Meditation 74
MARY'S LAST YEARS
We do not know for certain but it is easy to guess how Our Heavenly Mother passed the last years of Her life. First it must have been a life of prayer. The whole life of Our lady was a life of prayer since She never lost sight of the presence of God either before or after the Incarnation. However, towards the end of Her life this prayer was bound to be even more intense. How could She spend one single moment without thinking of Her beloved Son? Would She not think of Him constantly? Would She not incessantly recall His words, His miracles, His preaching, His passion and death, His Resurrection and ascension, His love for men?
The Gospel says that Mary used to keep whatever Jesus said even from childhood deep in Her heart. And apart alone She would meditate on it. Could She now live without this meditation, She who only lived of Jesus and for Jesus?
On the other hand Her duties as Mother were already terminated. Her household work no longer occupied Her for She was lovingly taken care of in the house of St. John. Consequently, all Her time would be spent conversing with Her Son, Her God. It is natural to suppose that often, perhaps daily, She would visit the spots sanctified by the one-time presence of Her Son. Accompany Her on these visits and see Her enter the Garden of Olives, to spend there a long while remembering the agony of Jesus. See Her climb Mount Calvary, one by one going over the stations of the cross, prostrating Herself at the place of the crucifixion, kissing the tombstone of the Holy Sepulcher and returning once more through the streets of sorrows as She did on the day of Her solitude.
Ask Our Lady to accompany you; especially when you make the stations of the cross or meditate on the passion. How devout and loving would the prayer of this Virgin be!
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
The Gospel says that Mary used to keep whatever Jesus said even from childhood deep in Her heart. And apart alone She would meditate on it. Could She now live without this meditation, She who only lived of Jesus and for Jesus?
On the other hand Her duties as Mother were already terminated. Her household work no longer occupied Her for She was lovingly taken care of in the house of St. John. Consequently, all Her time would be spent conversing with Her Son, Her God. It is natural to suppose that often, perhaps daily, She would visit the spots sanctified by the one-time presence of Her Son. Accompany Her on these visits and see Her enter the Garden of Olives, to spend there a long while remembering the agony of Jesus. See Her climb Mount Calvary, one by one going over the stations of the cross, prostrating Herself at the place of the crucifixion, kissing the tombstone of the Holy Sepulcher and returning once more through the streets of sorrows as She did on the day of Her solitude.
Ask Our Lady to accompany you; especially when you make the stations of the cross or meditate on the passion. How devout and loving would the prayer of this Virgin be!
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
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