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DIVINE LIFE 
 
 or 
 
 Mystical City of God 
 
 ‘ 
 
 BY 
 
 ( - - 
 
 MaR^ OF JESUS Of AGREDA. 
 
 No. 817 Arch Stref.t, 
 
^BT (o o H 
 
 H^ r ll 
 
 
 <^u>/ 
 
 'W/ c? 
 
 /<Fy 
 
 11988 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872. bv 
 PETER F. CUNNINGHAM, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 Dedication..... . . 7 
 
 Approbations..... 11 
 
 Preface to Second Edition.... 15 
 
 Notice on the Works of the Venerable Mary of Jesus 
 of Agreda. 25 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The most holy Virgin in the divine counsels.—Her 
 
 HOLY PARENTS.. 45 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Immaculate Conception of Mary.—Her Holy Ex¬ 
 ercise in her Mother’s Womb. 55 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 Tve Happy Birth of Mary.—First Fruits of her Mar¬ 
 vellous Life. 60 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Her holy occupations.—Her presentation in the Tem¬ 
 ple. 70 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Happy death of her holy parents.—Persecutions to 
 which she was subjected. 76 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Her marriage with the chaste St. Joseph. -83 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 How the Most High prepared the holy Virgin to be¬ 
 come the Mother of God. 88 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 The Annunciation.—The Incarnation of the Word. 96 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Visitation.—Birth of St. John the Baptist.. 102 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The blessed Virgin returns to Nazareth. 112 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The journey to Bethlehem.—Birth of our Lord. 122 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Circumcision of our Lord. 131 
 
 3 
 
4 
 
 Contents\ 
 
 : CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Arrival of the Magi. —Adoration of the divine In¬ 
 
 fant. 134 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The Presentation of our Lord in the Temple.. 140 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Flight into Egypt... .. ; 144 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Massacre of the Innocents.. 153 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Return from Egypt to Nazareth.. 159 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Sickness and precious death of St. Joseph. 168 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Preparation for the public life of Christ.• 174 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 v. • ’■ V 
 
 The preaching of our Saviour, and the co-operation 
 OF THE BLESSED MOTHER ...' 181 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Triumphant Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.:.. 195 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The Last Supper .. 199 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 From the beginning of our Lord’s Passion until His 
 APPEARANCE AT THE TRIBUNAL OF CaIAPHAS... 204 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Continuation of the Passion until the sentence of 
 DEATH...... 214 
 
 CHAPTER XXV , 
 
 Jesus ascends Calvary.— His death....... 224 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 Our Lord’s triumph on the Cross over death and hell. 
 
 —Council of the Demons against Mankind. 236 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Piercing of our Saviour’s side with a lance.— His 
 Burial.—Return of the blessed Mother to the Sup- 
 per-roo m, **................... 243 
 
Contents : } 5$» 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. H. 
 
 The Insurrection.—Great joy of the .divine Mother. • • - • 
 
 Other marvels... . 251 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 The Ascension of Jesus into heaven.—Singular favors 
 GRANTEE TO HlS BLESSED MOTHER .,................ 258 „ 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Holy Exercises before Pentecost. 265 
 
 . CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Descent of the holy Ghost.—What happened to the 
 holy Virgin......... 271 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 The apostles go from the Supper-room to preach.— 
 Miracles wrought by the divine Mother. 276 
 
 CHAPTER. XXXIII. : 
 
 The apostles and disciples assemble to decide doubts. 
 
 'St. Peter, celebrates the first Mass.—Actions of the 
 blessed Virgin........ 284 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 A*- NEW MIRACLE OPERATED BY JESUS IN FAVOR OF IIlS 
 
 Mother....... 292 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 T%M most holy Virgin knows that Lucifer is prepar¬ 
 ing to attack the Church.—What she does for the 
 
 DEFENCE OF THE FAITHFUL..... 299 
 
 ■rVJ ' , CHAPTER XXXVI. , 
 
 The virgin Mother’s prudent government of the faith¬ 
 ful.—What she did for St. Stephen..;. 308 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 The holy Virgin sends the Creed to the disciples.— 
 
 The apostles disperse to different parts of the 
 world.—Conversion of Saul—Other miracles of the 
 great Queen...'........ 317 
 
 "■ *.^4 - v '* 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 New plots of Lucifer against the Church.—The blessed 
 Virgin leaves Jerusalem, and operates new wonders.. 328 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Martyrdom of St. James.— He is assisted by the divine 
 Mother.—Imprisonment and deliverance of St. Peter. 
 Many other marvels. 337 
 
 1 * 
 
6 
 
 Contents* 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 Heroic virtues exercised by the holy Virgin at 
 Herod’s death.—Fruits of St. John's zeal at Ephe¬ 
 
 sus.—Mary’s triumph over Lucifer. 342 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 The holy Virgin returns to Jerusalem.—Other vic¬ 
 tories over Lucifer. 350 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 Final triumph of the holy Mother.—The state to 
 which the Lord exalted her. 359 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 What .Mary did while the holy gospels were being 
 written. 371 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 Exercises of piety performed by the holy Virgin.— 
 
 Her preparation for Holy Communion. 378 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 Feasts celebrated by the Queen of angels. 388 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 The Archangel Gabriel announces to the holy Virgin 
 HER APPROACHING DEATH.—OTHER MARVELS. 405 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 Happy death of the blessed Virgin.—Burial of her 
 PURE BODY . 415 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 The Blessed Virgin’s triumphant entry into heaven. — 
 Assumption of her body.—Her Coronation. 425 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 TO THE DIVINE HEART OF JESUS, TO MARY IMMACULATE, 
 AND TO THE GLORIOUS ST. JOSEPH. 
 
 « 'JESUS! only Son of the Eternal Father! 
 Divine Redeemer of our souls ! by choosing 
 the august Mary from all eternity to be Thy 
 
 e/ 
 
 mother, Thou hast exalted her far above the 
 angels, and she has thus become the cause of our 
 hope. 
 
 Word of God, who hast loved men to excess, to 
 whom, if not to Thy Divine Heart, can I worthily 
 present the offering of “ The Divine Life of the 
 Blessed Virgin Mary ?” This book has been the 
 source of great blessings to the humble translator; 
 for this reason, I dare, although unworthy, suppli¬ 
 cate Thee to bless it anew, so that it may bear 
 abundant fruits of benediction in the souls of its 
 readers. Master of Eternal Wisdom ! make it, as it 
 has already been, a source of grace in the houses 
 which it shall enter: by it may the sinner be con- 
 
 7 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 A 
 
s 
 
 Dedications 
 
 verted, and the just become more holy. Thus Thou 
 wilt show how pleasing to Thee are the perfect love 
 and fidelity ever entertained by the Queen of hea¬ 
 ven, for Thee her perfect Model. 
 
 O Mother of the Divine Jesus ! Immaculate Vir¬ 
 gin and Reparatrix! in thy merciful designs on 
 men, thou hast deigned to communicate to us, by 
 means of thy loving daughter and servant, Mary 
 of Jesus of Agrcda, “The Mystical City,” of which 
 I offer thee this faithful abridgment; then, O Queen 
 of heaven, refuse not to bless it. Thou knowest 
 that, overwhelmed by the infirmities and miseries 
 of my soul, I have turned towards thee by the 
 impulse of grace. Obtain that the trials which the 
 publication of this book has caused me, may, by 
 thy powerful intercession, be changed into sources 
 of great benedictions. In fine, it is to this “ Mysti¬ 
 cal Life” that I owe the grace of being numbered 
 among those who are dear to the heart of thy 
 Divine Son. 
 
 Glorious St. Joseph, whom the august Mary has 
 permitted me to address as Father, thou knowest 
 that to thee I owe my life and honor; to thy 
 intercession, also, I am indebted for remaining 
 faithful to God. Allow me then to place this work 
 in thy hands. O thou who hast so worthily 
 appreciated the Queen of heaven, deign to obtain 
 that the reading of her admirable life may serve 
 
9 
 
 Dedication . 
 
 as an instrument for the conversion of sinners and 
 the sanctification of the just. 
 
 St. Ann and St. Joachim, worthy parents of 
 the Queen of heaven, deign to present to her 
 the humble offering of this book. Obtain, also, 
 that by your efficacious intercession, I may receive 
 the grace of persevering until death in the voca¬ 
 tion to which the Divine Jesus, by the mediation 
 of Mary, has so gratuitously predestined and 
 called me. 
 
 To Mary of Jesus of Agreda, to the seraph, 
 M. Olier, to St. Teresa, to St. Margaret of Cortona, 
 to St. Catharine of Sienna, and to St. Gertrude. 
 
 Live Jesus, Mary, Joseph. 
 
 THE ABBE J. A. BOULLAN. 
 
 Pakis, March 19 th , 1858. 
 
' /- 
 
 APPROBATIONS. 
 
 HE volume which we offer to the public under 
 the title of “The Divine Life of the Blessed 
 Virgin Mary,” is a faithful abridgment, with¬ 
 out change, alteration, or modification of the facts, 
 taken entirely and literally from the celebrated 
 work, “The Mystical City,” by Mary of Jesus of 
 Agreda. Therefore, all the approbations granted 
 to that admirable book, may and ought to be 
 applicable to this. 
 
 We append a summary of these divers appro¬ 
 bations of which we can warrant the authenticity, 
 having copied them from the acts of the process 
 of the beatification and canonization of the above 
 mentioned servant of God, Mary of Agreda. 
 
 1st. Approbation of the ordinary of the diocese 
 wherein the servant of .God died in the odor of 
 sanctity, and also of the bishop of the place where 
 the work was printed. The bishops are, as we all 
 know, according to the canon law, the first judges 
 of books published within their jurisdiction. 
 
 2d. Approbation of the learned tribunal of the 
 
Approbations. 
 
 Inquisition in Spain, which, having examined the 
 book word for word, authorized its publication and 
 diffusion among the faithful. 
 
 3d. Approbation of theologians of all religious 
 bodies, Benedictines, Carmelites, Dominicans, and 
 Jesuits, called upon to examine the work. They 
 have eulogized it in the highest terms, and recom¬ 
 mended it as the fruit of the Spirit of God. 
 
 4th. Approbation of the most celebrated univer¬ 
 sities of foreign lands, Salamanca, Louvain, Tou¬ 
 louse, etc., which, after the most minute examina¬ 
 tion, have declared that the book contains nothing 
 against faith or morals; they have exalted it 
 immeasurably, as Pope Benedict XIV. expresses it 
 in his decree of 1748. The university of Paris 
 alone is an exception, because it was, at that time, 
 tainted with Jansenism, to which this work is so 
 adverse. 
 
 5th. In fine, Pope Innocent XI., after having 
 placed this work on the Index, August 4th, 1681, 
 because , said the postulator of the cause of canoni¬ 
 zation, of the contests which it had raised , withdrew 
 it himself three months later, November 9th, 1681. 
 This last decree has the force of a universal law 
 of the Church, foi in 1713, a bishop having for¬ 
 bidden the reading of this work, the Holy Office 
 declared his prohibition null, and obliged him to 
 retract it, as being contrary to the decree of 
 
Approbation ,£ 
 
 November 9th, 1681, which decree , said the Sacred 
 Congregation, has the power of a law throughout tht 
 universal Church. We know it is the same in our 
 days. Alexander VIII. authorized the reading of 
 this work oracido vivcz vocis . In 1704 Clement IX. 
 forbade it to be placed on the Index, and it would 
 be vain to seek for it among the forbidden books. 
 
 And in fine, in 1729, with the approbation of 
 Benedict XIII. of happy memory, the Sacred 
 Congregation of Rites published a decree, which 
 permits the faithful to read and retain it without 
 any other examination. Therefore he, who, what¬ 
 ever may be his title, honor, or dignity, presumes 
 to forbid the reading of this work, authorized by 
 the Holy See, would be obliged to retract, even 
 publicly, if necessary. 
 
 Thus the cause is decided; pious reader, accept 
 the book, and read it without fear, for Rome, 
 which cannot fail in its examination of doctrine, 
 has spoken. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 i MONG the pious faithful of the present day 
 there is a holy desire to know everything 
 
 that may concern the Blessed Virgin Mary, 
 whom God predestined to be the Mother of the 
 Eternal Word, who was to become incarnate for 
 the salvation of men. It seems to us that many 
 
 souls having an ardent devotion to the august 
 
 Queen of heaven, will rejoice to read a work which 
 contains a faithful, minute, and complete relation 
 of her marvellous life. Therefore, we are well 
 assured of the welcome which this Life will receive 
 from pious Catholics, who justly glory in living in 
 the age of Mary. What a sweet joy shall it be 
 
 for children devoted to the august Mother, to know 
 
 that which constitutes the glory and grandeur of 
 the incomparable Queen of angels and men! 
 
 According to the designs of His divine, provi¬ 
 dence, God did not manifest all the ineffable mys¬ 
 teries of the life of the august Mary during the 
 first ages of the Church. In fact, it was but 
 right that the law of grace should be established, 
 
 1 5 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
16 Introduction to the Second Edition. 
 
 and the Gospel of Christ promulgated, before the 
 faithful should learn the grandeur, glory, titles 
 and prerogatives of her who was raised above 
 the angels. The holy evangelists themselves 
 were compelled to be silent concerning what 
 they knew of the Mother of God, because the 
 proper time for making it known had not arrived. 
 The h uman mind is so weak and ignorant, that 
 the manifestation of those mysteries, at a time 
 when the faith and doctrine of the Incarnation 
 were not fully established, would have occasioned 
 much trouble and difficulty. The august Queen 
 of heaven made this known to her beloved daugh¬ 
 ter, Mary of Jesus of Agreda, in order to explain 
 to her why she had been chosen by God to make 
 known to the faithful the secret mysteries com¬ 
 municated to her. We will quote the words ad¬ 
 dressed by the Blessed Virgin to the seraphic 
 servant of God. It is important that they should 
 be read with the utmost attention. 
 
 “ I see, my daughter, that thou art astonished 
 that the Evangelists have not written the wonder¬ 
 ful things which the Most High operated in my 
 regard. I answer (and desire that my words be 
 engraven on the hearts of all men) that I myself 
 ordered the Evangelists to write of me only that 
 which was necessary to establish the articles of 
 faith, and the precepts of the law of grace. As 
 
1 
 
 Introduction to the Second Edition . i J 
 
 * Mistress of the Church, and from the inspirations 
 of the Most High, I knew it was not proper to 
 reveal more at the first foundation of the Church. 
 
 “All my prerogatives were included in my 
 dignity of Mother of God, and in what had been 
 said of me, that I was ‘full of grace! But the 
 manifestation of all that remained hidden, was 1 
 
 reserved by Divine Providence for a suitable time, 
 
 ’ when the faith would be more firmly established. 
 
 It is true that, even from the beginning, the Church 
 has announced some of the mysteries which con¬ 
 cern me, but the revelation in its fulness, has 
 been made to thee, although a vile creature, be¬ 
 cause of the wants of the world in its present 
 unhappy state. For this reason, the Divine Mercy 
 has willed to give to men so efficacious a means, 
 
 (as this worh) that they may seek their remedy 
 and eternal salvation through my intercession.” 
 
 (Mystical City , II., p, 5, 6, chap, xxviii!) 
 
 Before His glorious ascension, the Divine Jesus 
 spoke to the one hundred and twenty persons 
 -assembled by Divine Providence to be witnesses 
 of that sacred mystery. They were, in one sense, 
 the entire Church, to whom the Divine Master left 
 His last instructions regarding His Blessed Mother. 
 
 “ My dear children,” said He, “ I return to 
 
 my Father, from whom I came to save and redeem 
 
 men. In my stead, I leave you my Mother, who 
 2 * 
 
iS Introduction to the Second Edition. 
 
 will be your protectress, your advocate, your 
 consoler, and your mother. 
 
 “ Lister? to her counsels, and obey her. As I 
 have already told you, whoever will see me, will 
 also see my Father, and whoever will know me, 
 will also know Him. In the same manner I 
 assure you that he who will know my Mother, 
 will also know me; he who will hear her, will 
 hear me ; he who will obey her, will obey me; he 
 who will offend her, will offend me, and he that 
 will honor her, will honor me. You and all those 
 who will come after you, shall acknowledge her 
 fc»* your Mother, and when you seek me, you 
 shall find me in her.” Part II, book vi., chap, xviii. 
 As He thus spoke, He looked at His most holy 
 Mother, and revealed to her that He was about 
 to command all those there assembled, to honor 
 her by the worship due to her as Mother of 
 God, and even to make it a precept of the 
 Church. But the humble Queen begged her 
 Divine Son to allow the sacred worship to be 
 addressed to Himself alone, that it might serve 
 for the propagation of the gospel, and the exal¬ 
 tation of His name. 
 
 Our Saviour granted her prudent prayer, but 
 reserved to Himself the right of making her 
 known at the proper time. Who among faithful 
 Catholics can doubt that this is clearly the chosen 
 
Inti oduciion to the Second Edition. 19 
 
 time reserved by God for the manifestation of 
 Mary’s glory ? It is of the greatest importance, 
 that we who live, in this happy time, should 
 listen to the words of our. Divine Saviour, ad¬ 
 dressed to' the children of His Church. It is 
 our duty to have recourse to the august Queen 
 of heaven, and to glorify her, that we .may 
 fulfil the designs of the Most High, and save 
 our souls.« . . . : - L. 
 
 It seems to us incontestable, and it is an 
 opinion widely spread and universally admitted, 
 that the epoch is near at hand when the Church 
 will be extended over the entire earth. But 
 all those who believe 'this, are also convinced 
 that it will be granted only through Mary. She 
 is the Mediatrix near the Sovereign Mediator, 
 and her powerful intercession shall be experi-* 
 enced by all the children of men. If this be 
 true, who does not perceive the necessity of 
 making known her titles, her grandeur, her per¬ 
 fections, in a word, all the hidden mysteries 
 of the Queen of heaven? “The Divine Life” 
 is the only work calculated to effect this; hence 
 it is important that it be read with attention, 
 and diffused as widely as possible, in order to 
 correspond to the designs of God and His Church; 
 We take the liberty of speaking thus, because 
 the, book is not the fruit of our labor, but 
 
20 Introduction to the Second Edition . 
 
 was communicated by the Blessed Virgin her¬ 
 self to her faithful daughter and servant, the 
 Veil. Mary of Jesus of Agreda. Our eulogiums 
 are then addressed to the true author of this 
 Divine Life—to the august Mary herself, who 
 has deigned to give it to her children. 
 
 The success which attended the first edition, 
 is to us a certain proof that this work has 
 been appreciated, and has been productive of 
 good among souls. 
 
 Six thousand copies of any work could not 
 have been sold in so short a space of time, 
 unless it was valued, esteemed, and truly sought 
 after. In order to respond to the confidence 
 reposed in us, we have scrupulously revised our 
 first translation, so that our words might be 
 the faithful expression of the authentic text. 
 
 We cannot cite the number of letters we have 
 received, felicitating us on the happy idea com¬ 
 municated to us of publishing the Mystical Life. 
 They have been the sources of great consola¬ 
 tion to us, for, at the first appearance of the book, 
 hell found means to raise strong opposition against 
 it, from persons little enlightened with regard 
 to the designs of Satan, who sought to have this 
 work discredited: qui non cognoverunt altitudines 
 satanoe. ( Apoc. it. 5.) The publication of the 
 documents and authentic decrees of the Holy See 
 
Introduction to the Second Edition . 21 
 
 in favor of the work of Mary of Jesus of 
 Agreda, which may be read in the notice pre¬ 
 ceding this work, will, no doubt, contribute to 
 the dissipation of all doubts. 
 
 We must also say, that if Satan has found 
 accomplices so blind as to seek to bring discredit 
 on this life, the Queen of heaven has also raised 
 devoted souls to defend and propagate it. We 
 most cordially testify our gratitude to the Delegate 
 of the Holy Apostolic See in France, who has 
 encouraged us both by word and authority. How 
 many pious servants of Mary have become ardent 
 propagators of this divine Life, being undeterred 
 by any human consideration ! They have merited 
 a large share of the great blessings of which this 
 book is the fruitful source. We entertain the sweet 
 confidence that all those also, who glory in loving 
 Mary, will zealously contribute to the propaga¬ 
 tion of this book, so useful for the good of souls. 
 
 Our age, which so justly glories in the name of 
 the “ Age of Mary,” should be anxious to learn the 
 hidden mysteries of the august Queen of heaven, 
 which God has been pleased to reveal to us, after 
 having reserved them for our time. Let us then 
 cease to occupy ourselves inordinately with the 
 inventions of modern science, in order to lend an 
 attentive ear to the marvels of grace which God 
 has operated in Mary. In them we will find the 
 
12 Introduction to the Second Edition. 
 
 way of salvation, and the means of escaping the 
 cruel ravages which pride works among men. 
 
 This work, we must say, is better suited to 
 persons of great piety, and consecrated by the 
 vows of religion, than to persons of the world. 
 Nevertheless, these last will not read it without , 
 fruit; its perusal always awakens in the soul a 
 greater confidence and love towards Mary. This- 
 is the unanimous testimony of all those who have 
 read it impartially, and under the guidance of the 
 Spirit of God. 
 
 We believe we may affirm, that by the doctrine 
 of the works of Mary of Agreda, are to be formed 
 the great saints who are soon to appear in the 
 Church. Thus, with good authority, the venerable 
 Grignon de Montfort says : “ The happy time and 
 age of Mary will soon arrive, when souls, losing 
 themselves in the abyss of the interior of the 
 Queen of heaven, will become living copies of 
 Mary, in loving and glorifying Jesus Christ.” 
 
 Then shall be verified the following words: Ut 
 adveniat regnum tuum, adveniat regninn Marice. 
 May the reign of Mary arrive, that the reign of./ 
 Jesus Christ may also arrive. i 
 
 Here we-must quote the words of the pious 
 and learned M. Emery, with regard to the works 
 of Mary of Agreda. Towards the end of his long 
 life, speaking of the works of this seraphic servant 
 
Introduction to. the Second Edition. 23 
 
 of God, he said: “It was only after having read 
 and meditated on them, that I understood the 
 wise recommendation of our founder, M. Olier, 
 ‘Study the interior of Jesus in Mary.’ ” > 
 
 The solemn definition of the Immaculate Conr 
 ception as a dogma of faith, has, besides, answered 
 every pretext that could be alleged against the 
 Divine Life. If we were not confined within-the 
 circumscribed limits of a preface, we would demon* 
 strate to our readers how the Bull, bieffabilis Dens, 
 is but the solemn and authentic echo of the doctrine 
 contained in the incomparable works of Mary of 
 Jesus of Agreda. But the incontestable proof in 
 favor of those writings, is the sanctity of their 
 author.- Therefore it is a great consolation to 
 us to be able to announce that the cause of the 
 beatification and canonization of the Venerable 
 Mother Mary of Agreda is to be resumed and 
 continued. We shall then, we fondly trust, have 
 the happiness of venerating on our altars, her 
 whom the Church has already declared Venerable. 
 . Before concluding, we feel it our duty to make 
 known in a few words the pious author of. this 
 Abridgment of the Mystical City by Mary of Jesus 
 of Agreda, under the title of “ The/Divine Life of 
 the Blessed Virgin Mary.” 
 
 The Rev. P. Bartholomew, of Caesarea, was aii 
 eminent theologian, and bis writings, , so highly 
 
24 Introduction to the Second Edition . 
 
 esteemed by scientific men, are evident proofs of 
 his great learning. He was Consulter of the 
 Roman Sacred Congregation of the Index, which 
 title is granted only to men of profound learning 
 and well-tried faith in doctrine. “The Divine Life” 
 is considered in Rome to be a true masterpiece.* 
 
 Our readers are now acquainted with the motives 
 which have led us to publish this work. Our 
 wish is to aid as much as in our power, in making 
 the august Mary, our Divine Mother, known, loved, 
 blessed, and glorified. May this object be accom¬ 
 plished according to the desire of our hearts! 
 
 To prevent all objections, we declare, in conclu¬ 
 sion, that the words to adore , divine , and similar ex¬ 
 pressions to be found in this work, are to be taken 
 in a relative sense, and not in that in which they are 
 applied to God. St. Thomas teaches that we may 
 use them in this sense, and after the “ Angel of the 
 Schools,” we have not hesitated to employ them. 
 
 We submit our writings to the judgment of the 
 Holy Apostolic See, for we are submissive children 
 of the Holy Roman Church, to which we have 
 vowed obedience and love. 
 
 *Many abridgments of the “ The Mystical City” have already 
 been published. We have before us that of the learned Fran¬ 
 ciscan, Ximenes Samaniego, which is also a masterpiece. We 
 have used it to establish the authenticity of the text which we 
 have translated. That which we now give to the public seems 
 the best of all; for this reason, we have chosen it. 
 
NOTICE ON THE WORKS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 VENERABLE MARY OF JESUS OF AGREDA. 
 
 BY THE ABBfi J, A. BOULLAN, b.D. 
 
 MONG the holy souls of past centuries, who 
 have been loaded with signal favors and privi¬ 
 leges by the Queen of heaven, we must, with¬ 
 out doubt, place in the first rank, Mary of Jesus, 
 often styled, of Agreda, from the name of the 
 place in Spain where she passed her life. The 
 celebrated J. Goerres, in his monumental work, 
 “ Mysticism,” fears not to cite as an example, the 
 life of Mary of Agreda, in a chapter entitled, “ The 
 Culminating Point of Christian Mysticism.” Indeed, 
 there could be found no more perfect model of 
 the highest mystic ways. Her life is a striking 
 example, in which it is important to study atten¬ 
 tively the progress of a soul, which, according to 
 the words of the prophet, ascends by degrees to 
 the height of perfection: ibunt de virtute in virtu - 
 
 tent; (goes from virtue to virtue.j 
 3 
 
 25 
 
26 . Notice on the Works of the 
 
 A powerful motive makes it a duty for us to 
 publish a rather lengthy notice on Mary of 
 Agreda. We wish to call the attention of our 
 readers to so important a work as the “ Mystical 
 City,” of which the “ Divine Life,” which we 
 publish, is a faithful abridgment. 
 
 We hesitate not to acknowledge that there is 
 in France much prejudice against the venerable 
 Mary of Agreda and her works. Men, swayed by 
 the power of unfounded prejudice, have assailed 
 this pure memoir, and forbidden the reading of 
 her works. For more than seven j'ears we have 
 pursued our researches on this subject, and have 
 been successful in finding irrefutable documents 
 regarding it. 
 
 In one of the libraries of Paris we have dis¬ 
 covered the acts of the process of the canonization 
 of this servant of God. It is on the authority of ' 
 these incontestable writings that we will proceed; 
 thus we hope to close the debate upon this ques-' 
 tion. 
 
 There are divine and supernatural gifts so 
 
 > • -1 ■ - * r r 
 
 marvellous, that, were it not for the authority of 
 the Church and the holy doctors, we would be 
 tempted to doubt them. But doubt can only be 
 the effect of ignorance or bad faith, and neither the 
 one nor the other can justify man at the tribunal 
 of his conscience, any more than at that of God ' 
 
Venerable Mary of fesus of Agreda . 27 
 
 The God of mercy grants to some souls those 
 privileges known under the name of “ clear, dis¬ 
 tinct, and precise words, or supernatural expres¬ 
 sions;” that is, He deigns to speak to them either 
 directly and immediately from Himself, or by 
 the ministry of angels, as is more generally the 
 case. 
 
 Sometimes it is God the Father, at others our 
 Lord, or the august Mother of God, or, as more 
 rarely happens, some of the saints, who consent 
 to speak to souls raised to a particular degree 
 of contemplation. St. Teresa, whose authority 
 on these matters is indisputable, because of the 
 approbation with which the Church has stamped 
 her writings, treats of this question in the “ Castle 
 of the Soul ,” sixth dwelling , chap. Hi, “ God,” 
 says she, “makes the soul feel His presence by 
 various means. He causes her to hear words in 
 different ways; sometimes they seem to come 
 from the exterior, sometimes from the interior. 
 Some seem to proceed from the superior part 
 of the soul, while others are so exterior, that we 
 hear them with our ears.” 
 
 Alvare? de Paz adds, that “they sometimes seem 
 to come from the centre of the heart: Interdum 
 ex ipso penetrali cordis assnrgereP ( Vol. III. Book 
 v. chap, vi.) The seraphic saint explains the means 
 for distinguishing the origin of these words, for 
 
28 Notice on the Works of the 
 
 they may proceed from the imagination, from the 
 devil, or from God. 
 
 “ When God speaks to us,” says she, “ He sud¬ 
 denly hushes all other thoughts that we may be 
 attentive to what He says, and it is less in our 
 power to be deaf to His voice, than for a person 
 of very acute hearing not to hear what is uttered 
 in a loud tone. 
 
 “ When God speaks, it is impossible for the soul 
 to close her ears, or think of anything but of 
 what she hears. 
 
 “ May my explanations,” continues she, “ re¬ 
 garding the divine words, and the few admoni¬ 
 tions which I have given, be useful to those souls 
 whom the Divine Master may honor with these 
 favors.” 
 
 Suarez, in whom we hear all the doctors, explains 
 the manner in which this is operated. 
 
 Examining the manner in which the angels 
 communicate their thoughts to each other, he 
 applies it to the souls to whom God grants this 
 gift. ( Suarez , Part 2 d, Book ii. chap, xxvii.) 
 
 Scaramelli, in his Dircctorio Mystico, treats of 
 this sublime subject, ex professo , and, having for 
 his basis the doctrine of the great Fathers, de- 
 velopes this matter under every point of view. 
 (Tract iv. chap. xiv. xv.) 
 
 We must add, that all the servants of God who 
 
Venerable Ma y of Jesus of Agreda. 29 
 
 hear these supernatural and heavenly words, some¬ 
 times behold under corporeal forms, the heavenly 
 personages who pronounce them; at other times, 
 they hear without seeing. What we have said will 
 suffice to draw the attention of clergymen, and 
 induce them to study these marvels of grace. In 
 view of the phenomena of magnetism and neo-spirit¬ 
 ualism which now inundate the world, they will be 
 able the more readily to distinguish truth from 
 error; they will clearly discern the snares which the 
 enemy, the angel of darkness, has laid for men, even 
 from the beginning of the world, by leading them 
 to reject all that is supernatural, or by plunging 
 them in the gross deceits in which he involves 
 the unfortunate adepts in his dark doctrines. 
 
 Let us examine, first, whether any one, no 
 matter with what authority he may be vested, 
 is allowed to forbid the reading of the works 
 of Mary of Agreda. 
 
 Secondly, whether it is true to say that the 
 reading of them is permitted, and that we have 
 nothing to fear from the doctrine taught in 
 them. 
 
 Regarding the first point, our task is very easy. 
 Eleven years after the appearance of this work, 
 after it had been translated into Italian, discussions 
 concerning it were immediately raised. The tri¬ 
 bunal of the Holy Office, “on account of the 
 3 * 
 
30 Notice on the Works of the 
 
 state of the times,” to quote the words of the 
 postulator of the cause of the canonization of 
 Mary of Agreda, passed a decree of prohibition on 
 the 4th of August, 1681. 
 
 But God, who knows how to draw good from 
 evil, allowed this prohibition to serve for the 
 greater triumph of these works. 
 
 Three months afterwards, on November 9th, 
 1681, the decree was revoked. Happily, we can 
 give our readers the authentic text of the decree 
 which declares the suspension of the first. It is 
 extracted from the process of canonization. 
 
 INNOCENTIUS PAPA XII. 
 
 In fiegotio librorum sanctimonialis Marice a jtesus 
 de Agreda supersede 7 idum duximus , quamvis sacrce 
 hujus inquisitio?iis ratio et stylus aliter suaderent. 
 
 Datum Romce } sub annulo piscatoris f 9 Nov. 1681. 
 
 INNOCENT XII. 
 
 “With regard to the books of the holy nun, 
 Mary of Jesus of Agreda, we have thought best 
 to suspend our judgment, although the custom 
 and manner of the sacred Inquisition would sug- 
 gest otherwise. 
 
 “ Given in Rome, under the ring of the Fisher¬ 
 man, this ninth day of November, MDCLXXXI,” 
 
Venerable Mary of Jesus of Agreda. 31 
 
 The reader will, no doubt, ask what is the 
 power of this last decree, and if it truly has 
 the character of an obligatory law in the uni¬ 
 versal Church. In answer to this, we have only 
 to refer to the general teachings of the doctors. 
 The sovereign authority has decided the ques¬ 
 tion ; on this matter the slightest doubt, the 
 least discussion, is no longer allowed. In 1713 
 the Holy Office published a decree, in which 
 
 the Bishop of C- is ordered to conform to 
 
 the suspensive decree of Innocent XII., and not 
 again to forbid to any one the reading of the 
 works of Mary of Agreda. 
 
 We subjoin it as follows: 
 
 “DECREE OF THE HOLY OFFICE. 
 
 “In the congregation held Sep. 19th, 1713, 
 at which were present their Eminences, Cardi¬ 
 nals Acciaioli, Spada, Fabroni, and Ottoboni, 
 it was resolved that the letter of the Inquisitor 
 
 of C-should be withdrawn, and that the 
 
 suspensive decree has the power of law through¬ 
 out the universal Church.” 
 
 The original is preserved in the Convent of 
 Ara Cceli in Rome. 
 
 1st. Thus it is true to say that no one is 
 allowed to forbid the reading of these works. 
 
32 Notice ori, the Works of the 
 
 2d. By permission of Divine Providence, the 
 Holy See has done more than protect the works 
 of Mary of Agreda against her adversaries; it 
 has formally permitted the reading of them. 
 
 Pope Alexander VIII., of happy memory, was 
 prevented by death from giving a decree, but 
 he expressly authorized the reading of them, 
 oracula vivce rods. In fine, the Sacred Congre¬ 
 gation of Rites, under Benedict XIII., passed a 
 decree as follows: 
 
 “ It is ordered that the cause of the said 
 servant of God shall be continued without any 
 reexamination of ‘ The Mystical City,’ and her 
 works may be kept and read. March 14th, 1729.” 
 
 This decree is signed by Benedict XIII. 
 
 The tribunal of the Holy See having defini 
 tively judged the cause, the reader w’ill no longer 
 hesitate to edify himself by the doctrine of the 
 works of this servant of God. 
 
 We may pass over the clamor raised against 
 this book by the partisans of Satan, as our 
 cause has been judged. 
 
 Having cited the authentic decrees of the court 
 of Rome, we come now to the eulogiums given 
 to these works. About a year ago, was found 
 in the Imperial Library a collection of the cor¬ 
 respondence of Mary of Agreda with Philip IV. of 
 
Venerable Mary of Jesus of Agreda. 33 
 
 Spain. These letters have been published in one 
 volume by M. Vaton. 
 
 M. Germond de Lavigne, speaking of the “ Mys¬ 
 tical City,” says: “We have read this wonder¬ 
 ful book, this treatise ex professo of the cele¬ 
 brated ascetic, and can only say with the doc¬ 
 tors .who have edited it, that the mysteries of 
 the Christian religion, principles of the Catholic 
 Church, the most abstruse texts of Holy Scrip¬ 
 ture, confused computations of evangelical his¬ 
 tory, the most hidden decrees of Divine Provi- 
 idence, of theology, sacred, dogmatic, expositive, 
 scholastic, moral, deliberative, mystic, all, are 
 united in it.” 
 
 We will now repeat briefly the words of the 
 most competent judges of these matters. F. 
 Anthony, surnamed the Very Celebrated Doc¬ 
 tor, says: “This book has delighted me. Every 
 word of it is clear and full of life; in a word, 
 the reading of it raises the mind, inflames the 
 heart, and excites to great devotion.” 
 
 F. Andreas Mendo of the Society of Jesus, says: 
 “ The whole work is a continuous light which 
 illumines the intellect, and a flame which kindles 
 the will; it banishes tepidity, and incites to the 
 practice of virtue. He who reads it carefully, can¬ 
 not fail to be instructed, and feel an ardent desire 
 of becoming a saint.” 
 
34 Notice on the Works of the 
 
 F. Dydace de Sylva, a Benedictine, says: “ The 
 reading of this book is very profitable; it has an 
 admirable and efficacious power to persuade. All 
 that can be said of it, falls far short of the truth. 
 When we begin to read, we are filled with admira¬ 
 tion. I feel with regret that it would require 
 the wisdom of an angel to adequately express 
 my wishes, my thoughts and my veneration with 
 regard to it.” 
 
 F. John of the Mother of God, says: “I have 
 been so happy as to receive this book; it fills me 
 with admiration. All in it causes me to think that 
 the author has been illumined with light from above. 
 It will bring great consolation to the faithful.” 
 
 The most renowned and celebrated universities 
 have extolled this admirable work. We will omit 
 the testimonies of the universities of Madrid, 
 Alcala, Salamanca, and Toulouse, which leave 
 nothing to be desired, and will only cite that 
 of Louvain, which says: “The learned and the 
 ignorant can gather admirable fruits from this 
 book; the faithful may read it without fear of 
 danger to faith or morals. There is nothing con¬ 
 tained in it that tends to relaxation of virtue, or to 
 any indiscreet rigor. While reading it, we feel 
 a special grace which is not experienced in read¬ 
 ing others; the more we study it, the greater 
 become our appreciation and pleasure.” 
 
Venerable Mary of Jesus of Agreda. 35 
 
 The ordinary of the place in which Mary of 
 Agreda dwelt, says in his approbation: “I con¬ 
 clude by saying that this work is truly good; 
 that, without the least doubt, it contains a heavenly 
 doctrine, which we find to be solid, strong, true, 
 and conformable to the Gospel, which leads to 
 the true knowledge of God and the most pure 
 Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and excites to the 
 love of virtue and the horror of sin.” 
 
 In his beautiful introduction, Father Laurent 
 speaks of Mary of Agreda as follows: “At thirty- 
 five years of age, in one of her ecstatic visions, she 
 receives from heaven the order to write the history 
 of the Mother of God. Through humility she 
 declines the honor, thinking herself unworthy; 
 she seeks to avoid that mission which she judges 
 herself incapable of accomplishing, but the will of 
 the Lord being clearly manifested, she obeys as 
 a submissive daughter, and writes that admirable 
 book ‘The Mystical City.’ Divine inspiration is 
 
 V 
 
 impressed on every page. Reading it we become 
 convinced that it was only in the heavenly regions 
 Into which she was ravished, that she could have 
 acquired the knowledge of the most sublime mys¬ 
 teries, the revelation of the most adorable and 
 ineffable designs of the Most High on the august 
 Mary. 
 
 * " It is under the direction of Mary that she 
 
36 Notice on the Works of the 
 
 retraces the history of the mortal life of the 
 Queen of heaven, so that this work, written by 
 a poor girl, destitute of human or acquired science, 
 and living in the obscurity of the cloister, is, 
 perhaps, the most extraordinary and astonishing 
 which has ever come from the hand of a human 
 creature. The author unhesitatingly touches on 
 the highest mysteries of religion, and explains 
 them with rare clearness. She develops without 
 embarrassment, and with wonderful facility, Catho¬ 
 lic dogma and the most difficult passages of the 
 Scriptures; sacred chronology is as familiar to 
 her as to the most eminent doctors; she reveals 
 the most hidden ways of Providence; sacred the¬ 
 ology, sublime philosophy, knowledge of natural 
 sciences, persuasive eloquence, all are found there, 
 even to neatness, correctness, sublimity, strength, 
 and elegance of style.” (.Introduction to the Life of 
 the Veil. M. Mary of Agreda , p. 16, 17.) 
 
 We dwell purposely on the works of this servant 
 of God. In our opinion, “The Mystical City” 
 is, not only as F. Laurent says, “ the most extra¬ 
 ordinary and astonishing book which has ever 
 been written by a human creature,” but it appears 
 to us to be manifestly designed, in the views 
 of Divine Providence, to produce great fruits for 
 the sanctification and high perfection of souls in 
 these latter times. But the servant of God, or 
 
Venerable Mary of Jesus of Agreda. 37 
 
 rather God Himself and the august Queen of 
 heaven, by her organ, will reveal the designs 
 of God with regard to this book, and will manifest 
 to us why it has been given to the world. It is in 
 particular the priest, devoted to Mary, whom we 
 ask to meditate on the following. 
 
 The Most High, addressing the servant of God, 
 said to her: 
 
 “ My daughter, when I sent my only Son into 
 the world, men, except the small number who 
 served me, were in the most deplorable state they 
 had ever been. And as in time of deepest misery 
 I show my greatest mercy, so I will now grant to 
 men a new favor, because the proper time has 
 arrived. In order the more to confound them, 
 this is the time when my mercy shall shine, and 
 in which I desire that my love may not be idle, 
 notwithstanding that this is the most unhappy age 
 of the world since the incarnation of the Word. 
 I desire to give to men a sovereign remedy, by 
 which, if they wish to use it, they may receive my 
 grace; those who find it shall be happy, those 
 who will know its value shall not be less so. I 
 will that men should know the worth of the inter¬ 
 cession of her who brought the remedy to their 
 sins, when in her virginal womb she gave mortality 
 to the Immortal. I will discover to them many of 
 
 the marvels which my power has operated on 
 
 4 
 
38 Notice on the Works of the 
 
 Mary in her quality of Mother of my incarnate 
 Son; marvels, which, by my secret judgment, 
 have been hidden until now. 
 
 “ I did not manifest them to the primitive 
 Church, because they contain mysteries so high 
 and sublime, that the faithful would have paused 
 to search and admire them, when it was necessary 
 to establish the law of grace, and to publish the 
 Gospel. And although this would not have been 
 incompatible, nevertheless, men, so blind and 
 ignorant, might have been perplexed at a time 
 when faith in the Incarnation was yet feeble, and 
 the precepts of the new law as yet in their infancy. 
 
 “ I present to them this Mystical City of refuge 
 (the Mother of Mercy): describe and explain it as 
 well as thy weakness will allow. 
 
 “ I do not wish this to be considered as merely 
 an opinion, or a simple vision, but as a constant 
 and certain truth.” 
 
 In order to avoid unnecessary discussion, we will 
 explain these last words. 
 
 We know and acknowledge with all the doctors, 
 that the Church never gives absolute authority to 
 the particular revelations vouchsafed to some privi¬ 
 leged souls. By her approbation she merely per¬ 
 mits us to believe that, probably, they have been 
 inspired by God. If, however, the faithful have 
 sufficient motives to believe that they come from 
 
Venerable Mary of Jesus of Agreda. 39 
 
 God, there is nothing to prevent them from admit¬ 
 ting them, and giving in their adhesion. Those 
 who have reason to doubt are not required to 
 believe, on condition, however, that they neither 
 blame nor condemn those who believe them 
 according to the approbation of the Church, which 
 is the supreme judge in these matters. 
 
 “ One day, the feast of the Immaculate Concep¬ 
 tion, being in the choir for matins, I heard a voice 
 which demanded of me renewed attention for 
 heavenly things. I was then raised from that state 
 to another more sublime, wherein I beheld the 
 throne of the Divinity radiant with immense glory 
 and majesty. From it proceeded a voice, which, it 
 seemed to me, could be heard throughout the 
 entire universe, saying: ‘ Poor, abandoned, ignor¬ 
 ant sinners, great and small, sick and weak, and all 
 the children of Adam, of whatever state, condition, or 
 sex you may be; prelates, princes, and subjects, all 
 over the entire world, come and seek a remedy from 
 my liberality and infinite providence, through the in¬ 
 tercession of her who gave humanity to the Word.’ 
 
 “After having heard this voice from the throne, 
 I saw four globes coming forth from the Divine 
 Being, which diffused a brilliant light over the four 
 
 quarters of the world.* It was revealed to me 
 
 . *■ ' 
 
 * We believe that by these symbols were designated four 
 religious bodies which are to appear in the “ Age of Mary.” 
 
40 
 
 Notice on the Works of the 
 
 that in these latter ages, the same Lord wished to 
 exalt and spread the glory of His most holy 
 Mother, and manifest to the world hidden miracles 
 and mysteries reserved by Divine Providence for 
 the time of greatest necessity, so that we may all 
 avail ourselves of the help, the protection, and the 
 powerful intercession of our august Queen. I 
 then saw, coming out of the abyss, a formidable 
 dragon which had seven heads; accompanied by 
 many others, it travelled over all the earth, seeking 
 and perverting persons, by whose means it might 
 oppose the intentions of the Lord, and prevent the 
 glory of Mary and the benefits which, by her 
 means, were to be conferred on the world. 
 
 “This vision of the'infernal dragons caused in 
 me the greatest sorrow. I understood that the 
 victory would be strongly contested, but as reason, 
 justice, and power, are on the side of our Queen, 
 there is nothing to fear. Nevertheless, men, by 
 their malice, may hinder the great designs of 
 God.” (.Mystical City , vol. viii. p. 3 77. Brussel's 
 edition.) 
 
 The servant of God continues: “Let holy 
 priests, who are devoted to the glory of the 
 august Mary, deign to pay great attention to the 
 following: 
 
 “ On another occasion, I found myself in great 
 affliction, as was but just, on account of my not 
 
Venerable Mary of Jesus of Agrcda. 41 
 
 kn owing if I had written well this sacred history, 
 the sublimity of which surpasses all comprehension, 
 angelic as well as human. Whilst thinking thus, I 
 was drawn into a higher state, in which I beheld 
 the throne of the Most Holy Trinity, the three 
 Divine Persons, and the Blessed Virgin at the 
 right hand of her Divine Son; all were vested 
 with immense glory. 
 
 “ There was profound silence in heaven. The 
 angels and saints seemed attentive to what was 
 transpiring at the throne of Supreme Majesty. I 
 beheld the Person of the Father, taking as if from 
 the bosom of His infinite and immutable Being, 
 a book, beautiful and enriched beyond human 
 imagination, but it was closed. Giving it to 
 the Incarnate Word, He said: ‘This book and 
 its contents are mine; it is very agreeable to 
 me.’ Our Lord received it with great complai¬ 
 sance, and the Divine Word, and the Holy Ghost, 
 having touched their breasts with it, confirmed 
 the same words, and placed it in the hands of 
 the most pure Mary, who received it with in¬ 
 comparable joy. 
 
 “ Then this great Queen called me and said, 
 * Do you wish to know what this book is ? Be 
 attentive and look.’ The kind Mother opened and 
 presented it to me, that I might read. I did so, 
 
 and found it was the history of her most holy life, 
 
 ±* 
 
42 
 
 Notice on the Works of the 
 
 written in the same order, and with the same 
 chapters as mine, under the title of * The Mystical 
 City.’ ” 
 
 During the past six years we have had the joy 
 and consolation of perusing and reperusing this 
 work, always with new increase of faith and edifica¬ 
 tion to our soul. We know that some religious 
 bodies make use of it for their spiritual reading. A 
 Carmelite prioress, who had read it during twenty 
 years, told us that, at the commencement of her 
 religious life, she had not understood the doctrine 
 contained in it, but it soon became as a heavenly 
 manna, with which she could not be satiated. A 
 superioress of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart has 
 
 a 
 
 said that the book was really her treasure; she 
 could not cease to read it, such abundant fruit had 
 she drawn from it for the salvation of her soul. 
 In fine, our readers will permit us to relate a' 
 fact which happened a short time ago. A sick 
 man had received the last sacraments with a 
 fervor that edified all present. After the cere¬ 
 mony, raising himself in the bed, he called the 
 priest and presented to him this book, saying, 
 
 “ Keep this: it has edified me during life; 1 do 
 not wish it to be lost. Give it to some one, that it 
 may prove for him the same source of benedic¬ 
 tion.” 
 
 «' We know the clergyman* the place, and the 
 
Venerable Mary of Jesus of Agreda. 43 
 
 time of this occurrence, and to us it seems a 
 most perfect eulogy on a book. 
 
 In order to remove all that might embarrass the 
 reader, we will say, that the “ Historical Diction¬ 
 ary ” of Moreri, speaking of this book, says, that 
 it is filled with visions, fables and reveries, which 
 the author gives as revelations. This appreciation 
 has been based on the censure of Paris in 1696, a 
 censure which is declared by Amort, the greatest 
 adversary of Mary of Agreda, to be without 
 foundation. From the edition of this dictionary 
 printed in 1712, this falsehood has passed into 
 many other- books, among the number, that of 
 Feller, in which we pointed it out to the editors. 
 Every one knows that dictionaries are often copied 
 from preceding ones. J. Gcerres in his “ Mysti¬ 
 cism” does not value this work as it deserves, but 
 as he was no theologian, his authority is of little 
 account. 
 
 We give below a succinct summary of the acts 
 for the cause of the beatification and canonization, 
 in favor of Mary of Jesus of Agreda. The reader 
 can see that God has been pleased to manifest the 
 glory and sanctity of His servant, declared by the 
 Church “Venerable,” and who will be, we hope, 
 placed on our altars before many years. 
 
 She died on the 24th of May, 1665, on the day 
 of Pentecost. Shortly afterwards, the process of 
 
44 
 
 Notice on the Works , etc . 
 
 the Ordinary was drawn up on the virtues and 
 miracles in general of the fama sanctitatis. The 
 petition for her canonization was offered, Novem¬ 
 ber 21st, 1671. Clement X. introduced the cause 
 on the 24th of August, 1672. The commission 
 of introduction was signed January 28th, 1673. 
 The decree of non-culte was carried on June 
 27th, 1674. The apostolic process on the sanctity, 
 the virtues and miracles in general, was begun on 
 September 2d, 1679. The process was opened, the 
 servant of God declared Venerable, and, in fine, on 
 the 16th of December, 1689, a committee of con- 
 suiters was named by Innocent XI. for the exami¬ 
 nation of the works. In fine, Clement XIV. 
 declared that the book, “ The Mystical City,” really 
 was written by Mary of Agreda. At this time 
 steps are being taken to reopen the cause, and we 
 trust that in the “ Age of Mary ” the servant of 
 God will receive the supreme honors of beatifica¬ 
 tion and canonization, which will fill up the 
 measure of her glory in this world. 
 
DIVINE LIFE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MOST HOLY YIRGIN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE MOST HOLY YIRGIN IN THE DIVINE COUNSELS. 
 
 HER HOLY PARENTS. 
 
 < jJj|EFOREwe begin to write the admirable life 
 i!|p| of the Mother of God, it is necessary to make 
 known the sublime rank which, from all 
 
 ** eternity, she held in the divine counsels. 
 
 Although the Divine Intelligence, one, indivisible 
 and very simple, conceives and decides on an act 
 in an infinitely simple manner, without relation to 
 time, either past or future, nevertheless, according 
 to our manner of understanding, we distinguish 
 different moments. 
 
 I. From all eternity God knew His attributes and 
 perfections, with an infinite inclination to communi¬ 
 cate Himself exteriorly, as the infinite, sovereign 
 Good. 
 
 II. He decreed to make this exterior communi- 
 
 45 
 
46 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 cation of Himself by the participation and mani¬ 
 festation of his grandeurs. 
 
 III. He determined the order, manner, and dis¬ 
 position of this communication, decreeing that the 
 Divine Word should become visible in His Sacred 
 Humanity. 
 
 IV. He decreed the gifts and graces to be con¬ 
 ferred on the Divine Humanity of Christ, the 
 Chief of all creatures. Then, regulating the per¬ 
 fect economy of the Incarnation, he included the 
 Virgin Mother, before all other decrees relating 
 to the creation of all other creatures. God also 
 determined to create a place where the Incarnate 
 Word could dwell with His mother, and first, for 
 them alone, He willed to create heaven and earth, 
 with the stars, the elements, and all that they con¬ 
 tain ; and, secondly, for men, who were to be the 
 vassals of this great King and Queen. 
 
 V. He decreed the creation of the angels, who 
 were to dwell in the presence of the Divine 
 Majesty, to honor and to love Him; they were 
 also to serve the Eternal Word, made man, and 
 His most holy Mother, their Queen. To this 
 moment belongs the creation of the empyreal 
 heaven, where the glory of God is unveiled, and 
 the good are rewarded; as also the predestination 
 of the good angels, and the reprobation of the bad; 
 the creation of the earth for other creatures, and 
 hell in its centre, for the chastisement of the rebel¬ 
 lious angels. 
 
 VI. He decreed to create a people and a 
 society of men like unto Christ, who were to be 
 
Most Holy Virgin . . 47 
 
 His brethren. God determined on the favors and 
 graces He would grant to this people, through the 
 merits of Christ, and on giving original justice to 
 man, if he would persevere in it. He foresaw the 
 preVarication and fall of Adam, and, through him, 
 that of all his posterity, excepting only the Blessed 
 Mother, who was not included in this posterior 
 decree. He decreed that this misfortune should 
 be repaired, and that the humanity of Christ 
 should be passible. 
 
 For the execution of His designs, in time God 
 created heaven and earth, and the light, not only 
 material, but also intellectual light, that is to say, 
 the angels. At the division of light from darkness, 
 occurred also the separation of the good angels 
 from the bad. 
 
 The angels remained for some time in a state of 
 trial, which may be divided into three moments. 
 In the first, they were created and endowed with 
 gifts of nature and grace; in the second, the will 
 of their Creator was proposed for them to follow, 
 and obtain the end for which they had been 
 created. He gave them abundant lights with 
 regard to good and evil, and eternal rewards and 
 chastisements. Some were obedient, others rebel¬ 
 lious ; the good were confirmed in grace, and 
 rewarded with eternal glory; the obstinate were 
 chastised and precipitated into hell, there to be 
 tormented for all eternity. The cause of this re¬ 
 bellion and disgrace was that the angels, having a 
 very clear knowledge of the Divine Being with the 
 Unity of Essence and Trinity of Persons, received 
 
48 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 the command to adore God as their Creator. All 
 obeyed this precept, yet with some difference. 
 Lucifer submitted because he thought it would be 
 impossible to do otherwise, yet he did not obey 
 with perfect charity. Although this baseness* in 
 this first act did not deprive him of grace, neverthe¬ 
 less it was the cause of his evil disposition, for it 
 weakened his virtues and his mind. God made 
 known to the angels that He would create human 
 nature, and that the second Person of the Blessed 
 Trinity would become incarnate, and the human 
 nature be thus raised to the Hypostatic Union. 
 They received the command to adore the God- 
 man, and acknowledge Him as the Chief of all 
 creatures. Lucifer resisted this mandate, and 
 urged his adherents to do the same, persuading 
 them that he would be their chief, and would 
 found a kingdom independent of Christ. But his 
 evil dispositions were increased when he was 
 ordered to acknowledge as his queen and sov¬ 
 ereign, a Virgin, the Mother of Christ, who was to 
 be enriched with such gifts of grace and glory 
 that she would surpass all other creatures, angelic 
 as well as human. He resisted with horrible blas¬ 
 phemies, and condemned these divine decrees as 
 unjust and injurious to his greatness. This ex¬ 
 treme presumption irritated our Lord in such a 
 manner that He told the serpent, as He did later 
 in the terrestrial paradise, that she (Mary) should 
 crush his head —Ipsa content caput tuum. After 
 having precipitated from heaven the rebellious 
 angels, with Lucifer their chief, God created other 
 
49 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 creatures, modeled after Christ and His Blessed 
 Mother, as their divine exemplars, but He formed 
 Adam and Eve, alike, above all and in all things 
 to these divine originals. He gave them the 
 power of motion and an entire perfection, and 
 blessed them in consideration of their perfect 
 resemblance to their Models. The Lord concealed 
 from Lucifer the creation of Adam and Eve, during 
 a part of the time that they lived together. He 
 did so, that the demon might be in doubt whether 
 Eve were she who was to crush his head, or 
 whether Adam were the Incarnate Word. The 
 implacable enemy of mankind, filled with rage, 
 began to lay his snares. Having succeeded in 
 causing the fall of the woman, and, through her, 
 of the man, he, with his demons proudly rejoiced 
 over his triumph. But his satisfaction was of 
 short duration. He saw how merciful God was 
 with the two criminals, and that He would restore 
 them to His grace and friendship by means of 
 penance, and it was an additional torment to him 
 to hear again that a woman should crush his head. 
 
 By the divine benediction, mankind multiplied. 
 God chose for Himself an elect people, and from 
 out of this people an illustrious and holy line 
 to which He w r as to belong, acccoruing to the 
 flesh. He granted signal favors to this people, 
 and revealed to it profound mysteries; He raised up 
 holy patriarchs and prophets who were to point 
 out figuratively the Incarnate Word, and foretell 
 His coming, so much desired. 
 
 In fine, the appointed time approaching, God 
 5 
 
50 Divine Life of the 
 
 sent into the world two brilliant flambeaux, to 
 announce the coming dawn of the Sun of Justice, 
 Jesus, our Saviour. These were St. Joachim and 
 St. Ann, whom the Divine Will had prepared and 
 created to be the parents of the Blessed Virgin, 
 the Mother of God. Joachim, with his parents 
 and friends, lived in Nazareth, a small town of 
 Galilee. He was a just and holy man, enlightened 
 in a special manner with regard to the mysteries 
 of the Holy Scriptures, and the meaning of the 
 prophecies. St. Ann dwelt in Bethlehem; she was 
 humble, chaste, and beautiful, and had also re¬ 
 ceived great infused lights as to the meaning of the 
 prophecies. 
 
 The Archangel Gabriel was sent in corporeal 
 form to bid her accept Joachim for her spouse. 
 A short time afterwards, he was sent to Joachim, 
 to command him in a dream to choose St. Ann for 
 his wife. The marriage was solemnized without 
 their having revealed this command to each other. 
 The holy spouses dwelt in Nazareth, following the 
 ways of the Lord, and performing their actions 
 with all possible perfection. Every year they 
 divided their revenue into three parts; the first, 
 they offered to the Temple; the second, they 
 distributed among the poor; the third, they re¬ 
 served for the moderate support of the family. 
 
 The holy spouses lived together for twenty years 
 without having any children. This drew upon 
 them the contempt of their neighbors, for it was a 
 belief among the Jews, that those who had no 
 children would have no share in the future Mes- 
 
Most Holy Virgin, 51 
 
 siah. Even the priests rebuked them, and once, 
 when Joachim had entered the Temple to pray, 
 a priest named Issachar sent him away, reproach¬ 
 ing him as being sterile, and therefore unworthy 
 to offer sacrifice. Much afflicted, the holy man 
 retired to his house, and prayed with tears that 
 the Lord would give him a child, which, at the 
 same time, he vowed to consecrate to the Temple. 
 
 The angel of the Lord appeared to St Ann 
 and declared to her the will of the Lord that 
 she should ask for offspring. She obeyed, and 
 promised that the fruit of her womb should be 
 consecrated to the service of the Most High. 
 
 The prayers of these holy spouses ascended 
 before the throne of the Divine Majesty, and the 
 Archangel Gabriel was sent to St. Joachim. “The 
 Most High,” said he, “has heard thy prayer. 
 Ann, thy wife, shall conceive and bring forth a 
 daughter, who shall be blessed among women, 
 and whom all nations shall acknowledge to be 
 blessed. The Lord wills that she shall be conse¬ 
 crated to Him in the Temple, even from her in¬ 
 fancy.” 
 
 At the same time, St. Ann, being raised into 
 sublime contemplation, and absorbed in the mys¬ 
 tery of the Incarnation, prayed most fervently that 
 she might be permitted to behold and serve the 
 holy woman destined to be the Mother of the 
 promised Messiah. Then it was that the Arch¬ 
 angel Gabriel announced to her that she herself 
 was to be the Mother of the most holy Mother of 
 the Divine Word. 
 
52 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 Filled with inexpressible joy and surprise, she 
 hastened to the Temple to offer her thanksgiving 
 to the Lord. She met St. Joachim and told him 
 of the angel’s promise ; both entered the Temple 
 to renew their vows and give thanks to the Author 
 of all these wonders. They returned to their 
 house, conversing on the signal favors they had 
 received from the Most High, and they commu¬ 
 nicated to each other the first visit of the angel, as 
 also the order they had received to espouse each 
 other, which they had hitherto concealed. 
 
 The prudent Ann did not discover to her hus¬ 
 band that the promised child was destined to be 
 the Mother of the Messiah, because the archangel 
 had forbidden her to reveal it. 
 
 The fulness of the time being arrived, the three 
 * divine Persons, according to our manner of think¬ 
 ing, spoke thus among themselves: “It is time 
 that we commence the accomplishment of our 
 good pleasure, and create that pure creature who 
 is dearer to us than all others; she must be exempt 
 from the ordinary laws of the generation of mor¬ 
 tals, so that the seed of the infernal serpent shall 
 have no part in her. It is fitting that the Divinity 
 should clothe her in very pure matter, never sullied 
 by sin; our justice and providence demand that 
 which is most fit, most perfect, and most holy; all 
 this shall be accomplished, because nothing can 
 resist our will. The Word, who is to become 
 man and the Master of all creatures, will teach 
 them more effectually to honor her whom He has 
 chosen for His Mother; among the dignities which 
 
53 
 
 Mo d Holy Virgin . 
 
 He will confer on her, the first shall be that of 
 never being subdued by her enemies. As He is 
 to be the Redeemer of mankind, it is fit that 
 He should exercise that office first in regard of 
 His own Mother. She must have a particular 
 redemption, and by this, be preserved beforehand 
 from all sin; thus she shall be always pure and 
 immaculate, and the Son of God will rejoice 
 at beholding between His terrestial Mother and 
 His Heavenly Father, the closest resemblance 
 possible between God and His creature.” Such 
 was the decree manifested to the blessed spirits 
 by the three Divine Persons. Prostrate before 
 the Divine Throne, with great humility, they 
 praised God, and rendered most fervent thanks 
 because He was pleased to grant the prayer they 
 had made before the great battle with Lucifer, 
 when they had begged for the accomplishment 
 of the mystery of the Incarnation, which had 
 been revealed to them. With a holy emulation, 
 each desired to be employed in the court of the 
 Son of God, and His most pure and holy Mother. 
 
 Twenty years had passed by since the marriage 
 of St. Joachim and St. Ann : Joachim was then 
 sixty years old, and Ann forty-four. 
 
 According to the divine promise, they engen¬ 
 dered, in a manner truly wonderful, a child who was 
 to be the Mother of God. Everything happened 
 as in other conceptions; nevertheless, the virtue of 
 the Most High removed everything imperfect or 
 inordinate, in order that, according to the laws of 
 nature, the most perfect body ever created should 
 5 * 
 
- 
 
 54 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 be formed free from the least imperfection. The 
 divine virtue is revealed principally in the miracu¬ 
 lous operations which removed from St. Ann her 
 natural sterility, yet it was still more marvellous in 
 removing from her holy parents all trace of sin, 
 that the sting of original sin should have no share 
 in her. The wisdom and power of the Most High 
 were particularly exercised in the formation of the 
 most pure body of Mary, so that by its perfect 
 and just proportions it might aid the operations of 
 the holy soul which was to animate it. It was 
 endowed with a temperament so equal, and facul¬ 
 ties so perfect, that it would be impossible for 
 nature to have formed anything equal to it. 
 
 According to our manner of expression, we may 
 say, that God took more care in the formation of 
 this most pure body, than in the creation of the 
 heavens and the entire universe. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF MARY—IIER HOLY 
 EXERCISES IN HER MOTHER’S WOMB. 
 
 # HE conception of Mary took place on Sunday, 
 this corresponding to the creation of the 
 nlV angels, whose Queen and Sovereign she was to 
 be; and, although according to the order of 
 nature, other bodies require many days to be 
 organized before the rational soul is infused, yet, 
 in her regard, the time was considerably shortened. 
 
 On the Saturday following this conception, the 
 Most High created the august soul, and united it 
 to the body. In this manner entered into the 
 world the most holy, most perfect, and most beau¬ 
 tiful creature that God has ever created, or ever 
 will create, even to the end of time. For this rea¬ 
 son, the Holy Ghost has ordained that the Church 
 should consecrate Saturday to the most holy Vir¬ 
 gin, it being the day on which her most holy soul 
 was created and united to her body, free from any 
 stain or effect of original sin. At the moment of 
 its infusion, the most holy Trinity repeated the 
 words spoken at the creation of man : Faciamus 
 hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostrum: 
 (let us make man to our image and likeness.) By 
 virtue of these divine words the most blessed soul 
 
 55 
 
56 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 of Mary was replenished with graces, gifts, privi¬ 
 leges, ami favors, far exceeding those of the highest 
 seraph, together with the most perfect use of reason, 
 proportionate to the gifts of grace which she had 
 received. Then the Most High repeated the 
 words which He had pronounced at the creation : 
 et erant valde bona , (and they were very good,) thus 
 testifying the great complacency He took in so 
 glorious a work. At the time of the infusion of 
 the soul into the body, God willed that Saint Ann 
 should feel and know the presence of the Divinity, 
 and being filled with the Holy Ghost, she fell into 
 a sublime ecstasy, in which she received an exalted 
 knowledge of the most hidden mysteries. This 
 cheerfulness and spiritual joy were not momentary; 
 they lasted until her death, although they were 
 more frequent while she bore the treasure of hea¬ 
 ven within her womb. 
 
 Although the holy soul of Mary was endowed 
 with all perfections, and the infused habit of every 
 virtue, in a degree greater than any and all the 
 saints together, nevertheless it was not necessary 
 that she should practice all immediately, but only 
 those suitable to the state in which she then was. 
 She practiced then, in the first place, the theologi¬ 
 cal virtues of faith, hope, and charity, but particu¬ 
 larly the virtue of charity, contemplating God as 
 the sovereign good with such attention and love 
 that it would be impossible for the seraphim ever 
 to attain to so eminent a degree. She also prac¬ 
 tised those other virtues which adorn and perfect 
 the reasonable part. 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 57 
 
 She received infused science, the moral virtues, 
 and the fruits and gifts of the Holy Ghost, in a 
 degree corresponding to the theological virtues; 
 thus, from the first instant of her conception, she 
 was wiser, more prudent, and more enlightened 
 with regard to God and His works, than all crea¬ 
 tures united. This great perfection of Mary, con¬ 
 sists not only in the habits which were infused 
 into her, but also in the acts, which, by the divine 
 power, she exercised at the very first instant. In a 
 word, she knew God such as He is in Himself, as 
 Creator and Glorifier; she honored, praised and 
 thanked Him; by heroic acts she loved, feared, 
 adored, and offered sacrifices of praise and glory 
 to His immutable Being. She understood the 
 gifts she had received, and returned most humble 
 thanksgivings to God, accompanied with profound 
 bodily inclinations made in the womb of her 
 mother; and by these acts, merited more in that 
 state than all the saints in their highest degrees of 
 perfection and sanctity. Besides the acts of in¬ 
 fused faith, she possessed a clear knowledge of the 
 Divinity and most Holy Trinity, and, although at 
 that time she did not see it intuitively, nevertheless 
 she beheld it abstractively, and this kind of know¬ 
 ledge was the most perfect by which God could 
 communicate Himself to the human understanding 
 in this world. At this time she knew of the crea¬ 
 tion, the fall of the angels, that of Adam and its 
 consequences; purgatory, limbo, hell, and every¬ 
 thing enclosed in these abodes ; she knew all men, 
 all ange!s, with their divers orders, dignities, and 
 
58 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 operations, and all other creatures, with their dif¬ 
 ferent instincts and qualities. She also knew her 
 genealogy; the chosen people of God; the patri¬ 
 archs and prophets, and how admirable was the 
 divine Majesty in the gifts, graces and favors, He 
 had conferred on them. 
 
 But what is most worthy of our admiration 
 is, that, by the divine power, her knowledge of 
 Adam’s fall, and her sorrow for it, caused her to 
 shed tears; thus she began, even in the womb of 
 her mother, to exercise her office of co-redemptrix 
 of the human race. She offered her tears in union 
 with the desires of the patriarchs, and this offering 
 was more agreeable to God than the united prayers 
 of all angels, saints and men. She prayed in parti¬ 
 cular for her holy parents, whom she knew in God 
 before she beheld them in the flesh, and towards 
 whom she exercised the virtues of the love, the 
 gratitude, and the respect of a daughter. During 
 the time which this holy child passed in her 
 mother’s womb, her visions were continual and 
 uninterrupted, and she was raised three times to 
 very sublime, although abstractive contemplation 
 of the Most Holy Trinity. The first took place at 
 the moment when her soul was infused into her 
 body; the second, within the nine months, and the 
 third, on the day previous to her birth. She 
 occupied herself in heroic acts of adoration and 
 love of God, continual prayers in favor of mankind, 
 and holy communications with the angels. She felt 
 not the enclosure of her prison, the inconvenience 
 of her natural state, nor the suspension of the use 
 
59 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 of the exterior senses. She begged of God, with 
 true fervor, never to permit her to see the light of 
 day, if she were ever to fail in His love or service; 
 this was in her third abstractive vision of the Most 
 Holy Trinity, which immediately preceded her 
 birth. After this prayer the Most High bestowed 
 on her his benediction, and commanded her to 
 come forth from the maternal womb into the 
 material light of the visible sun. 
 
 In order to augment the glory and virtue of St. 
 Ann, God willed that, during the time of her preg¬ 
 nancy, she should suffer many afflictions. Lucifer, 
 discovering in her such great sanctity, suspected 
 that the child which she.bore, might be the illus¬ 
 trious woman destined to trample him under her 
 feet, and crush his head. Actuated by rage, he 
 tried in every way to compass her death. Desirous 
 of weakening the saint’s faith, he tempted her with 
 many false persuasions and doubts regarding her 
 condition, but in this he failed. He then tried to 
 overthrow the house, hoping that the shock and 
 terror would cause the death of the child, but the 
 angels who guarded her, frustrated the evil design. 
 Finally, at his suggestion, some foolish women, 
 being angry at our saint, loaded her with injuries 
 and sensible affronts with regard to her condition, 
 but this artifice of Lucifer was also unsuccessful. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE HAFPY BIRTH OF MARY—FIRST FRUITS OF HEB 
 
 MARVELLOUS LIFE. 
 
 CJjYjHEN the nine months were accomplished, 
 ] the Almighty made known to St. Ann, by 
 JJJU 1 an interior communication, that the time of 
 "" her happy delivery had come. 
 
 Prostrating herself in presence of the Divine 
 Majesty, she humbly besought Him to grant her 
 the aid of His grace. Suddenly she felt a gentle 
 motion, from which she understood that she was 
 about to bring forth her child. Her blessed infant 
 was born on the 8th of September, at midnight, 
 and in order that she might neither see nor 
 feel her birth, she was ravished in sublime 
 ecstasy. 
 
 The saintly mother received her in her arms 
 and enveloped her in swaddling clothes, allowing 
 no one but herself to touch the cherished infant; 
 this loving office she was able to fulfil, not having 
 experienced the pains of childbirth. Holding the 
 holy child in her arms, St. Ann addressed to God 
 the following prayer: “O Lord, whose wisdom is 
 infinite, Creator of all beings, I humbly offer thee 
 
 6o 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 61 
 
 the fruit of my womb, which I have received from 
 thy infinite goodness; I thank thee from the bottom 
 of my heart. Do with the daughter and the 
 mother according to thy most holy will, and from 
 thy throne look down upon our lowliness. I felici¬ 
 tate the holy fathers in limbo, and all mankind, on 
 the certain pledge of speedy redemption which 
 thou hast given them. But how shall I behave 
 properly towards her whom thou hast given me as 
 my daughter, I who am not worthy to serve her ? 
 How shall I dare touch the Ark of the Covenant? 
 Give me, O Lord, the lights necessary to know 
 thy will, and to execute it according to thy good 
 pleasure, in the services I shall have to render to 
 my dear daughter.” 
 
 The Lord gave her to understand that she 
 should treat her child exteriorly, as a mother 
 treats her daughter, but that she should preserve 
 interiorly the respect due to her dignity. The 
 angels venerated her as their Queen, in the arms 
 of her mother, and those who were appointed as 
 her guardians rendered themselves visible to her 
 eyes; this was the first time in which she beheld 
 them under corporeal forms. One thousand were 
 commissioned by God to defend her, from the very 
 instant of her conception. After they had ren¬ 
 dered their homage, God sent the Archangel 
 Gabriel to announce the good tidings to the holy 
 patriarchs in limbo. 
 
 At the same time he ordered an innumerable 
 multitude of angels to transport into heaven the 
 
 body and soul of her who was to become the 
 6 
 
62 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 Mother of the Eternal Word.* At her entrance 
 into heaven, the little Mary prostrated herself with 
 love before the royal throne of the Most High. 
 She was received by God Himself upon his throne, 
 and the titles of Mother of God and Queen of all 
 creatures were given to her, although she remained 
 still ignorant of the designs of this profound mys¬ 
 tery, God concealing them from her for His greater 
 glory. It was determined to bestow a name on 
 this well-beloved child, and a voice, proceeding 
 from the throne of God, said : “ Our chosen one 
 must be called Mary. This name shall be mar¬ 
 vellous and magnificent. Those who will invoke 
 it with devout affection, shall receive abundant 
 graces; it shall be terrible against hell, and shall 
 crush the head of the serpent.” 
 
