A State of Recollection

Today is the feast of Saint Teresa of Avila. From the Divine Office, at Matins, the Carthusians listened to this great Saint in her own words. Here’s what the monks heard.

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In the beginning, when I attained to some degree of supernatural prayer -- I speak of the prayer of quiet -- I labored to remove from myself every thought of bodily objects; but I did not dare to lift up my soul, for that I saw would be presumption in me, who was always so wicked. I thought, however, that I had a sense of the presence of God: this was true, and I contrived to be in a state of recollection before Him. This method of prayer is full of sweetness, if God helps us in it, and the joy of it is great. And so, because I was conscious of the profit and delight which this way furnished me, no one could have brought me back to the contemplation of the Humanity of Christ; for that seemed to me to be a real hindrance to prayer. O Lord of my soul, and my Good! Jesus Christ crucified! I never think of this opinion, which I then held, without pain; I believe it was an act of high treason, though done in ignorance.

The first consideration is this: there is a little absence of humility -- so secret and so hidden, that we do not observe it. Who is there so proud and wretched as I, that, even after laboring all his life in penances and prayers and persecutions, can possibly imagine himself not to be exceedingly rich, most abundantly rewarded, when our Lord permits him to stand with Saint John at the foot of the Cross? I know not into whose head it could have entered to be not satisfied with this, unless it be mine, which has gone wrong in every way where it should have gone right onwards. Then, if our constitution -- or perhaps sickness -- will not permit us always to think of His Passion, because it is so painful, who is to hinder us from thinking of Him risen from the grave, seeing that we have Him so near us in the Blessed Sacrament, where He is glorified?

No trial befalls me that is not easy to bear, when I think of You standing before those who judged You. With so good a Friend and Captain ever present, Himself the first to suffer, everything can be borne. He helps, He strengthens, He never fails, He is the true Friend. I see clearly, and since then have always seen, that if we are to please God, and if He is to give us His great graces, everything must pass through the Hands of His most Sacred Humanity, in Whom His Majesty said that He is well pleased. I know this by repeated experience: our Lord has told it me. I have seen clearly that this is the door by which we are to enter, if we would have His supreme Majesty reveal to us His great secrets. So, then, I would have you seek no other way, even if you have arrived at the highest contemplation. This way is safe.

Our Lord is He by Whom all good things come to us; He will teach you. Consider His life; that is the best example. What more could we want than so good a Friend at our side, Who will not forsake us when we are in trouble and distress, as they do who belong to this world! Blessed is he who truly loves Him, and who always has Him near him! Let us consider the glorious Saint Paul, who seems as if Jesus was never absent from his lips, as if he had Him deep down in his heart. After I had heard this of some great Saints given to contemplation, I considered the matter carefully; and I see that they walked in no other way. Saint Francis with the stigmata proves it, Saint Antony of Padua with the Infant Jesus; Saint Bernard rejoiced in the Humanity of Christ; so did Saint Catherine of Siena, and many others, who knew better than I do. This withdrawing from bodily objects must no doubt be good, seeing that it is recommended by persons who are so spiritual; but, in my opinion, it ought to be done only when the soul has made very great progress; for until then it is clear that the Creator must be sought for through His creatures.

When God suspends all the powers of the soul – by some means of prayer -- it is clear that, whether we wish it or not, this presence of the most Sacred Humanity of Christ is withdrawn. Be it so, then, the loss is a blessed one, because it takes place in order that we may have a deeper fruition of what we seem to have lost; for at that moment the whole soul is occupied in loving Him Whom the understanding has toiled to know; and it loves what it has not comprehended, and rejoices in what it could not have rejoiced in so well, if it had not lost itself, in order, as I am saying, to gain itself the more. But that we should carefully and laboriously accustom ourselves not to strive with all our might to have always -- and please God it be always -- the most Sacred Humanity before our eyes -- this, I say, is what seems to me not to be right: it is making the soul, as they say, to walk in the air; for it has nothing to rest on, however full of God it may think itself to be. It is a great matter for us to have our Lord before us as Man while we are living and in the flesh.

We are not angels, for we have a body; to seek to make ourselves angels while we are on the earth, and so much on the earth as I was, is an act of folly. In general, our thoughts must have something to rest on, though the soul may go forth out of itself now and then, or it may be very often so full of God as to be in need of no created thing by the help of which it may recollect itself. But this is not so common a case; for when we have many things to do, when we are persecuted and in trouble, when we cannot have much rest, and when we have our seasons of dryness, Christ is our best Friend; for we regard Him as Man, and behold Him faint and in trouble, and He is our Companion; and when we shall have accustomed ourselves in this way, it is very easy to find Him near us, although there will be occasions from time to time when we can do neither the one nor the other. We must not show ourselves as laboring after spiritual consolations; come what may, to embrace the Cross is the great thing.

The Lord of all consolation was Himself forsaken: they left Him alone in His sorrows. Do not let us forsake Him; for His Hand will help us to rise more than any efforts we can make; and He will withdraw Himself when He sees it to be expedient for us, and when He pleases will also draw the soul forth out of itself. God is greatly pleased when He beholds a soul in its humility making His Son a Mediator between itself and Him, and yet loving Him so much as to confess its own unworthiness, even when He would raise it up to the highest contemplation, and saying with Saint Peter: ‘Go away from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man’ (Saint Luke 5:8). I know this by experience: it was thus that God directed my soul. Others may walk by another and a shorter road. What I have understood of the matter is this: that the whole foundation of prayer must be laid in humility, and that the more a soul humbles itself in prayer, the more God lifts it up.

I come, then, to this conclusion: whenever we think of Christ, we should remind ourselves of the love that made Him bestow so many graces upon us, and also how great that love is which our Lord God has shown us, in giving us such a pledge of the love He bears us; for love draws forth love. And though we are only at the very beginning, and exceedingly wicked, yet let us always labour to keep this in view, and stir ourselves up to love; for if once our Lord grants us this grace, of having this love imprinted in our hearts, everything will be easy, and we shall do great things in a very short time, and with very little labour. May His Majesty give us that love -- He knows the great need we have of it -- for the sake of that love which He bore us, and of His glorious Son, to Whom it cost so much to make it known to us! Amen.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux wrote and spoke words which were nothing short of spectacular expressions of love. If we visually learned how to suffer by watching the life and papacy of Saint John Paul II, then certainly those lessons on how to suffer can also be read in the words of the Little Flower. She was a suffering Soul of Divine Love. Her intimacy with Christ was mystical, as evidenced in her words, and the love she received as well as the love she returned was beyond human capacity. She had no personal desires – that is to say, she only wanted what God wanted. She completely gave herself to Him. Read her words below and see if you don’t find within yourself a mixture of amazement, wonder, and perplexity.

