her vocations, was born.

In the first book of his two volume history of the primitive church St Luke tells us how the Blessed Virgin responded to the things of God "Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart" (Luke 2:19) and "Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." (Luke 1:46-47) Which is to say that the Theotokos held all these things before the eyes of her heart and this led her to pour out to the Almighty her grateful thanks and abiding joy. Her lips sang sometimes but her grace-filled spirit sang all the time. Perhaps on this historic Pentecost it was for her Son above all that she was grateful as the Spirit led her ever deeper into knowledge and understanding of Divine things. Mindful also of the commandment to love her neighbour as herself she no doubt too reflected with thanks on the new children which Christ had given her from the Cross. All who could be called a beloved disciple of Jesus were also now beloved children of Mary.

Tradition has identified Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany though some now dispute this (primarily for political reasons.) However that might be, of her Luke says "a certain woman named Martha, received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sitting also at the Lord's feet, heard his word. But Martha was busy about much serving" (Luke 10:38-42) If Mary sould sit still and give her undivided attention to the Son in the midst of all the bustle created by her sister and the Apostles it would not surprise us to learn that she did precisely the same thing when it was the Spirit that called for her entire focus. An upper room filled with busy Martha's would not distract her from the one thing that mattered.

About this same Mary the Evangelist St John wrote "Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of right spikenard, of great price, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment." (John 12:3) This was an act of much self abasement and a devotion of things of great value and beauty to God. Many of those seeing it, especially the traitor Judas, decried it as needlessly extravagant but the Lord praised it highly. It was impractical and unworldly and on Pentecost day when we recall the eminently practical business of preaching in all the tongues of the world and converting souls to the Church we should remember too the witness borne by the Magdalene. Through silence, humility and the creation of beautiful things in the service of worship the Holy Spirit works just as effectively and powerfully as He does in all the other charisms which He gives to the faithful.

Not many days before the Holy Spirit descended, by the Lake of Tiberias, St John was the first of the Apostles to recognise the Risen Messiah "That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved, said to Peter: It is the Lord" (John 21:7) The quick eyed love born of contemplation gave the young Evangelist a power of discernment greater than that of his companions. On this same occasion St Peter had been confirmed as chief of the Apostles and shepherd of the Church which is why, within a few weeks, it was he who preached to the people at Pentecost. We see here, again, that different people are led in different ways by the Spirit, some to be active leaders and teachers, others to be devoted to quiet love and contemplation. Peter laboured to give us the Church, John allowed the Spirit to flow through him and gave us the most sublime of the four Gospel accounts which we now have.

It is sometimes asked what useful purpose the Catholic contemplative orders serve. I like to think that on that birth day of the Church the efforts of the missionaries on the streets of Jerusalem were strengthened by the prayers of the contemplatives in the Cenacle joined to the power of the Spirit. Furthermore, whenever from time to time the active disciples and the new converts ascended to the Upper Room the sight of the contemplatives absorbed in silent prayer both inspired them more and filled them with a sense of the peace of Christ which passes all understanding. And as she began so has the Church ever continued down to this day with the devoted lives of those called to bear silent witness to the faith through an enclosed vocation serving the spiritual life and health of Christians in a hidden but powerful way.
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Mary & the Poets: 5 The Air We Breathe

Mary Immaculate,
Merely a woman, yet
       Whose presence, power is
Great as no goddess’s
Was deemèd, dreamèd; who
This one work has to do—
Let all God’s glory through,
        God’s glory which would go
Through her and from her flow
Off, and no way but so
(The Blessed Virgin Mary compared to the Air we Breathe)

This is a long poem by Gerard Hopkins which I can only briefly touch on here. I highly recommend that people read it in full when they get a chance.

Our Lady has one task, the unique privilege of being the channel through which the Glory of God, the Word of God, enters the world as flesh of her flesh and bone of her bone while yet remaining wholly Divine. This is not a vocation that began at the Annunciation and ended at Christmas. Mary and Jesus were intimately united throughout their lives on earth and death cannot defeat such a union. God does not change His ways, if He came to us through Mary once then He comes to us through her always.

She, wild web, wondrous robe,
Mantles the guilty globe,
Since God has let dispense
      Her prayers his providence:
Nay, more than almoner,
The sweet alms’ self is her
And men are meant to share
Her life as life does air.

The Blessed Virgin is mediatrix of all grace. Through her hands flow the gifts of love, forgiveness and mercy which the good God pours out upon the world. One cannot add to His gifts so she herself is part of that gift. She comes to us with God's grace. She enters our lives with her gentleness, her smile, her maternal solicitude. With her presence the gift is fully complete and we enter into the life of Christ with her by our side.

A mother came to mould
Those limbs like ours which are
   What must make our daystar
Much dearer to mankind;
Whose glory bare would blind
Or less would win man’s mind.
Through her we may see him
       Made sweeter, not made dim,
And her hand leaves his light
Sifted to suit our sight.

If we saw God as He is we would be terrified by His power, by His glory, as the children of Israel were at Mount Sinai when Moses ascended to receive the Decalogue. So He comes to us as a child with a mother, as the Crucified One comforting the stricken Mary. Where He is she is. And when we see Him through her eyes, in her presence, it is the human Christ we see. We learn to love Him as she loves Him and this perfect love casts out fear.

World-mothering air, air wild,
Wound with thee, in thee isled,
       Fold home, fast fold thy child.

Holding fast to Mary we can be raised by her to her Divine Son. Mary is our mother as she is His mother. Jesus tells us that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as can become like children. Mary was protectress, teacher, wise counsellor to Our Lord in His childhood if we make ourselves children for the sake of the kingdom then she will be our Protectress, Teacher and Wise Counsellor too.
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The painting is The Virgin of the Navigators by Alejo Fernandez 

Virgin Most Serene

Have recourse to her in thy temptations,
And the serenity of her countenance will strengthen thee
(Psalter of the BVM II)

Catholics often explain their devotion to Our Lady by saying that it is easier to gaze upon the moon than it is to look directly at the sun. That is to say that we know that the source of light and strength, love and wisdom is God and that He has, through Jesus, made it easy for us to approach Him. Nonetheless when we think how hideous and ugly we have made ourselves by our self-willed wickedness and repeated failures to act as we know we should our heart fails us. Reason and the teachings of the Church make it clear that we can turn to Our Lord but the heart has its own logic and will not be convinced by mere words and thoughts.