 The Almighty commanded the angelic spirits to 
 announce the blessed name to St. Ann, so that 
 what had been decreed in heaven, might be accom¬ 
 plished on earth. The angels appeared to St. 
 Ann, bearing luminous bucklers, on which was 
 inscribed the name of Mary, and announced to her 
 that this was the name to be bestowed upon her 
 
 * We must not be surprised when it is said that the august 
 Mary was transported into heaven by the ministry of angels. 
 The greatest theologians teach that there is nothing repugnant 
 to faith in this, because the Blessed Virgin was Immaculate. 
 This privilege, which has been declared a dogma of faith, is the 
 foun ^tion of all the marvels which occurred during the infancy 
 of Mary. She was endowed with the highest gifts, preroga¬ 
 tives, and privileges, that could be granted to a pure creature. 
 After the Immaculate Conception, we can wonder at nothing 
 in Mary. 
 
63 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 child. Mary was reposited in the arms of her 
 mother, who had not perceived her absence, 
 because she herself had been rapt in sublime 
 ecstasy, and also because an angel had assumed a 
 body like to Mary’s, and had occupied her place. 
 
 It is well for us to consider what were the daily 
 occupations of the holy child. At the commence¬ 
 ment of each day she interiorly prostrated herself 
 in presence of the Most High, praised Him for 
 His infinite perfections, and, acknowledging her¬ 
 self to be the work of His hands, returned most 
 humble thanks to God for having drawn her forth 
 from nothing. She blessed, exalted, and adored 
 Him as the Sovereign Lord and Creator of all 
 things, and surrendered her mind and entire being 
 into His hands. Animated with profound hu¬ 
 mility and perfect resignation, she begged Him to 
 dispose of her for that day and all the days of her 
 life, according to His holy will, and to teach her ! 
 
 what was most agreeable to Him, that she might 
 accomplish it perfectly. In this habit, begun at her 
 birth, she persevered throughout the whole course 
 of her life, never omitting it, whatever might be her 
 occupations, and she even repeated it frequently 
 during the course of the day. 
 
 The sixty-six days of purification being ended, 
 
 St. Ann went to the Temple, carrying her most 
 pure child in her arms. She presented herself at 
 the door of the tabernacle, with the offering 
 required by the law. The holy priest Simeon felt 
 extraordinary joy, and St. Ann heard a voice bid¬ 
 ding her renew the vow she fud made to offer her 
 
 
6 4 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 daughter in the Temple, when she should be three 
 years old. Whsn this amiable child was carried 
 into the Temple, she felt great joy at beholding so 
 much magnificence consecrated to the worship of 
 God, and as she could not prostrate herself to 
 adore the Divinity, she supplied for this action in 
 spirit. She humbly prayed the Lord to receive 
 her in His holy Temple at the time appointed by 
 His holy will. In testimony of His acceptance of 
 her prayer, a bright light from heaven descended 
 in a sensible manner upon the mother and the 
 child. Having finished her prayers and presented 
 her offering, St. Ann returned to her house in 
 Nazareth. The holy child was treated in all 
 things as is usual with those of her age. She par¬ 
 took of the same nourishment, but in a very 
 small quantity; her sleep was short, although she 
 allowed herself to be put to bed at her mother’s 
 pleasure. 
 
 She was not troublesome, never wept for the 
 petty troubles common with children, but was very 
 mild and quiet; nevertheless she concealed this 
 wonder by weeping for the sins of men, that she 
 might obtain pardon for them, and hasten the com¬ 
 ing of the Messiah. Her countenance was ordi¬ 
 narily joyful, yet serene and full of majesty, and 
 there never was seen anything light in her actions. 
 Occasionally she would receive the caresses lav¬ 
 ished on her, but with regard to those not given 
 by her mother, she moderated them by her reserve. 
 The Lord had inspired St. Joachim and St. Ann 
 with great respect and m* desty, so that they were 
 
65 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 extremely prudent and reserved in the sensible 
 demonstrations of their affection. When alone, or 
 when placed in her crib to sleep, she never inter¬ 
 rupted the interior actions of holy love, and she 
 conversed with the angels on the mvsteries of the 
 Most High. 
 
 She was subject to hunger, thirst, and bodily suf¬ 
 fering, that thus she might be the imitator of Jesus ; 
 these sufferings were felt by her even more keenly 
 than by other children, and the privation of food 
 was the more dangerous, on account of the perfec¬ 
 tion of her constitution; yet if nourishment was 
 not given to her at the proper time, she waited 
 patiently for the opportunity of making her wants 
 known bv signs. 
 
 She felt no pain at being wrapped in swaddling- 
 bands, for she knew that the Incarnate Word 
 would, in after times, be ignominiously bound. 
 When alone, she placed herself in the form of 
 a cross, knowing that in such a manner the 
 Redeemer of the world would expire. She very 
 frequently returned thanks for the food that nour¬ 
 ished her, for the influence of the planets, the stars, 
 and .he heavens, acknowledging them all to be the 
 benefits of divine goodness; yet if she was in 
 want of anything she was not troubled, for in 
 everything she recognized a grace and favor from 
 God. 
 
 We have said that, v. hen alone, her principal 
 occupation was to converse with the angels. To 
 make this the more easily understood, we will give 
 an exact idea of the manner in which they rendered 
 6 * 
 
66 Divine Life of the 
 
 themselves visible to her, and say who those angelic 
 spirits were. 
 
 Out of each of the nine choirs were chosen one 
 hundred of those who had particularly distinguished 
 themselves in the combat against Lucifer, by their 
 love for the Incarnate Word and His most holy 
 Mother. They appeared to her under the forms of 
 young men, of marvellous beauty, and of noble and 
 majestic appearance, whose bodies participated but 
 little of terrestrial matter, seeming like pure crystal, 
 brilliant with the light of heaven. Their garments 
 were like pure gold, enamelled and embellished 
 with the richest colors, which, however, were appa¬ 
 rent only to the sight, and could not be touched 
 any more than can the light of the sun. On their 
 heads were beautiful crowns of rich and varied 
 flowers, which exhaled a celestial perfume. In their 
 hands they bore interwoven palms, signifying the 
 virtues which Mary was to practise, and the glory 
 she was to obtain. On their breasts were devices 
 resembling the decorations of military orders, each 
 bearing a cipher signifying— Mary , Mother of God. 
 This was one of their most brilliant and beautiful 
 ornaments; nevertheless, the Blessed Virgin did 
 not understand it, until she had conceived the 
 Incarnate Word. Human language cannot des¬ 
 cribe the effects which these heavenly spirits ope¬ 
 rated in Mary’s soul. 
 
 Besides the nine hundred angels already spoken 
 of, seventy of the seraphs nearest to the throne 
 were chosen from among those most devoted to 
 
 the hypostatic union of the divine and human 
 
 6 * 
 
67 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 natures, to attend upon their young queen. When 
 they rendered themselves visible to her, it was 
 under the same form as those seen by Isaiah, 
 having six wings, two of which veiled their faces, 
 two covered their feet, and two were used in their 
 flight, thus signifying the hidden mystery of the 
 Incarnation, and the ardent flight of their love 
 towards God. Their manner of communicating 
 with the Blessed Virgin was the same as amongst 
 themselves; that is, the superior enlightened the 
 inferior; for, although the Queen of heaven was 
 their superior in grace and dignity, nevertheless, 
 the nature of man, as says the prophet David, has 
 been made inferior to that of the angels. 
 
 There were also twelve angels whom St. John 
 has mentioned, ( Apoc . xxi. 12), who were distin¬ 
 guished by their desire for the redemption of man. 
 They were chosen to cooperate with Mary in her 
 privilege as Mother of Mercy and Mediatrix for 
 the salvation of the world. These twelve angels, 
 like the others, appeared in corporeal forms, and 
 carried many palms and crowns, reserved for those 
 devoted to this august queen. They were par¬ 
 ticularly deputed to make known the charity of 
 our Lord towards mankind. The eighteen angels 
 who completed the thousand of her guard, were 
 those most distinguished for their affection f o the 
 sufferings of the Incarnate Word. 
 
 These angels appeared to Mary in wondrous 
 beauty, bearing the emblems of the passion, and 
 other mysterious symbols of our redemption. On 
 their breasts and arms were emblazoned crosses 
 
68 
 
 Divine Life of the- 
 
 of singular beauty and extraordinary splendor. 
 These angels were frequently employed by Mary 
 as ambassadors to her divine Son for the good of 
 souls. 
 
 These a.igelic spirits continually and faithfully 
 watched over their blessed Queen, as we shall 
 frequently have occasion to notice in this Life, on 
 which account they now in heaven experience a 
 particular delight in her holy company. 
 
 Although Mary was not like other infants, inca¬ 
 pable of speech, nevertheless, she did not pro¬ 
 nounce a word during the first eighteen months 
 of her existence, as well to conceal the science 
 and capacity of which she was possessed, as to 
 avoid astonishing others by the knowledge of 
 this miraculous gift. 
 
 She dispensed herself from this law of silence 
 only when she prayed to the Lord in solitude, or 
 conversed with the angels of her guard. At length 
 arrived the time in which Mary was to break her 
 holy silence, and the Lord commanded her to 
 speak with creatures. 
 
 Before obeying this command, she humbly and 
 fervently supplicated the Lord to assist her in the 
 dangerous and difficult act of speaking, that she 
 might commit no fault therein. The Lord having 
 promised her the divine assistance, she, for the 
 first time, loosened her tongue, and her first words 
 were to ask the blessing of her parents. 
 
 D uring the eighteen months which intervened 
 oetween this and her entrance into the Temple, at 
 the age of three years, she seldom spoke except to 
 
69 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 her mother, who conversed with her of God and 
 His mysteries, principally that of the Incarnation 
 of the Divine Word. It was admirable to see the 
 care which she took at so tender an age, to perform 
 humble and menial works, such as sweeping, and 
 cleaning the house, and in these acts, the holy 
 angels aided her to gather the fruits of humility. 
 St. Joachim belonged neither to the very rich nor 
 to the very poor class; therefore St. Ann clothed 
 her daughter the best possible, within the bounds 
 of honesty and modesty. As soon as she began to 
 speak, she entreated her parents to dress her like 
 the poorer class of children, in a coarse dress of an 
 ash color. St. Ann did not judge proper to acqui¬ 
 esce in her desire; however, she satisfied her as 
 to the color and form of her garments. Without 
 answering a word, she submitted to her mother, 
 and by her obedience supplied for the act of hu¬ 
 mility she was not allowed to practice. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HER HDLY OCCUPATIONS, AND HER PRESENTATION IN 
 
 THE TEMPLE. 
 
 fl^NE of Mary’s ccupations was to retire into 
 solitude, there to enjoy God with greater 
 liberty, and to weep secretly over the sins of 
 men. Her affection for sinners and the poor 
 was very great. After completing * her second 
 year, she began to beg alms from her mother 
 for those in want, and frequently retrenched a 
 part of her meal in order to give it to the poor. 
 She did not give alms as if she were conferring a 
 favor, but rather as if paying a just debt. She gave 
 a singular evidence of her humility by allowing 
 herself to be taught to read by others, she, the 
 Mother of the Divine Wisdom, who knew all things 
 by infused science, even from the first moment of 
 her conception. 
 
 When the time arrived for the accomplishment 
 of the vow which her parents had made, of conse¬ 
 crating her to the service o f v he Temple, she her¬ 
 self was the first to beg them, witn all humility, to 
 fulfil their promise without delay, and she most 
 fervently entreated God to inspire* them to do 
 it promptly. The Lord granted the humble prayer 
 of His beloved, and her parents, obedient to the 
 70 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin, y 1 
 
 heavenly inspiration, parted with their amiable 
 child, though not without the deepest sorrow. 
 
 The grief of St. Ann in particular, exceeded even 
 that of Abraham when commanded to sacrifice his 
 son Isaac. At the expiration of the three years St. 
 Joachim and St. Ann, accompanied by many of 
 their relations and by a great number of angelic 
 spirits, who, during the journey, sang hymns of 
 praise to the Most High, left Nazareth and jour¬ 
 neyed to Jerusalem, bearing in their arms their 
 young and happy child. 
 
 Having arrived at the Temple, St. Ann heard a 
 voice which said : “ Come, my spouse, my beloved, 
 come into my Temple, where it is my will that 
 thou shalt offer me a sacrifice of praise and thanks¬ 
 giving.” 
 
 They conducted her to the apartments of the 
 virgins, who were young girls brought up together 
 in holy retreat until they arrived at the age for 
 entering the married state. They belonged prin¬ 
 cipally to the royal tribe of Juda and the sacer¬ 
 dotal tribe of Levi. The staircase which led to 
 this apartment had fifteen steps, and the priest who 
 came to receive Mary, placed her on the first. 
 Having asked his permission, Mary turned to her 
 parents, and kneeling, humbly asked their blessing, 
 kissed their hands, and begged them to recommend 
 her to God. They blessed her tenderly and with 
 many tears. Then she ascended the staircase 
 alone, and with admirable fervor and modesty. 
 The holy priest appointed as her mistress the 
 prophetess Anna, who had received from God 
 
72 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 particular graces to fit her for this office. The 
 holy child knelt before her, begged her blessing 
 and entreated her to teach her everything neces¬ 
 sary, after which she visited the young virgins, to 
 thank them for having admitted her, although 
 unworthy to be their companion; she offered her 
 services to them and saluted and embraced each in 
 particular. Prostrating herself upon the ground, 
 she kissed it as being the pavement of the house 
 of God, and returned thanks for His great benefits. 
 Then calling the twelve angels of whom we have 
 already spoken, she entreated them to console her 
 parents in their sorrow. 
 
 After they had departed, the Most High com¬ 
 manded the sixty seraphs who assisted her, to 
 transport her into the highest heaven. This was 
 immediately executed, and there she beheld the 
 Divine Essence by an intuitive vision. Humbly 
 prostrate before the throne of God, she earnestly 
 prayed for two particular graces; one, that she 
 might suffer much for His love; the other, that 
 she might be allowed to take in His presence four 
 vows, viz: poverty, chastity, obedience, and per¬ 
 petual enclosure in the Temple. The Most High 
 granted her request; yet, with regard to the vows, 
 accepted only that of chastity, and He regulated 
 the manner in which she was to conduct herself 
 towards others, and act as if she had taken solemn 
 vows. 
 
 After this clear vision of God, she remained in 
 heaven by an ecstasy of the imagination, during 
 which she was most magnificently adorned by the 
 
73 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 angels. They enlightened all her senses with a 
 light and clearness which filled her with grace and 
 beauty; they clothed her in a gorgeous robe, with a 
 cincture of precious stones of various colors, most 
 transparent and resplendent; this cincture was the 
 emblem of the purity and heroic virtues of her 
 holy soul. Around her neck they placed a neck¬ 
 lace of inestimable value, from which three large 
 precious stones, symbolizing the theological virtues 
 of faith, hope, and charity, hung upon her breast, 
 as if to show that these virtues dwelt therein. On 
 her fingers they placed seven rings of extraordi¬ 
 nary beauty, the emblems of the seven gifts of the 
 Holy Ghost. The Most Holy Trinity crowned her 
 as Queen of the world with an imperial diadem of 
 incomparable splendor, and she was vested in a 
 magnificent robe adorned with ciphers of the finest 
 gold, which signified, Mary, Daughter of the Eternal 
 Father, Spouse of the Holy Ghost, and Mother of 
 the true Light, but these titles were understood 
 only by the blessed spirits. 
 
 Thus adorned, Mary was so pleasing to Al¬ 
 mighty God, that He bade her ask for whatever 
 she desired, assuring her that it should be granted. 
 She begged that He would deign to send His only 
 Son into the world for the redemption of men; 
 that he would augment His holy love in the hearts 
 of her parents, and load them with the gifts of 
 His bountiful hand; that He would console the 
 poor and afflicted, and assist them in their labors 
 and pains. For herself she only asked that the 
 divine will might be accomplished in her. After 
 7 
 
74 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 this wonderful vision, the angels recond icted her 
 to the Temple, where, more humble than ever, she 
 began to practice all that she had promised to God. * 
 
 Going to her mistress, she surrendered into her 
 hands all that her mother had given her, either for 
 her necessities or pleasures, retaining only one 
 poor garment and a manuscript of prayers, and 
 she begged her to distribute those things among 
 the poor. 
 
 Her acts and practices of sublime virtue were so 
 perfect that her merits exceeded those of all the 
 seraphim. But let us enter into detail. Having 
 thus disposed of all her possessions, she begged 
 her mistress and the high-priest to prescribe for 
 her all that she was to perform. Kneeling most 
 humbly, with crossed hands and bowed head, she 
 received Simeon’s orders. “ My daughter,” said 
 he, “ thou shalt assist with the greatest respect and 
 devotion at the praises of the Lord, and pray to 
 the Most High for the necessities of His Holy 
 Temple and people, and also for the coming of the 
 Messiah. At the third hour, thou shalt retire to 
 rest, and at dawn of day shalt arise and pray to 
 the Lord until the hour of tierce, after which thou 
 shalt employ thyself in manual labor. Observe 
 temperance at thy meals which thou shalt take 
 after work; after which, go to receive the instruc¬ 
 tions of thy mistress. The remainder of the day 
 thou shalt spend in reading the Holy Scripture. 
 Be in all things humble, affable and obedient.” 
 The holy child listened to these words with the 
 utmost attention; she begged the priest’s blessing, 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 75 
 
 kissed his hand, and resolved to observe faithfully 
 the. rules he had prescribed for her. From her 
 mistress she obtained permission to serve the other 
 young virgins, and perform for them the most 
 menial offices, in which she usually contrived to 
 anticipate others. 
 
 Every’morning and evening she went to beg the 
 blessing of her mistress; sometimes she kissed 
 her hand, and sometimes her feet, if permitted 
 to do so. Much of her time was employed in 
 reading the Holy Scripture, particularly Isaiah, 
 Jeremiah and the Psalms, because they spoke in a 
 forcible and expressive manner of the mysteries of 
 the future Messiah and of the law of grace. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 HAPPY DEATH OF HER HOLY PARENTS—PERSECU¬ 
 TIONS TO WHICH SHE WAS SUBJECTED. 
 
 .Qy»lX months after Mary’s entrance into the 
 Temple, her father, St. Joachim, fell ill. 
 God revealed it to the holy child, and in 
 answer to her prayer, sent twelve angels to 
 assist and console him. Having learned the dav 
 and the hour in which his death was to occur, 
 she sent to his aid all the angels of her guard, 
 who were immediately recognized by the Saint 
 as those who attended on his beloved daughter. 
 
 The blessed spirits conversed with him on divine 
 mysteries, and, by the order of God, revealed to 
 him that Mary had been chosen by the Most 
 High to become the Mother of the Messiah, and 
 this happy tidings he was commissioned to bear to 
 the holy patriarchs in limbo. By the divine per¬ 
 mission, St. Ann was not only present at, but 
 also heard those sublime communications. When 
 they were ended, St. Joachim fell into his agony, 
 his heart divided between the joy he felt at the 
 glorious tidings, and the sufferings of death. He 
 expired peacefully, at the age of sixty-nine years 
 and a half. 
 
 He had espoused St Ann in his forty-sixth 
 76 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 77 
 
 year; twenty years after this marriage the most 
 pure Mary was born; thus she was three years 
 and a half old at the time of her father’s death. 
 
 Although the angels on their return communi¬ 
 cated to their heavenly mistress all that had 
 occurred, yet she, in her great prudence, did not 
 reveal her knowledge, even after the news had been 
 made known to her by her mother in a letter to 
 the prophetess Anna. This was the first afflic¬ 
 tion which befell Mary in her childhood. 
 
 A short time before this event, the Most High 
 had spoken to her in a vision, saying: “Thou art 
 my beloved. I love thee with an infinite love, and 
 therefore will not deprive thee of the rich treasures 
 which I reserve for those whom I love. These 
 treasures are the cross and affliction.” With a 
 courage far surpassing that of the saints and 
 martyrs, she answered, that were she allowed to 
 make any choice, it would be to suffer even unto 
 death for His love. God was pleased with her 
 desire and after the exterior affliction of her 
 father’s death, began to exercise her by interior 
 trials. He deprived her of the sensible commu¬ 
 nications with the angels, and of the continual 
 vision of the Lord. Her trials were more acute 
 than those of all the saints, because she loved God 
 with a love incomparably greater than that of the 
 Seraphim. 
 
 Fearing that she had been deprived of the 
 sensible demonstrations of His love in punishment 
 for some neglect or ingratitude, she was over¬ 
 whelmed with grief, and would have died a thous- 
 7 * 
 
78 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 and times, had she not been upheld by God’s 
 miraculous power. 
 
 To these trials were now added the assaults of 
 hell, for Lucifer, seeing the great sanctity of the 
 child, began to fear that it was she who was 
 destined to crush his head. He communicated 
 this suspicion to his demons, and bade them attack 
 her with the most violent temptations; he set all 
 his engines at work, and redoubled his infernal 
 suggestions, but Mary repulsed him with the 
 invincible buckler of prayer and the powerful 
 arms of the Holy Scripture. Finding all his 
 artifices and interior assaults to be useless against 
 a heart so full of love, Lucifer tried another means. 
 He excited against her the envy of her companions 
 by suggesting to them that they would be looked 
 upon as inferior to Mary; that she alone would be 
 loved and esteemed by the priests and her mistress. 
 Influenced by these evil suggestions, they began 
 to hate and despise their holy companion and to 
 treat her as a hypocrite. They held council with 
 one another, and resolved to rob her of the good 
 opinion of her superiors, and cause her to be 
 expelled from the Temple. They loaded her with 
 insults and injuries, to which Mary only returned 
 the meek answer that she would endeavor to do 
 better. Far from softening those hardened hearts, 
 her meekness provoked them to still greater fury, 
 and they sought every opportunity of ill-treating 
 her. 
 
 On one occasion they led her into a distant 
 room, where they treated her most injuriously, 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 79 
 
 going even so far as to inflict blows upon her. 
 They raised their voices to so high a pitch, that 
 they were overheard by the priests in the Temple, 
 who hastened to learn the cause of the tumult. 
 The young girls answered indignantly that it was 
 impossible to dwell with Mary in peace, that her 
 temper was violent, and her manners haughty and 
 hypocritical. Leading her into another apartment, 
 the priests and her mistress reproved her severely, 
 and threatened to expel her from the Temple. The 
 humble maiden thanked them for the correction, 
 and asked their pardon, promising to do better. 
 Then she went to rejoin her companions, and, 
 prostrate at their feet, begged their forgiveness. 
 They received her among them, because they 
 thought that this act had been imposed upon her 
 by the priest as a punishment. 
 
 The infernal dragon continued to increase the 
 fury of these girls, who incessantly calumniated her, 
 inventing new lies with great effrontery; neverthe¬ 
 less, the Almighty did not permit that they should 
 lay to her charge anything considerable or indecent, 
 but only foolish trifles. All this gave Mary occa¬ 
 sion for exercising virtues, principally humility, by 
 never excusing herself or endeavoring to refute 
 their false imputations. 
 
 At length God was pleased to put an end to the 
 trials of His immaculate spouse. He appeared to 
 Simeon and Anna in a dream, and made known to 
 them that Mary was very agreeable in His si ght, 
 and that she was innocent of all that had been 
 alleged against her. After hearing these commen- 
 
8o 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 dations from the Lord, they called the holy child 
 and begged pardon for having believed the inven¬ 
 tions of her companions, but she replied to them 
 with still greater humility. 
 
 The priests being thus disabused, the persecu¬ 
 tion ceased, and our Lord changed the hearts of 
 those who had caused her so much suffering. 
 
 Nevertheless, her interior trials continued for 
 ten years, during which she suffered inexpressibly. 
 The Almighty, it is true, discovered Himself to 
 her at times, that she might receive some consola¬ 
 tion, but this happened very rarely. This priva¬ 
 tion, although painful, was very necessary, as by it 
 Mary was to be prepared by the exercise of every 
 virtue, for the sublime dignity of Mother of God, 
 to which the Most High had destined her from all 
 eternity.* 
 
 In the twelfth year of her age, the angels re¬ 
 vealed to her that the life of her saintly mother, 
 Ann, was drawing to a close. God commanded 
 the blessed spirits to carry the holy child to the 
 bed of her dying mother; He also bade an angel 
 assume a body like hers, and fill her place in the 
 Temple. These royal commands were punctually 
 executed, and Mary comforted and consoled her 
 
 X 
 
 * Persons who lead a spiritual life should not be surprised 
 when God permits trials in order to purify them, and prepare 
 them for signal favors and graces, seeing that even the august 
 Mary was not exempt from them. It reminds us of the words 
 addressed to St. Bridget by the Queen of heaven:—“I obtained 
 no virtue without pain and effort.” Let us then not seek to be 
 more privileged than Marj ; let us know how to suffer for the 
 love of God. 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 81 
 
 dear mother. She begged her blessing, strength¬ 
 ened her by holy conversation, and gave her a last 
 embrace. 
 
 The prudent mother did not reveal to Mary 
 that she was chosen to be the mother of the 
 expected Messiah. 
 
 She exhorted her not to quit the temple until 
 she should have embraced a state of life, which 
 she was to do only by the consent of the priests; 
 she also begged that if it should be the will of 
 God for her to marry, that she would choose a 
 spouse of the family of David and tribe of Juda. 
 She advised her to share her property with the 
 poor, and to pray unceasingly for the coming of 
 the Messiah. 
 
 St. Ann had a noble and magnanimous heart, 
 and an elevated intellect. She was of medium 
 height, somewhat less in stature than her beloved 
 daughter; her complexion was fresh and ruddy, 
 and her manner always even. At the time of her 
 death she was fifty-six years old; she had mar¬ 
 ried at the age of twenty-four, and having passed 
 twenty years without children, was forty-four at 
 the time of Mary’s birth. Of the remaining 
 twelve years, she passed three in Mary’s company, 
 and nine whilst she dwelt in the Temple. She 
 was forty-eight y~ars old when St. Joachim died. 
 Some authors have written that she married three 
 times, and each time became the mother of one 
 of the three Marys.* But the Lord has only 
 
 * The opinion which holds that St. Ann was married three 
 times seems to be destitute of proof, or serious authority. 
 See Trombelli di S. Anna et di S. Joaehino. 
 
 \ 
 

 82 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 revealed to me her marriage with St. Joachim, 
 and He has not made known to me that she 
 had any other children but the Most Holy Virgin, 
 the Mother of God. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 r 
 
 f- 
 
 HER MARRIAGE WITH THE CHASTE ST. JOSEPH. 
 
 > r> 
 
 ™^HEN the august child had been brought 
 back to the Temple by the angels, she 
 
 '"S-'Y 
 
 entreated them sweetly and earnestly to 
 make known to her the faults by which 
 she had lost the presence of her divine Spcuse. 
 
 The Lord heard these earnest entreaties, and 
 deigned at length to manifest Himself to His 
 spouse in an abstractive vision of the Divinity. 
 He dispelled the darkness of her soul, and filled 
 her with heavenly consolation and most pure joy. 
 At the age of thirteen years and a half there 
 happened to Mary an incident like that which 
 the Scripture records of Abraham, when he was 
 commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac. She had 
 made a vow of perpetual virginity in the presence 
 of God and His holy angels, and had nothing 
 more at heart than to preserve ever untarnished 
 the lily of her purity. But the Most High com¬ 
 manded her to embrace the married state, without, 
 however, discovering to her that she was chosen 
 to be the Mother of God. Hearing this unex¬ 
 pected order, she became greatly afflicted ; never¬ 
 theless she suspended her judgment, and with 
 
 83 
 
Divine Life of the 
 
 *4 
 
 a faith even stronger than Abraham’s, hoped 
 against hope, and resigned herself to the divine 
 will. In a dream, God bade Simeon seek a hus¬ 
 band for the daughter of Joachim. He ordered 
 him to assemble the priests and doctors, and tell 
 them that the child was an orphan, who had no 
 desire to enter the married state, but as it was 
 the custom that no young girl should leave the 
 Temple until provided for, it was necessary for 
 them to choose a husband for her. In obedience 
 to the divine command, Simeon spoke of the 
 matter to the priests who resolved to beg the 
 Lord to make known him whom He had chosen 
 to be the spouse of the child. 
 
 They agreed that all the young men of the 
 family of David who lived in Jerusalem should 
 meet together in the Temple on the day which 
 would complete Mary’s fourteenth year. Simeon 
 acquainted the holy child with the decision of the 
 priests, and advised her to recommend the affair to 
 God. So great was the grief which this announce¬ 
 ment caused her, that she would have expired had 
 she not been supported by the divine power. 
 
 This occurred nine days before that appointed 
 for the assembly, and during this time Mary 
 prayed most earnestly that the will of God might 
 be accomplished in her regard. 
 
 In answer to her prayer the Almighty appeared 
 to her and said: 
 
 “ My spouse and my dove, console thy afflicted 
 heart; I am attentive to thy desires and prayers. 
 
 I will guide the priests by my light, and will give 
 8 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 85 
 
 thee a spouse who will oppose no obstacle to thy 
 desires. I will aid thee by my grace, and will 
 choose a man perfect and according to my heart 
 My power is infinite, and it shall be exercised for 
 thy protection.” 
 
 These words gave consolation to the heart of 
 the holy Virgin, and she again most fervently sup¬ 
 plicated the Most High to preserve her purity 
 inviolate. She also had recourse to the angels, 
 who strengthened her by speaking of the power of 
 God, and His infinite love for her. 
 
 The appointed day having arrived, all the young 
 men of the family of David assembled together, 
 and Joseph, whose birth-place was Nazareth, yet 
 who, at that time, dwelt in Jerusalem, was among 
 the number. He was thirty-three years old, of 
 comely figure and pleasing countenance, very 
 modest and incomparably graceful in appearance. 
 At the age of twelve years he had made a vow of 
 chastity. He was related to the Blessed Virgin in 
 the third degree. In order to obtain the divine 
 assistance in what they were about to do, the 
 priests began to pray. The Lord inspired Simeon 
 to place a dry rod in the hand of each of the 
 young men, telling them at the same time to pray 
 for the manifestation of the divine will. While all 
 were engaged in prayer, they beheld the rod of 
 Joseph blossom, and at the same moment a white 
 dove, most pure and brilliant, hovered above his 
 head. St. Joseph heard an interior voice which 
 said, “Joseph, my servant, Mary is to be thy 
 spouse. Receive her with all care and respect, tor 
 
 
86 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 she is agreeable in my sight; she is just and pure 
 in mind and body. Thou must perform all that 
 she shall ask.” 
 
 Beholding this manifestation of the will of God, 
 the priests gave the most holy Virgin to be the 
 spouse of St. Joseph. 
 
 Mary kissed the hands of Simeon and Anna, 
 and departed from the Temple accompanied by her 
 spouse and some servants from that holy place. 
 They travelled together to Nazareth, where, having 
 visited their friends and relations, as was customary 
 on such occasions, they took up their abode in 
 their own house. Then the most pure Mary 
 prayed the angels to assist her, now that, for the 
 first time, she was to be alone with a person of the 
 other sex. The thousand blessed spirits of her 
 guard appeared under visible forms; by their 
 inspirations they gave great power to her words f 
 and inflamed St. Joseph’s heart with the fire of 
 ardent charity. Mary then made known to him 
 that she had taken a vow of chastity, and begged 
 him to aid her in keeping it faithfully, upon which 
 St. Joseph discovered to her that he also had 
 made the like vow at the age of twelve years. 
 
 Filled with joy at the conformity of sentiment 
 and will with which God had inspired them, they 
 renewed their vows, and promised to mutually aid 
 each other in the path of perfection. The inherit¬ 
 ance which Mary had received from St. Joachim 
 and St. Ann they divided into three parts; the first 
 they gave to the Temple, the second to the poor, 
 and the third they reserved for their support. 
 
«7 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 As in his youth St. Joseph had learned the trade 
 of a carpenter, he asked his spouse if it was agree¬ 
 able to her that he should work at it. The Blessed 
 Virgin consented, saying it was the will of God 
 that they should be poor, and should also aid the 
 poor, and begged his permission to give alms, 
 which he readily granted. 
 
 In order to inspire St. Joseph with the venera¬ 
 tion and respect due to Mary, God willed that the 
 presence and sight of her should fill him with a 
 reverential fear, impossible to describe. This was 
 caused by the refulgence and splendor of a divine 
 light, united to the ineffable majesty of her appear¬ 
 ance. 
 
 This holy marriage was celebrated on the 8th 
 of September, the holy Mary being fourteen years 
 complete, and St. Joseph thirty-three. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 HOW THE MOST HIGH PREPARED THE BLESSED VIR¬ 
 GIN AND FILLED HER WITH GRACE, SO AS TO REN¬ 
 DER HER WORTHY OF BEING THE MOTHER OF GOD. 
 
 
 URING the six months which elapsed between 
 the marriage of the Blessed Virgin and the 
 Incarnation of the Eternal Word she occupied 
 herself in acts of profound humility and heroic 
 virtue. In order to accomplish this mystery in a 
 becoming manner, God prepared His spouse by a 
 most extraordinary way, during the last few days 
 which preceded the descent of the Word into her 
 womb. 
 
 On the first day of this preparation, when Mary, 
 according to custom, rose at midnight to praise 
 the Lord, the angel spoke thus to her: “Spouse 
 of our Divine Master, arise; His Divine Majesty 
 calls thee.” She answered: “ The Lord bids the 
 dust arise from the dust.” And to the Lord she 
 said: “ My Divine Master, what wilt thou have me 
 to do ?” At these words her soul was raised to 
 more intimate union with the Lord, and the 
 Divinity was manifested to her in an abstractive 
 vision. She beheld and understood with great 
 clearness the works operated on the first day of 
 88 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 89 
 
 the Creation, and the Lord discovered to her that 
 she should pray most urgently for the accomplish¬ 
 ment of the mystery of the Incarnation. In this 
 vision she saw in particular how she had been 
 formed from vile, contemptible, earthly matter, 
 and acquired so clear a knowledge of her own ter¬ 
 restrial being, that she humbled herself profoundly, 
 and abased herself lower than all other children 
 of Adam, although they are so full of miseries. 
 By this knowledge was established in her heart a 
 foundation of humility, proportionate to the edi¬ 
 fice which God wished to raise in her, for the 
 dignity of Mother of God being, in a manner, infi¬ 
 nite, it was necessary that her humility should be 
 unlimited. 
 
 On the second day she learned all that had 
 occurred on the second day of the Creation. God 
 gave her full power over the ethereal regions and 
 all the elements, and this for two principal reasons; 
 the first, because the holy Virgin being exempt 
 from original sin, should therefore be exempt from 
 all its consequent miseries entailed upon the chil¬ 
 dren of Adam, against whom, on account of sin, 
 God had given creatures the power to avenge the 
 outrage offered to their Creator; the second, 
 because it was but just that all creatures should 
 obey her to whom the Creator was to be subject. 
 Nevertheless she never employed her power over 
 the wind, the sea, cold, heat, or the seasons, except 
 when the glory of God seemed to demand it. 
 
 On the third day she received infused science 
 with regard to all that had been created on the 
 8 * 
 
90 
 
 Divme Life of the 
 
 third day. She understood very clearly the dif¬ 
 ferent properties of water, herbs, fruits, plants, 
 stones, metals, and minerals, with a knowledge 
 surpassing that of Adam, Solomon, and all men. 
 She received a power so great that no creature 
 could harm her without her permission, yet this 
 science or power she never employed to save her¬ 
 self from suffering; she sometimes exerted it in 
 favor of the poor. God also gave her knowledge 
 of the infinite love of God for man, and this in¬ 
 spired her with so vehement a desire to save us, 
 and repair our evils, that we might become pleas¬ 
 ing to God, that she would have died had not God 
 sustained her by His almighty power. This great 
 charity and ardent desire for the salvation of sin¬ 
 ners fitted her still more to become the mother of 
 the Saviour. 
 
 On the fourth day she was raised to more sub¬ 
 lime knowledge of the divine greatness ; she saw 
 all that had been created on that day, and learned 
 the arrangement, the number and properties of the 
 planets, the stars, and all heavenly bodies, over 
 which she received absolute power. This she some¬ 
 times exerted in favor of her Son.whilst in Egypt, 
 where the heat was very great, by commanding 
 the sun to temper his rays, but never for herself, 
 because she did not wish to avoid suffering. The 
 Lord, by a particular light, revealed to her the 
 new law of grace which was to be instituted by 
 our Saviour, the sacraments it was to contain, and 
 the abundant gifts and grrces prepared for those 
 who would profit by the grace of Redemption. 
 
91 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 But knowing the corruption of the world, which, 
 by innumerable sins, would oppose obstacles to the 
 accomplishment of the loving will of God for the 
 eternal salvation of all, she suffered a kind of mar¬ 
 tyrdom, caused by her grief for the eternal loss of 
 men. She offered up most fervent prayers to God 
 that no one might be damned in future, and that 
 all might attain eternal glory. Her heart over¬ 
 flowed with bitter sorrow for the folly and insensi¬ 
 bility of sinners in resisting the merciful designs of 
 God for their eternal salvation, and this sorrow lasted 
 throughout the whole course of her mortal life. 
 
 On the fifth day the Lord revealed to her -how 
 men retarded, by their sins, the accomplishment 
 of the mystery of the Incarnation, and also the 
 small number of those who would profit by so 
 great a grace and correspond to it. In this vision 
 she beheld every creature, present, past, and future, 
 their actions whether good or evil, and all that 
 they would possess. God also imparted to her 
 the knowledge of all that had been created on the 
 fifth day, and gave her power over all. He then 
 asked her name, to which she answered, “I am a 
 daughter of Adam, formed by thy hands out of 
 vile matter.” The Most High replied: “Hence¬ 
 forth thou shalt be called the Elected One, chosen 
 to be the Mother of my only Son.” These last 
 words were heard only by the blessed spirits, Mary 
 understood but the word elect. With a heart burn¬ 
 ing with love, she again prayed for the accomplish¬ 
 ment of the- Incarnation, which the Most Holy 
 Trinity promised should speed’ly be granted; then 
 
92 Divine Life of the 
 
 filled with joy, she asked and received the divine 
 benediction. 
 
 On the sixth day, after Mary had persevered for 
 nine hours in prayer, the works of the same day 
 of the creation were displayed before her. She 
 was given the knowledge of all species of animals, 
 with their different qualities and functions, and also 
 received absolute power over them; at the same 
 time they were commanded to render obedience 
 to her, which they afterwards did on several 
 occasions, as when the ox and the ass prostrated 
 themselves before the Lord on the day of His 
 birth. Besides this she understood the manner in 
 which the first man had been created, the perfect 
 harmony of the human body, its faculties and con¬ 
 stitution, the nature and perfection of the soul, and 
 its union with the body. She knew also of the 
 state of original justice, and in what manner Adam 
 had lost it by his fall; also how he had been 
 tempted and vanquished; what were the effects of 
 his fault; and how great was the rage of the 
 demons against mankind. Through this know¬ 
 ledge she mourned and wept for the first sin, and 
 those which were the consequences of it, as if she 
 herself had been the guilty one. 
 
 We may then call Adam’s fault, in some sort, a 
 happy one, in having caused such precious tears. 
 
 Acknowledging herself a child of parents so 
 ungrateful to God, she abased herself in her own 
 nothingness, not because she had any share in the 
 sin of Adam, but that she was of the same nature, 
 and also bis daughter. 
 

 
 Most Holy Virgin. 93 
 
 On the seventh day she was transported by her 
 angels into the empyreal heavens, where God 
 celebrated with her the new espousals. For this 
 end He commanded two seraphs to assist her, in 
 visible forms, and adorn her person exteriorly, in 
 a manner suited to the interior beauty of her soul. 
 They vested her in a robe, like a long tunic, which 
 was so resplendent that had a ray from it fallen 
 upon the earth, it would have given more light 
 than the sun, and even more than if each star had 
 been a separate sun. They girded this robe with a 
 rich cincture, the symbol of her fear of God, as the 
 robe was an emhlem of her incomparable purity. 
 They adorned her with beautiful golden hair, bound 
 with a precious band, to give her to understand 
 that all her thoughts were to be animated with the 
 most ardent charity, of which gold is the type. 
 On her feet they put magnificent slippers, to 
 signify that all her steps and motions were to be 
 directed to the highest ends for the glory of God. 
 Rich bracelets were bound around her arms, to 
 signify the magnanimity of soul with which she 
 was endowed, and her fingers were covered with 
 precious rings, the emblems of the gifts of the 
 Holy Ghost. . She also received a necklace of 
 marvellous brilliancy, from which hung three 
 precious stones, representing the three divine 
 Persons, or the three theological virtues. Hei 
 ears were adorned with magnificent ear-rings, to 
 signify that her ears were to be prepared for the 
 message of the Archangel, which she was to 
 receive so soon. Monograms were placed around 
 
94 
 
 Divine Life df the 
 
 the edge of her robe, some of which signified 
 Mary, Mother of God, and others, Mary, Virgin, 
 and Mother. 
 
 On the eighth day she was again transported 
 both in body and soul into Paradise, where her 
 incomparable beauty ravished the heavenly hosts, 
 and in her, even the Most High took complacency. 
 In order to give her the highest honor, He pro¬ 
 claimed to the Angels that she was their Queen; 
 by them she was acknowledged and joyfully ac¬ 
 cepted; they sang hymns of thanksgiving to the 
 Lord with inexpressible harmony, for that day was 
 the greatest in joy and happiness that they had 
 enjoyed since their creation. The Most High then 
 addressed the Holy Virgin, saying: 
 
 “ My spouse and my chosen one, since thou 
 hast found favor in my sight, ask without fear 
 for whatever thou desirest, for God is an omnipo¬ 
 tent King, ever faithful to His promises. I assure 
 thee I will refuse thee nothing, even shouldst thou 
 ask for a part of my kingdom.” The august 
 Virgin, humbled in the depth of her own nothing¬ 
 ness, replied: “ O my King and Master! I do not 
 ask a part of thy kingdom for myself, but I humbly 
 beg that mankind may have a share in it. I 
 supplicate thee, O powerful King, by thy infinite 
 mercy to send thy only Son to be our Redeemer.” 
 
 The Lord answered: “ Thy supplications are 
 pleasing to me, and thy prayers most agreeable. 
 It shall be done according to thy will, and my Son 
 shall soon descend upon the earth.” 
 
 On the ninth and last day she was again ravished 
 
95 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 both in, body and soul into the highest heaven. In 
 an abstractive vision of God, she beheld anew all 
 the wonders of the Creation, and understood their 
 mutual harmony, connection, order and dependence, 
 and also the end for which each creature was 
 destined. 
 
 Then to signify that she was queen over all the 
 works of Divine Omnipotence, a diadem of gold 
 bearing a character or mark which signified Mother 
 of God, yet which Mary could not understand, 
 was placed on her head, and as a final preparation 
 for this eminent and incomparable dignity, she 
 received incomprehensible gifts. 
 
 What we should most admire in all this, is that 
 although these amazing privileges were conferred 
 on the Blessed Virgin, yet so profound was her 
 humility, that she never once conceived the thought 
 that she was chosen to be the Mother of the 
 Messiah. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIEGIN.—THE 
 INCARNATION OF THE WORD. 
 
 f HE fulness of time in which the only Son of 
 God was to become incarnate having arrived, 
 God made known His will to the Archangel 
 J Gabriel, not in the ordinary way, by enlighten¬ 
 ing the inferior by the superior, but He revealed 
 immediately to himself, the order, and even the 
 words of his embassy. Gabriel having received 
 this commission, assumed a corporeal form, and 
 descended from heaven, accompanied by thousands 
 of blessed spirits. His face was of radiant beauty, 
 and his garments of resplendent brightness; on his 
 breast was a beautiful cross, emblematic of the 
 mystery of the Incarnation. 
 
 At this time Mary was fourteen years six 
 months and seventeen days old. In height she 
 exceeded other girls of her age ; she was perfect in 
 form and extremely beautiful; her complexion, 
 manner, and deportment, were so admirable that 
 no creature shall ever be like to her; her dress 
 was poor and modest, yet very clean; ft was of 
 ash color, and arranged most faultlessly. 
 
 When the archangel appeared, she was rapt in 
 sublime contemplation of the mysteries which she 
 96 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 97 
 
 had learned during the preceding days, and she 
 felt an ardent wish to be the servant of that 
 blessed woman, destined to be the Mother of the 
 Messiah. The heavenly ambassador, accompanied 
 by a multitude of blessed spirits, entered the cham¬ 
 ber of the humble Virgin, and, not allowing her to 
 salute him as had been her wont, bowed before her 
 with most profound respect, and saluted her with 
 the words, Ave Maria! gratia plena !—Hail Mary! 
 full of grace. At this Mary w r as troubled, because, 
 through her profound humility, she believed her¬ 
 self the least of all creatures, and again she could 
 not understand, how she was to become a mother, 
 yet, at the same time, preserve her vow of chastity. 
 The archangel having explained the difficulties, 
 and dissipated her doubts, the Blessed Virgin 
 humbly bowed her head, and gave her consent to 
 the ineffable mystery of the Incarnation of the 
 Word. Absorbed in the thought that God wished 
 her to become His mother, she offered ardent acts 
 of love and conformity to the Divine Will. Her 
 chaste heart, generally compressed by the ardor of 
 its motions and of her affection, distilled three 
 drops of blood, which fell into her virginal womb. 
 Of these the Holy Ghost formed the little body of 
 our Saviour, so that, by the force of divine love, 
 the most pure heart of Mary alone furnished that 
 from which was formed the divine body of the Son 
 of God. The Incarnation was really effected at 
 the moment in which Mary, bowing her head, pro¬ 
 nounced the words : Ecce ancilla Domini; fiat mihi 
 secundum verbum tuum —Behold the handmaid of 
 9 
 
98 Divine Life of the 
 
 the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy 
 word. At the same instant the most holy soul of 
 our Saviour was created and infused into His 
 body, and His divinity was united to His humanity 
 by the hypostatic union. This was operated on 
 Friday, the 25th of March, at dawn of day, the 
 same hour in which Adam had been created. At 
 the moment of the Incarnation of the Eternal- 
 Word, the heavens, earth, and all creatures ren¬ 
 dered homage to their Creator. They gave evi¬ 
 dent signs of the interior renovation and change 
 produced by the living presence of the Redeemer 
 of the universe. 
 
 Men remained ignorant of this marvellous 
 change, for God was pleased to reveal it to the 
 angels alone; nevertheless, He diffused in the 
 hearts of many of the just an extraordinary joy, 
 for which they could assign no cause, although 
 many suspected that it might be an effect of the 
 coming of the promised Messiah. The archangel 
 Michael was deputed to bear the glad tidings to 
 the holy patriarchs in limbo, who were filled with 
 unutterable joy. Hell also experienced the effects 
 of the coming of the Redeemer; the demons were 
 oppressed with sadness and intolerable anxiety, 
 for by the impetuous force of the divine power 
 they were precipitated like the waves of the raging 
 sea into the lowest caverns of the abyss, yet 
 they remained ignorant of the cause. From the 
 moment in which, by the operation of the Holy 
 Ghost, the Word became incarnate in the womb 
 of the Blessed Virgin, she was raised to an .intuitive . 
 
99 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 vision of God* in which she learned the deepest 
 mysteries, and understood the signification of 
 those ciphers and numbers which, until then, had 
 been hidden from her. The divine Child grew by 
 the aid of His mother’s substance in the same way 
 as other children, yet in a wonderful manner. 
 
 To make this the more clearly understood, it is 
 necessary to explain that acts of fervor and love 
 cause the blood and the humors of the body to 
 circulate more freely. Therefore Mary’s heroic 
 acts of virtue and love of God, causing the blood 
 and humors to flow more freely through her vir¬ 
 ginal body, furnished the substance necessary to 
 the divine Infant. Thus the humanity of the Word 
 was nourished according to the order of nature, 
 while the Divinity at the same time took compla¬ 
 cency in the heroic acts exercised by Mary, who 
 gave the natural aliment by the force of divine love. 
 At the thought that her food was to nourish the 
 Infant God, she took it with such great love and 
 such sublime acts of virtue, that the angels were 
 ravished with admiration to see actions so common 
 in themselves, rendered so agreeable to God, and 
 so meritorious for herself. As soon as the body 
 of the divine Infant was formed and His most holy 
 and august soul united to it, He began to practise 
 virtues in a most heroic degree. 
 
 I. By His knowledge of the Divinity as it is in 
 itself, and as it is when united to the holy humanity. 
 
 II. By acknowledging Himself to be, in His 
 human nature, inferior to God, and on this account 
 humbling Himself profoundly. 
 
IOO 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 III. By loving God with a beatific ‘love 
 
 IV. By offering Himself in sacrifice for aur sal¬ 
 vation, and by accepting His suffering humanity for 
 the redemption of the world. 
 
 V. In taking possession of the virginal womb of 
 Mary, and therein finding His complacency. 
 
 VI. By thanking the Eternal Father for having 
 endowed Him in His creation with such great gifts 
 and graces, and having preserved Him from original 
 sin. 
 
 VII. By praying for His holy Mother and St. 
 Joseph, and asking for their eternal salvation. 
 
 These acts were of such great merit that they 
 would have sufficed to redeem an infinity of worlds, 
 and the act of obedience alone, performed in sub¬ 
 mitting to suffering, and of preventing the glory 
 of His soul from reflecting on His body, far ex¬ 
 ceeded the price of our redemption. The blessed 
 Mother practised these same acts in union with 
 her Sen. She abased herself profoundly before the 
 Divine Majesty, and adored our Lord in His infi¬ 
 nite being, and in His union with the humanity. 
 She glorified God in the name of all men, and, in 
 particular, for having chosen her to be the Mother 
 of His Son; she most humbly offered herself to 
 nurse Him, to serve and accompany Him, and to 
 cooperate as far as in her power, in the work of 
 the redemption : at the same time she prayed fer¬ 
 vently for grace to perform zealously her duties in 
 this great work. 
 
 To these interior acts, which she began to prac¬ 
 tise after the conception of the Word, she joined 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 IOI 
 
 exterior acts of prostration and adoration, which 
 she continued to the end of her life. From mid¬ 
 night to midnight she made three hundred genu¬ 
 flections, and even this number she often exceeded 
 when not travelling or busily occupied ; these and 
 all other actions were performed in honor of the 
 Divine Child. 
 
 On the day of the Incarnation, her attendant 
 angels rendered themselves visible to her. Filled 
 with joy, they adored their God incarnate in her 
 womb; they offered to serve her as their Queen, 
 to aid her in her employments, to do all things 
 according to her desires; and in the absence of her 
 holy spouse, St. Joseph, they waited upon her at 
 table. Whilst she bore the Infant God within her 
 womb, she ordinarily enjoyed His presence in 
 divers ways, but her greatest consolation was to 
 behold, as through pure crystal, the holy hu nanity 
 receiving light from the Divinity. 
 
 Frequently the little birds would gather around 
 her to adore their Creator and praise Him with 
 their joyous and melodious harmonies, God order¬ 
 ing this for the consolation of His dear Mother. 
 Sometimes they would bring most beautiful 
 flowers, which they dropped into her hands, while 
 they seemed to await her permission to chant their 
 joyous melodies. Sometimes, in order to be 
 secure from the rigor of the seasons, they would 
 take refuge near her, and our sweet Lady not only 
 received them, but frequently fed them with her 
 most pure hands 
 * 9* 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HER VISIT TO ST. ELIZABETH.—BIRTH OP ST. JOHN 
 
 THE BAPTIST. 
 
 [N one of the visions which followed the Incar¬ 
 nation, it was revealed to Mary that the Lord 
 willed her to visit St. Elizabeth, in order that, 
 * by the presence of her divine Son, His pre¬ 
 cursor might be sanctified. She spoke to St. 
 Joseph regarding this journey; and he, with great 
 respect, offered to accompany her. The day 
 appointed for their departure was the fourth after 
 the Incarnation of the Word. They prepared all 
 that was necessary; that is to say, they borrowed an 
 ass from one of their neighbors, - and took with 
 them some fruit, bread, and a few fishes, and set 
 out from Nazareth for the dwelling of Zachary, dis¬ 
 tant four days’ journey, along a rough and toil¬ 
 some road. In obedience to her spouse, the holy 
 Virgin sometimes rode, but more frequently walked, 
 endeavoring at the same time to persuade St. Jo¬ 
 seph to mount in his turn, which he most strenu¬ 
 ously refused. 
 
 The holy patriarch passed many hours in silence, 
 conversing with God alone in prayer, while the 
 Blessed Virgin sang canticles of praise with the 
 102 
 
Divine Life of the /Ifost Holy Virgin. 103 
 
 holy angels, who were visible to her alone. Some¬ 
 times also they conversed together, and St. Joseph 
 felt himself inflamed with extraordinary devotion. 
 Being ignorant of the cause of this emotion, he 
 wished to learn it from the holy Virgin, but his 
 modesty and reverence prevented him; neither 
 would the prudent Virgin resolve his doubt, al¬ 
 though she had an entire knowledge of all that 
 was passing in his interior. 
 
 During the four days of their journey, the Queen 
 of the universe wrought many miracles; on one 
 occasion she cured a poor, sick girl. 
 
 At length the holy pilgrims arrived at Juda, the 
 city in which St. Elizabeth dwelt; it was after¬ 
 wards destroyed, and no house remained but that 
 of St. Elizabeth, which, in course of time, was used 
 as a church. 
 
 Zachary did not always reside in Juda, but also 
 in Hebron, where he had another house, in which 
 he died. Being arrived at Juda, St. Joseph wished 
 to prevent Zachary, but St. Elizabeth, enlightened 
 by the Holy Ghost, came to meet the holy Virgin, 
 accompanied by some members of her family. 
 
 The most pure Virgin saluted St. Elizabeth first 
 with the words: “ May the Lord be with t.hee, my 
 cousin.” To which Elizabeth replied : “The Mother 
 of the Most High comes to visit me ! May the 
 Lord reward thee for giving me so great a consola¬ 
 tion.” They retired together, and the Mother of 
 grace again saluted her cousin with the words: 
 “ May God protect thee, my dear cousin, and may 
 His divine light communicate life and grace to 
 
104 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 thee!” At these words Elizabeth was filled with 
 the Holy Ghost, and, in that moment, being in¬ 
 teriorly enlightened, she comprehended the most 
 sublime mysteries. Whilst Mary was speaking, 
 our Lord looked on St. John and granted him the 
 perfect use of reason, purified him from original 
 sin, and filled him with the Holy Ghost. At the 
 same time St. John beheld the Incarnate Word; 
 prostrating himself, he adored the Redeemer of the 
 world, and leaped for joy in his mother’s womb. 
 Ravished out of herself at this wonder, St. Eliza¬ 
 beth fixed her eyes on Mary, and spoke the words 
 recorded by St. Luke : “ Blessed art thou amongst 
 women,” etc. The little Baptist comprehended 
 clearly the sense of these words. In a sweet and 
 modest voice the holy Virgin answered in the 
 words of the Canticle : Magnificat anima tnea Dorn - 
 inurn —My soul doth magnify the Lord. 
 
 Elizabeth offered herself and all her household 
 to serve Mary; she begged her to accept for her 
 own use the best apartment in her house, which 
 hitherto she had used as an oratory. Mary accepted 
 the offer with sincere thanks, and, after her depar¬ 
 ture, this room was never entered by any one ex¬ 
 cept St. Elizabeth. Before she retired for the night, 
 Mary begged Zachary, as a priest of the Lord, to 
 bestow on her his benediction. She did not try 
 to cure his dumbness, yet she prayed for and com¬ 
 passionated him in his affliction. 
 
 After three days St. Joseph begged permission 
 of his holy spouse to return to Nazareth, offering to 
 return for her at whatever time she might appoint 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 105 
 
 After his departure, Mary regulated her time as 
 she had done at Nazareth, and also began to make 
 the clothes for the divine Babe who was so soon 
 to appear in the world. 
 
 In an humble contest with her cousin, she ob¬ 
 tained that she might obey and St. Elizabeth com¬ 
 mand. She diligently performed the work given 
 her by her holy relative, and this work was never 
 afterwards used by the saint, but preserved with 
 the greatest care. 
 
 In the society of the blessed Mother of God 
 Elizabeth attained to a high degree of sanctity; 
 she frequently beheld the Holy Virgin resplendent 
 with light and raised from the ground, completely 
 absorbed in God, and on those occasions she was 
 accustomed to prostrate herself before her, and 
 adore the Incarnate Word. This hidden mystery 
 she never revealed, except to Zachary and her son, 
 and not to the latter until after the birth of the 
 divine Infant. 
 
 Elizabeth had a servant of exceedingly violent 
 temper, addicted to anger, detraction, and swear¬ 
 ing; in punishment for her sins she had been pos¬ 
 sessed by many devils for fourteen years. Know¬ 
 ing the miserable state of the unfortunate girl, and 
 the causes which had led to it, the Blessed Virgin, 
 by her prayers, obtained for her contrition and the 
 pardon of her sins, and commanded the infernal 
 spirits to torment her no longer, but to depart far 
 from her. 
 
 There was in the neighborhood another woman 
 in the same unhappy condition, who, hearing of 
 
106 Divine Life of the 
 
 the arrival of a young stranger, remarkable for her 
 modesty and humility, expressed an ardent desire 
 to see her, and for this purpose visited St. Eliza¬ 
 beth’s house. No sooner did she behold the most 
 pure Mary than her depraved heart was changed, 
 and she wept bitterly over her past sins, yet with¬ 
 out knowing that this great miracle had been 
 operated by Mary. In this manner the Mother 
 of God drew many souls out of the state of sin, yet 
 as she worked in secret, they knew not that their 
 conversion was due to the efficacy of her prayers. 
 
 Two months had passed away since Mary’s 
 arrival at the house of her cousin, during which 
 time she had sanctified the whole family by her 
 acts and examples of humility. Elizabeth dreaded 
 the approaching separation, and endeavored to 
 persuade Mary to leave Nazareth, and take up her 
 abode in Juda, saying that she would send for St. 
 Joseph, and that her house, her family, and even 
 herself, should be devoted to their service. The 
 humble Virgin having listened to this proposition, 
 answered that she would not decide upon it until 
 she had learned the will of God and the pleasure 
 of her spouse. Elizabeth was -satisfied with this 
 answer, but entreated her to remain with her until 
 after the birth of her child. Mary retired into her, 
 oratory to consult God in prayer. She immedi¬ 
 ately fell into ecstasy, in which state the Lord 
 revealed to her that she should remain with her 
 cousin until the birth of the child, but should 
 return to Nazareth after its circumcision. 
 
 When the time was accomplished, the Lord 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 107 
 
 made known to John the Baptist the hour at which 
 he was to come into the world. At the news the 
 holy child was at a loss what to do. On one side 
 the laws of nature obliged him to be born, and on 
 the other, he seriously considered the dangers of 
 the perilous voyage of life. 
 
 Surrendering himself to the Lord with entire 
 obedience and great confidence in His goodness, 
 he said: “Lord, that thy divine will be accom¬ 
 plished, grant that I may employ my life in Thy 
 service, and give me Thy benediction at my coming 
 into the light of the world.” By this prayer the 
 holy child merited the additional grace and bene¬ 
 diction which the Most High bestowed upon him. 
 
 Soon after the birth of her child, St. Elizabeth 
 sent a messenger to Mary to apprise her of it. 
 The Blessed Virgin sent her some swaddling 
 clothes made by her own hands, and, shortly after¬ 
 wards, by divine inspiration, visited her. Taking 
 the babe in her arms, she offered him to the 
 Eternal Father. The child testified great joy at 
 finding himself in the arms of the Mother of God; 
 he bowed his head in respect, and gave other 
 tokens of his affection towards her; nevertheless, 
 being mindful of her dignity, she did not kiss and 
 caress him, as is usually done to children of his 
 age. Wholly absorbed in the contemplation of his 
 great and wonderful soul, she did not look at him, 
 and would not have recognized him again with the 
 eyes of the body. 
 
 On the eighth day he was circumcised and 
 called John, with all the circumstances related at 
 
108 Divine Life of the 
 
 large by St. Luke. Zachary recovered his speech 
 through Mary, who, making use of her power over 
 creatures, untied his tongue, that he might praise 
 the Lord on this occasion, which he did to the 
 admiration of all the assistants, who were ignorant 
 of the manner in which the miracle had been 
 operated. After the circumcision, St. Joseph came 
 from Nazareth to reconduct his spouse thither. 
 She received him with great joy and respect; 
 kneeling, she asked his blessing, and immediately 
 began her preparations for departure. Profiting by 
 the presence of the Mother of Wisdom, St. Eliza¬ 
 beth begged her to give her some instructions 
 which might serve to regulate her life, and by her 
 urgent entreaties she obtained this consolation 
 from the Holy Virgin. 
 
 “Always,” said Mary, “raise thy heart and mind 
 to God, and with the light of grace which thou 
 dost possess, never lose sight of the immutable 
 being of the infinite and eternal God, or of His 
 incomprehensible goodness which has led Him to 
 draw man out of nothing, to raise him to His 
 glory, and enrich him with precious gifts. En¬ 
 deavor most earnestly to disengage thy heart from 
 the things of this world, that being entirely free 
 and detached, it may attain to its true end. 
 
 “Purify thy heart from everything earthly, that 
 being freed from the trammels of this life, thou 
 mayst correspond to the designs of God, and be 
 prepared to follow the Lord, not only without 
 pain, but even with joy, when thou shalt be called 
 to leave this body and its affections. Now is the 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 109 
 
 time to suffer and to gain a crown; learn to render 
 thyself worthy, and walk diligently, that thou 
 mayst attain to an intimate union with thy true 
 and sovereign good. Be particularly careful to 
 obey, serve and love Zachary thy spouse and 
 head. Offer thy son to God his Creator, in whom 
 and for whom thou mayst love as a mother. 
 Employ thy zeal in causing God to be feared and 
 honored in thy family; be kind to those in want 
 and in distress; aid them liberally out of the 
 abundance which God has plentifully bestowed on 
 thee. We are all children of the same heavenly 
 Father, to whom all created things belong, there¬ 
 fore, it is not just that one of His children should 
 live in plenty, and another in poverty and destitu¬ 
 tion. Continue what thou art engaged in, and 
 execute what thou hast planned; as Zachary places 
 all at thy disposal, thou mayest be liberal with his 
 permission. 
 
 “ Place thy entire confidence in God in the midst 
 of the trials which He may be pleased to send thee. 
 Be good, mild, humble, benevolent and patient 
 with every one; although some may cause thee 
 trouble, look on them as instruments for thy greater 
 merit. Bless the Lord eternally for having revealed 
 to thee His grand and sublime mysteries, and pray 
 with great zeal and charity for the salvation of 
 souls. Beg the Lord that He would govern and 
 direct me, that I may act worthily and according to 
 His will in the mystery which His infinite good¬ 
 ness has confided to me, His vile and unworthy 
 
 servant.” 
 
 10 
 
t IO 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 Such were the words addressed by the Blessed 
 Virgin to her cousin at the moment cf separation. 
 
 When taking her leave, Mary humbly knelt to 
 receive the blessing of Elizabeth and Zachary, 
 which he gave in words drawn, almost entirely from 
 the Holy Scripture. 
 
 “May the Almighty,” said he, “ever assist thee 
 and deliver thee from all evil. May His protection 
 defend thee, and fill thee with the dew of heaven 
 and the fat of the land. May the people serve, and 
 the tribes venerate thee, because thou art the taber¬ 
 nacle of the Lord. Thou shalt be the mistress of 
 thy brethren, and the sons of thy mother shall 
 bend the knee before thee. 
 
 “ He that will exalt and bless thee shall be blessed, 
 but he that will not praise thee shall be cursed. 
 May every creature know God in thee, and by thee 
 may the name of the Most High be glorified.” 
 
 Having received this benediction, she kissed the 
 hand of the holy priest, who was deeply affected. 
 He ever preserved most faithfully the secret of 
 these great mysteries; yet, on one occasion being 
 in the temple in the midst of the assembly, he was 
 inspired by the Holy Ghost, and exclaimed in a 
 loud voice: “I firmly believe that the Most High 
 has visited us, by sending into the world the Mes¬ 
 siah, who is to redeem His people.” 
 
 At these words, Simeon, deeply moved, cried 
 - out: “O God of Israel! allow not thy servant to 
 depart from this vale of tears until he has seen 
 our salvation and the Redeemer of his people.” 
 
 The Blessed Virgin having bade adieu to the 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 111 
 
 —-«_-«— 
 
 two holy spouses, wished also to see John the Bap¬ 
 tist before her departure. She received him in her 
 arms, and bestowed upon him many mysterious 
 benedictions. 
 
 By the permission of God, the holy child spoke 
 to the Blessed Virgin in a low tone, and begged 
 her intercession and her blessing ; he kissed her 
 hand three times, and adored the Incarnate Word 
 within her womb; the divine child in return, looked 
 on him with infinite love and tenderness, knowing 
 which, Mary was filed with great joy. 
 

 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE BLESSED VIRGIN’S RETURN TO NAZARETH. 
 
 9T HE holy guests set out for their poor home in 
 1 Nazareth, which they reached in four days. 
 They did not exercise the power which they 
 possessed over creatures, although in their 
 journey they suffered much from heat, and from 
 stones and briars; nevertheless they wrought 
 many miracles, and secretly delivered many of the 
 sick and poor from their infirmities. As soon as 
 they arrived in Nazareth, Mary began to cleanse 
 the house, and put all things in order, in which 
 lowly offices she was aided by the angels. She 
 regulated the acts of virtue which she intended to 
 practise with the greatest exactitude. Seeing the 
 heroic virtues of Mary, the devil began to suspect 
 that He who was to conquer him would be born of 
 her. Therefore he called in hell a council of his 
 demons, to whom he made known his doubts and 
 suspicions. The members of this accursed assembly 
 resolved to employ every kind of temptation, and to 
 set every engine at work to oppress and conquer 
 the Holy Virgin. 
 
 But the Incarnate Word knowing of Lucifer’s 
 designs, and desiring to give additional strength 
 to the fortitude of our invincible Queen, stood 
 
 I 1 2 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy l T irgin. 113 
 
 erect in His virginal tabernacle, as if preparing 
 Himself for her defence. In this posture He 
 prayed His Eternal Father to renew His favors 
 to His dear Mother. 
 
 Lucifer arranged his forces for the combat, and 
 led on the seven legions whom he employs to 
 tempt men to the seven capital sins. The Blessed 
 Virgin was engaged in meditation at the time in 
 wh ch, by the permission of God, she was assaulted 
 by the demons, who exerted against her every 
 means suggested by their malice, rage, and desire 
 of obeying the prince of darkness. 
 
 The prudent Virgin understood all their artifices, 
 and repelled them by her superior wisdom and 
 incomparable watchfulness. These numerous ene¬ 
 mies with all their stratagems and suggestions, 
 could not distract her in the least, or prevent her 
 performing even the most trivial action with all 
 possible perfection. The infernal powers were com¬ 
 pletely vanquished. Lucifer, enraged at his failure, 
 wished to renew the combat, and placed himself at 
 the head of those legions by whose agency he has 
 introduced into the world so many errors and 
 sinful disorders. All his efforts were vain ; neithei 
 did he succeed by the malice of many persons 
 neighbors to Mary and Joseph, whom he incited 
 to annoy and disquiet them. All the result which 
 he obtained was to cause the holy spouses to prac¬ 
 tise acts of sublime virtue, and thus increase their 
 merit before God. But a still greater trial was 
 allowed by God to afflict these holy souls, and 
 render their sanctity still greater. 
 
 10 * 
 
114 Divine Life of the 
 
 Mary was in the fifth month of her pregnancy 
 when St. Joseph began to perceive it, for, being 
 most perfect in the proportions of her body, the 
 slightest change was the more apparent. This 
 knowledge filled the heart of St. Joseph with 
 inexpressible grief, caused by the sincere love 
 which he felt for his spouse, and the danger to 
 which he saw her exposed of being put to death 
 according to the law. He had recourse to God in 
 prayer, for, although he suspected some hidden 
 mystery, he had no certainty of it, and was in 
 most agonizing doubt, God willing it so, that he 
 might have occasion to practise acts of heroic 
 virtue. The sorrow which oppressed his heart 
 began to manifest itself by great exterior sadness, 
 yet the Blessed Virgin needed not such evidence 
 of the state of her spouse ; she saw clearly all 
 that was passing within his heart, nevertheless she 
 did not discover to him the wonderful mystery, 
 but abandoned herself and the anguish of St. 
 Joseph into the hands of Divine Providence, 
 although she felt a tender love for her spouse, 
 and deep compassion for the sorrowful martyrdom 
 which he was undergoing. 
 
 As his suspicions became more and more con¬ 
 firmed, the saint became more thoughtful and 
 melancholy, and sometimes when overwhelmed 
 with grief, he spoke to her with more severity than 
 formerly. The most holy Virgin never complained, 
 but preserved the same unalterable sweetness, 
 serving him at table, and attending to all his wants; 
 seeing which, St. Joseph was rendered still more 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 US 
 
 uneasy, not knowing whether to credit the evi¬ 
 dence of his senses, which became more and more 
 certain, or the incomparable purity and sanctity 
 which he perceived in her. In this perplexity, he 
 came to the resolution of leaving his spouse before 
 the child should be born. 
 
 Knowing of this resolution, the Blessed Virgin 
 addressed herself to the angels, and begged them 
 to prevent its execution. In obedience to their 
 Queen, they inspired St. Joseph with many holy 
 thoughts regarding the incomparable purity of 
 Mary, and thus caused him to defer the accom¬ 
 plishment of his design. Yet, as his suspicions 
 became fully confirmed, and his anguish increased, 
 he resolved to depart, after having passed two 
 months in cruel uncertainty. For this end he 
 prepared a bundle of clothing, and a small sum of 
 money which he had received in payment for 
 work. Before taking his departure, he had re¬ 
 course to God in prayer, begging His assistance, 
 and protesting that he was not leaving Mary, 
 through fear of her having committed sin, but, 
 because that, seeing her condition, he was ignorant 
 of the cause and the manner.* He made a vow to 
 visit the Temple at Jerusalem, and there offer a 
 
 * The greater number of the authors who speak of the con¬ 
 duct of St. Joseph in this delicate circumstance, are either 
 more or less in error. They teach in general, and with mt 
 hesitation, that the incomparable saint suspected the sanctity 
 of his spouse. But this cannot even be supposed of two souls 
 of such sublime sanctity. The entire truth is given in the 
 revelations of Mary of Agreda, and Christian piety is fully 
 satisfied with this admirable explanation. 
 
116 Divine Life of the 
 
 part of his money, that his chaste spouse might be 
 preserved from the calumnies of men. 
 
 After this he retired to take a little rest, intend¬ 
 ing to rise at midnight and begin his journey. 
 Meanwhile the Blessed Virgin was in her oratory, 
 and, by divine light, knew what St. Joseph was 
 doing, and saw his preparations. Touched with 
 compass.she prayed most, earnestly for him, 
 and her powerful prayer was granted. While the 
 saint slept, the Archangel Gabriel, sent by God, 
 announced to him the fruitful virginity of his 
 spouse. Although the saint did not see the angel, 
 yjt he heard his interior voice, and comprehended 
 the sublime mystery. He awoke, and prostrating 
 himself before the Lord with profound humility, 
 adored Him, rendered thanks for having been 
 chosen by Him to be the spouse of His mother, 
 and begged pardon for the suspicions and sadness 
 to which he had given way. 
 
 He dared not disturb his holy spouse, who, 
 retired in her oratory, was in a state of sublime 
 contemplation. Meanwhile he untied his parcel, 
 and practised many acts of virtue. When the 
 proper time arrived, he entered Mary’s chamber, 
 and casting himself at her feet, implored her pardon, 
 offered himself to be her servant, and promised 
 that henceforward he would acknowledge her as 
 his Queen. 
 
 The Blessed Virgin entreated her spouse to rise; 
 then kneeling at his feet, she gave him her reasons 
 for concealing the mystery. She begged him not 
 to change his conduct towards her, for her duty 
 
Most Holy Virgin . I x 7 
 
 was to obey and his to command. On this occa¬ 
 sion St. Joseph was interiorly enlightened and 
 filled with the Holy Spirit. He intoned a canticle 
 of thanksgiving to which Mary responded by the 
 “ Magnificat —My soul doth magnify the Lord,” 
 singing which, she was rapt into sublime ecstasy, 
 and surrounded, as it were, with a globe of heavenly 
 light, to the great admiration of the saint, who had 
 never before seen her in a state so glorious. 
 