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It is so sweet to call God, "Our Father!"… I cannot well see what more I shall have in Heaven than I have now; I shall see God, it is true, but, as to being with Him, I am that already even on earth.

A few days after the oblation of myself to God's Merciful Love, I was in the choir, beginning the Way of the Cross, when I felt myself suddenly wounded by a dart of fire so ardent that I thought I should die. I do not know how to explain this transport; there is no comparison to describe the intensity of that flame. It seemed as though an invisible force plunged me wholly into fire. . . . But oh! What fire! What sweetness!

I have had several transports of love, and one in particular during my Novitiate, when I remained for a whole week far removed from this world. It seemed as though a veil were thrown over all earthly things. But, I was not then consumed by a real fire. I was able to bear those transports of love without expecting to see the ties that bound me to earth give way; whilst, on the day of which I now speak, one minute -- one second -- more and my soul must have been set free. Alas! I found myself again on earth, and dryness at once returned to my heart.

In this world there is no fruitfulness without suffering -- either physical pain, secret sorrow, or trials known sometimes only to God. When good thoughts and generous resolutions have sprung up in our souls through reading the lives of the Saints, we ought not to content ourselves, as in the case of profane books, with paying a certain tribute of admiration to the genius of their authors -- we should rather consider the price which, doubtless, they have paid for that supernatural good they have produced.

During my postulancy it cost me a great deal to perform certain exterior penances, customary in our convents, but I never yielded to these repugnancies; it seemed to me that the image of my Crucified Lord looked at me with beseeching eyes, and begged these sacrifices.

Our Lord's Will fills my heart to the brim, and hence, if aught else is added, it cannot penetrate to any depth, but, like oil on the surface of limpid waters, glides easily across. If my heart were not already brimming over, and must be filled by the feelings of joy and sadness that alternate so rapidly, then indeed would it be flooded by a wave of bitter pain; but these quick-succeeding changes scarcely ruffle the surface of my soul, and in its depths there reigns a peace that nothing can disturb.

Were it not for this trial, which is impossible to understand, I think I should die of joy at the prospect of soon leaving this earth.

I desire neither death nor life. Were Our Lord to offer me my choice, I would not choose. I only will what He wills; it is what He does that I love. I do not fear the last struggle, nor any pains -- however great -- my illness may bring. God has always been my help. He has led me by the hand from my earliest childhood, and on Him I rely. My agony may reach the furthest limits, but I am convinced He will never forsake me.

I am besieged by the devil. I do not see him, but I feel him; he torments me and holds me with a grip of iron, that I may not find one crumb of comfort; he augments my woes, that I may be driven to despair… And I cannot pray. I can only look at Our Blessed Lady and say: "Jesus!" How needful is that prayer we use at Compline: "Procul recedant somnia et noctium phantasmata!" (Free us from the phantoms of the night.) Something mysterious is happening within me. I am not suffering for myself, but for some other soul, and Satan is angry.

Oh, how I love Our Blessed Lady! Had I been a Priest, how I would have sung her praises! She is spoken of as unapproachable, whereas she should be represented as easy of imitation… She is more Mother than Queen. I have heard it said that her splendor eclipses that of all the Saints as the rising sun makes all the stars disappear. It sounds so strange. That a Mother should take away the glory of her children! I think quite the reverse. I believe that she will greatly increase the splendor of the elect… Our Mother Mary! Oh! how simple her life must have been!

I know that just at this moment Our Lord has such a longing for a tiny bunch of grapes -- which no one will give Him -- that He will perforce have to come and steal it… I do not ask anything; this would be to stray from my path of self-surrender. I only beseech Our Lady to remind her Jesus of the title of Thief, which He takes to Himself in the Gospels, so that He may not forget to come and carry me away.

It is my dearest wish ever to bend beneath the weight of God's gifts, acknowledging that all comes from Him.

I shall die soon. I do not say that it will be in a few months, but in two or three years at most; I know it because of what is taking place in my soul.

This is my secret: I never reprimand you without first invoking Our Blessed Lady, and asking her to inspire me as to what will be most for your good, and I am often astonished myself at the things I teach you. At such times I feel that I make no mistake, and that it is Jesus Who speaks by my lips.

Some notes from a concert far away have just reached my ears, and have made me think that soon I shall be listening to the wondrous melodies of Paradise. The thought, however, gave me but a moment's joy -- one hope alone makes my heart beat fast: the Love that I shall receive and the Love I shall be able to give!

I feel that my mission is soon to begin -- my mission to make others love God as I love Him… to each soul my little way… I will spend my heaven in doing good upon earth. From the very heart of the Beatific Vision, the Angels keep watch over us. No, there can be no rest for me until the end of the world. But when the Angel shall have said: 'Time is no more!' then I shall rest, then I shall be able to rejoice, because the number of the elect will be complete.

What draws me to my Heavenly Home is the summons of my Lord, together with the hope that at length I shall love Him as my heart desires, and shall be able to make Him loved by a multitude of souls who will bless Him throughout eternity.

I trust fully that I shall not remain idle in Heaven; my desire is to continue my work for the Church and for souls. I ask this of God, and I am convinced He will hear my prayer. You see that if I quit the battlefield so soon, it is not from a selfish desire of repose. For a long time now, suffering has been my Heaven here upon earth, and I can hardly conceive how I shall become acclimatized to a land where joy is unmixed with sorrow. Jesus will certainly have to work a complete change in my soul -- else I could never support the ecstasies of Paradise.

When I suffer much, when something painful or disagreeable happens to me, instead of a melancholy look, I answer by a smile. At first I did not always succeed, but now it has become a habit which I am glad to have acquired.

O my God! How good Thou art to the little Victim of Thy Merciful Love! Now, even when Thou joinest these bodily pains to those of my soul, I cannot bring myself to say: "The anguish of death hath encompassed me." I rather cry out in my gratitude: "I have gone down into the valley of the shadow of death, but I fear no evil, because Thou, O Lord, art with me."

And Thérèse’s last words on earth as she gazed at her Crucifix were:Oh!... I love Him!... My God, I… love… Thee!

Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael

At Matins, the Carthusians, on this Feast of the Archangels, reflected on the most edifying words of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Here’s an excerpt from that discourse.

