| November 2002
Issue #23
Queen of All Saints
The
characteristic features in the holiness of Mary, that make
her the Queen of All Saints, are its grandeur, detachment,
service, universality, inspiration. Let us examine these
features in the liturgical texts which holy Church applies
to Mary (Ecclus. 24: 17, ff).
"I
was exalted like a cedar in Libanus."
The
cedar is distinguished by its majestic height, the excellence
of its wood which is almost incorruptible and highly polishable,
so that it was used extensively for the building of temples
and palaces. Mary towers above all saints. God chose her
to be the palace and temple of the incarnate Word, and therefore
made her incorruptible of soul through her immaculate conception
and fullness of grace, and of body through her bodily assumption
into heaven.
Such a towering height of holiness, though beyond our reach,
is a challenge to aim high. With the help of grace and
Mary's motherly assistance it is possible to keep the soul
free from the corruption of deliberate sin, to increase
the beauty and splendour of the temple, which the Holy Spirit
has built in our souls; there is no limit to the heights
of holiness that we may reach. Therefore aim high each
day must bring you closer to God.
"I
was exalted like the palm in Cades."
The palm, used for the comparison in this case, sheds its
leaves as it grows; straight and slender it rises into space;
only at the top it keeps the leaves necessary for growth,
and there it produces flower and fruit. It is the symbol
of victory that can be accomplished only through self-denial
and detachment.
Mary, the Queen of All Saints, without any attachment to
the world, rises straight to God; close to God she produces
the flowers and fruits of her love. Detachment from this
earth is needed, if we would give our minds and hearts to
God, and in the higher sphere of divine light and love bring
forth the fruit of holiness. Hence, be detached, conquer
yourself.
"As
a fair olive tree in the plains."
The
olive tree was valued highly for its all-around usefulness.
Its fruit provided light, nourishment, and healing.
Mary gave to the world Him who is the Light of men, the
Bread of life, and the Remedy for all of mankind's ills,
especially moral disease and suffering. Throughout her
life she was most intimately united with her divine Son
in placing all her words and deeds in the service of souls.
Love of God and of our neighbour is the great commandment
of the law. The Christian life by its very nature is therefore
consecrated to service. Hence, make yourself fit for service,
and remember that in no other way can you do more for God
and souls than by a holy life.
"As
the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odour and my
flowers are the fruits of honour and riches.
I
am the mother of fair love and of fear and of know-ledge
and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of
truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue."
The
vine is valued because of its fertility and the excellence
of its fruit. Christ speaks of Himself as the vine and
of us as His branches; He chose wine as the second element
for the eucharistic sacrifice, the joy and hope of the world.
Christ, the Vine, is the fruit of Mary. If we are the branches
of Christ, then we are also the branches of Mary. It remains
for us to be living branches, bearing the fruits of love
and fear and holy hope and of all virtues. The riches of
this Vine are worth more than all the gold and silver and
precious stones found on the face of the earth. The fruit
of the vine is changed into the blood of the Saviour at
the eucharistic sacrifice. It is to this wine that St.
Ignatius addresses the petition: "Blood of Christ
inebriate me." Should it not inebriate us with
holy love of God and forgetfulness of self, and keep us
ever active in producing all the fruits of a holy life?
"I
gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aromatical balm; I
yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh."
There
is something pleasing and stimulating about these aromatic
substances. So there is something refreshing and stimulating
in a holy life. The sacred writings speak of the sweet
odour of good deeds, of sacrifice, of a holy life.
No saint has exercised on the members of the Church as great
an influence as the Mother of the Holy One. Particularly
stimulating in her life is the fact that there is nothing
which, according to the standards of the world, would be
spectacular or world-shaking. But we do find in her life
the humble, lowly things for which the world has no eye:
humility, fidelity to duty, kindness, sympathy, patience.
Yet these her humble virtues have done for the salvation
of the world more than all the spectacular deeds of statesmen,
generals, scientists, and artists. Spectacular deeds are
beyond the possibility of the vast majority of men, but
the charm and drawing power, the world-embracing and world-transforming
power of deeds of holiness are within the reach of all.
Words teach, examples draw.