 He then clearly understood the mystery of the 
 Incarnation, and beheld the Son of God in the 
 virginal womb of His holy Mother. He learned 
 also that his holy spouse had been the instrument 
 of the sanctification of John the Baptist and Eliza¬ 
 beth, and that she was also the cause of the pleni¬ 
 tude of grace which he himself had received from 
 G<>d, with even greater abundance than St. John the 
 Baptist.* Being thus enlightened, he resolved to 
 treat the Blessed Virgin with great respect, and in 
 order to testify his great veneration, whenever she 
 spoke to him or passed near him, he respectfully 
 bent his knee, neither would he allow her to serve 
 him, or employ herself in menial household labors, 
 determining to attend to them himself in order that 
 she might not derogate from the dignity due to her 
 as the Mother of G. 1. The most humble Virgin 
 earnestly opposed this manner of acting; she 
 begged him not to bend the knee before her, 
 
 * The most illustrious Doctors of the Church have not hesi¬ 
 tated to place St. Joseph above all other saints. According to 
 their opinion, he fills the place of Lucifer, the first-born among 
 the angels, and possesses gifts and graces even far greater than 
 those of the apostate angel. 
 
118 Divine Life of the 
 
 because no one could distinguish whether this 
 honor was offered to her or to the divine Child. 
 The saint acquiesced in her desire, but continued 
 to genuflect when unperceived by her. 
 
 The contest was still greater with regard to 
 humble and lowly employments, because St. Joseph, 
 not wishing our august Queen to occupy herself 
 with them, tried to prevent her by doing many 
 things himself, whilst she was engaged in prayer. 
 
 But the Blessed Virgin, addressing herself to the 
 Lord, prayed Him to forbid her spouse to perform 
 such lowly offices. Then the Most High bade the 
 guardian angel of the saint to make him under¬ 
 stand, by interior inspirations, that although he 
 should always entertain for Mary the utmost re¬ 
 spect and veneration, yet he should allow her to 
 exercise those humble employments, because the 
 Mother, as well as her divine Son, came into this 
 world to serve, and not to be served. To this order 
 the saint humbly submitted. The house wherein 
 they dwelt was divided into three small rooms or 
 apartments. This number was sufficient for their 
 wants, as they kept no servant, it not being con¬ 
 venient that others should be witnesses of the 
 wonderful miracles wrought in that holy dwelling. 
 In one of these rooms St. Joseph slept, another he 
 used as a workshop, and the third was reserved for 
 the use of the Virgin Mother. 
 
 Mary never quitted her house without urgent 
 necessity; when anything Was needed, she em¬ 
 ployed a pious neighbor to attend to it, who, in 
 recompense for her services, received great graces 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 119 
 
 -- 
 
 for herself and family. It frequently happened 
 that the holy spouses were subjected to want, 
 because St. Joseph did not receive payment for his 
 services, but only accepted of what was given as an 
 alms. ± et, after having sufficiently tried their 
 patience, the Lord always provided for their neces¬ 
 sities. This he did in many ways; sometimes by 
 means of birds who brought them bread, fruit, and 
 even fish ; again by the ministry of angels. 
 
 On one occasion when they had nothing to eat, 
 they retired to pray, after which they found their 
 table spread with fruit, bread, fish, and another 
 dish of rare delicacy and delightful flavor. The 
 most ordinary way in which their wants were sup¬ 
 plied was by the agency of Elizabeth, who, from 
 the time of her cousin’s visit, was accustomed to 
 send them gifts. 
 
 The holy Virgin took her rest on a small bed of 
 boards, made for her by St. Joseph; it had two 
 coverings, which she wrapped around her over her 
 clothes when she sought the repose necessary to 
 sustain life. St. Joseph never saw her asleep, nay, 
 he did not even know from experience that she 
 ever slept. Under her garments she wore a long 
 cotton tunic,* which she never changed after leav¬ 
 ing the temple, for it did not become soiled or 
 worn out. Hence it was never seen by any one, 
 not even by St. Joseph. - 
 
 Her outer garment was of ash color; this, as also 
 
 * This holy tunic is preserved in the Church of our Lady at 
 Chartres, as an object of the highest veneration. We have 
 visited this holy relic, and thereby received many precious 
 graces. 
 
120 Divine Life of the 
 
 her veil, she sometimes changed, in order to con¬ 
 ceal the wonderful miracle by which nothing that 
 touched her virginal body became soiled, for she 
 was exempt from all the weaknesses and infirmities 
 of our sinful nature. In all things she was per¬ 
 fectly pure, and every piece of work executed by 
 her was perfect and most beautiful. Although she 
 ate but sparingly, yet she took her meals regularly 
 with St. Joseph. She never partook of flesh meat, 
 although she prepared it for her holy spouse. Her 
 ordinary diet was bread, fruit, boiled herbs, and 
 fish, of which she took only what was necessary to 
 sustain life, and being the Mother of Wisdom, she 
 knew the exact quantity required by her consti¬ 
 tution; the same rule she observed with regard to 
 drink. This moderation she continued throughout 
 her life, yet she varied the quality of her food 
 when occasion seemed to require it. 
 
 As the time of her happy delivery was approach¬ 
 ing, the Blessed Virgin began to prepare the swad¬ 
 dling-clothes for her Babe. In return for several 
 articles of furniture made by St. Joseph, he had 
 received two pieces of woollen material, the best 
 that could be procured, one white, the other of a 
 dark color. From these the august Mother made 
 the clothes for the divine Infant. For His under¬ 
 garments she used linen which she herself, after 
 the mystery of the Annunciation, had woven on 
 her knees, and watered with tears of devotion. 
 All that remained of these materials she gave for 
 the use of the temple. These clothes she placed in 
 a small casket, which they afterwards carried with 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 I 21 
 
 them to Bethlehem. She had first perfumed them 
 with delicious aromatic water, which she had made 
 from flowers and herbs gathered by St. Joseph. 
 
 But the interior preparation of the divine Virgin 
 was incomparably greater; by acts of heroic virtue 
 and ardent love she endeavored to render herself 
 more worthy of receiving the Infant God in her 
 arms. Within herself she prepared for the Lord a 
 temple of which Solomon’s was but a figure. She 
 united all her actions to those of her Divine Son, 
 and when she beheld Him kneeling to pray to the 
 Eternal Father, or extending His body in the form 
 of a cross, thus prefiguring what He was to suffer, 
 she imitated Him most perfectly. 
 
 11 
 
 i 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM—THE BTRTH OP JESUS. 
 
 URING this time of holy preparation, an edict 
 was published by Augustus Caesar, as St 
 Luke relates. 
 
 At this news St. Joseph was greatly afflicted, 
 because of the condition of his holy spouse, whom 
 he did not wish to leave alone, yet whom he feared 
 to take with him on so long and tedious a journey. 
 He begged her to pray the Lord to reveal His 
 will. She obeyed, although she already knew that, 
 according to the designs of God, she also was to 
 go to Bethlehem. They prepared everything foi 
 the journey, and committed the care of the house 
 to a pious neighbor. St. Joseph had great diffi¬ 
 culty in procuring a beast of burden, on account 
 of the immense number of persons who were 
 seeking them. The Blessed Virgin carried with 
 her the small chest containing the swaddling- 
 clothes. Kneeling, she asked the blessing of St. 
 Joseph, after which they set out from Nazareth for 
 Bethlehem. 
 
 On this occasion, besides her usual guard of 
 angels, Mary was attended by nine thousand others, 
 commanded by God to accompany her; they were 
 also employed in bearing messages from God to 
 122 
 
 0 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 123 
 
 her, and all were distinctly visible to her. The jour¬ 
 ney occupied four days, because they travelled by 
 short stages. They experienced great annoyance 
 from the immense numbers travelling towards Jeru¬ 
 salem, and at night could find a lodging-place only 
 in some obscure corner or vestibule; their poverty 
 causing them to be refused, while the rich were 
 welcomed. To these privations were joined the 
 rigors of the season—cold, rain, snow and wind— 
 all the more severely felt, as they were often com¬ 
 pelled to rest on the bare ground, or in stables 
 among the beasts, who, more grateful than men to 
 their Creator, honored Him in the womb of His 
 holy Mother. 
 
 Ye the greatest affliction of the holy pilgrims 
 was to hear indecent expressions from their fellow- 
 travellers, and to see the unhappy state of some 
 souls, whose interior was clearly visible to the 
 Queen of Heaven. This horrible sight often caused 
 her to swoon away, on which occasions the holy 
 angels assisted her; the Archangel St. Michael 
 never left her, and frequently upheld her when she 
 was about to fall. When the holy spouses were 
 obliged to stop at inns, the angels were accustomed 
 to range themselves around them as an impregna¬ 
 ble defence; frequently they sang holy canticles to 
 assuage their sorrows and lighten their fatigue, 
 and at night they illumined their path with a 
 refulgence brighter than that of the planets and 
 stars. 
 
 In the midst of these trials and consolations they 
 arrived at Bethlehem on Saturday, about the time 
 
124 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 of sunset. They sought for a lodging among the 
 relations and friends of St. Joseph, but no one would 
 receive them; they were refused with insults and 
 injuries. Although our Blessed Lady knew that 
 they would not receive admittance, yet, in order 
 to practise humility and patience, she followed her 
 spouse from house to house, from door to door 
 through the streets. Whilst wandering about, they 
 found the house in which they were to register 
 their names; they inscribed them and paid the 
 tribute, that they might not be compelled to return. 
 They continued to seek for shelter, yet always in 
 vain, although they applied at over fifty houses and 
 inns. 
 
 • It was almost nine o’clock at night when St. 
 Joseph, oppressed with sadness, turned to his spouse, 
 and said: “ I remember having seen, outside the 
 walls, a grotto used by shepherds. Let us go there, 
 and if we find it unoccupied, take up our lodgings 
 in it, as it is impossible to procure one here.” 
 
 The Blessed Virgin consoled him by kind words, 
 and they proceeded to the spot, accompanied by 
 many angels, who by their brightness dispelled the 
 gloom of the night. This grotto was so miserable, 
 that notwithstanding the multitudes of people of 
 every condition who were then in Bethlehem, no 
 one had thought of using it. The holy spouses 
 entered the stable, and, by the light diffused by the 
 angels, discovered how poor and humble was the 
 place. They knelt and returned thanks to God for 
 having given it to them, and our Blessed Lady 
 prayed Him to reward liberally the inhabitants of 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 125 
 
 Bethlehem, who, by refusing them shelter, had pro¬ 
 cured for them so great a good. 
 
 The grotto was hewn out of a rock, and was used 
 as a lodging-place for animals. The angels thronged 
 around it in visible forms, and were clearly per¬ 
 ceived by St. Joseph. The Blessed Virgin, know¬ 
 ing the wonderful mystery about to be operated 
 that night, began at once to clean the place, in order 
 to practise humility, and also to adorn, as well as 
 possible, that abandoned spot, so soon to become 
 the temple of a God. The. angels came to her aid; 
 the work was quickly completed, and the dismal 
 grotto filled with a heavenly perfume. As the night 
 was cold, St. Joseph kindled a fire, after which they 
 took some slight nourishment, and with great in¬ 
 terior devotion passed some time in holy conversa¬ 
 tion. Then the Blessed Virgin begged St. Joseph 
 to take a little repose, while he, on his part, asked 
 her to do the same. He prepared and arranged a 
 place for her, by covering with some clothes the 
 manger which was in the grotto; then he retired 
 into an obscure corner and began to pray. Almost 
 immediately he was rapt in sublime ecstasy, during 
 which he beheld all the wonderful events which 
 happened on this night. 
 
 In ihe meantime the holy Virgin was raised to a 
 state of high contemplation, in which she intuitively 
 beheld the Divinity, in a manner so ineffable that 
 human tongue cannot express i\ This ecstasy 
 continued during the hour immediately preceding 
 the birth of our Lord. Coming to herself, she felt 
 that the divine Child began to 1 love in her womb; 
 
 11 * 
 
126 Divine Life of the 
 
 this motion caused her no pain, but, on the con¬ 
 trary, such inexpressible joy, with effects so super¬ 
 natural arid sublime, that the human understanding 
 is incapable of comprehending them. Her body 
 became so beautiful, and her face so resplendent 
 that she seemed no longer like a creature of earth. 
 She was on her knees, her eyes raised towards 
 heaven, and her hands crossed upon her breast. 
 
 In this humble and pious posture, returning to 
 herself out of her ecstasy, she gave birth to the only 
 Son of the Eternal Father, who was also her own 
 Son—Jesus Christ, our Saviour, both God and Man. 
 This glorious event happened at midnight, and on 
 Sunday, according to the teaching of the Roman 
 Church. 
 
 The divine Child came into the world most beau¬ 
 tiful and resplendent, without detriment to the holy 
 virginity of Mary, for He passed through her vir¬ 
 ginal womb like a ray of the sun. ' 
 
 His body was glorious and transfigured, for the 
 glory of His soul was reflected on it. Immediately 
 after His birth, the Archangels Michael and Ga¬ 
 briel, taking Him in their arms, showed Him to 
 the Holy Mother in the same manner as the priest 
 exposes the Sacred Host to the adoration of the 
 faithful; the Infant God at that moment spoke to 
 His Mother, saying: “ Mother, in exchange for the 
 human life which thou hast given me, I wish to 
 give thee a life of grace far more elevated, so that 
 from being merely a creature, thou shalt become 
 like to me, who am both God and man.” Mary 
 humbly answered; “ Trahe me post te t curremus in 
 
127 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 odorem unguentorum tuorum ,—Draw me after thee; 
 we will,run in the odor of thy ointments/’ She 
 also heard the voice of the Eternal Father saying: 
 “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
 pleased.” . 
 
 After this divine conversation, so replete with 
 heavenly mysteries, the divine Child ceased to be 
 transfigured; by a no less wonderful mystery, He 
 suspended the glorious gifts of His sacred body, 
 and manifested Himself, only in His natural and 
 passive state. The blessed Mother again adored 
 Him, and kneeling, she received Him from the 
 hands of the holy angels. Filled with sentiments 
 of burning love, she offered Him up to the Eternal 
 Father as His only begotten Son, who was to be 
 the Saviour of men. While the most holy Mary 
 thus held Him in her arms, the ten thousand 
 angels of her guard first adored Him, then all those 
 blessed spirits who had descended into the grotto, 
 chanting in His honor the new canticle, Gloria in 
 excelsis Deo, etc. It was now time to recall St. 
 Joseph from his ecstasy, that he might behold and 
 adore the God whom he had known only by reve¬ 
 lation. Returning to himself, he beheld the divine 
 Child in the arms of His mother; he adored Him 
 with profound humility, and kissed His feet with 
 respectful tenderness. 
 
 Then the blessed Mother asked of her Divine 
 Son permission to seat herself; St. Joseph pre¬ 
 sented to her, the swaddling-clothes that she had 
 prepared for Him, and she wrapped Him in them 
 with inconceivable respect and devotion. She laid 
 
128 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 Him in the manger, in which she placed some hay 
 and straw; this was the first bed whereon reposed 
 the Incarnate Word. 
 
 At this moment, by the permission of God, an 
 ox from the field entered the grotto, where was also 
 the ass which Joseph and Mary had brought with 
 them from Nazareth. The blessed Mother com¬ 
 manded them to adore, after their own manner, 
 their Creator, lying in the manger. They immedi¬ 
 ately obeyed, and warmed the divine Child with 
 their breath, thus literally verifying the prophecy 
 of Isaias : “ Cognovit bos possesorum suum, et asinus 
 pnesepe Domini sui —The ox knoweth his owner, 
 and the ass his master’s crib.” The angels not only 
 thronged around the stable and the manger, but 
 many of them carried the glad tidings to divers 
 places. St. Michael was sent to limbo, to announce 
 the glorious news to the patriarchs therein de¬ 
 tained. Hearing it, St. Joachim and St. Ann 
 begged the archangel to entreat their daughter 
 Mary to adore and venerate in their name the 
 Infant God, which she immediately did. 
 
 Another archangel was commissioned to bear 
 the news to Elizabeth and St. John the Baptist; 
 others announced it to Simeon, Zachary, and Anna 
 the prophetess; others to the three Magi, who 
 were also warned by the star which was foimed 
 on this night, and appeared to their eyes. 
 
 St. Luke relates in detail the embassy sent to 
 the shepherds, who came to adore the divine Child. 
 They were interiorly enlightened, and many of 
 them merited to have their children numbered 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 129 
 
 among the Holy Innocents. St. Elizabeth did not 
 visit Bethlehem, God not permitting it, that the 
 mystery of the Incarnation might not be made 
 more public, but she sent a messenger to congratu¬ 
 late the holy Virgin and offer her presents, of 
 which the blessed Virgin retained a part and gave 
 the rest to the poor, At the moment of our Divine 
 Redeemer’s birth, all the just experienced its salu¬ 
 tary effects, and felt an extraordinary supernatural 
 joy, the cause of which was unknown to them. 
 Many, however, were inspired with the thought that 
 it was occasioned by the birth of the Messiah. 
 
 Many other wonderful miracles were wrought 
 during this night; the influence of the planets was 
 renewed and the sun advanced in its course; many 
 trees bloomed, and some bore fruit; several temples 
 of idols were overthrown, and some entirely demol¬ 
 ished, while the demons who dwelt in them were 
 expelled. These marvellous events were attri¬ 
 buted by mankind to various causes. The demons 
 knew nothing whatever of the adoration of the 
 shepherds, the embassy of the angels, the coming 
 of the Magi, or the appearance of the star. God 
 concealed all from them, that they might be igno¬ 
 rant of the coming of the Messiah. Regarding 
 this, they were in uncertainty, for, seeing this child 
 so poor and abandoned, and also submitting to the 
 rite of circumcision, Lucifer concluded that He was 
 not the Messiah; his proud and haughty spirit could 
 not understand this sublime poverty and humility. 
 
 The shepherds remained in the grotto from dawn 
 to mid-day; during this time the blessed Virgin 
 
130 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 spoke to them, and exhorted them to persevere in 
 the service of God, after which she gave them food 
 and dismissed them, full of holy joy and consolation. 
 
 They afterwards returned many times and brought 
 such humble presents as their poverty allowed. 
 When the Holy Family had departed from Bethle¬ 
 hem, these pious shepherds related to others all 
 that they had seen and heard, but being simple 
 and illiterate, they were not believed by all. Herod 
 believed their relation, not through faith and devo¬ 
 tion, but because he feared to lose his crown. 
 
 The blessed Virgin ceased not to pray for those 
 who had rendered themselves unworthy of knowing 
 the true light of the world, and in this petition she 
 occupied the greater part of the time that they dwelt 
 in the grotto. When it was necessary for the divine 
 Infant to receive His natural nourishment, His holy 
 Mother asked His permission to give it to Him. 
 
 She sometimes committed Him to the care of St. 
 Joseph, who always genuflected three times, and 
 kissed the ground before receiving Him, and the 
 Virgin Mother did the same when taking Him 
 from her holy spouse. She also confided Him to 
 the care of St. Michael or St. Gabriel, who had 
 begged her to do them this honor, whilst she was 
 at meals or taking her repose. God rendered her 
 sleep miraculous, for during it she did not lose her 
 strength, but could hold the divine Babe in her 
 arms as firmly as when awake; she also continued 
 to contemplate Him interiorly as if she beheld Him 
 with her eyes, and she knew all His interior and 
 exterior actions. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE CIRCUMCISION OF OUR LORD. 
 
 HE time of circumcision, according to the law, 
 being arrived, the divine Mother fervently 
 begged of God that He would inspire her with 
 His divine will, and the Lord revealed to her 
 that He wished to be circumcised. - She then spoke 
 of it to St. Joseph and humbly asked his advice, 
 without acquainting him with the revelation of the 
 Lord. The saint was of the opinion that He 
 should be circumcised, as He had taken upon 
 Himself our humanity. The holy parents then 
 prepared remedies to be applied to the wound, and 
 also a crystal phial in which to preserve the pre¬ 
 cious relics, and linen to receive the first drops of 
 that adorable blood which was to be shed for the 
 redemption of man. 
 
 * Speaking of the name which should be given to 
 divine Infant, they agreed to give Him the name 
 of Jesus, which had been revealed to them by the 
 angel. While they thus conversed, legions of 
 angels, descending from heaven, surrounded the 
 sacred grotto; and the'Archangels Michael and 
 Gabriel again revealed to them that this sacred 
 name was to be given to the divine Child. 
 
 There was in Bethlehem a synagogue, not for the 
 
 • ' 131 
 
132 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 offering of sacrifice, for this could be done only at 
 Jerusalem, but that there a priest might read the law 
 to the people. Mothers were accustomed to carry 
 their children to be circumcised by the priest, not 
 that his ministry was really necessary, but because 
 they felt that with him there would be less danger. 
 On account of the dignity of her divine Son, 
 the blessed Virgin wished the priest to perform the 
 rite of circumcision. Therefore St. Joseph brought 
 him to the grotto, and at the sight of the holy 
 Babe, he felt his heart replenished with ardent love 
 and devotion, yet remained ignorant of the cause. 
 
 He begged the blessed Mother to consign her 
 babe to the care of His father and retire for awhile, 
 that she might not be the witness of the painful 
 sacrifice. Although the holy Virgin desired to 
 obey the priest, yet, at the same time, she ardently 
 wished to remain and hold her divine Son in 
 her arms; therefore she begged to be permitted 
 to stay, assuring the priest that he need not fear 
 for her courage. The favor being granted, she 
 removed the swaddling-clothes and wrapped her 
 Infant in linen, to preserve Him from the cold, 
 and also to receive the precious blood. 
 
 The priest performed his office and circumcised 
 the sacred Infant, who wept a little, not so much 
 from the sense of pain, as from sorrow for the 
 insensibility and hardness of men’s hearts. . His 
 tender Mother most feelingly compassionated His 
 suffering; she gathered the sacred relics and pre¬ 
 cious blood, and confided them to the care of St. 
 Joseph. Then she dressed the wound of her be- 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 *33 
 
 loved Infant, who, on His part, testified His love 
 and compassion for His holy Mother. The priest 
 inquired what name was to be given to the child; 
 out of humility each of the holy spouses kept silent, 
 that the other might answer; at length, both, by 
 the same inspiration, answered —“Jesus is His 
 name.” The priest inscribed it on the register, 
 and whilst doing so, feeling himself moved by 
 extraordinary emotion, said to the holy parents: 
 “ This child shall be a great prophet of the Lord, 
 therefore take particular care of Him. If I can be 
 of any assistance to you in your poverty, let me 
 know, for it will give me the greatest pleasure.” 
 
 After the priest had departed the holy spouses 
 conversed together on the mystery of the circum¬ 
 cision, and composed canticles in praise of the 
 sacred name of Jesus, which the angels sang with 
 them, at their invitation. 
 
 12 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ARRIVAL OF THE MAGI.—ADORATION OF THE DIVINE 
 
 INFANT. 
 
 r TER the rite of circumcision had been per¬ 
 formed, St. Joseph spoke to the Virgin Mother 
 of the inconvenience of the place in which 
 they were staying. Our Blessed Lady felt 
 great affection for the holy grotto, so poor and 
 humble ; besides, she knew by revelation that the 
 holy kings were coming to adore her divine Son. 
 However, without discovering to St. Joseph either 
 her desire of remaining, or the revelation which 
 she had received, she expressed her ready acqui¬ 
 escence in all that he would command. St. Joseph, 
 desiring to know the will of his pure spouse more 
 clearly, earnestly prayed God to reveal it to him. 
 The Archangel Michael made known to him that 
 they should remain there to wait the arrival of the 
 three kings, who had been ten days on their journey, 
 yet were still at some distance from Bethlehem. 
 They determined therefore to remain, and arranged 
 the grotto in the best manner they were able, con¬ 
 sidering the rigor of the season. The holy Virgin 
 frequently exercised the absolute power which she 
 possessed over creatures, by commanding the wind, 
 
 *34 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 1 35 
 
 rain and cold, to abstain from giving pain to their 
 Creator, but to exercise all their severity against 
 her alone. Thus it often happened, that, whilst 
 the divine Child was sheltered in the arms of His 
 Mother, and felt neither wind nor cold, she herself 
 suffered severely from their effects. 
 
 She gave nourishment to her Babe three times a 
 day, always with profound respect and veneration ; 
 with the deepest humility she asked His permission 
 to seat herself, although she generally remained on 
 her knees during the greater part of the time that 
 she held Him in her arms. Sometimes she would 
 respectfully kiss His sacred feet, yet never His 
 cheek without His permission. Jesus was accus¬ 
 tomed to return the caresses of His Mother, some¬ 
 times by looking at her affectionately, or leaning 
 on her breast, and at other times, by lovingly clasp¬ 
 ing His tender arms around her neck, as other 
 children are wont to do with their mothers. 
 
 In the midst of these sweet occupations, the 
 Magi arrived; they had learned the Saviour’s birth 
 from the angels as well as by the star. They ruled 
 over three adjacent countries, of small extent. 
 They were mutually acquainted, and had frequently 
 conversed together on points of government and 
 morality. They set out from their dominions at 
 the same time, although each was ignorant of the 
 other’s design; they prepared gold, incense and 
 myrrh, each being led by the Spirit of God in the 
 choice of his mysterious gift. 
 
 The angel who had announced the mystery to 
 the Magi had, at the same time, formed a star, and 
 
Divine Life of the 
 
 136 
 
 placed it at such a height, and in such a position 
 that it could be seen by all three, although they 
 came from different directions. By following this 
 guide, they met together, and having communi¬ 
 cated their revelation to each other, continued their 
 journey with their servants and camels. The star 
 was in the region of the air, and its light was dif¬ 
 ferent from that of the sun or other stars. By 
 night it gave light by its rays like that of a 
 brilliant torch, and by day it could be distinguished 
 from the sun by its extraordinary activity. When 
 the kings met together, it descended several de¬ 
 grees in the air, and seemed to draw nearer them, 
 which sign gave them great consolation. At their 
 arrival in Jerusalem all things happened as is 
 related by the Evangelists. Leaving the city, they 
 journeyed to Bethlehem, and, when they arrived at 
 the place the star decreased in size, and entered into 
 the holy grotto, where it placed itself on the head 
 of the divine Infant. When the holy kings entered, 
 they beheld the blessed Virgin holding the Infant 
 Jesus in her arms, she appeared with incomparable 
 beauty and modesty. 
 
 A heavenly splendor shone on her countenance, 
 but the face of the Child was incomparably more 
 brilliant, and the dazzling rays which proceeded 
 from it illumined the humble grotto. Struck with 
 admiration, they prostrated themselves upon the 
 ground, and with most lively faith, adored the 
 Child ; in this adoration they received extraordinary 
 light on the mysteries which regarded the person 
 of Jesus Christ, of His holy Mother, and the angels 
 
*37 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 who assisted her. Rising from the ground, they 
 congratulated Mary on her happiness, and testified 
 their veneration by bending the knee before her. 
 They begged, according to the custom of their 
 country, to be allowed to kiss her hand ; the pru¬ 
 dent Mother modestly withdrew hers, but presented 
 to them that of her divine Son. From the blessed 
 Virgin they extended their congratulations to St. 
 Joseph, w r ho was always present, and extolled his 
 happiness in having been chosen to be the spouse 
 of the Mother of God. Finally they requested per¬ 
 mission to seek for lodgings in Bethlehem. 
 
 There they rented a house, and when alone 
 together, entertained themselves by pious conversa¬ 
 tion on what they had seen and heard. They dis¬ 
 patched their servants to the grotto with presents 
 to relieve the poverty of the Holy Family. These 
 presents consisted of articles which they had 
 brought with them from their own country, as 
 well as of others purchased in Bethlehem. The 
 blessed Virgin accepted their gifts, but distributed 
 them among the poor, who, attracted by her 
 benevolence, came to her for relief. 
 
 On the following day the Magi again presented 
 themselves at the sacred grotto, bearing the mysti¬ 
 cal offerings which they had prepared by the special 
 inspiration of God, and which are mentioned in 
 the Gospel, viz:—gold, frankincense and myrrh. 
 Prostrating themselves upon the ground in adora¬ 
 tion, they offered them to the divine Infant. They 
 conversed with His holy Mother, and received 
 from her sublime instructions on the mysteries of 
 12 * 
 
138 Divine Life of the 
 
 faith, and on the best manner of governing their 
 respective countries. Mary received the mysterious 
 gifts which they offered to Jesus, who testified His 
 acceptance of them by a sweet and gracious air, 
 and also by imparting to them His benediction. 
 They offered to the blessed Virgin many of the 
 precious stones so much used in their countries, 
 but this admirable lover of holy poverty sweetly 
 refused them, showing that she was satisfied with 
 their affection and generosity, in return for which 
 she bestowed on them some of the garments which 
 had been worn by the divine Infant: these ex¬ 
 haled a delicious perfume, and, in the hands of the 
 holy kings, became the instruments of wonderful 
 miracles. They were very desirous of building a 
 house for the Holy Family, and of furnishing it 
 with everything necessary, but the most holy 
 Virgin would accept of nothing. So great was 
 the consolation which the Magi experienced in 
 listening to the holy and sublime discourses of the 
 blessed Virgin, that they found it almost impossi¬ 
 ble to depart, but an angel of the Lord appearing 
 to them, bade them return to their own countries. 
 They received the benedictions of Jesus, Mary, and 
 Joseph, and having been warned to return home 
 by a different route, they set out, and were again 
 guided by the miraculous star. These kings were 
 from Persia, Arabia, and Saba, to the east of Pales¬ 
 tine. 
 
 After their departure, a holy contest arose be¬ 
 tween the blessed Virgin and St. Joseph with 
 regard to the presents of the Magi. Mary was 
 
139 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 desirous that St. Joseph should distribute them 
 according to. his inclinations, while St. Joseph was 
 equally anxious that Mary should be the dispenser 
 of them. Finally, they agreed to offer for the use 
 of the Temple the myrrh, incense, and part of the 
 gold; another part was given to the priest who 
 had performed the circumcision, and the remainder 
 distributed among the poor. 
 
 At a little distance from the grotto was. a poor . 
 house, inhabited by an humble and pious woman. 
 Having witnessed the inconveniences suffered by 
 the Holy Family in the grotto, she offered them 
 her dwelling, miserable and poor without doubt, 
 but preferable to the grotto. She spoke with such 
 kindness and charity, that the holy Virgin, having 
 conferred with St. Joseph, determined to accept 
 her amiable invitation. 
 
 They quitted the holy grotto, and went to 
 dwell in this poor abode, outside the walls of 
 Bethlehem. 
 
 All the angels accompanied them in human 
 forms; this they did every time that the holy 
 spouses left their habitation to visit the holy 
 grotto. At its entrance God placed an angel 
 with a fiery sword to prevent any animal from 
 entering it, and even to the present day the angel 
 continues to guard the sacred spot. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 HE most holy Virgin and St. Joseph remained 
 with the divine Child in the poor house of 
 Bethlehem until the time prescribed by the 
 law for the presentation in the Temple, which 
 was forty days. Then they resolved to go to 
 Jerusalem, to offer, according to the law, the only 
 Son of the Eternal Father, for they knew the 
 desire He had to conform to the law, and be 
 offered to His divine Father. 
 
 On the day of their departure, they took leave 
 of their pious hostess, whom they loaded with 
 heavenly benedictions. Their first visit was to the 
 grotto, where, prostrate on the ground, they vene¬ 
 rated with deepest devotion that spot consecrated 
 by the birth of the Infant God. Actuated by pro¬ 
 found humility, the blessed Virgin begged her 
 holy spouse to allow her to perform the journey to 
 Jerusalem barefoot, and carrying her Infant in her 
 arms. The latter part of her request he granted, 
 but, from the fear that it would cause her too 
 much suffering, he refused the first. Mary humbly 
 acquiesced in his decision, and both having knelt 
 to receive the blessing of the divine Son, who gave 
 140 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 141 
 
 it to them in a visible manner, they set out upon 
 their journey. Mary was attended not only by 
 the thousand angels who had assisted her from the 
 time of the Incarnation, but also by many other 
 legions of blessed spirits. 
 
 The cold was very intense, and spared not its 
 Creator, so that the divine Infant wept several 
 times in the arms of His mother, to show that He 
 was truly man. Touched by His sufferings, she 
 exercised her authority over creatures, and caused 
 the weather to become very agreeable in favor of 
 her divine Son, but not for herself. 
 
 These holy travellers were approaching near 
 Jerusalem, when God, by His interior lights, made 
 known to Simeon and Anna the prophetess, that 
 the Messiah was about to be presented in the 
 Temple, in a state of humility and poverty. Simeon 
 and Anna, having communicated their holy inspi¬ 
 ration to each other, resolved to send one of their 
 servants—without, however, discovering to him 
 the quality of the persons he was sent to escort— 
 to meet them "on the road from Bethlehem, and 
 conduct them to his house. The servant carefully 
 executed these orders; he met the three poor pil¬ 
 grims, conducted them to the house, and went to 
 give the news to the holy priest. During this 
 time the holy Virgin and St. Joseph deliberated 
 what they should do, and decided that St. Joseph 
 should go that same evening to the Temple to 
 offer the presents of the three Magi, in secret, and 
 that on his return he should purchase the doves 
 that were to be offered publicly on the following 
 
142 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 day, all which he punctually executed. The, next 
 morning the holy Mother, after having prepared 
 everything necessary, wrapped the divine Infant in 
 swaddling-clothes, and set out for the Temple, 
 accompanied by St. Joseph and legions of angels, 
 who were distinctly visible to her. 
 
 Having arrived at the Temple, she prostrated 
 herself upon the ground in humble adoration of 
 the Most High, In the same moment she beheld 
 the Most Holy Trinity by an intellectual vision, 
 and heard a voice saying: Hie est Filins mens dilcc- 
 tns, in quo mihi bene complacni — This is my beloved 
 Son, in whom I am well pleased. Conducted by 
 the Spirit of God, Simeon now entered the Temple, 
 and approaching the place where Mary .stood, 
 holding her Infant in her arms, he beheld them 
 surrounded by a heavenly radiance. Anna, also 
 by divine inspiration, entered, and was witness of 
 the same prodigy. Simeon received the divine 
 Infant in his arms, and offered Him to the Eternal 
 Father; then he intoned his sublime canticle: Nunc 
 dimittis Servian tuian Donline , secundum verbuin 
 tuum.in pace —Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, 
 O Lord, according to thy word, in peace,, He 
 afterwards prophesied to the Mother the cruel 
 martyrdom which she was to suffer interiorly, at 
 the sight of the sufferings of her divine Son. 
 
 When the holy priest alluded to the Passion, 
 the Infant Saviour inclined His head to testify His 
 willingness to accomplish it. The blessed Virgin 
 then took leave of the priest, after having asked 
 his blessing and kissed his hand; she also turned 
 
Most Holy Virgin, 143 
 
 to Anna, her mistress, and begged her bene¬ 
 diction. Leaving the Temple, they returned to 
 
 « 
 
 the house prepared for them by Simeon, where 
 they remained for several days. They went 
 each day to the Temple to renew their offer¬ 
 ing, and there, in the most humble and retired 
 spot, remained in prayer, from the hour of 
 tierce •antil evening. 
 
-4 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 
 
 HE fifth day after the presentation, the most 
 holy Virgin had an abstractive vision of the 
 Divinity, in which she was warned to fly into 
 Egypt, because Herod sought to kill the new¬ 
 born Messiah, and she was encouraged not to fear 
 the inconveniences or fatigues of the journey 
 because God would assist her in all things. 
 With sentiments of profound humility she replied: 
 Ecce ancilla Domini , fiat 7nihi secundum verbum 
 tuum —Behold the hand-maid of the Lord, be it 
 done unto me according to thy word. Then she 
 prayed the Most High that she alone might be the 
 sufferer. Nevertheless, considering the pains that 
 so young an infant would have to endure in the 
 execution of this order, she was touched with com¬ 
 passion, and could not contain her tears. Seeing 
 this sadness, St. Joseph, being ignorant of the 
 cause, was somewhat afflicted, but would not ques¬ 
 tion her. He did not remain long in uncertainty, 
 for that same night an angel of the Lord appeared 
 and bade him fly into Egypt with the child and 
 His Mother, as is related by St. Matthew. The 
 saint arose and announced to the blessed Virgin 
 the order he had received. She instantly prepared 
 144 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 145 
 
 to depart with her afflicted spouse, without saying 
 that she also had received the same order. 
 
 Approaching the crib in which the divine Infant 
 slept, she knelt and raised Him in her arms most 
 tenderly, but He awoke and shed many tears; then 
 He gave His benediction to His holy parents, 
 who had asked it. The holy Mother having 
 wrapped up her Child, they departed without fur¬ 
 ther delay, it being a little after midnight. In 
 their journey they made use of the same beast that 
 they had brought from Nazareth to Bethlehem. 
 The holy Mother wished to visit the holy grotto 
 once more, but the thousand angels of her guard 
 represented that it would be dangerous on account 
 of Herod. Without reply she submitted to the 
 will of the Lord, and was satisfied with saluting the 
 venerable sanctuary from a distance. She was 
 consoled by the sight of the guardian angel of the 
 grotto, who came from Bethlehem to adore the 
 Incarnate God in the arms of His Mother. She 
 was also anxious to pass through Hebron, where 
 her cousin Elizabeth at that time resided, in order 
 that she might warn her of the danger impending 
 over John the Baptist, but St. Joseph did not 
 approve of this, because he feared Herod. His 
 humble spouse then requested permission to send 
 at least one of her attendant angels to warn Eliza¬ 
 beth to remove her child to a place of safety. The 
 angel delivered his message to Elizabeth, who on 
 hearing it expressed a desire to visit and adore the 
 divine Infant, but was prevented by the heavenly 
 messenger, in order that she might not retard their 
 13 
 
146 Divine Life of the 
 
 journey. However, she dispatched one of her 
 servants to carry provisions to the Holy Family, 
 linen for the use of the Child, and also money; a 
 part of which Mary, in her poverty, made use 
 of to satisfy the pressing necessities of her Infant 
 and her spouse; the remainder she distributed 
 among the poor. 
 
 They remained for two days at Gaza, a town 
 about fifteen leagues distant from Jerusalem, in 
 which lodging had been procured for them by 
 Elizabeth’s servant, after which, turning aside from 
 the inhabited portions of Judea, they advanced 
 towards Egypt, through the desert of Bersabee. 
 In the depth of winter they traversed this desert, 
 one hundred miles in length, before they reached 
 Heliopolis, now Cairo, in Egypt. During this 
 journey they were compelled to pass the nights in 
 the open air without any shelter. They spent the 
 first night at the foot of a hill, the Queen of 
 Heaven seated on the earth with her divine Child 
 in her arms. She took a little of the nourishment 
 they had brought from Gaza, and St. Joseph with 
 his mantle made a little tent to shelter the holy 
 Virgin and the divine Babe. 
 
 The next day they continued their journey, but 
 as their provisions failed, they suffered much, not 
 only from the fatigues of travel, but also from 
 want of food, which afterwards happened on 
 another occasion. The holy Virgin frequently 
 inquired of her divine Son if He did not suffer 
 from the cold and severity of the season; the holy 
 Child replied: ‘ My Mother, it is sweet and agree- 
 
J 47 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 able to me to suffer for the love of my Eternal 
 Father, and for men, for whom I have come to 
 serve as their Model; besides I am in thy com¬ 
 pany.” The holy Child often shed tears, but they 
 were tears of love and compassion for men. His 
 merciful Mother imitated His example. 
 
 In order to console St. Joseph in this painful 
 journey, the holy Virgin frequently placed the 
 Babe in his arms; then he would sometimes press 
 Him to his bosom, sometimes kiss His feet, or 
 humbly beg His benediction. One of the most 
 cruel sufferings which they had to undergo in this 
 journey was a violent storm of wind, accompanied 
 by rain and frost, so that, notwithstanding all the 
 blessed Virgin’s efforts to protect her beloved 
 Infant, then only fifty days old, He was often so 
 pierced with cold as to shed tears. It then became 
 necessary for her to exercise her power over 
 creatures ; she commanded, and the rain and wind 
 immediately ceased. To recompense the loving 
 care of His holy Mother, the divine Jesus bade the 
 angels assist their Queen and preserve her from 
 the rigor of the season. They formed a luminous 
 globe in which they enveloped not only the divine 
 Mother of the Creator, but St. Joseph also. This 
 was not the only benefit which the Infant God 
 operated in their favor; He also preserved them 
 from hunger when they had nothing to eat. He 
 bade the blessed spirits provide them with the 
 necessaries of life, and they brought white bread, 
 exquisite fruits, and an agreeable liquor. 
 
 The Lord again took care to recreate them in an 
 
148 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 agreeable manner; for when they stopped to rest 
 awhile, there came from the neighboring mountains 
 a great number of birds, some of which sang 
 melodious songs, others perched on their hands 
 and shoulders, seeming by their manner, to render 
 homage to their Creator and the divine Mother. 
 The angels also added their celestial harmonies to 
 cheer the hearts of the weary pilgrims. 
 
 The desert of Bersabee is that in which Elias 
 received from the angel the mysterious bread 
 baked under ashes, wjien he was flying from the 
 persecution of Jezabel. 
 
 After a long circuit of sixty miles, made by the 
 order of God, with indescribable suffering, they at 
 length arrived in Egypt. The divine Child raised 
 His eyes to heaven, and prayed to the Eternal 
 Father in behalf of those miserable people, groan¬ 
 ing under the dominion of the demons, whom 
 they adored in their numberless idols. Exercising 
 His supreme power over hell, on His first entrance 
 into that vast kingdom He cast the demons into 
 the abyss, overthrew the idols, and destroyed their 
 temples. The merciful Mother, by her fervent 
 prayers, cooperated with Him. 
 
 This wonderful event caused great anxiety among 
 the Egyptians, who were ignorant of its cause; never¬ 
 theless some of the wise men knew from the tradi¬ 
 tions of the ancients that a king of the Jews was to 
 enter into their country, at whose arrival their idols 
 were to be broken, and their temples demolished. 
 
 In this trouble, many came to the holy Vir¬ 
 gin and St. Joseph, to ask them, as they were 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 149 
 
 strangers, if they knew the cause of the wonderful 
 occurrence. 
 
 The Mother of divine Wisdom took advantage 
 of this favorable occasion to instruct them, to open 
 their eyes to the falsity of their worship, and 
 teach them the truths of faith. Amidst these 
 prodigies they continued their journey, expelling 
 the demons from the possessed, until they reached 
 Heliopolis. As they entered the city, a tree which 
 stood near the gate bowed its branches even to the 
 earth, as if to render homage to its Creator, and 
 thank Him for having delivered it from a demon 
 who had for a long time been venerated by the 
 Egyptians. A great number of persons witne sed 
 this prodigy, and many writers have preserved the 
 remembrance of it to succeeding ages, (see Nic. 
 Sozotnen , Brochus,) as also that of the well at 
 which the blessed Virgin and St. Joseph drank, 
 the water of which still operates many miracles. 
 
 Lucifer was confounded at these events, and 
 seeing all his companions precipitated into hell, 
 inflamed with fury, he came forth from the abyss 
 to discover the cause. He overran Egypt, but 
 discovering nothing, began to judge that the holy 
 Virgin was the cause of all the evil; he did not 
 suspect her Son, whom he believed to have been 
 born like other children. Returning to hell, he 
 revealed his suspicions to his companions, and led 
 them out to wage a new war against this woman 
 so terrible to them. But the Most High would 
 not permit it, and they were compelled to remain 
 at two miles distance from her. 
 
 13 * 
 
150 Divine Life of the 
 
 % 
 
 While Lucifer was thus preparing to attack our 
 Queen, God, by an act of His power, precipitated 
 him and his infernal battalions to the bottom of 
 the abyss, whence for some time they were not 
 allowed to come forth. 
 
 The holy travellers took up their abode in Helio¬ 
 polis, where they found a house suited to the 
 desires of the blessed Virgin, as it was poor and 
 at some distance from the city. Entering into it, 
 she knelt and kissed the ground, offering to God 
 all the sufferings she might have to endure before 
 returning to her own country ; then she cleansed 
 the house and arranged the articles in it, for 
 she was always a lover of neatness and order. 
 Although they had now found a lodging, yet they 
 were destitute of even the necessaries of life, for 
 since their arrival God had ceased to provide mira¬ 
 culously for their wants, as He had done during 
 their journey in the desert. Therefore they were 
 obliged to turn to the last resource of the poor,—that 
 of alms, and the holy St. Joseph went from door to 
 door, soliciting the charitable aid of others.* 
 
 During the first three days they had no other 
 food than the pieces of bread which St. Joseph thus 
 received. The blessed Mother and the divine 
 Babe dwelt in this house destitute of every conve¬ 
 nience, and in a state of extreme want, without 
 
 * Is it not impossible for us to restrain our tears, when we 
 consider that the glorious Patriarch St. Joseph was obliged to 
 beg from door to door, the food which was necessary to sup¬ 
 port the King and Queen of heaven ? Oh! how much is poverty 
 ennobled when we look upon it from this Christian point of 
 view. 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 151 
 
 even a board for their bed. In a short time St. 
 Joseph, having earned a little money by his labor, 
 procured a bed for his holy spouse, and a crib for 
 the Child ; as for himself, he lay only on the bare 
 ground. The house remained entirely bare of furni¬ 
 ture and utensils, until he earned the price of them 
 by the sweat of his brow. It contained three small 
 rooms, one of which served as the oratory of the 
 blessed Virgin; there she retired to pray, and there 
 also she kept the Holy Infant. The second was 
 used by St. Joseph as a place of prayer and repose ; 
 and the third served as a shop wherein he followed 
 his trade. The blessed Mother, seeing that St. Joseph 
 was compelled to redouble his labors in order to pro¬ 
 vide for the sustenance of the Holy Family, resolved 
 to aid him by her own endeavors. She procured 
 work from some of the neighboring wjmen, and as 
 all that she did was perfect, she was never in want 
 of employment. In order to do this she devoted 
 the day to work and the night to spiritual exercises. 
 Yet during the hours of labor, this great Queen 
 never lost sight of her Son and her God; she 
 never ceased her divine contemplations, but merely 
 uj. erred until night the exercises of piety she had 
 been accustomed to perform in the day. The 
 Infant God was delighted with the prudence of His 
 Mother; He regulated the distribution of her time, 
 and apportioned to each hour its particular duty. 
 This manner of life she followed during all the time 
 of their stay in Egypt. She always knelt by the 
 crib in which the Child reposed : sometimes she 
 conversed with Him, at other times, sang in His 
 
i 5 2 Divine Life of the Afost Holy Virgin. 
 
 praise hymns and canticles, which, had they been 
 written, would exceed in number those now 
 chanted in our churches. 
 
 The fame of the sanctity of the Holy Family 
 soon spread throughout the city, and persons of 
 every condition flocked to visit them. The con¬ 
 course of people became so great that the blessed 
 Virgin consulted God as to how she was to act 
 with regard to them. Our Lord answered that she 
 should instruct them in the truths of faith and the 
 knowledge of the true God. The obedient Queen 
 faithfully executed this order; the fruit which she 
 produced in those souls was so great, that it would 
 be impossible to relate all the wonders and mira¬ 
 culous conversions which she operated. She .de¬ 
 voted herself particularly to the care of the poor 
 and infirm, in whose favor she exercised not only 
 her charity, but also her wisdom and power. 
 
 The great and excessive heats of Egypt pro¬ 
 duced a pestilence in Heliopolis, during which 
 she underwent incredible labors and fatigues in 
 attending the sick. So great was the number that 
 flocked to her, that she asked our Lord to permit 
 St. Joseph to aid her in the work. He then in¬ 
 structed and cured the men, whilst she performed 
 the like offices for the women, so that the love 
 borne towards them by the inhabitants of that 
 country was very great. Frequently, in evidence 
 of their gratitude, they brought gifts and presents, 
 yet the Queen of heaven never accepted anything 
 for herself; that which she could not possibly 
 refuse, she distributed among the poor. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS. 
 
 /jJ'HE Holy Family had been six months ic 
 | Egypt, when Herod, furious at the news of 
 the wonderful things that had occurred wh/lsf 
 ' the Magi were in Bethlehem, and again when 
 the Child Jesus was in Jerusalem, determined on 
 and commanded the Massacre of the Innocents. 
 Our great Queen understood at that time, that her 
 Son was praying to His Eternal Father for the 
 afflicted parents, and offering up those infant victims 
 as the first fruits of His redemption of men. She 
 knew also that, in order that they might be sacrificed 
 in the name of their Redeemer, He would grant to 
 the Holy Innocents the use of reason, that thus 
 they might merit the crown and glory of martyr¬ 
 dom. The Blessed Virgin understood that the 
 Eternal Father granted all the petitions of the 
 Incarnate Word. 
 
 Although she was anxious to inquire respecting 
 the fate of St. Elizabeth and St. John the Baptist, 
 yet she hesitated to do so, on account of the 
 reverence and prudence which she felt with regard 
 to matters of revelation. At length with great 
 humility she spoke of her fears to her divine Son, 
 who was pleased to let her know that Zachary had 
 
 153 
 
'54 
 
 Divine Lijt of the 
 
 > 
 
 died four months after the birth of the Infanjt Jesus, 
 that Elizabeth and her son had retired into the 
 desert to escape the persecution of Herod, and that 
 she there dwelt in a grotto and spent her life in 
 the practice of the greatest mortification. In this 
 revelation she also learned that Elizabeth would 
 live only three years longer, and that after her 
 death, St. John the Baptist would remain in the 
 desert. From this time the blessed Virgin fre¬ 
 quently sent her angels to visit her cousin and 
 carry provisions to her, and those were the best 
 meals which Elizabeth had in the desert. When 
 the time of her holy cousin’s death drew nigh, 
 Mary sent many of her angels to assist her, and 
 after her happy departure, they buried her in her 
 pious solitude. 
 
 During the seven years which followed, Mary 
 supplied the young Baptist with the food neces¬ 
 sary for his support, such as bread and other 
 things, but after that time she ceased to do so, 
 because he was then able to procure for himself the 
 food which he required, such as herbs, locusts and 
 wild honey. 
 
 The massacre of the Innocents was beheld by 
 Mary as vividly as if she were present at it; she 
 knew the exact number of the children, and also 
 that they had received the use of reason, by which 
 they were enabled to render their sacrifice volun¬ 
 tarily. Some of the infants were only eight days 
 old, others two or six months, none over two years. 
 They received a profound knowledge of the Divine 
 Essence, and also the infused virtues of perfect 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 155 
 
 charity, faith, hope, and religion, and exercised 
 heroic acts of these virtues as well as of the love of 
 God and worship of the Divinity. She beheld a 
 multitude of angels who assisted them at their 
 martyrdom, accompanied them to limbo, and, 
 after our Lord’s ascension, into paradise also. At 
 this sight, the holy Queen, inflamed with love and 
 full of joy, intoned the canticle, Laudate pueri, 
 Dominuin , which the angels continued with her. 
 
 One day, as the blessed Virgin and St. Joseph 
 were conversing together on the mystery of the 
 Incarnation, the Divine Infant consoled His foster- 
 father by speaking to him for the first time. He 
 addressed him by the sweet name of “ Father,” and 
 so great was the impression made upon St. Joseph 
 by this word, that it was a miracle that he did not 
 expire of love. This happened one year after their 
 arrival in Egypt. During this period the blessed 
 Mother had kept her Son in swaddling-clothes, but 
 now she asked His permission to change them for 
 other garments. The divine Infant answered her 
 thus: 
 
 “ My Mother, the swathing bands of my infancy 
 have been very pleasing to me, because of the love 
 I bear to the souls whom I have created, and whom 
 I am come to redeem. In my more mature years 
 I shall be bound, dragged to my enemies, and by 
 them be put to death. And if even the thought of 
 this is pleasing to me, because I love the will of 
 my Father, all other things will be easy. I wish to 
 have only one garment in this world, for I desire 
 only what is necessary to cover me. Although all 
 
15 6 Divine Life of the 
 
 created things are mine, yet I wish to teach men 
 by my example to reject all that is superfluous. 
 Clothe me then, my dear Mother, in a long, dark 
 tunic; it will grow with me, and for it they will 
 cast lots at my death, so that, even of this, I will 
 not have the disposal, in order that men may know 
 , that I was born, lived and died in poverty.” 
 
 The blessed Virgin r plied: “ Allow me to put 
 shoes on thy feet, that they may not be bruised at 
 so tender an age ? I also desire that thou wouldst 
 wear this linen under thy tunic, to protect thy 
 flesh from the roughness of the wool.” The Lord 
 replied: 
 
 “ My Mother, I consent that, for the present, thou 
 mayst put poor sandals upon my feet: I will wear 
 them until the time of my public life, when I will 
 begin to go barefoot. The linen I will not use, that 
 I may teach the world, and those who in future 
 times will follow me in great numbers, to practise 
 poverty in their attire.” 
 
 The Virgin Mother, having learned the will of 
 her dear Son, made His sandals herself, as also His 
 woollen tunic, which she wove without, seam. This 
 tunic grew with His growth, and never became old 
 or soiled during the thirty-two years that He wore 
 it, nor did it, in the least, lose its first color and 
 lustre. When the divine Infant began to walk, the 
 consolation of the blessed Mother and St. Joseph 
 was indescribable. In their presence He walked 
 without being held, but before strangers He con¬ 
 cealed this wonder. The holy Virgin continued to 
 nurse our Lord three times a day for six months 
 
157 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 Idnger, after which she began to give Him light 
 food at morning, noon and evening, but this He 
 never asked for. When He became a little older 
 He took His meals with His holy parents, and it 
 was He who gave the blessing before and after 
 meals. As soon as Jesus began to walk, He fre¬ 
 quently retired into His Mother’s oratory to pray. 
 Mary was in doubt whether she should follow Him 
 thither, but Jesus Himself invited her to accom¬ 
 pany and remain with Him. Thus, by the will of 
 the Lord, she became the disciple of her divine 
 Son, and from that moment there were operated 
 between them mysteries so hidden, yet so great, 
 that human tongue cannot relate them. 
 
 Here we must not omit to relate that in 
 the spiritual exercises which they performed, our 
 Saviour often wept and had bloody sweats.* His 
 dear mother wiped away those holy tears and pre¬ 
 cious drops of blood, occasioned (as she discovered 
 by her knowledge of her Son’s interior life) by the 
 loss of the reprobates, and the ingratitude of men 
 towards their Creator and Redeemer. 
 
 When the Child Jesus attained the age of six 
 years, He began to pay visits to the sick and 
 infirm, in order to console and strengthen them in 
 their afflictions. A great number of children 
 flocked to Him; to these He taught the practice 
 
 *It is important here to remark that the divine Jesus often 
 shed tears, from His tender infancy even to His death. Both 
 He and Mary wept for sins and faults committed by men 
 against His Eternal Father. Let us, then, enrich ourselves 
 with the infinite merits of the precious tears of Jesus and His 
 Mother. 
 
 14 
 
158 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 of virtues, and the way to eternal life. Whet, 
 engaged in conversation in His parents’ house He 
 assumed a more serious air, and discontinued the 
 caresses which He had sometimes bestowed on 
 His Mother and foster-father. So great an air of 
 majesty appeared on His countenance that, had it 
 not been tempered by incomparable mildness, no 
 one would have dared to address Him, so profound 
 was the respectful awe which He inspired. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE RETURN. FROM EGYPT TO NAZARETH. 
 
 Q FTER six years of exile in Egypt, the Eternal 
 Ml Father expressly ordered the Incarna f e Word 
 to return to Nazareth. His Mother, who was 
 praying at His side, saw in His heart that He 
 was conforming Himself to the divine will; the 
 angel, at the same time, made known to St. 
 Joseph that they were to depart, as is recorded by 
 the Evangelist. 
 
 After having regulated everything, they dis¬ 
 tributed their few utensils among the poor, by the 
 hands of the Infant Jesus, who had been accus¬ 
 tomed to distribute their little alms. 
 
 They left Heliopolis accompanied by the holy 
 angels, and recrossed the deserts they had tra¬ 
 versed seven years before. The blessed Virgin, car¬ 
 rying the Child, rode on the ass they had brought 
 with them in their flight, and St. Joseph led the 
 way. Sometimes he prayed, at others, conversed 
 with his spouse, contemplated the divine Infant, or 
 sang sacred canticles. They soon exhausted their 
 supply of provisions, but the Infant Jesus supplied 
 their wants, either by miraculously multiplying the 
 bread, or by. the ministry of angels. 
 
 At length, after a tedious and painful journey, 
 
 l 59 
 
160 Divme Life of the 
 
 they arrived at the confines of Palestine, where the 
 holy spouse learned that the cruel Herod was 
 dead, but that Archelaiis, his son, reigned in 
 Judea. Therefore, he thought it best to cross the 
 country of the tribes of Dan and Issachar, in the 
 lower part of Galilee. 
 
 They followed the coast of the Mediterranean, 
 leaving Jerusalem to the right, and finally arrived 
 at Nazareth. They returned thanks to God, and 
 St. Joseph went to seek that pious woman, their 
 former neighbor, to whom they had confided the 
 care of their house. Entering this abode, the 
 blessed Virgin prostrated herself on the earth, 
 and again returned thanks to the Most High for 
 having delivered them out of the hands of Herod. 
 She placed everything in order, and resumed 
 her wonted occupations, according to her rule 
 of life. 
 
 As our Lord wished that His holy Mother 
 should be a perfect model of all virtues, He applied 
 Himself with special care to her perfection dur¬ 
 ing the twenty-three years He spent with her in 
 this holy house. To try her in the greatness of 
 her holy love, as w T ell as to exercise her in the 
 most heroic virtues, He deprived her of the gift of 
 reading His interior, which had hitherto been 
 to her a source of inexpressible consolation. He 
 began to treat her with a serious and reserved air, 
 seldom spoke to her, and frequently remained alone. 
 
 The tender Virgin Mother, not knowing what 
 had caused so great a change, had recourse to 
 her profound humility. She esteemed herself un- 
 
Most Holy Vi?gin, 161 
 
 worthy of those favors, and was less afflicted for 
 having lost the sight of her Lord, than from the 
 fear that she had disgusted Him by her ingrati¬ 
 tude. Jesus felt sensibly the affliction of His holy 
 Mother, but did not wish to give any exterior 
 sign of His compassion. Sometimes when His 
 Mother called Him to take the nourishment neces¬ 
 sary to sustain life, He did not attend immediately 
 as He had been accustomed to do; at other times 
 He obeyed, but would not look at her, or speak 
 even one word. Although His exterior manner of 
 acting was so severe, He felt inexpressible interior 
 joy and complacency at seeing such wonderful 
 virtue in a mere creature. 
 
 He assumed a still graver air, when at taking 
 Him to rest, she would prostrate herself before 
 Him all bathed in tears, and implore His pardon 
 for her want of care during the day. Although 
 He beheld her in such deep affliction, yet He 
 answered her humble petition only by command¬ 
 ing her to depart. This bitter and cruel trial, 
 which was to Mary a martyrdom of excessive 
 grief, was to Jesus a subject of complacency, in 
 proving how great and pure was His Mother’s 
 love. After this terrible agony had lasted for 
 thirty days, she prostrated herselt at His feet, 
 and bathed in tears, implored Him to tell her if 
 in aught she had been remiss in serving Him, 
 begging Him at the same time not to deprive 
 her any longer of a return of love. Our Lord 
 answered: “Arise, my Mother.” At these affec¬ 
 tionate words the heart of that tender Mother, so 
 14 * 
 
162 Divine Life of the 
 
 oppressed with grief, was immediately transformed, 
 as it were, and raised to sublime ecstacy, in which 
 her grief was changed into sweet interior consola¬ 
 tion of the soul. 
 
 But this first affliction was quickly followed by 
 another. 
 
 By the law of Moses it was ordained that the 
 Israelites should go to the temple to adore God 
 three times each year. This law, it is true, was 
 not binding upon women ; nevertheless it was 
 resolved that St. Joseph should go thither twice 
 alone, but that the third time the blessed Virgin 
 and her Son should accompany him. Although 
 Jerusalem was many miles distant, nevertheless 
 Jesus wished to perform the journey on foot, al¬ 
 though at so tender an age it would naturally cause 
 Him much pain and suffering. On His first pilgrim¬ 
 age only did He permit Himself to be carried, some¬ 
 times by His Mother, at others by St. Joseph. 
 When they rested for the night at some hostlery, 
 He never left His Mother’s side, in order that she 
 might be able always to consider and imitate Him 
 in all His actions. 
 
 When Jesus had attained the age of twelve 
 years the Holy Family performed one of these pil¬ 
 grimages, in order to be present at the feast of the 
 Azymes, which lasted seven days. On the last 
 day of the feast they set out to return to Nazareth. 
 Our Lord profited by this occasion to separate 
 from His parents. In order to do this, He availed 
 Himself of the custom of the Jews, for the immense 
 concourse of people divided themselves into groups, 
 
Most Hoiy Virgin. 163 
 
 the women walking by themselves, and the men do¬ 
 ing the same. Children were allowed to remain either 
 with their father or mother, therefore St. Joseph 
 thought that Jesus had remained with His Mother, 
 
 At this time Mary’s thoughts were diverted from 
 the person of her Son, and absorbed in a state of 
 high contemplation ; returning to herself and per¬ 
 ceiving Jesus to be absent, she thought He was 
 with St. Joseph. 
 
 The divine Infant had separated from them at the 
 gate of the city, where the crowd was the greatest. 
 In the evening when the people met together and 
 families were reunited at the appointed place, the 
 holy Virgin and St. Joseph perceived the absence 
 of the Child, and were rendered speechless by sur¬ 
 prise and grief. Coming a little to themselves, they 
 resolved to return and seek Him by the road they 
 had just travelled over; meanwhile they accused 
 themselves of great negligence. 
 
 The holy Virgin inquired of the angels of her 
 guard as to what had befallen her Son, but they 
 gave her no reply. The afflicted parents feared 
 that Archelaiis had heard of the Child, and had 
 caused His arrest; or that, by some fault, they 
 themselves had been the cause of His loss. Op- 
 pressed with these sorrowful fears, they continued 
 to seek Him without taking either rest or nourish¬ 
 ment. Having vainly sought among their friends 
 and relations in Jerusalem, they were about to go 
 into the desert, in the hope of finding him with 
 St John the Baptist, but this the angels prevented. 
 
 On the third da)- they wished to go to Beth- 
 
i6 4 Divine Life of the 
 
 lehem, thinking that Jesus might have gone thither; 
 but they were again dissuaded by the angels, there¬ 
 fore they traversed the streets of Jerusalem, inquir¬ 
 ing for Him, and giving descriptions of His coun¬ 
 tenance, hair, height, and clothing. . A woman 
 replied that such a child had come to her door to 
 ask alms, and that whilst giving it to him she had 
 felt tender compassion at seeing a child so gracious 
 and amiable without any one to take care of him. 
 Hearing this, the afflicted Mother and St. Joseph 
 directed their steps to the hospital for the poor, 
 where they again heard that a child like that des¬ 
 cribed, had been there consoling the poor, but he 
 had gone, no one knew whither. 
 
 Then the afflicted spouses thought that they 
 might find Him in the Temple, and having asked 
 the guardian angels, they encouraged them to seek 
 Him there. 
 
 They directed their steps to the Temple, where 
 they arrived just as the dispute going on between 
 the scribes and doctors, in which Jesus had taken 
 part, w.is about to be terminated; they only heard 
 the last reasons given by the holy Child to prove 
 the coming of the Messiah, which was the subject 
 of the discussion. 
 
 Ravished with joy at having found her treasure, 
 the holy Virgin approached her divine Son, and, in 
 presence of all, addressed Him in the words written 
 by St. Luke : Fili } quid fecisti nobis sic? Ecce pater 
 tuns et ego dolentes , qucerebamus te: —Son, why hast 
 Thou done so to us ? behold, thy father and I have 
 sought Thee sorrowing. 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 165 
 
 Jesus answered in the words quoted by the 
 Evangelist. Leaving .the Temple, they took the 
 direction of Nazareth. As soon as they reached a 
 solitary place, the holy Virgin satisfied the desire 
 of her heart by prostrating herself at the feet of 
 her divine Son, and asking His blessing. He con¬ 
 soled her by kind and gracious words, and by giving 
 her a clearer knowledge than she had had here¬ 
 tofore of the mysteries of His heart, and the reasons 
 which had prompted Him to act towards her as 
 He had done. 
 
 The Evangelist has written nothing of the eigh¬ 
 teen years which Jesus spent in Nazareth, except 
 that He was submissive to His parents; eterat 
 subditiis illis , and this because the things that trans¬ 
 pired within that holy abode are too sublime for 
 human description. Here it was that our great 
 Queen received the knowledge of all the mysteries, 
 rites and ceremonies of the Church, the falsity of 
 heresies, the errors of the Gentiles, and all the 
 arrangement of the evangelical law. She had a 
 foreknowledge of the four gospels and of all the 
 mysteries which they contain, and this knowledge 
 was so clear and well defined, that no other creature 
 could ever attain it. In a vision of the Divinity, she 
 learned that God wished her to be the Mistress of 
 the new law of grace, and she received the lights 
 and graces necessary to so exalted an office. 
 
 Three years were devoted by Jesus to the in¬ 
 struction of His holy Mother, during which time 
 He gave her three instructions each day. He also 
 continually operated wonders in her soul by the 
 
166 Divine Life of the 
 
 force of holy love; at each instant He added 
 
 graces to graces already received, gifts to those 
 
 with which He heretofore enriched her, and an 
 
 increase of sanctity to the sublime perfection which 
 
 she had attained. She learned that not onlv would 
 
 * 
 
 the Holy Sacrament of the Altar be instituted, but 
 that this would occur before her death, and that 
 she would have the happiness of receiving it many 
 times. In view of this wonderful mystery she 
 annihilated herself in the depths of her nothingness, 
 and offered most fervent thanksgivings to God ; as 
 a preparation to receive in future time the adorable 
 body of her Son, she began to offer up every action 
 for this great end, and this ineffable mystery re¬ 
 mained from that moment ever present to her mind. 
 
 These wonders were usually operated in the 
 humble oratory of Mary, in the house at Nazareth. 
 There did Jesus converse with her on sublime mys¬ 
 teries, there did they pray together, sometimes 
 kneeling, sometimes prostrate in the form of a 
 cross, and again raised from the ground, in the 
 same holy position. Sometimes Jesus spoke to her 
 as a Master, at other times as her Son ; sometimes 
 He would be transfigured in His body as He was 
 afterwards on Mount Thabor; and again would be 
 bathed in a sweat of blood, as in His passion. 
 
 Whilst Mary was receiving these divine lessons 
 she attained to her thirty-third year, the age at 
 which the human body has received all its perfec¬ 
 tions and begins to decline; yet in Mary, age ope¬ 
 rated no change; at seventy, her complexion and 
 form were as beautiful as at the age of maturity, and 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 167 
 
 this privilege was granted to her sinless body that 
 it might always resemble the Sacred Humanity of 
 her Divine Son, as it seemed when He attained 
 H is full perfection. This same favor was not 
 granted to St. Joseph; and the blessed Mother 
 perceiving the great change in him, begged him to 
 cease from work, saying that she herself would 
 labor for the support of the family. Although the 
 holy patriarch at first opposed this proposition, yet 
 he finally acquiesced, and in order that they mi ght 
 possess nothing superfluous, they distributed his 
 tools among poor carpenters. 
 
 From this time St. Joseph gave himself up 
 entirely to the contemplation of the mysteries of 
 which he was the depositary, and to the heroic 
 practice of virtues. The blessed Mother was 
 enabled to support the family without being com¬ 
 pelled to leave her retreat, for a devout woman, 
 who loved her for her virtue, always provided her 
 with work. In this she did not seek for gain, 
 for a little sufficed for all their wants. Mary and 
 her Son never tasted meat; their food consisted 
 of fish, fruits and herbs, and of these they partook 
 with great moderation. She took but very little 
 rest, and devoted several hours of the night to 
 labor, for God allowed her to do so now, more 
 than when she dwelt in Egypt. Sometimes, when 
 her means did not suffice to provide for St. Joseph 
 all those little delicacies which she wished, God 
 would supply the want, sometimes by multiplying 
 what they had, at others, by sending through the 
 guardian angels of Mary all that was required. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ? 
 
 THE SICKNESS AND PRECIOUS DEATH OF ST. JOSEPH. 
 
 ^^HE suffering and pain consequent to the indis¬ 
 position of the holy patriarch continued to 
 increase with his years, and his holy spouse 
 was obliged to redouble her labors, not for 
 their support alone, but also that she might be 
 able to procure many comforts for him. She 
 frequently exercised her power over creatures by 
 commanding the viands she prepared to have a 
 more agreeable flavor. His meals she presented 
 on her knees, and also performed the humble 
 office of taking off his shoes when he was unable 
 to do it himself. 
 
 During the last three years of his life, in which 
 his sufferings increased, she assisted him day and 
 night, except when she was occupied in serving 
 Jesus, or giving Him His meals. Not content 
 with these assiduous attentions, she begged the 
 Lord to diminish the sufferings of her spouse, 
 and inflict them upon herself. She commanded 
 his pains to abate, and bade her angels to console 
 him, which they did, sometimes by conversing 
 with him in visible forms, and again by chanting 
 celestial melodies. 
 
 During the space of eight years God had tried 
 
 168 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 169 
 
 -- 
 
 the virtue of the holy patriarch by continual sick¬ 
 ness, in order thereby to add to his eternal re¬ 
 ward. 
 
 The holy Virgin saw that the hour of his death 
 was drawing nigh, and supplicated her divine Son 
 to aid him in that last and dangerous hour. The 
 merciful Jesus promised that He would not only 
 assist him, but would raise him to a rank so exalted 
 that he would be the admiration of all the heavenly 
 hierarchies. In reality, during the last five days of 
 his life, Jesus never quitted his side, except when 
 the holy Virgin took his place. During the nine 
 days which preceded his decease, the angels, by 
 the order of his blessed spouse, chanted three 
 times a day their heavenly canticles, and the 
 celestial perfume of Paradise filling the room of 
 the dying saint, fortified and strengthened him. 
 On the eve of his death he was ravished in an 
 ecstacy which continued for twenty-four hours, for 
 our Lord strengthened him and enabled him to 
 bear it. In this state he clearly beheld the Divine 
 Essence, as also all that regarded the mysteiies of 
 the Incarnation and Redemption, which he had 
 heretofore known only by the light of faith. 
 
 He was commissioned by the Most Holy Trinity 
 to announce to the holy patriarchs in limbo that 
 the time of their deliverance was approaching. 
 Returning to himself out of this ecstatic state, St. 
 Joseph appeared glorious and resplendent. Turn¬ 
 ing to the holy Virgin he besought her to bless 
 him, but she humbly asked her divine Son to give 
 this consolation to St. Joseph, and Jesus blessed 
 15 
 
170 Divine Life of the 
 
 him. Then kneeling before the dying patriarch, 
 she asked and received his parting benediction, and 
 respectfully kissed his hand. With great humility 
 St. Joseph begged pardon of his holy spouse for 
 the faults he might have committed against the 
 reverence due to her dignity and merit, and prayed 
 her to assist him in his last moments. After this 
 he addressed himself to his Son, and returned most 
 humble thanks for the favors He had conferred on 
 him, particularly during his illness. He made 
 every effort to throw h'imself on his knees, but 
 Jesus, who was at his side, taking him in His arms, 
 pressed him to His bosom; in that moment of 
 supreme happiness his pure soul exhaled its last 
 breath. As soon as he was dead, the angels chanted 
 their celestial harmonies in the holy house, and the 
 blessed Virgin commanded them to conduct his 
 great soul to limbo, to remain with the holy 
 patriarchs. 
 
 With her own hands she prepared the body for 
 burial, and the Lord vested it with ravishing splen¬ 
 dor. It is necessary to remark that the death of 
 St. Joseph was not caused by his great and par¬ 
 ticular infirmities alone, but was also caused by the 
 fire of his ardent charity. His heart was consumed 
 by flames so ardent that his life had been many 
 times preserved by a miracle; God at length sus¬ 
 pended His succor, nature could no longer resist 
 the force of his love, and the link which bound his 
 holy soul to the body was broken. 
 
 This kind of death was then more the triumph 
 of divine love, than the punishment of original sin. 
 
Most Holy Virgin . J7 1 
 
 St. Joseph died at the age of sixty years. He had 
 lived twenty-seven years with the blessed Virgin, 
 who, at the time of his decease, was forty-one years 
 and six months old. 
 
