O Mary, by thy example thou didst animate confessors and virgins, sustaining them in the dangerous struggle with the world, the flesh and the devil. Aid us, too, O mighty Queen, so that we may live as becomes the faithful disciples of thyself and thy divine Son. Amen.
Twenty-seventh Day. The Blessed Virgin the Model of Patience.
Of the virtue of perfect patience, the Blessed Virgin has left us many bright examples. We have meditated on her dolors and we have seen with [pg 222] what wonderful patience she endured them. How patient and firm she stood at the foot of the cross, on which her Son was fastened, covered with wounds and loaded with ignominy! Mary maintained an entire resignation to the divine will, which she loved more than her own, but this perfect conformity did not render her less sensible to her martyrdom. She loved to suffer because it was God's will that she should do so. We are encouraged, by the example left us of the invincible patience of Mary, to imitate it to the best of our power and according to our degree of grace. We shall follow, though distantly, in the footsteps of this perfect model, if we bear with patience the trials that overtake us, whether they be loss of fortune, health, or reputation. If we feel that we are getting angry let us overcome ourselves by silence; for then it is that we have the most need to be silent, because even the most prudent man when roused to anger can with difficulty restrain himself from angry words, which later he will regret heartily. O my Mother, obtain for us from Jesus the gift of patience, by means of which we shall acquire all other virtues and be enabled to persevere in holiness to the end of our lives. Amen.
Prayer.
O blessed Mother! Look graciously on thy children; behold how we, by our sins, have forfeited all claim to grace. Compassionate our misery, aid us from the abundance of thy fulness, and entreat thy Son Jesus that He would grant us grace to be pleasing in His sight and thine, and to remain faithful unto death. Amen.
Twenty-eighth Day. The Blessed Virgin the Model of Poverty.
True and perfect poverty, says Albert the Great, consists in voluntary renouncing all temporal things for God's sake, in having but what is absolutely necessary, and in sometimes retrenching even in that for God; for where there is full provision against necessity, there is no poverty. Throughout her entire life Mary's perfect love of poverty is manifest. It was evident in the obscure city of Nazareth where this young virgin espoused to a poor carpenter dwelt, and afterwards when she set forth with Joseph for Bethlehem in obedience to the edict of Augustus. On her arrival where does she find shelter? There is no place at the inns for one so poor, so they are obliged to take refuge in a deserted stable, and there, exposed to all the inclemencies of the weather, the Queen of angels brings forth the Son of the Most High. Let every one, according to his state in life, imitate the poverty of the Blessed Virgin. Those who possess temporal goods should imitate her by despising them, and by not loving them too much, by estimating them at their true value, since they pass away so quickly. Those who are poor from necessity should imitate the example of the Blessed Virgin, and freely embrace and be contented with the state in which God has placed them.
Prayer.