Knowing this weakness of ours and longing for us to turn to Him the Good God has given us Mary to be our companion, guide and teacher on the path towards Him. As the moon receives all its light from the sun so to the Mother is a perfect mirror of the virtues of her Son. The moon  has its own features and characteristics, likewise Mary unites her own maternal solicitude to the light of the Spirit which illuminates her from within. Her purpose is to bring us to Jesus and our purpose in turning to her is to be covered by her mantle so that we may appear before Him without shame.

St Bonaventure (to whom the Psalter of the BVM is attributed) wisely advises us to draw strength from the serene countenance of the Blessed Virgin when assailed by the storms of temptation. How can we do this? One option is to take his advice literally. Never be far from an image of Mary, a picture, an icon, a statue, and when the need arises stop what we are doing and simply look at her. Focus our attention on the Virgin in her serenity until the storm subsides and we can resume our normal business.

We can also through our prayers meditate on her countenance as reflected in her life. The mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary or those of the Seven Sorrows, her attributes mentioned in the Litany of Loreto and the accounts of her in the Gospel are things we can spend time with. Immersing ourselves in these will weaken the hold of satan upon us and help to drive temptation far away.

Most profoundly we can, in the depths of our hearts, wordlessly and silently simply contemplate the one who can say of herself "I am the Immaculate Conception." Looking at the night sky on a clear, still night can fill us with a wonderful sense of the infinity of the universe. Similarly gazing with the eyes of the heart upon the Immaculata can open up to our sight the wonders of the Blessed Trinity to whom no one is closer than Mary, daughter of the Father, spouse of the Spirit, mother of the Son. In the battle against darkness Our Lady of Light, the Most Serene Virgin Mary, is a powerful ally and source of strength.
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The painting is The Immaculate Conception by Carlo Crivelli 

Mary & the Poets: 4 Mary My Love

Lightbearer, Christ bearer, Mother of Hope.
Given us by God to bring God to us.
Sedes sapientiae, Seat of Wisdom
Hearer and doer of the Father's Word.
Virgin mother, all glorious within,
Pure light before dawn, bright star of the sea.
You shine in my thoughts, in my dreams draw near,

Radiant with the Son which love brought forth,
Your dear Christ child, my Lord, the Paschal lamb.
The heart of your life is life of my heart
The Logos of God, the fruit of your womb
Jesus of Mary, Salvator Mundi.
I love you dear Lady, mother of mine
In giving us Him you give us your Self


This is by me so I'm probably the last person in the world to comment upon it. You may wonder why in a series featuring real poems by proper poets I have the chutzpah to include my own work. Two things-

Firstly, this is, after all, my blog and if I don't publish my poems it is certain that no one else will. And, more importantly,

Secondly, when a child gives a present to its mother, however naive or artless it may be, she looks with more intent at the love with which the offering is made than at the quality of the offering itself. So I have some hope that Our Lady will accept this inadequate gift for the sake of my devotion to her.

Incidentally the poem consists of fourteen lines each having ten syllables. This yields a total of one hundred and forty syllables. 140 is a number which is divisible both by seven and by ten and adding the numerals 1, 4 and 0 gives us five. Medieval readers would have seen mystical significance in the ten commandments, seven sorrows of Mary and five wounds of Christ being represented in such a fashion. Whether, in fact, any such significance exists is for me to know and you to find out.
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The painting is Virgin and Child with Milk Soup by Gerard David

Mary & the Poets: 3 Wordsworth's Virgin

Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost 
With the least shade of thought to sin allied; 
Woman! above all women glorified, 
Our tainted nature's solitary boast; 
Purer than foam on central ocean tost; 
Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewn 
With fancied roses, than the unblemished moon 
Before her wane begins on heaven's blue coast; 
Thy Image falls to earth. Yet some, I ween, 
Not unforgiven the suppliant knee might bend, 
As to a visible Power, in which did blend 
All that was mixed and reconciled in Thee 
Of mother's love with maiden purity, 
Of high with low, celestial with terrene!

(William Wordsworth)

This comes from a series of Ecclesiastical Sonnets which Wordsworth wrote about the historic Church in England. Here he is reflecting on the time of the 'Reformation' when much iconoclastic fury was expended in destroying the beautiful things for God which so many of the faithful had created. This explains the central use of the word 'Image' since both our Lady and her threatened cult were on his mind. Similarly the reference to 'not unforgiven' may be about how so many ordinary humble Christians at this time were persecuted or scorned by the powerful for refusing to abandon their devotion to Mary and the saints.

However that may be the essence of poetry is the words which the poet gives us and the meanings which they have for us. Two things in particular spring out of this sonnet for me, firstly-

Woman! above all women glorified, 
Our tainted nature's solitary boast

Our Lady, conceived without Original Sin and cooperating so fully with grace that she committed no actual sins is the new Eve. That is, she is Eve as she should have been, as she would have been but for the Fall. And as Eve was the mother of all the living we are her children. Mary, therefore shows us what we should be and do and become. To the extent that we are truly the children of Mary after the Spirit as we are the children of Eve after the flesh we can share in her purity and in the victory over sin and death which the gifts of the Paraclete and the merits of Christ Crucified gave to her.

Secondly-

All that was mixed and reconciled in Thee 
Of mother's love with maiden purity

In short form poetry every word is carefully used by a poet. When Wordsworth, then, uses the word 'reconciled' in connection with Mary he would have had a definite purpose. As Jesus effects the reconciliation of Man to the Father through the Cross so the Blessed Virgin in her way effects a lesser reconciliation. Before the Logos of God could become fully human as well as fully divine Mary had to become both Virgin and Mother. Again we see the power of the Spirit working within the human heart where cooperating with the will and reason of a person it can conquer and subdue mere flesh to the purposes of God. Mary is not only the ground upon which Jesus her Son stands she is the model and exemplar for Christians of all ages as to how we should make our religion a lived reality within the very centre of our being.
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The painting The Coronation of the Virgin is from an illuminated manuscript in the National Library of the Netherlands

Mary & the Poets: 2 Nativity of Our Lady

Joy in the rising of our Orient star,
That shall bring forth the Sun that lent her light,
Joy in the peace that shall conclude our war,
And soon rebate the edge of Satan's spite,
Lodestar of all engulfed in worldly waves,,
The card and compass that from shipwreck saves

(St Robert Southwell: Our ladies Nativitye)

The poet, (faithfully Catholic) Jesuit priest and martyr St Robert Southwell wrote a series of fourteen poems about the Blessed Virgin. This is the second of them and it is about Mary's birthday. The tone of the first stanza is celebratory in a twofold way. It firstly rejoices in the present birth of a girl child. Secondly it anticipates the mission which Mary will fulfill.

