THE ANNUNCIATION
OUR LADY'S RETIREMENT
OUR LADY'S RETIREMENT
2. Mary A Model.
How She loved retirement in Her little house!
Nobody sees Her. No one is aware of what She is doing. But God is pleased with that recollection and there He goes to meet Her. The Angel does not appear in the street, in the squares, not even publicly in the Temple but only in the solitude and retirement of Nazareth. It is there that Mary feels Herself to be wholly and exclusively God's and God is wholly Her's. There, without witnesses, the great and intimate communications between God and Mary take place. There the great mystery of the Incarnation is brought about. Her retirement is definite. If She goes out of Her home, it is for the sake of charity, as at the Visitation, or in a spirit of obedience, as when She goes to Bethlehem, to Egypt, or to the Temple of Jerusalem. She would never indulge in touring for recreation or as a mere pastime.
Watch Her in the street and see Her interior recollection as shown in Her demeanor, in Her eyes. Be present at the visits She makes, mark Her actions. Attend to Her conversations, listen to the words that fall from Her mouth. Convinced that She is God's Temple, She is not carried away by social life: even in the midst of the world, She never abandons Her interior recollection. Look at Her, busy at home. Even in those days when the work is most pressing She knows how to sanctify it in the presence of God, whose sight She never loses. Everything helps to increase the intensity of Her already intense interior life.
How She loved retirement in Her little house!
Nobody sees Her. No one is aware of what She is doing. But God is pleased with that recollection and there He goes to meet Her. The Angel does not appear in the street, in the squares, not even publicly in the Temple but only in the solitude and retirement of Nazareth. It is there that Mary feels Herself to be wholly and exclusively God's and God is wholly Her's. There, without witnesses, the great and intimate communications between God and Mary take place. There the great mystery of the Incarnation is brought about. Her retirement is definite. If She goes out of Her home, it is for the sake of charity, as at the Visitation, or in a spirit of obedience, as when She goes to Bethlehem, to Egypt, or to the Temple of Jerusalem. She would never indulge in touring for recreation or as a mere pastime.
Watch Her in the street and see Her interior recollection as shown in Her demeanor, in Her eyes. Be present at the visits She makes, mark Her actions. Attend to Her conversations, listen to the words that fall from Her mouth. Convinced that She is God's Temple, She is not carried away by social life: even in the midst of the world, She never abandons Her interior recollection. Look at Her, busy at home. Even in those days when the work is most pressing She knows how to sanctify it in the presence of God, whose sight She never loses. Everything helps to increase the intensity of Her already intense interior life.
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