Let Us Pray! – To be souls filled with God Renounce all things Be attentive to God Lovers of the Cross Docility to the Holy Spirit – So that all things may be renewed Prayer – To be true servants of God Fidelity in the little things – May the designs of God be fulfilled Faith in the action of Providence Prayer and Penance Adoration of Jesus Host – To live in intimacy with God The reading of the Gospel – May God’s Kingdom come! Prayer – To hasten the hour of salvation for the Church and the world Invitation to fight – May God find these generous souls Be true – With grace and truth Patience – Graciously! Do violence to ourselves – To attain holiness The summit of Adoration No one can serve two masters The anguish of God What is most pleasing to God Aging is a Grace Secret of Happiness – The Beatitudes The true essence of the Holy Church of Jesus Christ ADVENT Prepare the Way of the Lord ADVENT Prepare the Coming of Jesus ADVENT Awaken Thy Power, O Lord, and come! CHRISTMAS Beside the manger CHRISTMAS He came unto His own and His own received Him not… EASTER Jesus, Light of the World Purgatory, an instrument of Divine Mercy A page from the Gospel – Jesus lost and found in the Temple The Feast of the Visitation and of the Magnificat The Assumption of the Virgin Mary The Secret of the Rosary Mary, Mother of God and our Mother Glorious Saint Joseph, our Model Saint Michael the Archangel, Champion of Humility

The Assumption of the

Virgin Mary

by Father Mathurin of the Mother of God We are gathered together tonight to celebrate the great feast of the Assumption. Most of us are familiar with this feast. On the other hand, if we asked the little children, “What is the Assumption?” they might not know what to reply. We might say that the Assumption is the resurrection of Mary. In fact, on the third day after Her death, Mary rose up to heaven body and soul. This is a dogma of faith proclaimed by Pope Pius XII. Ever since he proclaimed it for all Christians, it is obligatory to believe that the Blessed Virgin Mary rose up to heaven body and soul. Besides Jesus, the Mother of God is the only one who rose up body and soul into heaven. She is so closely identified with Her Son Jesus, that Jesus wanted to identify Her with Himself even in Her death and after Her death. When we started teaching catechism to little children, when we ourselves learned our catechism, one of the first questions we were asked and which was often repeated afterward was: “Why did God create us?” Certainly, if I asked even the littlest children here, most of them would be able to answer: God created us to know Him, to love Him and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him in heaven throughout eternity. And yet, how rare are the humans who live in conformity with this reason for our existence, for our creation! How rare are the souls who fully live out what God created us for: to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him! Who pursues that end with all the energy, all the powers that God has given him: intelligence, memory, will, love, and all the passions, which are the powers of the soul? Rare are the humans who utilize all of God’s gifts to truly accomplish this design of God for each soul.

The fateful vanity

We might say that on the contrary, the thing that is probably most widespread on earth is vanity. Falsehood and vanity! How vain human beings are! “Vain, conceited, proud,” it is all the same. Why are we so vain? Someone asked me recently, “What does it mean to be conceited?” It means to take pleasure in yourself, to seek to show yourself to advantage, to be self-satisfied, to try to impress others, etc. But in an even deeper sense, being conceited also means to love the futility, the frivolity, the insignificance, the nothingness of the splendors and pleasures of the World. Therefore, being conceited means the exact opposite of living to know, love and serve God. If you want to know everything that is not God, love and serve everything that is not God and not pleasing to Him, you live in falsehood and illusion, in a sort of mirage. That is exactly what the enemy of God strives for: to sow deceit and the love of vain things in human hearts. The world and the devil even harass very little children, hounding them with all sorts of temptations of futilities and vanity. The devil already wants to teach them things contrary to God. He spurs their self-love to step forward and show off, to conform to the worldly spirit, which is contrary to God. A Christian, a child of God, is someone who is true before God. To know, to love, to serve God is the truth. Being true before God is the only truth. The devil, those who work with him, the worldly spirit, impel souls to do the opposite: to shine before men without any concern for the thought of God. God’s opinion, what He expects of us, many do not even think about