In poetry every word matters so when Southwell uses 'joy' (present tense) and 'shall' (future tense) twice in three short lines he has a purpose. Mary is a gift to us in herself and we should rejoice in her for herself, she is also the chosen one through whom comes the Saviour who will cause us to experience joy eternally. And in saying 'the Sun that lent her light' the poet reminds us of something that Our Lady herself never forgot that she is what she is because of the merits of her Son. For this reason the verse ends by highlighting that one of her roles is to act as the Star of the Sea that shines out for us through the storms of life leading us toward the safe haven of Jesus Christ.

The Patriarchs and Prophets were the flowers,
Which Time by course of ages did distill,
And culled into this little cloud the showers,
Whose gracious drops the world with joy shall fill,
Whose moisture suppleth every soul with grace,
And bringeth life to Adam's dying race.

Past, present and future are linked in the second stanza where Southwell sees Mary and the child she will have as having been prefigured in the Old Testament, as living in the Gospel times and as changing all human life thereafter in both time and eternity. He uses an image for Our Lady, which he had previously introduced into his poem on the Immaculate Conception, as 'Elias' little cloud.' This is the episode in 3 Kings 18 where the report that 'There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.' was a prelude to a welcome fall of rain which ended a prolonged and killing drought.

St Robert in this stanza is pointing us to Mary's role as mediatrix of grace. The Father wills that through her hands shall flow the gifts of the Spirit that the merit of her Son has sent upon the world. It is grace that brings us to true life. Not only will it lead us to the kingdom of heaven after death but it enables us to live in the realm of light now in this life as brothers, sisters and children of Jesus the firstborn and, crucially, of all our neighbours too, good and bad alike.

For God on earth she is the royal throne,
The chosen cloth to make his mortal weed,
The quarry to cut out our cornerstone,
Soil full of fruit, yet free from mortal seed,
For heavenly flower she is the Jesse rod,
The child of man, the parent of a god.

The English language has changed somewhat in the more than four hundred years since this poem was written so some of its images are less startling than they may at first appear. The expression 'widow's weeds' is still used sometimes and reminds us of a time when the word 'weeds' referred to clothes. It is, I think, derived from an old English word  "Waed" meaning "garment." The point being, in any event, that Jesus became our Emmanuel, God-with-us, because He was clothed with Mary's flesh, filled with Mary's blood and received His first nourishment from Mary's milk. The mystery of God's incarnation as Man, fully divine and fully human begins with His initiative but is crucially dependant upon Our Lady's assent and cooperation. This girl child will one day utter the words which will allow the Eternal One to enter time and conquer death.
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The painting is Birth of the Virgin by Paolo Uccello 

Mary & the Poets: 1 May Magnificat

May is Mary’s month, and I
Muse at that and wonder why :
       Her feasts follow reason,
       Dated due to season—

Candlemas, Lady Day ;
But the Lady Month, May,
       Why fasten that upon her,
       With a feasting in her honour ?

(May Magnificat, Gerard Hopkins)

In the northern hemisphere, where the practise of devoting a month to our Lady began, May is the high point of Spring. The poet and (faithfully Catholic) Jesuit priest Gerard Manley Hopkins mused about the connection between the season and the person honoured in it. It is a time when the short days and long nights of winter have been left behind.

Is it only its being brighter
Than the most are must delight her ?
       Is it opportunist
       And flowers finds soonest ?

Mary as our Lady of Light and as the Lightbearer, the one whose Immaculate Conception heralded the end of the great darkness which had covered the earth, is naturally associated with the coming of lightsome days filled with hope. There is another association though-

Ask of her, the mighty mother :
Her reply puts this other
       Question : What is Spring?—
       Growth in every thing—

...All things rising, all things sizing
Mary sees, sympathizing
       With that world of good
       Nature’s motherhood.

Spring is the season of new life appearing, growing, blossoming, gaining strength. This fertility and abundance which comes from mother earth is a material sign of the spiritual maternity of the Blessed Virgin, mother in the flesh of Jesus her Divine Son and mother in the Spirit of the Church and faithful Christians. Another parallel Hopkins draws out is this-

Their magnifying of each its kind
With delight calls to mind
       How she did in her stored
       Magnify the Lord

Which is, of course, a play on words in English. The growth of life in the world like the growth of the Christ in Mary's womb is a magnification of things. The word, however, calls to mind the song of praise to God that the Virgin sang when she visited St Elizabeth 'My soul magnifies the Lord
And my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour'

For the poet there remains another reason why May is especially apt for Mary-

Well but there was more than this :
Spring’s universal bliss
       Much, had much to say
       To offering Mary May...

..This ecstasy all through mothering earth
Tells Mary her mirth till Christ’s birth
       To remember and exultation
       In God who was her salvation.

The final words invoke again the Magnificat and remind us that Mary's honours and privileges stem entirely and totally from God and her relationship to Him, daughter of the Father, spouse of the Spirit, mother of the Son. Additionally, though, there is a purpose behind his use of the words 'bliss' and 'ecstasy.' For theologians and poets these are words that point to the divine union of the soul with God, the Beatific Vision of the Uncreated Trinity which fills with delight those enraptured in eternity. In that most blessed year of her only pregnancy May was the month where Mary experienced that rapture in peaceful tranquility and absence of fear; a brief respite in a life that was to be so full of the shadows and the reality of the Cross.

