Whichever of the two significations given to these words: God hath regarded the humility of His Handmaid be accepted, we find that the Holy Virgin always spoke with so much humility as to leave no doubt whatever that she considered all her happiness to proceed from her Lord having looked upon her lowliness. On this account the words of the Spouse of the Canticles are applied to her: Dum esset Rex in accubitu suo nardus mea dedit odorem suum—'While the King was at his repose, my spikenard sent forth the odour thereof.' The plant on which the spikenard grows does not grow up high like the cedars of Lebanon. But lowly as it is, it delights all by the sweetness it diffuses around. What a precious plant was the Most Holy Virgin, who never sought to exalt herself, although enriched by God with the most signal favours! She was always penetrated by the sense of her own abjection and nothingness; and in virtue of this humility she spread around, like the spikenard plant, so sweet a perfume that it ascended to the Throne of the Divine Majesty, and attracted the Son of God to descend and take flesh in her immaculate womb.
We see, then, how dear humility is to God! Our Saviour taught this truth in His memorable reply to the woman who exclaimed aloud: Beatus venter qui Te portavit et ubera quæ suxisti—'Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the paps that gave Thee suck.' 'Yea,' said Our Lord, 'rather, blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it'—Quinimmo beati qui audiunt verbum Dei et custodiunt illud. That is to say: 'My Mother is indeed blessed on account of having borne Me in her womb; but more blessed is she on account of the humility with which she listened to the words of My Heavenly Father, and kept them.' And this He again taught when He said that they who heard the Word of God and practised it were to Him as His Mother and His Brethren.
SPIRITUAL FLOWERS.
Jesus Christ built His throne upon the ruins of the world. Before the fruits of grace can be gathered the flowers of prosperity must fall.
The present moment's grace may be that which will decide our eternity.—Nepveu.
The Heart of Mary is a garden of delights, in which we can gather the most precious fruits. This most beautiful garden is closed against the impure spirit; it is full of Divine perfumes, cultivated by a Heavenly Hand, and adorned with the most charming flowers of virtue. Of these there are three which particularly attract our admiration, and fill the house of God with the sweetest fragrance—they are the violet of humility, the lily of chastity, and the rose of charity.—St. Bernard.
The less you seek after praise and your own interests, the more do you deserve to be praised and rewarded by God.
Origin of the Rosary.
The Rosary of the B. V. M. in its present form was instituted by St. Dominic. But as early as the year 1094 Peter the Hermit had invented a kind of rosary of beads of wood, upon which the Crusaders, who were generally uneducated men, recited a certain number of Paters and Aves, varied according to the solemnity of the feasts.