My most sweet, most compassionate, most amiable Queen! Oh, how great is the confidence with which St. Bernard inspires me when I have recourse to thee! I am a poor sinner, deserving of a [pg 224] thousand hells; I wish to change my life; I wish to love my God, Whom I have so greatly offended. My Lady, dost thou understand me? Yes, I trust that thou hast understood me, and graciously heard my prayer. Amen.
Twenty-ninth Day. The Blessed Virgin the Model of Obedience.
Our Lord became obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross, in order that we might, after His example, labor to acquire and practise the virtue of obedience. The perfection to which Mary carried the obedience due to her Creator has been implied in treating of the love of God with which her heart was inflamed; it was the source of her perfect conformity to the divine will. What an example of obedience does she not give us in the presentation of Jesus in the Temple! Mary was exempted from the obligation common to all women to go to the Temple to be purified. Nevertheless, as her divine Son was pleased to submit to circumcision, so she would submit to the law of purification. The person who obeys merits very much while doing little, because obedience springs from the spirit of perfect self-abnegation, which is the most agreeable holocaust to God. Thomas à Kempis says, “Whoever willingly obeys his superiors for God's sake, performs an heroic action as a valiant soldier of Jesus Christ, for he will receive with the martyrs the palm of a glorious immortality.”
Prayer.
My most sweet Lady and Mother, I am a vile rebel to thy great Son; but I come repentant [pg 225] to thy mercy that thou mayest obtain pardon for me. From thee I hope for every good, forgiveness, perseverance, and heaven. I hope to be one of those, who, in the kingdom of the blessed will most praise thy mercies, O Mary, for having saved us by thy intercession. Amen.
Thirtieth Day. The Blessed Virgin the Model of Modesty.
The Blessed Virgin was a perfect pattern of modesty; her exterior senses were in all things under the control of reason, and subjected to the will of God; gravity and composure marked her every movement. Oh, you who have the happiness of having chosen her for your Mother, if you love her as true children, endeavor with all possible ardor to imitate her modesty. We should particularly try to acquire that moderation of the tongue for which the Blessed Virgin was so conspicuous, and for this reason we should avoid all useless conversations. The Holy Ghost Himself has told us that in much speaking we cannot escape from sin. Thus walking in the footsteps of our blessed Mother in the faithful practice of this virtue, it will not only preserve us from many falls, many temptations and dangers, but it will also be a most powerful means of advantage in the way of sanctity and of edifying and drawing souls to God. Then will all our exterior conduct, regulated by interior motives, tend to the glory of God, the edification of our neighbor, and our own advantage.
Prayer.