Let us continue our Meditation on the sweet mystery of the Visitation.Let us continue our Meditation on the sweet mystery of the Visitation.
The visit which this incomparable Virgin made to Saint Elizabeth was not useless, nor, like the visits of worldly people, a matter of ceremony. Such visits result in harm to the conscience, in offences against chastity or charity. The Most Holy Virgin was induced to visit her cousin Elizabeth from pure motives of charity, and the days she spent with her were not employed in useless occupations, but in praising and magnifying God. How holy, pious, and devout was not this visit! It filled the whole house of Zachary with the Holy Spirit, and admirable effects were produced in Saint Elizabeth. The first effect was humility. As soon as Our Lady appeared in the house of her cousin the Saint was filled with astonishment at such a favour, and exclaimed: Unde hoc mihi ut veniat Mater Domini mei ad me? - 'Whence is this to me, that the Mother of my God should come unto me?' This is the virtue that the Holy Ghost first produces within us; a profound humility, which forces us to annihilate ourselves in the sight of the infinite greatness of God, and acknowledge our own baseness and worthlessness.
The second effect was to confirm Saint Elizabeth in faith, as is gathered from the words she ad dressed to the Most Holy Virgin: 'Blessed art thou that hast believed; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb' - Beata es quæ crededisti; benedicta tu inter mulieres, et benedictus fructus ventris tui. Indeed, one of the chief operations of the Holy Spirit is to ground us in faith and convert us entirely to God, and make us acknowledge Him as the Source of all the graces and blessings granted to mortal beings.
Truly may Saint Elizabeth have said, you are blessed amongst all women, but your blessedness proceeds from the Fruit of your womb, the God of blessings. We do not usually praise the fruit on account of the tree, but the tree on account of the excellence of its fruit. Thus, although we ought to render to the Most Holy Virgin a worship or veneration beyond that which we render to the Saints, yet our homage and veneration should never equal that which we give to God. God alone should be sovereignly adored; but, as the Most Holy Virgin is the Mother of Our Saviour, and a co-operator in our redemption, she is worthy of such a special worship as all true Christians have ever given to her. When the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we love and praise God alone above all things, as our Sovereign Creator; and after Him, Mary, His Most Holy Mother.
The third effect that the Holy Ghost produces in those upon whom He descends is a complete change of heart, as is represented in the joy of the Baptist yet unborn: Ecce enim ut facta est vox salutationis tuæ in auribus meis, exultavit infans in utero meo - 'Behold, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears,' said Elizabeth to Our Lady, 'the Infant leaped in my womb.' Thus was Saint John sanctified, going forth as it were out of himself, and casting himself before his Maker. And so it is with those who receive the Holy Spirit: they go out of themselves and lose themselves in God; that is to say, they live no longer according to nature and the senses, but they follow the inspirations of grace. If you desire, then, to know whether you have received the Holy Ghost, examine your actions.
It was through the intervention of Most Holy Mary that Saint Elizabeth received the Holy Spirit. This teaches us that we should make use of her as a mediatrix with her Divine Son in order to obtain heavenly graces. It is true that we can address ourselves directly to God in our petitions, without employing the mediation of the Most Holy Virgin or the Saints; but this is not according to the order ordained by God, Who wished that there should be a communication between us and His Saints. Hence the Church militant and triumphant form but one Church, directed and governed equally, though differently, by God Himself; and He wishes us to have recourse to Him through the Most Holy Virgin and the Saints, and He bestows the most precious graces upon us by their intercession.
For the concluding point of this meditation we may add that it is of the greatest advantage to our souls to be visited by the Most Blessed Virgin; and her visits are always accompanied by many blessings and graces, as in the case of Saint Elizabeth. O God! you will say, I do, indeed, desire that she would deign to honour me with one of her visits during prayer, since her visits fill the soul with sweet consolation. However, we must bear in mind that Mary often visits us with inspirations and interior lights, to aid our progress in perfection; and these are precisely the visits that we are unwilling to receive.
