MARY'S HEART - SUFFERINGS
2. The Causes of That Sorrow.
What made that Heart suffer so much was first of all Her ardent love for god and Her great desire to procure His glory. Consequently every sin produced a frightful horror in Her, for Mary clearly saw sin as the enemy of god and of souls.
We shall never understand how this consideration tortured the Heart of Mary for the simple reason that our love is different altogether from Hers. Often indeed we ourselves sin and thus offend the majesty of God. At other times we see the sins of others with indifference, without rushing to atone for them or striving to prevent an offense against God. Finally, for want of love we fail to give ourselves to God's due service and glory, nor do we surrender our heart to Him with generosity.
How then can we realize the sufferings of the Heart of Mary when She saw how the hearts of men would leave God's glory to the delays of their own whims and caprices.
Another cause of Her sorrow was the love She bore us; a love very similar to that which She had for God Himself. She had an ardent desire for our salvation and sanctification.
The saints were prepared for any sacrifice for the salvation of mankind. St. Paul bore so many hardships in his apostolic journeys. He was ever prepared to accept curses and anathemas for the salvation of souls. Equally, St. Augustine wrote, "I don't want my salvation if you also are not saved." For St. Francis Xavier no suffering was too great provided he could save souls. And likewise all the apostles and holy men. How great then was the love of Mary for souls since more than anyone else She knew the value of a soul and the love which God bears for each one of them. In consequence Our Lady was bound to love souls with an ardor second only to the love of God, quite above the love which all the saints and apostles together had for souls.
One third cause of Her sufferings is to be found in the knowledge which She had for the life, passion and death of Her Son. For some human rebellious souls the redemption would be of no practical avail. How few would choose to sanctify themselves through the Blood so generously shed by divine love! Our Lady could see how the centuries would pass --as twenty have already gone by-- and yet the greater part of the world would remain heathen and even the Christian and Catholic world would to a great extent remain half pagan. She would see how often even souls especially consecrated to the service of God would deeply wound the Heart of Her Son. How could the Heart of Mary not suffer in the face of all this! "And for this," She would say, "has Jesus shed all His blood, in order that paganism may keep on victorious! In order that the hatred of god, the indifference and coldness for His kingdom, selfishness and sensuality and interest should be rampant all over the world?"
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
2. The Causes of That Sorrow.
What made that Heart suffer so much was first of all Her ardent love for god and Her great desire to procure His glory. Consequently every sin produced a frightful horror in Her, for Mary clearly saw sin as the enemy of god and of souls.
We shall never understand how this consideration tortured the Heart of Mary for the simple reason that our love is different altogether from Hers. Often indeed we ourselves sin and thus offend the majesty of God. At other times we see the sins of others with indifference, without rushing to atone for them or striving to prevent an offense against God. Finally, for want of love we fail to give ourselves to God's due service and glory, nor do we surrender our heart to Him with generosity.
How then can we realize the sufferings of the Heart of Mary when She saw how the hearts of men would leave God's glory to the delays of their own whims and caprices.
Another cause of Her sorrow was the love She bore us; a love very similar to that which She had for God Himself. She had an ardent desire for our salvation and sanctification.
The saints were prepared for any sacrifice for the salvation of mankind. St. Paul bore so many hardships in his apostolic journeys. He was ever prepared to accept curses and anathemas for the salvation of souls. Equally, St. Augustine wrote, "I don't want my salvation if you also are not saved." For St. Francis Xavier no suffering was too great provided he could save souls. And likewise all the apostles and holy men. How great then was the love of Mary for souls since more than anyone else She knew the value of a soul and the love which God bears for each one of them. In consequence Our Lady was bound to love souls with an ardor second only to the love of God, quite above the love which all the saints and apostles together had for souls.
One third cause of Her sufferings is to be found in the knowledge which She had for the life, passion and death of Her Son. For some human rebellious souls the redemption would be of no practical avail. How few would choose to sanctify themselves through the Blood so generously shed by divine love! Our Lady could see how the centuries would pass --as twenty have already gone by-- and yet the greater part of the world would remain heathen and even the Christian and Catholic world would to a great extent remain half pagan. She would see how often even souls especially consecrated to the service of God would deeply wound the Heart of Her Son. How could the Heart of Mary not suffer in the face of all this! "And for this," She would say, "has Jesus shed all His blood, in order that paganism may keep on victorious! In order that the hatred of god, the indifference and coldness for His kingdom, selfishness and sensuality and interest should be rampant all over the world?"
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
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