Divine Providence has permitted for our instruction, that Our Lady should renew in her Presentation the sacrifice which she had made of her whole self at the moment of her Immaculate Conception. Do you, then, religious souls, make this renewal in imitation of her, and do it with great fervour of spirit, with profound humility, and ardent charity. Place your hearts, your souls, and your entire being in the hands of this Holy Virgin; she will present you to the Most Holy Trinity, and you will obtain a thousand blessings in this life, and will be enabled to arrive at eternal glory in the next.
[1] It is an ancient and well-grounded tradition that Mary was led to the Temple to be presented to the Lord at three years of age, and that she dwelt in that sacred abode until the age of fourteen that is to say, as long as was permitted by the laws of the Sanhedrim. St. Bonaventure relates to us the life led by the Most Holy Virgin in that voluntary retirement. 'We may learn,' says this Father, 'what Mary did in the Temple from her own revelations to one of her faithful servants, supposed to be St. Elizabeth.' Amongst other things we read as follows: 'As soon as I was left in the Temple by my parents, I determined in my heart to look upon God as my Father. I often considered what I could do to merit His grace, and I began to instruct myself in His holy law. But of all the Divine precepts, these three principally occupied my attention: (1) Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength; (2) thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; (3) thou shalt hate thy enemy.
'I kept the commandments in my heart, and I quietly embraced all the virtues that they contain. It is thus that I wish you to conduct yourself. In fact, the soul can possess no virtue whatever if it do not love God with all its powers, because it is from this love alone that the fulness of grace (without which virtue will never be preserved in the soul) descends to us; but it will pass like running water and vanish if the soul hates not its enemies, which are sin and vice. He who desires to acquire and preserve grace must accustom his heart, then, to the exercise of this love and of this hatred, and it is in this that I wish to be imitated by you.'
The faithful servant of Mary, having heard these words, replied: 'My sweetest Lady, wast thou not already full of grace and virtue?' The Blessed Virgin replied: 'Be certain that I believed myself to be the vilest sinner, and, like you, unworthy of grace. You perhaps believe, my daughter, that all the grace which I possessed was acquired without difficulty. But it was not so. On the contrary, I received no grace or favour without constant prayer, ardent desire, deep devotion, and many tears, with long afflictions, excepting, however, the grace of sanctification, which was given to me from my conception in my mother's womb, and, as far as I knew, I never said or thought of anything but what was pleasing to my God.' She added: 'Be assured also that no grace descends into the soul, except through the channel of prayer and corporal mortification. But as soon as we have given to God all that we possess, He Himself comes quickly to dwell within us, bringing with Him such inestimable gifts that the soul feels her heart to fail; she loses the remembrance of having ever done or said anything acceptable to God, and she becomes more and more vile and contemptible in her own eyes.'—Maria Regina e Madre Dei Santi, by l'Abate Guyard, Vic. Gen. of Montalbano.
SPIRITUAL FLOWERS.
Flowers fade quickly if they are much handled, but if they are not touched they may be preserved a long time.—À Kempis.
The root of the plant is hidden under ground and trodden under foot; it has neither odour nor beauty, and yet it gives life to the flower. Thus a humble soul may, like Mary, be despised, it may be trodden upon, forgotten; but this is the way for it to produce flowers and fruits for eternal life.—Nouet.
The lily is the symbol of chastity; it preserves its whiteness and sweetness in the midst of thorns, so long as it is left untouched, but as soon as ever it is plucked it emits so overpowering an odour that it causes headache.—St. Francis of Sales.
Whiteness is not an essential property of the rose—indeed, red roses are more beautiful and of sweeter odour; but it is the property of the lily. Let us endeavour to be what we are, and as justly and perfectly as possible, that we may do honour to our Maker.—The same.