Mary was the poorest of creatures, (“blessed are the poor in spirit”). She never appropriated any grace, but accepted everything as a gift; she made the most of God’s gifts, not in order to enjoy them, but in order to draw closer to God. Thus, she constantly mounted higher and higher. She received all her graces without seeing them. It was in the beatific vision, in God himself, that Mary, on the day of the Assumption, discovered the marvel that God had wrought in her. Only then did she look at herself.

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That is what happened at the Cross. Mary knew well that God was leading her in the ways of love, and that divine friendship has different laws from human friendship. Her intimate union with Jesus attained its consummation there at the Cross. She did not need purification; her trials were not a punishment for sin but a token of love. God had chosen suffering to testify on earth to his love, and God was letting her share in that suffering.

It was Mary’s confidence that made her faithful, and her confidence stemmed from her nothingness. The bride of God, who has no other task but love, is spontaneously inclined to self–effacement. This is the humility of the bride who naturally loves to lose herself in her beloved spouse. Love is what impels her to a joyous humility, which is completely simple and one with love. In moments of great intimacy with God, we hardly know whether it is acts of love or acts of humility that God asks of us. In fact, it is both together: we disappear, but we disappear in God’s love.

Let us ask the Blessed Virgin to enlighten us in all our questions of conscience. Let us also meditate on all her attitudes. There was always a deep intimacy between her and our Lord, but a very dark intimacy, an intimacy in faith. –Father Thomas Philippe ‘The Contemplative Life’

Mother of Sorrows