The bliss and ecstasy of Mary's May is of value to us too. Mary is that ladder of Jacob by which we can ascend to the vision and the presence of Jesus her Son in heaven and descend bringing Him in love to our neighbours. In devoting ourself to her in her special month we are devoting ourselves also to the evangelical task of spreading the Good News about Jesus Christ.  
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The pictures are The Visitation by Domenico Ghirlandaio and a portrait of Gerard Hopkins

Lectio Divina for Holy Week

Wikipedia tells us that 'Lectio Divina (Latin for "Divine Reading") is a traditional  Benedictine practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's Word. It does not treat Scripture as texts to be studied, but as the Living Word' Which, I think, means that we need not be overly bothered with context but that if we find a passage, clause or word then we hold it in our mind and simply gaze at it with the eyes of the heart. That is to say, we don't do the intellectual analysing which we might do in other situations but we hear it as a lover speaking out of the fulness of His heart directly to our own heart.

One such text for Holy Week, when we recall the turbulent events culminating in the drama of Easter, might be this-
 I abode in the wilderness.
I waited for Him that hath saved me
(Psalm 54:8-9)

On the Cross our Lord told the penitent rebel "I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43) The Creed informs us that Jesus descended to Hell that same day from which we can conclude that paradise is where He is. The opposite case, then, is that where He is absent we are cast out into the wilderness there to wait His coming. When we, by mortal sin, kill grace in our soul we place ourself apart from Him in the desert. Sometimes too we experience abandonment even when we have done nothing amiss since such is the Father's will for us. In either event all we can do is compose ourselves to wait for the One that has saved, is saving and will save us, our dear Lord, Jesus Christ.

An icon of this text is the Blessed Virgin Mary on Holy Saturday that agonising time between the burial of her Son and His rising again. Of the first of those events she was certain with the certainty of sight of the second she had only the certainty of hope for things unseen. In the wilderness, without Jesus, waiting in sorrow and in faith was all that she could do.

How often during that day must she have said 'O Jesus, O my Jesus, O Jesus' Words that came from the centre of her grief laden being. Repeated over and over with an emotional and personal force that came from more than thirty years of loving relationship with her Divine Son. The word Jesus had for her all the associations that flowed from the great joy of Annunciation and Nativity through the hidden years to the apotheosis on Golgotha. There is much debate about the use of mantras in Christianity but if we could say them as Mary said her Son's name on that day of darkness we would be nearer to heaven than we are. As we can't it might be wiser to use the texts and prayers that our mother the Church gives to us.

At all events full of grace and virtue as Our Lady was she still had to abide her sorrow in patient waiting. The gifts of God come to us when He wills to send them. We cannot call them down simply by the strength of our own efforts. We must give of ourselves in our sorrows and in our joys and then wait.The Spirit visits us not because we deserve Him but because we need Him and He comes only at the times which He knows to be best for us. Until then we are in the wilderness, but we do have this sure and certain knowledge, the One for whom we are waiting loves us more than we can possibly love Him and His blood has been shed for us.
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The painting is in a Book of Hours from the Workshop of the Master Francois.

Sixth Sorrow of Mary: She Receives Her Son's Body

The Blessed Virgin was overwhelmed with sorrow and love. Once more, and for the last time, did she hold in her arms the body of her most beloved Son
(Dolorous Passion LI)

Hail Mary, who held the pierced and lifeless body of your Son next to your Immaculate Heart

Sacred Scripture itself is silent as to the state of mind of the grieving Virgin. "Her soul is in anguish, and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me." (4 Kings 4:27) It does tell us, though, about her ancestor David's response to the death of his son-
"My son Absalom, Absalom my son: would to God that I might die for thee, Absalom my son, my son Absalom."
(2 Kings/Samuel 18:33)
If David was nearly destroyed with grief over the death of his guilty child how much more must Mary have suffered in being bereaved of her Innocent One?

In the modern era there is a distaste for the focus on the sheer physicality of the Passion and Death of Our Lord that characterised so much earlier piety. It is felt to be morbid to spend so much time considering every aspect of His suffering and the attention paid to the empty shell of His corpse. After all, it is reasoned, the main point of His mission was the teaching He gave us and the reconciliation He wrought for us in the heavenly places. This is a dangerously misleading approach to take. The entire essence of the economy of salvation is that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

If Jesus had been crucified without giving the Sermon on the Mount we would still be saved, if He had given the Sermon without being crucified we would still be lost. His body matters. A lot. Of course He did both, and we should never consider the two things, His teaching and His suffering apart from each other. When Mary hugged the body of the dead Saviour close to her Immaculate Heart she was not only transported with her own unimaginable sorrow she was also acting as our plenipotentiary. We to need to come near to the Man of Sorrows in all His humanity as well as in all His divinity.

Jesus had said, referring to His body,  "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (John 2:19) About the Temple of Solomon the psalmist had sung "Its stones are dear to your servants; its dust moves them to pity" (Psalm 102:15) If the Spirit of God had moved the children of the Old Covenant to sigh over the very dust of its Temple how much more must it move us to join with Mary and lament over the bruised, battered and pierced body of our own most lovable and eternal Temple, Jesus Christ.
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The painting is Lamentation of Christ by  Joos van Cleve (follower)

Fifth Sorrow of Mary: She Stands at the Foot of the Cross

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen
(John 19:25)

Hail Mary, who fully entered into the agony and death of your crucified Son.

St John is the only Evangelist to record the presence of the Blessed Virgin on Mount Calvary. He too is the only witness for her role in the wedding at Cana where Our Lord's public mission began. At that time Mary's compassionate heart was moved at the thought of the suffering the newlyweds would endure if they were shamed by being unable to provide for their guests. And what of Mary's immaculate and compassionate heart now as she watches her beloved Son die slowly in front of her eyes?

Then she had said "they have no wine." Now the Precious Blood of Jesus flows like the new wine of the new covenant. Then she had instructed the servants, and through them all the Church for all time "Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye" (John 2:1-11) Now it was His will that she should fully enter into His agony, and what He willed, she did. So complete and total was her perfect love for Him that not only the gross suffering of His Passion- the nails in His hands and feet, the thorns pressing deep into His skull, the raging thirst- were felt by her but every single breath, every bead of sweat rolling down His skin, every flicker of emotion from compassion to abandonment which He felt was felt with equal force by her, His afflicted mother. Theologians tell us that, were it not for a supernatural act of power by the Spirit, Mary herself would have died on Golgotha so completely was she immersed in her Sons final agony and bitter death.

