Prayer.—O Mary! you are truly the valiant woman in whom the Lord found rest, and whom He has chosen to be the depositary of all His treasures. The universe honours you as the most pure sanctuary of the Divinity, the true Temple of the Lord, in which was begun the salvation of the world, and in which took place the grand reconciliation between God and man. You are that privileged field which sin could not enter and devastate; you are that magnificent garden in which Our Lord planted all the flowers that adorn His Church. You, O Mary, are the Paradise of God, whence springs the fountain of living water which waters and fructifies the earth: obtain for me, by your powerful intercession, that, being washed in this most pure water, I may be admitted with you to the nuptials of the Immaculate Lamb. Amen.
Ejaculation.—Most pure Virgin, pray for us.
Practice.—In temptations against holy purity invoke Mary, Virgin and Mother.
[EIGHTH DAY.]
THE VISITATION.
THOUGH Mary had thus humbled herself before God, she did not stop there, because she knew that humility and charity do not attain their highest degree of perfection until, for God's sake, they are exercised in behalf of our neighbour. True fraternal charity proceeds from the love of God, and in proportion as this increases, the love of our neighbour becomes more intense. The Apostle of Charity teaches us this truth, when he says: Qui enim non diliget fratrem suum quem vidit, Deum quem non videt, quomodo potest deligere?—'For he that loveth not his brother whom he seeth, how can he love God whom he seeth not?' If we desire, then, to show our love to God, we must love our neighbour, we must serve him, help him, and relieve him in his necessities according to our power. How profoundly was the Blessed Virgin penetrated with this truth! No sooner had she heard that her cousin had conceived in her old age, than she arose and went with haste (the Gospel says, cum festinatione) over the mountains of Judea to the city of Ephrem.
Consider that Mary is become the Mother of the Son of God, and having with all humility and sweetness obtained leave of her Holy Spouse to go and visit her cousin Elizabeth, she bade a painful adieu to all her neighbours. With great eagerness did the Most Holy Virgin undertake her long and fatiguing journey, as the Gospel says, she went with haste! The first movements of Him Whom she bears in her womb increased her fervour, and she began her journey with haste but without mental flurry. The Angels are ready to accompany her, and St. Joseph gladly conducts her. One would wish to have known something of the conversation of these two great souls, and willingly should we listen to the account thereof. It is probable that the Holy Virgin conversed only of Him Whom she bore within her, and breathed only for her Saviour. St. Joseph, on his side, thinks only of his Redeemer, Who moves his heart with a thousand sentiments and affections. As wine locked up in the cellar acquires the scent of the flowery vines, so the heart of this Holy Patriarch insensibly participates in the perfume and the vigour of the Divine Infant Who blooms in His beautiful vineyard. The profound humility which Mary exercised in serving one who was in every respect her inferior, is indeed most worthy of our admiration. It is true that Elizabeth was of noble birth, because she was of the royal race of David, and was, moreover, united in marriage to the High Priest of the tribe of Levi. However, this nobility is nothing in comparison with that of the Most Holy Virgin, whose incomparable greatness can only be expressed by the title of Mother of God—Mater Dei—and yet where can we find more profound humility? Her humble heart is not satisfied with calling herself the handmaid of the Lord, but she leaves her house, and for three entire months is as a handmaid to her venerable cousin. The Gospel, moreover, gives us to understand that when the Divine Mother entered the house of Zacharias she was the first to give the salutation, and this through her great humility: Intravit in domum Zachariæ et salutavit Elizabeth.
Remark also the conduct of Our Lady amidst the praises and blessings which Elizabeth bestowed upon her. Assuredly it was very different from that of women in the world, who instead of humbling themselves when they are praised, become more puffed up. Was it not vanity that possessed our poor mother Eve, who, on hearing that she was created to the image and likeness of God, became thereby so presumptuous that she strove to become equal to Him, and gave ear to all the suggestions of the infernal enemy? But as the Most Holy Virgin had come into the world to regain all that Eve had lost by her vanity and pride, she thinks only of the abyss of her nothingness, and calls herself the handmaid of the Lord, although proclaimed by the Angel His Mother; when she is declared by Elizabeth to be the most blessed of women, she replies that her blessings are accorded because the Lord has looked down upon her lowliness and her littleness: Quia respexit humilitatem ancillæ suæ. What an excellent sign is humility of heart in a soul that has made progress in the spiritual life! When such souls humble themselves before God and before all creatures, in proportion to the greatness of the favours received, and place all their happiness, like Mary, in this alone, that the Divine Goodness has looked down upon their lowliness and misery, it is a sure indication that the graces of God are not received in vain.
The effects of grace in the heart of the Most Blessed Virgin were a profound humility and a burning charity towards God and towards her neighbour. The Apostle St. Paul in relating to us the love that our Saviour bore to the virtue of humility, says that 'He humbled Himself unto death, even to the death of the Cross'—Humiliavit semetipsum usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis; and he would have us learn from this that we should not be satisfied to have practised this virtue in some particular circumstances, nor for a certain time, but that we must practise it always and on all occasions. We must practise this virtue not only until death but unto the death of the Cross; that is to say, unto the perfect mortification of ourselves, humbling our self-esteem and our self-love. Let us not deceive ourselves by a certain appearance of humility; as, for instance, in speaking of our imperfections, or in performing external acts of reverence and humility, for the virtue of humility does not consist in this. True and Christian humility makes us esteem ourselves absolutely as nothing, as unworthy to live, as deserving only of universal contempt. It moves us to embrace generously the precept of our Saviour, that we renounce ourselves if we wish to follow Him: Si quis vult post me venire, abneget semetipsum.
SPIRITUAL FLOWERS.