Charity is one in its essence, because of the oneness of its object: God loved in Himself, God loved in the neighbour. Hence, the more soul loves God, so much the more does it love its neighbour. Such was the characteristic of Mary's charity and she teaches us that when our love of God is really perfect, it flows at once into generous love of our neighbour, because as St Tomas says, one who loves God, love all that God loves. If then, we have to recognize that in dealing with our neighbour, we are not very charitable, nor very kind to him, nor attentive to his needs, we must conclude that out love of God is still very weak. St Bernard says: "With how much virtue, O Mary, did not infinite Goodness fill your heart during nine months He reposed within you! I know infinite Goodness filled your heart before entering your womb, and even when He left it, He did not leave your soul. If we hold in our hand a fragrant fruit for a half a day, does not our hand retain the fragrance for the rest of the day? O holy Virgin, it is just this charity, the fruit of your intimate union with God, which you pour out upon all mankind, condescending to receive them in the wide embrace of your immense love."
In Mary, we find the most perfect model for the souls aspiring to intimacy with God; at the same time, she is the surest guide for them. She leads us to Jesus and teaches us to concentrate all our affections on Him, to give ourselves entirely to Him, until we are completely lost and transformed in Him. Then through Jesus, she guides us to the life of union with the Trinity. By reason of sanctifying grace, our soul is also a temple of the Trinity, and Mary teaches us how to abide in this temple as a perpetual adorer of the three divine Persons who dwell therein. St Elizabeth of the Trinity says: "I do not need to make any effort to enter into the mystery of the divine indwelling in the soul of Our Lady; my soul seems to abide there habitually, in the same attitude that was hers: adoring the God hidden within me" (Letters). May it also be given to us to live, under Mary's direction, in this attitude of continual adoration of the Trinity dwelling within our soul.
Let us continue to pray with St Elizabeth of the Trinity: "O Mary, I can imagine how you must have felt when, after the Incarnation, you had within you the Word made flesh, the Gift of God! In what silence, what adoring recollection, must you have withdrawn into the depths of your soul to embrace the God whose Mother you were! Your attitude, O Blessed Virgin, during the months preceding the Nativity of Jesus, seems to be the model for interior souls...What peace and recollection accompanied your every action! You made ordinary things divine, because through them all, you remained the adorer of the Gift of God" (Letters, 1:10)
Vintage Holy card depicting Blessed Virgin with the Child Jesus from Westfries Museum collection in Belgium
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