Meditation 90
MARY'S HEART - FLOWERS
1. The Crown of Flowers.
When looking at the picture of the Most Pure Heart of Mary, you cannot help noticing a crown of flowers around it. You ask yourself what it stands for. You recall the crown of sharp thorns around the Sacred Heart of Jesus while here Mary has a crown of roses.
There is actually no difference between these crowns. Both Hearts beat together. The feelings of the one finds an echo in the other. Therefore the thorns in Jesus' Heart must also pierce the Heart of His Mother. The only difference is the symbolic meaning attached to the crowns. The crown of thorns stands for the ingratitude of men towards the Heart of Jesus whilst the crown of roses represents the charm and beauty of the virtues which rise in Our Lady's Heart. Notice however, that while the crown of thorns is not without flowers neither are the roses without thorns.
All those saintly souls which undaunted by those sharp thorns have chosen to embrace the Heart of Jesus have invariably been surprised to realize that the thorns have lost their sharpness. Indeed, divine love had so transformed them that those thorns were changed into exquisite flowers of alluring scent. There is no doubt about it. Test and see. Give yourself up entirely to the love of God, try to enter His Divine Heart and, in spite of the Cross and thorns that surround it you will experience unsuspected sweetness and hitherto unknown happiness.
This is the hidden treasure --an infinite treasure which enriches souls and renders them happy-- a treasure through which is hidden behind thorns and the Cross. Unfortunately, many souls grow frightened at what faces them, so that they never reach the point of savoring the sweet honey contained therein.
That then is why the Heart of Our Lady is depicted by flowers. No one as She embraced the thorns of the Heart of Her Son and the thorns were immediately converted into charming roses of the most sublime virtue.
Embrace the thorns of the Heart of Christ and your heart forthwith will blossom into flowers. Look at the Heart of Mary and estimate how many hidden thorns must be contained therein. How many sharp thorns must have penetrated that Heart before blossoming into those roses. And then look at the Heart of Jesus and judge how many of those thorns are due to your indifference, your lukewarmness, your blindness to His love. Not He but I should be pierced by those thorns.
Jesus has enough thorns; so collect some for yourself. Do it, and you will soon realize how your generosity will blossom forth like the Heart of Mary. All the saints thus acted. Remember St. Theresa of the Child Jesus: that little saint with a shower of roses. She was one of the lovers of the flowers of the Heart of Mary. But there is no account of the number of sufferings, of mortifications with which She paid for every rose of Mary's Heart. Ask Our Lady the grace of being as fond of the roses of the spirit as St. Theresa was.
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
When looking at the picture of the Most Pure Heart of Mary, you cannot help noticing a crown of flowers around it. You ask yourself what it stands for. You recall the crown of sharp thorns around the Sacred Heart of Jesus while here Mary has a crown of roses.
There is actually no difference between these crowns. Both Hearts beat together. The feelings of the one finds an echo in the other. Therefore the thorns in Jesus' Heart must also pierce the Heart of His Mother. The only difference is the symbolic meaning attached to the crowns. The crown of thorns stands for the ingratitude of men towards the Heart of Jesus whilst the crown of roses represents the charm and beauty of the virtues which rise in Our Lady's Heart. Notice however, that while the crown of thorns is not without flowers neither are the roses without thorns.
All those saintly souls which undaunted by those sharp thorns have chosen to embrace the Heart of Jesus have invariably been surprised to realize that the thorns have lost their sharpness. Indeed, divine love had so transformed them that those thorns were changed into exquisite flowers of alluring scent. There is no doubt about it. Test and see. Give yourself up entirely to the love of God, try to enter His Divine Heart and, in spite of the Cross and thorns that surround it you will experience unsuspected sweetness and hitherto unknown happiness.
This is the hidden treasure --an infinite treasure which enriches souls and renders them happy-- a treasure through which is hidden behind thorns and the Cross. Unfortunately, many souls grow frightened at what faces them, so that they never reach the point of savoring the sweet honey contained therein.
That then is why the Heart of Our Lady is depicted by flowers. No one as She embraced the thorns of the Heart of Her Son and the thorns were immediately converted into charming roses of the most sublime virtue.
Embrace the thorns of the Heart of Christ and your heart forthwith will blossom into flowers. Look at the Heart of Mary and estimate how many hidden thorns must be contained therein. How many sharp thorns must have penetrated that Heart before blossoming into those roses. And then look at the Heart of Jesus and judge how many of those thorns are due to your indifference, your lukewarmness, your blindness to His love. Not He but I should be pierced by those thorns.
Jesus has enough thorns; so collect some for yourself. Do it, and you will soon realize how your generosity will blossom forth like the Heart of Mary. All the saints thus acted. Remember St. Theresa of the Child Jesus: that little saint with a shower of roses. She was one of the lovers of the flowers of the Heart of Mary. But there is no account of the number of sufferings, of mortifications with which She paid for every rose of Mary's Heart. Ask Our Lady the grace of being as fond of the roses of the spirit as St. Theresa was.
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
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