HOW BEAUTIFUL WAS THE ASSUMPTION OF MARY HOLY!

 

Note from the E. when Saint John Maria Vianey wrote this beautiful writing about the Blessed Virgin Mary, the dogma of the Assumption of Blessed Mary was not yet proclaimed, where His Holiness Pius XII gave her the name of SLEEP and not DEATH as mentioned by the saint Curé d'Ars at this writing. It is a necessary clarification to make it clear that, by virtue of having been preserved from original sin, death had nothing to do with her person.

Quia respexit humilitatem ancilae suae.

 Because the Lord considered the smallness of his slave. (S. Luke, I, 48.)

 If, on the one hand, II. M., we see the Blessed Virgin lower herself, in her humility, below all creatures, on the other we see that this same humility elevates her above everything that is not God. No, it is not the great ones of the earth who elevated it to that supreme degree of dignity where we have the joy of contemplating it now. The three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity placed her on that throne of glory; they proclaimed her Queen of heaven and earth, and made her the depositary of all heavenly treasures. No, we will never fully understand the greatness of Mary, nor the power that Jesus, the divine Son of her, granted her; We will never get to understand the great desire that She feels to make us happy. She loves us like children; she feels joyful of the power that God has given her, because with it she can be more useful to us. Yes, Mary is our mediator. She is the one who presents to her divine Son our prayers, our tears and our sighs; She is the one who attracts upon us the graces that are necessary for our salvation. The Holy Spirit tells us that Mary is, among all creatures, a prodigy of greatness, a prodigy of holiness and a prodigy of love. What happiness is ours, what a source of hope for our salvation! Let us therefore revive our confidence in such a good and tender Mother, considering: ¡What happiness is ours, ¡what a source of hope for our salvation! Let us therefore revive our confidence in such a good and tender Mother, considering: 1. her greatness; 2. her zeal for our salvation; 3. what we have to do to be pleasant to her and deserve her protection. The Holy Spirit tells us that Mary is, among all creatures, a prodigy of greatness, a prodigy of holiness and a prodigy of love. What happiness is ours, what a source of hope for our salvation!

I. — To speak of the greatness of Mary is to want to belittle the sublime idea that you have of her; for Saint Ambrose tells us that Mary is exalted in such a high degree of glory, honor and power, that the angels themselves are incapable of understanding it; only God is reserved such knowledge.From where I conclude that everything that you can now hear will be nothing or almost nothing with respect to what She really is in the eyes of God. The greatest praise that the Church can give us is to tell us that Mary is the Daughter of the Eternal Father, the Mother of the Son of God, Savior of the world, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. If the Eternal Father chose Mary so that she would be his daughter par excellence, what torrent of graces would he not have poured out on her soul? She alone received them in greater abundance than all the angels and saints put together. He began by preserving her from original sin, a grace that has only been granted to her, and he confirmed her in said grace with the assurance of never losing it. Yes, the Eternal Father enriched her with gifts from heaven, in proportion to her dignity to which he had to raise her. He made her the living temple of the three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity. In a word: he did for her everything he could do for a child. And if the Eternal Father took so much care to honor Mary, we also see the Holy Spirit hastening to beautify her. in such a way that, from the moment of her conception, she becomes the object of the pleasures of the three divine Persons. Only Mary has the joy of being the Daughter of the Eternal Father, the Mother of the Son and the wife of the Holy Spirit. And for this incomparable dignity, she has been associated with the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, in order to form the adorable body of Jesus Christ. God had to use Her to destroy and annihilate the empire of the devil; the three divine Persons used Her to save the world by giving it a Redeemer. Would you have ever imagined in Mary such an abyss of greatness, power and love? After the adorable body of Jesus Christ, She is the best ornament of the heavenly court.

We can affirm that the triumph of the Blessed Virgin in paradise is the consummation of all the merits of this august Queen of heaven and earth. It was that moment when she received her final adornment, in her incomparable dignity as Mother of God. After having been subjected for some time to the miseries of life and the humiliations of death, she went on to enjoy the most glorious and happy life of which any creature is capable. Perhaps we will be surprised by the fact that Jesus, who loved her Mother so much, left her on earth for so long after her resurrection. Is the reason for this because with that delay she wanted to give him a greater degree of glory, and furthermore, must we consider that the apostles still needed his presence to console and guide them? It was Mary who revealed to the apostles the greatest and most interesting secrets of the hidden life of Jesus; and it was also Mary who raised the banner of virginity, revealing all the splendor and beauty of her and showing us the inestimable reward that is reserved for such a holy state.