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We celebrate today, dear brethren, the feast of the holy angels. Poor little worm I am, how can I speak about angelic spirits? I believe by faith that they enjoy the intangible presence and vision of God and are flooded with endless happiness in contemplating those things that eye has not seen, nor ear has heard, nor has entered the heart of man (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:9). But can a mere mortal speak of this topic to other mortals? In the first place, I haven’t the faintest idea about these realities; moreover, you are not in a position to hear them.

The words ascend from me, yes, overflowing from the heart, but I had better remain silent, because I lack the adequate concepts for dealing with angels. The heavenly spirits are conspicuous by their admirable dignity and loving regard. It’s obvious that their glory exceeds our poor understanding. We tie ourselves, then, closer to their mercy.

In the Book of Daniel we read a description of the angels before the Throne of God: "Thousands of thousands ministered to Him, and myriads upon myriads attended Him" (Daniel 7:10). Do you think it is an unworthy thing for the angels to serve? Consider, then, the Creator, the King of angels, Who came not to be served but to serve and gave His life as a ransom for many (cf. Saint Matthew 20:28). None of the angels are scorned as servants when He Whom they serve with inexpressible ardor and felicity preceded them in this same ministry. The psalmist, speaking to God of His Son, said: "You have made Him a little less than the angels" (Psalm 8:6). It was fitting, therefore, that One Who exceeds the angels in dignity, surpassed them in humility. The Son has lowered Himself below the angels, because He wanted to lend an inferior service to theirs, but His is far superior to the angels because He has by inheritance a Name more excellent than theirs.

The angels love us because Christ loved us. As you know brethren, that proverb which says: "Whoever loves me, loves my dog." Are we not, O blessed angels, the little dogs that the Lord surrounds with much affection? Little dogs, desiring to eat the crumbs that fall from the table of their angelic hosts. I used this image, brethren, to increase your confidence in the angels. We must call upon them in our every need with love, every day trying to conciliate their favor, be captivated by their benevolence, asking them to mercifully reveal themselves to us.

Allow me, dear brethren, to offer reasons why the angels are reminders of our poverty. We know that the human soul, endowed with reason and capable of blessedness, is linked by a bond of kinship with the angelic nature. Holy angels, could you ever disdain visiting us, against the precept of charity, even though we are precipitated by an extreme baseness? Are we not all a part of the same family? If you love -- as in fact you do love – the beauty of God’s house, then manifest your zeal to these living stones, and rationalize that we are the only ones that could contribute to the construction of the heavenly Jerusalem.

There are three reasons, brethren, why we are, like ropes that pull at us, from the sky, the pre-eminent love of angels. They come to console us, to visit us, to help us because of God’s love for us. Because of God, the angels visit us, to imitate the infinite mercy of God. Because of us, the angels come to console us, because they have compassion for those who have a certain similarity with them. Because of themselves, finally, the angels rush to our aid, because they hope to recruit among us, men needed to fill the gaps in their ranks. Indeed, the praise that is given to Almighty God, at the end of time, is given both to angels and men. As of now, the angels are celebrating the first fruits of that praise which fills them with the highest delight. But we, men, we are still like infants sucking the milk, even if one day we will make complete and perfect the praise of glory. The angels, therefore, attend to us with eagerness, driven by a desire for the ultimate day.

Consider the angels, dear brethren, and think that there must be at heart, worthiness for their friendship. Do you realize that we must live life in their presence, and not offend the sanctity of their pure gazes? Woe to us if our sin and neglect render us unworthy in the eyes of the angels to receive their visitation and enjoy their company. In that case, all we do is cry and complain like the prophet: "My friends and my neighbors have drawn near, and stood against me. And they that were near me stood afar off" (Psalm 37:12). It would be a shame if those who should protect us with their presence instead left us, when they can defend from the enemy and repel the attacks.

We are in dire need of assistance from the angels my dear friends, thus, beware of offending. What, then, are the virtues that they appreciate and are pleased to see in us? Sobriety, chastity, voluntary poverty, the constant longing for heaven, the prayers of extreme repentance and of vigilant affection. But in priority, these messengers of peace have come to expect from us peace and harmony. What could there be more to rejoice about? When they find peace and harmony between us, which is a prelude and sketch of the heavenly city, they seem to be admiring a New Jerusalem. All parts of the holy city are perfectly welded together. The same compactness must reign in our thoughts and in our conversations; there are divisions among us, but we remain united in one body in Christ Jesus.

Our Lady of Sorrows

The Church places on the lips of our Blessed Lady these beautiful words from Sacred Scripture: "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His ways" (Proverbs 8:22). Almighty God chose Mary from the beginning to be His masterpiece before all other creatures. A Carthusian, Dom Louis Rouvier wrote: "When coming out, as it were, from His eternal repose, God the adorable Trinity determined on the creation of the universe, His first thought was of the God-man Who would be the crowning point of creation, and then, of her – blessed among women – who would give birth to Him. The rest of creation, angels and man, creatures animate and inanimate, all were ordained solely for Christ and His Mother."

The amount of sorrow our Blessed Mother has accepted on behalf of sinful mankind is astronomical. Saint Bonaventure cries out: "It is by your protection, O Blessed Virgin, that the world is preserved; this world that God made from the beginning in concert with you" (De Laudibus Virginis).

Recall what our Lady said to the children of La Salette: "If my people will not submit, I will be obliged to let fall the Arm of my Son. It weighs so heavily upon me that I can no longer bear it. How long have I suffered for you, O my people! If my Son is not to abandon you, I must pray to Him unceasingly."

At the Cross Jesus said to His Mother, "Woman, behold your Son." And to His beloved disciple He said: "Behold your Mother." Mary’s spiritual Maternity to us all has been declared. It is from her sorrows, from her heart, pierced by a sword, that we were born her spiritual children, delivered into her maternal care, into a life of grace. The sorrowful Passion of her Son, and Mary’s consent due to her perfect conformity to the divine will, is how we were born into this life of grace.

From the Rosary, especially in the Sorrowful Mysteries, we can ask our Lady to reveal her sorrowful and Immaculate Heart to us. And since she prays to her Son unceasingly, count on her being present in Eucharistic Adoration. She adores Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament with perfection and she is our teacher on how to adore. Upon your next visit before the Monstrance or Tabernacle, listen very intently in the silence of your heart, and wait for those beautiful words of Jesus, assuring you of Mary’s presence as well, as He says to her: "Woman, behold your son/daughter" – and to you – "Son/daughter, behold your Mother."

