MARY'S HEART - SUFFERINGS
3. The Depth of This Sorrow.
The sufferings of Mary border on the infinite. She suffered both as Mother of God and as Mother of man, as co-Redemptrix of the world. Her sorrow was no mere human sorrow. That is why we shall never understand, nay even imagine, the depth and vastness of Her sufferings. According to the Prophet Isaiah Jesus was to be "the man of sorrows, turned into a despicable worm, the despised of men." So then was the Redeemer. How would the co-Redemptrix be? She was to be the Mother of Sorrows. She was not to undergo those physical tortures but nevertheless Her sufferings were to flood Her Heart.
The holy Fathers say that all the sufferings which Jesus bore in His holy body She also experienced, one by one, in Her Immaculate Heart. The Heart of Mary, so cruelly pierced by the sword, will ever be the model of those who suffer and be too the sweet consolation and the divine balm which comforts and encourages those in their Calvary.
Learn how to read the sufferings of that sorrowful Heart. How much knowledge you can derive from it! With your unworthy behavior you thousands of times have thrust the sword into the Heart of your Mother. With your sufferings you must also atone for your sins and for the sins of others. Mary never sinned and yet She atoned. What should we do? We shun suffering. We rebel against God when He justly punishes us. We try to avoid the cross. If you looked at that pierced Heart your sufferings would vanish and you would realize how sweet it is to suffer for God in company with, and in imitation of, the Heart of Our Blessed Lady.
Never ask for your sufferings to be removed. Rather ask to be taught how to bear them, that you render them divine, noble, meritorious by sharing them with your sorrowful Mother.
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
The sufferings of Mary border on the infinite. She suffered both as Mother of God and as Mother of man, as co-Redemptrix of the world. Her sorrow was no mere human sorrow. That is why we shall never understand, nay even imagine, the depth and vastness of Her sufferings. According to the Prophet Isaiah Jesus was to be "the man of sorrows, turned into a despicable worm, the despised of men." So then was the Redeemer. How would the co-Redemptrix be? She was to be the Mother of Sorrows. She was not to undergo those physical tortures but nevertheless Her sufferings were to flood Her Heart.
The holy Fathers say that all the sufferings which Jesus bore in His holy body She also experienced, one by one, in Her Immaculate Heart. The Heart of Mary, so cruelly pierced by the sword, will ever be the model of those who suffer and be too the sweet consolation and the divine balm which comforts and encourages those in their Calvary.
Learn how to read the sufferings of that sorrowful Heart. How much knowledge you can derive from it! With your unworthy behavior you thousands of times have thrust the sword into the Heart of your Mother. With your sufferings you must also atone for your sins and for the sins of others. Mary never sinned and yet She atoned. What should we do? We shun suffering. We rebel against God when He justly punishes us. We try to avoid the cross. If you looked at that pierced Heart your sufferings would vanish and you would realize how sweet it is to suffer for God in company with, and in imitation of, the Heart of Our Blessed Lady.
Never ask for your sufferings to be removed. Rather ask to be taught how to bear them, that you render them divine, noble, meritorious by sharing them with your sorrowful Mother.
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
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