 The holy Virgin felt a great natural sorrow for 
 the death of her spouse, because she loved him 
 with tender affection, and this love was increased 
 by her knowledge of the sublime sanctity to which 
 he had attained. She knew that he had been 
 sanctified when seven months in the womb of his 
 mother, and that the fire of concupiscence had 
 seemed to be extinguished in him through his 
 entire life. Never had he experienced the lightest 
 sentiment of an impure or ill-regulated affection. 
 At the age of three years he had received the use 
 of reason, as also infused science, and an augmen¬ 
 tation of grace in the highest degree. The gift of 
 contemplation had been given him, and, at the age 
 of seven years, he had possessed consummate sanc¬ 
 tity. He was equal to the seraphim in purity, and 
 had never had a thought or image contrary to this 
 divine virtue. In fine, by his heroic virtue, he had 
 merited to be chosen as the foster-father and 
 adopted parent of the Son of God. 
 
 Knowing of all these gifts, and even of many 
 others, the holy Virgin could not but be sensibly 
 grieved at such a loss. 
 
 God has granted some extraordinary privileges 
 to St. Joseph. First, those who invoke him, shall 
 obtain from God, by his intercession, the gift of 
 chastity, and shall not be conquered by the tempta¬ 
 tion of the senses; secondly, they shall receive 
 
 
 
172 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 particular graces to deliver them from sin; thirdly, 
 they shall obtain a true devotion to the blessed 
 Virgin; fourthly, they shall have a good and happy 
 death, and in that all-decisive moment be defended 
 against the assaults of Satan ; fifthly, they shall be 
 delivered, when expedient for them, from bodily 
 sufferings, and shall find help in their afflictions; 
 sixthly, if married, they shall be blessed with off¬ 
 spring; seventhly, the demons shall have extreme 
 dread of the invocation of the glorious name of 
 St. Joseph. 
 
 After the death of the holy patriarch, the blessed 
 Virgin learned that it was the will of God that she 
 should no longer devote so much time to manual 
 labor, but apply herself more particularly to inte¬ 
 rior exercises. A few hours, work was sufficient 
 to procure all that w r as necessary for her wants, for 
 now she restricted herself to one frugal meal in 
 the day. Heretofore she had taken two, but this 
 only that she might be able to keep company with 
 her spouse. She now punctually executed what 
 she knew to be the will of our Lord with regard to 
 her food, frequently tasting nothing but a morsel 
 of dry bread, and even this only at night. 
 
 Although the respect and veneration entertained 
 by Mary for her divine Son had always been very 
 great, yet these sentiments increased in her after 
 the death of St. Joseph, more particularly in the 
 outward manifestation of them. Having then no 
 witnesses but the angels, she would prostrate her¬ 
 self before Jesus, and remain in this humble posi¬ 
 tion until He would bid her arise. Frequently she 
 
Most Holy Virgin, 173 
 
 kissed His sacred feet, and always presented His 
 food on her knees. Many were the humble con¬ 
 tests which arose between her and the angels with 
 regard to such lowly offices as cleaning the house, 
 etc., which she wished to perform herself, but in 
 which they frequently anticipated her, serving her 
 as subjects do their queen; yet, if she asked them 
 not to perform these actions, they immediately 
 obeyed. Mary most attentively observed all the 
 actions of Jesus, and as He, considering that not¬ 
 withstanding His sufferings and death, so many 
 souls would be lost through their own fault, was 
 often so extremely afflicted as to be bathed in a 
 sweat of blood, so she, from the same motive, shed 
 tears of blood. Then our Lord, being moved with 
 compassion, would command the angels to console 
 her with celestial melodies, or sometimes He Him¬ 
 self would console her by His embrace. She had 
 a foreknowledge of many of the predestined, prin¬ 
 cipally the apostles, the disciples, and the faithful 
 of the primitive Church; therefore, when she after¬ 
 wards beheld the followers of her Divine Son, she 
 knew them before she spoke to them, and had 
 already prayed for them. 
 
 Many other mysteries were operated in this time 
 between Jesus and His Mother, more particularly 
 during the last four years they spent together, 
 which are reserved to be revealed in heaven for 
 the particular happiness of the elect. 
 
 15 * 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 PREPARATION FOR THE PUBLIC LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 (• 
 
 < 4 * 
 
 [ESUS, having attained His twenty-seventh 
 year, began to prepare for His public life. 
 C^J) He retired more frequently from the house, 
 and sometimes remained absent from His 
 Mother for three days. She suffered much in 
 those separations, and would often send her angels 
 to inform Him of the most trifling details of her 
 occupations. When He returned to the house she 
 prostrated herself, in order to thank Him for the 
 graces He had granted to sinners. She served 
 Him as a tender and affectionate Mother, and pre¬ 
 pared delicate food to support His sacred human¬ 
 ity. Of this He was often in great need, as He 
 sometimes passed three entire days without either 
 food or rest. She desired to accompany Him on 
 His journeys, in order to assist those who would 
 hearken to the divine word, and this desire our 
 Lord granted, by permitting her to follow Him; 
 therefore, from that moment, whenever Jesus went 
 forth from Nazareth, His blessed Mother accompa¬ 
 nied Him. 
 
 Our Lord began to make journeys in the neigh¬ 
 borhood of Nazareth, announcing everywhere the 
 coming of the Messiah, and accompanying His 
 
 174 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . i 7 5 
 
 words by the interior inspirations of His grace, to 
 prepare them to receive Him. He suited His in¬ 
 structions to the quality of the persons who heard 
 Him ; to the learned He spoke of the testimonies 
 given in the prophecies; to the ignorant, He 
 alluded to the coming of the Magi and the mas¬ 
 sacre of the Innocents, thus bringing forward what 
 was most suited to the capacities and dispositions 
 of each. The fruit produced by these divine 
 teachings was great and abundant, although it 
 was done in private and not in public, as afterwards 
 in His three years preaching. 
 
 He visited the sick and consoled many in their 
 agony; some He cured without their knowing who 
 had relieved them. The Virgin Mother was gene¬ 
 rally present on these occasions, and cooperated 
 with Him; she instructed more women than men, 
 for at that time the followers of Jesus were but 
 few in number, as the time destined in the divine 
 decrees for calling them had not yet arrived. 
 The usual companions of Jesus were His Mother 
 and the angels; these blessed spirits frequently 
 sheltered them from the inclemency of the seasons, 
 W'hen they were returning to their home. 
 
 To every one they spoke of the coming of the 
 Messiah, the Saviour of the world, but in this 
 regard the poor were more privileged, as being the 
 better disposed, their sins being less heinous, their 
 attachment to worldly goods but slight, and their 
 humility greater. 
 
 At that time the voice of the Lord came to John 
 the son of Zachary in the desert, as is related in the 
 
 ——— 
 
176 Divine Life of the 
 
 holy gospel. He heard this divine voice whilst 
 absorbed in an ecstasy, in which he was given to 
 understand that he should leave the desert to 
 prepare the way for the preaching of the Word. 
 The holy precursor came forth from 1 is desert, 
 clothed in camel-skin, barefoot, pale and emaciated. 
 His appearance breathed an air of gravity, tempered 
 by incomparable modesty and profound humility; 
 his soul was strong, generous, and inflamed with 
 love for God and his neighbor; in a word, he was 
 admirably fitted to be the precursor of the Incarnate 
 Word, and the teacher of the Jews, a stiff-necked, 
 ungrateful, and obstinate people, governed by 
 idolatrous magistrates, and directed by proud and 
 avaricious priests. 
 
 The angels had given to John the Baptist, while 
 in the desert, a beautiful cross, before which he 
 performed many exercises of mortification, and 
 prayed, extending his arms in the form of a cross. 
 He did not wish to leave this treasure behind him 
 in the desert, therefore he sent it as a present to 
 the blessed Virgin, by the hands of the angels. 
 She received it with great veneration and bitter 
 grief, because of the mysteries which it presented 
 to her mind. She placed it in her oratory until 
 the dispersion of the apostles throughout the world, 
 when she gave it to them, with many other pre¬ 
 cious relics, as we shall see hereafter. 
 
 Jesus had now attained His thirtieth year. The 
 Virgin Mother, who had reached the height of her 
 love for Him, was one day raised to a state of 
 sublime contemplation, when she heard a voice 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 177 
 
 from the throne of God, which said: “ Mary, my 
 daughter and my spouse, offer me thy Son in sacri¬ 
 fice.” The obedient Mary immediately did so with 
 such great and inexpressible intensity of love, that 
 this sacrifice was incomparably more agreeable to 
 God than that of Abraham, or all others that had 
 been offered to Him. In recompense the holy 
 Virgin was raised to the clear vision of the Divinity, 
 in which she was given to see all the mysteries of 
 the redemption of men, by the preaching, the pas¬ 
 sion, and the death of her Son, to which she was 
 to cooperate by giving her consent. When she 
 returned to herself out of this ecstasy, Jesus pre¬ 
 sented Himself to beg her permission to accom¬ 
 plish in favor of men, all that she knew God had 
 imposed on Him, promising to return again, and 
 take her with Him to be the companion of His 
 labors. 
 
 The holy Virgin cast herself at His feet; Jesus 
 embraced His Mother, and both shedding many 
 tears, made an offering of themselves for the salva¬ 
 tion of the world. 
 
 The Redeemer directed His steps to the Jordan, 
 where John the Baptist was preaching and baptiz¬ 
 ing sinners. Mingling with the crowd, He asked to 
 be baptized by John, who, enlightened by an in¬ 
 terior light, humbled himself before Jesus, begged 
 to be baptized by Him, and rendered testimony of 
 Him. But in obedience to the Saviour, he bap¬ 
 tized Him, as is related in the Gospel. At that 
 moment was heard a voice saying: Hie est Filins 
 mens dilectus —This is my beloved Son,—and the 
 
;r$ 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 Holv Ghost descended on Him in the form of a 
 cove. Thus the divinity of Jesus Christ was con- 
 umed by the most glorious testimonies. 
 
 Jesus then granted the prayer of St. John, by 
 baptizing him with His divine hands, and confer¬ 
 ring on him the character of a Christian. 
 
 Thus He instituted the sacrament of Baptism, 
 although its promulgation was deferred until after 
 the resurrection. From the Jordan Jesus retired 
 into the desert, accompanied by the angels, to the 
 spot appointed by the divine will for His retreat. 
 
 This was a desert place, overgrown with thorns 
 and briers, in which there was a grotto entirely 
 concealed. He prostrated Himself upon the earth 
 with profound humility, and thanked the Eternal 
 rather for having given Him this place, so suitable 
 hr a retreat, and He continued His prayer in the 
 form of a cross, interceding for the salvation of 
 men. Tiiis was His ordinary prayer whilst in the 
 •desert; He generally prayed in the form of a cross, 
 and frequently had sweats of blood. 
 
 1 [any wild beasts came to render homage to 
 their Creator; the birds, in particular, by their joy¬ 
 ous songs testified delight at the presence of their 
 God made man. 
 
 As soon as Mary knew that her divine Son had 
 gene into the desert, she retired into her oratory 
 to imitate His actions, as was her custom. There 
 she prayed, and often shed tears of blood for the 
 sins of men. At every moment the angels re¬ 
 vealed to her the actions of Jesus, His manner of 
 prayer, and all His divine occupations. She sent 
 
1 79 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 maasv esribassies of angels to visit His: in hei name, 
 and abr gave them linen which she herself had 
 woven to be used in wiping away his bloody 
 sweats. So perfect was her retirement during 
 these forrv da vs, that the neighbors thought she 
 had departed from Nazareth, as they knew Jesus 
 had dene. Having dosed her door, she occupied 
 herself dav and night in imitating the Redeemer in 
 the desert. 
 
 Daring the fortv days she tasted nothing; she 
 made three hundred prostrations each day, as 
 Jesus did in the desert; she united herself with Him 
 m ah His adorations, oblations and prayers, when 
 He was tenanted. She saw His terrible contest with 
 L-unifor. and imitated Him in the acts bv which He 
 confounded His adversary, and thus she part ci- 
 pated in His glorious triumph, and congratulated 
 Him by the ministry of His angels. On their 
 return, they, by the orders of Jesus, gave her some 
 of the food they' had brought from heaven, and thus 
 she was strengthened after her long fast. 
 
 When the forty' days were ended, the Son of 
 Sod returned thanks to His Eternal Father, and 
 prayed for those who, in after times, would, in imita¬ 
 tion of Him, retire from the world, either for life or 
 for a time, in order to apply themselves to contem¬ 
 plation, or to the holy* exercises of retreat. The 
 Most High promised to show them favor, to cause 
 them to hear in their hearts the words of eternal 
 life, and to bestow upon them particular graces. 
 Tuen Jesus went to nnd John the B yiy who gave 
 testimony of Him before all those present. Going 
 
1 So Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 into Judea, Jesus remained there ten months, preach¬ 
 ing and enlightening the humble and simple with 
 regard to the coming of the Messiah. Our blesseo 
 Lady also came forth from her retreat, and in¬ 
 structed many persons of the neighborhood, an¬ 
 nouncing to them the advent of the Redeemer of 
 the world, without, however, discovering to them 
 who He was. 
 
 i 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE PREACHING OF OUR SAVIOUR, AND THE CO¬ 
 OPERATION OF THE BLESSED MOTHER. 
 r 
 
 VUR Saviour at length began to announce 
 publicly that He was the expected Messiah. 
 He first called two of the disciples of St. John 
 J the Baptist to follow Him; one was St. 
 Andrew, the other, St. John the Evangelist. After 
 this He called St. Peter, then St. Philip, who told 
 Nathaniel of the coming of the Messiah, and con¬ 
 ducted Him to Jesus: this latter became the fifth 
 disciple of our Saviour. With these five He came 
 into Galilee to preach and baptize publicly. The 
 Most High made known to the holy Virgin His 
 will that she should accompany her Son, and 
 cooperate in the accomplishment of the work of 
 the redemption. She testified her entire submis¬ 
 sion to the divine will, and most earnestly begged 
 the favor of being allowed to suffer and die in the 
 place of her Son, or, at least to expire with Him. 
 
 The disciples having been instructed in the mys¬ 
 teries of the Incarnation, were filled with an earnest 
 desire to see, know, and venerate the Mother of the 
 Saviour. They incessantly begged this favor from 
 the Lord, and when He had graciously granted 
 their desire, they, in His holy company, turned 
 16 181 
 
182 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 their steps in the direction of Nazareth. The 
 blessed Virgin, knowing the visit she was about to 
 receive, was very diligent in preparing the house 
 and providing meals for her expected guests. 
 
 She came to the door to receive her Son and 
 Saviour; prostrating herself at His feet, she kissed 
 them humbly and begged His divine benediction. 
 This she did in the presence of His disciples, that, 
 by her example they might learn how they should 
 respect and venerate their Master. She received 
 them into her house and served them at table, not, 
 however, on her knees, as was her custom with her 
 divine Son. As soon as the disciples had retired 
 to rest, our Lord entered into His Mother’s oratory. 
 There she prostrated herself to ask pardon for any 
 want of care she had shown whilst serving Him, 
 and the Lord consoled her by words of eternal life. 
 He graciously bade her arise, but at the same time 
 showed an air of great majesty and serenity, and 
 treated her with more reserve; this He did for her 
 greater merit. The most pure Mary prayed her 
 divine Son to administer to her the sacrament of 
 Baptism, which He had instituted. To this He con¬ 
 sented, so that she might be united to the number 
 of His followers. 
 
 In order to confer the sacrament with greater 
 solemnity He ordered thousands of angels to assist 
 at it in visible forms. As Jesus was baptizing His 
 holy Mother in their presence, the voice of the 
 Eternal Father was heard, saying: “This is my 
 daughter, in whom I am well pleased,” and the In¬ 
 carnate Word also spoke, saying: “This is my 
 
i83 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 beloved Mother, whom I have chosen ; she shall 
 assist me in all my labors.” The. Holy Ghost 
 added: “ This is my spouse, chosen from among 
 thousands.” After her baptism the great Queen 
 was invited to a marriage, to be celebrated in Cana, 
 between persons related to her in the fourth degree, 
 on the side of St. Ann. 
 
 The holy Virgin apprised the spouses of the 
 arrival of her Son with His disciples, and as they 
 wished to invite them, the divine Mother per¬ 
 suaded them to do so. As our Lord entered into 
 their house, He saluted the guests in the following 
 words: “ May the peace of the Lord be with you.” 
 Afterwards He gave an exhortation to the bride¬ 
 groom, teaching him what regarded his state, 
 and by what means he might attain to the sanctity 
 and perfection of it. The holy Virgin performed 
 the same good office for the bride; both these 
 spouses remained ever faithful to their duties. 
 St. John and the other disciples were present at 
 these instructions. It is false to assert, as some 
 writers have done, that St. John was the bride¬ 
 groom. 
 
 Our divine Saviour and the holy Mother sat at 
 the table with the company, and partook of every 
 dish presented to them, but always in great mod¬ 
 eration. This they did, although they had not 
 such dishes served at their own table, in order not 
 to condemn the common life of men by abstaining, 
 and showing singularity in what is not reprehensi¬ 
 ble, and can be done even with perfection. 
 
 It was on this occasion that the changing of the 
 
184 Divine Life of the 
 
 water into wine was operated, to the great astonish¬ 
 ment of the steward of the feast, who was a priest 
 of the law. He was surprised, because as he held 
 the first place, and our Lord and His blessed 
 Mother occupied the last, he knew nothing what¬ 
 ever of the miracle. The answer of Jesus to His 
 Mother: Quid mild et tibi, niulier —Woman, what 
 is that to me and to thee ?—was not addressed to 
 her as a reproach, but with great mildness. He 
 called her not “ Mother,” but “ woman,” because, 
 for some time past, He had not used towards her 
 the same tender words as before. St. John calls 
 this the first miracle of Jesus, because it was the 
 first of which He publicly acknowledged Himself 
 to be the author, but He had already wrought 
 great numbers of them in secret. 
 
 From Cana Jesus proceeded to Caphanaum, 
 accompanied by His Mother and disciples. They 
 remained there for some days, and He immediately 
 began to preach in divers places. Many pious 
 women joined the blessed Virgin, it being more 
 becoming that she should not be alone. She 
 instructed these women, repeating to them what 
 she had learned from the teachings of Jesus. 
 
 She also operated many miracles and prodigies, 
 cured the sick, the lame, and the blind, expelled 
 demons, and even raised the dead to life, by virtue 
 of the power communicated to her by her divine 
 Son. The sufferings which she endured in all 
 these journeys were so great, that we can never 
 make an adequate acknowledgment of them. 
 Many times her sufferings were so excessive that 
 
185 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 it was necessary for God to succor her miracu¬ 
 lously ; at other times He rendered her body so 
 light that she felt not its weight, and moved as 
 if w r ith wings. When the Lord preached, she 
 listened attentively as an humble disciple, although 
 the finger of God had engraven the evangelical law 
 on her heart. She heard the divine word on her 
 knees, to testify her respect for the law, and her 
 veneration for the person of Him who delivered it. 
 Knowing that whilst He preached, Jesus prayed 
 His Eternal Father that the divine seed might bear 
 fruit in the hearts of the people, she united with 
 Him in this supplication. She knew the interior 
 state of His hearers, whether they were in grace 
 or in sin, and according to these different sta f es, 
 she experienced different emotions. Seeing that 
 some received not the word of God she was 
 deeply afflicted, and wept tears of blood for their 
 unhappy blindness; on the other hand, when she 
 saw that others corresponded with this grace she 
 blessed the Lord thousands of times. 
 
 Innumerable were the conversions wrought by 
 her prayers, conversations, and instructions. She 
 spoke to both men and women, but never in public, 
 or in those places destined for the ministers of God. 
 She ate and conversed together with the disciples 
 and the holy women, but her words were always 
 seasoned with prudence and wisdom. Our Lord 
 acted in the same manner, so that no one might 
 doubt that He was really man, and the natural 
 Son of the most pure Virgin. 
 
 Mary, on many occasions, gave proofs of her 
 16 * 
 
i86 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 wonderful and admirable humility. It was gene¬ 
 rally by her means, and through her intercession 
 that Jesus operated His miracles, and she was 
 known and recognized as the Mother of that 
 Master, so famous throughout Palestine for the 
 wonders He had wrought. This was a great glory 
 for Mary, yet under it, she humbled herself more 
 profoundly than all the saints have ever done, and 
 she endeavored to prevent the honors which were 
 sometimes rendered to her when she was present 
 at the miracles of our Lord. The evangelists have 
 written of two occasions. The first was when our 
 Lord delivered the man possessed by a dumb 
 devil. At that time a woman cried out in honor 
 of the blessed Virgin : Beatus venter qni te portavit! 
 Blessed is the womb that bore thee! Hearing 
 these words, Mary interiorly prayed her divine 
 Son to turn this praise from her, which He did by 
 the words: “ Blessed are they who hear the word 
 of God, and.keep it.” The other occasion was that 
 recorded in the eighth chapter of St. Luke. Seeing 
 the glory that would be rendered to her by the 
 great concourse of people who had crowded to 
 hear her divine Son, she again prayed interiorly 
 that He would save her from it. 
 
 The Lord heard her prayer, and when a voice 
 cried out, “Behold thy Mother and thy brethren,” 
 He answered, “ My Mother and my brethren are 
 they who hear my word and keep it.” 
 
 The devil, astonished at the numerous conver¬ 
 sions operated by our Lord, strongly suspected 
 Him to be the Messiah, but as John the Baptist 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 187 
 
 also converted many, he was in doubt between the 
 two. He employed every means to learn the truth, 
 and he it was who persuaded the Pharisees to send 
 the embassy recorded by the Evangelist. But the 
 answer given by the Precursor, that he was the 
 voice t threw him into great perplexity and uncer¬ 
 tainty, for he feared that the words “ I am the 
 voice” concealed some mystery, and might per¬ 
 haps signify that he was the voice of the Father, 
 that is to say, the Eternal Word. Therefore he 
 tried to compass his death, and for this end em¬ 
 ployed Herod and Herodias. 
 
 The most holy Virgin knew all these things, and 
 learning that John was in prison, she sent her 
 angels to fortify and console him, and sometimes 
 to convey to him necessary food. Knowing after¬ 
 wards that he was to be beheaded, she prayed 
 Jesus to assist him in person, in order that his 
 death might be more precious in His sight. Our 
 Lord granted her request, and asked her to follow 
 Him; immediately, by virtue of the divine power, 
 they found themselves in the prison of the saint, 
 who was loaded with chains and covered with 
 wounds, for the adulteress Herodias had ordered 
 six of her servants to scourge him unmercifully, 
 one after another, in the hope of thus causing his 
 death, even before the ball and banquet should 
 take place. 
 
 At the entrance of our Lord and His blessed 
 Mother, the prison was filled with light, the chains 
 of St. John fell upon the ground, and his wounds 
 were instantly healed. The saint prostrated himself 
 
188 Divine Life of the 
 
 on the ground and asked their blessing. After 
 a short time spent in holy conversation, an execu¬ 
 tioner sent by Herod entered the dungeon, and in 
 the presence of Jesus and Mary, cut off the head 
 of the saint. Then a dispute arose between the 
 executioners as to who should convey the head to 
 Herod, during which Mary, taking the precious 
 relic in her hands, offered it to the Eternal Father. 
 Our Lord sent his soul to limbo, accompanied by 
 legions of angels; there his arrival caused an 
 increase of joy to the Saints, for they hoped that 
 the time of their deliverance was nigh. All these 
 favors bestowed upon the Baptist had been ob¬ 
 tained by the intercession of the most holy Virgin. 
 Nor was he the only one thus indebted to her; all 
 the apostles received great graces through her 
 mediation. To her St. John owed his sublime 
 knowledge, and also his beautiful title of “the 
 Beloved Disciple of the Lord;’’ St. Peter, his con¬ 
 version after having denied His Master three times, 
 and St. James, his glorious martyrdom. The same 
 is true of the other apostles. She it was who 
 instructed Mary Magdalene in the mysteries of 
 redemption, and gave her rules to regulate her life 
 in Marseilles. She frequently consoled her during 
 her abode in the desert, sometimes by her own 
 presence, and sometimes by the ministry of the 
 angels. Judas alone did not profit by the great 
 affection of our holy Queen. Having been affected 
 exteriorly by the doctrine of Jesus, and interiorly 
 by a divine impulse, he had asked to be received 
 among the followers of Jesus. 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 189 
 
 Our Lord, who rejects no one, received him and 
 granted him many favors, even choosing him to be 
 one of the twelve. The blessed Virgin loved him, 
 although she knew, by the gift of infused science, 
 that he would betray her Son. She knew that the 
 disposition of Judas would not be improved by 
 severity, but would rather become more hardened, 
 therefore she treated him with great benevolence 
 and kindness. The goodness shown to him by 
 the blessed Mother was so remarkable, that some¬ 
 times in their disputes the apostles spoke of him 
 as being the most favored by the holy Virgin; 
 even Judas himself never suspected that he could 
 be excluded from this privilege. 
 
 Judas was not of very good temper, and the 
 apostles, who were not yet confirmed in grace, had 
 their faults. Judas often allowed himself to censure 
 these in his brethren, judging them to be greater 
 than they really were, and paid no attention to his 
 own. This habit grew at last into that of detrac¬ 
 tion; he most frequently criticised St. John because 
 he was the beloved disciple of Jesus and Mary. 
 By these faults he opened the door to others still 
 greater. His charity for God and his neighbor grew 
 cold ; he began to regard the apostles with envy, 
 and to find fault with even their holiest actions. 
 The Virgin Mother saw the perversity of the un¬ 
 happy disciple, and endeavored to remedy it by 
 frequently admonishing him with the greatest mild¬ 
 ness and most powerful reasons; but instead of 
 profiting by her maternal kindness, he became 
 irritated against her, and strove to conceal his faults 
 
190 Divine Life of the 
 
 by the basest hypocrisy. From this aversion to 
 the holy Mother he passed to contempt for his 
 divine Master, whose doctrine he condemned, and 
 whose manner of life, prescribed for the apostles, 
 he found too hard and laborious. 
 
 Notwithstanding this unworthy conduct of Judas, 
 Jesus and Mary always treated him in the same 
 manner as at the beginning of his vocation. 
 
 This is the reason why the apostles knew not the 
 evil state of Judas, although they had some sus¬ 
 picion of it, seeing his exterior bad conduct. For 
 this reason, when Jesus said at the last supper, 
 “ One of you will betray me,” they were all uncer¬ 
 tain on whom that sentence would fall; they did 
 not suspect Judas, who had always been treated 
 with extreme kindness by the Redeemer. 
 
 Another occasion led him on to his act of trea¬ 
 son. As the number of the disciples continued to 
 increase, the Lord wished to give one of them 
 charge to keep the alms, in order to distribute 
 them again, or to pay the tribute to princes. Our 
 Lord spoke of His intention to all the apostles, 
 without naming any one in particular. Judas 
 immediately desired to receive this office, and 
 begged St. John to obtain it for him by means of 
 the holy Virgin. But she, knowing that he was 
 actuated by ambition, would not make the request 
 of her divine Son. 
 
 Failing in this, Judas went to St. Peter and the 
 other apostles, and begged them to obtain for him 
 this employment, but he was again unsuccessful. 
 Growing more eager in his desire, he went himself 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 191 
 
 to the holy Virgin, and offered to serve her and 
 her divine Son in this office, which, he said, he 
 would exercise with more care than the others. 
 
 She told him to consider well what it was that 
 he asked, and that it would be better to confide all 
 to the will of God. At these words he became inte¬ 
 riorly angry; the blessed Virgin knew it, but pru¬ 
 dently concealed her knowledge. 
 
 At first he was ashamed to present his request to 
 Jesus, but finally ambition won the victory, and, 
 under the specious pretext of wishing to serve His 
 Master and provide for His little flock, he begged 
 to be entrusted with the care of the alms. Our 
 Lord replied, “ Knowest thou not, O Judas, what 
 thou dost ask ? Be not so cruel to thyself as to 
 seek thy own destruction, and procure arms to 
 cause thy death.” Judas answered, “ I desire to 
 serve thee, and to employ all my strength for the 
 good of thy society, and I will serve thee better in 
 this office than in any other.” The Lord, by this 
 obstinacy of Judas, justified His conduct in permit¬ 
 ting him to enter on this dangerous charge, in 
 which he lost his soul. But having obtained that 
 whifch he so much desired, his joy was of short 
 duration, because, contrary to his expectations, 
 founded on our Lord’s miracles, the alms were not 
 very abundant. 
 
 He was displeased when he saw our great 
 Queen so liberal to the poor, and was also angry 
 with our Lord because He would not accept the 
 large alms sometimes offered to Him; so far did 
 he carry these feelings, that, many months before 
 
192 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 the death of the Lord, he would frequently with¬ 
 draw from the apostles, and even from his divine 
 Master, whose company he could no longer sup¬ 
 port. 
 
 Two years and a half of our Lord’s public life 
 had thus passed away, and the time for His return 
 to His Eternal Father was drawing near. To 
 guard His disciples against the scandal they would 
 receive from His death, He wished to be trans¬ 
 figured before them. 
 
 For this purpose He chose Thabor, a mountain 
 in Galilee, a few miles east of Nazareth, and, 
 taking with Him Peter, James and John, He was 
 transfigured before them with all the circumstances 
 related by the PNangelist. While angels went for 
 the souls of Moses and Elias, the blessed Mi ther 
 was transported to the mountain by the ministry 
 of other blessed spirits. There she not only beheld 
 the glorified humanity of her Son more clearly and 
 for a longer time than the apostles, but she had 
 also an intuitive vision of the Divinity. So great 
 was the impression made upon her by this vision 
 of the glorious life, that it was never afterwards 
 effaced from her mind. 
 
 On this occasion Jesus prayed His Eternal 
 Father to grant, that all those who during their 
 lives would mortify their bodies or suffer for His 
 love, should also share in the glory of His body, 
 and that their souls should participate in the joy 
 of that glory, on the day of general judgment. 
 
 After the transfiguration, our Lord went to 
 Nazareth, whither the blessed Mother had retired, 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 193 
 
 in order that He might bid a last adieu to His 
 country before going to Jerusalem, to undergo His 
 sorrowful passion. He went to Nazareth with His 
 disciples, and after remaining there some days, set 
 out for Jerusalem, accompanied by His beloved 
 Mother, His apostles and disciples, and by some 
 devout women. He traversed Galilee to reach 
 Jerusalem, and it w’as at this time that, passing 
 through Bethania, He raised Lazarus from the dead. 
 
 This miracle, operated so near Jerusalem, pro¬ 
 voked against Him the priests and Pharisees, who, 
 full of jealousy, assembled the council, in which it 
 was resolved to put the innocent Je-us to death, 
 and they ordered that if any one knew of His 
 whereabouts they should reveal it to them. 
 
 After six days the Lord returned to Bethania 
 with His Mother and His disciples, where He was 
 received by the two sisters of Lazarus. Then it was 
 that Magdalen twice poured precious ointment on 
 the head and feet of the Saviour, in her own house 
 and in that of the Pharisee. Judas murmured at 
 it, and from that moment resolved to procure the 
 death of the Saviour; he denounced Him after¬ 
 wards to the priests and Pharisees. P"or this end 
 he went to them secretly, and said that his Master 
 taught doctrines contrary to the law of Moses, to 
 the government and the Roman emperor ; that He 
 was a lover of good cheer, who associated with 
 persons of depraved morals, and kept with Him • 
 both men and women. All these base acts of the 
 treacherous and wicked apostle were known to 
 Jesus, who, as God, saw all, and also to the most 
 
i 9 4 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 holy Virgin, but they, the Models of most perfect 
 goodness, gave him not the least sign of aversion. 
 
 The great Queen endeavored by kind and loving 
 words to save the perfidious disciple even from the 
 brink of the precipice on which he stood. To 
 satisfy his avarice, she sometimes presented him 
 gifts which had been bestowed on her by Magda¬ 
 len and others, and which she had accepted only 
 on his account. But all was ineffectual to touch 
 the heart of him, who only became the more 
 enraged at each act of kindness; nevertheless, he 
 eagerly accepted all that she o*ffered. After Mag¬ 
 dalen had poured the precious ointment upon our 
 Saviour, He retired into the oratory of the two 
 sisters. Then, the blessed Mother, abandoning 
 Judas in his obstinacy, followed Him thither, and, 
 according to her custom, united with Him in His 
 holy exercises and prayers. 
 
 There He again offered Himself to the Eternal 
 Father, and Mary imitated Him. The heroic sacri¬ 
 fice of the Mother and the Son was so agreeable to 
 the Eternal Father, that He, together with the Holy 
 Ghost, descended visibly to accept it. The holy 
 Virgin beheld the Sacred Humanity of her Son 
 exalted to the right hand of His Father, and heard 
 that verse of the one hundred and ninth Psalm : Dixit 
 Dominus Domino meo; sede a dextris meis —The 
 Lord said to my Lord, sit thou at my right hand. 
 She was surrounded with admirable splendor, and 
 inflamed with an ardent charity for the human race. 
 Jesus and Mary spent the night in prayer and holy 
 conversation. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE TRIUMPHANT ENTRY OF JESUS INTO JERUSALEM. 
 
 Jjj^HE day which corresponds to our “ Palm Sun- 
 J day” being arrived, the Lord went to Jerusa- 
 lem accompanied by a multitude of angels, 
 who by their holy canticles praised His 
 ardent charity for men. When he drew nigh the 
 holy city, He sent two of His disciples to the 
 house of a rich man, who dwelt in Bethphage, and 
 with his consent, they brought to Jesus an ass and 
 her colt, on which the disciples spread their gar¬ 
 ments, for the Redeemer to mount thereon. Besides 
 that which the evangelists have recorded of this 
 great event, there happened many other things. 
 The Archangel St. Michael was sent to limbo to 
 
 make known to the holy patriarchs this glorious 
 triumph. All those who, in Judea and Egypt, had 
 known Jesus, felt great joy of spirit, and interiorly 
 adored the Lord. 
 
 God ordained that on this day, so glorious, no 
 one should die throughout the universe. All the 
 demons were compelled to remain in the depths of 
 the abyss. 
 
 Having arrived at Jerusalem, the Lord alighted 
 from the ass, and went on foot to the Temple, 
 where H“ overthrew the tables of those who 
 
 195 
 
196 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 bought and s:>ld, and expelled them from that 
 holy place. Then He began to teach and to preach, 
 without having taken any nourishment; for among 
 all the people, and even persons of consideration, 
 who had cried out, Hosanna in excelsis , not one 
 had invited Him to eat in his house. This was 
 the reason why He returned to Bethania in the 
 evening. The Virgin Mother had remained, there 
 all day, retired in her apartment, where she beheld 
 in spirit all that happened to her divine Son in 
 the city and in the temple ; she heard the accla¬ 
 mations of the angels in heaven and on earth, 
 and said all that befell the demons. 
 
 This triumph again caused Lucifer to suspect 
 that Jesus was the true Messiah, therefore He 
 resolved by every possible means to prevent His 
 death, which he feared would be the destruction of 
 his empire. He tried to dissuade Judas from his 
 design of betraying his Master to the Pharisees; 
 he even appeared to him in human form, and 
 offered to give him as much money as he desired, 
 if he would but relinquish his design. But the 
 ungrateful man was not worthy to receive the ’ 
 grace to change his desires. Lucifer, having failed 
 in this attempt, tried to persuade the Council not 
 to put Jesus to death on the day of the feast, lest 
 they might raise a tumult amongst the people. 
 Being again unsuccessful, he endeavored by means 
 of Pilate’s wife, to prevent his condemnation, and 
 he also made many artful suggestions to Pilate 
 himself. 
 
 Jesus remained in Bethania until Thursday, to 
 
197 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 instruct His disciples, and converse with His holy 
 Mother; however, on Monday and Tuesday He 
 paid a visit to the temple. In His entertainments 
 with His holy Mother, He prescribed all that she 
 should do during the course of His passion and 
 death. In those discourses and entertainments He 
 did not speak to her with the tenderness of a Son, 
 but with the gravity and majesty of a king. On 
 Thursday, at the dawn of day, He called His 
 Mother, who, prostrating herself at His feet, said, 
 ‘ “ Speak, Lord, thy servant is at thy feet.” The 
 Lord raised her and announced that the hour 
 of His cruel passion had arrived. He not only 
 asked her permission to die for the redemption of 
 man, but also exhorted her to cooperate with Him 
 in the great work. Who can describe the ineffable 
 sorrow which penetrated the most pure heart of 
 the Virgin Mother, when she was about to sepa¬ 
 rate from her tender and well-beloved Son ? But 
 she resigned herself with the most perfect submis¬ 
 sion to His will, begged Him to allow her to 
 accompany Him, and generously participate in 
 the cruel and terrible sufferings of His cross. She 
 prayed Him to give her before His death His 
 divine Body in the Holy Sacrament, which He was 
 - about to institute, as He had revealed to her. The 
 Lord lovingly consented; He ordered the angels 
 to assist her in that moment in visible forms, and 
 •recommended her to follow Him constantly in 
 company of the three holy women.. Finally, He 
 bestowed on her the divine benediction, both 
 being a prey to ineffable and profound sorrow. 
 
 17* • 
 
198 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 Having taken leave of His tender Mother, He 
 left Bethania a little before mid-day, accompanied 
 by His angels. The divine Mother followed Him 
 soon after, in company with the holy women. On 
 the way, Jesus instructed His disciples, and Mary 
 did the same with regard to the holy women. 
 Judas was not present when our Lord said the 
 words : Scitis quice post bidunm pasclia fiet y et filiis 
 hominis tradetur ut crucifigatur —You know that 
 after t\* o days shall be the pasch, and the Son of 
 man shj-11 be delivered up to be crucified;—and he 
 sometimes inquired of the apostles, sometimes of 
 Mary, and again, even of our Lord Himself, in 
 what place He would eat the pasch. Although 
 Jesus knew well the perversity and depravity of 
 His disciple, He answered him only in these 
 words: “O Judas, who can fathom the secrets of 
 the Most High?” The apostles proposed some 
 doubts to their divine Master, and He answered 
 them with ineffable prudence and wisdom. 
 
 Afterwards He sent St. Peter and St. John to 
 prepare the place for the Last Supper. Near to 
 Jerusalem there stood the house of a rich man who 
 was much devoted to our Lord, and who believed 
 in His doctrines and miracles; he had received a 
 particular grace which caused him to make a vol¬ 
 untary offering of his dwelling and all that was 
 necessary for the paschal feast. He had caused a 
 large hall to be fitted up for the solemnization o r 
 the great mysteries about to be operated. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE LAST SUPPER. 
 
 /jj^UR Lord and His disciples entered into the 
 ji supper-room, as did also the blessed Virgin 
 Xj and the pious women. Then our Lord 
 " requested her to retire into another part of the 
 house, and instruct the women who accompanied 
 her in all that was necessary, whilst He would 
 celebrate the Last Supper, from which Judas was 
 not excluded. The holy Virgin withdrew into 
 another room with the holy women, and prostrate 
 on the earth, became absorbed in a state of high 
 contemplation, in which she saw all that her divine 
 Son did and said, and she gave the necessary 
 instructions and advice to the holy women. After 
 the legal supper, Jesus, with profound humility 
 and a serene countenance, washed the feet of His 
 apostles. 
 
 Having laid aside His mantle and girded Himself 
 with a towel, leaving one end free, He washed the 
 feet of the apostles, even those of Judas, which He 
 not only washed with great joy and goodness, but 
 also kissed and pressed them to His breast, send¬ 
 ing, at the same time, into his heart His interior 
 inspirations. But all was unavailing, for, besides 
 that, the demon tried to prevent every emotion of 
 
 199 
 
200 Divine Life of the 
 
 gratitude in his heart. He was also ashamed, to 
 break his word, given in his infamous compact with 
 the Pharisees; at this moment he would not even 
 cast a look on the divine countenance of Jesus. 
 
 Unable to endure the sight of such profound 
 humility, Lucifer tried to fly from the heart of 
 Judas and from the supper-room, but the divine 
 Master would not permit it. 
 
 It was at this time that St. John, at the sugges¬ 
 tion of St. Peter, begged to know who was the 
 traitor; our Lord pointed him out by the sign of a 
 piece of bread dipped in the dish. Many secret 
 things were communicated by our Lord to St. 
 John, whilst he leaned on His sacred breast; among 
 others He recommended His holy Mother to his 
 care. For this reason, when he was dying on the 
 cross, He did not say, “She shall be thy Mother/’ 
 but only, Behold thy Mother, thus revealing publicly 
 what He had communicated before in private. 
 
 After He had washed His disciples’ feet, Jesus 
 ordered a table to be prepared so as to resemble 
 an altar, and to be covered with a very rich and 
 
 . . V- 
 
 beautiful cloth. On this table they laid a plate, and 
 also a high cup like to a chalice, and capable of 
 containing the wine necessary for the designs of 
 the Lord, who had prepared and foreseen every¬ 
 thing by His infinite wisdom. The master of the 
 house, by an interior motion of grace, had pre¬ 
 pared those vessels so rich and precious. 
 
 Our Lord being seated at the table and sur¬ 
 rounded by His disciples, asked first for unleavened 
 bread, which He laid upon a plate, then for pure 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 2.01 
 
 wine, which He poured into the chalice with a 
 small quantity of w r ater. The blessed Virgin, in 
 her retirement, considered all these things. 
 
 The angels, by the order of the Lord, conducted 
 into this place Elias and Enoch, to the end that 
 the patriarchs of both the natural and the written 
 law might be present at the institution of the 
 evangelical law. The Eternal Father with the 
 Holy Spirit appeared in the supper-room as at the 
 Jordan and Mt. Thabor, but the apostles did not 
 see them; the vision was given only to the blessed 
 Virgin and St. John. 
 
 After praying for a long time, our Lord took 
 the bread into His hands, and interiorly offered a 
 prayer to the Eternal Father, begging that, in 
 virtue of the words He was about to pronounce, 
 the sacrament He was going to institute might be 
 perpetuated in His Church throughout all ages. 
 With great majesty He raised His eyes towards 
 Heaven, that is, towards the two divine Persons, 
 fie pronounced over the bread and wine the 
 sacred words of consecration, by which they were 
 changed into the body and blood, soul and divinity 
 of our divine Redeemer. The holy Virgin in her 
 retreat, adored her divine Son, really present under 
 the sacred species; the angels in heaven, as well 
 as those present, also adored Him. 
 
 Our Lord elevated His sacred Body and Blood, 
 so that those present at His first mysterious sacri¬ 
 fice might adore Him. As sovereign High Priest, 
 He communicated Himself, and this with such 
 profound awe and veneration, that He experienced 
 
202 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 fear, as it were, in the sensitive part of His soul. 
 The admirable effects produced on our Lord’s 
 body by His reception of the Holy Eucharist 
 were such as to cause the glory of His soul to 
 be reflected on His exterior, as at His transfigura¬ 
 tion on Mt. Thabor; this wonder was, however 
 seen clearly only by the blessed Mother, and 
 in part, by Enoch, Elias and St. John. 
 
 After this great favor conferred on His body, 
 the holy Humanity renounced all consolation in 
 the inferior part of the soul from that moment until 
 His death. 
 
 After Jesus had communicated Himself, He 
 gave the Archangel St. Gabriel a small particle 
 of the consecrated bread, that he might carry it to 
 the blessed Mother, and communicate her; thus, 
 after her divine Son, she was the first to have the 
 happiness of receiving Holy Communion. She 
 communicated with sentiments of lively faith, inef¬ 
 fable love and respect, profound humility and 
 deepest veneration, such as she had contemplated 
 in the God made man, now present under the holy 
 species. Our great Queen received the miraculous 
 grace of preserving the holy species in her heart 
 from this night until after the resurrection, when 
 the apostle St. Peter consecrated, as we shall relate 
 hereafter. 
 
 The divine Mother received in this Holy Com¬ 
 munion a perfect knowledge of the manner in 
 which Jesus is present in the Blessed Sacrament, 
 as also of all the mysteries which He operated in 
 its institution. She foresaw the ingratitude which 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 203 
 
 men would return for this great and incomparable 
 benefit, and by her prayers, praises, homages, 
 adorations, and prostrations, endeavored to make 
 reparation for the outrages which our divine 
 Saviour would have to undergo from His ungrate¬ 
 ful creatures, in the sacrament of the Eucharist. 
 
 After Mary had communicated, our Lord gave 
 the consecrated bread, to His disciples, bidding 
 them divide it among themselves, and partake of it. 
 By these words He conferred on them the sacerdo¬ 
 tal dignity, which they began to exercise at this 
 moment, by communicating each other. He after¬ 
 wards ordered St. Peter to communicate Enoch and 
 Elias, in order to fortify them anew. 
 
 Another hidden prodigy occurred. Judas, the 
 traitor, when communicating, resolved to preserve 
 the particle of consecrated bread, and carry it to 
 the priests and Pharisees in order to accuse his 
 Master. The holy Virgin knew the intention of the 
 perfidious traitor, and commanded the holy angels 
 to remove the consecrated species from the mouth 
 of the unworthy apostle. The angels executed this 
 command, and, having carefully purified them, 
 replaced the particles on the holy table in an 
 invisible manner, which could be easily done, as 
 Judas was neither the first nor the last to receive 
 Holy Communion. 
 
 He was the first heretic in the Church wh‘6 
 denied the holy sacrament of the Eucharist. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 FROM THE BEGINNING OF OUR LORD S PASSION UNTIL 
 HIS APPEARANCE AT THE TRIBUNAL OF CAIAPHAS. 
 
 a 
 
 ft 
 
 ft 
 
 (i 
 
 N the first part of the night which followed the 
 institution of the Blessed Sacrament, our sweet 
 Lord resolved to enter upon His dolorous pas¬ 
 sion. Leaving the hall in which He had cele¬ 
 brated the sacred mysteries, He gave a long 
 instruction to the disciples. Then also He met His 
 holy Mother, who had come forth from her retreat. 
 Looking at her with a joyful countenance, He said: 
 “ My Mother, I will be with thee in thy affliction. 
 Let us accomplish the will of the Eternal Father 
 and the salvation of the world.” Then He gave 
 her His benediction and parted with her. She 
 retired to the apartment she had just quitted, 
 because the master of it, having been present at 
 her painful separation from her Son, had offered 
 her, by divine inspiration, the house and all that it 
 contained, to be her abode during her stay in Jeru¬ 
 salem. Here she remained, overwhelmed with 
 sorrow such as every Christian can imagine, but 
 she did not cease to be present in spirit at all that 
 occurred during that night of agony. 
 
 She saw that when Judas was going to the 
 priests and Pharisees, the demon, in visible form, 
 204 
 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 205 
 
 tried to prevent him from selling his divine Master. 
 She beheld Jesus retiring to the garden of Gethse- 
 mane, and falling into profound sadness. She 
 knew that the agony He endured was such as to 
 cause a bloody sweat, produced by the knowledge 
 that His sufferings would, for the wicked, be not 
 only useless, but because of their malice, be also 
 the cause of a still greater chastisement. For this 
 reason He prayed His Father to remove this sor¬ 
 row, under the name of His chalice. 
 
 She knew also that after the prayer of Jesus 
 Christ, the Eternal Father sent the Archangel St. 
 Michael to console Him in His pains, by saying, 
 that among those whom He would save by His 
 precious blood would be Mary, His Mother, worthy 
 fruit of His redemption. She saw that when He 
 found His disciples sleeping, before He awoke them 
 He waited a little, to gaze on them with compassion 
 and weep over their neglect and coldness. Not 
 only was she witness to these and all other things 
 which happened in the garden, but she also imi¬ 
 tated, as far as possible, each action of her divine 
 Son during His passion. 
 
 When Jesus retired with His disciples, she 
 retired with the holy women, and prayed to the 
 Eternal Father as Jesus did, that He would take 
 away, or suspend every consolation which might 
 prevent her from suffering with her divine Son, 
 and grant that her body might partake in all the 
 sufferings which He had to endure. Feeling the 
 same profound sadness, she offered up the prayer 
 which Jesus made for sinners, and fell into an 
 13 
 
206 Divine Life of the 
 
 agony like His, wherein she sweat blood. As the 
 Archangel Michael had been sent to strengthen 
 Jesus, so the Archangel Gabriel was commissioned 
 to do the same for Mary. 
 
 When our Lord returned to visit His disciples, 
 His Mother visited the holy women, and exhorted 
 them to be vigilant against the snares of Satan. 
 When Jesus said to the apostles, “ My soul is sor¬ 
 rowful even unto death,” she said to the three 
 Marys, “ My soul is sorrowful, because my beloved 
 Son and Lord must suffer and die, and I may 
 not die with Him. Pray, my friends, that you 
 may not enter into temptation.” In the midst of 
 all these sufferings Mary’s heart was not only 
 magnanimous, but also anxious to find means to 
 aid Jesus, her divine Son. She sent one of her 
 angels to wipe away, with linen which she gave 
 him, the drops of blood from the face of her ago¬ 
 nizing God. 
 
 When the soldiers, accompanied by Judas, set 
 out to arrest Jesus, the most wise Queen foreseeing 
 the outrages, injuries and ill-treatment which those 
 wicked men would inflict upon Him, invited her 
 angels to join with her in endeavoring, by their 
 praises and adorations, to offer Him some repara¬ 
 tion. Thus while Jesus suffered the ignominious 
 treatment of those wicked men, and the treacherous 
 kiss of the betrayer, she offered up contrary acts 
 of love and reverence, by which she stayed the 
 anger of God. 
 
 She prayed in particular for Judas, and in con¬ 
 sideration of her intercession, God sent into his 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 207 
 
 heart many and pressing inspirations, and other 
 graces, in order to make him enter into himself. 
 
 When she saw that by the marvellous power of 
 the words, Ego sum , which our Lord addressed to 
 this wicked band, they and their horses were cast 
 upon the ground, and that the demons also were 
 thrown down and compelled to remain in that 
 position for half a quarter of an hour, she rejoiced 
 and sang canticles of praise in honor of the Most 
 High. Nevertheless, out of compassion for the 
 miserable soldiers, she interceded with our Lord 
 to permit them to live, and give them the power 
 to arise. This He did, and allowed them to exer¬ 
 cise all their rage against Him. Again He asked, 
 “Whom seek ye ?” they answered, “Jesus of Naz¬ 
 areth.” He answered, “ I am He.” Upon which 
 they threw themselves upon Him like wild and 
 ferocious animals. When her Son was bound, 
 Mary felt the pain of those bonds and cords as 
 truly as if she herself had bore them; the same is 
 true of all the ill-treatment and blows inflicted 
 upon Him at the time of His arrest, when they tore 
 His garments, and pulled out His hair. 
 
 She felt no indignation at the flight of the 
 apostles, but immediately recommended them to 
 our Lord, and although she was afflicted at the 
 sight of their weak faith, she prayed for them 
 and offered to the Lord all the honor and venera¬ 
 tion due to Him from the whole Church. While 
 Jesus was being overwhelmed with blows, and 
 entirely given over to the power of His enemies, 
 the holy Virgin remained in the Supper-room. 
 
208 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 Judas, believing from the suggestions of Lucifer, 
 that his pardon was impossible, and tormented 
 with the dread of the dishonor which would be 
 heaped upon him by the world for having betrayed 
 His Master, became so excited that he fell into 
 excessive fury against himself. He tried to throw 
 himself from the highest window of the Pontiffs 
 palace, but was prevented. Pie rushed into the 
 streets, uttering cries like a wild beast, biting his 
 flesh, tearing his hair, and loading himself with a 
 thousand maledictions. 
 
 Seeing him in this state, Lucifer persuaded him 
 to return the money to the priests, hoping thus to 
 prevent the death of Jesus, whom, from the great 
 and admirable patience with which He suffered such 
 unheard-of outrages, he still more strongly sus¬ 
 pected of being the Messiah. But failing to accom¬ 
 plish this, the tempter increased the despair of 
 Judas, and persuaded him to take his life, in the 
 desire thus to rid himself in an instant of much 
 pain and ignominy. To this the unhappy apostate 
 consented, and leaving the city, hanged himself 
 upon a tree. 
 
 This horrible death happened on Friday, affew 
 hours previous to the death of our Saviour. His 
 wretched body remained suspended from the tree, 
 with the entrails hanging out, and when the Jews 
 tried to remove and bury it, because such a death 
 gave great glory to the' cause of Jesus, they were 
 unable to do so. 
 
 In fine, after three days, the demons, by the 
 permission of God, carried the miserable Carcass 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 209 
 
 into hell, whither they had borne his unhappy 
 soul. < 
 
 * »i • , 1 
 
 The soldiers who had come to seize Jesus, think¬ 
 ing on account of His miracles that He was a 
 magician, * feared He would escape from them; 
 therefore they bound; Him very strongly on His 
 sides, arms, and neck, with two long ropes, and 
 a heavy chain which had been used to open and 
 close the prison gate. At the end of this chain 
 were heavy manacles, with which they fastened His 
 hands behind His back. 
 
 Having thus cruelly bound Him, they set out 
 from Mt. Olivet with great noise and tumult, some 
 pulling Him forward, others in the contrary direc¬ 
 tion, by which movements they threw Him vio¬ 
 lently on the ground. They vented their rage by 
 inflicting blows on His face, head and body. They 
 tore His garments, plucked His beard, dragged 
 Him by the hair, and forced the points of their 
 sticks into His sides, struck Him on the shoulders, 
 and dragged Him from one side of the street to 
 the other. The Lord fell many times, striking His 
 face against the ground with great pain, for having 
 His hands chained behind His back, His divine 
 face became covered with wounds. The blows and 
 bad treatment of every kind which He received 
 are indescribable, yet the meek Lamb of God bore 
 those frightful cruelties with admirable patience. 
 Lucifer was in a fury at the sight of such resigna¬ 
 tion, and, in order to overcome Him, wished to 
 take hold of the cords, in order to drag Him more 
 violently. But the blessed Virgin, who saw all 
 18 * 
 
210 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 this in spirit, prevented the execution of this ex¬ 
 ecrable design, by depriving him of strength. 
 
 They arrived in the city, uttering cries and 
 execrations, as if they had arrested the chief of male¬ 
 factors. The inhabitants rushed to the windows 
 and doors with lights ; they loaded our blessed 
 Lord with insults, injuries and opprobrium, calling 
 Him a false prophet, a deceiver, a wicked man, 
 a robber, and a perverter of the people : et cum 
 quis reputatus est ,—and with the wicked He was 
 reputed. They conducted Him to the tribunal of 
 Annas, who received Him seated on his chair. 
 Lucifer and an innumerable crowd of demons' 
 ranged themselves beside the judge, and ceased 
 not to irritate him against Christ, in order to try 
 His divine patience. 
 
 Then it was that Jesus received that cruel blow 
 from the mailed hand of the servant whose ear He 
 had miraculously restored in the garden of Gethse- 
 mane. To this outrage our Lord replied in the 
 well-known words : Si male locutus sum , testimo¬ 
 nium perhibe de malo ,—If I have spoken ill, give 
 testimony of the evil;—which covered the wicked 
 servant with confusion, but wrought no change in 
 his heart. This blow was so cruel that it broke all 
 the teeth of our Divine Redeemer, and caused the 
 blood to flow profusely from His eyes, nose and 
 mouth. The Virgin Mother experienced the vio¬ 
 lence of that terrific blow in such a degree that she 
 shed tears of blood. 
 
 Meanwhile John and Peter arrived at Annas’s 
 house; and when Peter drew near the fire in the 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 211 
 
 vestibule, the servant asked him in a tone of 
 mockery and derision, if he also were not a disciple 
 of the Nazarean. Overcome by shame and filled 
 with fear and cowardice, he denied that he was. 
 After this he left the house of Annas and proceeded 
 to that of Caiaphas, whither our Lord was dragged 
 with still greater derision, and there received with 
 laughter, insult, and bitter mockery. Nevertheless, 
 He only prayed for His persecutors, and in His 
 supplications His blessed Mother united with Him. 
 Caiaphas was seated on a magnificent tribunal, sur¬ 
 rounded by the Scribes and Pharisees, as also by 
 Lucifer and his legions, for he was still anxious to 
 know if our Lord were the Messiah. He therefore 
 inspired Caiaphas to say: “I adjure thee in the 
 name of the living God, to tell us if thou be the 
 Christ, the Son of God." At His sweet reply, 
 Lucifer was so enraged, that, unable to endure it 
 any longer, he precipitated himself into the bottom 
 of the abyss. By the permission of God, he came 
 out again, being uncertain if Christ had thus spoken 
 in order to deliver Himself from the hands of His 
 enemies. Returning to the court-room, he incited 
 the officers to load Him with blows, to tear His 
 hair, strike Him on the face and trample Him 
 under foot. 
 
 The angels present at this scene were ravished 
 in admiration of the incomprehensible judgments 
 of God, seeing that His Divine Majesty was willing 
 to appear as a culprit, and that the iniquitous 
 judge seemed full of zeal for the honor of God, in 
 whose name he sacrilegiously pretended to take 
 
2 12 Divine Life of the 
 
 away the life of Jesus, who remained silent before 
 him. Here it was that they blindfolded our Lord, 
 because on His face there shone a splendor which 
 caused great pain and confusion to His enemies. 
 This they attributed to art magic, and covering 
 His divine countenance with filthy rags, they 
 loaded Him with outrages and unheard-of insults. 
 All these sufferings were renewed in the person of 
 the Virgin Mother. 
 
 Peter found it easy to enter into the house of 
 Caiaphas, being aided to do so by the dense crow d 
 and the obscurity of the night. Nevertheless, as 
 he stood in the court, he was perceived by a maid¬ 
 servant, who, turning to those who stood by, said: 
 “This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth,” and 
 one of those present added, “Thou art truly a 
 Galilean, and a follower of Jesus.” Then Peter 
 denied the fact, and swore he was no disciple of 
 Jesus. He went out from the court, but, his heart 
 being still drawn to his Master by compassion for 
 His sufferings, he could not bear to lose sight of 
 Him, and still remained near for about an hour. 
 Again he was seen and recognized by a relation of 
 Malchus, who said: “Thou art a Galilean, and a 
 disciple of Jesus, for I saw thee with Him in the 
 garden,” and again Peter swore that he knew not 
 the man. Then the cock crew for the second time, 
 and the prophecy of Jesus was accomplished—- 
 “Before the cock crow twice, thou wilt deny me 
 thrice.” Peter remembered the words of Jesus, 
 who, at that same moment, cast on him a look of 
 mercy. Bursting into a flood of tears, he immedi- 
 
213 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 ately retired from the house, and secluded himself 
 in a grotto called, ever since, “The crowing of the 
 cock.” There he wept bitterly for three hours, 
 during which time he returned to grace, and was 
 received into favor by the intercession of the 
 blessed Mother, who had seen his fall and repent¬ 
 ance, and, prostrate on the ground, had interceded 
 for him. She even sent one of her angels to con¬ 
 sole him, not in a visible manner, because his 
 fall was as yet too recent, but by interior inspi¬ 
 rations. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE PASSION UNTIL THE SENTENCE 
 
 OF DEATH 
 
 0/»OMETIME after midnight it was decided by 
 the council, that while they would retire to 
 JJr rest, Jesus should be thrown, bound as He 
 was, into a dungeon used for great robbers 
 and murderers. This prison was so obscure that 
 scarcely a ray of light could penetrate into it; it 
 was so loathsome as to be insupportable to every 
 one. Thither they dragged the Son of God by the 
 cords and chains with which they had bound Him 
 in the garden. 
 
 In this dungeon there was a stone or piece of 
 rock, to which they chained our Lord in such a 
 manner, that He could neither lie nor sit; then 
 going out of that loathsome place, they fastened 
 Jesus in, and left one of their number on guard. 
 The angels rendered homage to their God; they 
 wished to unbind Him, but to this He would not 
 consent, wishing to suffer still more; but He bade 
 them console His afflicted Mother. 
 
 After the infuriated and intoxicated rabble had 
 taken some refreshment, being excited by the devil, 
 they hastened to the prison, where they unbound 
 214 
 
 , 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 215 
 
 Jesus from the rock, and placed Him in the middle 
 of the apartment. They tried to force Him to 
 speak and to work some miracles, but the Incarnate 
 Wisdom answered them not. They renewed their 
 insults and outrages, and again blindfolded Him 
 with filthy and disgusting rags. Striking Him vio¬ 
 lently on the neck and face, they cried, “Prophesy 
 who it is that struck Thee.” 
 
 Lucifer, enraged at His patience, suggested to 
 those drunken wretches to strip our Blessed Lord 
 quite naked, in order to load Him with still greater 
 insult and outrage. But the most pure Virgin, who, 
 in spirit, contemplated the dreadful scene, prayed 
 our Lord not to permit such an ignominy, and her 
 prayer was granted. They again bound Him to 
 the rock and retired from the prison; the angels 
 compassionated His sufferings and adored Him. 
 During this time Jesus interceded with His Eternal 
 Father for those who tormented Him. 
 
 At dawn of day the priests and scribes assem¬ 
 bled together, and the Divine Lamb was again con¬ 
 ducted before them. It was a sight most worthy 
 of compassion to behold that innocent Victim with 
 His face all bruised, disfigured, and covered with 
 spittle, which He could not remove, because His 
 hands were bound. Seeing Him in such a de¬ 
 plorable condition, even his enemies themselves 
 were startled. They again designedly asked Him 
 if He was the Son of God, and hearing Him answer 
 that He was, they cried out that He was worthy 
 of death, and sent Him to Pilate, the Roman pro- 
 consul, to whom all capital cases were reserved. 
 
216 Divine Life of the 
 
 The sun had already risen when the Blessed 
 Mother resolved to leave her retreat, to follow 
 the steps of her Son. As she was about to leave 
 the house, accompanied by the three Marys and by 
 Magdalen, St. John arrived with the intention of 
 informing her of all that had passed, for he did 
 not know that she had, in spirit, contemplated 
 everything. Having first humbly begged her to 
 pardon the cowardice he had shown in deserting 
 her divine Son, he related all that had befallen our 
 Lord during the past night. To this account, the 
 humble Mary listened with feelings of the deepest 
 agony, and her companions shed many tears. 
 
 They quitted the house, and as they passed 
 through the streets, Mary heard the conversations 
 going on among the people about her divine Son, 
 yet, far from being indignant at those who spoke 
 ill of Him, she prayed for them. 
 
 From her garments, many persons recognized 
 her to be the Mother of Jesus. Some were moved 
 with feelings of natural compassion for her, others 
 insulted her, saying that she had given her Son a 
 bad education. Hearing a great noise and tumult, 
 Mary looked, and beheld her innocent Son in the 
 hands of the rabble; prostrating herself upon the 
 ground, she adored Him; at the same moment there 
 passed between them looks which penetrated their 
 hearts with inexpressible grief, and they spoke 
 with each other from the interior of .their souls. 
 Then, as they dragged Jesus to Pilate, the afflicted 
 Mother bathed in tears followed with the pious 
 women, exclaiming, “ My Son, my beloved Son!” 
 
21 Y 
 
 Most Holy Virgin, 
 
 When the Jews arrived at the house of Pilate, 
 he, although a pagan, had regard for the ceremo¬ 
 nial law, which forbade them to enter the prse- 
 torium; therefore he came out to interrogate the 
 pretended criminal. The agonizing Mother, with 
 St John and the holy women, was present at this 
 interrogatory, for the angels conveyed them to a 
 place where they could see and hear all that was 
 transpiring. Here again the violence of her grief 
 drew from her tears of blood, for she shared inti¬ 
 mately in each suffering inflicted on her Son. She 
 earnestly prayed the Eternal Father that Pilate 
 might see clearly the innocence of Jesus. This 
 grace he received in answer to her prayer, but he 
 did not correspond to it fully, although he tried 
 not to condemn Him whom he saw to be innocent. 
 Finding that Jesus had been born in the jurisdiction 
 of Herod, grandson of him who had caused the mas¬ 
 sacre of the innocents, he sent Him to him.* By 
 reason of this deference, these two men who had 
 been enemies now became friends. It is impossible 
 to relate all that Jesus had to undergo from His 
 enemies in this journey from Pilate to Herod, for 
 they were continually excited by Lucifer to furthei. 
 
 * We know of nothing more admirable than these details, so 
 precise, so sublime, and so capable of inspiring devotion, which 
 we find in all that concerns the passion of our Divine Saviour. 
 The Queen of heaven participates in a mysterious manner in 
 the great work of the redemption of our souls. We ought to 
 read and re-read these pages, which reveal to us such hidden 
 mysteries, which cause us to understand in what sense and 
 under what titles the blessed Virgin is truly our Mother, the 
 Mediatrix for our salvation and co-redemptrix of mankind. 
 
 19 
 
218 
 
 Pivine Life of the 
 
 outrages, in the hope that he might be able to 
 learn if He were truly the Messiah. 
 
 His afflicted Mother continued to follow the 
 crowd, and kept her eyes constantly fixed upon 
 her divine Son. Although she entered not the 
 house of Herod, she beheld in spirit all that passed 
 there, and heard the questions propounded to our 
 Lord. When He was clothed in the robe of 
 mockery, she fully comprehended the depth of the 
 ignominy thus inflicted. She followed Him with 
 the same constancy when He was conducted back 
 to Pilate. In this painful journey it happened many 
 times that by the pressure of the crowd and the 
 violence of those who dragged him, Jesus was 
 thrown upon the ground. His veins were opened 
 by the fall, and by the blows He received, for He 
 could not rise, because His hands were chained and 
 fastened behind His back. Then the prudent and 
 tender Mother commanded the angels to gather up 
 and preserve the drops of precious blood, that they 
 might not be profaned and trampled under foot; 
 she also commanded them to support their Creator, 
 when He would be in danger of falling. But she 
 did not give this order until she had obtained the 
 permission of the Lord, whom she prayed to con¬ 
 descend to the humble petition of His afflicted 
 Mother. 
 
 Jesus was conducted back to Pilate, who seeing 
 the innocence of Jesus, and the envy and hatred of 
 the Jews, tried to deliver Him. He spoke with 
 Jesus in private; he also spoke secretly to the 
 chiefs of the synagogue, representing that as there 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 219 
 
 was in the prison an infamous robber, condemned 
 by the people, they should demand the delivery of 
 the Nazarean, and not of Barabbas, which was the 
 name of the homicide and murderer. This custom 
 of delivering a criminal at the feast of the pasch 
 had been introduced among the Jews in memory 
 of their deliverance from Egypt. 
 
 The afflicted mother was present in Pilate’s 
 house, and knew his endeavors to deliver her Son. 
 She heard the words addressed him by Procula, his 
 wife, and knew that her embassy had been sug¬ 
 gested by Lucifer, who sought to prevent the 
 redemption of man. The heart of Mary was most 
 cruelly transpierced, but the sword of sorrow was 
 plunged still deeper when she learned that Barabbas 
 was preferred to Jesus. 
 
 Pilate, finding that all his endeavors to save Jesus 
 had failed, thought to have Him scourged, in the 
 hope that the Jews might think He was sufficiently 
 chastised, and allow Him to be set free; but in this 
 he acted against all justice, for he had already 
 acknowledged the perfect innocence of Jesus. 
 
 To execute this flagellation, they chose six young 
 inen most remarkable for their strength and barbar¬ 
 ous cruelty. They led Jesus into the court, in which 
 there was a column, and removed the handcuffs, 
 chains and cords. They tore off His garments, 
 leaving His sacred person almost entirely naked. 
 The flagellation commenced under the eyes of the 
 afflicted Mother. 
 
 Jesus was bound to the column so tightly with 
 little cords, that they entered into the flesh, and 
 
220 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 His divine hands became much swollen. After¬ 
 wards they began to scourge Him in pairs, one 
 after the other, with a cruelty of which human 
 ferocity was not capable, but Lucifer had incor¬ 
 porated himself into the hearts of the pitiless exe¬ 
 cutioners. The first two scourged the innocent 
 Jesus with large twisted cords, exerting their 
 utmost violence and greatest fury upon Him. The 
 first blows which fell upon His divine and delicate 
 body inflicted large livid bruises, which swelled to 
 a frightful extent, and seemed as if the blood was 
 about to burst from them. 
 
 When these cruel men were exhausted by fatigue, 
 they were succeeded by the second two, who, using 
 heavy leather thongs, broke the flesh of the bruises 
 inflicted by the first, so that the precious blood not 
 only covered the body of Jesus, but also saturated 
 the garments of the sacrilegious murderers, and fell 
 upon the ground. 
 
 When exhausted, they were succeeded by a third 
 party, who used as their instruments of torture, the 
 sinews of beasts, which were very hard and dry, 
 resembling dried twigs. Their blows being re¬ 
 peated over the wounds inflicted by the first and 
 second executioners, caused Jesus the most intense 
 agony. But as His divine body was but one entire 
 wound, they could no longer inflict new wounds; 
 their blows therefore, falling on His sacred flesh, 
 tore out pieces which fell to the ground, and, in 
 many places, left the bones exposed to sight. Not 
 content with this, they satiated their cruelty by 
 striking Him on the face, hands and feet, and 
 
221 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 sparing no part of His body. So bruised, torn, and 
 disfigured was the countenance of the Lord, as to 
 be no longer recognizable. 
 
 During all this agonizing scene, Mary, accom¬ 
 panied by the holy women, the companions of her 
 trials, remained in a corner of the court-yard. The 
 cruel blows which fell upon her Son were felt by 
 her, not in her heart alone, but also in her virginal 
 body, and her countenance could no longer be 
 recognized by St. John or the holy women, so 
 great was the change wrought in it by her intense 
 agony and grief, the effect of her profound faith, 
 and her perfect knowledge of the incomprehensible 
 dignity of her suffering Son. Amongst all crea¬ 
 tures, she alone could fully understand the inno¬ 
 cence of Jesus Christ, the dignity of His divine 
 person, the enormity of the injuries He received, 
 and the indescribable torments He was compelled 
 to suffer. But anxious to see Him die on the 
 cross, the Jews unbound Jesus from the pillar and 
 He sank to the ground bathed in His blood. 
 They ordered Him to put on His garments, but 
 one of the wicked wretches had hidden His seam- 
 less robe, therefore while he remained thus naked 
 they reviled and mocked Him. Some of them 
 going to Pilate, said that as Jesus pretended to be 
 the king of the Jews, it would be but just to crown 
 Him with thorns. Having obtained his permission, 
 they took Jesus, threw over His shoulders an old 
 purple cloak, placed in His hand a reed for a 
 sceptre, and violently pressed on His divine head 
 the thorn)’- diadem. 
 
 19 * 
 
222 Divine Life of the 
 
 This crown was plaited of sea-rushes, with very 
 long and sharp thorns, which being pressed upon 
 His head, many penetrated the bones of the head, 
 others protruded at His ears and eyes. After this 
 ignominious and cruel ceremony, they adored as 
 a mock-king Him, who, by nature and by every 
 title, was the King of kings, the Lord of lords. 
 The whole body of the soldiers placed Jesus in 
 their midst, and in presence of the priests and Pha¬ 
 risees, loaded Him with injuries and blasphemies, 
 and many, bending the knee before Him, cried out 
 in mockery, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Others 
 struck Him violently on the face; some taking the 
 reed, struck Him on the head, others covered His 
 countenance with disgusting spittle, while all con¬ 
 spired to load Him with still greater injuries and 
 blasphemies. 
 
 Pilate, thinking that these ungrateful and cruel 
 people would be softened by the sorrowful spectacle 
 of the innocent Victim, led Him to a large win¬ 
 dow, whence he showed Him to them, saying: 
 “ Behold the man ! What cause have you to fear 
 that He will make Himself king, since He no 
 longer resembles a man, and nothing can be found 
 in Him deserving of death ?” But the infuriated 
 mob cried out, “ Crucify him! crucify him!” 
 
 At this sorrowful spectacle, the blessed Mary, 
 our agonizing Queen, prostrated herself upon the 
 ground, and acknowledged Jesus to be true God 
 and true Man; in this act she was joined by St. 
 John, the holy women and the angels. She suppli¬ 
 cated the Eternal Father to give Pilate a clearer 
 
223 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 knowledge of her Son’s innocence; this was why 
 Pilate took Jesus aside and interrogated Him in 
 the manner recorded by the Evangelist, after which 
 He again showed Him to the people, protesting 
 that He was innocent. 
 
 The Jews, seeing that Pilate was anxious to 
 deliver Jesus, raised a great tumult and threatened 
 him, if he would not put Him to death. Pilate, 
 much troubled, and, overcome by fear, seated him¬ 
 self on his tribunal, towards mid-day, the eve of 
 the Jewish pasch. 
 