These glorious words are found among the writings of the Carthusian Order: "When we come to die, our sovereign Judge will ask this question of the angel whose care it has been to bring us to the Judgment Seat, To whom does this soul belong; whose livery does it wear? If the answer is, Mary’s, Jesus will at once say, Then give to My Mother what belongs to her. To give us to Mary is to open heaven to us’.

The Chosen Myrrh

This Carthusian monk's reflection from Le Mois de Marie Cartusien on the chosen myrrh, who is our Blessed Mother, was clearly, according to the way it was written, never intended to scale the walls of Carthusian monasteries and reach the outside world. He offers some thoughts on living the Carthusian life, and on a couple of occasions refers to their Rule, thus giving readers outside of the Order some insight into their charism. We also get to meet in this writing a Carthusian nun, Mother Anne Griffon, who one would deduce from what is shared here, was a mystic and a visionary. You’ll see the Latin words, “Fluminis impetus lætificat civitatem Dei,” which is from the Latin Vulgate and more specifically, Psalm 45, verse 5, which translates as: “The stream of the river makes glad the city of God.” This is a splendid reflection on our Lady. The picture used for this post depicts the Presentation of Mary in the Temple. Happy Feast of Our Lady of Fatima!

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One of the principal aims of our Order is to form followers of our crucified Lord, who will carry the cross after Him, in order to fill up, as Saint Paul says, for themselves and for the Church, what is wanting of the sufferings of Christ (cf. Colossians 1:24). In our Constitutions all has been ordained to the end that the cross destined for the sons of Saint Bruno should be borne by them in a perfect manner, and with unflinching constancy. “The man who gives himself to prayer,” says Saint Teresa, “offers himself to our Lord to carry His cross.” She who entered most deeply in union with Him has become the Queen of martyrs. Thus the Church places on Mary’s lips the inspired words: I yielded a sweet odor like the choicest myrrh (cf. Ecclesiasticus 24:20). May our souls, too, and our whole lives be impregnated with this divine fragrance emanating from the Wounds of our crucified Savior.

The cross of the Carthusian serves a double purpose, according as it affects the soul or the body. It is in other words spiritual or material, and is called humility or austerity. Let us see how, following in Mary’s steps, we can offer to our Savior this double martyrdom imposed by our Rule.

Mary’s humility has only been surpassed by that of the Heart of Jesus. No saint can compare with our heavenly Mother in this fundamental virtue. Singularly favored, as she was, by heaven, Mary looked on herself as a mere nothing. “Take it for certain,” she said to Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, “that in the Temple I regarded myself as the lowest of all creatures, and as unworthy as you yourself to be the Mother of the Redeemer.” This humility was the heavenly spikenard which ravished the Most High, and drew the Word of God into the womb of Mary. At the very moment when she was humbling herself in her prayer, not daring to aspire even to the favor of serving the privileged creature who was to give birth to the Savior, the archangel Gabriel came to propose to her that she herself should be the Mother of the Redeemer.

One of our nuns, Mother Anne Griffon, the venerable Prioress of Gosnay in Artois, had wonderful lights on the abyss of humility which caused the graces of the Most High to flow so abundantly into the soul of the Immaculate Virgin. Through these revelations, we may learn to preserve deep in our hearts the knowledge of our own insufficiency in this respect.

On the feast of Saint Anne, as during the Mass the nuns were singing the Responsory, Fluminis impetus lætificat civitatem Dei, the venerable Mother saw Saint Anne under the figure of the city of God, thus depicted because she bore in her womb the Tabernacle of God (cf. Psalm 131:5). God dwelt in Mary by sanctifying grace from the moment of her conception. The stream of the river represented the torrent of graces drawn down upon the mother and the daughter by their mutual humility.

On the feast of the Nativity of Our Lady, the venerable Mother saw in contemplation the Blessed Trinity and all the heavenly court rejoicing in the birth of this unique creature, sanctified and full of grace from the first moment of her existence, and immediately endowed with the use of reason, so that she might be aware that she owed all these graces to her Creator.

On other occasions, our Lady appeared to the venerable Mother as when, after her Presentation in the Temple, she humbled herself more profoundly before the adorable Trinity than ever angels or saints have done or will do. And again, in the mystery of the Purification, seeking how to humble herself, as did her Son when He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, made in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:7). Again, co-operating in the Redemption at the foot of the Cross, as she suffered for us to an extent equaled by no other creature; at her death, so transformed in God that she seemed to be identified with Him, yet stripping herself of all this glory in order to attribute it all to its divine Author; crowned in heaven with such splendor that we would be tempted to adore her, were we not conscious of the Majesty of the Son. Again, so great that God alone comprehends her, yet ceaselessly offering to Him all she has received from Him, interceding with the divine Goodness that He might bestow on all the elect a share in her glory as the Mother of Jesus and thus the Mother of men – a Mother whom we must imitate by profoundly humbling ourselves, as she did, in the presence of the Divine Majesty, esteeming ourselves as nothing.

We must love, then, humility in all its forms, if we would be true religious, and be content with the hidden life which shelters us from the vanities of this world, and with the lowly position we occupy in the House of God. Let us find pleasure in the apparently humble and commonplace actions which fill our days. Mary herself avowed to a holy religious that she experienced great joy in seeing him every Saturday sweeping the convent cloister for love of her. We should also accept with a fervent heart the practices of respect and humility imposed on us by our Rule, whether it be towards the Fathers of the cloister or to our superiors (Statuta Ordinis Cartusiensis, II Pars, ch. XVIII, I); we should lose none of these opportunities to practice virtue. Above all, we should fulfill with exact fidelity the act of humility prescribed to us when we are admonished for some fault (ibid., ch. XVIII, 20).

We have already treated of austerity, the second form of our Carthusian cross, when meditating on the vow of poverty; we need not, therefore, repeat it here. Let it suffice to recall that according to the testimony of the Sacred Scriptures, wisdom is seldom found in those who live in luxury (cf. Job 28:13), and it hardly becomes the members of a thorn-crowned Head to garland themselves with roses.

It is for us, then, to practice renunciation or self-denial, and to use the sword of immolation whenever grace inspires us to do so. In the matter of the mind, our Lady would have us renounce our ideas, our opinions, our plans, our own judgment; in that of the heart, our desires, our affections, our tastes and our repugnances. As for the senses, we must renounce our ease, all forms of self-gratification and satisfaction; and in the matter of the will, all over-eagerness and our natural vivacity. Such, and no less, is the extent of the renunciation we are called upon to practice.

