"The Lord could have created a more beautiful heaven, He could have made a larger world, but He could not have created a mother greater than the Mother of God."
St. Bonaventure
For Reflection:
Why is this statement a true statement? To what extent does it enhance my appreciation of the Blessed Mother and her role in salvation history? Does this quote draw me closer to her?
(See tomorrow's Grace Line for one holy man's thoughts on this quote.)
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"God sends us joys before sorrows, to prepare our hearts; but the joys themselves contain prophecies of the coming sorrows."
Father Faber writing about the Blessed Mother
For Reflection:
What insight into the action of God in our lives! What are some examples from the life of the Blessed Mother that show the validity of this statement? What are some examples from my own life?
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"Only after the Last Judgment will Mary get any rest; from now until then, she is much too busy with her children."
St. John Vianney
For Reflection:
Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. How do the apparitions of the Blessed Mother underscore the validity of St. John Vianney's statement? How has she been busy in your life?
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"As sailors are guided by a star to the port, so Christians are guided to heaven by Mary."
St. Thomas Aquinas
For Reflection:
How does Mary guide us to heaven? How is this in keeping with her spiritual motherhood? How is this in keeping with her role as Queen Mother?Â
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"No angel, no saint, can equal [Mary] in the multitude and accumulation of heavenly good things."
St. Bonaventure
For Reflection:
Why is Mary's intercession so efficacious? Consider her freedom from sin. How does this enhance her intercessory mediation? What does this tell me about the relationship between a life of grace and power in prayer?
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"Far be it that anyone should try to defraud Mary of her privileges of divine grace and of her special glory. For by a certain singular favor of our Lord and God, and of her Son, she must be confessed to be the most true and most blessed Mother of God."
St. Vincent of Lerins
For Reflection:
Read Paragraphs 508-511 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. What are the "privileges of divine grace" and the "special glory" of Mary as outlined in them?
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"A Virgin conceived, a Virgin bore, and a Virgin she remains."
St. Peter Chrysologus
For Reflection:
Read Paragraphs 499-501 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. What do these paragraphs teach about Mary's perpetual virginity, the reference to brothers and sisters of Jesus in Sacred Scripture, and Mary's spiritual motherhood?
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"What a wonder is your Mother! The Lord entered her, and became a Servant; the Word entered her, and became silent within her; Thunder entered her, and His voice was still; the Shepherd of all entered her, and He became a Lamb."
St. Ephraem the Syrian
For Reflection:
Mary is a wonder! How does she exemplify the call of the disciple as given to us in this quote?
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"Mary symbolizes the Church, which, espoused to Christ as a virgin, has conceived us of the Holy Spirit, and as a virgin has also given us birth."
St. Isidore of Seville
For Reflection:
According to the quote above, what are two ways Mary symbolizes the Church? Think of at least two more ways in which we see Mary as a symbol or archetype of the Church.
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"Hail to you forever, O virgin mother of God, our unceasing joy. You are the pearl of great price that belongs to the kingdom; the fate of every victim, the living altar of the bread of life. Hail, O treasure of God. Hail, O fount of the Son's love for man."
St. Methodius of Olympus
For Reflection:
Why do you think Mary is our "unceasing joy?" Why do you think she is the "pearl of great price that belongs to the kingdom?" How is Mary "the living altar of the bread of life" and, therefore, "the fate of every victim?" Why do you think she is the "treasure of God" and the fount of the Son's love for man?" In considering all of this, is my appreciation and love of the Virgin Mary deepened? To what extent?
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