Without discussing the opinion of certain Doctors, who think that Our Lord, by these words, meant to say that the wine was not yet wanted, I shall call your attention to this reflection: that there are certain times ordained by Divine Providence upon which our conversion and salvation depend.
It is certain that God had from all eternity determined the hour and moment when He would work the great miracle of His Incarnation, and give to the world the first sign of His power, but yet this determination could be accelerated by prayer.
The greater number of the Fathers assert that Mary, by her loving sighs and aspirations, merited the acceleration of the Incarnation of Our Lord. Not, indeed, that He became Incarnate before the time that He had determined, but that, from all eternity He foresaw that the Holy Virgin would beg Him to hasten the time of His coming into the world; and therefore, in consideration of the great merit of her intercession, He ordained to become Man sooner than He would have done had He not been petitioned to do so. The same may be said of the first miracle, wrought by Our Lord at the wedding of Cana. Nondum venit hora mea—'My hour is not yet come,' said Jesus to His Holy Mother, but as I can refuse you nothing, I shall hasten to hear your prayer.
Oh, how precious is that hour in which Divine Providence wills to impart to us those special graces and blessings that are necessary for our salvation, Happy the soul who awaits this hour patiently, and who endeavours to prepare herself for it when it arrives. The Samarian woman assuredly was converted at this hour, and upon its arrival will depend also our own conversion and spiritual regeneration. We will now consider how Our Lord acted when He worked this miracle.
In the hall were seven stone urns, prepared for the purification, practised by the Jews. Our Lord ordered them to be filled with water, Implete hydrias aqua; and as the waiters had already been directed by Mary to follow punctually the orders of her Divine Son, they filled them 'up to the brim,' as the Sacred Text expresses it. Afterwards Our Saviour said something interiorly, not understood by anyone, and the water was instantly changed into most excellent wine. These words which He spoke were similar, without doubt, to those by which He drew all things out of nothing, or by which He gave being and life to man, or by which, also, at His last supper with His disciples, He changed wine into His adorable Blood, and thus instituted the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, giving to us, through it, that most excellent wine which nourishes us for eternal life.
This fact in the Gospel shows us, moreover, the great confidence we should have in the powerful intercession of Our Lady. But in order that she may represent our necessities to her Divine Son, we must invite her and our adorable Saviour to our banquet, because wine can never fail when Jesus and Mary are present; this Mother of Mercy being ever prepared to ask it for us, and her Divine Son ever ready to bestow it.
However, if we desire Our Lady to intercede with her Divine Son that He may change the water of our tepidity into the wine of His fervent love, we must imitate the waiters at the marriage of Cana, and do all that Our Lord shall tell us. Obey Him, then, with fidelity, O ye servants of God, fill your hearts well with the penitential water of repentance, and He will change it into the wine of His holy love. In order to obtain the spirit of fervour, nourish your mind with holy thoughts; make frequent ejaculations, and, as a general rule, if you wish to be recollected in time of prayer, avoid dissipation during the day, and waste no time in useless reflections upon yourself, or on what happens around you. Keep yourself in the presence of God, and repose in the loving arms of His Providence. Bless this adorable Providence continually during life, and you will glorify It eternally in heaven, with all the Saints and blessed spirits.
SPIRITUAL FLOWERS.
The Spouse in the Canticles says that her hands distil myrrh—a liquor which preserves from corruption; her eyes are like those of the dove, in their purity; from her ears hang pendants of gold, as a sign of chastity; her lips are vermilion, the symbol of her modesty in speech; and her nose like the tower of Lebanon, of incorruptible wood. Such should be the devout servant of God—chaste, pure and unspotted in her whole soul and body.—St. Francis of Sales.
Clasp Jesus closely to your breast; let Him be a beautiful and sweet bouquet of flowers upon your heart, so that whoever approaches you may be conscious of the perfume, and know that the fragrance of your life should be of myrrh—the symbol of mortification.—The same.