Mary lived her life with her Son and to her He communicated His secrets. It is impossible to imagine that He did not reveal to her His plans and designs which were the reason of His coming to this earth, and how He was going to carry them out. She knew, then, that she was the Mother of a Victim; and when He offered Himself to God, she joined in, offering herself and her Son for all that He wished. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord!" Here I am, I offer myself to Thee, do what Thou wilt with me. This was Mary's attitude all through her life from the time when her Fiat was a sign for the Incarnation to take place, till she stood on Calvary's Hill assisting at the offering of the Victim. Truly had the Mother of Sorrows caught the spirit of her Son; all through her life she regarded Him as a Victim. When He was forty days old she formally offered Him to God, and her life though bound up with His was nevertheless detached from Him, as from something given to another. Now at this early stage of His life, Mary is learning her lesson and gaining her strength. She is doing it by leading an interior life, hidden with her Son.
O my Mother, as I come to-day to the holy Tabernacle "prepared from the beginning" where the Sacred Victim lies hidden, help me to make my life one with His as thou didst, help me to detach myself from everything for His sake and to say my Fiat whenever He asks for it.
Point III. Learn of Me.
If I want to live an interior life, I must model it on the life of Jesus hidden in the womb of His Mother. He wants me to lead it for He is ever saying: Learn of Me Who led this life for you. An interior life must be essentially a life of oblation. This is its foundation: the offering of the soul as a holocaust to God and then regarding itself as a victim, all it has and does and is and thinks and plans, belonging not to itself but to God. It lies on the altar waiting to be consumed; it is not surprised when it is treated as a victim and feels the flames, not surprised, that is, when it is forgotten and thought nothing of; its life is hidden, how should people remember it! If it has to suffer, it considers it the most natural thing in the world for a victim. If its plans are all frustrated, it knows that it is lying there on the altar to do God's Will, not its own, and that this is only the fire consuming the victim; if it did not happen thus the victim might indeed be surprised and anxious, wondering whether God had accepted its sacrifice. "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service" (Rom. xii. 1). The sacrifice is ever living, and ever being consumed. The victim feels keenly all the many processes by which God shows that He has accepted the offering, but if it copies its Model, there will be no complaint, no drawing back of the offering, no wishing that it had chosen an easier course, no wondering whether it had made a mistake in its vocation; rather will there be joy in its heart because in its humble way it is like its Master, and each fresh touch of the fire will be to it a fresh proof that God has not forgotten it, but has taken it at its word and counts on it to be all that it promised to be. What is necessary for all this? Only one thing: Love. If I love, I can do it. "Walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and given Himself an oblation for us."
O my little Jesus, hidden there for me and offering Thyself for me, teach me to be generous, teach me to love Thee as Thou deservest; help me to lie quietly and unresistingly on the altar. I am not alone. Thou art there, bearing all with me and giving me the necessary strength to bear all for Thee. Help me to sacrifice willingly all my cherished desires and tastes, all my will. Thou didst withhold nothing from me, help me to withhold nothing from Thee. So shall I make Thee some reparation for all the time wasted in the past, for all the sins committed against Thy love; so only can I obey Thy command: "Learn of Me," and make some little return for Thy infinite love.
Colloquy with Jesus and His blessed Mother.
Resolution. To offer myself as a victim to-day.
Spiritual Bouquet. "Walk in love as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered Himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God." (Eph. v. 2).