Mary, from the time of the Annunciation, did not pass a single day without suffering, and that for a very simple reason; she knew that the life of her Son would end in the Crucifixion.
This suffering which permeated her whole life became more acute under certain circumstances which the Church wishes us to meditate on particularly.
The Purification: "Oh, poor child," exclaimed Simeon in substance, "the world will be torn in two on account of Him: there will be those who will be for Christ and those, and how numerous they are, who will be against Him. And for you, poor mother, a sword. . . ."
Then again consider the command Joseph received to Take the child and its Mother and flee into Egypt. . . . What an exodus, what a precipitate departure, and to such a place!
Jesus lost in the temple: I must be about my Father's business.
The meeting of Mary with Jesus on the Ascent to Calvary. What a scene! Contemplate their tender exchange of glances; compassionate these two broken hearts; I will unite myself with their hearts.
The three hours at the Foot of the Cross: How she suffered, our poor Mother! And for me! Chancellor Gerson claims that if Jesus would have tried to descend from this cross, Mary, through love for men, would have begged Him to remain nailed to it.
Mary holds Jesus in her lap after His removal from the Cross: Isn't it true that anyone of these scenes would suffice to nourish my contemplation for days and weeks?
Mary, after a last look at her dead Jesus, leaves the tomb to return to Jerusalem, the evening of Good Friday.
"Ah," cried the prophet years before, "do not forget the groans of your mother!"
I wish that they would resound so profoundly in me that never, never, would I forget them; that in hearing them, I would understand the whole price of my divine life, of the divine life in all souls.
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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)
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