Concerning the life of the Virgin, through whom the Incarnation was wrought, we may make one meditation. You may imagine her, in the third year of her age, as ofiered by her parents in the Temple to God, and then as being continuously there until her fourteenth year.1 But of what happened during that period, we should not be left in ignorance, if we accepted the account in the following revelation, which, it is said, was vouchsafed to S. Elizabeth. Among other things, it is reported that these details were told her: — “When,” said the Virgin, “my father and my mother left me in the Temple, I decreed in my heart to take God for my Father ; and I devoutly and frequently considered what I might do to render myself pleasing in His sight, that He might vouchsafe to grant me His grace ; and I made myself learn the law of my God. But of all the precepts of the Divine Law, there were three precepts which I most of all preserved in my heart ; viz. ‘ Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength ; ’ also, * Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself ; ’ also, 1 Thou shalt hate the enemies of thy soul.’ These I kept, indeed, in my mind, and at once all the virtues comprised in them I possessed, and so I wish you to do. But the soul cannot have any virtue if God is not loved with all the heart ; for from that love flows the fulness of all grace, and without it no grace can flow into the soul, nor can it abide in it So will it also run away like water, unless the soul hates its enemies ; that is, its vices and sins. He who desires, therefore, to have and to retain grace within him, must order aright the passions of love and hatred. I would then have you do as I did. I rose, indeed, always at night, and went before the altar of the Temple, and with all the desire and longing and affection which I possessed, I sought for grace from the Almighty God to observe these three precepts, and all the other commandments of the law. And thus, whilst standing before the altar, I made these seven petitions to the Lord : —
“First, indeed, I asked for the grace, whereby I might be able to fulfil the precept of love; viz. to ‘love the Lord with all the heart/ etc.
“Secondly, I asked for grace, that I might be able to love my neighbour, according to His will and good pleasure, and that I might love all things which He loves and chooses.
“Thirdly, I asked for grace, that I might hate and avoid all things which He hates.
“Fourthly, I asked for lowliness, patience, gentleness, and meekness, and for all virtues which might render me more pleasing in His sight
“Fifthly, I besought Him to let me see the time when that blessed Virgin should be born, who should bring forth the Son of God, and that He would preserve my sight, that I might see her ; my tongue, that I might praise her ; my hands, that I might serve her ; my feet, that I might go to minister to her ; my knees, that I might adore the Son of God on her lap.
“Sixthly, I sought for grace, to obey the precepts and directions of the High Priest of the Temple.
“Seventhly, I prayed that the Temple and all the people of God might be preserved for His service.”
The handmaid of Christ, when she had heard this, exclaimed, “O most amiable lady, are not you full of grace and of virtues ?”
The Blessed Virgin replied, “Know for certain, that I regard myself as guilty, as vile, as unworthy of the grace of God as you. Therefore I thus pray for grace and virtues.” And again she said, “Daughter, do you imagine that all the grace which is given to me has come to me without any effort on my part ? Indeed it is not so ; for no grace, or gift or virtue, have I received from God without great effort, continual prayer, ardent desire, deep devotion, many tears, and much self-discipline, and without striving in every thought and deed to the best of my knowledge and power to please Him. In saying this, I except (as all must do) the first grace, which was given to me for my sanctification.”2 And she added, “Know for certain, that grace never descends into a soul, unless through prayer and mortification. But after we have rendered to God what we can, poor indeed as it is, grace comes into our soul, bearing with it His highest gifts, so that the soul seems to lose itself, and to lose its memory, and no remembrance to remain of anything said or done, as pleasing to God, and to become to itself more vile and contemptible than ever.”
This we have taken from the aforesaid revelations.
S. Jerome, however, writes thus concerning the life of the Blessed Virgin : — “The Blessed Virgin made for herself this rule, that she should continue in prayer from the morning to the third hour ; that she should occupy herself in outward work from the third to the ninth hour; and from the ninth hour again she returned to prayer, and did not cease from it, until (it is said) the angel appeared to her from whose hand she was accustomed to receive her food, and through converse with whom she increased in the service and love of God. It came to pass, that at vigils she was the first ; that she excelled in the wisdom of the Divine Law ; that she was remarkable for lowliness ; that she sang most sweetly the psalms of David ; that she was most glorious in charity ; that she was most chaste in purity, most perfect in every virtue. She was constant and firm, and when in contact with variableness in others, no one ever saw her or heard her angry. Her every word was so full of grace, that the Presence of God was made evident through her tongue. She continued constantly in prayer and in the study of the law of God. She was ever anxious about her companions, lest any of them should sin in word, or burst forth with inordinate laughter, or lest any one should offend an equal by violence and pride. She unceasingly blessed God; and lest perchance the greetings which she bestowed upon others who saluted her should in any way detract from the praises of God, she made it a custom to reply, ‘Thanks be to God.’ Thus the habit of holy persons saluting one another by the words3 Thanks be to God/ gained ground. The food which the angel is said to have given to her she received ; and that which from the High Priest of the Temple she accepted, she gave to the poor. Daily this angel was said to converse with her, and to obey her as if she were a very dear sister or mother.”
Thus far S. Jerome.
In her fourteenth year, the Blessed Virgin Mary, according to tradition, was espoused to Joseph, through Divine revelation, and returned to Nazareth; the details of this event you may find in the legend of her birth. Such things we may conceive of as happening before the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus. You should ruminate upon them, and draw delight from them, as at least the expression of a devout mind, and copy that devotion which is so conspicuous throughout them. Now let us proceed to the Mystery of the Incarnation.
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