it. God asks us to be true before Him, to live and act under His divine gaze. The more faithful a soul is to enter into this design of God, the more it is grafted, united, conformed to the design of God, the more it will accomplish the divine plan. That is what we celebrate today. The Virgin Mary entered perfectly into the plan of God. Vanity, which is love of the World, never had an influence of any kind on the Virgin Mary. Vanity makes its appearance very quickly in very little children. As we grow, we lose the qualities of childhood, but we often keep its faults. We grow and we remain vain and in illusion. We ought to struggle our whole life long in order to be true before God, by knowing Him, loving Him, serving Him. Today we contemplate the Virgin Mary in Her Assumption. Many authors speak of the glories of Mary when She rises up to the heights of heaven. Why does She rise so high? Because on this earth She entered perfectly into the divine plan. God had a plan for the Virgin Mary. And She — even being immaculate in Her conception — was free to accept it and conform Her whole life to it, and also free to refuse it. Look at our first parents, Adam and Eve: they were free also. God had created them without sin, completely innocent, but they did not pass the test. They preferred themselves to God, they preferred their self-love, their conceit, their pride to God. The Virgin Mary certainly went through that test also. God rewards those who pass the test, and all those who enter into heaven have passed the test. The Virgin Mary, immensely more than any other, passed Her test with the greatest perfection. She was perfectly true before God, without any glamor, without any fanfare, without anything extraordinary in the eyes of men. Look at the text of today’s liturgy and see what the Virgin Mary said when Her cousin Elizabeth began to praise Her: “My soul glorifies the Lord... because He has regarded the humility of His handmaid; He has done great things to Me, holy is His Name.” That is what She says in the Magnificat. Today we might say that the Assumption of Mary into heaven, the great solemnity being celebrated on high, is due to Mary’s humility. Imagine how charming Mary must have been when She was a little child! We look at little children, and despite all their faults, we are charmed. Their faults displease us, yet we cannot help but love them; little children charm us, attract us. Imagine the Virgin Mary at the age of three! Her parents could not help but be charmed by that child, and how they loved Her! This was the child God had given them, a child full of grace and charm, a perfect child. Even so, when that child was three years old, Her good parents took Her to the Temple and entrusted Her to strangers, as it were. They left Her in the Temple and went away. What sorrow for these holy parents and for little Mary! That child, still so little, had to suffer the trial of separation from Her parents. Let us try to imagine what went on in the heart of that little three-year-old child and the docility, the conformity of all Her sentiments to the will of Her parents, which was the manifestation of the Will of God for Her. She entered the Temple perfectly docile, truly obedient. Not only was She physically in the Temple at the age of three, but Her whole heart, Her whole soul adhered to this will of Her parents, this Will of God. She wanted it absolutely without manifesting it exteriorly, She did not put on a show, it all took place in Her soul. Speaking in advance of the Virgin Mary, Holy Scripture said, All the beauty of the King’s daughter, all her glory is within. That is where everything takes place. All Her virtue is within. In the Temple Mary had companions who, seeing Her so perfect, developed jealousy toward Her. Since the original sin, we have a seed of pride inside of us, and conceit makes us want to increase our standing. We want to outdo and belittle all that appears a little better than us and that may outshine us. The Virgin Mary experienced this. She experienced it coming from Her companions, who were jealous of Her perfection. They were a little nasty toward Her, and sometimes very much so. The Virgin Mary did not go and complain to mommy and daddy. Did She even go and complain to the priest or to Her mistresses? If She did, it was with immense meekness and charity. Most probably She bore everything interiorly, with great love, and prayed for Her companions who made Her suffer. Little Mary lived in a closed circle for years. A slight scorn, a slight jealousy in passing is tolerable, but when it goes on and on... If you encounter a stranger on the street who scorns you... well, he’s a stranger. But when it is day after day, it can try a person’s virtue, especially that of a little child. The Virgin Mary was tried. She passed the test. Her soul was already so attentive to God that She wanted