Our Redeemer Jesus entered heaven conducting the purest soul of his
Mother at his right hand. She alone of all the mortals deserved exemption from
particular judgment; hence for Her there was none; no account was asked or
demanded of Her for what She had received; for such was the promise that had
been given to Her, when She was exempted from the common guilt and chosen as
the Queen privileged above the laws of the children of Adam. For the same
reason, instead of being judged with the rest, She shall be seated at the right
hand of the Judge to judge with Him all the creatures. If in the first instant
of her Conception She was the brightest Aurora, effulgent with the rays of the
sun of the Divinity beyond all the brightness of the most exalted seraphim, and
if afterwards She was still further illumined by the contact of the hypostatic
Word, who derived his humanity from her purest substance, it necessarily
follows that She should be his Companion for all eternity, possessing such a
likeness to Him, that none greater can be possible between a Godman and a
creature.
On the third day after the most pure soul of Mary had taken possession of
this glory never to leave it, the Lord manifested to the saints his divine
will, that She should return to the world, resuscitate her sacred body and
unite Herself with it, so that She might in body and soul be again raised to
the right hand of her divine Son without waiting for the general resurrection
of the dead. The appropriateness of this favour, its accordance with the others
received by the most blessed Queen and with her super eminent dignity, the
saints could not but see; since even to mortals it is so credible, that even if
the Church had not certified it, we would judge those impious and foolish, who
would dare deny it. But the blessed saw it with greater clearness, together
with the determined time and hour as manifested to them in God himself. When
the time for this wonder had arrived, Christ our Saviour himself descended from
heaven bringing with Him at his right hand the soul of his most blessed Mother
and accompanied by many legions of the Angels, the Patriarchs and ancient
Prophets. They came to the sepulchre in the valley of Josaphat, and all being
gathered in sight of the virginal temple.
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| Many Saints accompanied Christ from Heaven |
and
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| Also Angels |
The Lord spoke the following words to the angels and saints:
“My
Mother was conceived without stain of sin, in order that from Her virginal
substance I might stainlessly clothe Myself in the humanity in which I came to
the world and redeemed it from sin. My flesh is her flesh; She co-operated with
Me in the works of the Redemption; hence I must raise Her, just as I rose from
the dead, and this shall be at the same time and hour. For I wish to make Her
like Me in all things.”
All the ancient saints of the human race then gave thanks for this new favour
in songs of praise and glory to the Lord. Those that especially distinguished
themselves in their thanksgiving were our first parents Adam and Eve, Saint
Anne, Saint Joachim and Saint Joseph, as being the more close partakers in this
miracle of his Omnipotence. Then the purest soul of the Queen, at the command
of the Lord, entered the virginal body, reanimated it and raised it up, giving
it a new life of immortality and glory and communicating to it the four gifts of clearness, impassibility, agility and subtlety, corresponding to those of
the soul and overflowing from it into the body.
By the
gift of Clearness, the
light inherent and shining forth from her body so far exceeds that of the
others, as the day does the night, or as many suns the light of one star; and
all the beauty of creatures, if it were joined, would appear ugliness in
comparison with hers, nothing else being comparable to it in all creation.
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| The gift of Clearness make Her Radiant than the sun |
The
gift of
impassibility make her body to be invincible to all created
power and can no longer feel any pain.
By subtlety the
gross and earthly matter was so purified, that her body could now penetrate
other matter like a pure spirit. Accordingly she penetrated through the rocks
of the sepulchre without removing or displacing them.
Agility so freed Her from the weight and slowness
of matter, that it exceeded the agility of the immaterial angels, while She herself
could move about more quickly than they. This is a gift where one’s action is able to conformed with the will. and she can appear in many parts of the world today in Her apparition.
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| She became brighter than any light |
Endowed with these gifts the most blessed Mary issued from the tomb in
body and soul, without raising the stone cover and without disturbing the
position of the tunic and the mantle that had enveloped her sacred body. Since
it is impossible to describe her beauty and refulgent glory, I will not make
the attempt.
