The ark of the covenant...

Front matter

THE

SERIES OF SHORT DISCOURSES UPON THE JOYS, SORROWS, GLORIES AND VIRTUES

EVER BLESSED MOTHER OF GOD.

Introduction

The following chapters are intended either as short discourses, or as meditations -upon the life of the Blessed Virgin.

They have been so arranged as to be suitable to the month of May, the first chapter being designed for the last day of April. But they have a general interest, and may be useful at any season

4 INTRODUCTION.

of the year, since devotion to the holy mother of God is always the fruit of piety and a great means of sanctihcation. The different parts of the volume present continuously a brief history of the holiest and best of all God's creatures. The author puts forth this little book with a sincere desire to aid in the salvation of souls. He hopes to reach some hearts by the simple tale of Mary's joys and sorrows, and to beget in them

a true love for virtue. If he can induce

i

even one to imitate more closely the example which is here portrayed, he will have done enough. Amid constant occupations it has been to him a great consolation to say a word of gratitude in honor of her, whom from the depths

INTRODUCTION. 5

of his heart he feels to be the cause of all his joy. May she but deign to accept this trifling and unworthy offering which he lays at her feet, and make it instrumental in advancing her interests and those of her Son.

T. S. P.

New York, Feb. 22, 1860.

Contents

Pacdl CHAPTER I.

Preparation 11

CHAPTER H.

Chapter 1. Preparation

" In me is all grace of the way and of the truth ; in me Id all hope of life and virtue."— Ecclbsiasticus, xxiv. 25.

Such is the language of the Holy Spirit concerning the Blessed Mother of God* And among all her glories there is none greater than that of leading sinners in the way of life, and guiding the pilgrim to new heights of virtue. Indeed, as this is her especial glory, so it is her especial office* The human heart is weak, and naturally tends to things of earth, and has no power to seek the more nigged ways of self-disci* pline and virtue. The human intellect W dark, and with all its endowments it cannot see the true light which shines from God. It requires a divine grace to touch man^ heart with a love that shall turn him from things sensible, and to enlighten his understanding with the truth for the enjoyment of which he was created. The Blessed Yirgin is the channel through which God conveys to fallen man this grace of light and truth. Her prayers and intercessions bring down the grace of conversion, become the safeguard of the pilgrim in the perilous journey of life, and at last crown him with glory when the battle is over and Heaven is everlastingly won. She is the Second Eve, the Mother of the living race. Her eyes of grace are ever turned upon us poor exiles, until she has accomplished her work of bringing us home, and until she reveals unto us, in all his surpassing loveliness, the blessed fruit of her womb, Jesus. Many a soul receives the light of faith who never could have obtained that precious gift but through her prayers. Many a soul, ready to fall under the pressure of temptation, beneath the dark shadow of the adversary, finds instant relief and strength through the grace which she dispenses.

All good Catholics recognize this office of the Blessed Virgin ; and practical devotion to her is the peculiar characteristic of our religion. She has taken root among God's elect, and her power is in Jerusalem. She has fulfilled in the Church the language of Scripture : "I was established in Zion, and in the holy city, likewise, I rested, and my power was in Jerusalem. And I took root in an honorable people, and in the portion of my God, his inheritance, and my abode is in the full assembly of saints. I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree on mount Sion. I was exalted like a palm-tree in Cades, and as a rose-plant in Jericho."* By the infidel ami the heretic she is not honored, for theyhave no real belief in the mystery of her- Son's Incarnation. But by Catholics she is honored and served, and in proportion as they love and imitate her, do they grow in God's grace and in a true devotion to our ^ Blessed Lord.

To us, then, on this day, does the Mother - of Grace make her appeal. A day o£ lif a- '

♦Eccleb. xxiv. 15—18. f and mercy is dawning upon our souls. Nature and grace are in harmony. The earth is robing herself in the verdure of spring, and fruits and flowers come forth to enjoy the smile of their Creator, as faint emblems of the quickening power of God's love in the human soul The resurrection of nature is the image of what the Lord, who is the resurrection and the life, will do in our barren and wayward hearts. There is ho voice speaking to us of the divine justice now, and the sinner may come without fear to the footstool of his offended but forgiving Father.

