A story for every day...
Mary’s gentle reproach.
In the time of Charlemagne, a young Hungarian lord was ardently in love with the Mother of God. He recited the Hours of the Virgin every day with angelic devotion. He often felt in his heart the desire to dedicate his life to the service of his divine Queen, in one of the religious Orders instituted more especially in Her honor. But, as the heir to rich estates, his family succeeded in getting him to consent to a noble alliance.
A few days before his marriage, having entered a church, he had the squires of his retinue withdrawn and began to recite his customary prayer. When he reached the antiphon of none, Pulchra es et décora, filia Jerusalem: Daughter of Jerusalem, you are radiant with beauty and grace, the Virgin Mary appeared to him accompanied by two angels who were standing beside Her.
“If I am beautiful, why do you want to abandon Me for another wife?” She said to him; “don’t I have enough attractions for you?”
The young lord, astonished, answered Her:
“O sweetest Lady, the brilliance of Your glory surpasses all the beauty of the world, for You are exalted above all the choirs of the angels. What do You want me to do?
– If you leave for My love your earthly bride, I Myself will be your bride in Heaven.”
The young squire placed the ring he intended for his young bride on the finger of a statue of Mary. He did not want to return to his manor; he ran to throw himself at the feet of a hermit, who introduced him into a blessed solitude, where he tasted, the rest of his days, the consolations of celestial love.