Auxilium Christianorum

Here's another gem from the heart, mind and soul of a Carthusian monk in the compilation titled: Le Mois de Marie Cartusien. In this reflection, there's a mentioning that several of the Church Fathers taught that the angels promised in advance reverence and obedience to the Virgin Mother of God. That thought might turn one's thoughts to the Annunciation and the appearance of the angel Gabriel to Mary. What did she see? What was Gabriel's posture that would indicate reverence and obedience? Something to ponder...

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“Almighty and merciful God Who, for the defense of Christendom, hast wonderfully established the Blessed Virgin Mary to be an ever ready help to Thy people. . .” These words, which occur in the Collect of the Mass of Our Lady, Help of Christians, should suffice to indicate to us the aid offered to all who seek it from the holy Mother of God.

We have already seen what help Mary, as dispenser of divine grace, brings to the support of our fallen nature, and how we, God’s creatures, can lean on her, as it were on His own Arm. But Mary’s love, as a Mother, finds other ways of assisting us. One of the most precious is the unwearying protection whereby she shields her children, unceasingly harassed as they are by the enemy of souls. She fulfills to perfection the delightful symbol which Jesus used in speaking to the Jews, to express His ever steadfast and watchful love for their unhappy race. As the hen gathers her chickens under her wings, when she sees the kestrel hovering near, so does our heavenly Mother gather her children under her cloak and hide them in her heart, at the approach of evil (cf. Matthew 23:37).

At the dawn of creation, Lucifer the archangel set himself up in opposition to the Mother of God. The trial that was to settle forever the lot of the angelic spirits consisted especially, according to several of the Fathers, in the proposal that God made to these beings – so noble and so beautiful by nature – that they should promise in advance adoration and submission to the Incarnate Word, and reverence and obedience to His Virgin Mother. The chief of the angels refused to render this homage, and hell was for him, and for those who followed his lead, the punishment of their revolt (cf. Luke 10:18).

When, in the fullness of time, God became man, the rebel angels rose in fury against the Person of our Savior, and by their hirelings crucified Him to Whom they had refused their adoration in the highest heaven. Filled with rage at the thought of the glories decreed to this Son of promise (cf. Acts 13:23) and their Master forever, they turned their fury against the other sons of the chosen Woman. They waged unceasing warfare against those children of Mary who bear within them the sign of the redeemed. No one is exempt from this warfare: between the sons of Satan and the children of Mary there is irreconcilable enmity (cf. Genesis 3:15). Who will be our support in this struggle? We are so weak when left to our own resources.

“Sinners as we are,” wrote Dom Louis Rouvier, “we are exposed to violent and repeated temptations. The more we have sinned, the more power Satan has over us; and, as the implacable enemy of our souls, he has no greater wish than to see us one day share in his torments. To that end, he exercises all his infernal malice in order to encompass our ruin. How can we escape from his wiles without powerful aid? Ever since Mary crushed the head of the accursed serpent beneath her feet, she has, it is certain, a command over him in virtue of which she is able to free her children from danger. This is why she has been given the consoling title of Auxilium Christianorum – Help of Christians. But can we expect her to use her power on our behalf if we do not call on her? How profitable, then, is it for us to invoke this great Queen frequently, in order to triumph over the temptations of the devil” (Dom Louis Rouvier, Novenas for the Festivals of the Blessed Virgin Mary).

And Mary protects us by renewing our courage. Little by little, she will weaken those evil inclinations left in our nature by sin, those instincts which are stepping-stones to further sin. Above all, she will curb the audacity of our enemies. They cannot endure her presence, and the mere indication of her name puts them to flight. “The powers of darkness,” says Saint Bonaventure, “melt away like wax in the warmth of the fire, when they meet anyone who keeps Mary in remembrance and is in the habit of calling on her, and is zealous in imitating her.”

But should we unhappily presume on our liberty to tear ourselves for a moment from her arms and stretch out our hands to Satan, our heavenly Mother would still come to our aid, by preventing this cruel tyrant from exercising over us the power into which our fault has betrayed us, and by forcing him to give us time to gain our pardon.

In a touching allegory, Holy Scripture describes this manifestation of Mary’s mercy. The sons of Respha had been delivered up to the Gabaonites, who crucified them. By their bodies, keeping untiring watch to defend their remains from the birds of the air by day and from the beasts of the field by night, was their mother. Nor did she leave them until the king, David, had them taken down from the cross, and had them buried with the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son (cf. 2 Kings [2 Samuel] 21:13). Such is the image of Mary, watching over fallen souls, in order to prevent hell from completing the work of their destruction, and ceaselessly drawing down upon them the cleansing waters of sorrow and repentance: donec stilleret eos aqua de cælo. . . until there fall upon them dew from heaven (cf. Psalm 71 [72]:6; Joel 3:18; Amos 9:13).

The Annunciation

At the Carthusian hour of Matins for the Solemnity of the Annunciation, eight Lessons are reflected on from Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus. Here’s what the monks heard from the saint of Neocæsarea who is sometimes referred to as Gregory the Wonderworker.

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It is our duty to present to God, like sacrifices, all the festivals and first of all, the Annunciation to the holy Mother of God, when the angel called her ‘full of grace’! First of all wisdom and saving doctrine in the New Testament was this salutation, ‘Hail, full of grace’ (Lk 1:28) conveyed to us from the Father of lights. And this address, ‘Hail, full of grace’, God embraces the whole of human nature. ‘Hail, full of grace’ in the holy conception and in the glorious pregnancy, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. See, then, dearly beloved, how the Lord has conferred upon us everywhere, and indivisibly, the joy which transcends all human thought.

While on earth, Mary was in possession of the incorruptible citizenship, and walked as such in all manner of virtues, and lived a life more excellent than the common human standard. The Word of the Eternal Father wanted to assume the flesh, and endue the perfect Man from her. Through the flesh sin entered into the world and death by sin. But the Incarnation condemns sin in the burying of the holy body of Mary; thus the tempter of sin is overcome. With the Incarnation, therewith also the beginning of the resurrection might be exhibited, and life eternal instituted in the world, and fellowship established for men with God the Father. Who will be able to explain the incomprehensible mystery? What shall we state and what shall be left in silence?

