Friday, August 21, 2015

Day 54, GLORIOUS MYSTERIES, Friday August 21


Eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Pope Pius XII established the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on August 22, the Octave Day of the Feast of her glorious Assumption into Heaven. In honor of her glorious Heart, we present the following. How we should love this Immaculate Heart, the masterpiece of God's creation from which He drew His Sacred Humanity!

Of Mary' 's Charity towards God.
St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Glories of Mary

Saint Anselm says, that ' wherever there is the greatest purity, there is also the greatest charity.' The more a heart is pure, and empty of itself, the greater is the fullness of its love towards God. The most holy Mary, because she was all humility, and had nothing of self in her, was filled with divine love, so that ' her love towards God surpassed that of all men and angels,' as Saint Bernardine writes. Therefore, Saint Francis de Sales, with reason called her: 'the Queen of love.' God has indeed, given men the precept to love Him with their whole hearts: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart." But, as Saint Thomas declares, 'this commandment will be fully and perfectly fulfilled by men in heaven alone, and not on earth, where it is only fulfilled imperfectly.' On this subject, blessed Albert the Great remarks, that in a certain sense, it would have been unbecoming had God given a precept, which was never to have been perfectly fulfilled. But this would have been the case had not the Divine Mother perfectly fulfilled it. The Saint says: 'Either someone fulfilled this precept, or no one; if any one, it must have been the most Blessed Virgin.' Richard of Saint Victor confirms this opinion, saying, ' The Mother of our Emmanuel practiced virtues in their very highest perfection. Who has ever fulfilled, as she did, that first commandment, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart?" In her, Divine love was so ardent, that no defect of any kind could have access to her.'

'Divine love,' says Saint Bernard, 'so penetrated and filled the soul of Mary, that no part of her was left untouched ; so that she loved with her whole heart, with her whole soul, with her whole strength, and was full of grace.' Therefore Mary could well say: ' My beloved has given Himself all to me, and I have given myself all to Him: "My beloved to me, and I to Him."'' 'Ah! well might even the Seraphim,' says Richard, 'have descended from heaven to learn, in the heart of Mary, how to love God.'1 (rod, who is love, came on earth to enkindle in the hearts of all, the flame of His Divine love; but in no heart did He enkindle it so much as in that of His Mother; for her heart was entirely pure from all earthly affections, and fully prepared to burn with this blessed flame. Thus Saint Sophronius says, that ' Divine love so inflamed her, that nothing earthly could enter her affections; she was always burning with this heavenly flame, and, so to say, inebriated with it.' 

Hence, the heart of Mary became all fire and flames, as we read of her in the sacred Canticles: " The lamps thereof arc fire and flames;" fire burning within through love, as Saint Anselm explains it ; and flames shining without, by the example she gave to all in the practice of virtues. When Mary then was in this world, and bore Jesus in her arms, she could well be called: ' fire carrying fire,' and, with far more reason than a woman spoken of by Hippocrates, who was thus called, because she carried fire in her hand. Yes, for Saint Ildephonsus said, that 'the Holy Ghost heated, inflamed, and melted Mary with love, as fire does iron ; so that the flame of this Holy Spirit was seen, and nothing was felt but the fire of the love of God.' Saint Thomas of Villanova says, that the bush seen by Moses, which burnt without being consumed, was a real symbol of - Mary's heart. Therefore with reason, says Saint Bernard, was she seen by Saint John clothed with the sun: " And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun;" 'for,' continues the Saint, 'she was so closely united to God by love, and penetrated so deeply the abyss of Divine Wisdom, that, without a personal union with God, it would seem impossible for a creature to have a closer union with Him.'

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