by Dom Prosper Guéranger, founding Abbot of the Congregation of Solesmes, taken from his treatment of Saturday in Whitsun Week in Volume 9 of his Liturgical Year.
After the sacred Humanity of our Redeemer, which received from this holy Spirit every gift that could make it worthy, as far as a creature can be, of the divine Nature to which the Incarnation united it, Mary’s soul, and the whole being, were adorned with grace above all other creatures together.
Vierge de Miséricorde
by Jean Miraillet (Public Domain)
It could not but be so, as must be evident to us if we reflect for a moment upon the meaning of a Mother of God. Mary, in her single self, forms a world apart in the order of grace; she alone was, for a short time, the Church of Jesus. The holy Spirit was at first sent for her alone and He filled her with grace from the instant of her Immaculate Conception. That grace developed itself in her, by the continuous action of the Holy Ghost, until at length she became worthy, as far as a creature could be, of conceiving and giving birth to the very Son of God, who became thus the Son of Mary. During these days of Pentecost, we have seen the new gifts wherewith the divine Spirit prepared her for her new office. Is it possible for us her children to think of all these things, and not be ardent in our admiration of her? Or not be overflowing with gratitude for the august Paraclete, who has deigned to show such munificence to this our own matchless Mother?
At the same time, we cannot help being overpowered with delight at the thought of the perfection, wherewith this favorite of the holy Spirit corresponded with the graces she received from Him. Not one was lost, not one was fruitless, as is sometimes the case with even the holiest souls. At her very commencement, she was as the rising morn (Canticles 6:9); from that time, her sanctity gradually mounted to the midday of its perfection, and that midday was to have no setting. Even before the Archangel announced to her that she was to conceive the Son of God in her chaste womb, she had already conceived Him in her soul, as the holy fathers teach us. The eternal Word loved her as His bride, even before He conferred upon her the honor of being His Mother. If Jesus could say of a soul that had needed regeneration: ‘They that seek Me, will find Me in the heart of Gertrude,’ what must have been the harmony of soul existing between Him and His blessed Mother! how close must have been their union! Trials of the severest kind awaited her in this world; she bore them all with heroic fortitude; and when the hour came for her to unite her own sacrifice with that made by her Son, she was ready. After Jesus’ Ascension, the Holy Ghost descended upon her; He opened out to her a new career, which would require her being an exile, for many long years, from the heaven where her Son was reigning:—she did not hesitate to accept the bitter chalice thus offered to her; she proved herself to be indeed the handmaid of the Lord, desirous, above all other things, to do His will in every tittle.
So that the triumph of the Holy Ghost in Mary’s person was of the most perfect kind: how grand soever might be His gifts, she worthily corresponded with them all. The sublime office of Mother of God, to which she was called, entitled her to graces in keeping with such a dignity; she received them, and turned them to the richest account. In return for her fidelity, as also in consideration of her incomparable dignity, the Holy Ghost allotted to Mary the place she well merited in the great work He had come to do, namely, the consummation of the saints and the formation of the Church, the body of Christ (Eph 4:12). Her divine Son is the Head of the immense body of the faithful; He gives it unity; but she herself represents the neck, whereby life and motion are communicated from the head to the rest of the body. Jesus is the chief agent; but He acts upon each member through Mary. Her union with the Incarnate Word is immediate, on account of her being to Him what no other creature could be; but with regard to us, the graces and favors, the light and consolation, which we receive from our divine Head, come to us through Mary.
Hence the influence of this blessed Mother upon the Church in general, and upon each individual in particular. She unites us to her Son, and He unites us to the Divinity. The Father gave us His Son; the Son chose a Mother from among His creatures; and the Holy Ghost, by giving fruitfulness to this Virgin-Mother, perfected the union of creatures with their Creator. The end God proposed in creation, was to effect this union; and now that the Son is glorified, and the Holy Ghost has come, we understand the whole divine plan. More favored than those who lived before the descent of the divine Spirit, we have, not only in promise, but in reality, a Brother who is crowned with the diadem of the divinity; a Paraclete who is to abide with us for ever, to enlighten our path and strengthen us; a mother, whose intercession is all-powerful; a Church, a second mother, by and from whom we receive all these blessings.