-from Our Lady’s Litany, by Rev. A Biskupek.
The
first Lateran Council states: "If anyone contrary
to the teaching of the Fathers does not confess, in the
literal and true sense of the words, that the Mother of
God, the holy and ever virgin and immaculate Mary ...conceived
of the Holy Spirit without the seed of man, gave birth
to Him without the loss of virginity, and remained an
inviolate virgin also after birth: let him be anathema"
(Denz., 256). The Council of Trent declares: "The
same Most Blessed Virgin is the true Mother of God, ever
persevering in her virginity, that is, before, in, and
after the birth of Jesus" (Denz., 993).
And holy Church in the Preface for the Masses of the
Blessed Virgin joyfully proclaims that the Mother of God
"sent forth into the world the eternal Light amid
the glory of enduring virginity."
The virginal birth of the Messias is the sign given to
the house of David by the prophet Isaias: "Therefore
the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin
shall conceive and hear a Son, and his name shall be called
Emmanuel" (Is. 7: 14). Mary, the Virgin of virgins,
understood the mind of God as no other virgin ever understood
it. We cannot assume that in her humility she aspired
after the honor of divine motherhood. But, seeing that
God had thus given preference to virginity in the economy
of man's salvation, she must have concluded that a virginal
life would be the most fitting way of rendering service
to God in preparation for the coming of the Messias. The
Messias would be the great servant of God - would she
not hasten His coming by offering to God her virginal
service? The sacrifice of bulls and goats ascended to
the throne of God with an odor of sweetness -would He
not be pleased with the sacrifice of her virginal life?
Emmanuel would be born of a virgin Mother - would He
not be pleased to be received by a choir of virgins ready
for service? The Holy Spirit who had chosen Mary for
His immaculate Spouse had given her this sublime evaluation
of virginity.
Virginal
Motherhood
Virginity as part of the total consecration of the Blessed
Virgin to the service of God was a prerequisite for divine
motherhood. St. Thomas has probably stated the reasons
for this as clearly and succinctly as they can be stated.
According to this great doctor it was postulated by the
following reasons:
It was not fitting that the Son of the eternal Father
should also have a father on earth; this would be derogatory
to the dignity of the divine fatherhood.
It was fitting that the Word of God proceeding from the
Father without any impairment of the latter should in
His incarnation cause no impairment to His Mother .
The Word of God became man in order to take away the sins
of men; it was fitting, therefore, that He should not
enter this world in the way in which sin is transmitted.
The purpose of redemption was that men should be born
again as children of God - not of the will of the flesh
nor of the will of man, but of God. It was fitting, therefore,
that a pattern of this rebirth be given at the very beginning
of the Redeemer's life.
Virginal fecundity is the one distinction which belongs
exclusively to Mary and makes her the Virgin of virgins.
St. Bernard has expressed this idea beautifully: "There
is nothing that delights me more but at the same time
fills me with greater awe than to speak on the glory of
the Virgin Mary. If I praise her virginity, many virgins
will present themselves who have followed her; if I extol
her humility, there will perhaps be found, though few,
such as according to the word of our Lord have become
meek and humble of heart; if I should desire to magnify
the multitude of her mercies, there will be some men and
women who also were distinguished by their mercy. There
is one thing in which she is seen to be the only one,
with no one to precede and no one to follow her - she
alone glories in the joys of motherhood together with
the honor of virginity"
(Octave of the Assumption, former Divine Office).
Spiritual
Motherhood
The very purpose of the Incarnation implies that the Mother
of the incarnate Word of God should also become the spiritual
Mother of all men. It follows from the part which Mary
had in the sacrifice of our salvation. As Pius XII says:
"As another Eve she offered Him on Golgotha to
the eternal Father for all the children of Adam sin-stained
by his fall, and her mother's rights and mother's love
were included in the holocaust. Thus she who corporally
was the mother of our Head, through the added title of
pain and glory, became spiritually the mother of all His
members" (Mystici Corporis).