God’s design, and She wanted God’s plan to be accomplished. Although She was very little, Mary wanted to know, love and serve God, and She strove for it with all Her might. The little Jewish girls were told, “The Messiah is coming, He is going to be born, and a Jewish girl will be His mother.” Imagine all the little girls in the Temple thinking, “Maybe I will be His mother!” This was an immense dream that the entire Jewish nation cherished interiorly. Someday one of the daughters of Israel would be the mother of the Messiah, the Word of God made man... imagine! They talked about it in the Temple: Eventually a young girl will become the mother of the Messiah. Little Mary was very aware of this, even more than all Her companions. Her soul was sensitive to this coming of the Messiah and of His mother, but all the while She was far from thinking that She would be the one. Even when She was very young, She prayed for the coming of the Messiah. It was one of Her greatest supplications: that this Messiah, this Saviour, this Redeemer might come! If it happened in Her lifetime, She hoped She would have the pleasure of knowing His mother and of being Her handmaid: “What an honor it would be for Me to be the handmaid of the mother of the Messiah!” She grew up with that thought. You know the story. She did not the become the handmaid of the mother of the Messiah, She became the Mother of the Son of God. As a little child, Her aim was not to be the Mother of God. Do not forget: Her aim was to know, love and serve God. The priests and Her mistresses were already teaching Her about God... in an imperfect manner, because they were still in the Old Testament times. That little girl rising up to heaven today contained both the Old and the New Testaments within Herself. She lived in the Old Testament for fifteen years. At the age of fourteen, the Holy Spirit effected His work in Her. At fifteen She became the Mother of God. Fifteen years of hope without knowing whether the coming of the Messiah would occur in Her lifetime. Let us try to imagine this fourteen-year-old Child receiving the Angel’s visit. He tells Her that She has been chosen by God Himself to be His Mother, to be the Mother of God! Imagine this Child, so humble, who becomes even more firmly grounded in humility. Her humility increases even further when Jesus, the Word of God, becomes incarnate in Her womb. For fourteen years that little girl had been attentive, applied to knowing, loving and serving God. Imagine what goes on in Her soul when God Himself is present within Her, in Her womb. Imagine how She passes those moments with application, attention and perfect fidelity. God is within Her for nine months; how attentive She is to know Him, love Him and serve Him! Then this God is born as a little child and grows for thirty years in Her home, in Her company. Again I say to you: try to imagine the Virgin Mary during those thirty years. Do you think She was distracted by worldly vanities with Jesus living at Her side? Of course we know that She was not. We would not have been distracted, either. Jesus, God, is at Her side, and She is very attentive. He is Her only consideration, Her only occupation, Her only preoccupation; everything else is subordinate to that. Yes, certainly She does other things. She goes to the Temple when it is time; She does one thing and another; but everything is always subordinate to Jesus, the Son of God who is Her Child, living with Her, at Her side, and She applies Herself to knowing, loving and serving Him. When the time comes for that little Jesus to begin His public life, He leaves home and dispenses His teaching for three years. Let us again contemplate the Virgin Mary in all these teachings of Her Son; She is very attentive to properly grasp the words Her Son speaks to the multitude, to all human beings. Her Son speaks, the very Son of God speaks to men! She is present at many of His discourses. Imagine Her attention to properly grasp the entire thought of God. She is totally attentive to know Him well, full of love for the slightest words of Jesus, the Word of God made man, which we read in the Gospel. How Mary loved these words of Jesus! Already, as He was teaching, Her entire being ardently loved His words, She kept them in Her heart, in Her soul; She lived these words of Jesus. She knew Him, She loved Him, She served Him. Jesus will be undergoing His bitter Passion, and for the Virgin Mary this is the summit. How attentive She is, how She loves Him, with a love that is sorrowful but so intense! She accompanies Him in Her soul. She is not crucified with Jesus, She is not scourged, She is not crowned with thorns, no one spits on Her. Perhaps here and there, some insolent people did spit on Her. If they were insolent enough to spit on the Son of God, they may very well have spit on His Mother. In Her soul She experienced