Saturday, July 07, 2007

Coptic Icon

THE BURIAL AND RESURRECTION OF MARY

3. The Resurrection.
Incorruption was still too little for the definitive triumph of Our Heavenly Mother. The real conclusion could be nothing less than a new life in a glorious resurrection, a new immortality communicated by Her soul to Her body, thus constituting a perfectly Christ-like life which would never know death. It has been said that Mary is the beginning of Christ, therefore it is impossible to separate the Mother from Her Son. Hence it follows as a natural consequence that Christ must put an end to that state of things which, so to say, hindered the relations between Jesus and Mary. They were separated from each other and so it was imperative that Mary should join Him as soon as possible. Jesus and Mary must meet again in Heaven since they had lived so closely united here on earth.

Moreover, the body of Our Heavenly Mother was not an occasion of sin for Her as ours is. It knew no disorderly passions, it experienced no rebellion against the spirit, all was harmonious. It was an orderly and perfect ensemble where the body was ever in obedience to the soul of Mary. Her most pure flesh was always in perfect submission to that divinised spirit of Mary. It was then just that they should not be estranged from each other; but rather, as a reward of that submission, it was fitting that God should join them together so that they should keep on serving and praising God in their continued union and harmony.

Imagine, then, the happy instant in which through the virtue and omnipotence of Her divine Son the body of Our Lady received from Her soul a new life, and rose glorious and immortal, scoring a victory over the sepulcher. How joyful would that most holy body appear on finding itself inseparably united to that most holy soul! How great would its beauty be if Mary was always even in Her earthly life so beautiful! Contemplate the wonder of the apostles when early in the morning they went to visit the sepulcher and found there only a sweet scent left behind by the risen body. How this would recall the remembrance of the resurrection of Christ! How they would rejoice on seeing that also Christ's Mother had risen! Offer your congratulations to the divine Son and to His Mother; beg again for a share in that inseparable and eternal union. Promise that you will never be torn from them, neither by sufferings nor by joys, neither in struggle nor in triumph.


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

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