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| As She issue forth from the tomb |
It is sufficient to say, that just as the heavenly Mother had
given to her divine Son in her womb the form of man, pure, unstained and
sinless, for the Redemption of the world, so in return the Lord, in this
resurrection and new regeneration, gave to Her a glory and beauty similar to
his own. In this mysterious and divine interchange each One did what was
possible: most holy Mary engendered Christ, assimilating Him as much as
possible to Herself, and Christ resuscitated Her, communicating to Her of his
glory as far as She was capable as a creature.
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| From the sepulchre a solemn procession started. |
Then from the sepulchre was started a most solemn procession, moving with
celestial music through the regions of the air and toward the empyrean heaven.
This happened in the hour immediately after midnight, in which also the Lord
had risen from the grave; and therefore not all of the Apostles were witness of
this prodigy, but only some of them, who were present and watching at the
sepulchre.
The saints and angels entered heaven in the order in which they had
started; and in the last place came Christ our Saviour and at his right hand
the Queen, clothed in the gold of variety (as David says Ps, 44, 10), and so
beautiful that She was the admiration of the heavenly court. All of them turned
toward Her to look upon Her and bless Her with new jubilee and songs of praise.
Thus were heard those mysterious eulogies recorded by Solomon:
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| in the last place came
Christ our Saviour and His mother |
Come, daughters of Zion, to see your
Queen, who is praised by the morning stars and celebrated by the sons of the
Most High. Who is She that comes from the desert, like a column of all the
aromatic perfumes? Who is She, that rises like the aurora, more beautiful than
the moon, elect as the sun, terrible as many serried armies? ‘Who is She that
comes up from the desert resting upon her Beloved and spreading forth abundant
delights? (Cant. 3, 6–9; 8,5). Who is She in whom the Deity itself finds so
much pleasure and delight above all other creatures and whom He exalts above
them all in the heavens! O novelty worthy of the infinite Wisdom! 0 prodigy of
his Omnipotence, which so magnifies and exalts Her!
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| The angels admire Her |
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| Bright as the sun |
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| fair as the moon |
Amid this glory the most blessed Mary arrived body and soul at the throne
of the most blessed Trinity. And the three divine Persons received Her on it
with an embrace eternally indissoluble. The eternal Father said to Her: “Ascend higher, my Daughter and my Dove.” The incarnate Word spoke: “My Mother, of whom I have received human being and full return of my
work in thy perfect imitation, receive now from my hand the reward thou hast
merited.” The Holy Ghost said: “My most beloved Spouse, enter into the
eternal joy, which corresponds to the most faithful love ; do Thou now enjoy
thy love without solicitude; for past is the winter of suffering for Thou hast
arrived at our eternal embraces.” There the most blessed Mary was absorbed in the
contemplation of the three divine Persons and as it were overwhelmed in the
boundless ocean and abyss of the Divinity, while the saints were filled with
wonder and new accidental delight.
In this light the Redeemer himself presented Her before the throne of the
Divinity; and speaking to the eternal Father in the presence of all the
blessed, who were ravished at this wonder, the most sacred humanity of Christ
uttered these words: “Eternal Father, my most beloved Mother,
thy beloved Daughter and the cherished Spouse of the Holy Ghost, now comes to
take possession of the crown and glory, which We have prepared as a reward for
her merit. She is the one who was born as the rose among thorns, untouched,
pure and beautiful, worthy of being embraced by Us and of being placed upon a
throne to which none of our creatures can ever attain, and to which those
conceived in sin cannot aspire. This is our chosen and our only One,
distinguished above all else, to whom We communicated our grace and our
perfections beyond the measure accorded to other creatures; in whom We have
deposited the treasure of our incomprehensible Divinity and its gifts; who most
faithfully preserved and made fruitful the talents, which We gave Her; who
never swerved from our will, and who found grace and pleasure in our eyes. My
Father, most equitous is the tribunal of our justice and mercy, and in it the
services of our friends are repaid in the most superabundant manner. It is
right that to my Mother be given the reward of a Mother; and if during her
whole life and in all her works She was as like to Me as is possible for a
creature to be, let Her also be as like to Me in glory and on the throne of our
Majesty, so that where holiness is in essence, there it may also be found in
its highest participation.”
