Virgo Potens

Ring nebula Month of the Holy Eucharist ~ April 10th 66. The most familiar meditation which the seraphic St. Francis was in the habit of making was this, first he elevated his thoughts to God and then turned them towards himself: “My God,” he would exclaim, “Who art Thou? and who am I?” And raising his thoughts first to the greatness and infinite goodness of God he would then descend to consider his own misery and vileness. And thus ascending and descending this scale of thought from the greatness of God down to his own nothingness the seraphic Saint would pass whole nights in meditation, practising in this exercise a real, true, sublime and profound humility, like the Angels seen by Jacob in his sleep on that ladder of mystical perfection “ascending and descending by it.” [Gen. xxviii, 12] (continued)

2 of 2 6.—Why Jesus appeared first to St. Mary Magdalen Jesus saith to her: Mary. She turning, saith to him: Rabboni (which is to say, Master). Jesus saith to her: Do not touch me, for I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren, and say to them: I ascend to my Father and to your Father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalen cometh, and telleth the disciples: I have seen the Lord, and these things he said to me. Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you. 1. Had not many been faithful to Jesus besides St. Mary Magdalen? Why did He choose her before them all?— before St. John, before Mary of Salome, and the rest of the holy women? It was because of the persistescy of her love. When St. John had looked into the empty sepulchre and returned, and when the other holy women had gone their way, Mary still stood at the sepulchre without, weeping for love of Him and sorrow at having lost Him. God loves this persistency. If we went on praying and weeping, we should attain all we ask. 2. Jesus also appeared first to Mary Magdalen because she loved Him with an affection that absorbed all the powers of her soul. When she saw the two angels in white, sitting, one at the head, the other at the feet, where the Body of Jesus had been laid, she took no notice of them ; and when they asked her why she wept, her only answer was: "Because they have taken away my Lord." This is the sort of love that Jesus values; this is the love He will recompense by His most liberal graces. 3. None of all those who loved Our Lord had shed so many tears as St. Mary Magdalen. She had wept often at the thought of her sins and her ingratitude; she had wept of pure love at the feet of Jesus; she had wept tears of bitter, heartbroken sorrow, as she knelt beneath the cross; she had wept continually during those three days while He was in the tomb; and now she wept still. Our Lord loves such tears—tears of penance, tears of compassion, and tears of love. I will then pray for this gift of holy tears. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893j

2 of 2 6.—Why Jesus appeared first to St. Mary Magdalen Jesus saith to her: Mary. She turning, saith to him: Rabboni (which is to say, Master). Jesus saith to her: Do not touch me, for I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren, and say to them: I ascend to my Father and to your Father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalen cometh, and telleth the disciples: I have seen the Lord, and these things he said to me. Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you. 1. Had not many been faithful to Jesus besides St. Mary Magdalen? Why did He choose her before them all?— before St. John, before Mary of Salome, and the rest of the holy women? It was because of the persistescy of her love. When St. John had looked into the empty sepulchre and returned, and when the other holy women had gone their way, Mary still stood at the sepulchre without, weeping for love of Him and sorrow at having lost Him. God loves this persistency. If we went on praying and weeping, we should attain all we ask. 2. Jesus also appeared first to Mary Magdalen because she loved Him with an affection that absorbed all the powers of her soul. When she saw the two angels in white, sitting, one at the head, the other at the feet, where the Body of Jesus had been laid, she took no notice of them ; and when they asked her why she wept, her only answer was: "Because they have taken away my Lord." This is the sort of love that Jesus values; this is the love He will recompense by His most liberal graces. 3. None of all those who loved Our Lord had shed so many tears as St. Mary Magdalen. She had wept often at the thought of her sins and her ingratitude; she had wept of pure love at the feet of Jesus; she had wept tears of bitter, heartbroken sorrow, as she knelt beneath the cross; she had wept continually during those three days while He was in the tomb; and now she wept still. Our Lord loves such tears—tears of penance, tears of compassion, and tears of love. I will then pray for this gift of holy tears. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893j

THE RESURRECTION and ASCENSION of JESUS CHRIST April 9th, 2026 ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ 6.—Why Jesus appeared first to St. Mary Magdalen Read St. John xx. 11-19 But Mary stood at the sepulchre without, weeping. Now as she was weeping, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, And she saw two angels in white, sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been laid. They say to her: Woman, why weepest thou? She saith to them: Because they have taken away my Lord; and I know not where they have laid him. When she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing; and she knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith to her: Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, thinking it was the gardener, saith to him: Sir, if thou hast taken him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. (continued)

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Eucharist ~ April 9th For I perceive that it is necessary for me to separate myself from the world, so that Jesus Christ may intercede for me. And if I am a lover of the world, I shall be excommunicated by Jesus Christ and shall have no part in His intercessions and prayers. These are the words of Christ Himself: “I pray not for the world, but for those who are not of the world.” Let us really understand these words: that Jesus Christ excludes us from His kingdom if we belong to the world, that is to say if we wish to follow the maxims of the world which are nothing but vanity and deceit and fill man with pride; the maxims of the world which the prophet says “turn aside the way of the humble.” [Amos ii, 7] Meanwhile Jesus Christ is our advocate with the Father in so far as, renewing our Baptismal vow, we renounce the world and accept the maxims of the Gospel which are true and tend to make man humble. To serve both God and the world is impossible, because we could never please both–—“he will hold to the one and despise the other.” [Luke xvi, 13] To pretend to serve God and the world is the same as to imagine that we can be both humble and proud at the same time. Vain dream! ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Holy Eucharist ~ April 9th 65. When I consider the words which Jesus Christ addressed to His heavenly Father in prayer, saying that He did not pray for the world, “I pray not for the world” [John xviii, 9]–—and again that, when praying for His disciples that His prayer might be more efficacious, He emphasized the fact that they were not followers of the world, “They are in the world, but they are not of the world”–—I confess that no words of our Saviour in the whole Gospel terrify me more than these. (continued)