 He first washed his hands, blindly seeking thus to 
 free himself from the guilt of the injustice he was 
 about to commit; then he pronounced sentence of 
 death against the Author of life. Hearing it, all 
 the cruel bitterness and agony of Mary’s heart 
 were renewed, and she felt the sword of sorrow 
 pierce her soul, even to its utmost depths. But 
 as the greatness of Mary’s sorrows surpasses the 
 comprehension of human intelligence, we must 
 leave the imagination of it to Christian piety. In 
 like manner it is impossible to relate all the in¬ 
 terior acts of love, praise, compassion, veneration, 
 sorrow and conformity to the divine will which she 
 formed within her most pure heart. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 JESUS ASCENDS CALVARY—HIS DEATH. 
 
 tjHEN sentence of death had been pronounced 
 against Jesus of Nazareth, the soldiers drew 
 Him aside, tore off the robe of mockery t 
 and vested Him in His own tunic, that He 
 might be the better known, and on His head they 
 again pressed the thorny crov/n. The city was 
 thronged with strangers who had come to cele¬ 
 brate the pasch, and the streets which led to Pilate’s 
 house were filled, as all desired to know what was 
 transpiring. 
 
 When Jesus was dragged into the midst of the 
 crowd, a confused murmur arose amongst them, 
 yet nothing could be plainly heard but the insolent 
 expressions of joy, the blasphemies and outrages 
 of the priests and Pharisees. 
 
 Among the people there was a great diversity 
 of opinion; many of them had been healed of 
 diseases by Jesus; others had heard His doctrine, 
 and embraced it; every one was filled with anxiety 
 or trouble, according to his different disposition. 
 On all sides there was nothing but confusion. 
 
 Out of eleven apostles, St. John alone was pre¬ 
 sent. When he beheld H ; s Lord and Master pub- 
 224 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 225 
 
 licly led out to be crucified, he was so over¬ 
 whelmed with grief that he became unconscious, 
 and seemed as if bereft of life. The three Marys 
 were also affected in the same manner, but the 
 Queen of virtue remained firm and invincible; her 
 magnanimous heart never quailed amidst all her 
 sufferings. She did not experience the same weak¬ 
 ness as her companions, but in her exterior deport¬ 
 ment remained strong, resolute, and ever admira¬ 
 ble. Uttering not a cry or a groan, she encouraged 
 the holy women and St. John; she prayed for 
 them to the Eternal Father, and, by virtue of 
 her prayer, they regained their wonted strength. 
 
 In the midst of all this confusion and in the 
 agony of her untold grief, she never performed the 
 least action but with her accustomed modesty; 
 calm and serene, although she shed tears con¬ 
 tinually, she remained with her attention ever fixed 
 upon the divine Jesus. 
 
 She prayed to the Eternal Father, offering to 
 Him the passion and death of her Son, and she 
 imitated the interior acts of the Saviour. She 
 considered the great malice of sin, penetrated the 
 mysteries of the Redemption, and invited the 
 angels to praise and adore the Most High; she 
 prayed also for her friends and enemies. Her 
 love was raised to a high degree, and she experi¬ 
 enced a grief commensurate with her love; for 
 this reason, she, at this time, practised all the 
 virtues in a manner which excited the admiration 
 of the heavenly spirits and the extreme com¬ 
 placency of the Most Holy Trinity. 
 
226 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 In presence of an immense crowd, the execu¬ 
 tioners presented the cross to Jesus, and laid it 
 upon His delicate shoulders, all torn and covered 
 with wounds, and that He might be able to carry 
 it, they untied His hands, but did not remove the 
 other bonds. They put a chain around His neck, 
 and bound His body with long cords; with one 
 they dragged Him forward, with another, back¬ 
 ward. The cross was of very heavy wood and 
 fifteen feet in length. The herald advanced first 
 with sound of trumpet to publish the sentence; 
 then followed the noisy and clamorous multitude, 
 the executioners and soldiers, uttering railleries, 
 taunts, laughter and cries of opprobrium; thus in 
 frightful disorder, they traversed the streets of 
 Jerusalem, from the palace of Pilate to Mt. Calvary. 
 
 Our Lord continued His sorrowful journey in 
 the midst of a thousand injuries. Many times He 
 fell to the earth, because they dragged Him back¬ 
 wards and forwards, and also because He was 
 loaded with the heavy weight of the cross. In these 
 falls, the Redeemer received new and numerous 
 wounds, which caused Him great pain, particularly 
 those on His knees, and the load of the cross made 
 a great wound on the shoulder. By dragging and 
 pulling Him violently, they frequently struck His 
 head against the cross, and each blow forced the 
 thorns still deeper into His head, and caused Him 
 more bitter suffering. 
 
 At that moment it seemed that all the intensity 
 of faith, knowledge, and love, were concentrated, 
 so to say, in the heart of the divine Mother; there- 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 227 
 
 fore she alone had a true knowledge and just 
 appreciation of the great sufferings and cruel death 
 of a God made man for our redemption. Without 
 ceasing in the attention necessary for exterior 
 things, she interiorly contemplated, and, by the 
 depth of her profound wisdom, penetrated into the 
 mysteries of the sacrifice of our redemption, which 
 was to be accomplished by the ignorance of those 
 who were to be redeemed. She worthily and truly 
 appreciated the majesty of Him who suffered, 
 because as next to her divine Son, she possessed 
 the gift of knowledge in the highest degree, so she 
 most fully comprehended the dignity of Jesus 
 Christ, in whom were united both the h,uman and 
 divine natures, with the utmost perfections of each; 
 therefore, she alone, among all pure creatures, 
 could fully estimate the value of the holy passion 
 and ignominious death of a God-made man. 
 
 Not only was she an eye-witness of the suffer¬ 
 ings of Jesus, but, in her own virginal body, she 
 became the participator in them. In the sorrowful 
 journey to Calvary, it sometimes happened that 
 the Mother of Sorrow lost sight of her Beloved, 
 yet, even then, she sensibly experienced all His 
 sufferings, and cried out, “Ah, my Son! what a 
 martyrdom art thou suffering!” 
 
 Taking her divine Son as her model, she never 
 allowed herself to receive the least alleviation of 
 her sufferings during the time of the Passion ; to 
 her body she gave neither rest nor sleep, food nor 
 drink; in her mind, she suspended every considera¬ 
 tion that could tend to allay her grief, except those 
 
228 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 divine influences communicated to her by the Most 
 High in order to preserve her life. 
 
 By means of the Blessed Mother the Most 
 High operated another secret mystery against 
 Lucifer. The infernal dragon and his ministers 
 considered most attentively all that was passing 
 in the passion, but could not satisfy their doubts. 
 At the moment that our Lord was loaded with the 
 cross, they felt their strength to be greatly dimin¬ 
 ished, and being ignorant of the cause, were filled 
 with rage and sadness. The prince of darkness 
 judged that the passion and death of Jesus would 
 be the cause of his irreparable ruin, and the des¬ 
 truction of his empire. Resolving not to await 
 this event in the presence of Jesus, he endeavored 
 to fly with his companions into the infernal caverns. 
 But his design was frustrated by the will of our 
 great Queen, who at that moment was enlightened 
 by the Most High, and invested with His power. 
 
 Turning towards the proud Lucifer and his com¬ 
 panions, she, with the authority of a queen, forbade 
 their flight, and commanded them to be present at 
 the passion of her Son, and be witnesses of all 
 that should take place on Mt. Calvary. The rebel¬ 
 lious spirits could not resist her command, because 
 they recognized in her the virtue of the divine 
 power. Therefore, vanquished and enchained, they 
 were forced to accompany Jesus to Calvary, where • 
 the eternal Wisdom had resolved to triumph over 
 hell from the height of the cross. 
 
 The executioners dragged our Lord with inex¬ 
 pressible barbarity; ther outrages and violence 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 229 
 
 added to the weight of the cross, caused Him to fall 
 many times, and thus to receive new wounds. He 
 received continual injuries and railleries from the 
 executioners, who threw on His divine face their 
 spittle and filth, in such a horrible manner that they 
 covered His eyes; a great number of persons, 
 being suddenly seized with confusion, were forced 
 to cover their faces with their hands. The afflicted 
 Mother, beholding all this, continually adored her 
 Son, carrying His cross. With great humility she 
 prayed that as she could not lessen the heavy 
 weight of the cross, and as He would not allow the 
 angels to help Him to support it, as in her great 
 compassion, she ardently desired, yet He would 
 deign at least to inspire the executioners to seek 
 for some one to carry it with Him. Her divine 
 Son granted her prayer; the soldiers, seeing Jesus 
 so faint, and fearing He would die on the way to 
 Calvary, forced Simon of Cyrene to come to His aid. 
 
 Among the crowds of people who followed Jesus, 
 there were many pious women of Jerusalem, who 
 compassionated Him and wept over His sufferings. 
 Our Lord turning to them said: “ Daughters of 
 Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for your¬ 
 selves and your children/’ etc., as recorded by St. 
 Luke. 
 
 The Cyrenian, taking up the cross, followed 
 Jesus, who walked between the two thieves, in 
 order that He might seem to the people to be a 
 malefactor like them. 
 
 According to her desire, Mary was near her 
 divine Son. What then must have been the agony 
 20 
 
230 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 of her heart to behold Him so near to her, and so 
 cruelly treated! what the sorrow of that Son, to 
 behold His Mother in an agony like that of death ! 
 This must be left to the imagination of the pious 
 soul. 
 
 The new Isaac arrived at the mount of sacrifice, 
 spent with fatigue, faint from pain, covered with 
 blood, and so disfigured as not to be recognizable. 
 H is Mother, too, reached the holy mountain, and 
 seeing the executioners about to tear off His 
 garments, she knelt and offered Him to the Eternal 
 Father for the salvation of the world. Having 
 noticed that, according to custom, they gave to the 
 two thieves a drink of aromatic wine, but to her 
 divine Son one of vinegar and gall, she interiorly 
 prayed Him not to inflict this additional suffering 
 upon His sacred mouth. The divine Son heard 
 the loving prayer of His Mother; He tasted the 
 bitter draught, but would not drink. It was now 
 the hour of the feast, that is to say, mid-day. 
 
 All the sorrows of the Redeemer were renewed 
 
 when they violently tore off His seamless robe, 
 
 which clung to all His wounds. They dragged it 
 
 over His head, without removing the crown of 
 
 thorns, and by this violence pulled it off with His 
 
 garment, thus renewing all the wounds of His 
 
 sacred head, with frightful cruelty and inexpressible 
 
 suffering. When they again violently pressed on 
 
 the crown of thorns, the afflicted Mother saw her 
 
 divine Son all one wound, and she would- have died 
 
 of grief and sorrow, had she not been supported by 
 
 a miracle of the omniootence of God. 
 
 * 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 231 
 
 When the executioners prepared to crucify the 
 Saviour, He prayed to the Eternal Father for the 
 whole race of men, and for those about to crucify 
 Him, and His merciful Mother united her prayer 
 to His. When the executioners began to bore the 
 holes in the cross to receive the nails, the loving 
 Mother drew near to Him. She raised His lan¬ 
 guishing arm, and kissed His divine hand; she 
 adored Him with profound veneration, and the 
 agonizing Jesus was a little consoled and strength¬ 
 ened by the beauty of this great soul. They then 
 threw Him violently down upon the cross ; raising 
 His eyes to heaven, He extended His arms, and 
 placed His right hand upon the hole. 
 
 He offered Himself anew to the Eternal Father; 
 then with ferocious cruelty they fastened His all- 
 powerful hand with a large, pointed nail, which 
 burst the veins and tore the sinews. The left hand 
 could not reach the second hole, on account of the 
 contraction of the sinews, and also because they 
 had purposely made the hole at too great a dis¬ 
 tance. Therefore they took the chain which had 
 been fastened around His neck, and fastening it to 
 the manacle on His wrist, stretched the arm with 
 horrible cruelty, and nailed it. The blood burst 
 
 £ ;v j. l:- , " 
 
 forth and flowed abundantly, causing incredible 
 suffering to the Son and the Mother. 
 
 .Attaching the chain to His feet, they bound 
 them together, one upon the other, and dragging 
 them with great violence, nailed them with a third 
 nail, larger and stronger than the other two. The 
 Sacred Body was thus nailed on the holy cross, 
 
23 2 Divine Life of the 
 
 but in such a state, that all its bones might be 
 counted, for they were entirely dislocated and 
 dragged out of place. Those of the breast, shoul¬ 
 ders, and limbs, were entirely disjointed by the 
 cruel violence of the executioners. 
 
 Let us here consider the agony of the heart 
 of the poor Mother, and of her virginal body 
 oppressed with all kinds of pain. Ah! my great 
 Queen, thou art without consolation ! 
 
 After having thus crucified the Lord, those 
 monsters of cruelty began to fear that the nails 
 would be loosened and the Sacred Body fall to the 
 ground; therefore they determined to prevent it. 
 Raising the cross, they turned it over in such a 
 manner that our Saviour lay upon His face on the 
 ground, and whilst He was in this position, they 
 riveted the nails. At the sight of this new ex¬ 
 cess of barbarity the beholders shuddered, and 
 many of the crowd being excited to compassion, 
 raised a great tumult. Mary had recourse to the 
 Eternal Father, and prayed Him not to allow this 
 inconceivable cruelty to be accomplished, accord¬ 
 ing to the intention of those executioners, and she 
 commanded the angels to assist their Creator. 
 
 After the nails had been riveted, they raised the 
 cross, and let it fall into the hole prepared for that 
 purpose. Then those cruel wretches supported 
 the Sacred Body with their lances, making deep 
 wounds under the arms, and thrusting the points 
 into the flesh, whilst the others planted the cross. 
 
 At this fearful sight the cries of the people were 
 redoubled, and a still greater tumult was raised; 
 
233 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 the heart of the dolorous Mother was entirely 
 overwhelmed with deepest anguish. The Jews 
 blasphemed Him, the devout compassionated Him, 
 and strangers were overwhelmed with astonish¬ 
 ment. Many dared not look at Him from the 
 horror that they felt. The sacred blood was gush¬ 
 ing forth from the new wounds and from those 
 which .were reopened. 
 
 The two thieves were also crucified, and their 
 crosses planted, one on each side of Jesus, that, 
 being in the centre, He might seem to be the 
 greatest malefactor. The priests and Pharisees 
 wagged their heads in mockery, and throwing dirt 
 and stones at Him, cried out, “ Thou who canst 
 destroy the Temple of God and in three days 
 rebuild it, save thyself!” The thieves also insulted 
 Him, saying, “ If thou art the Son of God, save 
 thyself and us.” During all this the Virgin Mother 
 was on her knees, praying to the Eternal Father 
 that He would make known the innocence of Jesus. 
 He'r prayer was answered : the earth shook, the 
 sun was eclipsed, the moon darkened, and the ele¬ 
 ments thrown into disorder. The mountains burst 
 asunder, the veil of the Temple was rent, the 
 graves opened, and the executioners departed, 
 groaning and contrite, because Jesus, in His agony, 
 had, with excessive charity, offered the prayer, 
 “ Father, forgive them, for they know not what 
 they do.” 
 
 One of the thieves, called Dimas, hearing these 
 words, was interiorly enlightened and filled with 
 sorrow for his sins; this g’ace being procured for 
 20 * 
 
23 4 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 him by the prayers of the holy Virgin. Reproving 
 his companion, he defended the honor of Jesus 
 Christ, and recommended himself to the Saviour, 
 who promised him Paradise. 
 
 After the conversion of the good thief, Jesus 
 cast a look of inexpressible love upon His Mother, 
 and uttered the third word: “ Woman, behold 
 
 thy son,” thus giving her to St. John, to whom 
 He said, “ Beho.d thy Mother.” It was nearly 
 three o’clock when He addressed to His Eternal 
 Father the fourth word: “My God, my God, why 
 hast thou forsaken me?” This interior agony was 
 caused by the Divinity suspending the influence 
 it had exerted on His holy humanity, and also by 
 the thought that great numbers of those who 
 would become His members, and for whom the 
 precious blood was so profusely shed, would sepa¬ 
 rate themselves from His mystical body and be 
 damned. Therefore He uttered the fifth word, “I 
 thirst;” meaning that He thirsted to see men cor¬ 
 respond to the gift of their redemption, by giving 
 Him that faith and love which are His due. Then, 
 the executioners presented to Him a sponge dipped 
 in vinegar and gall, but, as we have before men¬ 
 tioned, He refused to drink because of the prayer 
 of His Mother. After this He pronounced the sixth 
 word, “ It is consummated ;” to announce that the 
 world’s redemption was accomplished. Finally He 
 added: “Father, into thy hands I commend my 
 spirit.” These words He pronounced in a loud, clear 
 voice ; then raising to heaven His eyes, filled with 
 blood, He bowed His sacred head and expired. 
 
2 3 5 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 That the loving Mother did not also expire at 
 that moment, was due to a miracle of Divine Power. 
 
 By virtue of these last words Lucifer was van¬ 
 quished, his power crushed, and he and his legions 
 precipitated into hell. The holy Virgin remained 
 at the foot of the cross until evening, at which 
 time they buried the body of the Divine Redeemer. 
 In recompense of this last sorrow, all that was 
 purely earthly in her body became spiritualized. 
 
 Before death, every father of a family makes his 
 will, therefore Jesus Christ, before pronouncing the 
 seven words, made His will on the cross in concert 
 with the Eternal Father. It remained sealed and 
 hidden with regard to men, but was revealed to 
 the Divine Mother as the cooperatrix of the Re¬ 
 demption. The divine Jesus declared her heiress 
 and testamentary executrix to accomplish His 
 divine will, and all was remitted into her hands, as 
 the Eternal Father had remitted all into those of 
 His Son. 
 
 Thus our great Queen was charged with the 
 distribution of the treasures which belonged to 
 her Son, by virtue of His divinity, or had been 
 acquired by His infinite merits. She was declared 
 the depositary of the riches of her Son, our Re¬ 
 deemer, that all graces, favors, and helps might be 
 given us by the holy Virgin, and that she mi g ht 
 distribute them by her merciful and liberal hands. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 OUR LORD S TRIUMPH ON THE CROSS OVER DEATH AND HELL.— 
 COUNCIL OF THE DEMONS AGAINST MANKIND. 
 
 Ar 
 
 URING the whole course of the divine life of 
 Jesus Christ, our Sovereign Good, Divine Pro¬ 
 vidence never permitted that the demons 
 should recognize Him to be God and the 
 Redeemer of the world, and, consequently, they 
 never knew the sublime dignity of the most holy 
 Virgin. Lucifer remained always in his blindness, 
 for although he sometimes thought that Jesus 
 might be God, from the splendor of His miracles, 
 yet again he could not believe it, seeing Him so 
 poor and humble. He was entirely convinced by 
 the glorious triumph of the divine cross. At the 
 moment when our Lord received His beloved 
 cross, Lucifer and his demons lost all strength; 
 they were vanquished and enchained, and the end 
 of their chains placed in the hands of the divine 
 Mother, that by the virtue of her Son, she might 
 hold him and his legions in subjection. They 
 tried to precipitate themselves into the abyss, but 
 were constrained by the great Queen, to the 
 extreme shame and confusion of Lucifer, to wit¬ 
 ness the end of those mysteries, and to remain 
 around the cross. When Jes^s Christ began to 
 
 236 
 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 237 
 
 speak upon the cross, He willed that the demons 
 should hear Him, and understand the sense of His 
 words, and the profound mysteries expressed in 
 them. 
 
 Hearing Him pray to His Eternal Father for 
 His executioners, they clearly understood that He 
 was the Messiah, and were filled with rage at His 
 infinite charity. When He promised Paradise to 
 the good thief, they understood the virtue of His 
 redemption ; and Lucifer being unable to endure 
 that sight, humbled his pride so far as to supplicate 
 our great Queen to allow him and his legions to 
 precipitate themselves into the infernal abyss; but 
 this was refused, in order to add to his greater 
 torment. 
 
 When Jesus, in recommending His Mother to 
 St. John, called her “woman,” they clearly under¬ 
 stood that she was that great Woman , who had 
 been shown to them in heaven after their creation ; 
 and again that it was she that was to crush the 
 head of Lucifer, as had been foretold him in the 
 terrestrial paradise. 
 
 At the fourth word, which testified the desola¬ 
 tion of Jesus, they learned His incomprehensible 
 charity, which led Him to complain to the Eternal 
 Father, not because He was suffering, but because 
 He wished to undergo even more agony, in order 
 to save mankind. But at the words, “ I thirst,” they 
 were filled with rage, because they saw that He 
 complained not of bodily thirst, but of that ar¬ 
 dent desire which He felt in His soul for man’s 
 salvation. At the sixth mysterious word, “ All 
 
238 
 
 Divi ie Life of the 
 
 is consummated,” they received a clear know¬ 
 ledge of the great mystery of redemption, which 
 was already accomplished to their eternal shame 
 and confusion. The reign of Jesus was estab¬ 
 lished, and the empire of Satan entirely over¬ 
 thrown. 
 
 When Jesus pronounced the words, “ Father, 
 into thy hands I commend my spirit,” and, bowing 
 His head, expired, the ground opened, and the 
 demon with all his companions was, in a terrific 
 manner, swallowed into the bottomless pit of hell 
 more quickly than the thunderbolt falls from the 
 clouds. He fell, disarmed and vanquished, and 
 his head was crushed beneath the feet of Jesus and 
 His holy Mother. This rapid fall of the demons 
 was far more humbling and painful to them than 
 their first fall from heaven ; and though hell had 
 ever been a region of darkness, covered with the 
 shadows of death, it nevertheless became on this 
 occasion still more horrible, for the damned felt a 
 new accession of torments from the violence with 
 which the demons were hurled into the abyss. 
 Judas, in particular, suffered horrible torments, for 
 this unhappy man was thrown into a bottomless 
 cavern, into which the demons had tried to preci¬ 
 pitate other souls, but had always failed, without 
 ever understanding the cause. From the begin¬ 
 ning, this horrible abyss had been destined for him, 
 and those who imitate him, such as relaxed reli¬ 
 gious and wicked Christians, who, after having 
 received the grace of Baptism, lead a bad life, and 
 are damned because they do not profit by the 
 
239 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 sacraments, by the passion of Christ, or by the 
 intercession of His holy Mother. 
 
 Lucifer having, by the permission of God, 
 recovered from the effects of his terrible fall, called 
 together the chiefs of the infernal legions and 
 spoke thus: “Companions, you see that we have 
 lost the empire which we so long maintained 
 over the world, and have been overthrown by 
 the Man-God, and crushed beneath the feet of 
 His Mother. What shall we now do ? How shall 
 we ever reestablish our fallen empire ? How shall 
 we be able to draw men to us ? Will not every 
 one follow and imitate the Incarnate God ? They 
 will walk in His footsteps, give Him their hearts, 
 practise His law, observe His precepts, and no one 
 will ever again listen to our deceitful promises. 
 They will reject the riches and honors with which 
 we try to allure them. Ah ! no doubt, after His 
 example, they will love poverty, obedience, purity, 
 and ignominy, and thus attain to that eternal king¬ 
 dom which we have lost. In order to imitate the 
 Redeemer, they will humble themselves to the 
 dust, and suffer all things with patience. Never¬ 
 theless, my pride fails not. Courage! let us con¬ 
 fer together on the means by which we may still 
 make war against the world, redeemed by the Man- 
 God and protected by His Mother, our terrible 
 enemy.” To this difficult proposition some of the 
 most cunning of the infernal chiefs replied : “ It is 
 true that men now possess a very mild law, very 
 powerful sentiments, the new example of a divine 
 Master, and the efficacious intercession of this new 
 
240 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 Woman . But human nature is always the same, 
 and things pleasing to the senses have not changed. 
 It is a condition of human nature, that when occu¬ 
 pied with one object, it cannot pay attention to 
 that which is opposed to it.” 
 
 Then they resolved to maintain idolatry in the 
 world, so that men might never attain to the know¬ 
 ledge of the true God, or the mystery of the 
 Redemption, and that, should idolatry be ov r- 
 thrown, they would introduce into the world new 
 sects and heresies, such as the erroneous and 
 infernal doctrines of Arius, Pelagius, Mahomet, 
 and other wicked heretics. All these plans were 
 approved by Lucifer, because they aimed at the 
 destruction of the foundation of the blessed and 
 eternal life. 
 
 Other demons pledged themselves to devote all 
 their energies to cause parents and heads of fami¬ 
 lies to be careless and negligent in the education 
 of their children and dependants. Others promised 
 to sow discord between husbands and wives, thus 
 to raise hatred and quarrels between them. Others 
 said: “ Our office will be to destroy piety and all 
 that is spiritual and divine, and to prevent men 
 from understanding the virtue of the sacraments, 
 so that they may receive them in the state of sin, 
 or that even if they do not receive in mortal sin, 
 yet they may do so in a state of tepidity and inde¬ 
 votion, for as the benefits which flow from them 
 are spiritual, those who wish to receive the fruit of 
 them must be fervent in spirit. If they have con¬ 
 tempt of the remedy, they will be careless about 
 
241 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 their salvation, and thus become too feeble to 
 resist our temptations; being blinded, they will 
 not perceive our snares and deceits, they will not 
 appreciate the love of their Redeemer, or the inter¬ 
 cession of this powerful Woman!' » i- 
 
 They unanimously resolved to devote all their 
 zeal and energy to cause the faithful to forget the 
 dolorous passion of Jesus, that thus they might 
 be led to forget the pains of hell and the danger 
 of eternal damnation. 
 
 It would be impossible to record all the different 
 suggestions and resolutions of the rebellious spirits, 
 whilst they plotted the destruction of the Church 
 and the perdition of her children. It will suffice 
 to say, that this infernal council continued during 
 an entire year. Lucifer, having approved the plans 
 of his legions, afterwards excited them all to work 
 earnestly against the redeemed world, but princi¬ 
 pally against Christians. ; Animated by rage and 
 fury, he bade them sow discord in the Church, and 
 excite in the heads of families the passions of 
 ambition, cupidity, sensuality and avarice, so that 
 sins being mutiplied among Christians, principally 
 among those entrusted with the guidance of others, 
 God might be justly irritated against them for their 
 ingratitude, and either refuse His graces, or with¬ 
 draw them from them, and by these means he 
 hoped the way of salvation would be closed against 
 them, and that hell would triumph. 
 
 Whoever reads this chapter should consider 
 that Lucifer is ever the same, that he is still 
 animated by the same spirit of rage and hatred 
 21 
 
242 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgi?i. 
 
 against us, who are so weak. Let us therefore 
 renew our zeal for our salvation, and not allow 
 ourselves to be deceived by the false pleasures of 
 the world, of the senses, and of hell, but have 
 recourse to the wounds of our Redeemer, and 
 live under the protection of our august Queen. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 PIERCTNG OF OUR SAVIOURS SIDE WITH A LANCEJ 
 HIS BURrAL.—RETURN OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN TO 
 THE SUPPER-ROOM. 
 
 
 m HE Mother of sorrows remained standing on 
 ], Calvary, leaning against the holy cross, and 
 adoring the sacred body of her Son and His 
 J divine person, to which this most holy body 
 always remained united. This great Queen con¬ 
 tinued ever constant in the interior practice of the 
 most heroic virtues, ever firm and immovable 
 amidst the impetuous movements of her most 
 bitter sorrows. The greatest affliction of this 
 merciful and divine Mother was the culpable 
 ingratitude which men, to their own great detri¬ 
 ment and loss, would return for this incomprehen¬ 
 sible benefit. She also felt great anxiety about the 
 I urial of the divine body of her Son, and how it 
 was to be taken down from the cross. Suddenly 
 she beheld a crowd of armed men approach¬ 
 ing Calvary. Her fears were redoubled, for she 
 dreaded some new outrage to the sacred body of 
 the Redeemer. 
 
 Addressing herself to St. John afid the holy 
 women, she said: “Alas! my sorrow has reached 
 the highest degree, and my heart is broken within 
 
 243 
 
244 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 me. Alas! the executioners are not satisfied with 
 having put my Son to death; they now come to 
 commit new outrages on His sacred body.” 
 
 It was already the evening of Friday, and the 
 great feast of the Sabbath of the Jews had com¬ 
 menced; therefore, that they might be able to cele¬ 
 brate it without hindrance, they begged Pilate to 
 allow them to break the limbs of the three who 
 had been crucified, in order to hasten their death, 
 that they might be able to remove them* at the 
 close of day. With this intention the soldiers 
 seen by the blessed Mother had come to Calvary. 
 Finding the two thieves still alive, they broke their 
 limbs, which caused their immediate death, but as 
 Jesus had already expired, a soldier named Longi¬ 
 nus, pierced His sacred side with a lance, and blood 
 and water flowed therefrom. 
 
 As our Lord was dead, He could not feel the 
 pain of this wound, but His more afflicted Mother 
 endured the same agony as if the lance had really 
 transpierced her heart, yet her bodily pain was less 
 than that which she experienced in her soul at the 
 sight of her Son's body being thus outraged. 
 Touched with pity and compassion for Longinus, 
 she said: “ May the Almighty cast upon thee a 
 look of His infinite mercy, in return for the 
 immense pain thou hast caused my soul.” Her 
 prayer was granted; a few drops of the sacred 
 blood and water fell upon the face of Longinus, 
 and he obtained not only his corporal sight, which 
 he had nearly lost, but also that of his soul, by 
 which he recognized the majesty of the Lord who 
 
245 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 had been crucified, was converted, and, weeping for 
 his sins, confessed the Divinity of Christ, which he 
 publicly preached to those who were around him. 
 
 The Mother of Wisdom clearly understood the 
 great mystery of the piercing of the side of the 
 Divine Lord. She saw that from this wound came 
 forth the new Church, washed, purified and invigor¬ 
 ated by the virtue of His passion and death, and 
 that from the Sacred Heart, as from the tree, pro¬ 
 ceeded branches laden with the fruit of eternal life, 
 which were to spread over the entire earth. The 
 august Mother prayed that all the mysteries thus 
 accomplished might be productive of good for the 
 happiness of mankind. She beheld a number of 
 persons coming towards her, carrying ladders ; they 
 were Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, and their 
 servants. 
 
 When they, arrived at the foot of the cross and 
 beheld the dolorous Mother, they were so moved 
 at the sight of her grief, and at beholding Jesus 
 nailed to the cross, that, for some time, they 
 remained motionless, and could neither salute 
 Mary nor attempt to console her. Being strength¬ 
 ened by the Virgin Mother, they took courage, and 
 saluted her with humble compassion, after which 
 they prepared to remove the Sacred Body. Joseph 
 of Arimathea begged Mary to retire a little apart, 
 in order that her sorrow might not be renewed, but 
 ever constant and courageous, she replied: “As I 
 have had the consolation of being present at my 
 Son’s death upon the cross, permit me to have that 
 of seeing Him removed therefrom, for this act of 
 21 * 
 
' 246 Divine Life of the 
 
 great piety will give me more relief than pain and 
 suffering.” 
 
 At these generous words they began to remove 
 the mangled body of Jesus. First, they took off 
 
 1; 
 
 the crown of thorns, and having kissed it with 
 great veneration, presented it to Mary, who re¬ 
 ceived it kneeling. Pressing it to her lips, she 
 bathed it with her tears, and St. John and the pious 
 women also venerated it, as they likewise did 
 the nails. To receive the Sacred Body the holy 
 Virgin knelt down, and stretched out her arms, 
 holding over them at the same time some white 
 linen. St. John supported the head, and Magdalen 
 the feet, while they assisted Joseph and Nicodemus. 
 In this manner, with the deepest veneration and 
 an abundance of tears, they laid the divine Body 
 on the bosom of the dolorous Mother. She adored 
 it profoundly, shedding tears of blood, caused* 
 by her -excessive grief. 
 
 All the holy angels present adored the body of 
 their God, although they were invisible to the 
 assistants. St. John did the same, and after him 
 the rest of the faithful followers. St. John and 
 Joseph asked the weeping Mother to allow them to 
 bury the body of her divine Son, and having 
 jmbalmed it, they placed it on a litter to bear it to 
 the sepulchre. 
 
 The great Queen, although oppressed with grief, 
 called many of the heavenly choirs to assist with 
 her own guardian angels at the interment of their 
 Creator. The heavenly spirits obeyed, but they 
 were visible only to the holy Virgin. Then the 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 247 
 
 devout procession of men and angels set oat. St. 
 John, Nicodemus, Joseph, s and the centurion who 
 had been present at the Redeemer’s death and 
 confessed Him to be the Son of God, carried the 
 Sacred Body. After them followed the Queen of 
 Martyrs, accompanied by the Marys and other 
 pious women, and many of the faithful who had 
 been enlightened by divine light. Thus they 
 carried the precious remains into the garden, in 
 which Joseph had a new sepulchre, wherein they 
 laid it with the greatest reverence. 
 
 Before the stone was rolled against the sepulchre 
 the loving Mother prostrated herself, to adore the 
 body of her Son; the others did the same, shedding 
 many tears. The sepulchre being closed, Mary 
 ordered the holy angels to remain there as a guard, 
 while she conducted her pious company to Calvary 
 to venerate the holy cross; after they had done so, 
 they accompanied her to the hall of the Last Sup¬ 
 per, whence they returned to their own homes, 
 filled with heavenly consolation. The holy Virgin, 
 St. John, and the pious women remained in the 
 Supper-room. St.John begged the blessed Mother 
 to take a little rest. “ My rest,” answered she, 
 “ will be to behold my Son risen.” 
 
 After these words she retired to her room 
 accompanied by St. John. There she cast herself 
 at his feet, reminded him of Jesus’ words upon the 
 cross, amd entreated that, in his office of priest of 
 the Most High, he would, in future, command her 
 as if she were his servant, with regard to all that 
 she was to do. 
 
248 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 The apostle remonstrated with her, and tried to 
 prove that the right to command belonged to her 
 as a Mother; but all was in vain, for the humble 
 Queen added, “ My son, I must always be subject 
 to some one, and certainly, as thou art my son, 
 thou oughtest to give me this consolation in my 
 solitude.” To this the saint answered, “ My 
 Mother, it shall be as thou desirest.” After this 
 the holy Virgin begged his permission to retire 
 into solitude, to meditate on the passion of her 
 divine Son. She also begged him to procure food 
 for the pious women and to assist them. The 
 apostle punctually executed these orders, and they 
 separated, to pass the night in sorrowful meditation 
 on the Redeemer’s passion. 
 
 At dawn of day on Saturday, St. John entered 
 into Mary’s oratory, in order to console her, and 
 be the first to receive her blessing. At her request 
 he went to seek St. Peter, whom, by the disposition 
 of Divine Providence, he met before he had pro¬ 
 ceeded many steps. He was coming from the 
 grotto, in which he had wept over his sin, and 
 overwhelmed with confusion, was proceeding to¬ 
 wards the Supper-room. The blessed Virgin had 
 told St. John to give him every mark of love and 
 tenderness, to console him, and bring him to her. 
 
 After he had strengthened St. Peter by his kind 
 words, they went together to seek the other 
 apostles, and having found several of them, they 
 returned to the Supper-room. St. Peter entered 
 first, and, prostrating himself at Mary’s feet, he 
 cried out with tears: “I have sinned, I have sinned 
 
249 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 before my God; I have offended my divine Master, 
 and thee also, 0 my Mother!” then, overcome 
 by his tears and grief, he could say no more. 
 
 The merciful Mother, placing herself on her 
 knees, said, “ Let us, O Peter, beg pardon for thy 
 fault of my Son thy Master.” 
 
 The other apostles joined in their prayer, and, 
 bathed in tears, they prostrated themselves at her 
 feet, begging pardon for their cowardice in having 
 forsaken her Son, their divine Master. The 
 Mother of clemency bade them arise, promised 
 them the pardon they desired, and also her media¬ 
 tion to obtain it. 
 
 After having passed the Sabbath in holy conver¬ 
 sation and pious meditation, she retired in the 
 evening to contemplate the divine actions of the 
 most holy soul of Jesus in limbo, for she clearly 
 beheld everything in spirit. She saw that at the 
 entrance of Jesus into limbo, that obscure prison 
 was illuminated and filled with heavenly consola¬ 
 tion ; then the angels were ordered to conduct the 
 souls detained in limbo and in purgatory; being 
 united together, they gave a thousand benedictions 
 and praises to their Liberator. At this sight, the 
 holy Virgin felt great joy in her soul, yet not in 
 the sensitive part, for she had prayed the Eternal 
 Father to suspend in her every means of consola¬ 
 tion during the time that our Lord would remain 
 in the sepulchre. 
 
 This day was terrible to those in hell, for, by the 
 permission of God, they felt sensibly the triumphant 
 descent of our Lord into limbo. The demons 
 
250 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 were still feeble and crushed by their fall from 
 Calvary, but hearing the voices of the angelic 
 heralds who preceded the Lord, they were troubled 
 and seized with fear, and like serpents, when pur¬ 
 sued, hid themselves within the infernal caverns. 
 
 The confusion of the damned was great and 
 indescribable, particularly that of Judas, because 
 on him the demons vented their rage with greater 
 fury and indignation. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD.—GREAT JOY OF THE 
 DIVINE MOTHER.—OTHER MARVELS. 
 
 ■9 
 
 f HE Divine Saviour remained in limbo with the 
 holy fathers from Friday night until Sunday 
 % morning, before dawn, when He came forth 
 J from the sepulchre, accompanied by the holy 
 angels and the souls of the just whom He had 
 redeemed. 
 
 A great number of the holy angels had kept 
 guard over the holy sepulchre. By order of the 
 great Queen, some of them had gathered the drops 
 of divine blood and the pieces of sacred flesh, torn 
 by the blows, as also everything which related to 
 the glory of the sacred body, or appertained to the 
 integrity of the most holy Humanity. 
 
 c J 
 
 The souls of the holy fathers, on arriving, beheld 
 at first this divine body covered with wounds and 
 disfigured by the outrages and cruelty of the Jews; 
 then the angels replaced, with great reverence, the 
 holy relics which they had gathered, and at the 
 same instant the most holy soul of the Redeemer 
 reunited itself to the divine body, and communi¬ 
 cated to it life, immortal and glorious. Jesus came 
 forth from the sepulchre, shining with heavenly 
 beauty; in the presence of the holy fathers, He 
 
 251 
 
252 Divine Life of the 
 
 promised to all mankind the resurrection of the 
 body as an effect of His, and as a pledge of this 
 promise He commanded the souls of many of those 
 present to reassume their bodies; therefore the 
 Evangelist says, “and the bodies of many arose.” 
 
 The Queen of martyrs beheld all this, and the 
 sight reflected on her a celestial splendor, so that 
 she became radiant with beauty and light. St. 
 John had come, as on the previous morning, to 
 console her in her desolation; suddenly he beheld 
 her surrounded with rays of glory, so that as be¬ 
 fore she was hardly recognizable from the excess of 
 grief, so now she was so brilliant and transformed 
 as it were, that she seemed to have received new 
 life, hence he concluded that Jesus must be risen. 
 
 The great Queen, entirely absorbed in the thought 
 of her Son’s resurrection, performed heroic acts of 
 virtue, and her heart became inflamed with the fire 
 of charity. Suddenly she experienced within her¬ 
 self a new emotion of joy and heavenly consola¬ 
 tion, corresponding to the inexplic. ble grief she 
 had suffered during the passion, and this emotion 
 was communicated to her body by the soul. To 
 these admirable effects was added a third benefit 
 of a different nature, which was a new light like 
 that of heaven. 
 
 After she had been thus prepared, her beloved 
 Son entered into her room, risen and glorious, and 
 accompanied by all the holy patriarchs. The 
 humble Queen pros rated herself upon the ground 
 to adore her Son and Lord, who, raising her, drew 
 her to His side. In this divine contact, she re- 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 253 
 
 ceived an incomprehensible favor of the most ex¬ 
 alted kind, a favor which she alone could merit, 
 because she alone was exempt from the sin of 
 Adam; yet even she could not have received it had 
 she not been fortified by her divine Son. This favor 
 was that the glorious body of the Son environed 
 the soul of His Mother in the same manner as if a 
 globe of crystal were to surround the sun, and the 
 most pure body of the Virgin Mother became like 
 to one of the blessed. She heard a voice which 
 said, “ My beloved, ascend higher.” By virtue of 
 this divine voice she was entirely transformed, and 
 clearly beheld the Divine Essence, in which, even 
 in a. moment, she found at once her repose, and 
 the reward for all the sorrows she had undergone. 
 In this state of ineffable happiness she remained 
 for many hours, and she received as many gifts 
 and graces as was possible for a creature to re¬ 
 ceive. She afterwards spoke to and recognized 
 each of the holy patriarchs in turn, and they did 
 homage to her as to the Mother of the Redeemer. 
 She spoke in particular with St. Ann, St. Joachim, 
 St. Joseph, and St. John the Baptist. 
 
 After this visit to His holy Mother, our Lord 
 willed to visit those who had suffered most during 
 His passion, as is related by the Evangelist, and 
 except when Jesus was thus occupied in consoling 
 others by His visits, He always remained to con¬ 
 verse with His Mother in the Supper-room, where 
 she remained during the forty days which preceded 
 His ascension. 
 
 After His blessed Mother, the Lord was pleased 
 
254 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 to pay His first visit to the holy women, because 
 they had remained firm in the faith and hope of 
 the resurrection. The holy Gospel relates that the 
 Marys went to the sepulchre, one Evangelist says, 
 “by night;” another, “when the sun had risen.” 
 This apparent contradiction may be thus explained. 
 The holy women left the house before dayl ight, 
 but when they reached the sepulchre the sun had 
 arisen, because on that day he anticipated the time 
 by three hours, in order to compensate for the three 
 hours eclipse at our Saviour’s death. Therefore it 
 is true that by the hour it was still night, yet it 
 was day, by reason of the sun’s being risen. 
 
 During the forty days after the resurrection 
 which Jesus spent with His holy Mother, His 
 divine presence produced in her most wonderful 
 effects. She also conversed miny times with the 
 holy fathers, and, being the M}ther of Wisdom, 
 knew the graces and favors they had received from 
 the Most High, and the prophecies they had made 
 regarding the divine actions of the life and death 
 of Jesus Christ. At her invitation they often joined 
 with her in pra’sing the Lord; ranged in order, 
 they formed a magnificent choir, in which each 
 sang a verse, to which the divine Mother answered, 
 and in these canticles she alone gave more glory 
 to the Most High than all the saints together. 
 
 In this happy time another wonder was operated; 
 this was that all the souls of the faithful who 
 passed to eternity during those forty days, were 
 conducted to the Supper-room, and those who 
 were pure were immediately beatified; those who 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 ^55 
 
 were condemned to purgatory had not this happi¬ 
 ness, and were deprived of the sight of Jesus risen, 
 some for three days, others for four or five. Then 
 the great Mother of piety and mercy satisfied for 
 them by adorations, prostrations, genuflections, and 
 many other acts of religion, after which satisfaction 
 they were admitted to the sight of the Lord and 
 the enjoyment of His presence ; then prostrating 
 themselves before the Virgin Mother, they ex¬ 
 pressed their thanks. 
 
 The evangelists record many apparitions of Jesus 
 after His resurrection; although they make no 
 mention of that to St. Peter, it is, nevertheless, 
 certain that the Lord of goodness appeared to 
 him after the holy women. Regarding St. Thomas, 
 it is well to know that he was drawn from his 
 incredulity by the prayers of the holy Virgin, to 
 whom the apostles complained of his obstinacy in 
 his own opinion and his refusing to believe their 
 words. The merciful Mother replied to them with 
 kindness and mildness, telling them that the judg¬ 
 ments of God are profound, and that He would 
 draw great good from the incredulity they so much 
 condemned. Then she offered a fervent prayer to 
 obtain from the Lord the remedy which was after¬ 
 wards given to St. Thomas. 
 
 Some days before the Ascension, as the holy 
 Virgin was in the Supper-room, the Eternal Father 
 and the Holy Spirit appeared to her upon a throne 
 of ineffable beauty, on which the Incarnate Word 
 also ascended.. At this sight, the humble Mary with¬ 
 drew into a corner of the room, where, prostrate on 
 
2 5<5 Divine Life of the 
 
 the ground, she annihilated herself and adored the 
 Most High Trinity with profound veneration. 
 
 The Eternal Father ordered the angels to con¬ 
 duct her before His divine throne. When they had 
 done so, she heard a voice saying, “ My beloved, 
 ascend higher,” and she was raised to the august 
 throne of the Divinity. The Eternal Father recom¬ 
 mended the Church to her, saying: ‘‘My daughter, 
 I confide to thee the care of the church founded 
 by my Son, and also the new law of grace which 
 He has published to the world.” 
 
 The Holy Ghost communicated to her the 
 sovereign wisdom and grace, and the Son esta¬ 
 blished her in His place to govern the faithful. 
 
 Then the three divine Persons, addressing the 
 choir of angels, proclaimed her the Sovereign and 
 Queen of all created things,. Protectress of the new 
 Church, Mother of fair love, Advocate of sinners, 
 with many other beautiful titles. 
 
 On the day of His glorious Ascension, Jesus 
 made the same discourse to the one hundred and 
 twenty persons assembled in the Supper-room. 
 ” My dear children,” said He, “ I return to the 
 Father from whose bosom I have descended 
 for the salvation of the world, but in my place, I 
 leave my Mother to be your Consoler, Advocate, 
 and Mediatrix, that you may hear and obey her. 
 And as I have already told you, he who will see 
 me, will also see my Father, and he who will know 
 me, will also know my Father, so I say to you, he 
 will know me who will know my Mother, and he 
 who will hear her, will also hear me. Whoever 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 257 
 
 will offend me, will offend her, and he that will 
 honor me will also honor her. You shall consider 
 her as your Mother, your Mistress, your Superior 
 and your Advocate. She shall decide all your 
 doubts and difficulties, because I will be with her 
 unto the end of the world, even as I now am, 
 although it is in a manner which you do not 
 as yet understand.” The Lord spoke thus because 
 He was really in her under the sacramental species, 
 which she had received at the Last Supper, and 
 still preserved in her heart. 
 
 “You shall also,” continued our divine Lord, 
 “ rcknowledge Peter as head of the Church er 
 which I have constituted him my vicar. You 
 shall regard John as the son of my Mother, for 
 such I named him when on the cross.” 
 
 After these words, Jesus made known to the 
 blessed Mother that He was about to command 
 the assembly of the faithful to begin to pay her 
 that homage due to her as the Mother of God, 
 and that He would leave it as a precept to His 
 Church, that she should receive such veneration. 
 But our humble Queen earnestly begged Him 
 not to give her at that time any honor but that 
 necessary for the accomplishment of the office He 
 had imposed on her, and not to allow the faithful to 
 pay to her any deeper veneration than that which 
 they had given her up to that time, so that all wor¬ 
 ship might be addressed to Him and in His name. 
 The Lord granted her humble request, but reserved 
 to Himself the right to make her known to the 
 world at a time more suitable and opportune. 
 
 22 * 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 ASCENSION OF JESUS INTO HEAVEN.—SINGULAR FAVORS 
 GRANTED TO HIS BLESSED MOTHER. 
 
 (3 n 
 
 ^jYjHILST our Lord was in the Supper-room 
 ] with His blessed Mother, it happened, by a 
 HP particular disposition of Divine Providence, 
 ^ that many of the faithful and pious women 
 besides the three Marys and Magdalen, congre¬ 
 gated there to the number of one hundred and 
 twenty. The Divine Master filled their hearts with 
 holy fervor. He instructed His disciples and 
 enriched the Church with the sacred mysteries 
 and sacraments. At length arrived the happy 
 hour, in which, as the true heir of eternal felicity, 
 He was to ascend to His Eternal Father. Be¬ 
 gotten from all eternity and consubstantial with 
 His Heavenly Father, He was to assume into 
 heaven His Sacred Humanity, in order that all 
 the prophecies concerning His coming life, death, 
 and redemption, might be accomplished. He thus 
 wished to seal all the mysteries by that of the 
 Ascension, at which He promised to send the 
 Holv Ghost, for the Comforter would not come 
 until Christ had ascended into heaven, because 
 He and the Father were to send Him to His well- 
 
 253' 
 
 ’ 
 
Divine Lije of the Most Holy Virgin . 259 
 
 beloved Church. In order then to worthily cele¬ 
 brate this joyous and auspicious day, He chose 
 the one hundred and twenty as witnesses, viz: the 
 most holy Virgin, the twelve apostles, the seventy- 
 two disciples, Magdalen and Martha, Lazarus their 
 brother, the three Marys, and many others of the 
 faithful, both men and women. At the head of 
 this little flock which represented the entire Church, 
 Jesus, the divine Shepherd, left the Supper-room, 
 and walked through the streets of Jerusalem with 
 His most pure and tender Mother by His side. 
 Thus they advanced in the direction of Bethania, 
 about two miles from Jerusalem towards Mt. Olivet. 
 The company of the angels, and also of the saints 
 who had been taken out of limbo and purgatory, 
 followed the Lord all radiant and glorious, singing 
 canticles of praise, but they were visible only to 
 Mary. 
 
 The resurrection of the Lord was already known 
 throughout all Jerusalem and Palestine, although the 
 priests and Pharisees had, out of envy and hatred, 
 tried to prevent the news being spread abroad. 
 Divine Providence so willed that this holy proces¬ 
 sion.passed on unnoticed, and that no one but 
 these one hundred and twenty beheld the Lord. 
 
 When they reached the summit of Mt. Olivet 
 they ranged themselves in three choirs ; the first, 
 the angels; the second, the saints; and the third, the 
 body of the faithful and the apostles. The latter 
 separated into two parties, and Jesus placed Him¬ 
 self in their midst. Prostrating herself at the feet 
 of her divine Son, the august Mother adored Him 
 
260 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 as true God and Redeemer of the world, then she 
 begged Him to bestow on her His last benediction, 
 and all present followed her example. 
 
 The divine Lord blessed them with a joyous 
 countenance, full of majesty. Joining His hands, 
 He began to ascend slowly out of their sight, 
 leaving upon the mountain the imprint of His 
 sacred feet. With a scarcely perceptible motion, 
 He arose in the air, drawing after Him the loving 
 eyes and ravished hearts of His first-born children. 
 And as the attraction of the sun causes the motion 
 of the inferior planets, thus Jesus triumphant drew 
 after Him the angels and the glorified saints who 
 accompanied Him. 
 
 But the new and hidden mystery operated on 
 this occasion by the power of the Most High, was 
 that of taking with Him into heaven His most 
 holy Mother, there to give her that place due to 
 her as His Mother and acquired by her merits, to 
 be possessed by her in due time, for all eternity. 
 The Almighty willed that while the blessed Mother 
 was in heaven, she should still remain in the com- 
 pany of the faithful on Mt. Olivet. 
 
 The blessed Queen was then exalted with her 
 divine Son, and placed at His right hand, as had 
 been foretold by David, (Ps. xliv.) and there she 
 remained during three days. It was becoming 
 that, at that time, this mystery should be concealed 
 from both the apostles and the faithful, for had they 
 seen Mary ascend with Jesus into heaven, their 
 affliction would have been too great. As they 
 beheld their divine and beloved Master receding 
 
26 i 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 -» - 
 
 gradually from their sight, they gave vent to their 
 grief in sighs and tears, and when a luminous cloud 
 hid Him from their eyes, their sorrow became still 
 deeper. 
 
 The Eternal Father and the Holy Ghost, at¬ 
 tended by all the blessed spirits, descended on a 
 cloud to meet the only-begotten and Incarnate 
 Son and His Virgin Mother. Then both those 
 Divine Persons, according to our manner of under¬ 
 standing. embraced them with a kiss of ineffable 
 purity, which caused a new joy to all the choirs of 
 heaven, who sang: "Open, O princes, your eternal 
 gates, and let the great King of glory and the 
 Queen of virtues enter. Already has Pi is liberal 
 and infinite mercy given to men the power of 
 acquiring with justice the rights they had lost by 
 sin, and of meriting, by the cbser/ance of His law, 
 eternal beatitude as His brethren and co-heirs. In 
 order to increase our joy, He brings with Him the 
 Mother of piety, who gave Him the body in which 
 He has vanquished Satan. Our Queen is replen¬ 
 ished with such grace and beauty, that she fills 
 with joy all those that behold her.” 
 
 This procession, so admirably arranged, arrived 
 in Paradise with incomprehensible joy. The angels 
 ranged ihemselves on one side, the saints on the 
 other, and Jesus Christ and His august Mother 
 passed through their midst. All rendered to Christ 
 supreme adoration, and to Mary, the co-redemptrix, 
 the veneration due to her, singing canticles of 
 praise in honor of the Author of grace and life. 
 The Eternal Father placed the Incarnate Word at 
 
262 Divine Life of the 
 
 H is right hand on the throne of the Divinity. The 
 great Queen remained humbled in the depth of her 
 nothingness, because of her extraord.nary humility 
 and wisdom. She abased herself in the knowledge 
 that she was a mere creature, and this admirable 
 humility of their Queen was to angels and men a 
 new motive for joy. The voice of the Eternal 
 Father was heard, saying, “Ascend higher, my 
 daughter;” and her Divine Son also called hen 
 saying, “Arise, my Mother, and come to the 
 place which I will give thee.” The Holy Ghost 
 added, “Come, my spouse, my beloved, receive my 
 eternal embrace.” 
 
 Then to the whole celestial court was made 
 known the decree of the Most Holy Trinity, which 
 gave to the august Mother the seat at the right 
 hand of her Son, on the throne of the Blessed 
 Trinity, and she was offered the choice of returning 
 to the world, or of remaining in heaven. Arising 
 from the throne, she prostrated herself before the 
 Blessed Trinity, and in imitation of her Son, showed 
 herself ready to labor for the good of the Church, 
 and to relinquish the ineffable joys of heaven. 
 This heroic act of charity was so agreeable to God, 
 that, having purified and enlightened her, He 
 raised her to the intuitive vision of the Divinity 
 and surrounded her with glory. Thus, like the 
 industrious bee, she descended from the Church 
 triumphant to the Church militant, laden with the 
 flowers of the most pure charity, to make the sweet 
 honeycomb of the love of God and her neighbor, 
 for the young children of the primitive Church, 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 263 
 
 whom she raised to be strong and robust men, who 
 afterwards became the foundation of the great 
 edifice of the Church. 
 
 But let us return to Mt. Olivet. There the 
 faithful remained with eyes upturned towards 
 heaven, weeping and lamenting because they could 
 no longer behold their Divine Redeemer. The 
 merciful Mother cast on them a look of tenderness, 
 and, filled with compassion for their sorrows, 
 prayed her divine Son to console them; therefore, 
 He sent to them two angels clothed in white and 
 resplendent with glory. After they had been thus 
 comforted they departed from Mt. Olivet, and 
 returned to the Supper-room, in company with the 
 blessed Virgin, where they persevered in prayer, 
 expecting with earnest desire the coming of the 
 Holy Spirit promised to them by the Redeemer. 
 
 After the blessed Mother had enjoyed in her 
 soul during three days the glory of heaven, the 
 Divine Majesty ordered an innumerable company 
 of an ;els from every choir to accompany her to 
 the earth and she was carried on a bright cloud 
 to the Supper-room. The human mind cannot 
 conceive the beauty and exterior brightness with 
 which the august Queen came from Paradise. It 
 was necessary that the Most High should conceal 
 them from those who beheld her. St. John alone 
 had the privilege of seeing her in this splendor. 
 Descending from this cloud of light, she prostrated 
 herself upon the ground, and in her 1 art humbled 
 herself beneath the dust; she abased herself before 
 God in a manner not to be expressed by human 
 
264 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 tongue. She was entirely absorbed in her Beloved, 
 and so disengaged from all created things, as to 
 be a subject of admiration to the angels, who won¬ 
 dered at seeing a pure creature so exalted and so 
 full of gifts, and with such a great fund of the 
 beautiful virtue of humility. 
 
 The evangelist St. John was rendered worthy to 
 see her descend from Paradise; he was ravished 
 with astonishment, and seized with such humility 
 that he remained a whole day without daring > 
 present himself before the Queen of angels. But 
 at length, being impelled by love and devotion, 
 he came to the august Mother, and seeing her 
 incomparably more brilliant than was Moses when 
 he descended from Mt. Sinai, he prostrated himself 
 upon the ground, overpowered by emotion. The 
 merciful Mother hastened to him, and kneeling, 
 said, “ My Son and my Master, thou knowest that 
 the obedience that I owe thee, directs all my 
 actions; as thou art to take the place of my Son 
 in commanding all my actions, be kind enough to 
 exercise this power over me, to give me the con¬ 
 solation of obeying.” Hearing these words, the 
 holy apostle was filled with astonishment and con¬ 
 fusion, knowing the greatness of the divine Mother; 
 nevertheless he promised to do as she desired, in 
 order to leave to the Church a singular example 
 of humility. 
 
 If, then, we wish to be the children and true 
 servants of this divine Mother, let us endeavor 
 principally to imitate her holy humility. 
 
 =1 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 HOLY EXERCISES IN THE SITPPER-ROOM BEFORE PEN¬ 
 TECOST. 
 
 ^HE divine Mother had been left on earth to 
 j direct the Church, and be the Mistress of the 
 apostles, and as such she was regarded by the 
 J faithful assembled in the Supper-room ; never¬ 
 theless, the great Queen never spoke in their midst, 
 unless when commanded by St. Peter or St. John, 
 for she had begged her divine Son to inspire them 
 with His orders, that she migl" obey them as Him¬ 
 self. Therefore she executed all that they desired, 
 as if she was their humble servant and the least 
 among them, and as such, did she ever act and 
 speak among the primitive faithful. After she 
 descended from heaven, she consoled them all with 
 kindness, exhorted them to banish sadness, and 
 filled them with consolation. 
 
 She assembled them together twice a day in 
 the Supper-room, and, being commanded by St. 
 John or St. Peter to speak, explained to them for 
 one hour the mysteries of faith, as if she were 
 conversing with them, rather than teaching them 
 as their Mistress and Queen. She explained the 
 mysteries of the hypostatic union and all those 
 contained in the ineffable and divine Incarnation. 
 23 265 
 
266 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 After this she bade them entertain themselves for 
 one hour longer on the counsels, promises, and 
 doctrines they had learned from their divine Master; 
 to consecrate another part of the day to the recital 
 of the Paier nosier; with some psalms, and to 
 employ the rest of the time in mental prayer. In 
 the evening they took some slight nourishment of 
 bread, fruits, and fish ; thus by prayer and fasting 
 they prepared for the coming of the Holy Spirit. 
 She incited them to mental prayer, teaching them 
 its excellence and necessity, because the noblest 
 occupation of the reasonable creature is to raise 
 his mind above created things to meditate on the 
 divine, and that nothing should be preferred to this 
 holy exercise. 
 
 By these holy lessons, the Mother of wisdom and 
 the Mistress of charity enlightened the minds and 
 inflamed the hearts of the apostles and disciples, 
 filling them with fervor and disposing them to 
 receive the precious gifts of the Paraclete, which 
 she told them they would receive in an abundance 
 corresponding to their dispositions. She caused 
 them to practise perseveringly and courageously, 
 both interior and exterior acts of virtue, also genu¬ 
 flections, prostrations, acts of religion and venera¬ 
 tion, and other acts of adoration in honor of the 
 infinite greatness of the Most High. Every morn¬ 
 ing and evening she went with great humility to 
 receive the blessing of the apostles, first that of St. 
 Peter or St. John, and then of the others, according 
 to seniority. 
 
 At first they were amazed at beholding their 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 267 
 
 Mother and Queen prostrate at their feet, and re¬ 
 fused to bless her. But as the Mother of wisdom, 
 possessing the plenitude of all science, she made 
 them understand that by the greatness of their 
 priestly office and the sublimity of their sacerdotal 
 dignity, it was their right to bless her, and hers to 
 receive that benediction. Then they complied with 
 her request, to the great edification of the faithful. 
 The words of the holy Virgin were mild, fervent, 
 and efficacious in touching the hearts of the primi¬ 
 tive faithful, and in leading them to the practice of 
 what was most fervent and heroic in virtue. 
 
 Surprised themselves at their feelings, they said: 
 “We truly find in this pure creature that doctrine 
 and consolation of which we have been deprived 
 by the departure and absence of our divine Master, 
 for by her works, words, counsels, and conversa¬ 
 tion, so full of grace, humility and sweetness, she 
 teaches and persuades us as did our amiable Re¬ 
 deemer when He conversed with us. Let us dry 
 our tears, because, although deprived of the pre¬ 
 sence of our divine Master, He has left to us this 
 Mother and Mistress.” 
 
 When they had recourse to her for advice, it is 
 impossible to say with what humility, modesty, and 
 clearness she satisfied them, and she explained 
 mysterious and hidden things with great light and 
 clearness, bjcause as the Mother of wisdom, she 
 knew how to accommodate herself to every one, 
 and adapted herself to the capacity of each. Ah! 
 if the apostles had but left in writing all that they 
 knew and learned of the august Mother, all that 
 
268 Divine Life of the 
 
 » * ' 
 
 they saw and heard during her lifetime, particu¬ 
 larly during those days which preceded the De¬ 
 scent of the Holy Ghost, we would certainly have 
 a greater knowledge of the sublime doctrine of 
 Christ and the incomparable sanctity of our great 
 Queen. From her explanations and the effects 
 they produced, it was clearly shown that her most 
 holy Son had communicated to her a kind of 
 divine virtue like to His, except that in Him it was 
 as a fountain and source, and in her as the channel 
 by which it was to be conveyed to the souls of men. 
 
 The apostleship of the unhappy Judas was, as 
 David says in Psalm cviii., left vacant by his trea¬ 
 sure and despairing death ; therefore it was neces¬ 
 sary to elect another worthy of the apostolate, 
 for it was the will of the Lord that at the descent 
 of the Holy Ghost, the number twelve should 
 be complete as when first chosen by their divine 
 Master. In a conference held with the eleven 
 apostles, the blessed Virgin made known to them 
 this order of the Most High; they unanimously 
 approved what she proposed, and begged her as 
 their Mother and Mistress to choose him whom 
 she knew to be most worthy of the office of an 
 apostle. 
 
 Although the great Queen knew well who would 
 be chosen, because the names of the twelve were 
 written in- her pure and burning heart, nevertheless 
 she knew by her profound wisdom that it would be 
 most suitable to leave this care to St. Peter, that he 
 might begin to exercise his office as sovereign 
 Pontiff and head of the Church. Therefore she 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 269 
 
 humbly charged him to make this election in 
 presence of the disciples and others there assem¬ 
 bled, that thus they might see him discharge his 
 office as chief of the Church. St. Peter faithfully 
 performed all that she desired. In the Acts of the 
 Apostles, St. Luke records the manner of this 
 election. 
 
 During the days that intervened between the 
 Ascension and Pentecost, St. Peter having con¬ 
 voked the one hundred and twenty who had 
 assisted at the Ascension of our Lord, spoke to 
 them and announced that now was about to be 
 accomplished the prophecy uttered by David re¬ 
 garding Judas, who, having been chosen from 
 among the disciples to be an apostle, had un¬ 
 happily prevaricated, and had hung himself with a 
 halter; therefore it wars necessary that one should 
 be elected to fill his place among the apostles, and 
 be a witness of the resurrection of the Saviour, 
 adding, that he must be of the number of those 
 who had followed Jesus from the beginning of His 
 preaching. 
 
 Having heard these words, the faithful agreed to 
 obey St. Peter as to the manner in which the choice 
 should be made, and he determined that they 
 should choose two from among the seventy-two 
 disciples. They chose Joseph, commonly called 
 “The Just,” and Matthias, and decided that he 
 on whom the lot would fall, should be numbered 
 among the apostles. Their names were written on 
 separate tickets and thrown into a vase; all united 
 
 in fervent prayer that the Lord would reveal His 
 23 * 
 

 270 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 will in the choice they were about to make. Then 
 St. Peter arose and drew the ticket; of St. Matthias, 
 who was joyfully recognized and accepted as the 
 legitimate apostle of Jesus. The divine Mother 
 knelt to receive his blessing, as did also the rest of 
 the faithful. From that time they persevered in 
 fasting and prayer until the descent of the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 C 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 TIIE DESCENT OF THE HOLY GHOST.—WHAT HATPENED 
 
 TO THE HOLY VIRGIN. 
 
 j j T is impossible to imagine the loving solicitude 
 1 of the blessed Virgin, or her ardent charity in 
 strengthening the weakness of that pious yet 
 still imperfect assembly. The apostles them¬ 
 selves doubted the coming of the Holy Spirit; as 
 the Mother of piety, she came to their aid, and 
 dissipated their doubts, when, feeble and vacillating, 
 they said that the Holy Ghost would not come 
 as had been promised. With great charity she 
 reassured them, saying: “All that my divine Son 
 said has been entirely accomplished; He said in 
 particular, that He would suffer and rise again, and 
 all has been verified. If, then, He has promised to 
 send the consoling Spirit, without doubt He will 
 come to console and sanctify us.” At these words 
 they became so united, that from that time there 
 was not the slightest discord in this devoted 
 assembly; they were all of one heart and one 
 soul, and had but one sentiment and one will. 
 Although in the election of St. Matthias there had 
 been no disputes nor contention, yet this was the 
 effect of the earnest exhortations of the divine 
 Mother. This great union of charity among the 
 
 271 
 
272 Divine Life of the 
 
 disciples was an additional cause of torment to the 
 demons. 
 
 The Queen of the angels and Mother of grace 
 already knew the time and the hour in which the 
 Holy Spirit was to come. The days of Pentecost, 
 which were fifty after the resurrection of the Re- 
 deemer, being accomplished, the great Queen saw 
 the holy humanity of the Person of the Word, 
 reminding the Eternal Father of His promise to 
 send into the world, by particular communication,, 
 the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. As Advocate and 
 Mediator, He presented His wounds and merits; 
 He offered also the ardent desires of His holy 
 Mother, who still remained in the world. The. 
 august Virgin united Kerself to the prayer of her 
 Son, sometimes by extending her arms in the form 
 of a cross, and again by prostrating herself upon 
 the ground. She saw that the Most Holy Trinity 
 willed to console the infant Church, and this know¬ 
 ledge she communicated to the apostles and other 
 disciples, exhorting them to pray with- fervor and to 
 beg the Holy Spirit to descend, because He would 
 speedily come. 
 
 While they prayed, uniting themselves to their 
 Queen with great fervor, at the hour of tierce, they 
 heard frightful thunder and impetuous wind, accom¬ 
 panied with a great splendor like lightning, and a 
 fire which seemed to invest the Supper-room and 
 fill it with light; this divine fire spread itself over 
 this holy assembly, and rested on the head of each 
 one in the form of a tongue of this same fire in 
 which the Holy Spirit came. They were all filled 
 
2 73 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 with .divine influences and sublime gifts; at the 
 same time it produced in the Supper-room and in 
 Jerusalem divers effects. 
 
 Those effects in the holy Virgin were many and 
 admirable; she was elevated and transformed into 
 God, the Consoler, and during the same time 
 enjoyed the beatific vision of the Divinity, in which 
 she alone received more gifts and ineffable commu¬ 
 nications than all the rest of the Church, and her 
 glory in this moment surpassed that of all the 
 angels and saints. She alone rendered greater 
 thanks, praises, honor and glory to the Most High 
 for having sent the Divine Spirit, than the whole 
 Church united. Thus the Lord, being pleased • 
 with the lively and fervent thanksgivings of the 
 pure dove, the divine Virgin, resolved to appoint 
 her again to the government of His Church. At 
 the same time, all the gifts, favors and graces of the 
 Holy Spirit were renewed in His blessed Spouse 
 with new effects and divine operations. 
 
 The apostles were also filled with the Holy 
 Spirit, and an admirable increase of justifying grace, 
 and they alone were confirmed in grace, never more 
 to lose it. They received infused habits of the 
 seven gifts, viz: wisdom, understanding, know¬ 
 ledge, piety, counsel, fortitude, and the fear of the 
 Lord. They were renewed and fortified to be 
 worthy ministers of the new law and founders of 
 the Church, for this new grace and multiplicity of 
 gifts communicated to them a divine virtue which 
 urged them sweetly and efficaciously to all that is 
 most heroic in virtue and most sublime in sanctity 
 
274 Divine Life of the 
 
 It operated also in the other disciples and the faith¬ 
 ful, according to the disposition of each. 
 
 St. Peter and St. John were particularly enriched 
 with sublime gifts, the one as Chief of the Church 
 the other as the son of the great Sovereign of the 
 universe. The divine and beautiful light which 
 filled the‘Supper-room spread itself abroad, and all 
 those who had been well disposed towards the 
 Redeemer, at least by acts of compassion, were 
 interiorly enlightened by a new light, which dis¬ 
 posed them to receive the doctrine of the apostles. 
 
 The contrary effects of the Holy Spirit upon the 
 inhabitants of Jerusalem were no less marvellous, 
 although more hidden. In punishment of their 
 incredulity the enemies of the Lord were terrified 
 by fearful thunder and lightning. Moreover, all 
 those who, with remarkable rage and cruelty, had 
 participated in the sufferings and death of Jesus, 
 were prostrated to the earth, and remained for three 
 hours, as if deprived of life. The men who had 
 scourged Him were suddenly struck dead, being 
 suffocated in their own blood, which burst from 
 them as they fell. The barbarous and ungrateful 
 Malchus, who had given the cruel blow, was not 
 only struck dead suddenly, but was carried off by 
 the demons, both body and soul. The rest of the 
 Jews were chastised by severe pains and horrible 
 maladies; the chastisement was extended even to 
 hell, for the demons and the damned felt a greater 
 oppression of pain and particular torments, which 
 lasted for three entire days; Lucifer and his 
 demons yelled and roared with terror and fury. 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 275 
 
 O, Holy Spirit, adorable and all-powerful, the 
 *oly Church calls thee the Finger of God , because 
 :hou proceedest from the Father and the Son, as 
 the finger from the body and the arm. Thou art 
 God, like the Father and the Son, infinite, eternal, 
 and immense; ah! triumph over the wickedness 
 of men, and by the merits of Jesus Christ and 
 His divine Mother, communicate to us thy gifts. 
 Amen. 
 
7 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 THE APOSTLES LEAVE THE SUPPER-ROOM TO PREACH. 
 MIRACLES OPERATED BY THE DIVINE MOTHER. 
 
 A>N the Sunday on which the Holy Ghost des¬ 
 cended, the Jews were celebrating in Jeru¬ 
 salem a solemn feast; therefore among the 
 crowd there were many strangers, who, to¬ 
 gether with the inhabitants, were much surprised 
 at the new marvels which they had seen in the 
 Supper-room, and they hastened thither to learn 
 their cause. The holy apostles, hearing the noise 
 made by so great a concourse of persons, begged 
 their divine Mistress to allow them to go forth and 
 instruct the people by their preaching, and they 
 began to instruct the people. After having lived 
 retired during fifty days, they resolutely appeared 
 abroad, and the words which fell from their lips 
 were like rays of light profoundly penetrating the 
 hearts of their hearers, who, looking on each other 
 with astonishment, said: “What is this that we see 
 in our days? Are not these men who speak to us 
 Galileans? How then do we all understand them 
 in our own language? Jews and proselytes, Ro¬ 
 mans and Latins, Greeks, Cretans, Arabs, Parthians 
 and Medes, we all understand them in the language 
 of our own country.” 
 
 276 
 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 277 
 
 This miracle wrought many different effects in 
 the minds of the hearers, who were divided by 
 contrary opinions, according to their different dis¬ 
 positions. Those who listened with devotion, 
 received great knowledge of the Divinity, and the 
 redemption of man, which were the subjects on 
 which the apostles preached; by the power of their 
 fervent words they were excited to learn the truth, 
 and, illuminated by divine light, they conceived a 
 lively horror for their sins and deplored them. 
 All bathed in tears, they hastened to throw them¬ 
 selves at the feet of the apostles to learn what they 
 should do to gain life everlasting. Others, on the 
 contrary, being hardened, were indignant at what 
 they heard, and instead of profiting by the divine 
 word, called the apostles the inventors of novelties, 
 while many of the Jews, still more wicked, regarded 
 them as drunkards. St. Peter, as head of the 
 Church, rose to deny the blasphemy, and, speaking 
 very forcibly, convinced them by the texts of the 
 prophets, as related by St. Luke in the Acts of the 
 Apostles. Then they cried out: “What shall we 
 do to obtain salvation ?” St. Peter answered in a 
 loud voice : “ Do true penance, receive baptism, and 
 your sins shall be pardoned, you shall also receive 
 the Holy Spirit.” Three thousand persons were 
 converted, instructed and baptired; and the in¬ 
 credulous departed, covered with confusion. 
 
 God wished that the three thousand converts 
 should be of different nations, in order that, on 
 their return to their own countries, they might 
 spread the evangelical doctrine and the grace of 
 24 
 

 278 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 the Holy Spirit, and that the faithful thus dispersed 
 might form but one Church. 
 