At Mary's instigation the nuptial feast at Cana had been the gateway to the public career of Jesus. At His instigation the Cross at Calvary has become the gateway to the "marriage supper of the Lamb" (Apocalypse 19:9) His Body and Blood are the foundations of our feast in the Eucharist and the reason for our hope in eternity. The Apostles consumed Him under the appearance of bread and wine at the supper of Holy Thursday. Mary, His Mother, whose flesh was His flesh and whose blood was His blood consumed Him and was consumed by Him through her most perfect union with Him on that darkness-shrouded hill. That union has never been broken since which is why we can approach Mary in prayer with such perfect confidence. There are many reasons why Jesus will listen to her petitions and not the least of them is the unbreakable bond formed between them on that dreadful day.
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The painting is Crucifixion by Robert Campin

Fourth Sorrow of Mary: She Meets Jesus Bearing His Cross

He was almost sinking under the heavy weight of his cross, and his head, still crowned with thorns, was drooping in agony on his shoulder. He cast a look of compassion and sorrow upon his Mother, staggered, and fell for the second time upon his hands and knees. Mary was perfectly agonised at this sight; she forgot all else; she saw neither soldiers nor executioners; she saw nothing but her dearly loved Son

(The Dolorous Passion XXXII)

Hail Mary, who deeply distressed encountered your cross-bearing and suffering Son.

It is one of the mysteries of love that the presence of a beloved one can both increase and diminish suffering at the same time. For Jesus it would have immeasurably added to His affliction when He saw the anguish His mother experienced when she saw Him. It was also infinitely consoling to Him to have the one He loved and honoured above all others near at hand and touching Him with her total compassion. Similarly, for Mary it was exquisite agony to see Jesus sinking under the dark weight of the world's sin. Yet it was, too, a source of strength for her to feel that He knew and appreciated the depth of her love for Him.

This highly intense drama lasted for only a few seconds and most people on the Via Dolorosa would have known nothing about it. Yet what immensity of feeling, of emotion and of perfect love was packed into those precious instants. The agonies of Christ in Gethsemane and on Calvary lasted for longer but they never sank deeper into pain or rose higher in silent appeal to the Lord and Father of all.

The liturgies of the Church ascribe to Our Lady of the Passion the words of Jeremiah the prophet-
"O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow" (Lamentations 1:12)
And how could there be? To see your beautiful, perfect Son being led away to a shameful and painful death after having been tortured, mocked and unjustly condemned, knowing that there is nothing you can do to save Him. What anguish! What torment! And to know also that this is far from the end of both His sufferings and yours. Ahead lie the hours on the Cross and the final mystery of death.

So we have the two great mysteries, love and death, on this Good Friday it will be resolved which has the final victory. On the road to Golgotha Mary might have used to Jesus the words of Solomon "Put me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm, for love is strong as death" (Canticles 8:6)
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Master Thomas de Coloswar: Christ Carrying the Cross

Second Sorrow of Mary: Flight Into Egypt

An angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee. For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him. Who arose, and took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt
(Matthew 2:13-14)

Hail Mary, who for love of your Son fled into darkness and exile.

There is a world of frantic activity covered in the few words Who arose, and took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt. It is also a sadly familiar picture. Thousands of times over the centuries families have been roused at night and hurried out of house and country through fear of the Gestapo or Islamic State of their day. We can picture the scene, Joseph wakes the sleeping Virgin and after a some hurried words of explanation they pack their few small belongings together with whatever food and drink they can collect, lift up the sweetly sleeping infant Jesus and head out into the darkness for an unknown destination.

In the 21st century it may be difficult to fully comprehend the significance of their escape commencing at night. There were no electric lights, no headlamps, only the moon and the stars often hidden by clouds. Especially when travelling over unfamiliar roads alone and without a guide, as the Holy Family were, it was a course of action so hazardous that only the extreme nature of the danger they were escaping could justify it.

Imagine the state of mind of our Lady. She went to sleep with her beloved Son near at hand, St Joseph providing for them both, the memory of the visit of the Magi fresh in her mind and only the prophecy of Simeon casting a vague shadow on her happiness. Then within an incredibly short time she finds herself, baby in arms, travelling through an impenetrable blackness towards a strange and hostile land pursued by a malevolent hatred whose nature she, the sinless one, the pure one, the loving one, could not begin to comprehend.

It is significant that in this situation the Blessed Virgin unhesitatingly trusted herself and her Jesus to St Joseph. She did not doubt his testimony anent the Angel's warning and she did not doubt his ability to protect and guide them through the difficult times that lay ahead. In her life Mary not only illustrated the beauty of loving devotion to God but also the importance of the family as the strong basic unit of human life. To love the Divine One is to love ones neighbour and to share one's life with others in a continual mutual giving. Being driven into sudden exile was a great shock and sorrow to Mary, bringing a thousand worries and fears in its wake, but she had the consolations both of Grace and of nature through the constant protecting love, in their different orders, of God and of her husband.

The Evangelist John, to whom Mary was an adopted mother by the express instruction of Jesus, wrote "If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:20) No Christian can look upon the second sorrow of Mary with true sympathy and love if they harden their hearts against those who today are driven from their homes by fear of persecution and death. Christ is present in the midst of all suffering and Mary, His Mother, is with Him. You will be sentencing them to another exile if you fail to extend to hand of neighbourliness to the refugee who flies to your country, your city, your street. You cannot truly meditate on the things of God with your mind if you do not perform the actions God requires of you with your body.
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The painting is The Flight into Egypt by Giotto

First Sorrow of Mary: Simeon's Prophecy

Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.

(Luke 2:34-35)

Hail Mary, who accepted that your own soul would be pierced by a sword for love of your Son.

There are forty days between Christmas and the Presentation in the Temple. Out of the thirty-three years that Mary was mother to Jesus on earth these were the only days of unalloyed joy. After that she could never be entirely clear from the shadow of the Cross. Doubtless there were many moments, perhaps whole weeks when the shadow was only at the back of her mind but it never departed entirely. She knew. She could not help but know. Her beautiful Son would be a source of scandal to the world and because she loved Him so entirely everything which fell upon Him would fall upon her also.

