Mary’s Glory in Heaven
August 22, 2023
Hi! How is each and every one? Exactly a week ago
the Church celebrated the Assumption of Our Lady ‘God has taken
Mary, body and soul, to heaven; and the angels rejoice!’ Today she celebrates
the Queenship of Mary: You
are all fair, and without blemish. You
are a garden enclosed, my sister, my Bride, an enclosed garden, a sealed
fountain. Veni: coronaberis: Come: you shall be crowned” (Song of Songs 4:7, 12 and 8). The
feast is a logical follow-up to the Assumption and is now celebrated on the
octave day of that feast. In his
encyclical To the Queen of Heaven,
Pope Pius XII points out that Mary deserves the title because she is Mother of
God, because she is closely associated as the New Eve with Jesus’ redemptive
work, because of her preeminent perfection and because of her intercessory
power (Roman Missal).
Following are two
excerpts on big sinners repent and Mary’s glory in heaven (From
Joseph Tissot, How to profit from your
faults, pp. 128-130).
Big
Sinners Repent
Who would ever be able to count the number of souls
that the Mother of God has brought back to divine life! For this, one would need to list all the
conversions. Not a single conversion could take place without her motherly
help. According to St. Ignatius the
Martyr, it is impossible for a sinner to be saved without the help of
Mary. One is not saved by the justice of
God, but rather by his infinite mercy, and that is solicited by Mary’s prayers
(Apud Celada, de Judith figurata, c.
10, no. 69).
St. Bonaventure adds that, like the new Ruth, Mary
gleans the ears of corn that have escaped the harvesters’ attention. He is referring to those souls who remain
deaf to all other appeals of grace. She
brings them together and places them back again in the granary of the Father of
the family.
According to St. Peter Damian, it is through the
prayers of the Blessed Virgin that the thief on Calvary repented and became a
martyr. Judas, the traitor, would never
have been lost had he only delayed his suicide until after the dying Christ had
entrusted his followers to his Mother (Philippe Abbas).
It is to her that the Prince of Apostles has
recourse after his triple denial. In
poetic language, St. Gregory of Nazianzen shows her pleading with her son: “O Word of God, it is man’s nature to sin;
forgive Peter.” And Jesus replies: “You know, Mother of mine that I comply with
all your wishes. Out of consideration
for you, I forgive Peter all his mistakes.”
St. Paul, according to some ancient biographers, (See Cornel, a Lap. in act., 7) attributed
the sudden grace of his conversion to the intercession of the Mother of God.
Mary’s Glory in Heaven
According to St. Bonaventure, if such was the mercy
shown by Mary during her exile on earth, how much greater will it be now that
she reigns in Heaven? (Spec., ch.
8). Her mercy increases in proportion to
the crowds of miserable persons whom she sees on earth. For the Church herself says that her work in
Paradise is to pray for sinners (Secret for the Vigil of the Assumption). Isn’t it because of them that she owes an
infinite increase in her glory? Would
she be the Mother of the Redeemer if there had not been sinners to redeem? “This truth has been excellently summed up by
Mr. Olier when he says: ‘It is due to
sinners that the Blessed Virgin obtained the happiness of being the mother of
the Savior of men.’ For if there were no
sin, Jesus would not have come into this world in the garb of sinful flesh” (Interior Life of the Very Saintly Virgin,
352). In that sense, then, Mary owes her
status of Mother of Jesus Christ to sinners.
“According to St. Thomas of Villanova, (Quoted by
the annotator of Mr. Olier) it is we who in some way have provided the occasion
for her promotion. Unless there was on
earth the sickness of sin to cure, the Divine Doctor would never have
descended. It is because of our sinful
condition that Mary became the mother of God.
God would never have become man if man had never sinned (Such at least
is the theory of the great Thomist school.
According to St. Francis de Sales, the Word would have taken flesh even
if man has not sinned. But in this
hypothesis, Mary would not have the glory due her brought about by her
suffering, and for which glory, in a sense, she is indebted to sinners).
O Virgin!
Without doubt, you owe us nothing, since it is our demerit and not your
merit that has brought about this state of affairs. You are truly the advocate of sinners: because of their sins, you have been elevated
to such a high position. Our sins fill
us with a sincere repentance, and we feel proud of your sublimity, and your
glory compensates for the damage caused by our faults.”
Need I say more?
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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