The Beatific Love

As soon as the just are admitted to the sight of God, they will become conscious of the infinite affection He bears to them, and they will be drawn to Him with the cravings of an all-absorbing affection. They will realize that He is indeed their life, a necessary of existence, for which every fiber of their being hungers and craves.

The kingdom of God on earth, as being the forerunner of heaven, must also be a kingdom of love embracing all from first to last. Strive to made it such.

 

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 2 

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The Beatific Vision

At present we cannot picture to ourselves more than the treasures of natural knowledge, and we aspire to these accordingly. This knowledge doubtless we shall possess in all its fulness; and, extensive though it is, it will be the mere beginning of a further knowledge that will absorb into itself and transcend all the science which now we value so highly. The supernatural knowledge which religion communicates to us now, and which we hold by the evidence of faith and not by the evidence of sense, is the foregleam of the knowledge which we shall see in the Beatific Vision. This knowledge alone will never become void when all else shall lose its interest for us; and by God's mercy this highest science is accessible to the simplest souls. Value it as better than all the natural attainments of the intellect.

 

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 2 

The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1961

 

The Nature of Beatitude

The delights of the natural life are no more satisfying than grass offered to a starving man, or a draught of syrup to the parched and thirsty traveler in a tropical desert.  

 

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All for Jesus, all for Mary. 

Such shall be our password gentle reader - til next time.

All Creation Serves God

Our perfected powers in heaven will be vastly greater than they are now; the service they then will render to God depends on our fidelity and service during this present life. Cultivate all your faculties now, by dedicating them to the advancement of God's glory, and preparing them for future use on a grander scale. 

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All for Jesus, all for Mary. 

Such shall be our password gentle reader - til next time.

Eve on Her Own or A Straight Talk to Women Who Work

God the End of All Things

It is a perversion of all right order and progress for man to look below himself, or to make any creature, the object of his energies, or to expect full enjoyment in anything finite. In the end he will find nothing but failure; he will have exhausted his energies on that which is utterly unprofitable, and will have lost the only thing that can make him happy in eternity. Here as well as hereafter you will find no satisfaction but in God.

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 2 

The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1961

The Stages of Man's Development

The natural state is only the foundation on which a better life is to be reared, the life of supernatural grace and union with God. Admirable as man may be with his gifts of nature, he is still far below the state of perfection for which God designed him even here on earth. 

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 2 

The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1961

Eucharistic Miracles

 

The Final Purpose of Man

Nothing is more important than to ascertain the final purpose of this world, the destiny of man in particular, the laws on which his successful action depends, the manner in which he ought to use the gifts bestowed on him. Yet, in this matter of supreme importance the majority of mankind act without the least forethought or even intelligence. 

Do not be so negligent. Keep the divine purpose ever before your eyes to guide every detail of your life. "O Lord, make me know my end, and what is the number of my days; that I may know what is wanting to me" (Ps. xxxviii. 5).

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 2 

The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1961

Devotion to The Blessed Virgin

More than all other creatures, she is calculated to lead our minds towards God.

By being devout towards her you will fulfill the command; "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" 

(Phil, ii. 6).

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 1 

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Go to Joseph

The Assumption

     I. "Nor wilt Thou give Thy holy one to see corruption" 

(Ps. xv. 10). 

 

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin's body into heaven was the last of her many earthly privileges. It was saved from the degradation of putrefaction, was raised to life, and united with her soul in glory. The Ark of the Covenant was a figure of Mary. It contained the word of God on the two tables, a portion of the bread which came from heaven, and the brazen serpent which saved the people from death, all of them emblems of Our Lord. That ark was of incorruptible wood, prefiguring her incorruption. The putrefaction of our bodies aptly punishes the corruption which we have deliberately introduced into our souls; it is fitting that all our comeliness and pride should be brought down to the awful hideousness of the tomb. Soul and body mutually act and react. The infinite sanctity of God the Son preserved His Mother from the smallest taint of spiritual corruption; and to this corresponded her preservation from bodily corruption. As "the corruptible body weigheth down the soul" (Wisd. ix. 15), so that soul which never suffered the death of sin, drew the body after it to a renewed life. Keep your soul free from the taint of sin, and its grace will overflow on your body. You will be freed from many of the physical evils of life which proceed from the degradation and foulness of the sinful soul.

