MARY, OUR MOTHER

MARY'S LAST YEARS

4. Life of Sacrifice.

a) In obedience, not only to the evangelical laws but also to whatever St. Peter and the apostles ordered for the welfare of the Church. She never asked an exception, She never believed Herself exempt from any rule. She was the first to obey and submit Herself. She saw the representatives of God in those vested with authority. And in their commands She saw the Will of God.

b) In Poverty. She lived on alms as Her Son had done. she was satisfied with whatever distributions the apostles made to the widows and the other poor amongst the faithful. She would never consent to any distinction whatever being made in Her behalf. Many believe that Mary so loved that poverty, which She had seen so fervently and lovingly practiced by Her Son, that She was the first to take the vow of poverty, becoming thereby the model of so many souls who in Her footsteps would eventually choose the way of poverty as an excellent means of sanctification.

c) In Mortification. As St. Ambrose says Her temperance and abstinence were admirable and even heavenly. She would eat in the most simple and ordinary manner. She would very often practice fasts and penances. Equally She would rest only for the minimum time necessary to sustain life. She would spend the greater part of the night in vigil and devote Herself to prayer. Compare your life with Hers and realize how you are not entitled to boast of your little sacrifices.

[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]