Advocate of the Just and Architect of Mercy
Hi! How is each and every one? The Church celebrates July 22 as the feast day of Saint Mary Magdalene. Parts of the Mass are words of Our Lord to her and or prayers of the Church based on her life. The Mass starts with the following words: “The Lord said to Mary Magdalene: Go to my brothers and tell them: I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
The Collect:
“O God, whose Only Begotten Son entrusted Mary Magdalene before all
others with announcing the great joy of the Resurrection, grant, we pray, that,
through her intercession and example, we may proclaim the living Christ and
come to see him reigning in your glory.”
The Preface for Apostles of Apostles is used: “It is truly right and just, our duty and our
salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father,
almighty and eternal God, whose mercy is no less than His power to preach the
Gospel to everyone, through Christ, our Lord. In the garden He appeared to Mary
Magdalene, who loved him in life, who witnessed his death on the cross, who
sought him as he lay in the tomb, who was the first to adore Him when He rose
from the dead, and whose apostolic duty was honored by the apostles that the
good news of life might reach the ends of the earth.”
The Communion prayer goes: “The love of Christ impels us, so that those
who live may live no longer for themselves but for him who died for them and
was raised.”
If Mary Magdalene is an
advocate of the just and architect of mercy what are you and I an advocate of? I searched the meaning of advocate and it
says an advocate is a person who actively supports and promotes the interest of
another person or enterprise. Why don’t you and I search ourselves in our quiet
moments with the Holy Spirit and find out with His help what you and I are
expected according to God’s will to advocate, support, promote, uphold, defend,
spread around us while we are on earth.
The following post
continues to tell us why the titles advocate of the Just and architect of mercy
allude to Mary Magdalene (From Joseph Tissot, How to profit from your faults, pp. 18-120).
“Mary Magdalene is also the advocate of the just. Even if she is not called virgin, she deserves the name because of the excellence and purity of herself after her conversion. She should be called arch-virgin, more so as she was purified to such an extent in the furnace of Sacred Love that her chastity was reestablished. She was further endowed with such perfect love that, after the Holy Virgin, she was the one who loved our Lord the most. We can even say that she loved him as much as or more than the seraphs. For it is true that they possess perfect and painless love without fear of losing it. But this saint acquired it after a great deal of work and care, and preserved it with fear and solicitude. In recognition of her fidelity, God gave her a strong and ardent love accompanied by such purity, that just as the divine Spouse ‘wounded’ her heart continuously with love, so she ‘assaulted’ him by sighs, desires, and claims of love. It is believed that she often repeated those words uttered by the spouse in the Song of Songs: O that you would kiss me with the kisses of your mouth (Song 1:2). Such a kiss has been greatly desired by human nature and longed for by the Fathers and prophets. This was nothing other than the incarnation and union of the divine with human nature. It was that union with God which this holy lover longed for.
“You see, then, how she is the patron saint of the just.
For what could make her more just than this sacred love accompanied by humility and compunction? It entitled her to remain always at the feet of the Savior. He loved her with the same tender and sensitive love that he has for the just” (Sermon for the Feast of St. Mary Magdalen).
Architect of Mercy
On another occasion, St. Francis de Sales
beautifully refers to this illustrious penitent and confirms what we said: “Our Lord restored Mary Magdalene’s
virginity, not in its original state but after being healed. And this is sometimes of a higher order than
that which, though never stained, has perhaps less humility” (Talk 19, On the
Virtues of St. Joseph).
Finally, our dear Saint concludes: “Never would the Magdalene have loved her
Savior so much if she had not been forgiven so many sins. Never would he have forgiven her so much if
she had not committed them. You see, my
dear daughter, this great architect of mercy converts our miseries into grace,
and transforms the venom of our sins into a salutary medicine for our souls”
(Letter 392).
Given the above example
of Mary Magdalene’s life, we can cultivate the habit of examining our desires,
thoughts, words, actions and most of all of our intentions based on the love
for God, love for others as we love ourselves for God. We can also cultivate
the habit of asking for pardon and forgiveness from God for our offenses
against Him and neighbor. We can learn
and ask for the grace of humility to know, recognize and acknowledge our sins
and mistakes which offend God and neighbor.
Over and above these we ought to see and experience the love of God for
each one of us, His blessings and gifts for which we must thank Him as often as
possible. And last but not least we must
recognize the need to ask for God’s help and grace to conquer our weaknesses,
lack of charity and lack of struggle against our tendencies. We can make our
own the aspiration of Blessed Alvaro del Portillo “Gracias,
perdon, ayuda me mas” (Thank you,
pardon me, help me more). The fruits of the above dispositions are charity,
joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith,
modesty, continence and chastity. The struggle is worthwhile.
See
you in the next post, “May tomorrow be a perfect day; may
you find love and laughter along the way; may God keep you in his tender care;
‘til He brings us together again.”
Affectionately,
Guadalupinky
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