 The apostles returned to the Supper-room to 
 relate to the divine Mother all that had occurred; 
 they took the new converts with them, that they 
 might see and venerate her. From her retreat she 
 had observed all that passed, for when the apostles 
 went forth from the Supper-room, she had pros¬ 
 trated herself to pray for the conversion of those 
 who had come to hear St. Peter; she implored God 
 to give the apostles the light and inspiration neces¬ 
 sary to persuade and move their auditors, and sent 
 many of the angels of her guard to their assistance. 
 
 When the apostles led into her presence the 
 reward of their labors, the first fruits of the passion 
 of her Son, and the descent of the Holy Ghost, she 
 received them as the Mother of piety, with the 
 greatest charity, love, and sweetness. St. Peter 
 said to them, “Beloved brethren, this is the Mother 
 of our divine Master and common Redeemer, 
 Jesus, in whom you have received the faith; this 
 Queen is His true Mother, who conceived Him by 
 the operation of the Holy Ghost in her chaste 
 womb, and gave Him to the world by miracle, 
 remaining always a most pure Virgin, a Virgin be¬ 
 fore child-birth, in child-birth, and after child-birth. 
 Receive her then as your mother, your protectress, 
 your mediatrix with the divine Majesty, and 
 through her you will receive light, consolation, the 
 remedy of sin, and all the miseries of this frail 
 
 life.” 
 
 By this exhortation, and by the interior lights 
 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 *79 
 
 obtained for them by the divine Mother, they were 
 filled with celestial consolations, and prostrating 
 themselves on the earth, they begged her benedic¬ 
 tion. The Mother of humility refused to give it in 
 presence of the priests, but St. Peter begged her to 
 afford this consolation to the pious faithful. She 
 immediately obeyed the head of the Church, and 
 with the humble serenity of a queen, gave her 
 blessing to the new converts, who at that moment 
 were replenished with heavenly consolations. See¬ 
 ing that the divine Mother obeyed St. Peter, they 
 begged him not to allow them to depart from her 
 presence without hearing some words which might 
 encourage them still more. St. Peter, believing it 
 would be well to afford them this consolation, 
 turned to the divine Queen and said, “Hear the 
 prayers of these faithful, thy children.” The great 
 Queen obeyed, and, as the Mother of wisdom, 
 spoke to them with zeal and humility; they were 
 animated with fervor, edified and filled with light 
 and admiration, and after receiving her benediction 
 again, returned to their homes. 
 
 From this time the apostles and disciples con¬ 
 tinued, without interruption, to preach and work 
 miracles. During the octave they catechised the 
 three thousand converts, with many others who 
 received the faith, and afterwards baptized them. 
 The women, after having heard the apostles, and 
 received the divine light, went to Magdalen and 
 the Marys to be catechised, for all the holy women 
 who had received the Holy Ghost had also re¬ 
 ceived the gift of tongues and of working miracles. 
 
28 o 
 
 ■*V 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 The news of this wonder spread quickly through 
 the city of Jerusalem and the neighborhood, and 
 they brought all the sick, the infirm and the pos¬ 
 sessed, to be healed, who received the health of 
 both body and soul with the light of faith. Thus 
 were spread abroad the holy faith, doctrine, and 
 counsels of Jesus Christ. The faithful loved pov¬ 
 erty, purity, peace, and humility; they sold all they 
 possessed, and brought the price to the feet of the 
 apostles, in * order to free themselves from the 
 danger of sin. They regarded all as their brethren, 
 and were content with what was given them by the 
 apostles. This was the Golden Age of the Church 
 of Jesus Christ, when faith was lively, hope firrr^ 
 charity ardent, humility true, and sanctity admi¬ 
 rable. 
 
 It would be impossible to record in this abridged 
 life all the miracles and admirable works operated 
 by the Queen of angels in the primitive Church. 
 She never lost a moment or an occasion of doing 
 some signal favor for the Church in general, or 
 any of the faithful in particular; she incessantly 
 prayed to her divine Son for the spiritual and 
 temporal necessities of all, because she knew 
 He would refuse her nothing. She exhorted, 
 taught, gave counsel, light and graces to every 
 one, for she was the treasurer and dispensatrix of 
 the gifts of God. For this reason, during the 
 years that she lived in the Church, the number 
 of those who were damned (as compared with 
 other times,) was very small, and on the contrary, 
 there were more saved during those few years 
 
28 i 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 than in many centuries after—that is, among the 
 faithful. 
 
 The happiness of this Golden Age of the Church 
 may well excite our envy, but we should consider 
 that we were all present to the mind and heart of 
 this merciful and divine Mother while she lived, for 
 she saw and knew us all in the order of time and 
 in the succession of the children of the Church in 
 which we would be born, and she prayed for us as 
 earnestly as for them. In heaven she is still the 
 same; her charity is not less ardent; her interces¬ 
 sion and protection not less efficacious. All the 
 fault lies with us, who do not live with the same 
 fidelity as did the faithful in those days. 
 
 The care which she took of the apostles, as 
 Mother of mercy, cannot be described. She never 
 ceased to animate them and all the ministers of the 
 divine word ; she exhorted them to great works, and 
 reminded them of the purity of intention they 
 should have in the miraculous works they per¬ 
 formed, and by which her divine Son had begun to 
 establish and propagate the faith in His Church. 
 She recalled to their minds the great virtues 
 which the Holy Ghost had communicated to 
 them to make them worthy ministers; the assist¬ 
 ance of the omnipotent arm of the Most High, 
 of which they should acknowledge their continual 
 need, and the unceasing thanksgiving they should 
 render lor the marvels which they operated. She 
 taught the same doctrine to the apostolic col¬ 
 lege, and .was herself the first to practise it by 
 the genrfiections, prostrations and praises which 
 24 * 
 
282 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 she rendered to the Lord with continual thanks¬ 
 giving. 
 
 Many converts begged to confer with her in 
 secret, regarding their interior, and as a true 
 mother, full of tenderness, she always consoled 
 them, because she knew the hearts of all, with 
 their affections and inclinations, and applied to them 
 the proper and salutary remedies. T1 e women, in 
 particular, after having spoken and conferred even 
 once with the great Queen, were inflamed with 
 charity, and brought her precious stones and 
 objects of great value; others, despoiled them¬ 
 selves of their rich ornaments, and laid them at the 
 feet of their divine Mistress, but she generally 
 refused to accept anything. If, however, it appeared 
 well to do so, she encouraged them to carry their 
 gifts to the apostles, that they might distribute them 
 with justice and charity among the necessitous 
 faithful; and the humble Queen showed as much 
 gratitude as if she herself had received their gifts. 
 She received the poor and sick with ineffable good¬ 
 ness and love, and healed a great number of invet¬ 
 erate diseases; she relieved many of their secret 
 wants by means of St. John, for she watched over 
 all, without ever omitting anything which regarded 
 the virtues. 
 
 The apostles and disciples occupied themselves 
 in preaching and catechising, and the holy women 
 also instructed the faithful; as for the blessed 
 Virgin, looking upon herself as the servant of all, 
 she saw that the necessary nourishment was pro¬ 
 vided, and even waited on them herself. She 
 
2^3 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 served the priests upon her knees, and with in¬ 
 credible humility, begged to be allowed to kiss 
 their hands; towards the apostles she showed still 
 greater veneration, because in them she recognized 
 the sublimity of grace, and saw that they were 
 environed with splendor and filled with the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 THE APOSTLES AND DISCIPLES ASSEMBLE TO RESOLVE 
 SOME DOUBTS.—ST. PETER CELEBRATES THE FIRST 
 MASS.—ACTIONS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 
 
 ? 
 
 ^[HE apostles continued to preach assiduously, 
 and confirmed their words by miracles and 
 prodigies. The number of believers continued 
 J to increase, and seven days after the descent 
 of the Holy Ghost, they were already five thousand. 
 This abundant fruit was due to the fervent prayers 
 of the great Mistress of the Church. 
 
 St. Peter, St. John, and the rest of the apostles 
 appeared in presence of the divine Mother, who 
 received them with great veneration, and placing 
 herself on her knees, she humbly begged the 
 benediction of the head of the Church. After he 
 had given it, St. Peter spoke in the name of all 
 the others, and said to the divine Mistress that 
 the new converts had been instructed in the neces¬ 
 sary articles of the faith, and ought to be baptized, 
 but that they asked her advice, in order to learn 
 the will of God. The prudent Mother replied: 
 
 “ My Lord, thou art the chief of the Church, and 
 the vicar of my most holy Son, therefore all that . 
 thou wilt do in His name, shall be approved by 
 His divine will, and my will is with thine and that 
 of my Son.” 
 
 284 
 
Divine Life of the Most Hoty Virgin. 2S5- 
 
 Then St. Peter ordered that on the following 
 day, which corresponds to Trinity Sunday, holy 
 Baptism should be given to the catechumens who 
 had been converted that week. Some of the assem¬ 
 bly thought it would be best to give the baptism 
 of St. John the Baptist, which was that of penance, 
 but St. Peter and St. John, with the blessed Mother, 
 decided that the baptism of Jesus Christ should 
 be administered ; that the matter should be water, 
 and the form, “ I baptize thee in the name of the 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” 
 because our Saviour had designated this matter 
 and this form, and had baptized many in this 
 manner with His own divine hands. Although 
 we read in the Acts of the Apostles that they 
 baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, we must 
 understand this of the Author of the Sacrament, 
 and not of the form, in order to distinguish this 
 baptism from that of penance, which had been 
 established by St. John, for to baptize in the name 
 of Jesus signifies the same thing as to give the 
 baptism instituted by Jesus Christ, because the 
 form is the same as that taught by the divine 
 Master. 
 
 On the following day the catechumens reassem¬ 
 bled in the Supper-room, and St. Peter begged the 
 divine Mother to instruct the new converts more 
 perfectly by her fervent words. The Mother of 
 humility said to them with great modesty: “My 
 children, the Redeemer of the world, my Son, and 
 true God, because of the love He has for men, has 
 offered to the Eternal Father the sacrifice of His 
 
286 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 divine body and blood, in consecrating and con¬ 
 cealing Himself under the species of bread, under 
 which He has willed to remain present in the 
 holy Church, in order that His children might 
 have a sacrifice to ofifer to the Eternal Father, and 
 might also possess the food of eternal life, and a 
 most assured pledge of that which they hope for 
 in heaven. 
 
 “ Thus, by means of this sacrifice, which contains 
 all the mysteries of the life and death of the Son, 
 we can appease the Eternal Father, and in Him 
 and by Him the Church will render the actions of 
 thanksgiving and praise, which are due to Him as 
 God and sovereign Benefactor. To you, O priests, 
 to you alone belongs the right to offer it. It is my 
 desire, if it be agreeable to you, that you com¬ 
 mence to offer this unbloody sacrifice, in order to 
 testify our gratitude for the ineffable benefit of 
 redemption which Jesus Christ has operated for us, 
 and for the descent of the Holy Spirit upon His 
 Church. The faithful in receiving it will begin to 
 relish this bread of eternal life and its divine 
 effects. Among those who have been baptized, 
 they who are capable of it and well-disposed, may 
 be admitted to receive it, but baptism is the first 
 and necessary condition.” 
 
 All the apostles and. disciples agreed to the 
 desires of the Mother of wisdom, and returned her 
 thanks; they determined that after the baptism of 
 the catechumens, St. Peter as head of the Church, 
 should celebrate the first Mass. St. Peter con-, 
 sented, and before leaving the assembly, proposed 
 
28> 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 to settle another difficulty, regarding the manner 
 of distributing the alms and the goods offered by 
 the converts. 
 
 The fatal example of Judas prevented many from 
 wishing to undertake this office, and different sug¬ 
 gestions were offered. The great Mistress of vir¬ 
 tues listened to all in silence, for, although mistress, 
 she, by her imcomparable humility, esteemed her¬ 
 self the disciple and servant of all. 
 
 St. Peter and St John, seeing the diversity of 
 opinions, begged the divine Mother to settle the 
 difficulty. Then with great humility she exhorted 
 all to practise voluntary poverty in imitation of the 
 divine Master, and proposed to them to choose six 
 or seven persons of solid virtue to receive the alms 
 and offerings, by which the faithful were to be sup¬ 
 ported, so that the apostles might be free to preach 
 the gospel; thus no one in the church could regard 
 anything as belonging to himself any more than to 
 his brethren. If the alms were not sufficient for 
 all, the seven persons should ask for aid in the 
 name of Jesus Christ. All approved this advice of 
 the Queen of angels, so full of wisdom, and they 
 chose seven men of solid virtue to receive alms 
 and provide for the faithful. 
 
 The great Queen begged the blessing of the 
 apostles, who immediately went forth to preach, 
 and the disciples began to instruct the catechumens 
 and prepare them for baptism. The divine Mother, 
 accompanied by the holy angels and the Marys, 
 went to prepare and adorn the hall in which her 
 divine Son had celebrated the Last Supper; she 
 
288 
 
 Divine Life of Ike 
 
 swept it herself and arranged it for the celebration 
 of the holy -lass. She begged the good master 
 of the house to give her the same ornaments that 
 had been used on the Thursday of the Last Sup¬ 
 per, which he did immediately, because of the ven¬ 
 eration he entertained for the holy Virgin. She 
 also prepared the unleavened bread and wine 
 needed for the consecration, with the little plate 
 and chalice used by the Redeemer. 
 
 She took care to have vessels filled with pure 
 water, that holy baptism might be conferred with 
 more facility and propriety. 
 
 After these preparations, the merciful Mother 
 retired to pass the night in acts of love, genuflec¬ 
 tions and thanksgivings ; she offered fervent prayers 
 to the Eternal Father that the new converts, who 
 Were to receive Holy Communion on the next day, 
 might do it in a manner pleasing to the Divine 
 Majesty, and the same prayer she offered for those 
 who were to be baptized. 
 
 On the morning of the following day, the octave- 
 of the descent of the Holy Ghost,'all the faithful and 
 catechumens, with the apostles and disciples, assem¬ 
 bled together in the hall. St. Peter made a dis¬ 
 course to show the excellence of baptism and its 
 divine effects; he told them they would be marked 
 with an interior character as members of the mysti¬ 
 cal body of the Church, and regenerated as chil¬ 
 dren of God and heirs of glory by means of justify¬ 
 ing grace and the remission of sins. He exhorted, 
 them to qbserve the law of God, and announced 
 the truth of the holy sacrament of the altar; they 
 
289 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 were filled with fervor, and the apostles gave bap¬ 
 tism with their own hands with great order and 
 devotion ; the catechumens entered by one door, 
 and after having been baptized, went orit by 
 another, being conducted by the disciples. 
 
 The divine Mother Was present at all, artd retir¬ 
 ing to the corner of the room, blessed and praised 
 the Lord. She saw that the faithful were renewed 
 by the divine blood of the Lamb, and- know the 
 graces they received; and even in the sight of 
 those present a most beautiful and sensible light 
 descended on the newly-baptized. 
 
 After the baptism of more than five thousand 
 persons, while they rendered thanks to God, the 
 apostles placed themselves in prayer, arid prepared 
 with the rest of the faithful, to receive Holy Com¬ 
 munion. They prostrated themselves upon the 
 earth, adoring the infinite goodness of God, and 
 confessing their unworthiness to receive so great a 
 gift. Then they recited the canticles and psalms 
 which the Lord had said. St. Peter took in his 
 hands the bread already prepared, and, raising his 
 eyes to heaven with great devotion and profound 
 recollection/ pronounced over the bread the divirie 
 words of the consecration' of the sacred body of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 The Supper-room was at that moment filled with, 
 ravishing splendor, and an infinite multitude of 
 angels, and in the sight of all the assistants, this 
 divine light was especially directed towards the 
 great Queen. St. Peter immediately consecrated 
 
 the wine in the chalice, and. with the sacred body 
 25 
 
290 Divine Life of the 
 
 and precious blood, he performed the same cere¬ 
 monies as the Saviour; that is to say, he elevated 
 them, that they might be adored by all. After 
 this, he communicated himself, then the other 
 apostles, as had been regulated by the holy Virgin. 
 The divine Mother communicated from the hands 
 of St. Peter, the heavenly spirits being there pre¬ 
 sent with ineffable respect. Before reaching the 
 altar, the great Queen performed three acts of 
 humility; she prostrated herself upon the earth, to 
 the great astonishment of her guardian angels, and 
 the edification of the assistants, who were moved 
 to tears. Then, being entirely recollected and 
 ravished in the Lord, she returned to the place 
 where she had been kneeling. 
 
 It is impossible to explain in words the divine 
 effects operated in this great creature by the Holy 
 Communion, for she was entirely transformed, 
 elevated, and absorbed in the embraces of the 
 divine love of her most holy Son, whom she had 
 received in her pure heart. While the divine 
 Queen was thus elevated, the holy angels, by her 
 own desire, surrounded her, that the assistants 
 might not know the divine effects, which it was not 
 suitable that they should discover. 
 
 After the communion of the Queen of angels, 
 the other faithful communicated, but of the five 
 thousand whp had been baptized, only one thou¬ 
 sand received Holy Communion, because they 
 were not sufficiently disposed and prepared. The 
 manner in which the Holy Sacrament was on that 
 day administered was as follows: St. Peter commu- 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 291 
 
 nicated the apostles, the holy Virgin, and all those 
 who had received the Holy Spirit, under the two 
 species of bread and wine. The faithful who had 
 been baptized, afterwards received only under 
 the species of bread. This difference was not made 
 because the converts were less worthy of receiving 
 one species than another, but because the apostles 
 knew that by receiving only under one species 
 they received Jesus wholly and entirely in the 
 Holy Sacramen , and again because there was no 
 precept to communicate under both. 
 
 After the communion, St. Peter finished the holy 
 mysteries by prayers and acts of thanksgiving, 
 after which they spent some time in meditation. 
 The great Queen returned thanks to the Most 
 High in the name of all, in which the divine 
 Majesty took His complacency; He heard and 
 accepted the prayers of His Beloved for all the 
 children of the Church, both present and future. 
 
 a 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 A NEW MIRACLE OPERATED BY JESUS IN FAVOR OF 
 
 HIS HOLY MOTHER. 
 
 £ 
 
 /T 
 
 A 
 
 v 
 
 T is incontestable that the favors which the 
 divine Mother received from her Son after she 
 descended from heaven to direct the Church, 
 were ineffable. If, in effect, they had previously 
 been very great, they were from this moment 
 augmented in an incredible mannner, in order to 
 show that He who communicated them was infinite, 
 and that the capacity of this wonderful creature, 
 chosen and elected from among all others, to 
 receive them, was immense. The great and incom 
 parable miracle was, that the sacramental species ot 
 the divine body of Jesus remained in the ardent 
 heart of the Virgin Mother until the next com¬ 
 munion, which she received the succeeding day. 
 It is unnecessary for us to seek other reasons than 
 those which caused the favors with which the 
 all-powerful God singularly endowed this great 
 Queen, namely, His holy will and infinite power, 
 by which He operates all that He wishes with 
 weight and measure. It suffices for Christian 
 piety to know that this pure creature was the 
 natural Mother of God, and that she alone among 
 292 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 293 
 
 all creatures was worthy to be such. Again, as 
 this marvel was unique and without example, it 
 would be great blindness to seek precedents by 
 which to persuade ourselves of what God has 
 operated for His Mother, because He has done for 
 her that which He never did and never will do for 
 other creatures, for Mary is established and raised 
 above the order of all created beings. 
 
 This principle being admitted, it is the will of 
 the Most High, that by faith and the divine lights, 
 we may discover the propriety and justice by 
 which His almighty arm wrought those marvels in 
 favor of His most holy Mother, that we may thus 
 come to know and praise Him in her and by her, 
 and may understand how our hopes and destinies 
 are certain and assured, when in the hands of this 
 powerful Queen, whom God has made the deposi¬ 
 tary of the whole strength of His love. 
 
 We must consider that the holy Virgin lived 
 thirty-three years with her Divine Son, and that 
 she never left Him from the instant the divine 
 Majesty became incarnate, even to His death on 
 the cross ; that she nourished Him, served, accom¬ 
 panied, followed, and imitated Him, performing 
 all her holy actions as mother, daughter, spouse, 
 beloved, and servant. She enjoyed His presence, 
 His conversation, His doctrine, and the favors, 
 which, in consideration of her merits and homages, 
 she received during her mortal life. Jesus then 
 ascended into heaven, and the greatness of His 
 love and every reason obliged Him to take with 
 Him His beloved Mother, that He might not be 
 
294 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 —-- 
 
 deprived of her, and that she might not remain in 
 the world without Him. 
 
 But the ardent charity which both the Son and 
 the Mother entertained for men, interrupted in 
 some manner, as much as was possible, this bond 
 of love, by obliging the merciful Mother to return 
 to the world to confirm the infant Church, and the 
 divine Son to send her and permit her to remain 
 separated from Him during the necessary time. 
 But as the Son of God is all powerful, and could 
 reward this privation of happiness in a possible 
 manner, owing to the immense love He bore His 
 Mother, He willed to remain with her in this 
 manner, otherwise she would have suffered inex¬ 
 pressible pain in being deprived of His presence 
 during such a great number of years. 
 
 The divine Son supplied for all in remaining 
 always under the sacred species in the divine heart 
 of His Mother; thus He abundantly rewarded her 
 for all the happiness she had caused Him during 
 His life on earth. Then He had frequently left her 
 to apply Himself to the work of our redemption; 
 on such occasions she had been much afflicted, 
 because she feared that on account of His great 
 fatigues He would not return. Again, when He 
 was with her, she had ever beheld in spirit the pas¬ 
 sion, and the death of the cross which awaited Him, 
 and this sorrow diminished the happiness she felt in 
 His society. But when the Passion was accom¬ 
 plished, and He was seated at the right hand of 
 His Father, yet, at the same time, was present in 
 her heart under the sacramental species, the august 
 
295 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 Mother fully enjoyed His sight and presence with¬ 
 out fear or apprehension, for, with her Son, she 
 possessed the Most Holy Trinity. 
 
 By this favor conferred on His blessed Mother,' 
 our Lord fulfilled the promise He had made to, 
 remain with His Church until the consummation of 
 ages, for in these first years the apostles had neither 
 temples, tabernacles nor other places in which to 
 preserve the Blessed Eucharist, therefore all the 
 particles were consumed on the same day. 
 
 The holy Virgin was the temple and the taber¬ 
 nacle in which, during some years, the Lord was 
 preserved under the consecrated species, and thus 
 the Incarnate Word was ever present in His 
 Church. Although He was not preserved in this 
 holy tabernacle for the use of the faithful, He was 
 there, without doubt, for their advantage, and for 
 
 X > 
 
 other sublime ends,; for the Mother of piety prayed,* 
 asked and supplicated for all the faithful in the 
 temple of her heart, and adored Jesus in the sacra¬ 
 mental species, in the name of the whole Church.* 
 By means of this merciful Mother, Jesus rendered 
 Himself in ,hdr, present in the Church, and was 
 united in a certain manner to the mystical body of 
 the faithful. This great Queen rendered that age 
 the most happy, in preserving in her heart, her Son 
 under the holy species, as if in a tabernacle, for 
 in her, He was alw T ays adored, venerated, loved, 
 praised and honored in a perfect manner, and was 
 never outraged, offended or profaned, as He fre¬ 
 quently is in our churches. In Mary, Jesus found 
 in abundance the delights which, from all eternity, 
 
Divine Life of the 
 
 - 
 
 He had wished to take among the children of 
 men. 
 
 The perpetual presence of Jesus in the Church 
 had been resolved on that He might rejoice with 
 us; His divine Majesty obtained this end, and He 
 could not have done it so completely in any other 
 manner than by remaining under the sacramental 
 species in the heart of His bel >ved Mother, burn 
 ing with love. She was the proper sphere and true 
 center in which He found His repose, for all crea¬ 
 tures, except her, were to Him only a strange 
 place, as in none else did He find the fuel for the 
 fire of His divinity, which burns always, because it 
 is infinite charity. 
 
 The manner in which the Most High operated 
 this new miracle was as follows :—When the holy 
 Virgin received the sacramental species, they did 
 not enter the stomach, in which food is digested, 
 and the natural aliments transformed, in order that 
 the consecrated species might not be mingled with 
 the little nourishment taken by the great Queen to 
 preserve her life, and might not be consumed. 
 Therefore Jesus, in the sacramental species, did 
 not enter the stomach, but, by miracle, placed Him¬ 
 self in the very heart of Mary, as the reward for 
 the precious blood it had furnished for the Incarna- 
 tion of the Word, at the formation of the most 
 holy humanity, to which He united Himself 
 hypostatically. If sacramental communion is, with 
 reason, called a continuation of the Incarnation, it 
 was just and becoming that the divine Mother 
 should participate in this continuation in a singular 
 
297 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 and particular manner, because she had also con¬ 
 curred in a miraculous and singular manner to the 
 Incarnation of the Eternal Word. 
 
 It is true that the heat of the heart in healthy 
 persons is very great, and that nature, ever pro¬ 
 vident, sends air which gives ventilation, to temper 
 this natural heat which is the principle of life; 
 but in the noble and perfect organization of the 
 Sovereign of the universe, the heat of the body 
 was very great, and was still further augmented by 
 the ineffable affections of her ardent heart; never¬ 
 theless the sacramental species were not consumed, 
 and this was another miracle. Yet we cannot 
 wonder at this in a creature so preeminent, who 
 was herself the miracle of miracles, and contained 
 them all within her. 
 
 This favor commenced at the first communion 
 which she received from the Lord at the Last 
 Supper: the holy species were preserved until the 
 second communion, which she received from the 
 hands of St. Peter, when, as she swallowed the 
 second, the first was consumed. Thus, in this 
 miraculous manner from that day until the last hour 
 of her life, Jesus, under the sacramental species, 
 remained in her sacred heart. By this privilege, 
 and that of the continual abstractive vision of the 
 Divinity, the holy Virgin was so divinized, and her 
 faculties elevated so much above all that the human 
 mind can conceive, that it is impossible to explain 
 it. Who among mortals, and even among the 
 seraphim, could ever know the ardor of the divine 
 love which burned in her most pure heart? 
 
298 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 Who could comprehend the impetuosity of the 
 flood of the Divinity which inundated this City 
 of God ? Very frequently the body of Jesus 
 appeared to her all-glorious in her most pure 
 heart; at other times with the natural beauty of 
 His most holy humanity. She knew all the 
 mysteries contained in the Holy Eucharist, and 
 all other mysteries, but that which to her was 
 beyond all price was that her most holy Son, 
 being in the sacramental species in her most pure 
 heart, found more joy in being with her, than 
 with all the saints and angels together. Let us 
 then reanimate our faith in her, raise our hope, 
 and be inflamed with love for God, and for so 
 holy a Mother; let us implore her aid in our 
 necessities, for she is all-powerful, most merciful, 
 and full of charity. 
 

 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 i. ; | 
 
 THE MOST HOLY VIRGIN KNOWS THAT LUCIFER IS PRE¬ 
 PARING TO PERSECUTE THE CHURCH. —WHAT SHE 
 
 DOES TO DEFEND. THE FAITHFUL. 
 
 .! " ■' ' ' * « 
 
 .. . . ;■ • . : ~ J . . J ■; ■ 
 
 HE great Queen, being raised to a higher 
 degree of grace and sanctity, considered with 
 profound wisdom the little flock which in- 
 
 J creased each day, and, as a watchful mother, 
 from the summit of the mountain on which she 
 had been 1 placed by the omnipotent arm of her 
 Son, carefully observed the infernal snares. Being 
 in' prayer, she saw Lucifer with an innumerable 
 crowd of demons, coming forth from the caverns 
 of hell, into which they had been precipitated at 
 the death of the Redeemer; full of rage and 
 hatred, they came to wage war against the Church 
 with implacable fury. She saw Lucifer come on 
 earth' and search through it carefully; then lie 
 turned towards Jerusalem, there to vent his hatred 
 against the sheep of Jesus Christ. 
 
 When the insidious dragon recognized the fruit 
 of the Saviour’s blood, the sanctity of the converts/ 
 
 i 
 
 the facility of returning to grace, his hatred and 
 fury were redoubled. He made violent efforts to 
 introduce himself into the room in which the faith- 
 
 1 2 99 
 
 
300 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 ful were assembled, but he could not do so, being 
 repulsed by their ardent charity and perfect union. 
 He surrounded the place with his demons, and 
 prowled on every side in the hope of devouring 
 some of the sheep, but his infernal malice was 
 frustrated. Then the powerful and merciful Mother 
 turned with majesty to the infernal dragon, and 
 said to him : “ Who is like to God who dwelleth 
 in high places? From the height of His cross, 
 the Almighty has vanquished and overthrown thee. 
 He commands thee to cast thyself wit 1 thy com¬ 
 panions into the abyss, and in His name, I give 
 thee the same command, in order that thou mayest 
 oppose no obstacle to the glory of God.” 
 
 She prostrated herself upon the ground, and 
 humbly begged the Lord to come to the aid of the 
 Church. Lucifer and his legions fell immediately 
 into the depths of hell, and the Lord spoke thus to 
 His Mother: “My dear Mother, be not afflicted at 
 the snares which Satan sets for my Church, for, 
 from the evil which he will do, I will draw good 
 for my greater glory and his eternal confusion.” 
 Then the Lord permitted Lucifer and his demons 
 to return to the earth; but finding they could not 
 approach the new Christians, they went to the 
 Scribes and Pharisees, and suggested to them to 
 prevent the preaching of the apostles. They filled 
 them with envy and hatred, and therefore they 
 assembled the council, that had witnessed the mira¬ 
 cle wrought by St. Peter and St. John, when they 
 cured the lame man at the gate of the temple. 
 
 The members of the council called the apostles 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 301 
 
 and forbade them to teach in Jerusalem, but St. 
 Peter replied with intrepid courage, that they could 
 not obey, because God had commanded them to 
 do the contrary. The Scribes, covered with confu¬ 
 sion, set the two apostles at liberty, who went to 
 inform the holy Virgin of all that had occurred, 
 but she already knew it, having seen all in a vision. 
 The faithful began to pray, and a short time after¬ 
 wards received the Holy Spirit, who descended 
 visibly upon every one of them. 
 
 Some days after, occurred the unhappy fall of 
 Ananias and Sapphira, who, after being baptized, 
 sold all their possessions, but did not bring the 
 whole price to the,feet of the apostles. When St. 
 Peter asked them if they had brought the whole 
 price, they lied to him, and immediately fell dead 
 at his feet. The faithful were seized with great 
 fear at this occurrence, and when the apostles 
 preached publicly in the city upon this chastise¬ 
 ment, a great number of persons were converted. 
 But the magistrates and Sadducees, filled with envy 
 and hatred, threw St. Peter and St. John into 
 prison. 
 
 The Queen of the angels saw all this in prayer, 
 and interceded fervently with the Lord for them; 
 she sent one of her guardian angels to break their 
 chains, set them at liberty, and lead them out of 
 prison. Then she sent other angels to fight 
 against Lucifer and his companions, that they 
 might not interfere with the preaching of the 
 gospel. St. Peter and St. John, after their deliver¬ 
 ance, went.to visit the holy Virgin; she received 
 26 
 
302 Divine Life of the 
 
 them on her knees, and said: “Now, my children', 
 I recognize you to be true disciples and imitators 
 of your Master, because you suffer injuries for His 
 name, and with joy and contentment aid Him in 
 carrying His cross. May His omnipotent arm 
 bless you, and communicate to you His divine 
 virtue.” She kissed their hands, and, kneeling, 
 served them at table. The great Queen loved all 
 the faithful with wonderful tenderness, but the 
 apostles in a more particular manner, for she 
 regarded them as priests and founders of the 
 Church. 
 
 In order to increase the number of the faithful, it 
 was necessary that the apostles should leave Jeru~ 
 salem in order to preach and baptize in the neigh¬ 
 boring places. Seeing that they were about to 
 separate from the Queen of angels, Lucifer took 
 courage, for, in his pride, he did not fear the 
 apostles. But the more he laid plans for their 
 destruction, the more did the merciful Mother pray 
 for them with ardent charity and profound wisdom; 
 and in her meditations she discovered all the snares 
 
 and ambushes of hell, and all that befell the 
 
 < 
 
 preachers of the gospel. In their necessities, she 
 sent her guardian angels to assist them, animate 
 and console them, and above all to expel the 
 demons from the countries in which the gospel was 
 being preached by the apostles. In every pain or 
 disquiet, they received the aid of their merciful 
 Mother. 
 
 She exercised the same charitable solicitude in 
 behalf of the faithful, and although they were very 
 
■a»SSf£5«~' 
 
 numerous in Jerusalem and Palestine, she knew 
 them all and aided them on every occasion, not 
 only in the necessities of the soul, but in those of 
 the body also. Some she cured of their maladies, 
 and others to whom health would not be expedient, 
 she assisted, visited, and served with her own 
 hands. Her love for the poor it would be impossi¬ 
 ble to describe; she frequently gave them food, 
 made their beds and took care of their houses as if 
 she had been their servant, the humility, charity, 
 and solicitude of the Queen of the universe were 
 so.great, that she filled them with joy and consola¬ 
 tion. When they lived at too great a distance to re¬ 
 ceive her personal care, she sent one of her guardian 
 angels to assist and aid them by holy inspirations. 
 cHer maternal care was particularly exercised in 
 favor of the dying; she assisted many in the last 
 "combat, and aided them by efficacious words and 
 holy exhortations, until their eternal salvation was 
 secured. * , 
 
 v ; She felt great compassion for the'souls in purga¬ 
 tory, and aided them by her prayers, which she 
 offered with her arms extended in the form of a 
 cross, to which she added prostrations, genuflec¬ 
 tions, and other exercises of mortification, by which 
 she, satisfied for them. Then she immediately sent 
 one of her angels to deliver those souls, and pre¬ 
 sent-them to her divine Son in her name, as the 
 property of the Lord and the fruit of His blood. < 
 A poor woman of low condition who had been 
 baptized in the beginning With the five thousand 
 persons, fell dangerously ill, and her sickness being 
 
304 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 prolonged, she fell from her first fervor and com¬ 
 mitted a sin by which she lost the grace of bap¬ 
 tism. Lucifer, who ardent y desired to win some 
 souls among the first children of the Church, 
 assumed the form of a young woman in order to 
 deceive her, and God permitted this for His greater 
 glory. The demon urged her to separate herself 
 from those persons who believed in the Crucified. 
 The unhappy woman gave her assent to the words 
 of the evil spirit, and added : “But how shall I act 
 with regard to the Queen, who is so good and 
 gracious that I cannot help but love her?” “ O !” 
 replied the demon, “ she is more wicked than the 
 others, and you must abhor her in particular. This 
 is most important, otherwise the magistrates and 
 high priests will persecute you, and you will be 
 unhappy. If you will return to your former 
 religion, you shall be cured and be very content.” 
 The pretended woman departed, leaving that un¬ 
 happy soul corrupted by her words. 
 
 One of the seventy-two disciples who were 
 accustomed to visit the sick, entered the house of 
 this woman, and seeing her possessed by the demon, 
 zealously exhorted her to detest her error, but in 
 vain; she refused to make any reply. Seeing her 
 obstinacy, the disciple informed St. John, who went 
 immediately to visit her, and tried with great fervor 
 to draw her out of the snares of the demon, but 
 with the same result. The great apostle was much 
 afflicted, and acquainted the holy Virgin with the 
 circumstance, in the hope that she would apply a 
 remedy. The Mother of God cast an interior look 
 
. Holy Virgin . 305 
 
 on the sick woman, and discovered her dangerous 
 condition. 
 
 Filled with compassion for that poor, misguided 
 sheep, she prostrated herself upon the earth, and 
 prayed and supplicated her divine Son to apply a 
 remedy to her evil. But the Lord answered not; 
 not because the prayer of the holy Virgin was disa¬ 
 greeable to Him, but because He desired to listen 
 longer to her charitable pleadings. The Mother 
 of mercy was not discouraged, but continued to 
 intercede with the Most High; in the meantime 
 she sent one of her angels to protect her from the 
 snares of the demon, and to aid her by holy inspi¬ 
 rations. The angel obeyed, but the woman resisted 
 the grace of God. 
 
 Deeply afflicted at her deplorable blindness, the 
 Mother of mercy continued to pray most fervently, 
 saying: “ My Lord, God of mercy, look down 
 upon this worm of the earth, chastise and afflict her, 
 but do not allow this soul, marked with thy divine 
 character, and purchased by thy blood, to be 
 deceived by the serpent, and become the prey of 
 his malice.’' The great Queen persevered in prayer, 
 but the Lord delayed to answer, in order that she 
 might give still further proofs of the invincible love 
 of her heart, and her ineffable charity for the faith¬ 
 ful. She arose from prayer, and called St. John to 
 accompany her to the house of the sick woman. 
 She had proceeded from the oratory but a few 
 steps when she was stopped by her angels, who 
 said: “ Great Queen, we cann >t allow thee to walk 
 through the city when we can carry thee.” Then 
 
Divine Life of the 
 
 ,306 
 
 she was placed on a throne of most brilliant 
 clouds, and transported to the chamber of the poor, 
 agonizing woman, who was abandoned by all 
 because she could no longer speak; she was Sur¬ 
 rounded by a crowd of demons who avfraited The 
 moment in which they might bear her soul to 
 hell. 
 
 At the sight of the Virgin Mother, they precipi¬ 
 tated themselves into the infernal abyss. She ap¬ 
 proached the sick woman, called her by her name, 
 and, taking her by the hand, spoke the sweet words 
 of eternal life, by which she fortified the unhappy 
 creature. Returning to herself, she said to the 
 Queen of angels: “My Queen, a woman Who 
 visited me a few days ago, persuaded me that the 
 disciples of Jesus had deceived me, and told me 
 that I should separate myself from them and from 
 thee.” • • ; ; 
 
 “My daughter,” replied the Mother of beautiful 
 love, “the woman who appeared to thee was the 
 demon, thy enemy. I have come then, on the part 
 of the Most; High, to give thee eternal life. Return 
 then to,the true faith, and acknowledge Jesus to 
 be the true God and the Redeemer of the world. 
 Invoke His name, and beg pardon for thy faults.” 
 
 The poor worn in, truly contrite, wept bitterly, 
 and received the sacraments from the apostles, who 
 had been 1 called 1.to her aid by angels. Filled with 
 joy, she expired, invoking the names of Jesus and 
 Mary. ; She was cleansed from all her sins and the 
 pitnishment due to them, and was by Mary sent im¬ 
 mediately to heaven, attended by heavenly spirits. 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 307 
 
 Then the most holy Virgin was t borne back to 
 her oratory, in which she prostrated herself, and 
 thanked the Most High by new canticles of praise. 
 
 The Lord willed all these things in order that 
 the angels, the apostles, the saints in Paradise, and 
 even the demons, might know the incomparable 
 power of the most holy Virgin; and that as Queen 
 of all creatures, she had power over all, and 
 that nothing that she would ask could be refused 
 to her. 
 
7 
 
 1 '! 
 
 »i 
 
 \ 
 
 if ' 
 
 
 ! J 
 
 ; } 
 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 VIRGIN MOTHER’S PRUDENCE IN THE GOVERNMENT OF 
 THE FAITHFUL.—WHAT SHE DID FOR ST. STEPHEN. 
 
 » 
 
 i MONG the innumerable qualities which the 
 holy Virgin possessed, were that plenitude 
 and abundance of wisdom and divine science, 
 ** worthy of the Mother of God, established as 
 mother and mistress of the Church. She knew 
 all those who had embraced the faith, and dis¬ 
 covered their passions, their character, the degree 
 of grace and virtue to which they had attained, the 
 merit of their labors, the end apd motive of their 
 actions. She, at the same time, penetrated the 
 secret of divine charity, thus she dispensed the 
 affections of her eternal charity justly and equitably, 
 so that she loved no one either more or less than 
 she should. 
 
 Among the 
 
 this divine Mother w f as St. Stephen, one of the 
 seventy-two disciples; for, from the time he began 
 to follow the Saviour, the most holy Virgin had 
 regarded him with special and singular favor. She 
 knew also that this saint was choseil by the Master 
 of life to defend His honor at the price of his 
 blood. The saint was possessed of great amiability 
 and natural goodness, and grace rendered him still 
 308 
 
 holy souls who merited the love of 
 
 i M..; . . 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 309 
 
 more amiable to all. Because of these rare quali¬ 
 ties, to which were united the most heroic virtues, 
 the divine Mother loved him tenderly, and he was 
 filled with heavenly benedictions. She returned 
 thanks to the Most High for having created this 
 soul, which would receive the crown of the first of 
 the martyrs. 
 
 The happy saint faithfully corresponded to the 
 benefits he received from His divine Master and His 
 Mother, for he was meek and humble of heart. 
 He had the greatest veneration for the Mother 
 of mercy, and humbly questioned her upon the 
 most profound mysteries, for he was learned and 
 well-instructed, full of faith and replenished with 
 the Holy Spirit. 
 
 The Mother of wisdom answered all his ques¬ 
 tions ; enlightened, strengthened and loved him; 
 and in order to fortify his faith more strongly, 
 revealed to him that he would be the first martyr 
 of Jesus Christ* This news filled St. Stephen with 
 an ardent desire of martyrdom, so that, filled with 
 grace and strength, he performed great prodigies, 
 and freely and courageously disputed with and 
 confounded the high priests. He first presented 
 himself to dispute with the Scribes and principal 
 doctors of the Mosaic law, as if he feared that 
 some other would bear away that first crown, and 
 he sought every occasion to defend the name of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 The infernal dragon perceived the saint’s desire, 
 an 1, in his hatred, tried to prevent him from con¬ 
 fessing publicly the faith of Jesus of Nazareth ; and 
 
310 ' Divine Life of the ~ 
 
 wished to persuade the Jews to put him to death 
 secretly, but the great Queen, who knew the design 
 of Lucifer, delivered the saint out of his snares. 
 On three principal occasions, she sent one of her 
 angels-guardian to deliver the saint out of a house 
 in which the Jews desired to make away with him 
 privately. The angel delivered him by rendering 
 him invisible to the enemies of the Church; he 
 presented himself before the great Queen, and full 
 of gratitude for her benefits, thanked her with great 
 humility. At other times, the holy Virgin, by 
 means of her angels, prevented him from going 
 into the streets, and even from leaving the Supper- 
 room. Burning with an ardent desire of martyr¬ 
 dom, he would lovingly complain to the Queen of 
 angels, saying: “Ah! my Queen and my refuge, 
 when then shall the happy day arrive on which 
 I shall sacrifice my life for the glory of my Jesus?’' 
 
 The loving pleadings of the saint caused an 
 incomparable joy to his divine Mistress, and she 
 replied to him with sweet and maternal affection: 
 “My Son, most faithful servant of the Lord, the 
 hour appointed by the Lord will arrive, and thy 
 beautiful desires shall not be frustrated.” The 
 purity and sanctity of St. Stephen were so great 
 and of such eminent perfection, that the demons 
 looked on .him from afar without daring to ap¬ 
 proach him. They tried to alienate others from 
 him as much as possible, but on the contrary, he- 
 was beloved by Jesus and His holy Mother, and 
 even by the apostles who ordained him deacon. 
 He merited to be the first martyr of the Church, 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 as is related by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apos¬ 
 tles. While the saint was preaching with his accus¬ 
 tomed zeal, he was arrested and dragged before 
 the Jews, who accused him of all kinds of decep^ 
 tion. The merciful Mother, having a knowledge 
 of this, sent an angel to assist and strengthen him. 
 When he was examined, he confounded his judges 
 and accusers by his profound wisdom and strength 
 of mind, so that being overcome, and unable to 
 make any reply, they closed their ears, and raised 
 a horrible outcry. The saint was afflicted only 
 because he had not received the blessing of the 
 tender Queen. Seeing his desire, she resolved to 
 console him; she addressed herself to the Lord, 
 who seconding the charity of His Mother, sent 
 many angels from heaven, who, with the angels of 
 her guard, conducted her on a brilliant cloud into 
 the council-hall. There she was visible to the 
 saint alone, who, environed with light, became 
 wholly resplendent and beautiful as an angel. 
 The tender Mother gazed on him with merciful 
 eyes, spoke to him words of eternal life, blessed 
 him, and prayed the Eternal Father to fill him 
 with the Holy Ghost. Her petition was immedi¬ 
 ately granted, for the saint showed publicly his 
 mvincible courage and profound wisdom, by prov¬ 
 ing the divinity and incarnation of Jesus by the 
 incontestable words of Holy Scripture. 
 
 The great Queen was still present, rejoicing a£ 
 the zeal and courage of the saint, when the heavens 
 were opened, and Jesus appeared at the right hand 
 of the Father* • v- - - ; : 
 
-= 
 
 312 Divine Life of the 
 
 The saint rendered testimony to the glory of 
 His Master, and the perfidious Jews accused him 
 of blasphemy; for this reason he was condemned 
 to be stoned as a blasphemer. They threw them¬ 
 selves furiously upon him, and dragged him out of 
 the city to be put to death. The holy Virgin gave 
 him her benediction, encouraged and took leave of 
 him with great kindness; she commanded her 
 angels to accompany and assist him until death. 
 She returned to the Supper-room, from whence she 
 contemplated his martyrdom, and shed tears of 
 compassion and joy. 
 
 When, before his death, the saint kneeling, cried 
 out in a loud voice, “Lord, lay not this sin to their 
 charge,” she joined in his prayer with incredible 
 joy, seeing him so faithful an imitator of the 
 Redeemer who had prayed for His enemies. He 
 expired, and his magnanimous soul was conducted 
 to Paradise by troops of angels, and the guardian 
 angels of Mary; there it was received with inex¬ 
 pressible joy by Jesus, who gave it a place of 
 eminent glory, to the great joy of the whole celes¬ 
 tial court. When the angels returned to their Queen 
 they rendered her thanks in the name of the saint, 
 for the love and favors she had granted to him. 
 This glorious martyrdom took place nine months 
 after the Redeemers death, on the 26th of Decem¬ 
 ber, the saint being thirty-four years old. The 
 prayer of St. Stephen, joined to that of the Mother 
 of God, obtained the conversion of St. Paul. 
 
 Lucifer was covered with confusion by the con¬ 
 stancy of the holy martyr, and by the presence of 
 
3*3 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 the great Queen, and he resolved to irritate the 
 Jews against the Church, so as to cause its entire 
 destruction. The enemies of the Church, at his 
 instigation, assembled together and resolved either 
 to banish the Christians out of Jerusalem, and even 
 from Judea and the country of Samaria, or to put 
 them to death. Then they raised a great persecu¬ 
 tion, as is recorded by St. Luke, on account of 
 which the holy Virgin, with the apostles and a 
 small number of the faithful, retired into the Sup¬ 
 per-room, the other disciples left the city, and 
 preached the faith of Jesus Christ with great con¬ 
 stancy. 
 
 The Lord did not permit that any of those con¬ 
 cealed in the Supper-room should be molested, and 
 th^ disciples dispersed throughout Galilee were the 
 only ones persecuted. Saul was named head of 
 the persecutors. It is impossible to describe the 
 vigilance and solicitude of the divine Mother dur¬ 
 ing the persecution. She caused the body of St. 
 Stephen to be sought after and buried; she also 
 procured the cross which the holy martyr had car¬ 
 ried on his breast, for the Queen of angels from the 
 time of the descent of the Holy Ghost, had carried 
 one on her breast, and her example had been imi¬ 
 tated by all the faithful. 
 
 She also ordered that all the little things that 
 had been used by him, and as much of his 
 blood as possible, should be gathered together, and 
 preserved with great veneration. In presence of 
 the apostles and other disciples, she pronounced a 
 magnificent eulogy on his great merit, and com- 
 27 
 
314 Divine Life of the 
 
 manded Lucifer and his demons, as authors of the 
 presecution, to cast themselves immediately into 
 hell. She assembled the apostles, animated, con¬ 
 soled and strengthened them for the persecution; 
 she sent the disciples into Judea and Samaria to 
 preach the gospel of Jesus crucified, who always 
 strengthened them. 
 
 She sent many of her angels guardian to accom¬ 
 pany the disciples, and others to assist the faithful 
 in their last agony. She also sent the apostles 
 from Jerusalem to wherever they were needed, as in 
 the case of St. Peter and St. John, who departed for 
 Samaria. She had a certain knowledge not only 
 of the present, but also of the future. She dis¬ 
 posed of her own particular affairs and those of 
 the Church in such a manner, that she always had 
 time to retire into her oratory. There she pros¬ 
 trated herself on the earth, abased herself even to 
 the dust, thinking that she was unworthy for the 
 earth to support her; and she prayed and wept for 
 the salvation of men, and the conversion of sinners. 
 
 The great Mother of wisdom considered that the 
 disciples who were separated-to preach the adora¬ 
 ble name of her Son and His holy faith, had not 
 as yet any determined rules by which they might 
 teach the faithful with uniformity that they might 
 all believe the same truths. She then assembled 
 all the apostles, and spoke to them by the mouth 
 of St. Peter, with whom she had previously con¬ 
 ferred. “ My brethren,” said he, “ as we must now 
 separate, in order to spread the Church founded 
 by the blood of our divine Master, and to preach 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 315 
 
 to the entire world, it is fit that we determine the 
 mysteries which it will be necessary to -propose 
 explicitly to all believers.” 
 
 All the apostles approved the proposition; the 
 vicar of Jesus Christ celebrated the Holy Mass, 
 and communicated the divine Mother, and the 
 apostles. When Mass was ended, they invoked 
 the Holy Spirit, and prayed fervently for some time. 
 After this they heard a great noise as when the 
 Holy Spirit descended the first time; the room was 
 again filled with admirable splendor, and they were 
 enlightened and illumined in a more perfect man¬ 
 ner. Then the great Mistress of the Church told 
 them that each one should pronounce the words 
 with which the Holy Ghost would inspire them, 
 and St. Peter began. 
 
 St. Peter. —I believe in God the Father Almighty, 
 Creator of heaven and earth. 
 
 St. Andrew. —And in Jesus Christ, His only 
 Son, our Lord. 
 
 St. James the Greater. —Who was conceived by 
 the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary. 
 
 St. John. —Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was 
 crucified, dead and buried. 
 
 St. Thomas. —Descended into hell, the third day 
 He arose again from the dead. 
 
 St. James the Less. —He ascended into heaven, 
 and sits at the right hand of God the Father 
 Almighty. 
 
 St. Philip. —From thence He shall come to 
 judge the living and the dead. 
 
 St. Bartholomew, —I believe in the Holy Ghost 
 
3 i 6 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 Si. Matthew .—The Holy Catholic Church; the 
 Communion of Saints. 
 
 Si. Simon— The forgiveness of sins. 
 
 St. Thaddeus .—The resurrection of the body. 
 
 St. Matthias .—And life everlasting. Amen. 
 
 Then a voice was heard, saying, “You have 
 
 i * 
 
 determined well,” and our great Queen, with the 
 apostles, chanted hymns of praise and thanks¬ 
 giving to the Most High. She thanked them 
 all; then, kneeling at the feet of St. Peter, made 
 her profession of the Catholic faith by reciting 
 the Creed, which she did in her own name, and 
 that of the whole Church, saying to St.. Peter, 
 “ My Master, I acknowledge thee as the Vicar 
 of my most holy Son, and, in thy hands, I, a 
 vile worm of the earth, in my own name, and 
 that of all the faithful, confess and believe all 
 that you have decided as infallible and divine 
 truths of Catholic faith, and in these truths I 
 praise and bless the Most High, from whom they 
 proceed.” 
 
 Then she kissed the hand of St. Peter, the 
 vicar of Jesus Christ, and also those of the other 
 apostles. 
 
• CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 THE HOLY VIRGIN SENDS THE CREED TO THE DISCIPLES.—THE* 
 APOSTLES SEPARATE FOR DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 -CONVERSION OF SAUL.—OTHER MIRACLES OF THE GREAT 
 
 QUEEN. 
 
 c 
 
 Qi S soon as the Apostles’ Creed was composed, 
 /ji the holy Virgin and her angels made a great 
 many copies of it, and sent them by the 
 ministry of the angels to the disciples dis¬ 
 persed throughout the country of Samaria and 
 Galilee, and in a short time, it was spread every¬ 
 where. A year had already elapsed since the 
 Redeemer’s death, and the apostles wished to 
 divide among themselves the provinces of the 
 world, in order to enlighten them by the light 
 of Evangelical doctrine. By the counsel of the 
 divine Queen, they resolved to spend ten days in 
 fasting and prayer; they had adopted this custom 
 since the descent of the Holy Ghost before deciding 
 on any important affair. After this time, St. Peter 
 celebrated the Holy Mass, and communicated the 
 divine Mother and the apostles, and uniting in 
 fervent prayer, they invoked the Holy Spirit. St. 
 Peter renewed their ardor by recalling to their 
 minds that which had been ordained by the divine 
 Master 
 
 27 * 
 
 317 
 
318 J)ivine Life of the 
 
 After his discourse they all beheld an extra¬ 
 ordinary splendor, and heard a voice which said: 
 “ Peter, my vicar, assign to each the provinces 
 and let each draw his lot; I will assist him with 
 my spirit and light.” 
 
 St. Peter said: “ My Lord, I offer myself to 
 . suffer and die, in order to follow my Redeemer and 
 my Master in preaching His holy name, now in 
 Jerusalem, afterwards in Pontus, Galicia, Bithynia, 
 Cappadocia, and the provinces of Asia; I will 
 establish my see first at Antioch, afterwards at 
 Rome, where shall be established the chair of 
 Christ, in order that there the chief of the Church 
 may reside. 
 
 “ The servant of Christ, our dear brother 
 Andrew, shall follow Plim by preaching in the 
 provinces of Scythia, of Europe, in Epirus, Thrace, 
 and the city of Patrae in Achaia. He shall govern 
 that province and the rest as fa, r as possible. 
 
 “ The servant of Christ, James the Great, shall 
 follow Him by preaching in Judea, Samaria, and 
 Spain, from w r hence he shall return to Jerusalem. 
 
 “ Our dear brother John shall obey the will of 
 our Saviour and Master, which was manifested by 
 Him on the cross; he shall fulfil the duties of a 
 son towards our Mother and Queen; he shall serve 
 her with the respect and fidelity of a child, and 
 administer to her the divine sacrament of the 
 Eucharist. He shall take charge of the faithful in 
 Jerusalem, and, when the blessed Mother shall 
 have been called to heaven, shall follow his Master 
 by preaching in Asia Minor, and by watching over 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 319 
 
 those churches until the time of his persecution, 
 when he will be banished to the isle of Patmos. 
 
 “ The servant of Christ, our dear brother Thomas, 
 shall follow Him by preaching in India and Persia, 
 among the Parthians, Medes, Hyrcanians, and Bac- 
 trians; he shall baptize the three Magi and instruct 
 them in all things, for they expect and await 
 him. 
 
 “ The servant of Christ, our dear brother James 
 the Less, shall follow Him in being pastor and 
 bishop of Jerusalem, where he shall preach to the 
 Jews, and unite with St. John in assisting and serv¬ 
 ing our divine Mother. 
 
 “ The servant of Christ, our dear brother Philip, 
 shall follow Him in Phrygia, Asiatic Scythia, and 
 the city of Hierapolis. 
 
 “ The servant of Christ, our dear brother Bar¬ 
 tholomew, shall follow Him in Lycaonia part of 
 Cappadocia, and in Asia; then he shall proceed to 
 India, and finally to Asia Minor. 
 
 “ The servant of Christ, our dear brother Matthew, 
 shall first instruct the Hebrews, then he shall go 
 into Egypt and Ethiopia. 
 
 “ Our brother Simon shall go into Babylonia, 
 Persia and Egypt; our brother Thaddeus into 
 Mesopotamia; he shall afterwards unite with 
 Simon to preach in Babylonia and Persia. 
 
 “Our brother Matthias shall go into Ethiopia, 
 and Arabia, and shall finally return into Palestine. 
 
 “ May the spirit of the Most High direct, govern 
 and assist us.” 
 
 When St. Peter had finished speaking, they heard 
 
320 Divine Life of the 
 
 a great noise, the Supper-room was filled with 
 splendor, and from the midst of this light pro¬ 
 ceeded a voice, which said : “ Let each one receive 
 the lot which has been given him.” They pros¬ 
 trated themselves on the earth, and said: “Sove¬ 
 reign Lord, with great promptitude and lively joy 
 of heart, we will obey thy words and those of thy 
 vicar. Our spirits rejoice, being full of thy sweet 
 ness.” 
 
 The Most High gave them a new gift of strength, 
 and they all became inflamed like the Seraphim. 
 
 The Queen of angels was present at all, and 
 knew the divine operations within the apostles 
 and herself, for she participated in the divine 
 effusions more than all the others together. 
 
 She possessed all that knowledge suited to her 
 as Sovereign, Mistress, Mother, Directress and 
 Queen of the Church, with regard to all creatures. 
 At the same time she begged the Most High for 
 the courage and perseverance necessary for the 
 apostles to preach to the whole world, and received 
 the assurance that they w'ould be particularly 
 assisted, which filled her with joy. Kneeling down, 
 she wished them all great success, in the name of 
 her divine Son. Then she kissed their hands, 
 promised always to pray for and be ready to 
 serve them; finally, she humbly begged the bless¬ 
 ing of each. 
 
 Before they dispersed, the apostles made every 
 effort to soften the hearts of the perfidious Jews, 
 whom they wished to call first to the faith; they 
 visited the holy places in Jerusalem, venerated 
 
321 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 them with much piety and tenderness, and kissed 
 the ground sanctified by the divine Redeemer. 
 
 The maternal solicitude of the great Queen was* 
 truly admirably. Assisted by her angels, she had 
 prepared for each of the apostles a long woollen 
 tunic, similar in color and form to that of Jesus 
 Christ, in order that they might be dressed alike. 
 She also made with great skill twelve crosses, 
 which she affixed to their pilgrim’s staffs, that they 
 might carry with them a sign of that which they 
 .preached. She gave to each the tunic and staff, 
 also a small metal reliquary, containing three 
 thorns from the crown of her most holy Son, some 
 pieces of the linen worn by the Lord in His infancy, 
 and some also of that which had been stained with 
 His precious blood at His circumcision, or during 
 His passion. The apostles received her gifts with 
 veneration, and shed many tears; they thanked 
 their great Queen, and, prostrate on the ground, 
 venerated the holy relics; finally they embraced 
 one another, and the first who departed was St. 
 James the Great. 
 
 At this time happened the conversion of Saul, 
 to which the Mother of mercy contributed. Saul 
 had a noble, magnanimous, and courageous heart. 
 Lucifer, considering his natural disposition, sur¬ 
 rounded him with terrible suggestions, in order to 
 make him the instrument of his fury. Saul gloried 
 in his knowledge of the Mosaic law, and in his zeal 
 for the traditions of the rabbins; for this reason he 
 believed it was unjust to abolish the law revealed 
 by God for another law of a crucified man. He 
 
322 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 went to the high-priests and obtained ample power 
 to persecute unto death the partisans of the new 
 and odious sect, and Lucifer suggested that he 
 should not only cause the destruction of the 
 apostles, but also of the Mother of the Nazarean; 
 the pride of the demon drawing him into this 
 folly. 
 
 But Saul was horrified at the suggestions; he 
 thought it would be infamous to treat with cruelty 
 a woman so noble and generous, for he had seen 
 her assist with intrepid love at the passion of her 
 Son; from that moment he had conceived great 
 esteem and affection for her, and had felt compas¬ 
 sion for her sorrows. Saul was advancing towards 
 Damascus with a numerous retinue of young men, 
 his companions, and other persons, but chiefly 
 accompanied by Lucifer, and an infinite number of 
 demons. 
 
 The great Queen beheld all in a vision; she saw 
 the snares of Lucifer, and knew that Saul would 
 yet become a pillar of the Church. She prostrated 
 herself upon the ground, and prayed to the Lord, 
 
 offering herself to suffer and die for the Church 
 
 55 ? ■ > t 
 and Saul’s conversion. “ Thou, O Lord,” said the 
 
 humble Queen, “ hast established thy slave as 
 
 Mother of the Church and advocate of sinners, 
 
 without any merit on my part: hear my humble 
 
 prayers, help thy children; the torrent of Saul’s 
 
 sins have not extinguished thy infinite charity.” 
 
 At the same tiftie the great Queen saw that her 
 
 divine Son, touched by her prayers, appeared to 
 
 Saul in immense glory, and that Saul, enlightened 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 323 
 
 both interiorly and exteriorly by the celestial 
 light, fell from his horse at the words of Christ: 
 “•Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me?” Full 
 of fear he replied : “ Who art thou, Lord ?” The 
 Lord answered: “I am Jesus whom thou perse- 
 cutest,” etc., as is related in the Acts of the 
 Apostles. 
 
 Thus from a persecutor, he became a vessel of 
 election, and an apostle of Jesus Christ. The 
 great Queen having seen all this, returned thanks 
 to the Most High; she was the first to celebrate 
 the feast of this admirable conversion, on which 
 she invited the angels and saints to praise God by 
 canticles of thanksgiving. 
 
 After Paul had been instructed and baptized by 
 Ananias, he heard the disciples speak of the good¬ 
 ness and excellence of the Mother of God ; full of 
 confusion at the remembrance that he had been a 
 persecutor of the Church, he feared he was not 
 agreeable to the great Queen. 
 
 At the moment in which he had been divinely 
 enlightened, he had learned that she had been 
 the mediatrix for his conversion : nevertheless, the 
 unworthiness of his past life humbled and deterred 
 him, for he judged himself unworthy of a place in 
 her pure and ardent heart. His fears were known 
 to the divine Mother, and being aware that a long 
 time must elapse before Paul could come to see 
 her, she, moved by maternal affection, did not wish 
 him to suffer such a long delay, therefore she sent 
 one of her angels to the new apostle at Damascus, 
 to assure him of her affection and intercession, and 
 
324 Divine Life of the 
 
 to bless him in her name. Having received this 
 visit, Paul felt his heart dilated and filled with joy 
 and grace; he humbly begged the messenger to 
 thank in his name the divine Mother, the true 
 mother of piety and his mediatrix. The celestial 
 ambassador related to his Queen all that had oc¬ 
 curred, and she experienced great consolation, 
 and renewed her thanksgivings to the Most High. 
 
 It is impossible to explain or to understand the 
 rage of Lucifer, when, by the divine light of Jesus 
 Christ, he and his demons were precipitated into 
 hell, like serpents entwined within one another 
 and thrown upon the earth ; nevertheless, the Most 
 High permitted, that, for His glory and the greater 
 merit of His Church, the princes of darkness should 
 arise and assemble in council; they knew not that 
 the great Queen of the universe discovered all their 
 designs. They resolved to take revenge on God 
 and the Virgin Mother by destroying the Church. 
 O proud demons, full of blindness, hell is power¬ 
 less! It cannot even cause the death of a vile 
 insect without the permission of God; how much 
 less, then, destroy a Christian ! 
 
 The divine Mother begged her Son to oppose 
 the insensate hatred of Lucifer, and raised into 
 sublime ecstasy, she saw that the amiable Re¬ 
 deemer at the right of His Father, prayed Him to 
 grant all that His Mother asked. She saw also 
 that the Eternal Father received her prayers with 
 complacency, and that, regarding her with great 
 goodness, He said, “ Mary, my daughter, ascend 
 higher.” At the same moment He dispatched 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 325 
 
 from heaven an innumerable multitude of angels, 
 who, raising her from the earth, on whicfi she lay 
 prostrate and bathed in tears, conducted her both 
 body and soul before the throne of the most Holy 
 Trinity, which was manifested to her by a most 
 sublime vision. Abased in the most profound 
 humility of her heart, she felt and saw herself 
 placed on the throne of the Divinity at the right of 
 her Son, to the great joy of all the saints and 
 blessed spirits. Being asked what she desired, she 
 replied: “ Nothing but the exaltation of the holy 
 name of God, and that the faithful be assisted in 
 the persecutions which Lucifer is preparing.” The 
 most Holy Trinity promised to aid the Church, and 
 with regard to Lucifer, to her was confided the 
 charge of combating and overcoming him. 
 
 After receiving the divine benediction, she was 
 borne to her oratory by the angels; there, prostrate 
 on the ground, she, with wonderful humility, abased 
 herself beneath the dust, shed many tears, and 
 thanked the Most High for this new favor. She 
 conversed with her angels on the government of 
 the Church, and sent them to the apostles and dis¬ 
 ciples, particularly to St. Paul, to warn them against 
 the infernal snares, and assure them of the aid 
 of grace and their final victory over hell. She 
 called together St. Peter, St. John, and all the dis¬ 
 ciples who were in Jerusalem, and warned them of 
 what would befall them; she also confirmed the 
 news of Paul’s conversion. 
 
 St. James the Great was at this time in Spain, 
 and had established in Granada twelve disciples 
 28 
 
326 Divine Life of the 
 
 who preached the holy name of Jesus. The Jews 
 who resided there being excited by hell, rose in 
 fury, and took measures to arrest them all. They 
 loaded them with chains, and dragged them out of 
 the city to massacre them. Having bound their feet^ 
 they had already raised their swords to kill them. 
 The holy apostle ceased not to invoke the all-power¬ 
 ful name of Jesus, his Master, and also of Mary, the 
 divine Mother. He cried in a loud voice : '* Most 
 holy Virgin, succor me in this hour; remember me 
 and my children; most pure Mary, come to my 
 aid! O Mary, O Mary, ever pure!” St. James 
 repeated these last words several times; they pene¬ 
 trated the tender and loving heart of the merciful 
 Mother, who had seen and heard all in a vision. 
 She raised her eyes to heaven, for she wished to 
 aid her beloved St. James, but, ruled by her heroic 
 prudence, she did not wish to command as Queen. 
 She prostrated herself on the earth, and, with many 
 tears, begged her Son to aid him. 
 
 Immediately the thousand angels of her guard 
 appeared in human forms and revealed to her the 
 will of the Most High. Without delay they formed 
 a throne of most brilliant clouds, on which they 
 transported her to the place where St. James and 
 his disciples awaited the stroke of death. She 
 appeared to the apostle only, and with a joyful and 
 tender countenance, said: “James, my son, apostle 
 of Jesus, have good courage, and be delivered from 
 thy chains.” At the same instant the Jews fell to 
 the ground, the demons were precipitated into hell, 
 and St. James and his disciples set free. 
 
327 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 After receiving the precious benediction of the 
 divine and merciful Mother, they left the city to 
 avoid the fury of the Jews, their persecutors. The 
 great Queen left with St. James one hundred angels 
 of her guard, to assist and guide him in Spain, 
 and to defend and aid him in the propagation of 
 the gospel. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 NEW PLOTS OF LUCIFER AGAINST THE CHURCH.—THE 
 BLESSED VIRGIN LEAVES JERUSALEM, AND OPERATES 
 NEW WONDERS. 
 
 f* 
 
 f HE most holy Virgin watched with maternal 
 and inexpressible solicitude over the propaga- 
 tion of the Church, and prayed most fervently 
 ** to God for it. In her ardent prayer, she was 
 many times ravished in God, and heard Him say: 
 " My daughter and beloved spouse, thy faithful 
 love, greater than that of all other creatures, makes 
 us find in thee the plenitude of our complacency; 
 ascend to the throne of God, that thou mayest be 
 absorbed in the abyss of our divinity, as much 
 as is possible to a pure creature. Take new pos¬ 
 session of our glory; we remit all our treasures 
 into thy hands; heaven is thine, with the earth 
 and all things; enjoy during thy mortal life the 
 privilege of being blessed above all the saints. 
 Let all creatures and nations serve thee; enter 
 thou into the participation of all the goods of our 
 eternal society; understand the great designs of 
 our Providence, and take part in our decrees. Let 
 thy will be one with ours, and one also be the 
 motive by which we shall dispose all things for our 
 Church.” 
 
 328 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 329 
 
 All these ineffable favors were hidden from Luci¬ 
 fer; filled with pride, he held many councils with 
 his demons, in which he laid dark snares against 
 the Church, and planned a new war for its entire- 
 destruction. The peace enjoyed by the Church 
 was favorable for, the conversion of the faithful, 
 but on the other hand, persecution was necessary 
 to increase their merit and to prove them; there¬ 
 fore God caused them to succeed one another, 
 as in the following centuries; it was for this reason 
 that He allowed Lucifer to come forth from hell. 
 The fury of the infernal dragon was at its height; 
 he would have wished to destroy the whole world 
 if it were in his power, and he brought with him 
 out of hell two-thirds of his accursed and cruel 
 companions. They travelled quickly over all the 
 earth, in order to find the apostles and disciples, 
 while Lucifer remained near Jerusalem. 
 
 The evil spirits on their return gave an exact 
 account to their unhappy chief; he bade some 
 of them remain near the apostles and disciples 
 to persecute them, and others to excite the Jews 
 and Gentile magistrates against the Christians; he 
 assigned a great number of them to Herod, to 
 provoke him to persecute the Christian name. 
 Lucifer tormented the just by secret temptations 
 and suggestions, inspired them with pusillanimity, 
 raised in their mind illusions and a thousand other 
 things, such as he does even at the present day 
 with spiritual persons who wish sincerely to love 
 God. 
 
 N Dthing was hidden from the divine Mother, 
 23 * 
 
330 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 who, adoring the dispensations of Providence, 
 redoubled her prayers, tears and cares for the 
 faithful. She gave advice and council to all who 
 dwelt with or near her; she exhorted, urged, and 
 animated them to suffer and die for the love of 
 God; yet, in the midst of these solicitudes the 
 Mistress of virtues always preserved a calm ex 
 terior, and a countenance full of majesty; never 
 did the sorrows of her heart cause her to appear 
 sad, or her amiability to be disturbed in the 
 slightest degree. She cast herself at the feet of 
 St. John with a joyful and humble countenance, 
 and having begged his blessing, and kissed his 
 hand, asked and obtained permission to speak. 
 “My Master and my Son,” said she, “the Most 
 High has revealed to me the terrible persecutions 
 which threaten the Church ; the proud dragon 
 has come forth from the infernal caverns with 
 legions of evil spirits inflamed with fury, in order to 
 destroy the mystic body of the Church. This city 
 will be the first to be disturbed ; they will take the 
 life of one of the apostles, and the others will be 
 cruelly ill-treated, by the suggestions of hell, the 
 Lord thus permitting it. I would wish to assist 
 them as their Mother, but it is the will of God 
 that I leave Jerusalem, if you consent; you, whom 
 I regard as my master and my superior.” 
 
 It was then resolved that they would depart to 
 Ephesus, a city situated on the confines of Asia 
 Minor. 
 
 After having regulated everything necessary at 
 Jerusalem, she recommended to the Lord the 
 
33 1 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 apostles and her servants; she supplicated Him 
 to defend them, to humble the pride of Lucifer, 
 and to defeat the machinations of hell. The Lord 
 replied that He would look on the Church with 
 mercy, would fill with grace and benediction all 
 those who would invoke the all-powerful name of 
 Mary, and would remit all His treasures into her 
 hands. She received an order that before setting- 
 out for Ephesus, she should visit St. James in 
 Spain, to console him, and bid him return to Jeru¬ 
 salem. 
 
 Immediately her angels-guardian with others 
 who had descended from heaven, formed a glorious 
 chariot of brilliant clouds, in which they placed 
 their great Queen and bore her to Saragossa in the 
 province of Arragon, singing the Ave Maria the 
 Salve Regina , and the psalms, to which the great 
 Queen responded by the words: Holy , holy , holy 
 is the God of glory; may He take pity on the children 
 of Eve. The blessed apostle was near the walls of 
 the city, occupied in prayer; among the disciples 
 some slept and others prayed, when the music of 
 the angels, sounding from a distance, filled them 
 with celestial joy. The royal throne of the Queen 
 of angels, surrounded by a globe of light, rested in 
 sight of the apostle on a pillar of jasper, prepared 
 by the angels.* The divine Mother appeared 
 visibly to the blessed apostle, who, prostrate on the 
 earth, venerated her as the Mother of the Creator 
 
 * These facts are admitted as true by the traditions of the 
 Church of Spain. To this day vre hear of the Vir c iu del Pilar, 
 at Saragossa. 
 
332 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 of all things. With great kindness, she gave him 
 her benediction in the name of her Son, saying at 
 the same time, “James, servant of the Most High, 
 be blessed by His all-powerful hand.” All the 
 angels answered, “ Amen.” “ My son James, this 
 place shall be blessed. Here thou shalt raise a 
 temple to the honor of my name; it shall be 
 a house of prayer and a source of graces. Thou 
 shalt afterwards return to Jerusalem, and offer thy 
 life as a sacrifice to the Lord.” 
 
