Our Holy Father of jubilant memory, Pope John Paul II, wrote in Redemptoris Mater that “in the mystery of Christ she [Mary] is present even before the creation of the world, as the one whom the Father has chosen as Mother of His Son in the Incarnation. And, what is more, together with the Father, the Son has chosen her, entrusting her eternally to the Spirit of holiness. In an entirely special and exceptional way Mary is united to Christ, and similarly she is eternally loved in this beloved Son, this Son Who is One being with the Father, in Whom is concentrated all the glory of grace”.Twice does the word “eternally” appear in that statement from the Holy Father. God -- Father Son and Holy Spirit sees everything with the Eyes of eternity. This is how Mary is present in God’s Eyes even before we read in Genesis, “Fiat lux” – “Let there be light.” In Genesis “darkness was upon the face of the deep” before God commanded light to appear. The eternal words, “Fiat lux” travels to the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary and once again Light appears. This Light will also illuminate the darkness, the darkness that sinful man had sentenced himself to.
“Fiat” or “so be it” intimates self-surrender and trust. The fiat of the creation story, that eternal word, flows from the lips of the Woman in order that our ears may hear, our souls may ponder, and by learning from this Lady’s example, our hearts may keep: “Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum” – “Be it done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).
Eternity’s voice comes to us in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We read in the hour of Matins: “Et qui creavit me, requievit in tabernaculo meo” – “And He Who created me, rested in my tabernacle” (Sirach 24:12). Clearly Mary is present in this verse even though the verse itself was written in a moment of time long before Mary was conceived in time. Her womb is the tabernacle in which her Creator rested and clothed Himself in human flesh. Continuing, we read: “In electis meis mitte radices” – “Take root in My elect” (ibid. 24:13).
Who are God’s elect? The Catechism of the Catholic Church offers these words: “Those who are united with Christ will form the community of the redeemed, ‘the holy city’ of God, ‘the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ She will not be wounded any longer by sin, stains, self-love, that destroy or wound the earthly community. The beatific vision, in which God opens Himself in an inexhaustible way to the elect, will be the ever-flowing well-spring of happiness, peace, and mutual communion” (CCC 1045). Thus, first and foremost, God’s elect are those who already enjoy the beatific vision. We cannot overlook, however, that everyone is called to this greatness, to eternal blessedness. Our Lady, by means of her Assumption has taken root in God’s elect. We, who desire to wholeheartedly embrace the call to holiness, must allow our Blessed Mother to be a part of our interior life, to take root in our soul.
As long as we remain in a state of grace, the Holy Trinity dwells within us. The eternal God rests in our tabernacle. Mary must be permitted to dwell there also because she is the perfect adorer. She teaches us how to properly adore the God within us. Saint Louis Marie de Montfort wrote is his Secret of Mary that “she leads every soul straight to God and to union with Him.” Sometimes we forget that we share an incomprehensible dignity: Mary is the Mother of Jesus – and our Mother. We share the same Mother with our Redeemer. That thought and reality alone is worth hours of solitude in a desert cave.
Saint Julian Eymard said: “Kind Mother, come with me, for a mother always accompanies her child. Without you, I shall not know what to say to Jesus.” Precisely! No one knows the child like the mother, therefore, no one knows Jesus like Mary. She is the key to a richer interior life. She can help us to grow in communion with Jesus. Saint Julian Eymard adds: “Mary adored with the most submissive faith. She adored her hidden Son, veiled under a strange form. She adored that Heart so inflamed with love, whence issued the Holy Eucharist. Mary's adoration was profound, interior, intimate.” Mary knows that she is the perfect adorer and she would like nothing more than to have her children become perfect adorers.
It was no accident that our Blessed Lady was present on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit, Who appeared as tongues of fire, finds Mary irresistible. She is the chaste Spouse of the great Paraclete. Once again, from Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, this time in True Devotion to Mary he writes: “When the Holy Spirit finds His Spouse in a soul, He flies to that soul, to communicate Himself to it, to fill it with His Presence, in proportion as He discovers there the presence and the fullness of His Spouse.”
Mary must be a part of our interior life. Temptation flees from her. She can keep us in a state of grace. Unfortunately, as Saint Louis Marie de Montfort adds: “One of the major reasons why the Holy Spirit does not now work blinding wonders of grace in our souls is that He does not find in us a sufficiently strong union with Mary His indissoluble Spouse.”
In this Season of Lent in which we are called to intense prayer, let us allow Mary to show us the way. Let her show us how to adore her Son, how to attain an intimate union with the Trinity. Our souls in a state of grace are like a garden in Paradise. Let us allow the Mystical Rose to take root there.
