Nine days have passed since Jesus ascended to Heaven and the Apostles are gathered in the Upper Room with Mary, Mother of Jesus. They spend the days in ardent prayer. At this moment when recollection is hovering over the entire Cenacle, Jerusalem is filled with pilgrims, who have flocked from every country of the Gentile world. They feel a strange mysterious expectation working in their souls. They are Jews, and have come from every foreign land where Israel has founded a synagogue; they have come to keep the feasts of Pasch and Pentecost. Asia, Africa, and even Rome, have here their representatives. Amidst these Jews properly so called, are to be seen many Gentiles, who, from a desire to serve God more faithfully, have embraced the Mosaic law and Observances; they are called proselytes. This influx of strangers, who have come to Jerusalem out of a desire to observe the Law, gives the city a Babel-like appearance, for each nation has its own language. They are not, however, under the influence of pride and prejudice, as are the inhabitants of Judea; neither have they, like these latter, known and rejected the Messias, nor blasphemed His works whereby He gave testimony of His divine character. Let us enter the Upper Room to contemplate the marvels of the divine Spirit. First of all, we look for Mary; for Her who now, more than ever, is full of grace. After those measureless gifts lavished upon Her in Her Immaculate Conception; after the treasures of holiness infused into Her by the Incarnate Word during the nine months She bore Him in Her womb; after the special graces granted Her for acting and suffering in union with Her Son, in the work of the world’s Redemption; after the favours wherewith this same Jesus loaded Her when in the glory of His Resurrection: we should have thought that heaven had given all it could to a mere creature, however sublime the destiny of that creature might be. But no. Here is a new mission opened for Mary. The Church is born; she is born of Mary. Mary has given birth to the bride of Her Son; new duties fall upon the Mother of the Church. Jesus has ascended into heaven, leaving Mary upon the earth, that She may nurse the infant Church. Oh! How lovely and yet how dignified, is this infancy of our dear Church, cherished as she is, fed, and strengthened by Mary! But this second Eve, this true Mother of the living, must receive a fresh infusion of grace to fit Her for this Her new office: therefore it is that She has the first claim to, and the richest portion of, the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Heretofore, He overshadowed Her and made Her Mother of the Son of God; now He makes Her the Mother of the Christian people. Let us contemplate this master-piece of Pentecost, and admire the new loveliness that beams in Mary from this new maternity. She is inflamed by the fire of divine love, and this in a way not felt before. She is all devoted to the office put upon Her, and for which She has been left on earth. The grace of the apostolate is granted to Her. She has received the tongue of fire; and although Her voice is not to make itself heard in public preaching, yet will She speak to the Apostles, directing and consoling them in their labours. She will speak, too, to the faithful, but with a force, a sweetness, and a persuasiveness, becoming one whom God has made the most exalted of His creatures. The primitive Christians, with such a training as this, will have vigour and energy enough to resist all the attacks of hell, and, like Stephen who had often listened to Her inspiring words, to die martyrs for the faith.