Gabriel was sent to the holy Virgin; the incorporeal was dispatched to her who in the body pursued the incorruptible conversation, and lived in purity and in virtues. And when he came to her, he first addressed her with the salutation, ‘Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee’. For you do what is worthy of joy indeed, since you have put on the vesture of purity, and are girt with the cincture of prudence. ‘Hail, full of grace’, for to your lot it has fallen to be the vehicle of celestial joy. ‘Hail, full of grace’, for through you joy is decreed for the whole creation, and the human race receives again by you its pristine dignity. ‘Hail, full of grace’, for in your arms the Creator of all things shall be carried. Mary was perplexed by these words; for she was inexperienced in all the addresses of men, and welcomed quiet, as the Mother of prudence and purity. And since she is a pure and Immaculate and stainless image herself, she shrank not in terror from the angelic apparition, like most of the prophets, as indeed true virginity has a kind of affinity and equality with the angels.

Then again the archangel addressed her with the announcement of a joy: ‘Fear not, Mary, for you have found favor with God’ (Lk 1:30). These words not only give you understanding that there is nothing to fear, but shows you the very key to the absence of all cause for fear. For through me all the heavenly powers hail you, the holy Virgin: rather, He Himself, Who is Lord of all the heavenly powers and of all creation, has selected you because you are holy and adorned with grace. Through your holy, chaste, pure, and undefiled womb the enlightening Pearl comes forth for the salvation of all the world. You are the most honorable, the purest, and the most pious of all human creatures. You have a mind whiter than the snow, and a body of pure gold refined in the crucible. Ezekiel saw you, which he has described in these terms: ‘And the likeness of the throne above them was as the appearance of a sapphire-stone: and above the throne it was as the likeness of a human, and as the appearance of amber; and within it there was, as it were, the likeness of fire round about’ (Ez 1:26-27). Clearly, then, did the prophet behold in type Him Who was born of the holy virgin, whom you, O holy Virgin, would have had no strength to bear, had you not beamed forth for that time with all that is glorious and virtuous.

And with what words of praise, then, shall we describe her Virgin-dignity? With what indications and proclamations of praise shall we celebrate her stainless figure? With what spiritual song or word shall we honor her who is most glorious among the angels? She is planted in the house of God like a fruitful olive that the Holy Spirit overshadowed; and by her means are we called sons and heirs of the Kingdom of Christ. She is the ever-blooming paradise of incorruptibility, wherein is planted the tree that gives life, and that furnishes to all the fruits of immortality. Mary is the boast and glory of virgins, and the exultation of mothers. She is the sure support of the believing, and the helper of the pious. She is the vesture of light, and the domicile of virtue. She is the ever-flowing fountain, wherein the water of life sprang and produced the Lord's Incarnate manifestation. Mary is the monument of righteousness; and all who become lovers of her, and set their affections on virgin-like ingenuousness and purity, shall enjoy the grace of angels.

All who worthily observe the festival of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, acquire as their recompense the fuller interest in the message, ‘Hail, full of grace’! It is our duty, therefore, to keep this feast, seeing that it has filled the whole world with joy and gladness. And let us keep it with psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs. The Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, full of grace, has become for us the principle of all good, the admirable plan of salvation, the divine and excellent teaching of the Savior. Thence rise the rays of the light of understanding upon us. Thence spring for us the fruits of wisdom and immortality, sending forth the clear pure streams of piety. Thence come to us the brilliant splendors of the treasures of divine knowledge. ‘For this is life eternal, that we may know the true God, and Jesus Christ Whom He has sent’ (Jn 17:3).

God in His goodness, when He saw the creature He Himself had formed now held by the power of death, did not turn away finally from him whom He had made in His own Image, but visited him in each generation. Manifesting Himself first of all among the patriarchs, and then proclaiming Himself in the law, and presenting the likeness of Himself in the prophets, He announced His plan of salvation. When the fullness of time had come for His glorious appearing, He sent beforehand the archangel Gabriel to bear the glad tidings to the Virgin Mary. And he came down from the ineffable powers above to the holy Virgin, and addressed her first of all with the salutation, ‘Hail, full of grace’. And when this word reached her, in the very moment of her hearing it, the Holy Spirit entered into the undefiled temple of the Virgin, and her spirit and her body were sanctified together. And nature stood opposite, and natural intercourse at a distance, beholding with amazement the Lord of nature, in a manner contrary to nature, or rather above nature, doing a miraculous work in the body. By the very weapons which the devil strove against us, Christ also saved us, taking to Himself our body, subject to suffering, in order that He might impart the greater grace to the being who was deficient in it. ‘And where sin abounded, grace did much more abound’ (Rom 5:20).

Your praise, O most holy Virgin, surpasses all praise, because God took Flesh and was born Man of you. To you every creature, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, gives you the offering of honor. You are indeed worthy of the throne of the cherubim and you shine as the very brightness of light in the high places of the kingdoms of intelligence. The Father, Who is without beginning, and Whose power you had overshadowing you, is glorified. The Son is worshipped, Whom you bore according to the flesh; and where the Holy Spirit is praised, Who effected in your womb the generation of the mighty King. Through you, O full of grace, is the holy and consubstantial Trinity known throughout the world. Together with yourself, deem us also worthy to be made partakers of your perfect grace in Jesus Christ our Lord, with Whom, and with the Holy Spirit, be glory to the Father, now and ever, and unto the ages of the ages. Amen.

Saint Joseph: A Life in Adoration

It’s fair to say that at the time they walked on planet earth, no human being spent as much time in the adoration of Jesus as His most holy Mother and Saint Joseph. How could they not! Jesus is the mysterious indissolubility of Divinity and Humanity.

Today we understand more clearly Mary as the human Tabernacle during her pregnancy, and post partum, the human Monstrance as she held the visible Jesus in her arms. For Saint Joseph, taking into account his devout religious upbringing, perhaps saw his wife as the Ark of the New and Everlasting Covenant; for within Mary was not «urna aurea habens manna» -- ‘a golden pot that had manna’ (Heb 9, 4), nor was «virga Aaron» -- ‘the rod of Aaron’(ibidem) contained within her, nor were there tablets of stone containing the Commandments of God (cf 1 Reg 8, 9). Instead, what our blessed Lady carried within her was the True Manna, the True High Priest, and the Lawmaker Himself, Whose Finger had written the stone tables of testimony given to Moses (cf Ex 31, 18).