Whatever, then, be our condition before God, let us improve the graces of the season, and open our hearts to the light and mercy of our Lord. If we are not in a state of grace, now we have power to awaks and purify our souls. Great mortal sins may weigh heavily upon us, pressing us down to tearth, and making ue the easy prey of new temptation. Our past is remorse, and our future is gloomy apprehension. There is no physician in this world who can heal our malady or bring peace to our desolated hearts. Yet the Mother of Mercy calls : a In me is all grace of the way, in me is all hope of life and virtue." Let us listen to her voice ; and putting ourselves under her protection, let us arise and go unto our Lord, and say unto Him : " Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and in thy sight." The way shall be opened before us, and all obstacles shall, one by one, be removed. This month shall be to us the beginning of a new life, and shall end in our complete recovery and salvation. And even if through God's mercy we are free from deadly sin, we have all much need of the especial graces which are now offered to us. Are we not suffering in many ways from the effect of past sins ? Are we not full of imperfections, which render us unfit to appear before God's presence ? How very few of us live up to our consciences, and can bear the light even of our own self-examination. Yet God's all-searching eye is to be our judge. If we make up the record of the years that are past, we shall find a history of mercies despised and graces unimproved ; and the little that has been done, seems to have been done rather against our will than by our free co operation. Coldness and tepidity are only preludes to mortal sin, and we have, therefore, good reason to be alarmed by the indifference we feel in the pursuit of virtue. Many of us have received the Sacraments with great frequency, and still have made but little progress in self-discipline. We have always the same sins to confess, and the least close inspection shows us an amazing depth of pride and self-will. What shall we do, when God calls us, and we have to stand before Him, in whose sight the smallest imperfection cannot abide ? This very month may be a crisis in the history of our souls. If it be well spent, its especial graces may avert some threatening temptation and awaken us to more careful lives. If it be neglected, the days of our spiritual life may be numbered. Let us, then > as we seek for salvation, prostrate ourselves before the footstool of the Mother of Mercy, and commit our cause to her hands. If our hearts be ready, she will do her work. She will bring our needs before the throne of her Divine Son, and we shall feel a power in spiritual things which we never have experienced. Let it be our constant prayer during this season of grace, that God would prepare our hearts to hear and obey all His inspirations.

CHAPTER n.

THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION — DAY OF PURITY.

" Thou art all fair, my love, and there is no spot in thee." Cant. iv. 7

We begin our meditations where God began His work of grace, with the first existence of our blessed Mother. From all eternity He had foreknown her, and from the hour of man's sad fall had predicted her. She was the promised seed of the woman, who should bruise the head of the serpent ; the Second Eve, who should repair the losses of our first mother. God, w T hose infinite wisdom devised the way of our redemption, condescended to take our nature upon Him, and His first step in the gracious work was the preparation of a Mother. All our race were condemned, and under the original curse were subject to the tyranny of the devil. The tree was corrupt at its root, and the spring poisoned at its source. The children of the fallen Eve were exiles from Heaven. The work of redemption needed to be as complete as was the destruction wrought by sin. It began, therefore, by the removal of the original curse. A Virgin was conceived, free from corruption and pure as was our first Mother when she was placed in Paradise. Without this grace of redemption, she never could have been a Second Eve, and the Mother of a new and living race. The serpent who deceived the first Eve had no power over her, for she was the child of prophecy, who was to bruise his head. She was to overcome the devil in every point, and this she could not have done had she been at any time his child and slave by virtue of the original curse. Her own office, therefore, in the economy of redemption, required that she should be conceived without sin, and God was bound by the perfection of His own being to make a perfect work. But all this grace the Blessed Virgin was to have, because the Eternal Son of God had chosen her for His Mother. The Word was to be made flesh, to take our human nature and to unite it forever to His divine person. The incarnate Lord is no less the Son of Mary, than He is the Son of God. As He was therefore to take of the veritable substance of His Mother, so He was directly concerned in her honor or in her dishonor. Had she been the child of the fallen race, infected by the original curse, her ignominy would have passed to the dishonor of her Son. The spring of life would have gushed up from a polluted source, the stem of Jesse would have budded from a corrupting root. He, who is all purity, would have touched the defilement of the impure. The propriety of the incarnation demanded the grace of which faith teaches us, and Mary, with innocence redolent of the purity of Eden, is created for the honor of Jesus, to glorify Him by her holiness, and to be for Him an unspotted Mother.

