The Death of the Blessed Virgin
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"Woe is me that my sojourning is prolonged! I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar; my soul hath long been a sojourner." (Ps. cxix. 5, 6). After the work of Redemption was accomplished, and Our Lord had returned to His Heavenly Father, His Blessed Mother still remained many years on earth before the term of her pilgrimage was reached. This period she passed at Jerusalem and Ephesus under the care of the Apostle St. John, to whom Our Lord had committed her. She lived in seclusion, taking no part in the business or amusements of the great world, conversing with God, meditating on the mysteries of her Son's life and Passion, gaining daily new stores of merit. She had been an example for maidens and mothers, now she became a model to the widowed and the childless, to the lonely and the weary, teaching them to wait patiently for the revelation of the glory to come. Unlike most of Our Lord's immediate friends and relatives, she was not to suffer a martyr's death, but she teaches us to endure the more painful martyrdom of living. She had duties also in the infant Church. She remained for a while as a visible memorial of its Founder, and the sole witness to the early stages of His Incarnation and life; she supplied the details to the Evangelists, and spoke as to the mind of Jesus, and directed and encouraged the Apostles in their work. Even if your life be quiet and retired, it is not therefore useless: it may be made useful to others, glorious to God, meritorious to yourself.