     II. "Arise, O Lord, into Thy resting-place; Thou and the Ark which Thou hast sanctified" (Ps. cxxxi. 8). The relation of the Blessed Virgin to the Son of God demanded her Assumption. That Ark on which He rested corporally while on earth was fitly associated with His Divine Presence in heaven. St. Augustine could not endure to think that the flesh and blood which had for a time been one with the flesh and blood of the Divine Humanity, should be left to putrefy in the grave. Jesus rendered to Mary according to her works; she had given Him bodily life on earth; He in return gave her back her bodily life after she had surrendered it in love for Him. She received Him corporally into her home on earth, He took her corporally to His eternal home. Further, as the Blessed Virgin co-operated in the work of the Incarnation and Redemption, it was fitting that she should profit by it in a more excellent way ; not only in the soul by her preservation from sin, but also in the body by her delivery from death. Her exceptional position also as to grace, dignity, and work on earth, was rewarded by an exceptional corresponding glory in her resurrection. Admire the justice and generosity in Our Lord's treatment of His Blessed Mother; and from this, judge of the generosity with which He will recompense your services.

     III. The Assumption bears an analogy to the other mysteries in the life of Our Lord and the Holy Virgin. God's works form an harmonious whole; if we know some of His dealings, we may argue as to others, in grace as in nature. All was miraculous or exceptional with the Blessed Virgin, her predestination, her Immaculate Conception, her sinlessness, her virginity, her maternity, her sorrows. The end must be as the beginning, to make the series of God's works in her complete. "May the Lord keep thy coming in and thy going out" (Ps. cxx. 8). Her death must harmonize with all the rest. If Our Lady s body had "seen corruption," it would have been a greater breach in the continuity of the Incarnation series, than her Assumption is in that of ordinary nature. Further, there is, all through, a correspondence of Our Lady's life and mysteries with those of Christ. His Nativity, Obscurity, Presentation, Passion are reflected in her. The Ascension, likewise, has its counterpart in the Assumption. So too, the relation of your life to Our Lord's will find its parallel in your death. Your moral and spiritual position here will be the index to your position hereafter. Continuity and harmony must prevail in time and eternity.

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The Rosary My Treasure

The Death of The Blessed Virgin

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" (Ps. cxv. 15). How much more beautiful and precious was the death of the Blessed Virgin! To the Apostles and the other witnesses, although a loss, it was full of consolation and edification. To herself it was her final triumph on earth, the end of sorrows, the commencement of glory. 

The angels surrounded her death-bed. The Lord Jesus was waiting for her soul, just beyond the veil, to reward her for all she had done for Him, to set the crown upon her head, to lead her into the kingdom and present her to the Eternal Father.

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 1 

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The Obscurity of The Blessed Virgin

Consider that Our Lady is sufficiently glorified for all practical purposes at Our Lord's birth and his death. She was His Mother and His best-beloved. What more remains to be said? 

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 1 

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Today's Watchwords

 

The Blessed Virgin on Calvary

"Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His Mother" (John xix, 25). The holy Virgin is only mentioned once again in the Gospels up to the hour of her Son's death, and here she is spoken of only by the beloved disciple, who beyond all others, had a deep insight into divine mysteries. Every circumstance here has a special significance. 

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The Marriage of Cana

After an obscurity of many ears, the Blessed Virgin appears again in company with her Divine Son at the marriage-feast of Cana. Like everything else in the Gospel, this event is the solemn teaching of great truths for the guidance of mankind. It is not a casual interlude, but it marks a definite stage in the progressive revelation of Our Lord. It shows us the relations between Jesus and His holy Mother, and the relations between her and mankind. 

Learn to trust Our Lord, and not to take it as a rebuff if He for a while delays to grant your petitions. Be sure that He will answer your prayers in some way.

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 1 

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All Hail to Thee

All hail to thee, dear and ever-blessed Mother! We honor thee for God honors thee; we love the, for God loves thee; we obey thee, for thou ever conmmandest the will of thy Lord. The passers-by may jeer thee; the servants of the prince of this world may call thee wicked; . . . earth and hell rise up in wrath against thee . . . but all the more dear art thou to our hearts; all the more deep and sincere is the homage we pay thee; and all the more earnestly do we pray thee to receive our humble offerings, and to own us for thy children, and watch over us that we never forfeit the right to call thee our Mother.

The Complete Works of Orestes A. Brownson

Vol. 5. p. 569

The Prophecy of Simeon

Here was another bitter drop in Mary's chalice; here was a sword of sorrow which was to rankle through life in her heart. 

When you meet with ingratitude or disappointment, or find that "mourning taketh hold of the end of joy" (Pro. xiv. 13), unite your sorrow with Our lady's, and endure with resignation.

