THIRTY-SEVENTH LESSON
The Assumption.
"Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God."—Isaias 52:3
My dear children, on this day the Church celebrates the most holy death of the Blessed Virgin and her glorious Assumption into heaven. Mary, rejoining Her divine Son, receives from Him a crown of immortality, a life of happiness and of glory, which she so justly deserved by her virtues, her sufferings, the retired and humble life she had led on earth. Today Mary becomes Queen of Heaven, and our powerful patroness: but we must not forget, my children, that Mary had been long before our model. Let us then set ourselves to study the holy examples she has given us; let us try to remember the principal points of her life, and exert ourselves to imitate her virtues: that will be the best way of honouring our mother on the day of her feast. My dear children, according to the belief of the Church, which belief every true servant of Mary considered it an honor to share, even before the Church had proclaimed it an article of faith, the Blessed Virgin was exempted from the stain of original sin. No doubt God could not allow the soul of the chosen creature, who was to become his mother, to be a single instant defiled by sin.
God himself foretold Mary to our first parents, and she was also spoken of long beforehand by a prophet, who foretold that she was chosen to give birth to the Son of God. Mary was born at Nazareth, a small town in Galilee. Ann and Joachim her mother and father, descended from the tribe of Juda, and were of the family of David. Notwithstanding this ancient and royal descent, they were poor, and led a life of retirement. Their virtues, however, became sufficiently known for the Church to place them amongst the saints whose feasts are celebrated every year.
To show their gratitude to God, whose goodness had bestowed on them their only child, Mary's pious parents wished to consecrate her to the Lord, and therefore, at four years old, she was brought to the Temple of Jerusalem, to be there educated with other little girls. Mary, whose judgment was beyond her years, and whose heart was already overflowing with divine love, promised to give herself entirely to God, and vowed to renounce all earthly wealth. One is happy to picture to oneself, this amiable and holy child; either kneeling on the steps of the Temple, praying with angelical fervor, or else showing herself meek, dutiful towards the guardians of her childhood, gentle and kind to her young companions, and in short, in the purest and holiest childhood that ever existed, giving a most affecting and perfect example of Christian childhood.
Mary remained in the Temple, till she was married to a holy man named Joseph, he as well as she, descended from the royal lineage of David; but he too was poor: he followed the trade of carpenter.
Whilst the Virgin Mary lived in Nazareth with Joseph, God ordered the Archangel Gabriel to announce to her that she would be the mother of the Saviour promised to the world. "Behold the hand-maid of the Lord: be it done unto me according to thy word," said Mary humbly, thinking more of her wish to do the will of God, than of the glory with which she was about to be invested, in becoming the Mother of our Saviour.
My children, according to the Angel's words, and during a journey Joseph and Mary had undertaken, in obedience to the decree of the Roman Emperor, our Lord Jesus Christ was born in the poor stable of Bethlehem.
There began the maternal anguish of the Blessed Virgin. Her divine Son's cradle was a humble crib; his only covering, coarse swaddling clothes. No sooner had Mary's heart rejoiced on seeing the eagerness with which the shepherds and Wise Men came to adore the divine infant, than she is constrained to fly to Egypt, to escape from Herod's fury. In order to obey a law, from which Mary might have considered herself as exempted, she had already been to the Temple to present her Son to the Lord, and, like all the poor women in Israel, she had offered up for his ransom, a pair of turtle doves. Then the holy and aged Simeon, taking the Infant Jesus in his arms, prophesied to Mary all she would have one day to suffer through this dear Child, and announced to her that her heart would be pierced with sorrow as by a sword. How often, my friends, during the thirty years Jesus lived with his mother, must not that poor mother have been reminded of this prediction of the holy aged man, and have trembled at the thought of its accomplishment.
The time appointed by our Lord for his divine mission draws near, and He leaves Nazareth to begin His holy preaching. The Gospel says nothing of the Blessed Virgin, except to mention her presence at the marriage feast of Cana, to let us know it was at her entreaty that Jesus performed there his first miracle. If Mary vouchsafe thus to take an interest in the slightest wants of those who surrounded her, it is beyond doubt, my children, that in accompanying our Lord on his journeys, she must have implored him in favor of those with whom she lived, and so must have become to a certain degree their providence. This soothing thought should encourage us always to invoke Mary with entire faith and confidence.
We do not know if the Blessed Virgin was present at all the painful scenes of Jesus Christ's Passion; but we see her on Calvary standing at the foot of the cross. There it is that her heart is torn with grief as by a dagger; there it is, also, that, treasuring up our Saviour's last words at the moment of his death, Mary consents to become our mother. Poor mother, how deeply must she not have loved us, to have forgiven us the death of her well-beloved Son!
My children, Mary lived on for several years; she even reached old age. Shut up in the upper chamber with the Apostles after Our Lord's Ascension, like them she received the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost; she witnessed the foundation of the holy Christian Church; and then at last, God put an end to her exile and called her to him: her heart and mind were already in heaven. She died deeply regretted by the Apostles. She left them, to be forever united with Jesus Christ, whose departure had cost her such bitter tears.
It is the belief of the Church that the Blessed Virgin, immediately after her death entered heaven in body and soul; this firm belief, my children, has given rise to this day's solemnity. The Church, after having during the course of the year celebrated successively all the most important events of the Blessed Virgin's life, her Birth, her Presentation in the Temple, her Purification, her Visitation to St. Elizabeth, her anguish on Calvary, now celebrates her triumph and her glorification. May this feast be precious to you, my friends; above all, may it leave on your minds a good and lasting impression. Honor Mary by fervent prayers, love her, throw yourself into her maternal arms; confide to her your childhood, your youth, your whole life, confide to her your good resolutions, that they may be strengthened, your evil propensities, that they may be destroyed. Ask her to direct you, to guide you, and to teach you how to imitate her Remember, dear children, that Mary was the most submissive, the most humble, the most modest of all creatures; that she never glorified herself in any manner and never sought admiration from any one. Prayer, work, silence, and, above all, the love of God, occupied her whole life. What an example for us!
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