15th August – The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin.

Adam Paige
Aug 14
5 min read

Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation

We will meditate to-morrow upon the three mysteries which we honor on this blessed day: 1st, the death of the Blessed Virgin; 2d. her glorious resurrection; 3d, her triumphant assumption and her coronation in heaven. We will then make the resolution: 1st, to express to-morrow, and during the whole octave, frequent desires to go to heaven, and contemplate Jesus in His glory and Mary on her throne; 2d, to preserve ourselves, by means of, watching over our interior and exterior senses, in the eminent purity suitable to a body called to the glory of the resurrection; 3d, to excite in ourselves humility, by considering of what value this virtue was to Mary on the day of her assumption. Our spiritual nose gay shall be the words of the Psalmist: "O God, the Queen is at Thy right hand" (Ps. xliv. 10).

Meditation for the Morning

Let us adore Our Lord glorifying Mary, His mother, by a holy death, a glorious resurrection, a triumphant assumption, followed by her enthronement in heaven and her coronation as queen of heaven and of earth. Let us thank God, and let us congratulate Mary on so many inexpressible favors.

Edifying Death of the Blessed Virgin.

The death of Mary was neither an effect of sickness, nor of failing nature, nor a penalty of sin, since the Blessed Virgin had never sinned; it was, on the contrary, a pure effect of the love with which her heart was inflamed (St. Bernard). From the day of the ascension she had never ceased to languish here below with love (Cant. ii. 5). She longed with all her heart for her reunion with her Divine Son, and every moment whilst the separation lasted was martyrdom to her. At last the strength of her love reached such a height as to break the chains which attached her soul to her body, and her holy soul flew to heaven upon a cloud of holy desires. Happy the souls which, detached from earth, have no other desires at heart than to die, that they may see and possess God eternally. These were the desires of the patriarchs, who kept the eyes of their hearts constantly fixed upon their heavenly home (Heb. xi. 13); the desires of David, who, regarding himself as a stranger here below, aspired continually after heaven (Ps. cxix. 6; xliv. 3; xvi. 15); the desires of St. Paul, who wrote to the Philippians that he longed that his body should be dissolved, so that his soul, springing forth from its prison, should go and be reunited to Jesus Christ (Philipp. i. 23); the desires of the martyr St. Ignatius, who wrote to the Romans: “I aspire to one thing only, and it is to enjoy Jesus Christ;” of the great doctor St. Augustine, who said: “Whoever does not sigh here below as a traveller shall not rejoice in heaven as a citizen;” of St. Francis of Assisi, who was called the man who looked at heaven; of St. Ignatius, who, during whole nights, when looking at a beautiful sky, uttered the cry of love: How vile the earth seems to me when I look at heaven ! Those are not Christians who do not desire heaven, and who would willingly do without it if they could be assured in its place of enjoying the pleasures and honors of the world; those are not so either who desire death only from spite and despair, ennui, and disgust at life. Oh, why do they not accept, in a Christian spirit, the troubles of this world ? Then they might desire the end of it, provided that it was with submission to the will of God. Let us examine our dispositions on this point.

Resurrection of the Blessed Virgin.

Divine love had despoiled Mary of her mortal robe; holy purity clothed her with the royal mantle of immortality. It was not suitable that so pure a body should be subjected to the putrefaction of the tomb, which is a chastisement reserved for the flesh of sin. Thus it was that Jesus Christ raised His mother to eternal glory, that He enveloped her with splendor which the Holy Spirit compares, now to the sun, now to the brilliant evening star (Cant. vi. 9). Let us here admire the love of God for chaste bodies and pure hearts, and also how well they understand the love of their body who keep it innocent, and how ill, on the other hand, those understand it who, for the sake of sensual gratifications unworthy of an immortal soul, deprive it of so much glory and condemn it to eternal punishment. O holy purity, with what splendors dost thou clothe the body of Mary ! How well thou deservest all our esteem, all our love, and with what zeal ought we to preserve thee as the most precious of all treasures !

The Assumption and Coronation of the Blessed Virgin.

Such is the law laid down by God: the more we humble ourselves on earth, the more shall we be exalted in heaven (Luke xiv. 11). Now, Mary humbled herself below all creatures; she who was queen in her quality of the mother of God takes the title of a servant; she who was purer than the angels assimilates herself to ordinary women on the day of her purification in the temple; she who was the daughter of kings lowers herself to such an extent as to pass for a poor laboring woman, a woman of the people. It was her due therefore to be raised above every creature, since she had placed herself below all; and this is what God did on the day of the assumption. Gloriously assumed, she rises triumphantly above the clouds, the angels come to meet her, they sing her glory, crying out: “Who is this that cometh up from the desert?” (Cant. viii. 5.) The prophets and patriarchs receive her with transports on her entrance into heaven; Moses acclaims the Star of Jacob which he had predicted; Isaias, the Virgin Mother whom he had announced; Ezechiel, the Gate of the East; David, the Queen who stands on the right hand of the King (Ps. xliv. 10); and in the midst of these songs of gladness, Mary repeats her divine song: “My soul doth magnify the Lord” (Luke i. 46). And yet this is only the commencement; God, enthroning Mary on the throne of glory which has been prepared for her, encircles her forehead with the royal crown, to show to angels and men that she is queen of heaven and of earth. O my Mother, my Queen, and my Sovereign ! I salute thee in the ocean of glory in which thou wilt appear to me on that great day; I consecrate myself to thee and place myself under thy beloved sceptre. Be in very truth my patroness and my mother, and by thy prayers make order and peace, religion, the love of God and of the Church, reign everywhere.

Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.

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