This decree of the incarnate Word was approved by the Father and the Holy
Ghost. The most holy soul of Mary was immediately raised to the right hand of
her Son and true God, and placed on the royal throne of the most holy Trinity,
which neither men, nor angels nor the seraphim themselves attain, and will not
attain for all eternity. This is the most exalted and super eminent privilege
of our Queen and Lady, that She is seated on the throne with the three divine
Persons and holds her place as Empress, while all the rest are set as servants
and ministers to the highest King.
She
is seated on the throne with the three divine Persons
Although between the glory of the divine
Persons and that of the most holy Mary there is an infinite distance; for the light of the
Divinity, as says the Apostle (I Tim. 6, 16), is inaccessible and in it alone
dwells immortality and glory by essence; and though also the most holy soul of
Christ without measure exceeds in its gifts those of his Mother; yet the great
Queen surpasses inaccessibly all the saints in glory and has a likeness to that
of Christ, which cannot be understood in this life, nor ever described.
We have left the great Lady at the right hand of her divine Son, reigning
through all the ages of eternity. We now return to the Apostles and disciples,
who in flowing tears surrounded the sepulchre of Mary in the valley of
Josaphat. Saint Peter and saint John, who had been the most constant in their
attendance, noticed that the celestial music had ceased; for they failed to
hear it on the third day. Partly enlightened by the Holy Ghost, they
conjectured that the most pure Mother had arisen and had entered heaven, body
and soul, like her divine Son. They conferred about this matter and came to the
conclusion that so it must be; and Saint Peter, as the head of the Church,
decided that such a wonderful fact should be ascertained as far as possible and
made known to those who had witnessed her death and burial. For this purpose,
on the same day, he called together the Apostles, disciples and the other
faithful at the sepulchre. He told them of his reasons for the conjecture now
in the mind of all and the reasons for manifesting the truth of this wonder to
the Church, namely, that it should be reverenced in the coming ages and would
redound to the glory of the Lord and of his most blessed Mother. All approved
of the decision of the Vicar of Christ and at his order immediately removed the
stone, which closed the sepulchre. This being done, they saw the grave
despoiled of the sacred body of the Queen of heaven and the tunic in the same
position as when it had covered her, showing that it must have passed through
the tunic and the stone of the sepulchre without disturbing any part of them.
Saint Peter took out the tunic and the mantle and, with all the others,
venerated it, as they were now certain of the Resurrection and Assumption of
the blessed Mother into heaven. In mixed joy and sorrow they wept sweet tears
at this prodigy and sang psalms and hymns of praise and glory to the Lord and
his most blessed Mother.
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| They opened the grave and it was empty of the sacred body of the blessed Virgin Mary |
In their affectionate wonder all of them remained looking at the
sepulchre, spellbound, until the angel of the Lord descended and manifested
himself to them, saying:
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| The angel of the Lord who descended to them |
“Ye men of Galilee, why are you astounded
and tarry here ? Your and our Queen now lives body and soul in heaven and
reigns in it forever with Christ. She sends me to confirm you in this truth,
and in her name I tell you that She recommends to you anew the Church, the conversion
of souls, and the spread of the Gospel. She desires to tell you that you now
return to your ministry, with which you were charged, and that from her throne
She will take care of you.”
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| They were astounded by the sepulchre, meanwhile the Queen now live body and soul in heaven |
At this message the
Apostles were consoled; they experienced her protection in their wanderings,
and much more in the hour of their martyrdom; for to each of them did She
appear in that hour to present their souls to the Lord.
