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| The sorrowful face of Mary seeing Her son being betrayed |
The
most pure Mother of Christ our Lord was most attentive to all that passed in
his capture, and by means of her clear visions saw it more clearly than if She
had been present in person; for by means of her supernatural visions She
penetrated into all the mysteries of his words and actions. When She beheld the
band of soldiers and servants issuing from the house of the high priest, the
prudent Lady foresaw the irreverence and insults with which they would treat
their Creator and Redeemer; and in order to do what was within her power, She
invited the holy angels and many others in union with Her to render adoration
and praise to the Lord of creation as an offset to the injuries
and affronts He
would sustain at the hands of those ministers of darkness. The same request She
made to the holy women who were praying with Her. She told them, that her most
holy Son had now given permission to his enemies to take him prisoner and
ill-treat him, and that they were about to make use of this permission in a
most impious and cruel manner. Assisted by the holy angels and the pious women
the faithful Queen engaged in interior and exterior acts of devoted faith and
love, confessing, adoring, praising and magnifying the infinite Deity and the
most holy humanity of her Creator and Lord. The holy women imitated Her in the
genuflections and prostrations, and the angelic princes responded to the
canticles with which She magnified, celebrated and glorified the Divinity and
humanity of Christ. |
| Magnifying the divinity and humanity of Christ |
And
the great Lady not only placated the just Judge, but even obtained favours and
blessings from the divine clemency for the very persons who irritated Him and
thus secured a return of good for those who were heaping wrongs upon Christ the
Lord for his doctrine and benefits. This mercy attained its highest point in
the disloyal and obstinate Judas; for the tender Mother, seeing him deliver
Jesus by the kiss of feigned friendship, and considering how shortly before his
mouth had contained the sacramental body of the Lord, with whose sacred countenance
so soon after those same foul lips were permitted to come in contact, was
transfixed with sorrow and entranced by charity. She asked the Lord to grant
new graces, whereby this man, who had enjoyed the privilege of touching the
face whereon angels desire to look, might, if he chose to use them, save
himself from perdition. In response to this prayer of most holy Mary, her Son
and Lord granted Judas powerful graces in the very consummation of his
treacherous delivery. If the unfortunate man had given heed and had commenced
to respond to them, the Mother of mercy would have obtained for him many others
and at last also pardon for his sin. She has done so with many other great
sinners, who were willing to give that glory to Her, and thus obtain eternal glory
for themselves. But Judas failed to realize this and thus lost all chance of
salvation.
Likewise,
when the great Lady saw all the servants and soldiers who had come to take Him,
fall to the ground at his divine word, She, in company with the angels, broke
out in a song of praise of his infinite power and of the virtue of his
humanity, which thereby renewed the victory of the Most High over Pharaoh and
his troops in the Red sea (Exod. 15, 4). She exalted the Lord of hosts, because
He was about to deliver Himself in an admirable manner to suffering and death
in order to save the human race from the captivity of Lucifer. Then She
besought the Lord to permit all these dumbfounded and vanquished enemies to
regain their senses and to arise. She was moved to the petition by her most
generous kindness and deep compassion for these men created by the Lord
according to his own image and likeness; on the other hand, She wanted to fulfil
in an eminent degree the law of loving our enemies and doing good to those who
persecute us, inculcated and practiced by her own Son and Master (Matth. 5,
44), and finally because She knew that the prophecies of holy Scripture were to
be fulfilled in the Redemption of man. Although all these were infallible, this
did not hinder the most holy Mary from giving voice to her prayer and thereby
moving the Most High to grant these favours; for in the infinite wisdom and in
the decrees of his eternal will all these means were foreseen as producing these
effects in the manner most conformable to the foreknowledge and foresight of
the Lord.