 The angels erected a column on which they 
 placed a holy and beautiful image of the great 
 Queen. St. James and the angels venerated it, 
 and celebrated the feast; they sang canticles of 
 praise and thanksgiving to the blessed Mother; 
 who, after giving them her benediction, returned to 
 Jerusalem. The apostle, with the help of heaven, 
 erected a chapel on that holy spot. 
 
 The holy Virgin having been reconducted to 
 her oratory in Jerusalem, returned thanks to the 
 Most High for the favors granted to J:he Church, 
 and for four days, continued her prayers for His 
 assistance, during which time St. John prepared all 
 things necessary for their voyage. On the fourth 
 day, the 5th of January, of the fortieth year of our 
 redemption, the great Queen took leave of the 
 pious master of the house of the Last Supper and 
 of all those who dwelt there; they were all in great 
 affliction. She begged St. John to permit her to 
 venerate those sacred spots consecrated by the 
 blood of her divine Son, and she commanded her 
 angels to watch over and guard them. 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 333 
 
 At her return she knelt at the feet of St. John 
 to implore his benediction ; she thanked the faith¬ 
 ful who wished to give her money, objects of value, 
 and the means of travelling agreeably on sea, but 
 seated only on a poor ass, the great Mistress of 
 humility commenced her voyage, accompanied by 
 the disciple St. John. For her consolation in this 
 journey, all her angels guardian became visible to 
 her under corporeal forms, and placing her in their 
 midst as their Sovereign, they rejoiced and con 
 s >led her by hymns and canticles of praise. 
 
 On arriving at the port they found a vessel ready 
 to depart for Ephesus; on this they embarked, and 
 thus did the Star of the sea firH s; i! upon its 
 waters. She immediately began to consider the 
 sea. She knew its profound depth, its immense 
 extent, its interior arrangement, its sands, its rocks 
 and all its treasures, its tide and ebb, and the 
 variety of its fishes; from the grandeur of that 
 element she raised ’herself to the contemplation of 
 the immensity of God. She recommended to the 
 Lord all those who should afterwards sail on the 
 sea, and the Lord gave her His divine word that 
 He would promptly aid all those who, in tempests, 
 would invoke the holy Virgin, Star of the sea. 
 Then considering the different species of fish, she 
 commanded them to render homage to their 
 Creator; and it was most wonderful to see them 
 appear in the sea in sight o£ their great Queen, to 
 testify by their movements their obedience to their 
 Sovereign, and their desire to praise the Most 
 High. After rece’ving her benediction they dis- 
 
334 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 persed. St. John shed tears of tenderness at this 
 spectacle, and the sailors were filled with wonder 
 and admiration, although they were ignorant of its 
 cause. 
 
 They arrived happily at the port of Ephesus, 
 and immediately after landing, the great Queen 
 began to work many marvels and extraordinary 
 miracles. She first returned thanks to God for the 
 benefits she had received, then began to heal the 
 weak and infirm, who were freed from their evils 
 by the mere sight of her. A great number of the 
 faithful who had fled from Palestine and Jerusalem, 
 to avoid the persecution, came to meet her, and 
 offer their houses and themselves for her service; 
 but the Queen of virtues thanked them all, and 
 went to dwell with some pious women who lived 
 in retreat; they gave her two rooms, one f r her¬ 
 self, the other for St. John. As soon as she had 
 retired into her apartment, she prostrated herself 
 with her face to the earth, according to her holy 
 custom, to return thanks to the Lord, and she of¬ 
 fered herself in sacrifice for the good of the city. 
 She then called her angels guardian, some of whom 
 she sent to inform the apostles that she dwelt in 
 Ephesus, and that she would always come to their 
 aid; others she sent to the disciples afflicted by 
 persecution. It was at this time that St. Paul, 
 fleeing from Damascus, because of the persecution 
 of the Jews, was aided and consoled by the angels 
 of the Mother of piety; he went to Jerusalem, 
 where, being in prayer in the Temple, the Lord 
 bade him leave the city, to escape the persecution. 
 
335 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 St. James left Spain, accompanied by one hun¬ 
 dred angels; he embarked for Italy, and from 
 thence for Asia, preaching everywhere the gospel 
 of Jesus Christ, until he arrived safely at Ephesus 
 and appeared before the holy Virgin. He cast 
 himself at her feet, shedding tears of happiness and 
 joy, and humbly thanked her with profound affec¬ 
 tion for the favors he had received from her. The 
 divine Mother immediately raised him from the 
 ground, reminding him that he was a priest, but 
 she, only a useless servant; then, casting herself on 
 her knees, she begged his blessing. The apostle 
 St. James remained some days with the holy 
 Virgin and his brother St. John, and related to 
 them all that had happened in Spain. At the 
 moment of departure, the great Queen said to him: 
 “James, my son, these are the last days of thy life. 
 I desire to make thee penetrate .nto the intimate 
 charity of God, by which thou hast been created 
 and redeemed, and to which thou hast been called. 
 Whilst we thus live, I burn with the desire of 
 making thee know this love, and I offer myself to 
 do, with the divine grace, all that which, as thy 
 true Mother, I can do for thee.” 
 
 “ I thank thee, O great Queen and Mother of my 
 Redeemer,” answered the saint, shedding many 
 tears, “ I ardently beg thy maternal benediction 
 that I may give my life for Him who has first 
 sacrificed Himself for me. I supplicate thee, O 
 merciful Mother, not to abandon me at the moment 
 of my martyrdom.” 
 
 The great Queen, attentive to his words, replied: 
 
. 
 
 336 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 ° I will offer to the Most High thy prayers and 
 desires.” 
 
 By these and other words of eternal life, the 
 apostle was consoled and fortified. Burning with 
 the desire of martyrdom, he received her blessing, 
 and with many tears bade farewell to his dear 
 brother John, and set out for Jerusalem. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 MARTYRDOM OF ST. JAMES.—HE IS ASSISTED BY THE 
 DIVINE MOTHER.—IMPRISONMENT AND DELIVERANCE 
 OF ST. PETER.—MANY MARVELS. 
 
 T. JAMES arrived in Jerusalem when the city 
 was aroused against the disciples of Jesus 
 Christ; their hate and fury had been incited 
 by Lucifer, who burned with the desire of 
 destroying the Church. Entering into the city, the 
 holy apostle began to preach the glorious name of 
 the Crucified, with a zeal so ardent that many of 
 those who heard, were unable to resist the divine 
 fire of his words, and were converted. Lucifer, 1 
 feeling himself enfeebled by the presence of St. 
 James, became still more furious; he went to the 
 high-priests and principal Jews to excite them to 
 greater rage and hatred of the name of Christ. 
 They chose two magicians instructed in the Mosaic 
 
 ■4 • 
 
 law and the art of magic, to dispute with St. James 
 and confound him. One was called Hermogenes, 
 the other Philetus, his disciple. 
 
 The dispute was begun by Philetus, who publicly 
 proposed to the apostle many difficulties, which 
 gave the saint an opportunity of clearly demon¬ 
 strating, with the aid of divine light, the revealed 
 
 29 
 
 337 
 
 • ■ . 
 
338 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 truths; his adversary was converted, and the Jews 
 covered with confusion. The new convert dreaded 
 the dangerous enchantments of his master, who 
 continued obstinate in error, but the good saint 
 strengthened him, and gave him a holy relic—some 
 of the linen worn by Jesus. St. James, like the 
 good pastor, preached to the sheep confided to his 
 care. After some days, the Jews again engaged 
 Hermogenes to embarrass and confound St. James; 
 the Pharisees, Scribes, and doctors of the Mosaic 
 law reassembled, but all the efforts of Hermogenes 
 were vain, and he was obliged to confess the faith ol 
 Jesus Christ. Hermogenes and Philetus were both 
 instructed and baptized, to the great confusion of 
 Judaism, and the extraordinary fury of hell, which 
 had thus lost two of its ministers. The divine 
 Mother by her prayers and tears contributed to 
 these conversions and others effected by St. James; 
 she beheld all from her oratory, whence she exer¬ 
 cised a particular care over her beloved apostle. 
 Hermogenes and Philetus, through fear of the 
 Jews, left Jerusalem and went into Asia, but relax¬ 
 ing from their fervor, afterwards apostatized from 
 the faith of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Lucifer, having become more furious by the con¬ 
 version of Hermogenes and Philetus, excited the 
 Jews against the holy apostle, and filled them with 
 great hatred. They bribed two centurions of the 
 Roman militia to put him in prison; and chose 
 Abiatar, a priest, and Josias, a scribe, to hasten the 
 execution. St. James preached to the people in 
 the public place of Jerusalem, and announced the 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 339 
 
 mysteries of religion with great fruit. The un* 
 worthy ministers, inflamed with fury, gave the signal 
 to the Roman soldiers; the saint was arrested, and 
 a rope placed about his neck, as a disturber of the 
 government. He was conducted 1 before Herod, 
 the son of Archelaiis, the declared enemy of the 
 name of Jesus, who had raised the first persecution 
 against the disciples; he immediately- sentenced 
 the saint to be beheaded. 
 
 It is impossible to describe the joy of the holy 
 apostle when he beheld approaching the happy 
 moment in which he would give his life-for Jesus, 
 who had first died for him. Remembering that 
 the divine Mother had promised to assist him, 
 he invoked her from the depths of his great soul. 
 She was wholly occupied in the care of the Church, 
 and in particular of the apostles, when she beheld 
 a multitude of angels descending from heaven, 
 some of whom went to the apostles, while others 
 entered into her oratory. They formed a throne of 
 clouds on which they conducted the divine Queen 
 to the place at which the holy apostle was to 
 suffer martyrdom. He was there healing the sick, 
 delivering the possessed, obtaining graces for all, 
 and praying for his enemies. The saint beheld 
 her clothed with celestial splendor, and surrounded 
 by an infinite number of blessed spirits; at this 
 sweet si-lit he was transported with joy, and cried 
 out: “ O holy Mother of my Jesus, my protectress, 
 consolation- of the afflicted, refuge of those in 
 sorrow! give me thy benediction, which I ardently 
 desire. Let thy most pure hands be the altar of 
 
34 ° 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 a« 4 -«— 
 
 my sacrifice; I commend my soul to thy care/* 
 At these words his head was struck off; the great 
 Queen received the soul of her beloved son James, 
 and placed it beside her on the throne. She con¬ 
 ducted it to heaven, and presented it to her glorious 
 Son; this caused an increase of joy and glory to all 
 the inhabitants of the heavenly court. The holy 
 Virgin rendered thanks by a canticle of praise to 
 the Most High, and her soul was filled with new 
 graces and celestial benedictions. Having received 
 additional helps and favors for the Church, she 
 was reconducted to her oratory in Ephesus, where, 
 prostrate on the ground, she humbled herself 
 beneath the dust, and rendered thanks to God 
 for all His benefits. Then she sent an angel to 
 aid the disciples in taking care of the holy body 
 of the martyred apostle, which was carried first 
 to the port of Joppa, and afterwards to Galicia in 
 Spain. 
 
 The Jews, excited by Lucifer, became more 
 furious at the death of the holy apostle; they 
 went to Herod to beg him to order the arrest 
 of St. Peter, who was in Jerusalem. He was 
 immediately cast into prison, and the Jews were 
 anxious to put him to death without delay. The 
 disciples, who wished to save the Head of the 
 Church, addressed themselves to the divine Mother 
 by fervent prayer. She was at Ephesus, neverthe¬ 
 less her merciful eyes were on all places, and she 
 principally watched over the vicar of her divine 
 Son. She prostrated herself, and with prayers and 
 tears begged of the Lord the life of St. Peter; her 
 
34i 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 divine Son appeared to her, and said: “My Mother, 
 moderate thy sorrow. That which thou desirest 
 shall be accomplished, for thou art the Queen; 
 command and govern the faithful; dispose of all 
 things.” 
 
 “My omnipotent Lord,” replied she, “as thy 
 goodness is infinite, command Lucifer and his de¬ 
 mons, who are troubling the peace of the Church, 
 to cast themselves into the infernal abyss.” By the 
 efficacy of these words, they were immediately 
 thrown into hell, vanquished and deprived of 
 strength. She sent an angel to deliver St. Peter, 
 who retired to a place of safety. The most prudent 
 Mother of the Lord rendered thanks for all that 
 . had been done. 
 
 29 * 
 
 i 
 
CHAPTER XL. 
 
 HEROIC VIRTUES EXERCISED BY THE HOLY VIRGIN AT 
 HEROD’S DEATH.—FRUITS OF ST. JOHN’S ZEAL AT 
 
 ephesus.—mary’s triumph over lucifer. 
 
 f HE divine Mother reflected profoundly within 
 herself upon the state of the Church, with 
 which she was charged then, as she will 
 ^ always be, because she is its protectress and 
 merciful Mother. She felt great consolation at 
 beholding its Chief at liberty, and Lucifer in chains 
 at the bottom of the abyss. There still remained 
 Herod the persecutor of the Church to cause her 
 affliction, for she knew that he had resolved to 
 utterly exterminate the faithful, therefore she ceased 
 not to implore the divine aid with great humility 
 and many tears. Directed by her sovereign pru¬ 
 dence, she spoke to one of the highest of her 
 guardian spirits in the following words: “ Minister 
 of my Lord and God, I pray thee to go before the 
 throne of the Most High, to expose to Him my 
 affliction, and, in my name, beg Him to allow me 
 to suffer for His servants, but not to permit that 
 Herod’s orders be executed, for he wishes to 
 destroy the Church.” The angel accomplished 
 his embassy, and brought her this reply. 
 
 “ The Lord of armies says: ‘ Thou art the 
 Mother, Queen, ?nd Mistress of the Church; pro- 
 
 342 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 343 
 
 fiounc.e. then the sentence, against Herod.”’ .The 
 humble Mother of piety was somewhat troubled; 
 she bade the angel return to the Lord, and say 
 that she offered herself to do penance, and suffer 
 the. most cruel torments in favor of Herod, that he 
 might be.saved. 
 
 The angel returned with the answer: “ Herod is 
 obstinate in his perversity; he rejects inspirations, 
 and does not follow the lights of heaven; for this 
 reason, he does not cooperate in the fruit of the 
 redemption.” The heart of the tender Mother was 
 
 A 
 
 moved, and for the third time she sent the angel to 
 the Most High to say that as the mother and 
 advocate of sinners, it was impossible to her love 
 to condemn, any creature, the work of His hands. 
 The angel brought the reply: “ Thou art the Mother 
 of sinners, but it is of those who wish to be con¬ 
 verted, not of those who remain obstinate and 
 hardened, and do not wish to change their lives; 
 still less of those who, like Herod, despise the 
 divine grace;” he added, “ thy sentence as Queen 
 of the universe shall be executed.” 
 
 Then raising her eyes to heaven and shedding 
 many tears, she said: “Thou art just, O Lord, and 
 thy judgments are equitable; I would suffer a 
 thousand deaths to gain this soul, if it had not 
 rendered itself unworthy of the mercy of God, but 
 as it is the obstinate enemy of God; unworthy of 
 His eternal friendship, by a just judgment I con¬ 
 demn it to the death it has merited, that he may no 
 longer persecute the Church, and may not merit 
 still greater chastisements in hell.” 
 
3 |4 Divine Life of the 
 
 She sent an angel to Caesarea, where Herod was 
 at that time. Being touched by the hand of this 
 spirit, he died a most miserable death, being eaten 
 by worms. 
 
 After the death of St. James and the imprison¬ 
 ment of St. Peter, he had gone to Caesarea to 
 reconcile the Syrians and Sidonians. One day, as 
 he spoke before the assembly, clad in his royal 
 robes, the people, in order to flatter him, cried out, 
 “ He is a god!’' In the height of his foolish pride, 
 Herod believed the impious exclamation, and thus 
 filled up the measure of his iniquity. He had per¬ 
 secuted the apostles, had mocked the Divine 
 Redeemer, had caused John the Baptist to be 
 beheaded, and had committed a public and scan¬ 
 dalous adultery with Herodias, his relation, with 
 other innumerable abominations. 
 
 The angel returned to Ephesus, and the merciful 
 Mother, on learning the death of the unfortunate 
 man, wept over the loss of this damned soul, yet 
 adored the justice of God. After this death the 
 Gospel spread rapidly, not only in Galilee and 
 Judea, but also in Ephesus, by means of St. John’s 
 preaching. The divine Mother gave instructions 
 in the neighboring cities also; she wrought great 
 miracles, delivered the possessed, healed the sick, 
 helped the poor and necessitous in their houses, or 
 in places to which she caused them to be conveyed. 
 She kept with her a supply of medicinal plants for 
 those who needed them, as also bread and gar¬ 
 ments; above all, she took care of the dying; she 
 healed, consoled, and enlightened them. 
 
 to 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 345 
 
 The fruits of her charity in those souls destined 
 for heaven were so abundant, that whole volumes 
 would not be sufficient to contain them. It would be 
 difficult also to describe the fury of Lucifer; raising 
 his proud head from the bottom of the infernal 
 caverns into which he had been cast by the divine 
 Mother,—full of rage and'hatred, he called around 
 him his evil companions, and told them of his 
 intention of laying before the Most High his just 
 complaints against this great Woman, as he had 
 done with regard to Job ; otherwise hell was over¬ 
 come. He immediately executed this design, God 
 permitting it for the greater glory of His Mother. 
 He alleged to the Most High that he was of an 
 angelic nature, infinitely superior to the condition 
 of her who was formed of dust and ashes; there¬ 
 fore he demanded her destruction. 
 
 The great Queen prayed incessantly for the 
 Church, and saw in spirit the battle which Lucifer 
 was preparing against her, and she wept and prayed 
 for her defence and final triumph. Her affliction 
 was very great because she saw Lucifer adored as 
 God by the blind idolaters, and her heart was so 
 filled with grief at the thought that he dwelt in 
 the temple of Diana, that she would have died, had 
 not God preserved her life. The temple was served 
 by idolatrous virgins, who* though pagans, were 
 lovers of purity. “ Thy infinite charity/’ said the 
 Virgin Mother, “has established me. as Mother and 
 guide of virgins who are the most precious portion 
 of thy Church. Do not, then, permit them to be 
 consecrated to Lucifer, thy implacable enemy.” At 
 
346 Divine Life of the . 
 
 >' 
 
 this moment St. John entered the oratory. Mary 
 turned to him and exclaimed, u O my Son! my 
 heart is filled with bitterness on account of the 
 sins committed against God, but particularly in the 
 temple of Diana.” 
 
 “ My Queen,” answered the saint, “ I have be¬ 
 held abominable scenes enacted in that place, and 
 I have been moved to tears at beholding Lucifer 
 adored with that worship due to God alone, but it 
 is only thyself who canst apply the remedy to this 
 evil” 
 
 Mary entreated St. John to join with her in 
 prayer, to obtain a remedy for this evil. St.John 
 obeyed and entered the oratory; the great Queen 
 prostrated herself on the ground, and, shedding 
 many tears, persevered a long time in {raver with 
 great fervor, so that she was almost in an age ny 
 from the vehemence of her grief. The divine Son 
 appeared and said: “ My Mother and my dove, be 
 not afflicted. All that thou hast asked of me shall 
 be accomplished without delay. Order and com¬ 
 mand, as all-powerful Queen, whatever thy hea t 
 desires.” At these words the heart of the divine 
 Mother was all inflamed with zeal for the honor 
 t>f God. She arose, and with regal power, com¬ 
 manded the demons, who dwelt in the profane 
 temple of Diana, to fall into hell; they were imme¬ 
 diately compelled to cast themselves down. She 
 bade her angels to destroy that temple, and of its 
 inmates to leave only nine women alive. 
 
 By this event St. John took occasion to preach 
 the faith, and open the eyes of the Ephesians to 
 
Most Holy Virgin,, 
 
 347; 
 
 the errors in which the demon, had ^so long kept 
 them. Many were converted, but others remained 
 incredulous aAd obstinate, and.,, after the blessed 
 Mother had left Ephesus, they built a second ? 
 temple to Diana, although much less beautiful and 
 magnificent than the first. It is this second temple 
 that is spoken of in the Acts of the Apostles. 5 { 
 Mary unceasingly continued her . prayers for the . 
 propagation of the faith, and the exaltation of the : 
 holy Church. Her angels appeared' to her under 
 visible forms, and said: “ Great Queen, it is the will 
 of the Most High that we conduct thee before His 
 throne. 1 * The holy Virgin answered: “ I am but 
 dusty and the slave of the Lord. May His holy 
 will be done.” • Placing her on a throne of light, ; 
 they presented her to the Most Holy Trinity. ; 
 The Being of God was manifested to her in an 
 abstractive vision, and she adored it most pro¬ 
 foundly.; The Eternal Father said: “My daughter 
 and my dove, thy desires for. the exaltation of my 
 name, and thy prayers for the propagation of the 
 Church, are agreeable to my divine heart; in j 
 recompense thereof, I confide to thee my power, ' 
 that thou mayest defend my 1 0101* and glory by 
 the triumph thou shalt obtain over the ancient ' 
 pride of my enemies, by crushing their head,’* , 
 “ Behold!’’ answered she, “the last of thy creatures,- 
 who is ready to obey thy divine designs.” The 
 Eternal Father added: “Let all the heavenly court 
 know that I choose and name Mary, as the head , 
 and Queen of my armies, that she may vanquish - 
 all - my enemies, and triumph gloriously over 
 
3 48 Divine Zyfc of ! the? 
 
 them;” This decree was confirmed by the- other 
 two divine Persons. All the blessed spirits res¬ 
 ponded: “Let thy will be done in heaven and on 
 earth!” 
 
 Afterwards, by God’s order, the great Queen 
 was adorned by six seraphim with a sort of light, 
 like an impenetrable buckler, as invincible to the 
 demons as the sanctity of Mary, and resembling 
 even the strength of God Himself. She was illu¬ 
 minated by six other seraphim with a divine 
 splendor, which shone on her beautiful and most 
 pure countenance, and inspired terror into the 
 demons. Six others added to her faculties a new 
 and divine virtue, which corresponded to all the 
 gifts with which she had been loaded from the first 
 and glorious instant of her conception, so that she 
 could, at will, hinder or stay the most hidden 
 thoughts or strongest efforts of Lucifer and his 
 companions, and from this moment all hell was 
 subject to her will and good pleasure. The three 
 divine Persons then gave her their full benediction. 
 Abasing herself in the depths of her nothingness, 
 she returned thanks to the divine Trinity, and was 
 borne back to her oratory; the blessed inhabitants 
 of heaven chanted, “Holy, holy , holy is the God of 
 armies /” She lowered herself to the dust, and 
 returned thanks to the Lord for His great mercies, 
 and entered into herself to prepare for combat. 
 
 She beheld coming forth from hell a frightful 
 dragon, with seven heads, from which, with great 
 rage and fury, he vomited forth fire and flames. 
 He was followed by a great number of other 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 349 
 
 dragons, who all proceeded towards Ephesus, 
 where dwelt the courageous and invincible Queen. 
 They excited each other by ferocious cries, saying: 
 “Let us go and annihilate our enemy, since the 
 Most High has permitted us to attack her. She is 
 hut an earthly creature.” 
 
 Having transformed themselves into angels of 
 light, the whole army entered into her oratory, 
 Lucifer was the first to speak, and his words were 
 full of his venom, which is pride. “Thou art all- 
 powerful, O Mary! great and courageous among 
 women. The whole world honors and glorifies 
 thee, because of the marvellous virtues it knows 
 thee to possess, and the great wonders thou dost 
 operate. Thou art worth}' of this glory, since no 
 other person is equal to thee in sanctity.” 
 
 Whilst he, with his false tongue, uttered these 
 incontestable truths, he endeavored to raise in her 
 imagination thoughts of complacency; but all his 
 arrows fell harmless on her humble heart, for all 
 the torments of the martyrs would have caused 
 her less sensible pain than those evil suggestions. 
 To repulse them she made frequent acts of pro¬ 
 found humility. Beholding this heroic annihilation 
 of herself, Lucifer cried out to his companions, 
 “ Ah! the pains of hell are less torment to me 
 than the profound humility of this great woman!” 
 Then crushed and vanquished by her, they threw 
 themselves into the abyss, and the august Mother 
 returned thanks to the Most High for this first 
 victory. 
 
 30 
 
 • sr->4 
 
CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 THE HOLY VIRGIN RETURNS TO JERUSALEM.—OTHER 
 VICTORIES OVER LUCIFER. 
 
 f HE persecution of the Church had abated at 
 the death of Herod, and the apostles were 
 preaching with freedom, and reaping admira- 
 J ble fruit. Sts. Paul and Barnabas were in 
 Asia Minor, as also St. Peter, who had gone 
 thither from Jerusalem to avoid the persecution 
 of Herod. Many difficulties were arising among 
 the faithful with regard to circumcision and the 
 Mosaic law, particularly at Jerusalem. They wrote 
 to St. Peter as their chief to settle these con¬ 
 troversies, and said that it would be well for him to 
 come to that city; they begged him to write for 
 the divine Mother to come also. St. Peter wrote, 
 humbly begging her to come to Jerusalem, and 
 making known to her the necessities and desires 
 of the faithful. 
 
 The great Queen, receiving this letter some 
 time after, and learning it was a message from 
 St. Peter, received it kneeling, and kissed it with 
 respect, but would not open it, because St. John, 
 who was preaching, was not present. As soon 
 as he entered, she gave him the letter, saying that 
 it was from the Vicar of Jesus Christ, and the head 
 of all the faithful. The apostle humbly inquired 
 
 350 
 
Divine Life of the Mosifidy Virgin. 351 
 
 what .it contained, to which the Mother of humility 
 answered : “ Thou wilt know by opening it first 
 and reading it ; then thou canst tell me what it 
 contains.” The apostle did so, and they deliberated 
 together whether she had better leave Ephesus to 
 return to Jesusalem. She said: “ My son and my 
 lord, command what thou thinkest best, and thy 
 servant will obey.” St. John added: “We must 
 obey the Head of the Church.” She replied,: 
 “ Prepare everything for the departure, and we 
 will go, if such be thy desire.” 
 
 • While the apostle was preparing everything for 
 their journey to Palestine, the holy Mother as¬ 
 sembled the virgins, her disciples, who dwelt in 
 Ephesus, and announced to them her departure. 
 She exhorted them to perseverance in faith, hu¬ 
 mility, purity, and the exercise of holy virtues, 
 and assured them of her love and protection before 
 her Son, their spouse. She established as superior 
 overthe seventy-three virgins, the venerable Mary, 
 one of those who had been saved from the ruin of 
 the temple of Diana ; she was called “ Old Mary,” 
 because she was the most aged, and also the first 
 to whom the great Queen had given her name in 
 baptism. Kneeling at her feet, and shedding many 
 tears, they begged her benediction; after having 
 received it, they continued in retreat, because they 
 lived together as if in a monastery. 
 
 • The holy Virgin bade adieu to her neighbors, 
 and when the time of departure arrived, she begged 
 the ‘apostle’s blessing. Then they left Ephesus, 
 having resided there for two years. She was 
 
352 Divine Life of * the 
 
 accompanied by her angels, who- appeared- to- her 
 all armed for combat, by which she understood 
 that a battle with the infernal dragon was imminent. 
 She warned St. John that he might prepare himself 
 by prayer, and might not fear. The vessel on which 
 they embarked had no sooner set sail than there 
 burst upon them a tempest more fearful and terrific 
 than had ever been or ever will be again; The 
 waves rose in their fury even to the clouds, and 
 threatened to engulf the vessel. Sometimes the 
 billows would crash against it, as if they would 
 burst it asunder. Sometimes it was raised high on 
 the crest of a wave, again it sank into the abyss. 
 The rush of the waves, the howling of the winds, 
 the cries of the sailors, and the fury of the demons 
 against the vessel caused great alarm to St. John, 
 so that turning to the august Queen, he said: “ My 
 Queen, ask thy divine Son to calm the tempest.” 
 
 During this time Mary had preserved a great 
 interior peace, and showed a perfect serenity, 
 because of her great contempt for hell, and her 
 perfect magnanimity. Considering the peril of the 
 navigators, she was touched with compassion, and, 
 as a Mother, filled with charity at the sight of their 
 dangers, she prayed to the Lord for them. She 
 answered the apostle, “ Be not troubled; this is the 
 time to wage the battles of the Lord, who will 
 triumph over His enemies by strength and patience. 
 I have asked the Lord not to allow any one in this 
 vessel to perish. He sleeps not, He is with us.” 
 From these words, the apostle regained his interior 
 peace and tranquillity of soul. 
 
On the fourteenth day of the tempest, Lucifer 
 gathered all his strength for a last effort. The- 
 vessel was thrown oh the Side, the extremities of 
 the antennae touched the foaming billows, and the- 
 water poured in with great vio^nce. The sailors 
 were discouraged and frightened at so imminent a 
 danger, but suddenly, Jesus, descending from the 
 height of heaven, appeared and said: My beloved 
 Mother , I am with thee in thy tribulation. 
 
 Although under any circumstances this sight 
 and these words would have caused her ineffable 
 joy, nevertheless they were still more precious to 
 the divine Mother in this danger, because of the 
 compassion she felt for the poor afflicted people. 
 “ My Mother and my dove, I desire that all crea¬ 
 tures be obedient to thy orders; command, and thou 
 shalt be obeyed.” Then by the virtue of her most 
 holy Son, she bade Lucifer and his companions 
 quit the Mediterranean Sea; she commanded the 
 winds and the sea to be calm, and they obeyed; the 
 Lord then departed, leaving her replenished with 
 benedictions. On the following day they arrived 
 safely in port and returned thanks to God for their 
 deliverance. 
 
 After landing, they took the road towards Jeru¬ 
 salem, she having previously begged the blessing 
 of St. John, and thanked him for having accom¬ 
 panied her in all her dangers. By the permission 
 of God, all the demons met her again on her 
 journey, and assailed her by a thousand sugges¬ 
 tions against the holy virtues, but the Tower 
 of David turned their darts against themselves, 
 30 * 
 
' 
 
 3 5 4 Divine Life ' of the 
 
 Arrived at Jerusalem, she wished to visit the 
 holy places, but judged that she should first go to 
 the Supper-room, to visit St. Peter and render 
 obedience to him. When she arrived there, she 
 cast herself at his feet, begged his blessing, and 
 kissed his hand as the Sovereign Pontiff. St. John 
 related what they had suffered, and all the dis¬ 
 ciples of Jerusalem came to venerate their Mis¬ 
 tress with tears of joy. She visited the holy places,, 
 and then prepared herself for her works of virtue. 
 Lucifer and his companions appeared before her 
 in horrible shapes, and even wished to threaten 
 her, but were enfeebled by the divine Mother’s 
 heroic acts of, virtue; thus, a prey to frightful 
 torments, they were obliged to fly, completely 
 vanquished. 
 
 One day,, when she was visiting the holy places, 
 being arrived at Mt. Olivet, the divine Son appeared 
 to her with ineffable tenderness; He divinized her, 
 raised her above all terrestrial things, and loaded 
 her with divine favors so great, that she became 
 entirely transformed into her divine Son. On her 
 return to the Supper-room Lucifer renewed the 
 assault, but seeing new power and strength in his 
 enemy, he acted like the scorpion, which, when 
 surrounded by fire, stings itself and dies. They all 
 fled, uttering cries of rage, and saying • “ Ah ! if this 
 woman were not in the world, we would destroy it, 
 and, we really could, were it not for this enemy.” 
 Lucifer tried to tempt the newly-baptized, and 
 suggested to them not to abandon the rites of; 
 the Mosa ; c law, principally that of circumcision. 
 
355 
 
 Most Holy Virgin\ 
 
 The converted. Jews were obstinate on this point, 
 while the Gentiles who had embraced the faith did 
 not wish to be circumcised ; but the great Queen 
 destroyed all the demon’s snares. 
 
 Sts. Paul and Barnabas came from Antioch to 
 Jerusalem, they knelt before the Mother of God and 
 shed tears of joy at finding themselves in her 
 presence; it was also a great consolation for the 
 merciful Queen to behold those two apostles, so 
 dear to her Son and herself. In this interview with 
 the divine Mother, St. Paul had an ecstatic vision 
 in which he, learned and comprehended all the 
 prerogatives of this Mystical City of God , So that he 
 beheld her as if vested with the Divinity. Full of 
 admiration, veneration and holy tenderness, he 
 exclaimed: “O Mother of pity and clemency I 
 pardon this man, this miserable sinner, for having 
 persecuted thy Son, my divine Lord, and His 
 Church.” 
 
 The .humble Queen answered: “ Faul, servant 
 of the Lord, if He who created and redeemed 
 thee, has again called thee to His intimate friend¬ 
 ship, how can His servant refuse to pardon thee?- 
 He has made thee a vessel of election; my spirit 
 glorifies and exalts Him.” The apostle returned 
 his earnest thanks, and begged for her protection 
 and patronage, as did Barnabas also. St. Peter 
 had. called together the apostles, and the disciples 
 who dwelt at no great distance from Jerusalem, 
 and in the surrounding country; they assembled 
 in the Supper-room, and he begged the divine 
 Mother not to leave t u e n. He spoke., to all, and 
 
356 Divine Life of the 
 
 exhorted them to endeavor by prayer to obtain 
 the light of heaven and the assistance of the 
 Ht)ly Spirit, and during six days they persevered 
 in prayer. The great Queen having prepared the 
 Supper-room with her divine hands, the chief of 
 the Church celebrated the Holy Mass, communi¬ 
 cated the rpostles, the divine Mother, and then 
 the disciples. A great number of angels descended, 
 robed with celestial splendor; they filled the place 
 with heavenly light and perfume. 
 
 When the sacrifice was ended, St. Peter proposed 
 the difficulties, and recommended all to present 
 their supplications to the Lord during ten days. 
 The great Queen retired into her oratory, and 
 during the ten days neither ate nor drank, but 
 continually interceded with the Most High in 
 behalf of the Church. When she prostrated 
 herself after receiving the Holy Communion, she 
 was raised to heaven both in soul and body. 
 Whilst she passed through the region of the air, 
 seated on a chariot of light, and attended by a 
 numerous cortege of angels, God willed that 
 Lucifer and all the demons of hell should appear 
 in her presence, and to their great pain, should 
 recognize the incomparable elevation, grandeur, 
 < majesty, and sanctity of that great woman whom 
 th^y so much hated, and so cruelly pursued. They 
 also saw that she preserved in her heart, Jesus, 
 under the sacramental species, agd was as if 
 invested with the Divinity, so that, by the partici¬ 
 pation of the divine attributes, she confounded, 
 humbled, and annihilated them. At the same 
 
357 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 moment they heard a voice proceeding from the 
 throne of the Divinity, saying: “With this invinci¬ 
 ble buckler, I will ever defend my Church.” En¬ 
 raged at these words, the devils cried out: “Let 
 the Almighty again cast us into the abyss, but let 
 Him no cause us to remain in the presence of 
 this Woman, who inflicts on us the torture of a 
 thousand hells. Let the Almighty deliver us from 
 this cruel agony, which renews that which we 
 endured when precipitated from heaven, for now is 
 accomplished the threat of the chastisement which 
 we were sentenced to receive from this great Wo¬ 
 man, who is the marvel of His omnipotent arm.” 
 
 All the demons were kept in these sufferings 
 during a long space of time, and when they tried 
 to fly into the abyss, they could not do so. They 
 were also tormented by the presence of their all- 
 powerful enemy, until she, with regal authority, 
 r precipitated them into the deepest pits of hell, from 
 which fall they suffered new and cruel torments. 
 
 Prostrate ' before the sublime throne of the 
 Divinity, she adored Him profoundly, and prayed 
 for the Church, that the apostles might receive the 
 necessary lights, of which she was fully assured. 
 She saw her divine Son presenting to the Father 
 His Mother’s zeal, and, at the same time, she 
 beheld, coming forth from the divine essence, a 
 most beautiful temple, all resplendent and magnifi¬ 
 cently adorned, and the heavenly inhabitants also 
 beheld it. This temple placed itself on the bosom 
 of Jesus Christ, who united it to His holy human¬ 
 ity, and immediately placed it in the hands of His 
 
358 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 holy Mother. Receiving it, she was again filled 
 with splendor, and being absorbed in the Divinity, 
 enjoyed the beatific vision. At the sight of these 
 favors, the angels sang; “Thou art holy, holy, 
 holy, and all-powerful in the works of thy hands.” 
 She was reconducted to her oratory, bearing in her 
 hands the mysterious temple of the holy Church, 
 and she continued her prayer for nine days. 
 
 At the end of that time St. Peter again cele¬ 
 brated the Holy Mass, and communicated all, after 
 which they invoked the Holy Spirit, and St. Peter 
 spoke, as is related in the Acts of the Apostles. 
 The difficulties were decided, the answers written 
 and sent to Antioch. When they were read there, 
 as also at Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit descended 1 
 visibly in the form of tongues of fire. After the . 
 council, the holy Virgin, with all those assembled 
 at it, returned thanks to God; St. Paul and St. Bar¬ 
 nabas took leave, and she presented to them some 
 holy relics of the Infant Jesus, and some sacred 
 thorns; then they departed, fortified by grace, and 
 joyful under the protection of the divine Mother. 
 Lucifer roared like a lion at finding himself unable 
 to approach the great Queen; he brought there 
 some magicians of Jerusalem, and engaged them 
 to take the life of the blessed Mother by their 
 diabolical arts. The unhappy men presented then> 
 selves many times in her presence, but her great 
 and infinite piety touched and converted them; 
 nevertheless, only one of them received the light 
 of the gospel and was baptized, to the great rage 
 of Lucifer. 
 
CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 FINAL TRIUMPH OF THE HOLY MOTHER.—THE STATE 
 TO WHICH THE LORD EXALTED HER. 
 
 ^HE reader of this history will be filled with 
 ]( admiration at seeing the great triumphs of 
 J this pure creature, a ^descendant of Adam, 
 J over Lucifer, and will ask why we find np 
 mention in the Holy Scriptures of these marvels, 
 St. John, at least, the adopted son of the divine 
 Mother, who lived, spoke, acted and travelled with 
 her—why, when he wrote, did he pass over in 
 silence the great glories of the divine Mother of 
 
 God? 
 
 t • ■ t 
 
 In the Apocalypse, the saint /^ ..spoken of the 
 divine Mother, principally in the twelfth and 
 twenty-first chapters, but he has done so in a mys¬ 
 terious manner for two reasons. 
 
 First, because the Virgin’s triumphs are so sub¬ 
 lime that no one could ever comprehend or ex¬ 
 plain them; he has written mysteriously, that the 
 Lord might make her known in His own time, and 
 again, because the Virgin Mother bade him write 
 in this way. , 
 
 Secondly, because that, although Lucifer’s revolt 
 was prompted by his desire of elevating himself, 
 contrary to the will of the Most High, yet its 
 
 359 
 
360 Divine Life of the 
 
 primary cause had been Jesus Christ and His 
 Virgin Mother, whose excellence the apostate 
 angels, in imitation of their chief, refused to 
 acknowledge. And although the battle with St. 
 Michael was waged on account of this revolt, never¬ 
 theless, it was not with the Incarnate Word, nor 
 His Mother in person, but only with that mysteri¬ 
 ous Woman manifested in the heavens, with all the 
 mysteries contained in her, as Mother of the 
 Eternal Word, who was to take human form in her 
 womb. It was then necessary that when the time 
 arrived in which those admirable mysteries were to 
 be accomplished, that the battle against Christ and 
 His divine Mother should be renewed in person, 
 that they themselves might triumph over Lucifer, 
 and accomplish the threat already uttered against 
 him, first in heaven, and afterwards in the terres¬ 
 trial paradise: “Ipsa content, caput tuumP ' {Gen. Hi.) 
 
 All this was literally verified in Jesus and His 
 Mother, for the apostle says that He was tempted 
 in all things, but without sin. (Ad. Heb. ivi) This 
 was equally true of the divine Mother, and as this 
 battle corresponded to the first, and was to be for 
 the demons the execution of the threat announced 
 by means of that sign ; this is why the Evangelist 
 has writen it in the same mysterious words. 
 
 The head of the old serpent was crushed in order 
 to finish the combat, and commence the new state 
 which Divine Providence wished to give to the 
 great Queen in recompense of her virtues. 
 
 Then her divine Son prepared her by favors so 
 great as to surpass all that intelligence can com- 
 
3<5i 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 prehend or explain. The Almighty raised this 
 pure creature, elected to be the Mother of God, to 
 an ineffable state, for the holy Virgin received all 
 that it is possible for the Divine Being to communi¬ 
 cate exteriorly, and contained within herself a con¬ 
 centration of graces, which may be said to be infi¬ 
 nite, so that in herself alone she formed a hierarchy 
 superior to those of all other blessed creatures.* 
 
 Lucifer, having received permission to make war 
 only during a short time, reassembled all his forces; 
 he convoked the princes of darkness, and excited 
 them against their enemy, whom he knew to be the 
 Woman who had been shown to him in the begin¬ 
 ning of the creation. For this combat, hell was 
 depopulated, and the demons, in one body, attacked 
 the holy Virgin in her oratory. The first assault of 
 this terrific combat was directed principally against 
 her exterior senses by a medley of noises, roarings, 
 cries, and terrible tumult, as if the great machi¬ 
 nery of the world was being completely destroyed. 
 Some of the demons assumed the appearance of 
 angels of light; others, retaining their frightful 
 shapes, acted between them a terrific combat, 
 shrouded in darkness, hoping thus to fill her with 
 terror and alarm, with which in effect, they could 
 inspire any creature, however holy, were she of the 
 common order of grace. 
 
 But the Queen of virtues remained constant and 
 
 * This is literally the celebrated thesis of the incomparable 
 Doctor Suarez, who teaches that the holy Virgin alone has 
 more graces and merits than all other creatures together. 
 All the doctors unite in this opinion, and therefore the Church 
 honors the august Queen of heaven with .a particular worship. 
 
 31 
 
362 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 invincible; far from being troubled or disturbed, 
 she did not even change countenance, although the 
 dreadful battle lasted for twelve hours. They pre¬ 
 sented false revelations and interior lights, made 
 suggestions, promises, and menaces, and tempted 
 her to all vices, and in every way. She conducted 
 herself in so courageous a manner, performed such 
 heroic acts of virtue, and combated with such 
 courage and love, that divine justice loudly de¬ 
 manded in favor of the triumphant Queen, that 
 her enemies should be put to flight. 
 
 The Incarnate Word descended from Paradise* 
 into her oratory, as a judge seated on a throne 
 of majesty, surrounded by an infinite numberof 
 the most sublime celestial spirits, by many patri 
 archs, and by St. Joachim and St. Anne, all glori- 
 qus and resplendent. At this sight, Lucifer and 
 the demons wished to fly, but the divine power 
 retained them against their will and chained them; 
 the ends of those deadly chains were placed in the 
 pure hands of the divine Mother. A voice was 
 heard, saying: “ At this moment the wrath of the 
 Omnipotent is about to fall on thee; a woman, the 
 descendant of Adam and Eve, shall crush thy 
 head, and the sentence which was pronounced 
 against thee in the heavens, and afterwards in the 
 terrestrial paradise, is about to be accomplished.” 
 [Gm. Hi. 5.) 
 
 The great Queen was elevated to the right hand 
 of her Son; there came forth from the Divinity a 
 splendor, which clothed her' with brightness like 
 that of.the sun; the moon was placed under her 
 
3^3 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 feet, to denote that she trampled beneath them all 
 sublunary things; a diadem of twelve stars was 
 placed on her head, to symbolize those divine 
 perfections which had been communicated to her 
 in the highest degree possible to a pure creature. 
 She seemed to be with child, thereby to indicate 
 that she had in her the being of God, and the 
 immense love corresponding proportionably to that 
 gift. She moaned gently, like her who had given 
 Jesus Christ to the world, in order that all crea¬ 
 tures, knowing Him, might enter into participation 
 with Him, (but they opposed resistance to Him,) 
 and she desired and procured Him by her tears 
 and sighs. This great sign is described in the 
 Apocalypse, chap, xii., as it was formed in the 
 divine understanding. She was shown in the 
 heavens to Lucifer, who appeared under the form 
 of a fiery dragon with seven heads, crowned with 
 seven diadems, with ten horns, as author of the 
 seven deadly sins, and all heretical sects,. 
 
 He presented himself to combat in the presence 
 of the most holy Virgin, who was to give to the 
 world the spiritual fruit of the Church, by which 
 it was to be perpetuated. The dragon waited there 
 until she should bring her Son into the world, in 
 order to devour and destroy the new Church if 
 possible, and his envy increasing, he fell into a 
 fury at seeing this Woman so powerful to establish 
 the Church, and enrich it by her merits and pro¬ 
 tection. 
 
 Notwithstanding the hatred and rage of the 
 dragon, she brought int<? the world a male child, 
 
364 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 who governs all nations with an iron rod, and this 
 male child is the spirit of justice and strength of 
 the same Church, the true fruit of the holy Virgin; 
 and because she has brought forth Jesus Christ, 
 and given life to the Church by her merits and 
 care, she governs it, and will always maintain it 
 in a purity of doctrine against which error shall 
 never prevail. St. John adds that this fruit was 
 brought'before the throne of the Divinity, and that 
 the Woman retired into solitude, in which she was 
 nourished during one thousand two hundred and 
 sixty days; that is to say, that the fruit of the 
 great Woman , be it sanctity in the spirit of the 
 Church, or in particular souls, reaches the divine 
 throne on which is Jesus Christ, the natural fru.’t, 
 in whom and by whom she has begotten and 
 nourished it. The divine Mother retired into soli¬ 
 tude, the sublime state to which she alone was 
 elevated by grace, and there the Lord nourished 
 her during those days which she spent in that 
 state before passing into another.* 
 
 Lucifer knew all this before the great woman 
 was hidden from him, and he then lost f the hope 
 with which his pride had been nourished during 
 four thousand years, that of conquering this Woman , 
 the Mother of the Incarnate Wo'rd. Feeling his 
 head crushed by her great virtue, he became 
 furious, yet, at the same time, so much enfeebled 
 
 * We do not think there can be found a more sublime 
 exposition of the 12th chapter of the Apocalypse than this. 
 We feel that the Spirit of God, which directed the pen of the 
 apostle, has also inspired the commentator., 
 
365 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 that he could not fly from her presence without her 
 permission. “ O insensate children of Adam!” 
 cried he, “ why do you follow me, and give up life 
 to meet death ? How great is your blindness, 
 when you have with you the Incarnate Word, 
 and so powerful a Woman, both vested with the 
 same nature ! Your ingratitude is certainly greater 
 than mine; I am even constrained by this great 
 Woman to confess this truth.” 
 
 St. Michael, who defends the honor of the Incar¬ 
 nate Word and His holy Mother, commanded and 
 imposed silence on the furious Lucifer, and the 
 Lord of armies thus spoke to the great Queen : 
 “ My beloved Mother, who hast so perfectly imi¬ 
 tated me, thou art the worthy object of my infi¬ 
 nite love ! Thou art the stay, the queen, the sove¬ 
 reign and the mistress of my Church ! Thou dost 
 possess the power, which I as the God All-mighty, 
 have confided to thy holy will! Command, 
 then, anything that thou pleasest to the infernal 
 dragon !*' 
 
 ; She commanded the demon, that whilst she 
 dwelt on earth he should not spread the poison of 
 heresy in the Church, and she also bade his legions 
 cast themselves into hell. Then through the Sup¬ 
 per-room resounded the voice of the archangel, 
 saying: “ Now are established the strength, the 
 salvation, and the reign of God, and the power of 
 His Christ, because the accuser of our brethren has 
 been precipitated from heaven, and vanquished by 
 ; the blood of the lamb.” ( Apoc . xii.) The arch¬ 
 angel announced by these words, that, by virtue of 
 31 * 
 
366 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 the triumphs of Jesus and Mary, the Church which 
 is the kingdom of God, was already established, 
 and that we should assuredly triumph in all our 
 battles against hell, if we would but invoke the 
 names of Jesus and Mary. 
 
 In the same manner as the mysteries of infinite 
 and eternal wisdom were accomplished in the 
 Virgin Mother, so did she raise herself to degrees 
 of more sublime sanctity. As Mother of eternal 
 Wisdom she considered the pride of Lucifer, and 
 the destruction of his infernal power, and, humbling 
 and abasing herself in the depth of her nothingness, 
 acknowledged all to be the real effect of her divine 
 Son’s redemption; and as she had been coadjutrix 
 in the redemption, it is impossible for us to com¬ 
 prehend the admirable effects produced in her 
 most pure heart by this first consideration. 
 
 Finally, reflecting within herself on the works of 
 the Lord, the flame of divine love was increased in 
 her, and became a true fire, which filled with admira¬ 
 tion even the blessed seraphim, so that she could 
 never hav£ supported the ardor of her impetuous 
 desires to plunge herself entirely into the immense 
 ocean of the Divinity, if her natural life had not 
 been miraculously supported. She was equally 
 drawn by this same charity towards the faithful, 
 her dear children, who depended much more on 
 her than do plants and flowers on the influence of 
 the sun ; this was why her inflamed heart was con¬ 
 tinually drawn by a sweet and powerful attraction 
 towards God and her neighbor. These two loves 
 tended to elevate her to the most sublime heights, 
 
3^7 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 as she desired always to separate herself from all 
 creatures, to unite herself more ‘perfectly to the 
 Divinity without any mixture of created things ; but 
 she was drawn in a contrary direction by her love 
 for the Church, and the faithful whom she had 
 borne by charity. Thus by these two flames, aris¬ 
 ing from the same fire, her most pure heart was as 
 an immense furnace of divine love. 
 
 The divine Son, moved with compassion by the 
 excessive love of His most pure Mother, appeared 
 to her with infinite goodness, and said: “My be¬ 
 loved Mother, I have prepared for thee alone a 
 solitary place, where thou mayst enjoy in peace 
 the sight of my Divinity, without being prevented 
 by thy state of viatrix; there thou mayst freely 
 take thy flight; there thou shalt find the infinite, 
 which thy excessive love seeks to consume itself 
 without measure; from thence thou mayst come 
 to the succor of my Church, of which thou art the 
 Mother; and being enriched with my treasures, 
 thou mayst impart them to thy children.” By 
 this new favor all her faculties were purified by the 
 fire of the sanctuary, and she felt new effects of the 
 Divinity. From this moment her senses no longer 
 received the impressions of sensible objects, except 
 as far as was necessary for the exercise of charity. 
 
 She had received this favor at the moment of 
 her conception, but after her triumph over Lucifer, 
 she possessed it in an ineffable manner. As then 
 in the temple of Jerusalem they cut the throats of 
 the victims which were to be sacrificed on the 
 altar outside the sanctuary, where were offered 
 
368 Divine Life of the 
 
 only the holocausts, incense and perfumes, which 
 were consumed by the sacred fire, so in the divine 
 Mother, the true temple of the Incarnate Word, 
 were offered in her exterior senses the victims of. 
 the virtues, cares and necessities of the Church, 
 and in the sanctuary of the interior faculties, the 
 perfume of her contemplation, and the abstractive 
 vision of the Divinity. 
 
 As the mirror represents to our bodily eyes all 
 that is presented before it, so that all may clearly 
 see the object without looking at it, so did she 
 know in God all the necessities and trials of the 
 children of the Church, and all that she was to do 
 for them, according to the good pleasure of God. 
 The Almighty excepted only those works which 
 the divine Mother would do through obedience to 
 St. Peter and St. John; she begged this herself of 
 the Lord, that thus she might give an example of 
 obedience from which those who should make pro¬ 
 fession of this vow might learn not to seek other 
 means of knowing the will of God, when he com¬ 
 mands who is superior and holds the place of 
 God. 
 
 With regard to what did not concern obedience, 
 in which Holy Communion was included, the 
 knowledge of the Mother of God depended, not on 
 sensible creatures, or on the impressions received 
 through the senses, but she was entirely free from 
 everything and in utter solitude, enjoying the 
 abstractive vision of the Divinity without interrup¬ 
 tion, whether asleep or awake, occupied or at 
 leisure, at work or at rest. Moreover, she never 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 369 
 
 discoursed interiorly, or made any effort to know 
 that which was most sublime in perfection, and 
 most agreeable to the Lord. She knew the 
 incomprehensible mystery of the Divinity in a 
 more excellent manner than the seraphim of Para¬ 
 dise, and she was thus nourished in her solitude by 
 this bread of eternal life. 
 
 She knew, on one occasion, that a woman of Jeru¬ 
 salem, already baptized, had miserably apostatized 
 from the faith, having been deceived by the demon, 
 who, for this purpose, had employed a magician, 
 
 her relation. The great Queen, filled with zeal, was 
 much afflicted, and begged St. John to warn the 
 unfortunate woman of her enormous sin; at the 
 same time, this merciful Mother prayed the Lord 
 with many tears to recall the strayed sheep into 
 the fold; and, although conversion is always more 
 difficult for those who have voluntarily departed 
 from the right path, than for those who are only 
 entering on the way of eternal life, nevertheless, 
 the power of her prayers obtained the remedy. 
 The poor woman listened to St. John, obeyed him 
 and abjured; she confessed with tears of true 
 repentance; then the holy Virgin exhorted her to 
 persevere in resisting the demon, which she happily 
 did. 
 
 To resume what we have said in the course of 
 this holy history, with regard to the time at which 
 the great Queen was raised by the Lord to this 
 sublime state, we may make the following supputa- 
 tion. When she went from Jerusalem to Ephesus, 
 she was fifty-four years, six months and twenty-six 
 
370 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 days old, &nd this was on th& 6th of January, the 
 fortieth year after the birth of Christ. She re¬ 
 mained in Ephesus two years and a half, and 
 returned to Jerusalem in the year of our Lord 42, 
 on the 6th of July; she was then fifty-six years and 
 ten months old. When she was elevated to this 
 ineffable state she was fifty-eight years old. In it 
 she remained for one thousand, two hundred and 
 sixty days, as computed by St. John in the twelfth 
 chapter of the Apocalypse. 
 
CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 WHAT MARY DID WHILE THE HOLY GOSPELS WERE 
 
 BEING WRITTEN. 
 
 
 Qf|| 1 |HEN the august Mother for the last time 
 n ) descended from heaven with the Church in 
 1 her most pure hands, as described in the 
 Apocalypse, under the figure of t’ at holy, 
 new and celestial city descending from heaven, she 
 learned from her divine Son that it was becoming 
 
 and necessary that the holy Gospels should be 
 written, so that she might dispose of everything, as 
 the Mistress of the apostles; nevertheless, being 
 the Queen of humility, she obtained that it might 
 be done by means of St. Peter, the Chief of the 
 Church. 
 
 In the first council, spoken of by St. Luke in the 
 Acts of the Apostles, after they had solved the 
 difficulties regarding circumcision, and had deter¬ 
 mined many other rites, St. Peter, having first con¬ 
 ferred with the holy Mother, announced that the 
 holy Gospels should be written. They all invoked 
 the H( Spirit in order to know to whom this 
 charge should be given. The Supper-room was 
 filled with celestial light, and they heard a voice 
 
 371 
 
37 2 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 saying': " Let the Sovereign Pontiff, Head of the 
 Church, name four persons to write the works and 
 the doctrine of the Saviour of the world.” 
 
 St. Peter, prostrate on the ground, returned 
 thanks with all the others; the choice was made; 
 he immediately arose and said: “Let Matthew, 
 Mark, Luke and John, our dear brethren, write the 
 Gospels, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and 
 of the Holy Ghost,” and all answered, “Amen,” to 
 confirm the election. 
 
 Some days after the choice of which we have 
 spoken, St. Matthew, who was in the Supper-room, 
 retired into a private apartment, being resolved 
 to enter on his office as evangelist. He prostrated 
 himself on the earth to beg the Lord’s assistance 
 in the divine work, and immediately the most holy 
 Virgin appeared in his chamber on a throne of 
 majesty. 
 
 St. Matthew prostrated himself upon the earth, 
 and begged the divine Mother to give her benedic¬ 
 tion and protection to his enterprise; after giving 
 him her blessing, she bade him be seated, and 
 assured him of the divine assistance and her con¬ 
 tinual prayers. She warned him not to write any¬ 
 thing about herself, except what would be neces¬ 
 sary to make known the mysteries of the Incarnate 
 Word; then having suggested to him the order in 
 • which he should write, she disappeared. The 
 evangelist began to write his sacred history in the 
 Hebrew tongue, and finished it afterwards in 
 another part of Judea. 
 
 Four years afterwards, that is to say, in the forty- 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 373 
 
 sixth year of the birth of our Saviour, St. Mark, 
 being in Palestine, resolving to begin his Gospel, 
 begged his angel guardian to make known his 
 determination to the divine Mistress, that she 
 might obtain for him the light of heaven; ; as he 
 was in prayer, the great Queen appeared to- him 
 on a royal throne, attended by many angels. He 
 prostrated himself in her presence, and said; 
 “Great Queen, I am unworthy of. this favor.” 
 “The Most High,” replied the divine Mother, 
 “ whom thou servest and lovest, hath sent me to 
 assure thee that the divine Spirit will guide thee in 
 writing the Gospel.” She commanded him not to 
 write anything that would serve to her praise; 
 then the Holy Spirit, in the form of fire, descended 
 
 - on the saint and surrounded him. Being thus filled 
 with the Holy Ghost, he commenced his Gospel. 
 
 When St. Jerome says that St. Mark wrote his 
 gospel at Rome, at the request of the faithful, we 
 must understand that as he had no copy of it with 
 him, as ? is true, he wrote one in the Latin tongue. 
 
 Two years- -afterwards, St. Luke began to write 
 his in Greek; the holy Virgin appeared to him 
 also, and having, conferred with her, he afterwards 
 
 - happily -finished his gospel in Achaia. St. John 
 was the last to write the gospel, which he did in 
 
 . Greek, in Asia Minor, in the year 58, after the most 
 
 • holy Virgin’s death; for the demon, knowing that 
 his enemy was no longer in the world, began to 
 sow heresies and errors, which St. John was left‘to 
 combat. The. saint was at that time in prayer, 
 
 reflecting in what manner he could prove the 
 
 32 
 
374 
 
 Divine Life <f the 
 
 divinity of Christ, when he saw the holy Virgin 
 descending from heaven with glory and ineffable 
 majesty, accompanied by an infinite number of 
 blessed spirits. She said to him: “John, my son, 
 and servant of the Most High, this is the suitable 
 time to make known to the world the divinity of 
 my Son. As for the mysterious secrets which thou 
 hast learned regarding myself, it is not opportune 
 that they be now manifested to the world, through 
 fear that Lucifer may take occasion from it to 
 trouble those of the faithful who may be inclined 
 to idolatry. The Holy Spirit will assist thee, and 
 I wish that thou wouldst begin to write in my 
 presence.” 
 
 St. John venerated the great Queen of heaven, 
 and being filled with the Holy Ghost, began his 
 gospel, assisted by the divine Mother. She assured 
 him of her continual protection, gave him her 
 blessing, and returned to heaven. Thus the great 
 Queen, as Mother of the Church, cooperated in 
 the grand work of the Gospels, and the faithful 
 should be ever grateful to her for so extraordinary 
 a favor. 
 
 To continue, then, our history. As the Church 
 continued to spread still more and more, so also 
 was the solicitude Of our holy Mother increased. 
 Only St. James the Less and St. John remained at 
 Jerusalem; the other apostles being dispersed 
 throughout the world; but the merciful Mother 
 bore them all in her heart, compassionated their 
 labors and sufferings, prayed to the Lord for them, 
 and shed continual tears for het dear children. 
 
375 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 But what we should particularly admire in the 
 divine Mother is, that in the midst of her solicitude 
 for the universal Church, she never lost her peace 
 or tranquillity; she recommended her angels to 
 assist the apostles in their necessities, to help 
 them, and also to take care of the disciples. She 
 wished, like a watchful Mother, to take charge of 
 the clothing of the apostles, desiring they should 
 all conform to the example of her divine Son; 
 again, when their garments were worn out, she 
 provided new ones for them. She was constantly 
 •occupied in spinning, weaving and making tunics; 
 the angels assisted her, and carried those garments 
 to the apostles wherever they were. She took care 
 of all like a tender mother, so that it is impossible 
 to describe, in particular, the thoughts, the solici¬ 
 tude, and the activity of this merciful Mother, for 
 she passed no day without thinking of her dear 
 missionaries. She even frequently appeared to 
 them in person, when they invoked her in any 
 difficulty. 
 
 St. Peter had gone to Antioch to establish his 
 see; in order to surmount the difficulties which 
 surrounded him, the vicar of Christ found himself 
 many times in great pain and affliction. Then he 
 invoked the divine Mother, and she immediately 
 and miraculously appeared to him on a resplendent 
 throne. When St. Peter saw her so glorious with 
 light, he prostrated himself, and thanking her for 
 so great an honor, said: “Whence is this to me, a 
 sinner, that the Mother of my Lord should come 
 to console me?” The Queen of humility de- 
 
376 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 sccndcd from her throne, and obscuring in some 
 degree the refulgence of her splendor, knelt 
 before the Head of the Church, and, as viatrix, 
 * begged his blessing. He gave it with great fear, 
 and shed many tears at the sight of the great 
 humility of the Mother of God, the sovereign 
 Queen of the universe. Then he consulted her on 
 the most difficult affairs of that time, in particular 
 on the celebration of the different feasts, the insti¬ 
 tution of divers rites, and the dignities which 
 should be established in the Church; the prince of 
 
 l 
 
 the apostles received great light and consolation 
 from her. 
 
 The Virgin Mother was carried by angels to her 
 oratory in Jerusalem. When St. Peter went after¬ 
 wards to Rome to transfer thither the apostolic see, 
 as the Lord had commanded him, he again found 
 himself in trouble, and the divine Mother appeared 
 to him ; it was then resolved Jto celebrate the feast 
 
 t 
 
 of our Lord’s Nativity, Lent, the remembrance of the 
 Passion, and the institution of the divine Sacrament 
 of the Altar, 
 
 On another occasion, while St. Peter was still, at 
 Rome, a terrible persecution-was raised against the 
 Christians, and the Roman Church was in afflic¬ 
 tion. The apostle had recourse to the Mother 
 of piety,, and sent his angel guardian to bear, to 
 her news of the tribulation. At this intelligence 
 the Mother of wisdom bade her angels transport 
 the Vicar of Christ to Jerusalem. They obeyed, 
 and brought him into the presence of their Queen. 
 It would be impossible to express the ardent afifec- 
 
MM 
 
 377 
 
 Virgin . 
 
 tion of St. Peter, and his many thanks to Mary 
 for so singular a benefit. The apostle, inflamed 
 with love, knelt and kissed the ground, which had 
 been trodden by her sacred feet. The Mother of 
 humility begged him to arise; he did so, and she 
 prostrated herself and begged his blessing, saying: 
 “ My Lord, give thy benediction as Vicar of ray 
 God, my Son, to thy servant.” St. Peter obeyed, 
 and thanked the Lord for all those celestial conso¬ 
 lations. 
 
 Then the apostle recounted the trials of the faith¬ 
 ful in Rome. With great goodness she strength¬ 
 ened, consoled, and enlightened him; gave him 
 wise advice how to conduct himself on that occa¬ 
 sion. She begged his benediction, and ordered 
 her angels to reconduct him to Rome. The ivoly 
 Virgin remained on her knees, with her arms ex¬ 
 tended in the form of a cross, begging the Lord 
 to assist St. Peter, and give grace to the faithful in 
 the persecution; therefore, at his return, St. Peter 
 found all things in peace. 
 
 It is impossible to recount all that the divine 
 Mother did for the Church during the years that 
 she survived her Son. 
 
 32 * 
 
 L 
 
CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 THE EXERCISES OF PIETY PERFORMED BY THE HOLY 
 VIRGIN.—HER PREPARATION FOR HOLY COMMUNION. 
 
 MONG the privileges possessed by Mary from 
 the first moment of her conception, was that 
 of never forgetting what she had once known, 
 thus enjoying by privilege, that which the 
 angels possess by nature. All the images and 
 stages of the Passion remained as firmly and as 
 vividly impressed upon her mind as when she had 
 first received them. During the last years of her 
 life, when she had received the grace of the con¬ 
 tinual abstractive vision, she enjoyed it miracu¬ 
 lously, for she suffered from the remembrance of 
 her Son’s passion, and always desired to be cruci¬ 
 fied with Christ. 
 
 Sometimes she spent many hours in her oratory, 
 meditating on her divine Son’s passion ; sometimes 
 she visited the holy places where He had suffered, 
 shedding sorrowful tears. She arranged with St 
 John that on each Friday of the year she would 
 celebrate the death of her Son; therefore on this 
 day she never left the oratory, and the apostle 
 remained in the Supper-room, to meet those pious 
 and devout persons who came to visit her; when 
 the apostle was absent, one of the disciples supplied 
 
 378 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 37 9 
 
 his plac£. The great Queen retired for this holy 
 exercise on the eve of Friday, two hours before 
 night, and remained in it until Sunday. If any 
 pressing necessity called for her personal attention, 
 She sent an angel under her form, so careful and 
 watchful was she in all that regarded the exercise 
 of charity towards her dear faithful, whom she 
 esteemed and loved as her beloved children. She 
 always carried a cross with her, and during this 
 time, she extended herself on one much larger; 
 thus while she lived she renewed in herself the 
 passion of her Son, and by her holy exercises, 
 obtained from the Lord great favors and graces for 
 all those who would be devout to the divine pas¬ 
 sion, and, as all-powerful Queen, she promised to 
 grant them ineffable graces, through her desire to 
 see this devotion perpetuated in the Church. 
 
 She celebrated the institution of the august 
 sacrament of the Eucharist, and composed new 
 canticles of praise, and ardent cicts of love and 
 thanksgiving. She invited her artgels guardian to 
 accompany her in those acts, and, as she possessed 
 in her most pure heart, Jesus, under the sacra¬ 
 mental species, she excited the blessed spirits to 
 admire this prodigy, and render to the Lord 
 praise, honor and glory. The angels were over¬ 
 whelmed with astonishment, and, as it were, stupe¬ 
 fied at beholding in a mere creature such incom¬ 
 parable charity, such elevated sanctity, such pro¬ 
 found humility. Their wonder was still further 
 increased, when they saw her preparing herself 
 for the next Communion. 
 
I . » 
 
 380 ' Divine. Life of the 
 
 In the first place, she offered for this intention 
 the weekly exercises of the Passion; after these 
 exercises, when she had retired on the evening prer 
 ceding the day of cqmmunion, she commenced her 
 pious exercises of prostrations, and extended her r 
 self on the earth in the form of a cross.. Then she 
 arose and continued her genuflections to adore the 
 immutable being of God, she begged the Lord to 
 allow, her to speak to Him, and prayed, that not¬ 
 withstanding her natural vileness, He wou’d give 
 her the Holy Communion. She offered Him the 
 passion and death of her Son; the Hypostatic 
 Union, and all the works and merits of Christ; the 
 
 * j 
 
 purity and sanctity of the angelic hierarchies; their 
 works and those of all the faithful children of the 
 Church, both present and future. She made acts 
 of profound humility, considering that she was but 
 dust and of a material nature, infinitely inferior to 
 the divine Being. In the consideration of what she 
 was and what the God was, whom she was to 
 receive under the sacramental species, she excite^! 
 affections so sublime that they surpassed those of 
 all the seraphim. But as she considered herself 
 the last of all creatures, she, w ; th profound hu¬ 
 mility, invited the angels to beg the Lord to pre¬ 
 pare and dispose her to receive Him worthily. 
 The angels obeyed her with admiration and joy • 
 they accompanied her in her prayers, which she 
 continued during the greater part of the night. 
 
 When the hour of Holy Communion arrived, she 
 assisted, kneeling, and with incomparable modesty 
 it the Mass celebrated by St. John, reciting during 
 
38i 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 it hymns, psalms and other prayers, for the epistles 
 and gospels had not then been written, but the 
 consecration has always been the same. At the 
 end of Mass she prepared to communicate; she 
 made three profound prostrations, and, all burning 
 and inflamed with love, received under the sacra¬ 
 mental species, that same Son to whom she had 
 given the sacred humanity, in her virginal womb. 
 Then she retired and continued her recollection and 
 thanksgiving for three hours. St. John had the, 
 happiness of seeing her many times, at this mo¬ 
 ment, vested with splendor and more brilliant than 
 
 *. ' A- 
 
 the sun. Knowing, as the Mother of wisdom, with 
 what ineffable decorum the ; unbloody sacrifice 
 should be celebrated, she wove and made, with 
 her own hands, the sacerdotal vestments, and orna¬ 
 ments for the celebration of Mass, and she was the 
 first to introduce the custom of celebrating with 
 ornaments of divers colors. She received alms and 
 gifts for this end, and when she worked at them, 
 she sometimes knelt and sometimes stood. Those 
 sacred vestments preserved a celestial perfume, 
 which inflamed the hearts of the ministers. 
 
 From the provinces in which the apostles had 
 preached, there came a great number of dis¬ 
 tinguished converts who wished to see and ven? 
 erate the divine Mother. After having beheld 
 this model of all virtues, they offered her con¬ 
 siderable sums for her own use, and the benefit 
 of the poor, but the great Queen replied that she 
 had made profession of poverty like to that of her 
 divine Son, and that all His disciples conformed to 
 
3$ 2 Divine Life of the 
 
 the example of their divine Master. They an¬ 
 swered that she might distribute them among the 
 poor, or employ them in the divine worship, and 
 the merciful Mother, in order to console them, 
 accepted some of the things so earnestly pressed 
 on her, such as fine linen and ornaments, which she 
 afterwards prepared to be used in divine worship, 
 by the priests, or for the altars. The remaindei 
 she distributed among the poor, and those houses 
 provided for their accommodation, where she 
 visited and served them herself. She distributed 
 her alms on her knees, for in the poor she recog¬ 
 nized the person of her divine Son. Retiring into 
 her oratory, she recommended them to the Lord. 
 To all those benefactors she gave lights and coun¬ 
 sels of eternal life, inflaming them with ardor to 
 follow Jesus Christ. 
 
 Wonderful was the astonishment of strangers, 
 who beheld her for the first time; the faithful, 
 the pagans, the Jews, all were ravished with admira¬ 
 tion at the sight 6f her majesty, grace, humility, 
 and superhuman charity; being much moved, they 
 cried out: “This is truly the Mother of God!” 
 and they embraced the holy faith. In their rela¬ 
 tions with her, they felt that she was the true 
 channel of divine grace. Her words, full of pro¬ 
 found wisdom, carried conviction to every intellect, 
 and communicated to all the light of eternal life; 
 in the same manner, by the infinite grace and 
 ineffable beauty of her countenance and sweet 
 majesty, she attracted all hearts, and led them 
 to a perfect life. At this sight, some were seized 
 
383 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 with astonishmemt, others shed tears, others spoke 
 of it with admiration, all united to praise her, 
 confessing Christ to be true God, because His 
 Mother was so incomparably beautiful, amiable, 
 humble and holy. 
 
 D uring the last years of her life the great 
 Queen ate and slept very little, and even this she 
 did in obedience to St. John, who begged her to 
 retire at night for a little repose. She slept for 
 only half an hour, or at most, an hour; even then 
 she did not lose the sight of God; her heart 
 watched continually, and she practised fervent acts 
 of humility, resignation, and love. Her ordinary 
 nourishment consisted of some morsels of bread, 
 and sometimes, at the urgent entreaty of St. John, 
 she added a little fish. The saint was highly 
 favored, because, as her son, he ate at the same 
 table with her, and she prepared his food and 
 served him as a mother does her son; moreover, 
 she obeyed him as a priest, and as one who held 
 the place of Christ. Although nourishment and 
 sleep were not necessary to the life of the divine 
 Mother, nevertheless she . took them through obe¬ 
 dience to the apostle, and through humility, to 
 pay in some manner the debt of human nature, 
 for she was prudence itself. The remainder of her 
 time was employed in exercises of charity towards 
 God and her 'neighbor. 
 
 This was the forty-fifth year after the birth of 
 Christ, and the Virgin Mother was sixty years, two 
 months and some days old. Her life was drawing 
 to its close; therefore, as the stone, by the move- 
 
384 
 
 
 ‘ I 
 
 ■ 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 ment which draws it to the centre of the earth 
 acquires greater rapidity the nearer it approaches 
 it, so as the divine Mother drew near the term of 
 her glorious life, did the ardor of her most pure 
 spirit become more vehement, and the amorous 
 desires of her heart more impetuous to reach the 
 centre of her eternal repose. 
 