Among all her joys, Mary had no greater joy than this of her pure conception. It was the foundation of her exalted holiness, by which she towered above the tall cedars of Libanus, and raised her Yirginal head to the skies. She came into a world of sin and death. She saw around her sorrow and distress, the ruins and wrecks of a fallen world. She saw how God's great majesty was hourly outraged, and how His amazing love was spurned every moment by His own creatures. Yet with all this she had nothing to do. Her soul and body were fragrant with the incense of purity. She knew she had never offended her God, her firstbeginning and her last end. She was not one of the ruins of the first Paradise. Original sin weighs upon us with all its grievous burden. We no sooner come into the world than we begin to be offensive to God. Our souls suffer from the darkness of ignorance and from the stimulus of concupiscence. Our bodies are the prey of disease and death. And as soon as we arrive at the age of reason, when our opening faculties ought to expand in God's grace and for His glory, we begiii by our wills to turn from holiness. Actual sin develops itself in all its bitterness, and with all its fruitful power of evil. How different from this sad history was Mary's life. No darkness ever weighed upon her understanding. No cloud ever came between the bright mirror of her soul and the light of God. She was the " bright reflection of the Eternal Light, a mirror without a stain/' Her heart was never swayed by passion, nor was there ever a tumult to disturb the tranquil rest of her spirit.

God's graces came, and they were all improved. God's blessed providence, like a shield, covered her, and from His will she never swerved. What a cause have we to bless and praise our great Creator for the purity of Mary ! There was one heart in which the infinite majesty of God found a rest, one bosom in which the Incarnate Lord might find a home. With us the memory of the past is ever painful, for at every step we take in the divine life, we feel more keenly the ingratitude of former sins, and can never altogether banish the shadow which they throw upon our spiritual being. We are like sick men recovering from an exhausting fever, or like the maimed and wounded soldier returning from battle. Hence, our present loses its cheerfulness and joy. We are wearied by small endeavors, and go heavily, as if beneath a painful burden. And the future, which ought to be bright with hope, as it reveals the distant towers of the celestial city to which we journey, fills us rather with dread and an unquiet apprehension. There is no cross like the weight of sin, no joy to be compared to the blessedness of innocence. While then we meditate to-day on the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Mother, let us seek to imitate her purity aud to have part in her joy. We cannot be free from the infection of sin as she was, but we have been once washed from every defilement in the blood of her Son. Had we died in the cleanness of our baptism, Heaven would have been oui immediate portion. Now by penance and prayer we must anew wash ourselves in the sacred blood which we have despised, until the heart of a child come back to us with the docility and pu* rity of our new birth. This baptism of tears is our only hope, and God, who excites in us the desire for purification, will make that desire fruitful. The Immaculate Virgin, who is our example, will be our solace and protection. At her feet we must offer up every thought and word and work. Every intention must be placed in her hands, and through the virtue of her prayers we shall have courage to persevere and be generous with God. A healing, cleansing power shall be felt in our souls, going down to the very depths of our wants, and giving us no rest until we find uDion with Him whom we adore, until we are purified even as He is pure. For "We are now the sons of God, and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. We know that when He shall appear we shall be like to Him, because we shall see Him as He is."*

Chapter III, The Birth Of The Blessed Virgin — Day Of Grace

" When I was a little clr.ld, I was pleasing to the Most High." — Office of the Blessed Virgin.

As the whole life of our Blessed Lady was full of wonders, so her birth was especially marked by God's grace. Her holy parents, St. Joachim and St. Anne, were past age, and had almost relinquished their part in the hope of being the progenitors of the Messiah. Still they were firm believers in

*1 E. St. John iii 2.

the promise made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and exact observers of all the ordinances of the Jewish law. Almighty God was preparing them for the exalted dignity which awaited them, and they were obedient to His graces. As Sarah waited long for the child of promise, and then became a mother by a miraculous providence, so St. Anne was to wait in hope and faith, and then by an especial dispensation to become the mother of the Queen of Heaven. He that waiteth for God shall never be disappointed, but shall in the end receive graces far beyond even his desire. So St. Anne had never dreamed of the honor which God gave her, but her patience and humility obtained a reward far beyond her hopes. And hence new glory was given to God, for although the Blessed Virgin was conceived in the ordinary manner, yet it was by especial and miraculous power.

