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