Since humans are weakened by sin and by their vulnerability to temptation human love is an imperfect thing. If we examine it closely we see it is a compound made up of a mixture of emotions and desires, some selfless some demandingly selfish. Mary was sinless so her love was pure and therefore perfect. She loved her Son as no other mother could love a son. This meant that the pain she felt when He was hurt is something beyond the scope of our sinful human imagination to grasp in its entirety. This applies also to the pain by anticipation which she would have experienced when she heard the words of old Simeon and on the many occasions afterwards when she would have pondered them in her heart.

When Mary uttered her fiat to Gabriel "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word." (Luke 1:38) she did not know in detail what it would entail but she did commit herself freely and completely to do the will of the Father in everything concerning the mission He had entrusted to her. From Simeon she had now learnt in part what this would mean. This did not cause her to retreat from or to regret her commitment. Flesh and blood might not be able to face up to such an ordeal, it would seek to escape or be crushed by despair. But Mary, like all of us, was more than mere flesh and blood she was spirit too and in her case spirit full of Grace. God who sent her both the gift and the trial also sent her, in the Holy Spirit, the means to endure and to triumph. Her obedience to the Father, love of the Son and strength from the Spirit would help her in her sorrow. If we, now, today, in the 21st century gaze upon the Blessed Virgin as a mirror for ourselves then, learning from her, imitating her and imploring her intercession we too can fulfil our particular missions relying not upon ourselves but upon Mary's Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
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The painting is The Presentation in the Temple by Alvaro Pirez from the Met Museum

Seventh Sorrow of Mary: She Buries Her Son

And the women that were come with him from Galilee, following after, saw the sepulchre, and how his body was laid

(Luke 23:55)

Hail Mary, whose Son was hidden from you by the darkness and silence of the tomb.

For Jews and Christians alike the psalms provide the natural language of prayer. In His final extremity Jesus had directly quoted two of them. By His grave His afflicted mother might have added a third-
Thou lightest my lamp, O Lord:
O my God enlighten my darkness
(Psalm 17:29)
The One who was the Light of the World and the light of her Immaculate Heart had been sealed into the total blackness of the sepulchre. Only God, in His power and compassion, could console her now. What did she have left in the world. All was gone. All gone.

Now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity. (1 Corinthians 13:13) Bereft of everything else Mary still firmly possessed the three theological virtues, which by the Grace of God she held to a superlative degree. Properly speaking faith is not belief in a thing; it is trust in a person. Had our Lady not, even as a girl, been firmly united in faith to the Father He would not have entrusted her with the privilege of becoming mother of His Son and our Saviour. That faith never wavered even in the bleakest moments of the first Good Friday. It stayed with Mary and strengthened her as the stone closed over the corpse of her beloved Jesus.

Likewise properly speaking, hope is not an optimistic feeling that things will somehow be alright in the end. It is an inner certitude that the promises we have received will be fulfilled. The Archangel Gabriel had told the Theotokos anent her Son-
"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever"
(Luke 1:32)
Mary did not know how these promises could be kept in the wake of the seeming total failure of her Son's mission and His shameful and agonising death. That they would be kept she knew with the firmness of a supernatural hope. Her part was to await their fulfilment and this she would do in the presence of sorrow but the absence of despair.

And charity, caritas, love. The compassionate Virgin had around her the Holy Women, not least the inconsolable Magdalene, as objects for her outgoing, generous love even in calamity and as sources for incoming consoling love at her time of greatest need. She had the young St John, a new son for her as Jesus had said. And more than these she had her love for the Christ, her child. A love too powerful for death to overcome. Too powerful to end in time. A love, she knew which would shine throughout eternity, living and unconquerable. As that love had so recently led her to stand at the foot of the Cross now it would lead her to wait for Him to redeem the time and to re-unite Himself to her. And so, Mary waited.
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The painting is The Entombment of Christ by El Greco

Third Sorrow of Mary: Searching for Jesus

Thinking that he was in the company, they came a day' s journey, and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance. And not finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found him in the temple

(Luke 2:44-46)

Hail Mary, who filled with anxiety desperately searched for your Son.

After the shadow cast by Simeon's prophecy and the shock of the sudden flight into Egypt the Holy Family were able to spend some years enjoying the tranquillity of order. This enabled them to do the thousand-and-one tiny things that make up the quiltwork of quiet happiness. Following the great and joyful celebration of Passover Mary and Joseph could set off on the journey back to their Nazareth home in high good humour and deep contentment.

We can see this third sorrow coming upon our Lady not suddenly but slowly by degrees. First, a little surprise that Jesus is proving so hard to find. Then some doubt whether He will be found. An ever growing anxiety and anguish as it becomes more and more certain that He has been lost. A long day's journey back to Jerusalem filled with worry and thoughts about all the things which might have gone wrong. 'Is this,' Mary perhaps wondered, 'the prophesied sword, and my Son so young?'

There has been much speculation and debate as to why our Lord acted as He did. This need not detain us here, our concern is with His Mother and her response to Him. St Luke records it for us-

"His mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing."

She does not reproach or berate Him, though a good many mothers might feel she would be justified in doing so, instead she simply asks Him for His reasons and lays bare her emotional condition before Him. She had been sorrowing with all the sorrow that her perfect love for her perfect Son could experience. A sorrow beyond the power of mere words to describe or for the imagination of the imperfect to fully comprehend.

The Evangelist tells us two further things relevant to our Lady after Jesus had replied to her petition-

"They understood not the word that he spoke unto them" and "His mother kept all these words in her heart." Sorrow does not always give birth to wisdom but it can do. With Mary no doubt it did. As she reflected on her experience and the 'hard saying' of our Saviour she would, enlightened by Grace, more and more fully come to understand it. And when the time came for her Son to leave home and begin the journey that would end in the shame and death of Calvary that hard-earned wisdom would have given her strength and purpose to aid Him in His salvific mission.

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The painting is Christ Discovered in the Temple by Simone Martini

Mary of the Annunciation

For God alone my soul in silence waits; 
from him comes my salvation
Psalm 62 (Book of Common Prayer)

And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God
Luke 1:30

For centuries artists have loved to depict our Lady at prayer when Gabriel appears to her. Although there is nothing in the text to justify this choice it is an artistic intuition which reveals a profound truth. From girlhood to dormition Mary was a person of deep, reflective prayer. This was central to her becoming and being the Mother of God.