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 1 

The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1961

 

The Purification

She (the Blessed Mother) was the first one exempt from the law, but she submitted with wonderful humility to conceal her claims. Rather than contract defilement, she had been ready to forego the glory of the Divine Maternity, and now she resigns the credit of that which she valued so much, and places herself in the ranks of ordinary woman. How strange that she, the Immaculate, should be accounted unclean, and secluded from all that was holy, because infinite Holiness had taken up its abode with her! 

So in this world, must holiness always be secret, and the presence of God pass unrecognized. Nay, God's favors often become a reproach, fidelity is accounted a crime, good deeds bring more hostility on us than our sins. 

If this should happen to you for God's sake, "rejoice and be exceeding glad" (Matt, v. 12).

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 1 

The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1961

 

The Divine Maternity

The association of God with humanity takes place under several different forms. Its highest expression is the elevation of human nature to the divine in the unity of the Person of Jesus Christ. We are united to the Divinity individually by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in our souls, and by corporal union with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. 

This did not exhaust the resources of God's power. He further raised one created person to union with Himself under the form of the Divine Maternity; this is the unique privilege of the Blessed Virgin. Her God was her Child.

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 1 

The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1961

 

The Birth of Our Lord

Hitherto we have had the manifestations of the Divinity of the unborn Messias. Now He appears, and we have the manifestation of His Humanity. 

 

The misery of humanity is in some cases alleviated by wealth, and disguised by the pomp and dignity that some acquire. But Our Lord will have none of these. He will be superior to none, so that all may recognize Him as their brother. 

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 1 

The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1961

 

The Doubt of Joseph

Besides the parents of the Baptist, there was one other person intimately concerned in the mystery of the Incarnation, the spouse of Mary. The method of its manifestation was extraordinary, it showed how various are the ways of Divine Providence, and how they serve to elicit different forms of human virtue. The knowledge of the facts and the explanation of the mystery were for a while withheld from St. Joseph. This constituted a trial of the most painful kind, one of the most terrible that could befall a just man. 

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 1 

The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1961

 

The Magnificat

"My soul doth magnify the Lord." God had indeed magnified her and made her greater than any creature, but she recognizes no greatness except in magnifying Him. She exults not in herself, her praises, her virtues, but in God her Savior alone. In herself she sees only lowliness undeserving of His notice; she will not consider herself as Queen and Mother but only as "handmaid of the Lord." So should it be with you. All that you have should give glory to God; the greatest glory consists in humbling yourself beneath His hand. "The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things, and thou shalt find grace before God; for great is the power of God alone and He is honored by the humble" (Eccli, ii. 20 21).

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 1 

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The Visitation

The events of the Gospels are official actions, and not merely personal and private. The Visitation shows us the permanent function of the Blessed Virgin in the economy of Redemption. She is the instrument of Jesus and a channel of grace. Do no forget this office of hers. Ask her to intercede for you, to bring Jesus to your heart, and to help you to recognize Him and rejoice in your new spiritual birth.

 

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 1 

The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1961

 

The Annunciation

"The angel Gabriel was sent from God . . . to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph . . . and the name of the Virgin was Mary" (Luke ii. 26, 27).

Now, for the first time, an angel of God bows before one of the fallen race, and speaks to her as the servant of a king might salute a powerful princess. The angel's message was to ask the consent and co-operation of the lowly Virgin in the great mystery of divine power and mercy. 

God asks your consent to some designs of His grace. He wishes to do much in you. Strive to be faithful, obedient, generous in your consent, as was the Holy Virgin. 

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 1 

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The Espousals

"A virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David" (Luke ii. 27). The time arrived when, in the ordinary course, the Blessed Virgin had to leave the shelter of the temple and go forth into the world; the time was also at hand appointed for the appearance of the Son of God in human nature. God had prepared in advance not only a mother for the Messias, but also a faithful servant, who should be the representative of the Eternal Father on earth, in watching over, and providing for, and ruling the Child and His Mother. This was Joseph, a just man.

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O God, who in thine ineffable providence didst vouchsafe to choose blessed Joseph to be the spouse of thy most holy Mother; grant, we beseech thee, that we may be worthy to have him for our intercessor in heaven, who on earth we venerate as our protector. Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

The Inner Court,

Burns and Oates, 1924

Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 1 

The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1961

 

The Presentation of The Blessed Virgin Mary

Read it from the Original.

Start at the very Beginning. 