But beloved Saint Joseph did not learn this on his own: it came to him via divine revelation: «Ioseph, fili David, noli timere accipere Mariam coniugem tuam, quod enim in ea natum est, de Spiritu Sancto est» -- ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take unto you Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit’ (Mt 1, 20). Joseph’s original intent was not to publicly expose Mary for conceiving a Child which is not of him, but to quietly send her away (cf Mt 1, 19). And quiet he was – there is no verbal complaint by Saint Joseph recorded in Sacred Scripture. This kind of love and concern for another is entangled in a great mystery involving the Holy Family which man is unable to fully untangle: that is the mystery of the God-Child already possessing this kind of love, and even more love than that, reaching to the unfathomable, for «Deus Caritas est» (1 Io 4, 8); and then trying to have at least some miniscule comprehension of God’s Human Nature, most especially as a Baby and through the childhood years and how much of this exceptional love was taught Him by Saint Joseph and His holy Mother. Since Joseph receives divine revelation about the Child in Mary’s womb without ever beforehand verbally complaining, seems to fulfil what is written by the psalmist: «Omnes vias meas prævidisti, quia non est sermo in lingua mea» -- You have foreseen all my ways, for there is no speech in my tongue’ (Ps 138 [139], 4).

Initially thinking that Mary conceived a child from another man was not the only thing Joseph could have complained about. Once it was divinely revealed to him Who the Child in Mary’s womb is, Joseph’s ‘yes’ to God led to a series of great sufferings for him and his Holy Family. Jesus had to be laid in a manger because there was no room for the Holy Family at the inn (cf Lc 2, 7). Certainly not the ideal circumstance to give birth! Joseph, Mary and Jesus had to flee into Egypt because Herod was killing all the male children in Bethlehem who were two years of age or younger (cf Mt 2, 13-18). Once Herod had died, it was back to the land of Israel for the Holy Family, but Joseph had to deal with more mental anguish: Archelaus, Herod’s son, now reigned in Judea; thus Joseph was once again instructed by a heavenly visitor to take Mary and Jesus to Nazareth (cf Mt 2, 19-23). When Jesus is presented to Simeon in the temple, Simeon prophesies that Jesus was set for the fall and the rising of many in Israel, a sign which shall be contradicted. And for His beloved Mother, a sword would pierce her soul (cf Lc 2, 21-35). And also when Jesus was twelve, He was missing for three days (cf Lc 2, 41-50).

But through it all, not a single word is recorded in Sacred Scripture that was spoken by Saint Joseph. Could it be that his silence was influenced by a deeper, interior silence? From the moment he learned how Mary’s pregnancy came to be, surely he was graced with a sense of wonderment. When Mary visited Elizabeth while carrying Jesus in her womb, and John the Baptist leaped with joy in the womb of Elizabeth (cf Lc 1, 40-44), surely our blessed Lady shared that story with Saint Joseph. How could he not be awestruck? This Child is«Emmanuel» – ‘God with us’ (Mt 1, 23).

How many times did Joseph sit there in silent meditation and contemplation as Mary fed Jesus? How many times, as Joseph was teaching Jesus his trade, step back to watch the Son of God do the work, only to be astounded and overwhelmed by Who He is? After Jesus was found in the temple when He was twelve years of age, what followed is what is termed as ‘the hidden years’. What were those years like for the Holy Family, a life hidden in God, a life hidden with God-made-Man?

Our Holy Father of loving memory, Saint John Paul II, wrote: ‘The silence of Joseph has its own special eloquence, for thanks to that silence we can understand the truth of the Gospel's judgment that he was a just man (cf Mt 1, 19). The total sacrifice, whereby Joseph surrendered his whole existence to the demands of the Messiah’s coming into his home, becomes understandable only in the light of his profound interior life. In Joseph, the apparent tension between the active and the contemplative life finds an ideal harmony that is only possible for those who possess the perfection of charity. We can say that Joseph experienced both love of the truth - that pure contemplative love of the divine Truth which radiated from the Humanity of Christ -- and the demands of love -- that equally pure and selfless love required for his vocation to safeguard and develop the Humanity of Jesus, which was inseparably linked to His divinity’(Redemptoris Custos).

All of us can learn from Saint Joseph and most especially through his intercession that our daily duties can still be accomplished without ever having to sacrifice our adoration of Jesus, Who is present sacramentally in the Tabernacles of our parishes and is also present within each of us.

The Mother of God

Below are words taken from homilies on the Dormition of Mary by Germanus of Constantinople. He was the subject of a Wednesday General Audience by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI back in April of 2009 at Saint Peter’s Square. In that catechesis, the Holy Father said of Germanus that “he played an important role in the overall history of the controversy over images during the ‘Iconoclastic Crisis’: he was able to resist effectively the pressures of an Iconoclast Emperor, in other words opposed to icons, such as Leo III.” In the excerpt below, Germanus speaks about the material colors of the icons of the Mother of God and how they dazzle us with the representation of her gifts. Also interesting is the patriarch’s remembrance that the temple of Solomon was once looked upon as an earthly representation of heaven; and now our church buildings, our places of worship should be thought of with that same dignity. This thought, perhaps, may bring to many of us a new excitement in our worship, especially during Eucharistic Adoration. Germanus of Constantinople delivers his words in these homilies, not so much as addressing crowds, but more as a personal prayer to our Blessed Mother. And these words are also what the Carthusian monks reflected on at Matins for this day, the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. Happy New Year everyone!

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O Mary, you have given birth to the Word of God the Father, at the end of time, to the One Who is “in the beginning.” Immediately after Him coming into the world, the angels looked down from heaven singing the praises of God born from your womb. Crying out that glory had been added to the heights of heaven, they greeted the earth with the peace which at last had come. Enmity could no longer be called a barrier between angels and men, heaven and earth; there was now a reign of harmony, one mutually complimentary song of praise sung by both angels and men to the Triune God. The Father, Who turns to His only Son bearing witness to your Motherhood without need of a husband, says to Him: “Today I have begotten You.” And again: “From the womb before the morning-star, I have begotten You.”

These are revealing words of the mystery of God. If before He was begotten of you, O Virgin and Mother, how does the Father say to Him: “Today I have begotten You?” It is clear that “today” does not indicate that the existence of the Only-begotten’s divinity is something new, but reveals His bodily presence among men. The words “I have begotten you” show that the Holy Spirit, Who shares the Father’s substance, is also in the Father, the source of divine life and the sharer in His activity. The Spirit is inseparable from the Father, and when He places His home in you, Virgin and Mother, by the Father’s good pleasure, makes His own the activity of His Holy Spirit. That is why, when the Father along with the Spirit, inaugurates the coming-forth of His Son, from you in bodily form, He says to the Son: “Today I have begotten You.” The same is true of these other words: “From the womb, before the morning-star, I have begotten you.” For in our faith we grasp the essence of the eternal deity of the Son, co-Eternal with the Father before all ages, and His taking on natural human flesh, from you, the ever-Virgin.

