Virgo Maria loquebatur in die purificacionis sponse dicens, quod ipsa non indigebat purificacione, quia sine macula et munda erat. Verumptamen, vt adimplerentur prophecie, voluit in lege et secundum legem viuere et nichil singulare in se ostendere sed humiliter conuersari. Dicit eciam, quod gladius, quem dixit Symeon, sex doloribus in vita eius animam pertransibat.
The Humility of the Mother
Mary explains that while she was without sin and needed no purification, she lived in humble obedience to the law to fulfill the prophecies.
The Mother says to the Bride of the Son, "My daughter, know that I didn't need purification like other women, because my Son, who was born of me, purified me Himself." Nor did I contract any stain, however small, for I brought forth the most pure Son without any impurity. Still, I chose to live according to the law and within the law, so that the law and the prophecies might be fulfilled. I didn't live according to the ways of the world, but lived humbly among the humble. I didn't want anything unique to be singled out in me; instead, I loved everything that belonged to humility.
The Six Sorrows of the Heart
Mary details the sixfold sorrow that pierced her soul throughout her life, beginning with the prophecy of Simeon and continuing until her assumption.
On a day like today, my sorrow was increased. For although I knew through divine inspiration that my Son would suffer, yet because of the words of Simeon—who said that a sword would pierce my soul and that my Son would be set as a sign that would be opposed—this sorrow pierced my heart all the more deeply.✦ He never left my heart, right up until the time I was assumed into heaven, body and soul—though he was tempered by the consolation of the Spirit of God. I also want you to know that from that day on, my sorrow was sixfold. The first was in my thoughts. Every time I looked at my son, every time I wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and every time I saw his hands and feet, my soul was overwhelmed by a fresh sorrow, because I was thinking of how he would be crucified. My second sorrow came from what I heard. For as often as I heard the insults against my Son, and the lies and traps set for him, my soul was moved with such sorrow that I could barely contain myself; yet by the power of God, my grief remained measured and dignified, so that no impatience or lightness might be found in me. The third sorrow was in what I saw. For when I saw my Son being bound, scourged, and hung upon the wood, I collapsed as if lifeless; yet, gathering my spirit again, I stood there grieving and suffering so patiently that neither my enemies nor anyone else could find anything in me but gravity.1 The fourth sorrow was in my touch. For when I, along with others, took my Son down from the cross, wrapped Him, and laid Him in the tomb, my sorrow was so magnified that my hands and feet could barely hold me up. Oh, how gladly I would have been buried with my Son then! Fifth, I suffered from an intense desire to reach my Son after He ascended into heaven, because the long delay I endured in the world after His ascension only increased my sorrow. Sixth, I suffered pain from the tribulations of the apostles and the friends of God, whose pain was my own, as I was always fearing and grieving; I feared they might succumb to temptations and tribulations, and I grieved because the words of my Son were met with opposition everywhere. But even though the grace of God always remained with me and my will was in accord with God’s will, my sorrow was still continuous, mingled with consolation, until I was taken, body and soul, into heaven to my Son.
The Necessity of Suffering
Mary exhorts the Bride to embrace trials, noting that suffering is a necessary path to the heavenly life.
Therefore, daughter, don't let this sorrow leave your soul, because if there were no trials, very few would reach the heavenly life.
Read the original Latin
Mater loquitur ad sponsam Filii dicens: "Filia mea, scias, quod ego non indigebam purificacione sicut alie femine, quia filius meus, qui natus est ex me, ipse mundauit me. Nec ego aliquam quantumcumque minimam maculam contraxi, que filium mundissimum sine aliqua immundicia generaui.
Verumptamen, vt lex impleretur et prophecie, secundum legem in lege volui viuere. Nec secundum parentes seculi viuebam sed cum humilibus humiliter conuersabar.
Nec aliquid singulare in me preferri volui sed totum, quod erat humilitatis, diligebam. Tali eciam die sicut hodie dolor meus augmentatus fuit.
Nam licet sciebam filium meum ex inspiracione diuina passurum, tamen ex verbis Symeonis, quibus dixit gladium pertransiturum animam meam et filium meum positurum in signum, cui contradiceretur, grauius perforabat cor meum dolor iste,
qui, vsque dum assumpta fui corpore et anima in celum, numquam defuit a corde meo, licet ex consolacione Spiritus Dei temperabatur.
Scire eciam te volo, quod ab isto die dolor meus sextuplex fuit. Primo fuit in cogitacione mea.
Nam quociens aspiciebam filium meum, quociens inuoluebam eum pannis, quociens videbam eius manus et pedes, tociens animus meus quasi nouo dolore absortus est, quia cogitabam, quomodo crucifigeretur. Secundo fuit dolor in auditu meo.
Nam quociens audiui obpropbria filii mei et mendacia et insidias ei positas, tociens animus meus motus est dolore ita, quod vix se tenere poterat, sed virtute Dei dolor meus modum et honestatem habuit, ne impaciencia et leuitas in me notaretur.
Tercio fuit dolor meus in visu meo. Nam quando vidi filium meum ligari et flagellari et in ligno suspendi, corrui quasi exanimis sed reassumpto spiritu steti dolens et sic pacienter sufferens, vt nec inimici nec alii in me aliud reperirent nisi grauitatem.
Quarto fuit dolor meus in tactu. Ego enim cum aliis deposui filium meum de cruce et inuolui eum et posui in tumulum, et sic tunc augebatur dolor meus, vt vix manus et pedes mei haberent robur ad subsistendum. O quam libenter tunc fuissem sepulta cum filio meo!
Quinto paciebar ex vehementi desiderio perueniendi ad filium meum, postquam ipse ascendit in celum, quia longa mora, quam habui in mundo post ascensionem eius, dolorem meum augmentabat.
Sexto paciebar dolorem ex tribulacione apostolorum et amicorum Dei, quorum dolor erat dolor meus, timens semper et dolens; timens, ne succumberent temptacionibus et tribulacionibus, dolens, quia verba filii mei vbique habebant contradiccionem.
Sed licet gracia Dei semper perseuerabat mecum et voluntas mea erat secundum velle Dei, attamen dolor meus continuus erat permixtus consolacione, donec assumpta fui corpore et anima in celum ad filium meum.
Propterea, filia, non discedat dolor iste ab anima tua, quia nisi essent tribulaciones, paucissimi ad celestia peruenirent."
Scripture echoes
- ↩Luke.2.34-Luke.2.35 — And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, 'Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed.' Luke.2.35 — and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
Notes
- 1 ↩The term 'gravity' (gravitas) here denotes a composed, dignified, and solemn self-restraint in the face of extreme suffering, rather than mere heaviness.
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