Dom Prosper Gueranger:
This being Saturday, let us once more think of Mary and of the joy she feels at the Resurrection of her Son. She had been His companion in His sufferings. There was not one that she had not endured and suffered as far as a mere creature could suffer: so, too, there is not a single glory or gladness of the Resurrection in which she is not now made to participate. It was meet that she to whom God had granted the grace and merit of sharing in the work of the Redemption should take her part in the prerogatives which belong to her Jesus, now that He is risen. Her soul is raised to a higher state of perfection. Grace loads her with new favours. Her actions and sentiments become more than ever heavenly. She was the first to receive a visit from Jesus after His Resurrection — the first, consequently, to receive from Him His own New Life. Can we be astonished at her receiving it when we remember that every Christian, who, being purified by his having compassionated with Jesus in His Passion, unites himself afterwards with holy Church in the sublime mystery of the Pasch, becomes a sharer in the life of His Risen Lord?
This transformation which in us is weak and often, alas! of short duration, was perfect in Mary, for her high vocation and her incomparable fidelity deserved that it should be so of her, then, far more truly than of us, it may be said, that she was indeed risen in her Jesus. The thought of these forty days during which Mary still possesses her Divine Son on this earth reminds us of those other forty of Bethlehem when we paid our affectionate homage to the young Virgin-Mother who fed her divine babe at her breast. We heard the Angels singing their Gloria, we saw the shepherds and the Magi. All was exquisite sweetness. What mainly impressed us then was the humility of our Emmanuel. We recognised Him as the Lamb that had come to take away the sins of the world. There was nothing that betokened the Mighty God. What changes have happened since that dear time! What sorrows have pierced Mary’s heart before her reaching this blissful season of Paschal joy! The sword foretold by Simeon is now indeed, sheathed, yea, broken for ever, but oh how sharp and cruel have been its thrusts! Well may Mary now say with the Psalmist: “According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, your comforts, Lord, have given joy to my soul!” (Psalms xciii. 19). The Lamb, the gentle little Lamb has become the Lion of the tribe of Judah and Mary, the Mother of the babe of Bethlehem, is equally the Mother of the glorious conqueror.
With what delight does He not show the glories of His victories to His Mother! His work is done and now He is the beautiful crowned King of Ages. Yes, this is He whom she held for nine months within her womb, whom she fed at her breast, and who, for all eternity, will honour her as His Mother. He honours her during these his last Forty Days on earth with every possible mark of affection. He satisfies her maternal love by frequently visiting her. How admirable must not these interviews be between such a Son and Mother! How delightedly must not Mary look upon her Jesus now? The same dear one, it is true, but oh so changed from what He was a few days ago! That face, so familiar to Mary, beams with a light which is new even to her. The wounds that remain on His hands, feet and side dart forth a brightness which effaces every recollection of sadness. But how shall we speak of the joy with which Jesus gazes on Mary, His Immaculate Mother — His companion in the work of man’s salvation — the creature who is more perfect and more worthy of love than all other creatures put together? Who could describe the conversations of such a Son with such a Mother during these days preceding His Ascension when another long separation is to follow? Eternity will tell us what they were but, even now, if we love the Son and the Mother, we can imagine some little of what passed between them. Jesus would offer to Mary some compensation for the prolongation of her stay on earth, which is required of her by her ministry as Mother of men. More privileged than was heretofore Martha’s sister, she hears His every word and feeds on its sweetness in an ecstasy of love. O happy hours, to be followed by long years of absence, flow slowly by! Give this Blessed Mother time to satiate her love with the sight and caresses of this dearest and most beautiful of the sons of men! O Mary! by these hours of joy which repaid you for those long bitter ones of your Jesus’ Passion, pray to Him for us that He permit us to feel and relish His presence in our hearts during this our exile in which we are absent from Him (2 Corinthians v. 6). Thus will we persevere in our devoted service until the arrival of that blissful moment when we are to be united with Him in Heaven, never again to be separated from Him.