all the sufferings of Jesus, She underwent all of them in Her Heart. She suffered the Passion within Herself. Her immense, almost infinite love for Her Son made Her sorrowful along with Him. She follows His Passion, and in a way She suffers His death. Then came the Resurrection. And forty days later came the Ascension of Jesus into heaven. Between the Ascension of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles spent nine days in the Cenacle Room with the Virgin Mary. In the Cenacle Room, the Virgin Mary fulfilled Her role as Mother of the Church. She prepared the Apostles for the coming of the Holy Spirit so that each one of them would know, love and serve Jesus, God made man. That was the reason for all Her labor; it was Her work, Her ministry, but She did it discreetly. The Holy Spirit came upon the Virgin Mary and the Apostles. After the coming of the Holy Spirit, you see the Apostles beginning to preach everywhere: first in Judea and Galilee, then in Samaria. And then the Gospel spread to almost every place, first to the diaspora, where some Jews lived here and there outside of Israel, and then to Syria and Rome. Preaching at first to the Jewish communities, they promptly go to the pagans. We can already see the little Church beginning to undergo trials. Who is the soul of the primitive Church throughout all these trials it must undergo? The Virgin Mary. We can easily imagine the Apostles, who had lived with Jesus for three years, and during those three years had understood many of His teachings. Although they were still a little uncouth, they were still sensible enough to realize that the Virgin Mary was imbued with Jesus. She does not preach in the assemblies, but She speaks to them in private. Her word is Jesus; He is Her entire thought. It is truly the word of Jesus that passes through the Virgin Mary. You can imagine how much they have recourse to Her: She is their reference. They need Her as much as they felt that they needed Jesus. She is the One who conveys the Thought of Jesus to them. She gives them Jesus. They sense His presence, and what a comfort and joy that is for them! Jesus had passed away after having lived for a while with them, He had gone up to heaven; but they feel His presence in Mary, in Her words, in all Her thought. The thought of the Virgin Mary is the thought of Jesus, and they sense this. It comes through Her slightest gestures, Her slightest words and actions. Her entire conduct is Jesus, it is the thought of the Word of God made man. They have recourse to the Virgin Mary in all things. That is a little glimpse into what the Virgin Mary did. Imagine when this Mother dies and rises up to heaven. Try to imagine this creature rising up to heaven, She who without the shadow of a fault had accomplished the plan of God so perfectly. My brothers and sisters, my dear children, on this Assumption Day, on this beautiful feast of the Virgin Mary, we are going to ask Her to communicate to us as well, just as She did to the Apostles, the thought of Jesus. We are going to celebrate Mass now, and that is the intention we will have for each one of us, for our brothers and sisters, for all those who are united to us in spirit for lack of being able to be present in body. We are going to offer this Holy Mass in which Jesus immolates Himself, in honor of His holy Mother, to ask that the Virgin Mary may communicate the spirit, the thought of God to us. All of us, from the youngest to the oldest, may the passion of our life, may our entire interest be to know, to love, to serve God. When a soul knows, loves and serves God, then through that soul — and this is infallible — there are other souls that know, love and serve God. Holy Scripture does not relate any other text of the Virgin Mary; we have the Magnificat and that is all. It is not said that the Virgin went out to preach, that She conducted any retreats. She did not conduct retreats, She did not go and preach. The Apostles did that, but not Her. She lived the plan of God in all its intensity; Her beauty was entirely within. My brothers and sisters, may all our beauty also be to know, love and serve God. Good Mother, this is the prayer we make to You during this Mass. We make it in our own name and in the name of all our brothers and sisters; may each one of us become Your child in every sense of the word. Be Your child, truly Your child. In order to truly love the Blessed Virgin, we must imitate Her. Imitating the Virgin Mary is not very complicated. It may cost a lot, but it is not difficult. The program is very simple: to know, to love, to serve God as She did. It is very simple. Sometimes it costs us a little, because we have to set aside our self- love and many other loves in order to follow the knowledge, the love and the service of God. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and of the Mother of God. Amen.