By “the womb before the morning-star,” the Scripture refers to the birth of light which exists before the heavens, but which has now appeared on earth, in order to show that before all creation, visible and invisible, the Only-begotten was brought forth from the Father without beginning, as light is born of light; and “the womb” here signifies your own body, in order to show that the Only-begotten One also came forth from you in flesh. “Before the morning-star” also refers to the night before that dawning, for day is fittingly referred to as “the morning-star”; and since you brought forth light in the night, “for those who sit in darkness,” Scripture calls the hour of your Child bearing, “before the morning-star.”

O Mother of God, your care is for all people. Even if our eyes are prevented from seeing you, you love to dwell in the midst of us all, and you show yourself in a variety of ways to those who are worthy of you. For the flesh does not stand in the way of the power and activity of your spirit; your spirit “blows where it will” since it is pure and immaterial, an incorrupt and spotless spirit, a companion of the Holy Spirit, the chosen one of God’s Only-begotten. Your virginal body is all-holy, all pure, the dwelling-place of God. It is preserved and supremely glorified.

Who would not admire you for your unwavering care, your unchanging readiness to offer protection, your unsleeping intercession, your uninterrupted concern to save, your steady help, your unshakable patronage? Who does not recognize you as the treasury of delight, the garden free from reproaches, the citadel of safety, the harbor of storm-tossed ships, calm for the distraught, welcome for the exiled, dew for the soul’s dry season, a drop of rain for the parched grass? You are Mother of the Lamb Who is the Shepherd, the recognized patron of all the good.

But it is enough praise, O most admirable one, if we simply admit that we do not have the resources to praise all your gifts. You have received from God your exalted position, as a cause for triumph; therefore you have formed for Him a Christian people from your own flesh, and you have shaped them to be conformed to His divine image and likeness. Your light outshines the sun, your honor is above that of all creation, your excellence before that of the angels. For there is no place that you are not called blessed, no tribe from which fruit has not been borne for God from you. Even the peoples of this world who have not known you will themselves, at an acceptable time, call you blessed, O Virgin.

The angels luxuriate in their heavenly dwellings, but we rejoice to take our leisure in your holy temples. For if the temple of Solomon once represented heaven in an earthly image, will not the temples built in honor of you, who became the living temple of Christ, all the more be rightly celebrated as heaven on earth? The stars speak out with tongues of flame in the heavenly firmament; and the material colors of your icons, O Mother of God, dazzle us with the representation of your gifts.

You have your own proper praise within yourself, in that you were designated Mother of God. You did not inherit the title, “Mother of God,” simply because we heard this with our own ears; nor was it simply that our fathers proclaimed this to us in a tradition of utter truthfulness. Rather, the work you have accomplished in us confirms that you are Mother of God in very fact, literally and without deceit, not by some verbal self-indulgence, but in the way of true faith.

Extraordinary Purity of Heart

These wonderful thoughts about our Blessed Lady come from a monk, ascetic and writer of the Carthusian Order named, Ioannes Iustus Lanspergius. This is the Latinized name of John Gerecht of Landsberg. His name, however, most often appears simply as “Lanspergius.” He lived in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. He was born in Bavaria, Germany. He joined the Carthusian Order at twenty years of age after studying philosophy at the University of Cologne. After spending ten years in Cologne he was made Prior of the Charterhouse of Cantave. Along with his duties as Prior, he gave himself completely to God in prayer, asceticism, mysticism and writing. In this post, Lanspergius plunges deeper into Sacred Scripture, most specifically the scene of the Annunciation. We can see the mind of a contemplative at work in how this is written.

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The good and gracious Creator became intolerant in seeing man fall into the abyss. Overcome by inexpressible mercy, He sent an angel, chosen among the most worthy, the archangel Gabriel – to a town in Galilee called Nazareth.

The angel came into the house which was inhabited by the parents of the future Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin, who had now returned from the temple, and was betrothed to Saint Joseph.

The angel then appeared to the Virgin. And what a Virgin! A Virgin in body and having the pure soul of an angel; a Virgin whose beauty is so bright, that the King of heaven, the Son of the Most High, would have her for His Mother, choosing her from the boundless crowd of humanity.

The angel came to greet the Virgin and bring a message from God – an unheard of message – no words of this kind had ever been brought to the earth until that day.

It is written that the angel came to her. But where did He enter? Mary had withdrawn to her father’s residence, sitting in her small bedroom, totally absorbed in entreating God to free humanity. She was immersed in divine contemplation and was completely suspended in God as her spirit remained closely united to Him constantly, due to the extraordinary purity of her heart. For as often as she wished, she could move towards the Almighty through contemplation.

And so, there she sat, earnestly beseeching the Lord to send into the land the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah. The angel enters into the room where Mary is devoted only to God, by herself, absorbed. Gabriel turns with the utmost respect towards her who is about to become the Mother of God, and greets her: Hail, full of grace.

Hail, full of grace. You are free from every stain, even the slightest shadow. You’re so perfectly beautiful and Immaculate that nothing in you has ever displeased God.

Grace has invaded you and you possess it completely. The Lord is with you, in you the Trinity dwells, and not in an ordinary manner, but in a special way. The Lord is pleased with you, He created you and enjoys dwelling in you always, enamored by your beauty. He has completely enveloped you, protecting you from the invasion of the enemy. The Lord is always with you, He strengthens you, surrounds you with His grace which will never abandon you.

Almighty God has prepared in you a worthy and adequate dwelling for His Son, Who wished to be born in your lap.

Blessed are you among women, among all creatures. The sweetness of God you have received with so many blessings that the Omnipotent Creator decreed to be your Son. The Immense One desired to be born like a child, thanks to you.

Blessed are you among women, you who enjoy the honor of virginity and are the Mother of the Almighty.

Unique among all women you have conceived without the stain of sin and without suffering. This conception made you even more pure and more holy.

You have favor with God. I know that your bewilderment and your fear are not from defects, but are the fragrant flowers of your virtues. With certainty you have found favor with God, appreciated and likened unto Him beyond measure.

Your eminent virtues, your continuous prayer, and the fire of your love has asked for and obtained His grace.

Blessed are you, Mary, for you have received not the grace of men, but of God.