We have already spoken of the Immaculate Conception, and now in the birth of our Blessed Lady we are to see some of its glorious consequences. The human soul is the direct subject of grace, while the body participates only in the effect of either the state of grace or the state of sin. So the soul of the Blessed Virgin came pure and spotless from the hand of her Creator, and by her especial privilege she was freed from all the effects of the original curse. Ignorance and darkness were not her portion, and hence from the first beginning of her existence she began to glorify God. u My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Saviour." She was the child of grace, and was filled with grace from her mother's womb. She was able, moreover, to corre* spond with grace even before her birth, and to glorify God before her eyes were opened upon this sinful world* The fathers tell us that she had attained to great sanctity, and that at her birth she came into the world a marvel of the love and mercy of her Maken Just, and true, and perfect are all the divine ways, and so the eternal Son, in preparing a Mother^ could deny her no grace of which she was capable. St. Thomas says that the Blessed Virgin was full of grace in three ways. Her holy soul, from the beginning, belonged entirely to God. Her body was wholly sanctified in order that she might clothe the eternal Word with flesh, and she was the channel of grace for the benefit of the human race.

We see, therefore, how much she glorified the wisdom and goodness of God, and how her birth contributed to His praise. She came into the world not only pure and spotless in her soul, but united to her Creator and filled with His love. She did not see " through a glass in an obscure manner, " for the mist that veils sensible things, and makes them attractive, was dissolved before the vision of her understanding. She saw God alone in all things, and she glorified every moment His adorable will. Her body was until then he most beautiful work of God's hands, the fit habitation of her sanctified soul. And when she opened her eyes upon nature and rested her infant head upon her aged mother's arms, God received an immense honor, such as He had never received before from any of His creatures. The brightest archangel in all his dazzling splendor was not so beautiful in His eyes as the infant grace of Mary, the child of promise, who had already wrestled victoriously with the strong adversary, who was fore-ordained the chosen Mother of his wellbeloved Son. Over that cradle of the Immaculate, angels bowed themselves, while evil spirits fled away in terror. With her birth began a new day of grace for fallen man, and the long line of the living, regenerate race seemed in spirit to cluster around the birth-place of their Mother. The morning star arose, and the divine purposes were ripening, and the great work of man's redemption approached its completion. The beginning was the sure pledge and foretaste of the end. Mary was born full of grace for our sakes, in order that she might communicate it to her fellow-creatures. She was born holy ; she was born to be the Mother of God ; but she was also born to be our great intercessor with her Son, to shield us with her prayers, and to eommunicate to the church the benefits of the Incarnation and the Cross. While, then, in contemplating the glories of Mary's birth, our first thought is of God's honor, our second thought should be of the graces we have received in consequence of this very birth. On this day we should review our lives past, and count up the mercies we have to answer for in the great day of account. If we cannot answer for our thousand sins, how can we answer for our thousand graces ? We have sinned against the light, and against the monitions of our own consciences. We have no excuse to plead for our wayward course, for God has all along been following us, and His Spirit has been continually calling us to repentance. We can see His hands in all the dispensations of His providence. Here He gave us joy, that by His goodness He might turn our hearts. Here He gave us affliction, that He might draw our affections from earthly vanities to an enduring good. No father ever followed an erring child with more patient affection than our Lord has followed us.

To use His own words, He has stood at the door of our hearts knocking, like a suppliant, for entrance, and we have more than once refused to let Him in. How unlike we are to our Blessed Mother, in whose heart every grace of God was fruitful ! Yet even now it is the day of grace with us, and Mary calls to us by the beauty of her childhood, wholly consecrated to her Creator, to turn from the sins which have made so barren our spiritual life. Now God calls us, and gives the power to obey His call. Whether we be in the morning of life, or in the noonday of manhood, or in the evening of declining age, we have much to do before our probation closes. Time is short, and eternity is long. That which our hands find to do, let us do it with all our might, for the night cometh when no man can work. This sacred month will be to us a new responsibility, as it is a new grace from God, destined to effect the great end of our being, the salvation of our souls. Let us accept this merciful interposition of our Lord, and open our hearts, and stir up our wills to obey His call. The grace which filled the soul and body of the infant Virgin will overflow to us, and enable us to walk in her footsteps.