But let us return to our purpose, following Mary until the moment she leaves this world. Jesus Christ wanted that, before ascending to heaven, he could see his apostles once more, all except Saint Thomas, were transported around his humble bed. Carrying to excess the humility that she had always held in such esteem, she kissed all her feet, asking for her blessing. That act prepared her for the eminent glory to which her Son should elevate her. In turn, Mary also gave her blessing to everyone. It is impossible for me to give you an idea of ​​the tears that the apostles shed at that time, in view of the imminence of the loss they were going to experience. Didn't the Blessed Virgin, after the Savior, constitute all her happiness, all her consolation? But, to lessen a little the pain they felt, Mary promised never to forget them near her divine Son. It is believed that the same angel who announced the mystery of the Incarnation came down to warn her, on behalf of her Son, about the time she was going to die. The Blessed Virgin answered the angel: ¡Ah, what happiness! How much I have desired this moment! After that happy news, she wanted to make her will, which cost her little work. She had two tunics and left them to two virgins who had served her for a long time. Afterwards, she felt burned with such ardent love that her soul, similar to a lit bonfire, could not contain itself in her body. Happy moment! Can we contemplate the marvels that were worked in that death, without feeling an ardent desire to live holyly to die also, ¿holyly? Certainly we should not expect to die of love, more at least let us harbor the hope of dying in the love of God. Mary does not fear her death in any way, since death will put her in possession of perfect happiness; she knows that heaven is waiting for her, and that she will be there one of her most beautiful ornaments. Her Son and all the heavenly court prepare to celebrate that brilliant party, and the saints of heaven wait only for Jesus' orders to go out in search of that Queen and take her in triumph to her kingdom. Everything is prepared in heaven to receive it; she is going to enjoy honors that exceed how much she can conceive of herself. To leave this world, Mary was not subject to any disease, because she was exempt from sin. Despite her advanced age, her body was not decrepit like that of other mortals; before, on the contrary, as its end drew near it seemed to acquire new attractions. Saint John Damascene says that Jesus Christ himself came to look for his Mother. And so that beautiful star disappeared that for seventy-two years illuminated the world. Yes, She returned to see her Son, but in a very different aspect from the one in which she saw him when, covered in blood, he was nailed to the cross.

¡O divine Love! behold the most excellent of your victories and your conquests! You couldn't do more, but you couldn't do less either. Yes, HM, if it was necessary for the Mother of God to die, she could only die from a transport of love. ¡O beautiful death! oh happy death! oh appetizing death! oh! She was very well indemnified for that accumulation of humiliations and pains that her holy soul had to experience during her mortal life! Yes, she saw her Son again, but very different from when she saw him in her painful passion, in the hands of her executioners, with the cross on his back, crowned with thorns, and unable to help him or relieve him. ¡Oh! no, she does not see him now surrounded by that sad apparatus, capable of astonishing the least sensitive creatures, but radiant with light and clothed in a glory that is the joy and happiness of heaven; She is seen surrounded by angels and saints, who praise her, bless her and adore her until they are stunned in her presence. Yes, She returns, to see her sweet Jesus, free from all that she can make him suffer. oh! Who among us will not want to do everything possible to join the Mother and the Son in that place of delights? A few moments of struggle and suffering are greatly rewarded.

oh! ¡what a happy death! Mary is free from all fear, because she loved God at all times; It doesn't hurt her to have to leave anything, because she has never possessed more than God. ¿Do we also want to die without fear? Let us live, like Mary, in innocence; let us flee from sin, which constitutes our greatest misfortune for time and for eternity. If we had the misfortune to commit it, following the example of Saint Peter, let us cry until the hour of death, and our remorse ends only with our lives. In imitation of holy King David, let us go down to the sepulcher shedding tears; let us wash our souls in the bitterness of our tears. Do we want, like Mary, ¿to die without regret or sadness? Let us live as she lived, without becoming fond of created things; let us do what she does, let us love only God, let us not desire more than him, let us not seek anything other than to please him in all our works. Happy the Christian, who leaves nothing to find everything!...

Let us approach even for a few moments that humble bed, to which it is lucky to hold such a precious pearl, that rose always fragrant and without thorns, that focus of light and glory, which should add new splendor to the heavenly court. It is said that the angels sang songs of joy in the humble abode where the holy body rested, and the room was saturated with such a pleasant fragrance that it seemed that all the sweetness and softness of heaven had descended there. Come on, at least in spirit, let us accompany that sacred procession; let us continue to the tabernacle where the Father had locked up so many treasures, which will be locked up for some time, as was that of his divine Son. The pain and the sighs imposed the most respectful silence on the apostles and the other faithful, come en masse to see once more the Mother of their Redeemer. But, coming to their senses, they burst into hymns and songs, in order to honor the Son and the Mother. A part of the angels ascended to the heavens to carry in triumph that soul without equal; and another part stayed on earth to celebrate the obsequies of the holy body. And I ask, ¿who will be able to paint us and describe such a beautiful spectacle? On one side, the blessed spirits consecrate all their celestial ingenuity to bear witness to the immense joy they felt for the glory of her Queen: on the other side, the apostles were seen. and a large number of faithful also raise their voices to join the harmony of the heavenly singers. in order to honor the Son and the Mother. A part of the angels ascended to the heavens to carry in triumph that soul without equal; and another part stayed on earth to celebrate the obsequies of the holy body. And I ask, ¿who will be able to paint us and describe such a beautiful spectacle? On one side, the blessed spirits consecrate all their celestial ingenuity to bear witness to the immense joy they felt for the glory of her Queen: on the other side, the apostles were seen. and a large number of faithful also raise their voices to join the harmony of the heavenly singers. in order to honor the Son and the Mother. A part of the angels ascended to the heavens to carry in triumph that soul without equal; and another part stayed on earth to celebrate the obsequies of the holy body. And I ask, ¿who will be able to paint us and describe such a beautiful spectacle? On one side, the blessed spirits consecrate all their celestial ingenuity to bear witness to the immense joy they felt for the glory of her Queen: on the other side, the apostles were seen. and a large number of faithful also raise their voices to join the harmony of the heavenly singers. Who will be capable of painting and describing such a beautiful spectacle? On one side, the blessed spirits consecrate all their celestial ingenuity to bear witness to the immense joy they felt for the glory of her Queen: on the other side, the apostles were seen. and a large number of faithful also raise their voices to join the harmony of the heavenly singers. Who will be capable of painting and describing such a beautiful spectacle? On one side, the blessed spirits consecrate all their celestial ingenuity to bear witness to the immense joy they felt for the glory of her Queen: on the other side, the apostles were seen. and a large number of faithful also raise their voices to join the harmony of the heavenly singers.