May Month of Mary

The Annunciation. Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. (St.  Luke i.  30.) 1.  Marys life as Joseph’s Spouse was no less one of devotion and recollection and prayer than her life in the Temple.  In their little cottage her time was spent, when her household duties were done, in fervent prayer to…

The Marriage of Mary. The young man shall dwell with the virgin, and the bridegroom shall rejoice over the bride. (Isaias Ixii.  5.) 1.  Mary, the unspotted Spouse of Joseph, learned by degrees how her marriage was a part of God’s wonderful designs regarding her.  If she had become a mother in an unmarried state,…

Mary’s Espousals. I have put my trust in Thee, O God. I have said, My lot is in Thy hands. (Psalm xxx.  15.) 1.  When Mary arrived at the age when it was the custom for Jewish maidens to leave the service of the Temple, the High Priest told her that a husband would be…

Mary’s Life in the Temple. Here will I dwells for I have chosen it. (Psalm cxxxi.  14.) 1.  Let us watch this tender little maiden in her daily life in the Temple.  How exact in obedience to all her superiors!  how punctual in the performance of every duty!  how full of charity to her little…

The Presentation of Mary in the Temple. The King shall greatly desire thy beauty, for He is the Lord thy God, and Him they shall adore. (Psalm xliv.  12.) 1.  Mary from the first moment of her existence offered herself to God as an entire and an unblemished holocaust.  From the instant when she was…

The Birth of Mary. The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (St.  John i.  4.) 1.  At the time of Mary’s birth the whole world was merged in darkness.  The heathen nations were steeped in vice and pride.  The Jews, too, had corrupted their ways and departed from God.  Everywhere…

God’s design in beautifying Mary. Wisdom hath builded for herself a house. (Prov.  ix.  i.) 1.  God did not bestow all her gifts and graces on Mary for her own sake.  She had done nothing to earn that first grace that was the foundation of all the rest.  It was the free gift of God. …

Mary’s earliest Gift. God said to Abraham, Walk before Me and be perfect. (Gen.  xvii.  i.) 1.  The highest praise that can be bestowed upon the saints of God during their earthly pilgrimage is that they “walked with God.”  In this all perfection consists, as we see from God’s words to faithful Abraham.  This was…

Mary’s First Graces. Her foundations are on the holy mountain. (Psalm lxxxvi.  i.) 1.  Mary began her journey along the road to perfection at a height to which other saints only arrived at the end of a long life of saintliness.  God loved her more at the first moment of her existence than He loved…