It is not that she was drawn close to the Father at the time of the Annunciation in order that she might be made the Mother, rather she became the Mother because she was already so close to the Father. It was (and is) an intimacy of pure and perfect love. The twofold vehicle through which Mary expressed and lived out this love was charitable action and rapt contemplation.

The psalmist, I think, gives us a clue to how this prayer life of the Blessed Virgin worked out in her daily practice. St Luke tells us 'Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart' (Luke 2:19) She would have held in her heart the gifts of God and offered them silently to the Divine Giver. It is not by busy thought or by many words that we can understand His purposes towards us but by the gentle infusion of His Grace. In silence Mary simply held out what was dark to her until such times as the Father through the action of the Spirit illumined them. In His light only did she wish to see. And so it was that she merited to become the mother of the Light of the World. 

In this, as in so many other things, our Lady is a model for us to follow. Reason is an excellent tool and we have been given our intelligence in order to use it. One of its uses is the realisation of its limitations. When it reaches the point beyond which it cannot go it must resist the temptation to speculate, to theorise, to make up self-serving stories. We must, in those specific circumstances, suspend thought and offer our shadows to the merciful Lord who can transform them into purest light. In faith and hope we can silently wait until, in love, God makes our salvation really and truly present within ourselves.

The picture is The Annunciation by Fra Angelico  

The Birthday of Our Lady

One is my dove, 
my perfect one is but one, 
she is the only one of her mother, 
the chosen of her that bore her. 
The daughters saw her, and declared her most blessed:
the queens and concubines, and they praised her.
(Song of Songs 6:8)

Since ancient times Christians have understood the mystical sense of the Song of Songs (also known as the Canticle of Canticles) to refer to the relationship between Jesus and His Bride the Church. Generally what can be said of the Church can also be said of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the first and for a time only Christian Mary literally was the Church of which she is also mother. So, as we celebrate her nativity, what can this verse teach us about our Lady?

Sacred Tradition tells us that Mary was the first child of St Anne but not, perhaps, the only one. She was, however, in a unique sense the Daughter of Zion. The Chosen people of God, as a people, gave birth to only one daughter and that was Mary. Through her the fulfilment of the Covenant relationship between God and Israel would enter the world. She was therefore both the only one and the chosen one of the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It could also be said that she was the only pure child of the human race since Mary, uniquely among us all, was through the merits of her Son, conceived fee from the taint of original Sin. This makes her, in Wordsworth's evocative expression, 'Our tainted nature's solitary boast'. (Jesus, of course, was perfect by nature not by grace.) We can also think of Mother Earth as rejoicing in the birth of Mary ' for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God' (Romans 8:20-21)

The daughters who call her most blessed, as St Elizabeth did, are all the children of God who have received the Spirit with gladness and see in Mary the light before the dawn, the one whose faithfulness and love will bring heaven down to earth. Mary is she in whom the Father delights, to whom the Holy Spirit is espoused and from whom the Son is born. The word 'most' is a superlative which means that no one ever was or ever shall be more blessed than Mary. None more blessed with joy as the mother of Jesus. None more blessed with the Cross as witness on Calvary of the Passion and Death of her beloved Christ.

The Queens who praise her stand for all who are involved in the world, the workers, students, parents, homemakers who find time each day to turn to God with thanks and prayers. For who can praise God without also remembering beloved Mary full of grace who has found favour with God?(Luke 1:30).

The concubines who praise her stand for all those deeply sunk in sin who have been or are being led from vice to virtue through our Lady. As a model and icon she stands without rival in inspiring us to change our ways, to conform ourselves to her and through her to Christ our Lord. As our Advocate she stands before the just judge, her Son, who can refuse her nothing. As mediatrix of all grace she sends to us the Holy Spirit who revives us and leads us via repentance, contrition and conversion to the Father.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is gentle as a dove. She is also like the dove of Genesis 8:11 who brought to Noah the bough of an olive tree with green leaves on it. Its coming was a sign of hope, the bough symbolised the Cross, the leaves the new life in Christ and all of these can be found in our Lady. She is perfect in her response to the grace of God which fills her so completely and so is without sin or stain. And she is but one, the only one, Mother of God, Mother of the Church, Mother of Christians, Queen of Heaven. Our beloved Mary, let us rejoice in her and with her as we celebrate her birthday.

Appare, dulcis filia,
nitesce iam virguncula,
florem latura nobilem,
Christum Deum et hominem.

(Appear, sweet daughter,
Grow verdant, little branch.
You will bear the noble flower:
Christ, God and man.)
From the Morning Prayer of the Nativity of Mary

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The painting is St Anne with the Virgin and Child by Michael Wolgemut 

The Coronation of Mary-A Vision

The King’s daughter is all glorious within: 
her clothing is of broidered gold.
She shall be brought unto the King
(Psalm 45:13-14)

As I lay my Rosary aside on Assumption eve suddenly heaven was opened before me and I saw our Blessed Lady St Mary sitting in a room in the Father's house. It happened that the most Blessed Lord granted me the gift, through the Spirit, to understand what I saw and how glorious it was.

It seemed to me that with the eyes of her inward vision our Lady was rapt in blissful contemplation of the uncreated One who is Three. With her outward eyes the Virgin Mother looked with delight on the things of her heavenly home. Suddenly a voice behind her spoke-
"Hail, full of grace"
St Mary rose and turning round she smilingly said
"Behold again the handmaid of the Lord."
Facing her now was St Gabriel the Archangel and he shone with the glory of love and radiated the power of compassion.
"He awaits you within and I am to guide you to Him."
"Be it done to me according to your word."

And I saw them depart the room and enter an antechamber of the Palace of God. There were many glorious things in it and it seemed to me that the most glorious sight to be seen were two people of venerable and saintly appearance.
"Hail, the Immaculate Conception." they said together.
As St Mary cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be St Gabriel spoke again-

"You are the Morning Star, the light that heralds the dawn. At your conception the darkness that covered the world was pierced by the first bright gleam since the Fall of your ancestor Adam. Free at your first moment, by the gracious and fitting gift of God, from any taint of Original Sin you are our Lady of Light and a sign of hope to all of fallen humankind."
And Mary went forward embracing with joy the two that had saluted her whom I would call St Joachim and St Anne but whom she called "Father" and "Mother."