A mother's office is to give life and then to foster and
develop that life. The life of which we speak here is
the life of grace, which makes us partakers in the life
of God and thus children of God. This divine life vivifying
the soul can, in the case of those who have the use of
reason, be developed ordinarily only through the influence
of actual grace, particularly through the graces of the
Blessed Eucharist. The latter, as sacrifice, is the unbloody
renewal of the sacrifice of the cross; as Communion, it
is the Food of which Jesus says: "He who eats
my flesh and drinks my blood has life everlasting ...abides
in me and I in him ...shall live forever" (Jn.
6:55 ff.). Yet Mary gave us the divine High Priest and
Victim, the Bread of life. Mary was most intimately associated
with Jesus in His sacrifice and for that reason she became
the Mediatrix of all graces; all graces coming down to
us pass through her hands. Thus, as we have received
the life of grace through Jesus and Mary, so it is sustained,
developed, and prepared for its heavenly perfection through
Jesus and Mary.
The spiritual motherhood of Mary will be active to the
end of time. In the words of Pius XII: "She continued
to show for the Mystical Body of Christ ...the same mother's
care and ardent love, with which she clasped the Infant
Jesus to her warm and nourishing breast. May she, then,
the most holy Mother of all Christ's members ...never
cease to beg from Him that a continuous, copious flow
of graces may pass from its glorious Head into all the
members of the Mystical Body" (Mystici Corporis).
Significance
for the Church
The virginal fecundity and spiritual motherhood of the
Virgin of virgins is the inspiration of thousands of women
who consecrate their lives to God in the religious state.
They wish to beget spiritual children for Christ. Their
life of total consecration to the Spouse of their souls
fulfills eminently the desire for motherhood which God
has implanted into the nature of woman. We may add that
in like manner total consecration to the highest ideals
in the service of God with a view to spiritual fatherhood
is the inspiration of the priesthood and the religious
brotherhood.
There is no other religious body that has as high a regard
for the married state as the Catholic Church; yet the
same Church points to a higher ideal in consecrated virginity
and spiritual parenthood. The Church needs both, virginal
fecundity and spiritual parenthood, in her life-giving
mission, and God has given her the ideal and pattern for
both in the holy Virgin of virgins. –from Our Lady’s
Litany, by Rev. Biskupek.
Christ, the Vine, is the fruit of Mary. If we are the branches
of Christ, then we are also the branches of Mary. It remains
for us to be living branches, bearing the fruits of love
and fear and holy hope and of all virtues. The riches of
this Vine are worth more than all the gold and silver and
precious stones found on the face of the earth. The fruit
of the vine is changed into the blood of the Saviour at
the eucharistic sacrifice. It is to this wine that St.
Ignatius addresses the petition: "Blood of Christ
inebriate me." Should it not inebriate us with
holy love of God and forgetfulness of self, and keep us
ever active in producing all the fruits of a holy life?
"I
gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aromatical balm; I
yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh."
There
is something pleasing and stimulating about these aromatic
substances. So there is something refreshing and stimulating
in a holy life. The sacred writings speak of the sweet
odour of good deeds, of sacrifice, of a holy life.
No
saint has exercised on the members of the Church as great
an influence as the Mother of the Holy One. Particularly
stimulating in her life is the fact that there is nothing
which, according to the standards of the world, would be
spectacular or world-shaking. But we do find in her life
the humble, lowly things for which the world has no eye:
humility, fidelity to duty, kindness, sympathy, patience.
Yet these her humble virtues have done for the salvation
of the world more than all the spectacular deeds of statesmen,
generals, scientists, and artists. Spectacular deeds are
beyond the possibility of the vast majority of men, but
the charm and drawing power, the world-embracing and world-transforming
power of deeds of holiness are within the reach of all.
Words teach, examples draw.
We
continue in this issue with explanations for the beautiful
titles of our Lady, from the litany of Loreto. In order
to preserve a liturgical connection, some of these titles
will be presented out of order. The leading article is,
obviously, put forward in relation to November’s
greatest feast.
We sinners, exiled in this vale of tears, have always
need of mercy. On All Saints’ Day we may well hope
for it, since so many are interceding for us. Therefore,
let us invoke the protection of our heavenly Queen and
Mother, and of all saints, for they all, like us, honour
her as Mother and Queen.
United
to you in devotion to the Blessed Virgin, I am,
Fr. Herkel
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