 From the first instant of her conception she had 
 been as a river flowing from the immense ocean of 
 the Divinity, in the understanding of Him by whom 
 she had been formed from all etern.ty. She then 
 came into the world with an incredible effusion of 
 gifts, favors, graces, privileges, virtues, merits, and 
 sanctity, and she advanced in all to such a degree, 
 that the whole sphere of creation was not sufficient 
 for her. Again, by the incomprehensible motion 
 of her ineffable charity, she hastened to unite her¬ 
 self to that sea from which she had come, to re¬ 
 enter in its bosom, and afterwards, by her maternal 
 charity, to inundate the Church. During her last 
 years, by the sweet violence of her love, she lived 
 in a kind of continual martyrdom of charity. 
 
 Her most holy Son descended from heaven to 
 visit her; He was seated on a throne of ineffable 
 light, and environed by legions of angels. Ap¬ 
 proaching His august Mother, He renewed and 
 strengthened her in the languishing state to which 
 her love had reduced her, saying: '* My Mother 
 and my Dove, come with me to the heavenly 
 country, where thy tears shall be changed into joy, 
 and where thou shalt rest, delivered from all pain.” 
 The angels placed their Queen on a throne beside 
 
385 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 her Son, and ascended with her on high, chanting 
 celestial melodies. She adored the Most Holy 
 Trinity; her Son kept her beside Him, to the great 1 
 joy of the whole court of heaven. 
 
 The Incarnate Word spoke thus to His Eternal 
 Father: “My Father, thou knowest that this is the 
 Virgin, who gave me human form in her most pure 
 womb, who nourished me with her milk, supported 
 me by her fatigues, accompanied me in my labors 
 and sufferings, who has always faithfully coope¬ 
 rated with me in the redemption of men, and h^s 
 executed thy holy will in all things. She is wholly 
 pure and exempt from all stain of sin; by her holy 
 works and heroic virtues, she has attained to the 
 most sublime sanctity. Besides the gifts communi¬ 
 cated to her by our infinite power, when she came 
 to the recompense which she had merited, she 
 could not freely enjoy it, but returned to instruct 
 and govern the militant Church, confiding in the 
 justice of Our divine providence; it is time that 
 she be rewarded as Queen of all created things.’* 
 The Eternal Father replied: “ My divine Son, 
 Chief of all the elect, all my treasures and all 1 
 things are at thy disposal; let our Beloved partici¬ 
 pate in them, according to her dignity, and for our * 
 glory.” At these words the divine Son announced ■ 
 in presence of the heavenly court, and promised 
 His Mother, that on each Sunday, after the holy 
 exercises, she should be carried by angels into 1 
 heaven, both body afid soul, there to celebrate,-in 
 presence of the Most High, the great mystery of 
 the resurrection! • • • 
 
 33 
 
386 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 The Lord also willed, that, in the H$ly Commu¬ 
 nion which she made each morning, the Holy 
 Humanity should appear to her united with the 
 Divinity, in the divine Person, in a manner more 
 admirable and sublime than had yet happened. 
 Then He turned towards His dear Mother, and 
 said: “ Beloved Mother, I will be always with thee 
 during the time of thy mortal life, and in a particu¬ 
 lar manner, incomprehensible even to the angels; 
 thus I will be the recompense of thy exile.” 
 
 In the midst of these ineffable favors, the holy 
 Virgin retired into the most profound depths of her 
 nothingness; she blessed, praised, and thanked the 
 Omnipotent, concentrating herself in the lowest 
 estimate of her nature, she humbled and abased 
 herself at the time that she was exalted, and thus 
 rendered herself more worthy. She was still more 
 enlightened and renewed in her faculties, to prepare 
 her for the clear intuitive vision. The veil was 
 drawn, and she beheld the infinite essence of God, 
 and possessed for some hours the glory and happi¬ 
 ness of heaven, in a degree greater than all the 
 saints. Drinking thus of the waters of life at their 
 very source, she satiated her inflamed desires, and 
 arriving then at her centre, the violence of her love 
 was appeased, and she could return to communi¬ 
 cate those graces to her children. After this ineffa¬ 
 ble prayer, she returned inexpressible thanksgiv¬ 
 ings to the Most Holy Trinity, and interceded 
 most earnestly for the Church. 
 
 Being carried back to her oratory, she there, 
 according to custom, prostrated, and humbled her- 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 387 
 
 self in a manner which no other child of Adam 
 has done or ever will do. From that time until 
 the hour of her happy death she was raised into 
 heaven every Sunday; there her divine Son 
 advanced to meet her, and the angelic choirs 
 chanted the Regina Cceli Icetare, Alleluia —O Queen 
 of heaven, rejoice, alleluia! She asked advice on 
 the most difficult affairs of the Church, interceded 
 for all the faithful, but in particular for her dear 
 apostles and disciples, and returned to earth like 
 the richly laden vessels spoken of by Solomon. 
 ( Prov . xxxi.) This special grace was granted to 
 her, because when she had been conducted into 
 heaven at the Ascension of her divine Son, she had 
 willingly deprived herself of the beatific vision, in 
 order to apply herself to the government of the 
 Church. In her solicitude, the violence of her 
 love diminished her strength, and it was therefore 
 necessary that she should be ravished into heaven 
 to receive additional strength for the government 
 of the Church, to enable her to bear the excess of 
 her love; and again, because when, each week, she 
 commemorated the passion of her Son, she seemed, 
 as it were, to die with Him, therefore it was neces¬ 
 sary that she should rise again with Him.* 
 
 * Here we would remind those who think this too extraor¬ 
 dinary, to mi litate a little on the miracle of the Mass, which 
 is said every day and in every place. After a short reflection 
 we shall see that what we believe Jesus has done and is doing 
 every day for us, is no less marvellous than what He has been 
 pleased to do for His Mother, as we see in this “ Mystical Life." 
 
CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 FEASTS CELEBRATED BY THE QUEEN OF ANGELS. 
 
 O LL the brilliant titles which the most holy 
 A Virgin had in the Church, such as Queen, 
 Sovereign, Mother, Guide, and Mistress, did 
 not remain fruitless in her, for she exercised 
 those offices with superabundant grace. As Queen, 
 she knew all her dignity ; as Sovereign, the extent 
 of her empire; as Mother, ail the children and 
 servants of her Church, even to the end of the 
 world; as Guide, she knew those who walked with 
 her; as Mistress, she was filled with sovereign 
 wisdom, and possessed the fulness of that science 
 by which the holy Church should be governed 
 and taught, by means of her intercession. She 
 had then a perfect knowledge of all the saints who 
 had preceded, as well as of those who were to 
 come after her, with their actions, lives, death, and 
 recompense. She knew clearly all the rites, cere¬ 
 monies, and feasts that would be established by 
 the Church in the course of time, together with the 
 reasons, motives, and necessity for each. This ful¬ 
 ness of knowledge produced in her a holy desire to 
 emulate the thanksgiving, worship, veneration and 
 remembrance rendered by the angels and saints of 
 the heavenly Jerusalem, and in order to introduce 
 
 388 
 
Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 389 
 
 the same into the militant Church, m as far as it 
 
 * - r - * - '• r 7 • v 
 
 could imitate the triumphant, she began the prac¬ 
 tice, and also inspired the apostles to celebrate a 
 great number of feasts. Although she had begun 
 to celebrate many feasts from the time of the incar¬ 
 nation of the Word, yet from the Ascension of her 
 Son, during the last years of her life, she kept them 
 with greater solemnity. 
 
 On the 8th of December of each year she cele¬ 
 brated her Immaculate Conception, for which she 
 felt she could never return sufficient thanks to God. 
 She began the celebration on the eve of the feast, 
 and passed the night in most admirable exercises, 
 shedding tears of joy; she made prostrations, acts 
 of veneration, and canticles of praise to the Lord. 
 She considered that she had been formed from the 
 dust of the earth, as a descendant of Adam, ac¬ 
 cording to the universal law of nature, but that, 
 nevertheless, she alone had been elected, delivered, 
 and preserved from the common law, and thus ex¬ 
 empted from the grave tribute of sin, and conceived 
 with the plenitude of grace and supernatural gifts. 
 
 She invited the angels to aid her in returning 
 thanks, and sang with them canticles of praise. 
 She also invited the other blessed spirits and saints 
 of heaven, and became so inflamed with love, that 
 it was necessary for her divine Son to descend 
 from heaven to strengthen her. He conducted 
 her with Him, and there she satisfied the ardor 
 of her heart by humble thanksgivings. The three 
 divine Persons rejoiced at having preserved her 
 
 from the common contagion of the children of 
 33 * 
 
390 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 Adam; they ratified and confirmed the possession 
 of all she had received, and a voice issuing from 
 the divine throne said: “ Thy ways are beautiful, 
 O daughter of the king, conceived without sin.” 
 
 Then the choirs of angels and saints sang the 
 words, “ Mary conceived without original sin.” 
 The humble Queen responded to all those favors 
 with acts of praise and thanksgiving, with a humil¬ 
 ity so profound that it surpassed even the intelli¬ 
 gence of the angels. Then she was elevated to the 
 intuitive vision of God during several hours, and 
 after descending from heaven, performed acts of 
 most profound humility. 
 
 She celebrated the feast of her Nativity on the 
 8th of September, the day on which she was born, 
 but as usual, began her exercises on the preceding 
 evening. She thanked the Most High for having 
 been born to the light of the world, and having 
 had the happiness of being carried into heaven. 
 She took a heroic resolution of employing all her 
 life in the service of the Lord, and the accomplish¬ 
 ment of His will, and implored the aid of His 
 grace that it might direct all her actions and make 
 them tend to His greater glory. Her divine Son 
 descended into her oratory with many choirs of 
 angels, the ancient patriarchs, the prophets, and 
 in particular, St. Joachim, St. Anne, and St. Joseph, 
 and they celebrated the nativity of the great Queen. 
 She adored her divine Son with profound respect 
 and veneration, and renewed her humble thanks; 
 the angel sang: Nativitas tua, sancta Dei genitrix, 
 Virgo ,—This is thy nativity, O Virgin, holy Mother 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 39i 
 
 -- 
 
 of God;—and the patriarchs and prophets, with 
 Adam and Eve, sang canticles to the glory of the 
 Reparatrix of the world. The divine Son raised 
 His Mother from the earth, on which she lay pros¬ 
 trate, placed her at His right, and manifested new 
 mysteries to her. She was wholly transformed 
 into her divine Son, and filled with an ardent 
 desire to labor. 
 
 St. John frequently participated in the joy of 
 these festivals, by hearing the angelic harmonies. 
 The holy evangelist came to celebrate Mass in her 
 oratory, and communicated the great Queen, who 
 was seated on the throne of her divine Son, whom 
 she received u..Jer the sacramental species into her 
 pure and inflamed heart. The view of these mys¬ 
 teries caused a new increase of joy to all the saints, 
 who assisted at this Communion, the most worthy 
 after that of Christ, that has ever been or ever 
 shall be made in the Church. 
 
 After the great Queen had received her Son 
 under the sacramental species, He caused her to 
 become like to Him in the adorable sacrament, 
 and in this glorious and supernatural manner she 
 returned into heaven. O hidden and admirable 
 wonders of divine Omnipotence! If God shows 
 Himself so great and admirable in all His saints, 
 may we not think that He is much more so, in 
 regard of His holy Mother? Moreover, she cele¬ 
 brated with the princes of heaven the remembrance 
 of the benefits she had received, and invited them 
 to aid her in returning thanks for them. Recog¬ 
 nizing such profound science in their Queen, they 
 
392 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 sang: “Let thy Creator be eternally blessed and 
 exalted, O Mary! Thou art the glory of the 
 human race; thou art the marvel of the power of 
 the Word of God, the lively image of all His per¬ 
 fections. Thou art the worthy Mistress of the mili¬ 
 tant Church, the particular glory of the triumphant 
 Church, the honor of all creatures ; Reparatrix of 
 thy race, thou art worthy that all nations should 
 acknowledge thy virtues and greatness, and that all 
 generations should praise and bless thee.” 
 
 At the anniversary of her presentation in the 
 temple, she retired into her oratory and passed 
 the preceding night in holy exercises. She re¬ 
 turned humble and profound acknowledgments to 
 the Lord for having conducted her into His temple 
 at so tender an age, and for having loaded her with 
 benefits in that holy place. At this feast, she felt 
 a natural attraction for solitude, because it is retreat 
 that unites the soul most intimately with God. The 
 Lord, according to His custom, visited her, and 
 said : “ My Mother and my Dove, behold thy God 
 and thy Son; I wish to give thee a temple and 
 a habitation the most elevated, sure, and sublime, 
 which is my own being; enter then, my Beloved, 
 into thy true retreat.” At these sweet words, she 
 
 was placed at the right of her Son, and immedi- 
 
 « 
 
 ately felt that His divinity penetrated her by a 
 union, incomprehensible, pure, and divine. She 
 called this solemnity the feast of the Being of God. 
 
 On the anniversaries of the deaths of St. Joachim 
 and St. Anne she celebrated their feasts by acts of 
 worship and veneration of the Lord, and rendered 
 
393 
 
 • Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 Him thanks for having given her parents so holy. 
 She blessed the most holy Trinity for all the gifts, 
 graces, and favors that had been conferred on them 
 during their lives, and for the ineffable glory with , 
 which they were crowned. Her blessed parents, 
 vested with glory, descended from heaven with the 
 divine Son to converse with their child. The 
 angels of each choir sang the praises of the Lord, 
 each explaining some divine attribute, and their 
 Queen, ravished into ecstasy, and filled with 
 incomparable joy, repeated their admirable canti¬ 
 cles. Finally, having received her Son’s benedic¬ 
 tion, she begged that of her parents, and after 
 giving it, they returned to heaven. 
 
 On the feast of St. Joseph she recalled to mind 
 the faithful companionship of her most chaste 
 spouse. He descended into her oratory, all glori¬ 
 ous and resplendent, accompanied by numberless 
 angels, who sang hymns in his honor; the divine 
 Mother of wisdom repeated them, and composed 
 others, by which she thanked God for the favors 
 He had heaped upon her spouse. After several 
 hours of thanksgiving, she entertained herself with 
 St. Joseph, begged him to recommend her to the 
 Most High, and to thank Him for the favors that 
 had been granted her. She recommended to him 
 the necessities of the Church, and begged him to 
 obtain the divine assistance for the apostles and 
 disciples who were preaching the gospel. Then 
 she begged his benediction, and he returned to 
 heaven. We must not omit recording that on 
 each of her feasts Mary prepared food for a great 
 
394 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 number of poor persons, and served them on her 
 knees; she also begged St. John to seek out the 
 most necessitous and miserable. During the day, 
 she visited the sick in their houses and in aban¬ 
 doned places; thus did the great Queen celebrate 
 her festivals. 
 
 It is impossible to express with what recollection 
 and acts of worship she solemnized the feasts of 
 the Incarnation and Nativity of the Incarnate 
 Word, for she considered the Incarnation as the 
 first work of divine Omnipotence, operated in her 
 womb. She comprehended the depth of this 
 adorable mystery; she beheld the great designs of 
 God, as also the ingratitude of man and his wart 
 of cooperation, and, as chosen depositary of the 
 divine Council, she understood that to her it 
 belonged to correspond to this inefif.ble benefit 
 and to compensate and supply for our ingratitude 
 and cowardice. For this reason, she, in the name 
 of the redeemed world, performed each day many 
 prostrations, genuflections, and acts of adorat on 
 of the Lord, saying interiorly to Him: 
 
 “Omnipotent God, prostrate in thy presence, in 
 my name and that of the whole human race, 1 
 praise, bless, glorify, exalt, confess, and humbly 
 adore thee for the admirable benefit of thy ineffable 
 Incarnation, in the mystery of the hypostatic union 
 of human nature with the divine person of the 
 Eternal Word. Although great numbers of men 
 live in forgetfulness of this benefit, remember, O 
 merciful Lord and Father, that they live in frail 
 flesh, that they are full of ignorance and disorderly 
 
/ 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 395 
 
 passions, and cannot come to thee, unless they be 
 drawn and led by thy infinite goodness. Pardon, 
 Q] jpiy, ..SpcLlfceir, ^.egjigenqes:, as being the effect 
 of weak am thy slave, and a vile 
 
 worm of the earth, thank thee in my name and 
 that of all creatures for so inestimable a benefit, 
 and I unite myself to all the angels and blessed 
 souls in Paradise. And thou, my Son and my 
 Lord, I supplicate thee to take into thy hands the 
 cause of men, thy brethren, that through thee they 
 may obtain pardon from- thy Eternal Father. I 
 implore mercy for thy people and mine, for as thou 
 hast become man, we have all the same nature 
 with thee. Deign, then, not to reject us from thee, 
 and as God, give an infinite value to our works, 
 that they may be wprthy of thee. Thou art our 
 salvation, our good, and our only hope.” 
 
 ; These prayers and others were repeated by the 
 great Queen from the evening of the 16th of March 
 until the 25th, during which time she neither ate, 
 drank, nor slept. The evangelist alone approached 
 her in : order to administer the Holy Communion, 
 and the Almighty renewed at that time all the 
 graces and favors Ffe had conferred qri h^r in the 
 nine .days preceding the Incarnation. 
 
 The Eternal Word descended from heaven with 
 
 great glory and majesty, and attended by many 
 
 angels. The humble Virgin, prostrating herself 
 *■" ** - ^ • * • *• 
 
 on her face, adored her Son, true God ; the angels, 
 
 raised her from the ground,, and placed her at His 
 right hand. She became wholly transformed and 
 surrounded with glory, and in this sublime state, 
 
396 Divine Life of the 
 
 sang canticles of praise and thanksgiving. The 
 divine Son said to the Eternal Father: “ I Confess 
 and praise thee, my Father, and offer thee this 
 creature worthy of being presented to thee, as 
 being chosen among all creatures to be my dear 
 Mother, and the proof of our infinite attributes. 
 She alone has worthily and fully recognized and 
 accepted with her whole heart, the immense benefit 
 conferred on men by my becoming incarnate, and 
 delivering them from eternal death; therefore we 
 cannot reject the prayer of our Beloved." 
 
 At the hour in which the ineffable mystery of 
 the Incarnation had been accomplished, the Divinity 
 was manifested to her in an intuitive manner. She 
 then prayed for the conversion of the world, for 
 the extension of the Church, for those engaged in 
 the apostolate, and for the souls in purgatory. She 
 sent her angels to deliver them out of it, which 
 she did with the authority of a queen, and com¬ 
 manded those souls to return thanks to the Most 
 Holy Trinity for the mystery of the Incarnation. 
 
 The Nativity of her Divine Son she celebrated 
 in a different manner, and on it also received new 
 favors. On the the eve of the feast she performed 
 her usual preparatory exercises, and at the hour 
 of His birth, Jesus descended from heaven, accom¬ 
 panied by thousands of angels, by St. Joachim, St. 
 Anne, St. Joseph, St. Elizabeth and her son, John 
 the Baptist, and by other saints and patriarchs. 
 
 The angels raised Mary to the throne of her 
 adorable Son, and her humble oratory was trans¬ 
 formed into a paradise. The heavenly choirs sang: 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 397 
 
 Glotia in exclesis Deo ,—Glory be to God on 
 High,—and other canticles composed by Mary in 
 praise of God. 
 
 Having obtained the permission of her divine 
 Son, the humble Queen descended from the throne, 
 and prostrated herself before Him, to render 
 thanks in the name of all mankind for the ines¬ 
 timable benefit of redemption. She prayed fer¬ 
 vently that all the children of the Church might 
 obtain eternal life. This prayer was granted by 
 the Lord, who allowed her to dispose of His mercy 
 and merits, as being the absolute Mistress over 
 them. She implored the saints to thank the Lord 
 for her; her divine Son gave her His blessing, and 
 returned to heaven. Never shall men, nor even the 
 angels be able to comprehend what the world owes 
 to the divine Mo her, for the benefits and mercies 
 she obtained for the human race, particularly on 
 those feasts which she celebrated, always rendering 
 thanks on them to the Most High, in the name of all. 
 
 On the anniversary of the Circumcision, at which 
 Jesus had shed the first drops of His blood for our 
 salvation, she retired to perform her accustomed 
 preparatory exercises, and her divine Son de¬ 
 scended from heaven with His cortege of angels and 
 saints. The divine Mother elicited ineffable acts 
 
 > 
 
 in considering that, on that day, the Incarnate 
 Word had subjected Himself to the law of sinners, 
 as if He had been one of them. She humbled her¬ 
 self beneath the dust, and felt a lively compassion 
 for the Infant God, who had suffered so cruelly, at 
 
 so tender an age. 
 
 34 
 
398 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 She accepted this immense benefit for all the 
 children of Adam, and wept tears of blood over 
 the universal forgetfulness and ingratitude of men, 
 who value so lightly the precious blood shed for 
 them, and correspond so feebly to such an incom¬ 
 prehensible benefit; and she was overwhelmed with 
 confusion in presence of her Sovereign; for this 
 reason, she offered to shed her blood and die in 
 suffering, to make a return for such great love. 
 She passed the day in holy entertainments with the 
 Lord, and added new inventions of her love in 
 favor of mortals. She begged Him to pour out on 
 all the living those graces and favors she had 
 received from His omnipotent hand and infinite 
 goodness, that all might be converted, and none 
 be lost. She offered to the Eternal Father the 
 blood of her Son, shed at the circumcision, .id the 
 humility with which He had offered Himself to 
 that rite. She adored Him as true God and true 
 man. Then her divine Son, having blessed her, 
 returned to heaven. She celebrated the feast of 
 the adoration of the Magi, and made several days 
 of preparation in order to dispose the gifts she 
 wished to offer to the Incarnate Word. The prin¬ 
 cipal offering she sought to prepare was gold, that 
 is, the souls that she wished to lead back to grace. 
 This she did by the ministry of her angels, whom 
 she begged to aid souls by strong and special in¬ 
 spirations to be converted to the faith; and by her 
 fervent prayers she obtained for many of the ago¬ 
 nizing a true conversion and their salvation. 
 
 To this first gift she added that of myrrh, by 
 
399 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 innumerable prostrations on the earth in the form 
 of a cross, and other exercises of mortification. 
 The third offering was the incense of ejaculatory 
 prayers, and the aspirations of ineffable love, with 
 the sweet and pure affections of her virginal heart. 
 On this day, her Son descended from heaven with 
 His ordinary cortege, and she invited the blessed 
 spirits to come to her aid; she offered to Him 
 with great respect and admirable veneration, the 
 gifts of which we have spoken, and she prayed 
 for all men, offering them in their name. She 
 was raised to the divine throne, and her Son, in 
 order to give some repose to the transports of her 
 ardent love, caused her to lean her; head on His 
 bosom, and while the angels sang, canticles of 
 praises, the Lord filled her with celestial benedic¬ 
 tions. After having loaded her with new favors, 
 Jesus returned to heaven, and prostrate on tjie 
 earth, she, rendered thanks for His infinite mercy. 
 
 She also made a commemoration of the Baptism 
 of our Lord, in order to return thanks for this 
 , ,inappreciable benefit. After many fervent prayers, 
 U.she retired for forty days to celebrate the Re- 
 -sdeeper’s fast, which she kept in the same manner, 
 -^retiring for all that time, into her oratory, ,and tak- 
 , ;in[g neither food nor drink. She saw only St. John, 
 cape to administer the Holy Communion. 
 s j tDuping .this time {he apostle remained in the Sup- 
 r: fper r rQpm, ; and when the , sick or poor came to visit 
 ; Jhe, other,.. he consoled and comforted 
 
 r thep, and healed them by the application of some 
 relic pf the, Mother of piety. When they led any 
 
400 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 demoniacs to her, the demons fled away before they 
 reached the door of her dwelling. 
 
 If, during those forty days, the great Queen 
 neither ate nor slept, who shall be able to describe 
 her interior and exterior acts of worship and ven¬ 
 eration, her prayers and genuflections inspired by 
 the activity of her most pure soul! She applied 
 them all to the good of the faithful, the exaltation 
 of the Church, and the justification of souls. She 
 received many visits from .her divine Son; the 
 angels also brought her celestial nourishment, to 
 strengthen her in the fasts and mortifications with 
 which she afflicted her most pure body. At other 
 times, the Lord Himself presented nourishment, 
 exhorting her to repair her strength, and, at the 
 same time, filling her with heavenly benedictions. 
 
 Amidst these favors, the Queen of virtues made 
 heroic acts of humility, submission and respect, 
 acknowledging herself unworthy of those favors, 
 and begging grace to serve God better in the future. 
 After this fast, she celebrated the feast of her Puri¬ 
 fication and the Presentation of the Infant Jesus in 
 the temple, and she offered her Son to the Eternal 
 Father. The angels, on this day, adorned her in 
 a divine manner, and being thus prepared, she 
 made a long and fervent prayer to the Most Holy 
 Trinity, in which she interceded for the whole 
 human race, and particularly for the Church. In 
 recompense of her humility in subjecting herself to 
 the law of purification, she received an increase of 
 favors, graces, and privileges, and also benefits for 
 those for whom she had prayed. She celebrated 
 
the feast of the Ascension still more solemnly, 
 knowing that in Paradise it is kept with extraordi¬ 
 nary rejoicing: this celebration she began on the 
 feast of the Resurrection. 
 
 During all this time she recalled to mind the 
 benefits and favors she had received from her divine 
 Son on that occasion, and returned thanks by new 
 canticles and holy exercises; and by new graces 
 she was prepared to receive others more sublime. 
 On the feast of the Ascension, our Lord descended 
 into her oratory, attended by a numerous cortege 
 of angels, patriarchs and saints. She awaited this 
 Visit prostrate on the ground, confounded and 
 annihilated in the depths of her being, but her heart 
 was raised to the most sublime degree of love pos¬ 
 sible to a mere creature. The Lord ordered her to 
 be placed on the throne at His right hand; then 
 He asked her, with ineffable goodness, what it was 
 that she most ardently desired. She immediately 
 replied: “My Son and my God, I desire only that 
 thy holy name may be known and glorified, and 
 that all may acknowledge the great favor thou hast 
 conferred on us. by elevating to the right hand of 
 the Eternal Father the dust of our humanity; and 
 1 pray that all may glorify thy Divinity.” 
 
 “ My Mother and my Dove,” responded the Son, 
 “ come to the heavenly country, where all thy 
 desires shall be accomplished, and thou wilt enjoy 
 the solemnity of this day among the inhabitants of 
 heaven.” Immediately the immense procession 
 turned towards heaven, and passed through the air. 
 Arrived at the august throne of the Most Holy 
 31 * 
 
402 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 Trinity, she prostrated herself, and composed an 
 admirable canticle of ...praise and thanksgiving, 
 which included all the mysteries pf the Incarnation 
 and Redemption, with the victories of her. Son over 
 death and hell. The Most High took great com¬ 
 placency in it, the saints answered it by, other canti¬ 
 cles, and glorified the Most High in, this ; creature, 
 so admirable, and all felt new joy : at the sight of 
 their Queen. The divine Essence was manifested 
 ito her intuitively, and the Lord gave her entiye. pos¬ 
 session of that glorious; kingdom which had been 
 -prepared for her from all eternity. , v 
 
 j- Oil each , year she received these favors, ..and 
 ;was asked if she wished to. remain there,, hut her 
 charity for the faithful pressed her to return tp this 
 valley of tears. Each, year the Blessed ,Trinity 
 -received anew this sacrifice of charity for her neigh¬ 
 bor, to .the great admiration of all. the,, heavenly 
 court. All her prayers and. demands in , behalf 
 of the Church and her children were heard,! and 
 granted, to be accomplished throughout all suc¬ 
 ceeding j centuries. The protection of this power¬ 
 ful Advocate would be. still greater, if . the sins - of 
 men did not prevent- it. Then:the.angels bore, their 
 Queen, in a chariot of light, back into her oratory, 
 -where prostrate on the ground she. made, most fer¬ 
 vent thanksgiving.* m* A ,V 
 
 ^ * ii • " ; ’ • i . 
 
 ,St. John witnessed these marvels, and .frequently 
 -beheld the divine Mother environed with light, and 
 - as Mary would prostrate herself, at the feet of the 
 Evangelist to ask permission for , the most trifling 
 things, the saint had frequent occasion of beholding 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 403 
 
 and admiring her, to the great joy of his spirit. 
 She considered the effects and benefits of the great 
 feast of the Ascension, in order that she might 
 more worthily celebrate the descent of the Holy 
 Ghost. During the nine days preceding this feast, 
 she earnestly begged the Lord to renew in her the 
 ineffable gifts of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 When that day, so happy for the Church, arrived, 
 her desires were accomplished by the divine power; 
 for* at the same hour in which the Holy Ghost had 
 descended on the Church, assembled in the Sup¬ 
 per-room, He again descended each year on the 
 divine Mother, His living temple. In this ineffa¬ 
 ble favor she was assisted by millions of angels, 
 who chanted hymns to the Holy Spirit, who renewed 
 her by a superabundance of gifts, and an increase of 
 those she already possessed. She humbly thanked 
 the Lord for having by this descent completed 
 the work of the Redemption, and begged Him to 
 continue through all succeeding ages the effusion 
 of His grace and power on the Church, without 
 regard to the sins of men, and her prayers were 
 granted by the Holy Spirit. 
 
 To these feasts Mary added two others, one in 
 honor of the angels, the other, in honor of the 
 saints. For the first she prepared by canticles in 
 which she celebrated the work of their creation, 
 particularly that of sanctifying grace, and of their 
 glorification, the mysteries of which she fully 
 understood, being the Mother of Wisdom. On the 
 feast itself she invited them all to glorify the Most 
 High; thousands of glorious spirits from every 
 
404 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin, 
 
 hierarchy descended into her oratory, and during 
 the entire day, sang alternately with tl\e blessed 
 Virgin in honor of the Supreme Creator, who had 
 manifested Himself by the works of the creation, 
 above all, in having created a Mother so pure and 
 so holy. 
 
 For the feast of All Saints she prepared by long 
 prayers, and her accustomed exercises of devotion. 
 On the feast the holy patriarchs, prophets and other 
 saints descended into her oratory* and she chanted 
 new canticles, because the death and redemption 
 .of her Son had been efficacious in regard to the 
 .blessed. She rejoiced to behold so many assured 
 of their eternal beatitude, and she blessed the 
 Father of mercies. This festival she celebrated as 
 Mistress of the Church, by whom, she foresaw, it 
 would be solemnized in future ages. 
 
 From the first moment of her conception the 
 most holy Mary had been continually occupied, 
 and even her sleep had been no obstacle to her 
 
 • * i • * 
 
 continuous application; but in the last years of her 
 holy life she was indefatigable, and worked with 
 more than angelic activity. She seemed like the 
 flame of a great conflagration in its activity, yet all 
 that she accomplished seemed little to her earnest 
 love. 
 
CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 THF ARCHANGEL GABRIEL ANNOUNCES TO THE BLESSED 
 VIRGIN HER HAPPY DEATH.—OTHER MARVELS." 
 
 HE holy Virgin had attained her sixty-seventh 
 year, without having interrupted, even for one 
 ) instant, the course of her admirable and heroic 
 works, stayed the aspirations of her heart, or 
 diminished the ardor of her love; on the con- 
 trary, her love increased in every moment of her 
 exister.ee, and she was in a manner spiritualized 
 and divinized,, so that the flames of her burning 
 heart allowed her no rest. The Eternal Father 
 desired His beloved daughter; the Incarnate Word, 
 His dear Mother, and the Holy Ghost, His most 
 pure Spouse. The angels and saints earnestly 
 longed for the presence of their Queen, and all the 
 
 - - r; , f -p jj-t S" . . 
 
 heavens demanded their Empress, that her presence 
 might complete their happiness, and fill them with 
 glory and joy. The Most Holy Trinity sent the 
 Archangel Gabriel, accompanied by many blessed 
 spirits, to announce to their Queen at what time 
 and in what manner she should pass to eternal 
 glory. Entering her oratory, he found the holy 
 Mother prostrate in the form of a cross, weeping and 
 imploring mercy for sinners, but as if awakened 
 by the melody of the angels, she raised herself to 
 
 ■ >6 405 
 
406 Divine Life of the 
 
 a kneeling posture, to hear the embassy of the 
 Lord. All the angels bore crowns and palms in 
 their hands; they were of different kinds, signify¬ 
 ing the divers merits and rewards of the great 
 Queen. 
 
 The archangel having saluted her by the “ Ave 
 Maria,” continued: ‘‘The Omnipotent and the 
 Holy of holies sends us to thy Majesty, to an¬ 
 nounce the happy end of thy pilgrimage. Only 
 three years still remain ere thou shalt enter for all 
 eternity into the glory of the blessed, who all 
 desire thy presence.” She received this agreeable 
 news with ineffable joy, and prostrating herself on 
 the earth, replied as at the Annunciation : “ I am 
 the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me accord¬ 
 ing to thy word.” She begged the angels to aid 
 her in rendering thanks for such agreeable news, 
 and began a new canticle, to which they responded 
 during two hours; then she bade them pray the 
 Lord to prepare her for her passage. The arch¬ 
 angel answered that she should be obeyed, and 
 taking leave of her, they returned to heaven. She 
 remained prostrate, shedding tears of humility and 
 joy, and said these words: “ O Earth! I render 
 thee thanks that thou hast borne me, unworthy as 
 I am, during sixty-seven years. As I have been 
 created of thee and in thee, so in thee and by thee 
 I shall arrive to my desired end, the view and 
 possession of my Creator.” 
 
 From that moment she multiplied her pious 
 exercises, as if, in the past, she had something to 
 repair. This she did, not from the fear of death, or 
 
407 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 on account of sin, which she had never committed, 
 but from the ardor of her love, and her vehement 
 desire of eternal life. She multiplied those actions, 
 not that she might arrive the sooner, but that she 
 might enter richer and happier into the enjoyment 
 of the Lord. During those three years she fre¬ 
 quently sent her angels to the apostles dispersed 
 throughout the world, in order to animate them to 
 heroic enterprises, and she showed greater demon¬ 
 strations of love to the faithful in Jerusalem, and 
 addressed to them pressing exhortations to remain 
 steadfast in the faith. Although she did not com¬ 
 municate to them her secret, she acted like one who 
 was about to go on a journey, and wished to leave 
 every one overwhelmed with benefits. 
 
 With St. John she acted differently. Kneeling 
 at his feet one day, she asked his permission to 
 speak ; having obtained it, she said: “ My lord and 
 my son, thou knowest that among all creatures, I 
 am the most deeply indebted to the divine power. 
 Know then that Infinite Mercy has deigned to 
 reveal to me that the term of my mortal .ife, and 
 my passage to eternal life will soon arrive; three 
 years only remain of my exile. Then I supplicate 
 thee, my master, to aid me, during this short time, 
 in applying myself to attend and correspond to the 
 immense benefits I have received; pray then for 
 me, I beg of thee.” 
 
 These words grieved the loving heart of St. 
 John; he answered with deep emotion: “ My 
 Mother and my Queen, since thou art all-merciful, 
 deign to help thy son who will be left alone, and 
 
408 Divine Life of the* 
 
 deprived of thy precious company.” Overcome by 
 grief and tears, he could say no more; the merci¬ 
 ful Mother consoled and encouraged him, never¬ 
 theless, from that day, the apostle was overwhelmed 
 with sadness, and grew faint and languid, like the 
 flowers which fade at sunset. 
 
 Mary promised that, as a tender Mother, she 
 would ever assist him, and she frequently prayed 
 her Son to strengthen him, that the violence of his 
 sorrow might not shorten his life. St. John re¬ 
 vealed the sorrowful tidings to St. James, and both 
 apostles became more assiduous in visiting their 
 august Mistress. 
 
 In those three years, the Almighty so disposed 
 events that all nature began to be affected, and 
 gave evidence of mourning for the approaching 
 death of her whose life added beauty to all created 
 things. The apostles, although dispersed through¬ 
 out the world, felt an ardent desire to behold their 
 Mother and Queen, while the faithful who were 
 near her, had a presentiment that they were about 
 to lose their glory and their treasure. The skies, 
 the animals, the birds, and all creatures were 
 moved and troubled. During the six months, 
 which preceded her death, the sun, moon, and 
 stars gave fainter light than ordinary, yet men were 
 ignorant of the cause. St. John alone accom¬ 
 panied these signs by his tears, from which the 
 faithful came to understand the reason. They 
 therefore hastened to the Supper-room -to render 
 homage to their Queen; they threw themselves at 
 her feet, asked her blessing, and kissed the ground- 
 
 
409 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 upon which her feet had trod. The Motner of 
 mercy consoled them all, and though their loss 
 was inevitable, she was moved at their grief, and 
 by her prayers obtained that all the children of the 
 Church should receive the graces and privileges 
 they desired.* 
 
 It would be impossible to describe the immense 
 concourse of people who thronged to see her, or 
 the wonderful miracles which she operated during 
 that time. She converted many to the true faith, 
 brought numbers back to the state of grace, pro¬ 
 vided for, or remedied the wants of the miserable, 
 frequently supplying them miraculousV. She con¬ 
 firmed all in the fear of God, in the faith, and in 
 obedience to the Church, and, as treasurer of the 
 
 , ' I 
 
 divine graces, poured them out upon the children 
 of the Church before departing from them. More¬ 
 over, she consoled them all, and promised to do 
 much more for them, when she should have 
 entered heaven. 
 
 Her most pure mind was raised by inconceivable 
 raptures, from the flames of her love, to the sphere 
 of the Divinity, without her being able to arrest 
 the impetuosity of her inflamed heart. To give 1 
 some relief to its violence, she retired into solitude 
 and satiated her desires with the Lord, saying: 
 
 “ My sweet Love, my only Good, Treasure of my 
 soul, draw me to thee by the odor of thy perfumes; 
 burst these mortal bonds which still detain me. 
 
 * Are not these the exact words of St. Bernard in the Me- 
 morare, in which he says that it is unheard of that any one has 
 ever addressed Mary without obtaining relief? 
 
 35 
 
4 io 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 Heavenly Spirits, tell your Lord and mine, the 
 cause of my sorrow; tell Him that to please Him, 
 I embrace suffering for exile; this is my desire. I 
 cannot live in myself, but in God alone ; if then 
 He wishes me to live, how can I exist separated 
 from Him who is my life? On one side He gives 
 me life; on the other, He deprives me of it, be¬ 
 cause there is no life without love; how then can 
 I exist without the life, which is He whom I love 
 alone. In this sweet violence I languish.” 
 
 By these and similar words did the holy Virgin 
 appease the fire of her vehement love, to the admi¬ 
 ration of the angels who assisted and served her. 
 Her divine Son strengthened her by His visits, 
 which became more frequent. She reiterated her 
 prayers for the Church, and for all the ministers 
 who, in future ages, would preach the gospel. 
 
 Among the marvels which the Lord operated 
 for His holy Mother, in the latter years of her life, 
 was one which was known, not only to the evange¬ 
 list, but to many others who approached her. It 
 was, that each time that Mary received Holy Com¬ 
 munion, she remained during several hours sur¬ 
 rounded with such splendor and light, that she 
 seemed to be transfigured like her divine Son on 
 Mt. Thabor. 
 
 With St. John’s permission she went to visit 
 the holy places, accompanied by the thousand 
 angels of her guard, and with many tears bade them 
 a last adieu. She remained a longer time at Mt 
 Calvary; there she prayed for her beloved faithful, 
 both present and future, and considering the dolor- 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 411 
 
 ous death of her Son, sacrificed for the human race, 
 the flame of her ardent charity became so strong 
 that she would have died ha:l not her divine Son 
 came to her in person, and said: “ My Mother and 
 my Dove, coadjutrix in the redemption of men, 
 thy requests have already reached my heart. I 
 promise that I will be ever liberal to men, and 
 will continually aid them, that by their free will 
 they may attain to eternal glory, with the merits 
 of my blood, provided they do not despise it. In 
 heaven thou shalt be their Mediatrix and Advocate, 
 and I will pour out my merits and infinite mercies 
 on those who shall obtain thy protection.” 
 
 Prostrate at His feet, Mary adored her divine 
 Son, and having kissed the ground consecrated by 
 the death of the Incarnate God, she commanded 
 her angels ever to guard and defend that sacred 
 spot. 
 
 She returned to her oratory, where, with deep 
 and tender emotion, she made her last adieu to the 
 Church, saying: “O Holy Catholic Church, which 
 in future ages shall be called Roman, my Mother 
 and my Queen, thou hast been my only consola¬ 
 tion during the time of my exile, my refuge and 
 strength in suffering. Thou art my stay and my 
 joy ; in thee have I dwelt a stranger far from my 
 country; thou hast kept me, since in thee I received 
 the life of grace from thy Head and mine, Jesus, 
 my Son and my Lord. Thou art to the faithful. 
 His children, a sure guide to conduct them to eter¬ 
 nal glory. Thou dost fortify them in their danger¬ 
 ous pilgrimage. Thou hast adorned and cniiched 
 
412 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 me with beautiful ornaments, that I may enter into 
 the nuptial-chamber of the Spouse. In thee does 
 thy head dwell in the adorable Sacrament. Happy 
 Church militant, my beloved, the time has come in 
 which I must leave thee. Deign to pour out on 
 me thy precious gifts; wash me in the blood of 
 the divine Lamb, which has been confided to thee, 
 and which is capable of sanctifying many worlds 
 immersed in sin. Holy Church, my honor and my 
 glory, I leave thee in the mortal life, but shall find 
 thee in the life glorious and eternal. From thence 
 I will ever watch over thee tenderly, and pray for 
 thy prosperity and progress.” 
 
 After this farewell the great Queen resolved to 
 make her last will and testament, for which she 
 asked the permission of the Lord, who deigned 
 to confirm it by His presence. The Most Holy 
 Trinity, accompanied by thousands of blessed 
 spirits, descended into her oratory ; a voice proceed¬ 
 ing from the throne said: “Our spouse and our 
 elected One, make thy will according to thy desires, 
 for it shall be accomplished and confirmed by our 
 divine power.”—“Almighty and powerful Lord, 
 Eternal God,” answered she, with profound humility, 
 “ I, a worm of the earth, acknowledge and adore 
 thee from the depths of my soul. Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghost, three distinct persons in one, 
 indivisible, and eternal nature. I declare and say 
 that this is my last will: I have no temporal goods 
 to leave, for I have never possessed anything but 
 thee, my Sovereign Good; I thank all creatures 
 that have sustained me, without any merit on my 
 
413 
 
 Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 part. To John, my Son, I leave two tunics and 
 one mantle, which have served to cover me, that he 
 may dispose of them as he pleases. 
 
 “ J beg the earth to receive my body; I commit 
 my soul, freed at length from the body, into thy 
 hands, O my God, that she may love thee eternally. 
 I make the Church, my mother, heir of the merits 
 I have acquired by means of thy grace, and my 
 sufferings, that they may serve for the exaltation 
 of thy holy name. 
 
 “ Secondly, I offer them for the holy apostles, 
 and also for the priests who live now or shall live 
 in future ages, that they may be worthy ministers 
 who may edify and sanctify souls. 
 
 “ Thirdly, I apply them for the spiritual good of 
 those devoted to me, who will serve, invoke, and 
 intercede with me, that they may receive thy grace, 
 and in the end. life everlasting. 
 
 “ Fourthly, I desire and pray that on account of 
 my sufferings and works thou wouldst consider 
 thyself indebted, and obliged to cause the unhappy 
 children of Adam to come forth from the miserable 
 state of sin, and from this moment I desire and 
 wish to intercede for them in thy divine presence, 
 as long as the world shall last. 
 
 “ This, my Lord and my God, is my last will, 
 always subject to thy good pleasure.” 
 
 This testament was confirmed by the Most Holy 
 Trinity, and approved by Christ, who engraved in 
 the heart of His Mother these words: “ It shall be 
 done according to thy will and thy orders.” 
 
 Prostrate on the ground she returned thanks, and 
 35 * 
 
414 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin, 
 
 prayed that the apostles might be present at her 
 death, that in her last passage they might pray for 
 hdr and assist her with their blessing, and her 
 prayer was granted. The Holy Trinity ceased to 
 be visible, and ‘the humanity of Jesus Christ re¬ 
 turned to heaven. 
 
 
CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 HAPPY DEATH OF THE MOST HOLY VIRGIN, AND 
 BURIAL OF HER MOST PURE BODY. 
 
 wf HE day on which the true Ark of the Cove- 
 j nant was to be placed in the temple of the 
 vjj heavenly Jerusalem was approaching - , and 
 J three days previous the apostles and disciples 
 were, by the ministry of angels, reassembled in the 
 Supper-room. The corporal strength of the great 
 Queen was already yielding to the violence of 
 divine love, because the nearer she approached to 
 the Sovereign Good, the more did she participate 
 in the quality of love, which is God Himself. The 
 great Queen came to the door of her oratory to 
 receive St. Peter, the Vicar of Jesus Christ; falling 
 on her knees, she begged his blessing and returned 
 thanks to the Most High for giving her so great a 
 consolation; she did the same in regard to the 
 other apostles. Then she retired into her oratory, 
 and St. Peter delivered a discourse to the disciples. 
 They entered into her oratory to assist her; they 
 found her kneeling on the little bed on which she 
 had been accustomed to take her short repose; 
 she appeared all brilliant with beauty, vested with 
 celestial splendor, and surrounded by her thousand 
 angels, who assisted her in visible forms. The 
 
 415 
 
416 Divine Life of the 
 
 natural state and appearance of her most pure body 
 was the same as when she was thirty-three years 
 old. She had no wrinkles on her face or hands, 
 neither was she weakened nor emaciated by age, 
 as happens to all the children of Adam. This was 
 a special privilege of the most holy Virgin, corres¬ 
 ponding to that of her holy soul; it seemed to be 
 the effect of her being exempt from the fault of 
 Adam, the consequences of which were never felt by 
 her most holy body, as they had never had access 
 to her pure soul. 
 
 St. Peter and St. John knelt by her bedside, the 
 others all around, according to their rank. 
 
 Looking at them with her accustomed modesty, 
 the great Queen said, “ My dear children, permit 
 your servant to speak.” St. Peter answered that 
 all would attend to her words, but that as Mis¬ 
 tress and Queen, she should first seat herself; she 
 immediately obeyed, having begged their blessing, 
 which they gave through obedience, shedding at 
 the same time many tears at seeing such profound 
 humility, united to such exalted greatness. She 
 arose and knelt before St. Peter, saying: “ My lord, 
 I supplicate thee as universal Pastor, to give me in 
 thy name and that of the Church of which thou art 
 the Chief, thy holy benediction, and to forgive thy 
 servant for having served thee so badly during this 
 life, which she is now about to leave for that which 
 is eternal. I beg that thou wilt allow John to 
 dispose of my garments, that is, my two tunics, 
 and give them to two poor girls, who have some¬ 
 times served me through charity.” 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 417 
 
 After these words she prostrated herself and 
 kissed the feet of St. Peter. Kneeling before St. 
 John, she said: “John, my son and my lord, 
 pardon me for not having exercised in thy regard 
 all the duties of a mother, as I should have done, 
 according to the office entrusted to me by the 
 Lord. I most humbly thank thee for the kindness 
 with which thou hast assisted me as a son, and 
 now I beg thee give me thy blessing, that I may 
 attain to the possession of my God.” She con¬ 
 tinued to take her leave of the other apostles, the 
 disciples, and the rest of the faithful. Rising from 
 her knees, she thus spoke: “ My dear children and 
 my masters, I have kept you all within my heart, 
 and have ever loved you with tender charity, as 
 being commended to me by my most dear Son, 
 whom I have always considered in you all. To 
 accomplish His holy will, I leave you to go to 
 the heavenly dwelling, where, as your Mother, I 
 promise you shall all be present to me in the clear 
 light of the Divinity. I recommend to you my 
 holy Mother the Church, the exaltation of the 
 holy name of God, the propagation of the evangeli¬ 
 cal law, the love of the words of my most holy 
 Son, and the remembrance of His life, passion, and 
 death. Love the holy Church, and also love one 
 another with your whole hearts. To you, Peter, 
 holy Pontiff, I recommend my son John, and all the 
 others.” 
 
 . She ceased to speak; her words, like burning 
 arrows, penetrated the hearts of those present; 
 shedding torrents of tears, they threw themselves 
 
418 Divine Life of the 
 
 upon the ground, and by their sighs and groans, 
 moved the merciful Mother so deeply that she 
 could not resist the loving complaints of her dear 
 children. After some time, she engaged them to 
 pray with her and for her. 
 
 In the midst of this silence, the Incarnate Word 
 descended from heaven, seated on a royal throne 
 of ineffable glory, and accompanied by all the 
 saints and an infinite number of angels, and the 
 Supper-room was filled with light. The holy 
 Mother kissed his feet and adored Him ; this was 
 the last act of worship and humility exercised in 
 her mortal life, by which she surpassed those of 
 all mankind ; recollecting herself, she abased her¬ 
 self beneath the dust, although she was the Mother 
 of God. The divine Son blessed her, and, in 
 presence of this assembly of saints, said : “ Dear 
 Mother, it is for thee to enter for all eternity into 
 Paradise, where a throne is prepared for thee at 
 my right hand. As my Mother, I caused thee to 
 enter into the world pure and exempt from all 
 stain of sin, So in leaving it, death shall have no 
 power to touch thee. If, then, thou dost not wish 
 to pass by it into eternal life, come with me, with¬ 
 out dying, to participate in the glory which thou 
 hast merited.” The Mother, with joyful counte¬ 
 nance and bowed head, replied: “ My Son and 
 my Lord, I beg thee to allow thy mother and 
 servant to enter into eternal life by the gate com¬ 
 mon to all the children of Adam, and to thee 
 also, the true God.” 
 
 The Lord approved this humble sacrifice, and the 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 419 
 
 angels began their celestial canticles, which were 
 heard by ail; and not only the oratory, but the 
 whole house was filled with admirable splendor, so 
 that, on account of it, the streets were filled with 
 Crowds of people who hastened from the city, the 
 Lord permitting this, that there might be many 
 witnesses of His Mother’s glory. 
 
 When the angels began to sing the first verse, 
 “ Come, my dove,” she extended herself upon the 
 bed, and the tunic seemed as if glued to her sacred 
 body; with her hands joined, and her eyes fixed on 
 her divine Son, she seemed all inflamed with the fire 
 of divine love. When the angels chanted: Surge, 
 propera , arnica mea ,—Arise, make haste, my love,— 
 she said to her divine Son the same words that He 
 had pronounced upon the cross: “Lord, into thy 
 hands I commend my spirit,” and having gently 
 closed her pure eyes, the holy Virgin expired. 
 
 Thus her death was the effect of love, without 
 any other cause, and no malady of any kind. It 
 was operated thus :—the divine power suspended 
 the miraculous course, by which until then she had 
 been preserved in her natural strength, without 
 being consumed by the supernatural ardor and 
 sensible fire of her divine love ; but this miracle 
 having ceased, the fire of love produced its effect 
 in consuming the moisture of the heart, and thus 
 the natural life of her body was terminated.* 
 
 * Some writers think that the holy Virgin died at Ephe¬ 
 sus, but this opinion is not sustained by any judicious and 
 enlightened critic. The testimony of the most illustrious doc¬ 
 tors of the Church, and the most sol.d proofs are in favor of what 
 is given in this book. 
 
420 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 Surrounded with immense glory, the soul of the 
 pure Virgin passed to the right hand of her Son. 
 To their great astonishment, those who had assisted 
 at the death of Mary, began to hear the chants of 
 the angels, from a distance, as if receding in the 
 upper regions of the air. The .virginal body, which 
 had been the temple of the Holy Ghost, remained 
 brilliant with light and splendor, and exhaled a 
 delicious perfume, which caused interior joy to the 
 assistants. The thousand attendant angels of the 
 great Queen remained to guard the inestimable 
 treasure. 
 
 The apostles and disciples were for some time 
 ravished out of themselves, and shed tears of 
 mingled joy and sorrow. They sang hymns and 
 canticles in praise of the august Mother. 
 
 This glorious death occurred on Friday the 13th 
 of August, three hours before sunset, the age of 
 the blessed Mother being seventy years, wanting 
 twenty-six days. This precious death was signal¬ 
 ized by many miracles; the sun was eclipsed for a 
 few hours; many birds entered into the dwelling* 
 and by their plaintive cries, seemed to mourn the 
 death of their Queen ; so remarkable were the evi¬ 
 dences of their grief, that many were moved to 
 tears. The whole city was filled with astonish¬ 
 ment, and all confessed the power of the Almighty. 
 Many of the sick were healed, and all the souls in 
 purgatory were delivered, that they might accom¬ 
 pany their merciful Mother to heaven. At the 
 same instant in which the Virgin Mother expired, 
 three persons who dwelt near her also died, but in 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 421 
 
 
 
 the unhappy state of mortal sin. 
 
 When they 
 
 appeared before the tribunal of Jesus Christ, the 
 holy Mother begged grace and mercy for them; 
 they were allowed to return to life, and having 
 done penance for their sins, happily persevered in 
 grace and were saved.* 
 
 The apostles and disciples thought of burying 
 the holy body in the valley of Jehoshaphat, where 
 there was a new. sepulchre prepared by divine 
 providence. As the body of her divine Son had 
 been embalmed, they prepared precious ointments, 
 according to the custom of the Jews, to do the 
 same in regard to the holy body of the diving 
 Mother; this charge they entrusted to the two 
 young girls who had received the tunics of the 
 great Queen. As they entered into the oratory, 
 carrying spices and new linen to envelop the sacred 
 body, they were stopped and blinded by its great 
 splendor, so that they could not approach or behold 
 it. Trembling with fear, they returned to tell the 
 apostles, who understood that this most pure body, 
 which had been the Sacred Ark of the New Testa¬ 
 ment, might not be touched or moved^ even by the 
 hands of virgins. St. Peter and St. John entering, 
 beheld the splendor of the holy body, and heard 
 the divine harmony of the angels, who sang: “ God 
 hails thee, Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with 
 theeand others responded: “ Virgin before child- 
 
 * St. Ligouri relates a similar fact in the “ Glories of Mary/.’ 
 As to the deliverance of the souls in purgatory, many revela¬ 
 tions say that they were, all delivered in the great jubilee of tha 
 year 1300. Could the death of the bleased Virgin have been 
 less efficacious than a jubilee? 
 
 36 
 
422 Divine Life of the 
 
 birth, Virgin in childbirth, and Virgin after child¬ 
 birth.” 
 
 The apostles, ravished with astonishment at these 
 marvels, knelt, and heard a voice which said : “ Let 
 no one uncover or touch the sacred body.” They 
 prepared a coffin, and the celestial splendor being 
 somewhat diminished, the two apostles approached, 
 and with great veneration, fastened the tunic around 
 the sacred feet, without, however, touching them 
 Then raising it, they placed it in the coffin in the 
 same position as it had lain on the bed. They 
 found it to be extremely light, scarcely more than 
 the weight of her clothing. 
 
 After the virginal body had been placed in the 
 coffin, its splendor visibly decreased, so as to allow 
 all the faithful to gaze upon the more than angelic 
 beauty of the face and hands of their Mother, the 
 Lord permitting this for their consolation. The 
 wax tapers placed around it, although they con¬ 
 tinued to burn for three days, remained uncon¬ 
 sumed. The Almighty also willed that the burial 
 of His Mother and the prodigies by which it was 
 accompanied, should be known to all, therefore He 
 touched the hearts of the people of Jerusalem, and 
 following the impulse of grace, the Jews and Gen¬ 
 tiles ran to the sacred spot. At the mere sight of 
 the venerable body, the sick were cured; demo¬ 
 niacs delivered; the afflicted consoled, and all 
 present filled with joy and consolation. 
 
 The apostles bore on their shoulders the coffin 
 containing the propitiatory of divine favors ; issuing 
 from the dwelling, they proceeded through the city 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 423 
 
 to the valley of Jehoshaphat, followed by an 
 immense concourse of people, who extolled aloud 
 the rare virtues and qualities of the glorious de¬ 
 ceased. This was the visible procession. Let 
 us speak of another, more beautiful and brilliant, 
 but not visible to all. In the first rank were the 
 thousand guardian angels of the Queen, continuing 
 the celestial melody, which was heard by the apos¬ 
 tles, disciples, and many other faithful; this they 
 continued for three days without interruption. 
 
 There also descended from heaven many millions 
 of angels and legions of the most sublime spirits; 
 also the ancient patriarchs and prophets; in parti¬ 
 cular St. Joachim, St. Anne, St. Joseph, St. Eliza¬ 
 beth, St. John the Baptist, and other saints, sent to 
 assist at the grand ceremony. 
 
 This magnificent procession, both visible and 
 invisible, composed of the inhabitants of earth and 
 of heaven, advanced slowly onwards. All hearts 
 were moved, for on this day the treasury of divine 
 mercy was open. Not only were all the sick peo¬ 
 ple of Jerusalem healed, all demoniacs delivered, 
 all in tribulation consoled and strengthened, but a 
 still greater number of blind Gentiles and obstinate 
 Jews were enlightened, and confessed the truth of 
 the evangelical faith; coming to the knowledge of 
 Jesus Christ, they confessed aloud with many tears^ 
 that He was the true God, the Redeemer of the 
 world, and begged for baptism. Still more, the 
 apostles, in carrying the most pure body, felt 
 admirable effects of divine light, and ineffable 
 interior joy. 
 
424 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 All those present were amazed at the odor 
 which issued from the sacred body, at the angelic 
 music they heard, at the miracles they saw oper¬ 
 ated before their eyes, and being greatly moved, 
 struck their breasts with contrition, acknowledg¬ 
 ing Mary to be the true Mother of God, and God 
 ;to be grand and omnipotent in this creature. At 
 length they arrived at the blessed tomb, in the 
 valley of Jehoshaph-at, and while they sang hymns 
 of praise, St-Peter and St. John laid the sacred 
 deposit in the tomb ; they covered it with fine linen, 
 and reverently closed the sepulchre. 
 
 .The saints returned to heaven, and the thousand 
 guardian angels continued their celestial harmonies. 
 All the people returned to the city ; the apostles 
 and disciples reentered the Supper-room, which 
 venerable sanctuary retained an agreeable odor for 
 an entire year. The apostles agreed that in turns, 
 by two and two, they would watch the holy sepul¬ 
 chre of their Mistress, during the time the celestial 
 melodies should be continued, and that the others 
 should apply themselves to catechize, instruct, and 
 baptize the converts. St. Peter and St. John 
 never departed from the tomb, and the others 
 returned to visit it both by day and night. 
 
 We cannot pass over in silence the concourse of 
 irrational creatures which came to the holy spot. 
 Birds sang on the tomb their plaintive melodies, 
 and the beasts of the forest gave evidences of their 
 - sorrow for the great loss of the Mistress of the 
 '-universe.. t* ■> 
 
CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 TRIUMPHANT ENTRY OF THE AUGUST SOUL OF THE 
 MOST HOLY VIRGIN INTO HEAVEN.—ASSUMPTION OF 
 j HER BODY.—HER CORONATION. 
 
 sooner had the august and incomparable soul 
 of the holy Virgin been separated from the 
 body, than Jesus Christ placed it at His right 
 hand on the throne, and the immense proces¬ 
 sion of angels and saints turned towards heaven. 
 
 o 
 
 The Redeemer entered with His Mother, all bril¬ 
 liant and glorious, without having subjected her to 
 the particular judgment on the gifts and favors she 
 had received, on account of the promise made to 
 her when she was exempted from original sin, as 
 elected Queen, as a privileged one, having no share 
 in the miseries of the children of Adam. 
 
 From the first instant of her conception she was 
 a clear and resplendent aurora; surrounded by the 
 rays of the divine Son, she surpassed the brilliancy 
 of the most ardent seraphim; again by the union 
 of the Word with the holy humanity she had been 
 so elevated that, as it were, she touched the 
 Divinity. It was therefore suitable and necessary 
 that she should be His companion throughout all 
 eternity, and that there should be the greatest 
 
 3u* 
 
 425 
 
426 Divine Life of the 
 
 possible resemblance between the Son and the 
 Mother. 
 
 Under this august title, the divine Redeemer pre¬ 
 sented her before the divine throne, and said: “ My 
 Eternal Father, my dear Mother, thy beloved 
 Daughter, and the cherished Spouse of the Holy 
 Spirit, comes to receive eternal possession of the 
 crown and glory which we have prepared in recom¬ 
 pense of her merits. Among the children of Adam 
 she is as a rose among thorns, spotless,' pure, and 
 beautiful, worthy of being received into our hands. 
 She is our elected one, chosen and singular, to 
 whom we have given grace and participation in our 
 perfections, beyond that of ordinary creatures. In 
 her we have deposited the treasures of the Divinity; 
 she has found grace in our sight, and in her we 
 have taken our complacency. It is then just that 
 she should receive the recompense and reward due 
 to her as my Mother, and as, during her life, she 
 has been as like to me as is possible to a pure 
 creature, so she ought to resemble me in glory, 
 and be placed on the throne of our majesty, so that 
 where is Sanctity by Essence should also be she 
 who has received the greatest participation in it.” 
 
 The Eternal Father and the Holy Ghost immedi¬ 
 ately approved this decree of the Incarnate Word, 
 and the soul of Mary was raised to the right hand 
 of her Son, on the royal throne of the Most Holy 
 Trinity. It is the most sublime excellence of our 
 holy Queen to be thus placed on the very throne 
 of the Divinity, and hold the rank and title of 
 
 Sovereign Empress, while all "the other inhabitants 
 36 * 
 
Most Holy Virgin. 
 
 427 
 
 of heaven are the ministers and servants of the 
 Most High. 
 
 It is impossible to express the intensity of the 
 accession of joy which the blessed received on this 
 solemn day. They intoned canticles of praise to 
 the Most High for the incomprehensible glory of 
 His Daughter, Mother, and Spouse, in whom they 
 exalted the work of His all-powerful hand. Al¬ 
 though the Lord could not receive new interior 
 glory, since, from all eternity, it is infinite, yet, the 
 exterior manifestations of His complacency in the 
 happy accomplishment of His eternal decrees were 
 greater on this day, for from the throne there pro¬ 
 ceeded a voice which said: “All our desires and 
 our divine will are accomplished in the glory of 
 our Beloved, and all has been done to the entire 
 satisfaction of our Complacency.” 
 
 On the third day in which the most pure soul of 
 the Virgin Mother enjoyed eternal glory, the Lord 
 manifested to the heavenly court His will that her 
 great soul should return to the world and reassume 
 its 'body, in order that she might be raised to the 
 divine throne both in body and soul, without wait¬ 
 ing for the general resurrection. All applauded 
 the divine decree; the Redeemer Himself de¬ 
 scended from heaven with the glorious soul of His 
 Mother by His side, and accompanied by the saints 
 and blessed spirits. . 
 
 Having arrived at the sepulchre, at the sight of 
 the virginal temple of the Most High, the Lord 
 thus spoke to the saints: " My Mother was con* 
 ceived without stain of sin, in order that of her 
 
428 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 pure virginal and immaculate substance I might 
 assume the humanity with which I came into the 
 world, already redeemed from the slavery to which 
 it had been subjected. My flesh is the flesh of my 
 Mother, she also cooperated with me in the work 
 of the redemption; therefore as I have arisen, I 
 must raise her, and in the same moment in which I 
 arose, for it is my will that she be like to me in all 
 things.” 
 
 Amid the canticles chanted by the saints for this 
 new benefit, the holy soul of Mary, at the command 
 of her divine Son, reentered into her most pure 
 body, and it arose from the dead. In this resurrec¬ 
 tion her body was vested with the four glorious 
 qualities of light, agility, subtility, and impassibility, 
 each of which corresponded to the glory of the 
 soul from which they took their origin. The holy 
 Virgin with these qualities issued from the sepul¬ 
 chre both in body and soul, without removing the 
 stone, leaving in the tomb only her clothes and the 
 linen. 
 
 It is impossible to describe here the light, splen¬ 
 dor and admirable beauty of her glory; it will 
 suffice to consider that as the divine Mother gave 
 to her most holy Son a human form in her virginal 
 womb, and gave it most pure and spotless for the 
 redemption of the world, so, in return for this gift, 
 the Lord gave her in this resurrection and new 
 birth, a glory and a beauty like to His own. In 
 this mysterious and divine correspondence, each 
 gave as far as was possible, for the Virgin en¬ 
 gendered Jesus Christ like to herself as far as pos- 
 
4*9 
 
 Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 sible, and Jesus Christ, in raising her, communi¬ 
 cated to her His glory, as far as a pure creature is 
 capable of receiving it. 
 
 The magnificent procession departed from the 
 sepulchre chanting celestial melodies, and ascended 
 through the region of the air to the empyreal 
 heaven; this occurred on the Sunday after her 
 death, at midnight, the same moment at which 
 Christ had arisen ; hence none of the apostles were 
 aware of the miracle, except those who were watch-* 
 ing the tomb at the time. The saints and angels 
 reentered heaven in the order in which they had 
 descended on earth ; after them came the glorious 
 Redeemer, and at His right hand, the Queen- 
 Mother, whose garments were magnificently 
 adorned with gold and precious ornaments; the 
 blessed were filled with W'onder and astonish¬ 
 ment at the sight of her admirable beauty, and 
 broke forth into new canticles of admiration and 
 joy. Then were heard those mysterious eulogiums 
 of Solomon: “Go forth, O daughter of Sion, and 
 see your Queen whom the stars of morning praise, 
 and whom the children of the Most High bless. 
 Who is this that cometh up from the desert as a 
 column of smoke, composed of every perfume? 
 Who is this that seems like the aurora, more beau¬ 
 tiful than the moon, bright as the sun, and terrible 
 as an army in battle array ? Who is this that 
 cometh up from the desert, leaning on her Beloved, 
 and overflowing with delights ? Who is this in 
 whom the Divinity itself has found greater com¬ 
 placency than in all other creatures, and whom He 
 
430 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 has raised above all to the throne of His inaccessi-. 
 ble light and majesty? O marvel, never before 
 beheld in heaven! O prodigy of an omnipotent 
 God, who thus glorifies and exalts her!” 
 
 Vested with this wonderful glory, the holy Virgin 
 arrived at the throne of the divinity, and the three 
 divine Persons received her into their eternal and 
 indissoluble embrace. She seemed as if absorbed 
 within the three divine Persons, and as if submerged 
 in that infinite ocean of the abyss of the Divinity; 
 the saints heard these words of the Eternal Father: 
 
 “ Our Daughter Marv has been elected and chosen 
 
 •o * 
 
 by our eternal will as the only and singular one 
 among all creatures, and she is also the first in our 
 delights. She has never degenerated from her title, 
 of Daughter, which in the Divine Understanding has 
 been given her from all eternity; therefore she has 
 a right to our eternal kingdom, of which she is to 
 be acknowledged and crowned the legitimate Sove¬ 
 reign and Queen.” • 
 
 The Incarnate Word said: “To my true and 
 natural Mother belong all the creatures that I have 
 created and redeemed, and all that I possess as 
 king, she must also possess as legitimate Queen.” 
 
 The Holy Ghost said: “By the title of my only 
 and elected Spouse, to which she has corresponded 
 with perfect fidelity, the crown of Queen is also due 
 to her for all eternity.” 
 
 After these words the three divine Persons * 
 placed on the august head of the most holy Virgin 
 a crown of glory, which far exceeded any that ever 
 has or ever shall be awarded to a creature. At the 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 43i 
 
 same instant a voice came from the throne, saying: 
 “ Our friend and our chosen one among all other 
 creatures, our kingdom belongs to thee. Thou 
 ar^ the Sovereign, the Queen and the Mistress of 
 the seraphim, the angels our ministers, and of the 
 entire creation. Guard, then, command and reign 
 happily over them. In our supreme consistory we 
 give thee empire, majesty and dominion, because 
 although filled with grace above all creatures, thou 
 hast humbled thyself in thy mind, and hast always 
 placed thyself in the last place. Receive now the 
 exalted rank which is thy due, and participate in 
 the Sovereign dominion exercised by the Divinity 
 over all that our omnipotence has created. From 
 thy royal throne thou shalt command even to the 
 center of the earth, and by the power which we give 
 thee, thou shalt hold hell in subjection. All shall 
 fear and obey thee, even in the infernal caverns. 
 Thou shalt rule over the earth and the elements. 
 We place in thy hands the virtues and effects of all 
 natural causes and their preservation, so that thou 
 mayst dispose of the influences of the heavens, and 
 of the fruit of the earth, of all that exists, or shall 
 exist. Distribute them according thy good plea¬ 
 sure, and our will shall ever be ready to accom¬ 
 plish thine. Of the Church militant thou art the 
 Empress, Queen, Mistress, Protectress, Advocate 
 and Mother. Thou shalt be the friend, patroness 
 and protectress of all our friends, the just. Con¬ 
 sole them, fortify and fill them with every good, if 
 by their devotion they render themselves worthy. 
 Thou art the depositary of all our divine benefits, 
 
432 
 
 Divine Life of the 
 
 the treasury of all our graces. Into thy hands wt 
 remit the help and favors of our grace, so that thou 
 mayst dispense them; for we will grant nothing to 
 the world but what shall pass through thy hands, 
 and we will refuse nothing which thou mayst desire 
 to grant. Grace shall be spread abroad on thy lips, 
 for all that thou shalt wish and ordain in heaven 
 and on earth ; angels and men shall obey thee in 
 all places, because all that is ours belongs to thee, 
 as thou hast always belonged to us, and thou shalt 
 reign with us for all eternity.” 
 
 For the execution of this eternal decree, the 
 Omnipotent ordered all the heavenly court to 
 render obedience and homage to her as their 
 Queen, and they promptly obeyed, acknowledging 
 themselves her servants and vassals, and vene¬ 
 rating her with a worship, filial fear, and respectful 
 veneration like to that with which they adore the 
 Lord. Thus they relatively paid the same respect 
 to His august Mother, and the small number of 
 the saints who were in heaven both in body and soul, 
 prostrated themselves and venerated their Queen 
 by corporal homage. The Empress of the heavens 
 was thus glorified and crowned amidst these mag¬ 
 nificent demonstrations, which gave great glory to 
 her, new joy to the blessed, and a subject of com¬ 
 placency to the Most Holy Trinity. She added 
 new glory to all the heavenly Jerusalem, particu¬ 
 larly to St. Joseph, her chaste spouse, to her 
 parents and relations, but above all to her thous¬ 
 and guardian angels. The saints beheld in her 
 most pure heart a little globe, as it were, of singu- 
 
Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 433 
 
 lar beauty and splendor, which caused and shall 
 eternally cause them admiration and particular joy; 
 this was the recompense and proof of her having 
 worthily preserved in her breast the Incarnate 
 Word under the sacramental species, and having 
 received Him worthily with purity and sanctity 
 without any defect or least shadow of imperfection, 
 but widi great devotion, love, and worship. As to 
 the other recompenses corresponding to her heroic 
 and singular virtues, it is impossible for us to form 
 any worthy conception of them. We will only say 
 that this resurrection took place on the 15th of 
 August, her most pure body having been in the 
 sepulchre thirty-six hours, the same as that of her 
 divine Son. 
 
 The apostles and disciples, particularly St. Peter 
 and St. John, guarded the sepulchre both night and 
 day, and remarking that the heavenly music could 
 no longer be heard, they understood that the 
 divine Mother was arisen, and had been translated 
 into heaven, both in body and soul, like her divine 
 Son. They reassembled the disciples and the faith¬ 
 ful, opened the sepulchre, and found it empty. St. 
 Peter venerated the tunic and the linen, as did the 
 others also. 
 
 Thus they were fully assured of the resurrection 
 and Assumption of the holy Virgin into heaven. 
 They celebrated this new wonder with tears of 
 mingled joy and sorrow, and sang hymns and 
 psalms to praise and glorify the Lord and His 
 divine Mother. Divided between feelings of aston¬ 
 ishment anti tenderness, they gazed on the sepul- 
 37 
 
mmmmm—mmmmmmma 
 
 434 Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin . 
 
 chre as if unable to retire from it; then an angel 
 of the Lord, descending from heaven, said : “ Men 
 of Galilee, why are you astonished ? Your Queen 
 and ours lives already both in body and soul, in 
 heaven, where she shall reign for ever with Christ. 
 She has sent me to you to confirm this truth, and 
 say to you on her part, that she again recom¬ 
 mends to you the Church, the conversion of souls, 
 and the propagation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, 
 to which ministry she wishes you to return imme¬ 
 diately, as He has commanded you. From the 
 highest heaven she will watch over and protect 
 you.” 
 
 By these words the apostles were reanimated, 
 and in their apostolic career, they frequently recog¬ 
 nized the all-powerful protection of the Queen of 
 heaven, but particularly at the hour of their mar¬ 
 tyrdom, for she then appeared to each, assisted him 
 as a merciful Mother, and presented his soul to the 
 Lord, as she will also do for all those who will 
 serve her in life, and invoke her in death. 
 
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