Endeavour to receive Holy Communion devoutly, and you will contract a spiritual relationship with the Most Holy Virgin, since the Most Precious Body of Our Saviour, which we receive in Holy Communion, was formed by the Holy Ghost of her most pure blood.
In this manner, and by the imitation of her virtues, the relationship which you will contract with her will be much more excellent and more pleasing to her than that of Elizabeth, which was merely of flesh and blood. Our Lord says: 'Whosoever shall do the will of My Father Who is in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother' (Matthew 12:50).
In order to have some share in the visits of this Holy Virgin, we must not look for consolations, but generously resolve to accept even contempt and sorrow. In fact, Mary did not visit Saint Elizabeth until she had suffered the ignominy and humiliation of her sterility. It is impossible to lead a devout life without trouble, and merit is in proportion to suffering. Finally, if we desire to receive the favour of this visitation, we must be transformed; we must die to self, and live only to God and for God: in a word, we must humble ourselves profoundly, according to the example of Saint Elizabeth. Be faithful then, pious souls, in this exercise, during this short and miserable life, that you may afterwards chant eternally in heaven with the Most Holy Virgin: Magnificat anima mea Dominum! - 'My soul doth magnify the Lord!'
My God! how ashamed I am to be still so full of myself, when I have so often come to Holy Communion! O dear Jesus! may we always bear Thee in our hearts, that we may no longer breathe but Thee? How is it that I am so little united to Thee, since Thou art always in me? Why do I stray so far from Thee, whilst Thou art always close to me? Thou dwellest in my heart, how is it that I do not abide in Thine?
Spiritual Flowers
Chastity is the unblemished beauty of the Saints, which, like the rose, adorns the soul and body, and fills them with sweet and pleasing fragrance. - Saint Ephrem
A slight breath of wind suffices to make the flowers fall from the trees in spring; and sometimes one flattering word, of itself, is enough to ruin a chaste soul, which is infinitely more delicate and tender than any flower. - Nouet
As the bee gathers from flowers the dew of heaven and the sweetest juice of the earth, forming it into honey and carrying it to its hive, so the Priest takes from the altar our Blessed Saviour (the true Son of God, Who descended like dew from heaven, and came forth from the Virgin Mary as a flower from the earth of our humanity), and places Him in your mouth, and He becomes to you a delicious and spiritual food. - Saint Francis of Sales
Example
Devotion of Saint Thomas Aquinas to the 'Ave Maria.'
The most tender devotion towards Mary was, as we may say, innate in Saint Thomas Aquinas. One day, when he was a little child, his nurse observed that he kept a piece of paper in his hands, which she wished to take from him: but the child resisted with loud cries, and made every effort to retain it. This singular resistance excited the curiosity of his pious mother, the Countess Theodora. She therefore took hold of the piece of paper, opened it, and found, to her surprise, written upon it the Angelical Salutation. Whilst she was reading it, the infant redoubled his cries and tears, so that she was obliged to return it to him. Thomas had no sooner received it, than putting it into his mouth he swallowed it with great eagerness. This fact foreshadowed the devotion which the Saint ever had for the Angelical Salutation, on which he has left us a most pious and learned commentary, full of the praises of Mary.
Prayer - Holy Virgin and my tender Mother! You are the channel by which the graces of God reach us; you are the depositary of all celestial treasures, and you yourself declare to us that you possess all the wealth of heaven, to enrich those that love you: ut ditem diligentes me. O Divine Mother! you see that my poverty is great, and my indigence extreme; but remember, I beseech you, that I trust in you, and hope that you will be moved to compassionate my miseries, and to obtain for me a remedy. I love you, O Holy Virgin; you are, after God, the great object of my affections. Have compassion on me then, and never abandon me to the snares of the enemies of my salvation, but succour me during the whole course of my life, and above all at the moment of my death, so that I may come one day to your feet, in the abode of eternal happiness. Amen.
Ejaculation - O Holy Virgin, help those who groan in misery!
Practice - Mortify self-love, by some act of obedience or meekness.
- text taken from the book A Month of Mary According to the Spirit of Saint Francis de Sales, by Father Gaspar Gilli