Morning Prayers.

(Page 338)
I. The law of Moses allowed men and women to make a vow and dedicate themselves, for a time or for life, to the service of God. So did Anna lend her son Samuel to the Lord to be employed about the Tabernacle. The Blessed Virgin also was presented in the temple by another Anne, her mother, in pursuance of a vow. At the age of three she was offered, and till her fifteenth year she remained in the quarters set apart for the widows and young maidens, "who departed not from the temple, by fastings and prayers serving night and day" (Luke ii. 37). The traditions of the Eastern Churches record that this child of grace was, as a special privilege, allowed to pray in the Holy of Holies, where no other but the High Priest once in the year could enter. Those Churches from the earliest times kept up the memory of these events in the Feast of the entry of Mary into the Temple; the Western Church celebrates it as the Presentation. Holy Scripture says: "After her shall virgins be brought to the King . . . they shall be brought into the temple of the King" (Ps. xliv. 15, 16). In imitation of the Blessed Virgin, hundreds of thousands of other virgins have sought a refuge from the world near the tabernacle of God, and dedicated their whole lives to the practice of austere virtue, and the service of God and man. How blessed is the Church in the holy example given by Our Lady, and in the inspiration and strength from the Holy Ghost which have enabled so many to follow in her foot steps! Thank God for the abundant benefits resulting from this devotedness.

II. The presentation of this blessed child in the temple was an act of admirable devotion on the part of SS. Joachim and Anne. They sacrificed that which was most precious to them in the world, the brightness of their home, and the comfort of their declining years. It was an act of generosity to God which cost them many pangs of heart. On the part of the child, consider the ardour with which she abandoned (Page 339) her father's house for the house of God, and consecrated her virginity and her life to His service. "How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord . . . .  Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house" (Ps. Ixxxiii. 2, 3, 5). As she prayed there, she thought of the past glories of the first temple erected by Solomon, of the Ark of the Covenant and the presence of God, of the greater glories yet to come which the prophets had foretold ; and by her fervent desires she hastened the accomplishment of those promises, little knowing the great part she was to have in them. The presentation to God of His predestined daughter was an offering more pleasing than that of Samuel. She was indeed a lamb without blemish, more worthy of His acceptance than all the sacrifices of preceding centuries. Offer God what you have. Your heart indeed is far from spotless; but if it be contrite and humbled, God in His goodness will not despise it.

III. God had appointed this as the fitting preparation of the Blessed Virgin for the great duties that were before her. "In silence and in hope shall your strength be" (Isa. xxx. 15). Samuel had been prepared in the tabernacle for his work in Israel. St. John the Baptist was in retirement, in the desert, fasting and praying for thirty years, in preparation for his brief ministry on the banks of the Jordan. The Mother of the Lord needed in like manner to be withdrawn from the contaminations and distractions of a world that was not worthy of her. She belonged entirely to the Lord, and was not to be engaged in any other service. She had to exercise herself in daily communion with God, in view of her further union with the Word of God as her Son. She had to perfect herself and advance from step to step in sanctification, till she attained the degree which was worthy of the Divine Maternity. So have all the works of God to be prepared. Retirement from the world, self-abnegation and prayer, are the great sources of spiritual strength and efficiency.

 

Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 1 

The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1961

Mary of Grace

 

O Mary of Grace and Mother of God,

May I tread in the paths that the righteous have trod!

And mayest thou save me from evil's control, 

And mayest thou save me in body and soul.

And mayest thou save me by land and by sea,

And mayest thou save me from tortures to be.

May the guard of the angels above me abide;

May God be before me, and God at my side!

The Nativity of The Blessed Virgin

"Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?" (Cant. vi. 9). 

Consider how God regarded the day of Mary's birth; consider what it was to God the Son who was to be born of her; consider its importance to the world and to you. 

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 1 

The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1961

 

The Graces and Merits of Mary

Of all men and all angels, none received such high favours from God, none was brought into such close relations with the Divinity, none was so faithful to grace, none loved God so intensely. In proportion to this she has received "good measure, and pressed down, and shaken together, and running over" (Luke vi. 38). 

So she holds the highest place in heaven, and is nearest of all to her divine Son. So she is Queen of earth and heaven, Queen of angels and of men. So too is her power great to intercede for us. Your veneration for her, your confidence in her prayers, your imitation of her virtues, your praise of God on her account, ought to be in due proportion to her graces, merits, and favor with God.

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Meditations on Christian Dogma, Volume 1 

The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1961