Chapter IV, The Presentation Of The Blessed Virgin

DAY OF CONSECRATION.

" Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one and come." — Canticles ii. 10.

We have seen how Mary was pure from every stain, and how her infant years were filled with God's grace ; we are now to contemplate the fruits of her early sanctity in her immediate and entire consecration to the service of her maker. The Fathers tell us that the holy parents of the Blessed Virgin had made a covenant with God that the child, for whom they had so long prayed, should be dedicated to Ills service. When, therefore, so unexpectedly they received an answer to their prayers, they were not backward to fulfil their promise. Although the wonderful holiness and surpassing loveliness o; their child had endeared her to their hearts, yet they could not resist the claim of God. They had nearly finished their earthly course, and full of faith in the covenant made with their fathers, were almost ready to find their rest in the bosom of Abraham, yet they were ready to give up the solace and glory of their declining days, content to make any sacrifice to which the Divine Providence called them. No parents had ever made such a sacrifice, and it was their consolation that they gave all they had to God, and that in so doing they made the most acceptable offering His Divine Majesty had ever received. They knew the value of their offering in their own eyes, but they did not then know its full value in the eyes of God. So he who walks by faith and in all things seeks only God, may often find that his feeble works have a value far beyond his imagination. Sacrifices cheerfully made are the highest proof that we are under the guidance of the Holy Ghost.

When the Blessed Virgin was only three years old, following her own wish and the Divine Inspiration, St. Joachim and St. Anne set out from Nazareth for Jerusalem. They took the holy child in their arms, and hastened to bear her to the altar of God. It was a long journey at their advanced age, yet He who was their guide was their support. They were consoled in their bereavement by the hope of the redemption of Israel, which was far nearer than their faith divined. They entered the temple and presented their offering at the foot of the holy altar. The priest, who, according to tradition, was Zachary, the father ot St. John Baptist, received the child and offered her to God. The Blessed Virgin was filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost, and anticipating the act of her parents, she made a solemn consecration of herself to the service of her Creator. All her gifts, and all her faculties of soul and body, had ever oeen devoted to God, but now before men 3 and angels she makes the open profession of her love. Here, according to the testimony of the fathers, she made the vow of virginity, choosing rather to renounce her hope of being the Mother of the Messiah, than to give up the imperishable glory of her immaculate purity. What was the world to her ? Nothing human had power to draw her heart from Heaven and the world of grace in which she lived. She heard the voice of her celestial spouse : " Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come." " 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. Who is she that Cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright- as the sun, terrible as an army set in array."*

It is an unspeakable consolation to think of the great glory which God received on this auspicious day. No created thing had ever

* Canticles vi. 8—9.

ABK OF THE COVENANT. 35

paid Him such honor. Angels in all their purity had prostrated themselves, and cherubim and seraphim had veiled their faces before His unapproachable Majesty, yet never had He received a worship as acceptable as this worship of Mary. She was pure as the crystal waters of Paradise, and as she knelt in all humility, all Heaven seemed to rest upon her, and the three persons of the Eternal Trinity were bowed in condescension upon that little child. Wonderful spectacle, full of joy both for Heaven and for earth. God accepted her vow, and received her for His own, and she became the Queen of that Virgin train that " follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth."

There are two important lessons for us to learn on this. day. God requires us to consecrate ourselves to His service, and to do it with the dispositions which made Mary's offering so acceptable. In whatever state we are called to work out our salvation, consecration is the essence of the religious life. God demands our hearts, and Vill accept nothing less from us. We are consecrated by baptism and emancipated from the tyranny of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Thrice happy are they who can retire from all things earthly, to espouse themselves, like Mary, to Him whom the angels serve. Yet, in every walk, the christian life is essentially the same. We cannot hope to save our souls except our consecration be entire. And this embraces the devotion of our affections and the oblation of every faculty of soul and body. We cannot serve God and the world, or hope to win Heaven when our affections are fastened on earthly things. And how few are there in any walk of life who are equal to this consecration ! The world is ever interfering between our souls and God, and we are easy victims to its snares. We try to persuade ourselves that we are living for Heaven, while in reality every day augments our account of pride and self-will, and human respect. No one but God can sound the depths of deceit and self-seeking, which are found in the human heart. Let us pray our Lord to prove and try us, and to jsee if " there be any way of iniquity in us, and to lead us in the way eternal"