Then they all processed into an ante-chamber more splendid than the last. In it stood a woman whose face was still marked with the signs of long sorrow patiently borne and with her a man clothed in camel's hair.
"Hail Mediatrix of all Graces," they said together.
As St Mary cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be St Gabriel spoke again-

"You are the Mother of divine grace, the spiritual vessel, the singular vessel of devotion. Through your presence, the sound of your voice and the Divine One whom you carried in your womb a saint was filled with the Holy Spirit and enabled to see the things of God and to speak clearly about them offering Him praise and thanks. Through you too an unborn child, and the Lord loves all such, leapt with joy and was filled with the Spirit of God. Grace, which fills you, overflows through your hands to those to whom you will to give it from now until the end of time."
And Mary went forward embracing with happiness the two who had saluted her whom I would call St Elizabeth and St John the Baptist but whom she called "cousins."

The procession now entered the most splendid ante-chamber that I had yet seen. In it was a man, upright, honourable and just and he leant upon a flowering staff.
"Hail, Cause of our Joy." he said.
As St Mary cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be St Gabriel spoke again-

"You are the Mother of God, the Mother of Christ, the Mother of the Saviour. Through your consent the Word of God was made flesh in your womb. Through your motherhood Jesus entered the world. You are she who brought the devices of satan to nothing. Without you there would be no hope, no life, no light in the hearts of women and men. Truly upon your fiat is founded all the joy and happiness of humankind."
And Mary went forward embracing with gladness the one who had saluted her whom I would call St Joseph most chaste and whom she called "husband."

The joyful procession entered into the fourth ante-chamber and as they grew nearer to the throne of the King so the light through which they walked grew in beauty and loveliness. A venerable man, dignified and kindly stood beside a woman of great devotion and service.
"Hail Seat of Wisdom," they said together.
As St Mary cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be St Gabriel spoke again-

"You are the Mother Most Amiable, the Mother of Good Counsel, the Virgin Most Prudent, the Virgin Most Faithful. To your care and guidance was entrusted the Son of the Creator. To you He was obedient, in you He trusted. You ever willed to do what the Grace of God within you willed to do. In your humility you were obedient to the Father in all things and at all times. These are the things of wisdom and truly you are wise."

And Mary went forward embracing with delight the two who had saluted her whom I would call St Simeon and St Anna but whom she called "friends."

After this the procession entered into the fifth ante-chamber which was suffused with the light and presence of God whose royal seat was now so near at hand. In that chamber I could see a man cheerful, benign and authoritative.
"Hail, most gracious Advocate," he said.
As St Mary cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be St Gabriel spoke again-

"You are the Virgin most powerful, the Virgin most merciful, the refuge of sinners,comforter of the afflicted, help of Christians. With the eyes of loving mercy and kindness you saw an unmet need and through your prayers moved your Divine Son to turn water into wine, You gave the wise counsel to 'do whatsoever He saith to you'. For all of time you will give this counsel to the world and too you will seek and find the disconsolate and bring their needs before the Lord. Never shall you do so in vain for He loves you and will give heed to all your petitions."

And Mary went forward embracing with amiableness the one whom I would call the steward of the feast at Cana in Galilee but whom she called "neighbour."  

Then they entered the final ante-chamber filled with that happiness of heaven which is ever perfect and ever growing. There stood a woman who resembled the Virgin and who bore upon her face the signs of great suffering and greater joy.
"Hail Queen of Martyrs," she said.
As St Mary cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be St Gabriel spoke again-

"You are the Tower of David, the Tower of Ivory. You are the foremost among those who have endured agony for the sake of the Kingdom of your Divine Son Jesus. You are she through whose soul a sword has pierced. Upon the hill of Calvary, beneath the Cross of Christ you endured in height, in length, in depth all the agonies of your Son. His pain, His abandonment, His death which in a manner you shared. You endured too the agonies of a mother who sees her only one, her beloved, her dear one, dying before her eyes. Because of this you are close to all who suffer and especially to those who suffer for the faith. In all ages of the world the persecuted people of Christ will turn their eyes to you, raise their prayers, sighs and lamentations to you and you will send them consolation and present their cause to the Lord, your God and their God."

And Mary went forward embracing with love the one whom I would call Mary, the mother of Salome, but whom she called "sister."

And then they all with exceeding great gladness entered into the inner sanctum of the Palace of God, the throne room of the King. And, behold! the King Himself stood waiting for them. His clothes were as white as the light and His skin shone like the sun. This shining did not conceal but rather revealed the more those wounds upon His hands and feet which cruel men had inflicted and His brow still bore the marks of barbed thorns. St Mary humbly sank to her knees before Him and said-
"My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."

The King stretched forth His maimed hands and tenderly raised her to her feet.
"My, Son" the Blessed Virgin said.
"My Mother," Jesus replied. He gently led her to a great throne that stood to the right of His own and placed her upon it. Then St Michael the Archangel clad in armour and shining with the glory of justice and radiating the power of virtue, came forward bearing a crown. Our Blessed Lord took it from Him and loving placed it on the brow of Mary, Queen of Heaven. At that the cherubim and seraphim, all the choirs, rank upon rank, of the angels and all the saints and martyrs of the Kingdom of God burst into songs of gladness, rejoicing and praise.

It was given to me to know that the crown had been made of the most precious elements in all the created universe. And looking closely at it I could see that this was indeed so. The crown of our Lady and Queen consisted of nothing more or less than these four word "My Son, My Mother"

Then the vision faded and vanished. Looking around I saw that it was now Assumption morning and I took up my Rosary once more offering up my prayers with deep gratitude to the Good God who has given us such a Good Mother.

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven: 
A woman clothed with the Sun, 
and the Moon was under her feet, 
and upon her head a crown of twelve Stars
(Revelation 12:1)

Paintings featured are-

The Coronation of the Virgin, by Bartholomäus Bruyn the Elder, by Jean Colombe, from the Worshipful Company of Skinners Book, Lady of the Assumption by Bartolomeo della Gatta. The Coronation of the Virgin by Fra Angelico, by Lorenzo Monaco, by Jean Fouquet, by Fra Angelico (again.) The Assumption of the Virgin by Michel Sittow