Mary, The Cause of Our Joy

 

Mary, The Cause of Our Joy 2

   Mary in Saturday  

     07/11/2015

Night Office, file from past years.

   Monastic Lectionary of the Divine Office  

MARY, THE CAUSE OF OUR JOY

FROM A SERMON BY ST.LAURENCE OF BRINDISI

Mary bore within herself the Light of the world and is the cause of all consolation and of all joy. In this we may discover a similarity between Mary and Queen Esther: for her own Jewish people Esther’s appearance was 'the dawning of a day of light of gladness and joy and honour'. What gave the Jews so great a cause for joy was to know that at the right hand of the greatest of kings and most powerful of emperors they had as queen, Esther a Jewess. For the Safety of her people, she was ready and willing to put her own life in jeopardy. Because of her closeness to this powerful prince~ and so greatly did he love her for her unmatched charm and the almost divine radiance of her beauty that there was nothing that she could not achieve.

What a cause of joy it is for us, then, to have Mary intimately present to the Sovereign King, close to almighty God, the everlasting Ruler of all things. In the presence of the Divine Majesty, Mary is infinitely more powerful than ever Esther was in the presence of Ahasuerus, indeed, there is nothing that Mary cannot do from her place beside God. But that is not all. The love Mary bears towards each one of us is not simply a love inspired by belonging to the same nation - for she is indeed of our flesh

and blood - but is a mother's love. a deep affection, true and heartfelt like that of parents for their children.

And has not Mary also put her life in danger for our sake when she was standing by the cross of Jesus'? Like Abraham in total and overflowing generosity of spirit Mary truly sacrificed her Son to God in spirit; with genuine love she offered him up for the salvation of the world. She was 'standing by the cross of Jesus' strengthened and sustained by the power of the Holy Spirit.

How great a cause of joy and happiness it is for the whole world to have such a patroness and advocate in the presence of God the almighty! Since she is in his presence, there is nothing beyond her power. no good thing for which she doesn't strive and desire to gain for us, with her mother's care and love.

Sermon 3 on the 'Hail Mary' Orval's "Lectures Mariales" 1968

(Text prepared by Mt. St. Bernard Abbey, 1971)

SATURDAY OFFICE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

24/10/2015

SATURDAY OFFICE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Optional Reading for the Period between October 7 and Advent

A sermon of Saint Bernard*

"HAIL, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1,28). Notice how the angel did not say "the Lord is in you," but "the Lord is with you." For God, who by the simplicity of his essence is equally and entirely everywhere present, has nevertheless, by his influence and operation, a presence in his rational creatures, which -he has not in others, and among the former, a presence in the good different from that which he has in the wicked. He is truly present in irrational creatures, yet without being embraced by them. He is in his rational creatures in such a manner that they all have the power to embrace him by knowledge, yet only the good can embrace him by love. Consequently, of the good alone it can be said that he is so in them as to be also with them, because of the harmony of their wills with his. For whilst they so conform their wills to the law of justice that it is not unworthy of God to will what they will, there is established a concord between his will and theirs, and thus they become specially united with him. But although this is the case with every holy soul, it is particularly true of Mary. So closely did God unite himself to her, that not only her will, but even her flesh was united to God; and from his own substance and the substance of the Virgin he fashioned one Christ, or rather he became one Christ who, although neither wholly from God nor wholly from Mary, yet belongs wholly to God and wholly to Mary: nor are there two sons, but the one same Christ is Son of both. The angel says, therefore, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you." But, 0 Mary, the Lord with you is not the Son alone whom you have clothed with your flesh: he is also the Holy Spirit, by whom you have conceived, and he is also the Father by whom from eternity your Child is begotten. The Father, I say, is with you, who has given his Son to be also yours. The Son is with you, who in a marvelous way has entered your womb without detriment to your virginity. The Holy Spirit is with you, he who, with the Father and the Son, has prepared your virginal body to be the dwelling of the Word. Therefore "the Lord is with you."

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* Homilia 3 super "Missus eet ," n.4. - PL 183, 72-73; Leale rcq , IV, p.38. Temporary version, based on Fr. Luddy's translation of the Seasonal Sermons, Vol. I, pp.97~99.

Alan of Lille, MARY the City of God

Mary in Saturday 26 September 2015
Night Office - Patristic Reading, 

   

Cistercian Fathers  Book 23

   (M) MARY; General Cistercian XII century

MARY the City of God:  on Alan of Lille

"Of you are told glorious things, O City of God”.

In order that the image of His Trinity might be found in all things, the King of Kings who rules the wind and sea and whose city is the true pole of the earth, has built for himself a three-fold city. The world is the first part, the Church is the second, and Mary, the Virgin of virgins is the third.

In a very fitting manner is the world termed a city. Any city-state is the organised assembly of various elements, among which some are in authority, others fulfil their tasks, and others are obedient. And so in the world, as in a great city, there is God who controls, angels who carry out his word, and man who is obedient. It is fitting, likewise, that the Church should be called a city for it has its hierarchy of authority. The wall of this city is the foundation of Christian faith, the mortar as the blood of the martyrs, the ramparts are the example of the saints, the fullness of charity forms its squares, while true humility is the fortification around it.

With very good reason is Mary the Virgin of all virgins spoken of as a city, for in her, reason gave commands which were put into practice by the senses and to which the flesh was obedient. In her as a city, steadfastness was the wall, self-control was the mortar, courage the rampart, and prudence the surrounding fortification. Faith formed the eastern gate through which the Sun of Justice shone on her; the southern gate was true love, open to the Holy Spirit who increased her love. Virginity was the northern gate, kecp.i.ng under control all desires; and the western gate was humility, rejecting all worldly pleasures. The river of God's grace flows so abundantly in Mary's heart and strengthens this city that it has no fear of hostile invasion. Truly can be applied to her the text, 'The waters of a river give joy to God's city.'

Within this city there is an enclosed and sealed garden, a garden well-watered, planted with trees and radiant with flowers: this is the heart of the Blessed Virgin. Here as in a garden of paradise, true virtue produces the fruit of good works; God-filled desires increase the ardour of a loving heart, and good deeds are the perfume of mutual encouragement.

Here, in this three-fold city, and in the heart of Mary, the King of Kings has made his dwelling place among the sons of men.

PL.210; col.200B - 201B

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

Alanus_de_Insulis_(Alain_de_Lille).
Woodcut._Wellcome

Alanus ab Insulis (Alain de Lille).

Alain de Lille (or Alanus ab Insulis) (c. 1128 – 1202/1203) was a French theologian and poet. He was born in Lille, some time before 1128. His exact date of death remains unclear as well, with most research pointing toward it being between April 14, 1202, and April 5, 1203.[1]

Translations[edit]

 Alan of Lille, A Concise Explanation of the Song of Songs in Praise of the Virgin Mary, trans Denys Turner, in Denys Turner, Eros and Allegory: Medieval Exegesis of the Song of Songs, (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1995), 291–308