I was feeling a little down this morning, a natural thing considering the state of the world in all of its ugliness. But my spirit and soul were lifted when I began to think of our beautiful Mother in Heaven. What a gift she is to us from the Holy Trinity. When we think of Mary we contemplate and observe God's greatest master-piece, she reflects her Creator in such a powerful way. She is a living icon of the Father's heart. The painting reveals something of the artist's soul. Our Lady reveals to us the majesty of our loving God. Contemplating her beauty has lifted my spirits. Our Lady The one spotless and most pure dove Rose ever-blooming The one and only daughter of life, evergreen Treasure of Immortality Innocence never sullied Brightest star Virgin most pure Star of the Sea Virgin undefiled Most beautiful paradise of innocence Fountain ever clear Incorruptible wood Most holy temple Spotless dove Holy Jerusalem Exalted throne of God Ark and house of holiness The Queen who came forth from the mouth of the Most High Lily among thorns Land entirely intact Garden enclosed on all sides Resplendent city of God August temple of God Impregnable tower Ever blessed Radiant as the Dawn.
It is a most wonderful thing when I sit and contemplate our Lady, her life, virtues and beatitudes (and I usually have pen & paper ready or my laptop to jot inspirations down) I am filled with a most sweet delight. It is like honey from the rock and water from the well.
I have been contemplating our Lady a lot in these barren days of constant negative news, it has lifted my spirits and mood to turn to her and appreciate her maternal intercession and help. Our Lady is a profound revelation of the Father's love - in contemplating our Lady's unique relationship to the Holy Trinity, she is the favoured daughther of the Father. I penned these words as a spiritual reflection. In the west we often refer to Jesus as the WORD made flesh c.f In the beginning was the word etc. I personally prefer the Greek word LOGOS, which means ultimate reality/rationality/logic/order/Divine principle/Divine word). OUR LADY REVEALS TO US THE LOVE OF THE HOLY TRINITY. The name of Mary is honey in the mouth, music to the ear, a balm to the soul, her beauty reveals the trinity to us. Our Lady is the prism through which we can better understand God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. She is DAUGHTER OF THE FATHER In his saving plan, God the Father wanted his only Son to be born of a virgin. She is the Father's masterpiece, the summit of His creation, her Immaculate Heart reveals the feminine genius of the Father in creating such an immaculate and radiant soul. Purer than pure, she is the spotless and undefiled daughter, the new Eve. The father loves the daughter with a father’s heart, our Lady is the Father’s masterplan to bring forth the saviour of the world and to her he entrusted his only begotten Son. The virginal conception confirms that Jesus has only one Father. He is the only Son of the Father, begotten not made, consubstantial and equal with the Father, whom the Father loves from His heart. The eternal Son is also begotten in time in the womb of a virgin, the invisible God made visible through Mary, as Luke’s gospel reveals ‘the holy one to be born (of you) will be called, the Son of God (Luke 1v35). The Father and the Woman share the Son but in different respects, the Son of the Father begotten in eternity and the son of the Woman begotten in time. Through Mary, timelessness had entered time and the Logos of God became flesh and dwelt amongst us (John 1v14). The Logos is the one and the same common Son of God the Father and of the Blessed Virgin Mary. ‘The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation’ (Colossians 1v15). Likewise, the Virgin is a revelation of the Father’s love for mankind, from all eternity he willed her to be a fitting mother of the Son of the Most High (Luke 1v32). Mary truly is the highly favoured daughter of the Father (Luke 1v30), and God was with Mary from the moment of her Immaculate Conception (Luke 1v28). She is the one who won the Father’s favour (Luke 1v30) and ‘he shielded (her) and cared for (her); he guarded (her) as the apple of his eye’ (Deuteronomy 32v10).
I love to read the book of Wisdom and substitute the Blessed Mother for the word wisdom. The Church Fathers said it was a prefigurement of Our Lady. How blessed we are to have her. Poor souls who have rejected her--this gift of all gifts. Tragedy.