2 of 2 5.—The Appearance of Jesus to St. Mary Magdalen 1. Of all the sinful children of men, Our Lord chose out St. Mary Magdalen for the special privilege of being the first to whom He should appear after His resurrection. What earned for her this privilege? It was one thing, and one only: it was her single-minded fidelity to Jesus Christ. This it is that He values; this it is that draws Him near to the faithful soul. 2. Had she always been faithful? No; in the past she had been a great sinner, given up to pride, luxury, impurity, so that it was literally true that seven devils had dwelt within her. But Jesus had called her, and she had listened to His voice; and speedily the seven devils were cast out, never more to return; and the place where they had dwelt was now occupied by the love of Jesus. O happy change! For me, too, sinner as I am, Jesus is ready to do the like. 3. But did He not shrink from such a sinner? Oh, no! He is the friend of sinners; their very sins draw Him to them; and the memory of all that He has done to save them from their misery is a link that binds Him to them in the bonds of close affection. What wonderful, what astonishing, mercy is this that Jesus shows to us poor sinners! ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

THE RESURRECTION and ASCENSION of JESUS CHRIST April 9th, 2026 ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ 5.—The Appearance of Jesus to St. Mary Magdalen Read St. Mark xvi. 9-12 But he rising early the first day of the week, appeared first to Mary Magdalen, out of whom he had cast seven devils. She went and told them that had been with him, who were mourning and weeping. And they hearing that he was alive, and had been seen by her, did not believe. And after that he appeared in another shape to two of them walking, as they were going into the country. (continued)

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Eucharist ~ April 8th And shall it therefore be a “hard saying” that we are to have patience and humility in order to please God? Ah, miserable soul of mine, let us attend to the things of this world, the thoughts and ideas and scruples of this world, its obligations and opinions, its politics and loves and caprices! I know well that humility can only be laborious and wearisome in such an atmosphere, so full of worldliness, for as Holy Writ says: “Humility is an abomination to the proud.” [Ecclus. xiii, 24] But let us rise above the world and its opinions, and in the light of the eternal truth of faith we shall find that this virtue is not only easy but sweet and pleasing, because all that Christ has told us is true, and after having exhorted us to learn humility from him, “Learn of Me for I am meek and humble of heart,” He immediately added, “For My yoke is easy and My burden light.” Truth cannot lie; it is we who refuse to listen to it. We are ruled by the world, and so to hear humility spoken of is a “hard saying.” But let us remember that it is a “true saying.” For if we are not humble we cannot be saved. Great is the kingdom to which we aspire, says St. Augustine; but humble is the way which leads to it: “Excelsa est patria, humilis est via.” Of what use is our longing for Paradise if we will not walk in the path of humility which is the only way that leads to it? “Why does he seek his native land who refuses to follow the way that leads to it.” [Tract. 78]” ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Holy Eucharist ~ April 8th 64. Everything depends upon the way in which we take things. To rule our life by the maxims of the world, is certain to inspire pride; and it is equally certain that to rule ourselves by the maxims of the Gospel will inspire humility. According to the world we should repulse an insult with anger and resentment, but according to the Gospel we should accept it with a humble, prudent and meek patience. “This saying is hard.” [John vi, 61] But how much patience do we not exercise to please the world! Patience that is often bitter and hard! (continued)

2 of 2 4.—The Holy Women at the Sepulchre 1. What must have been the joy of the holy women when they found that God had granted the desires of their heart, and rolled the huge stoneaway! It was one of those joyful surprises by which God delights to encourage faithful hearts. Just when all seems hopeless, He steps in, and every difficulty vanishes. If this is not my experience, it ought to be; and the oniy reason why it is not, is because I have been distrustful and despondent. Courage, faint heart! He is waiting to help thee. 2. But when they entered the tomb, what a surprise! Instead of the dead Body of Jesus, they found an angel, clothed in white, sitting at the right side of the tomb. They were utterly astonished. They had never understood the meaning of Our Lord's promise that He would rise again. What could have happened? Had His Body been carried away? Had God taken it up to heaven? If He had been restored to life, He was lost to them. Their hearts were filled with mingled hope and fear, joy and sorrow, astonishment and a bewildered sense of happiness. 3. The angel's words soon reassure them. "He is risen. He is not here. You shall soon see Him again. Go carry the joyful news to His disciples." Trembling with joy, they obey the command. No need of spices and ointment now. It is too good to be true,—He is risen! My Jesus delights to turn sorrow into joy. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

THE RESURRECTION and ASCENSION of JESUS CHRIST April 8th, 2026 ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ 4.—The Holy Women at the Sepulchre Read St. Mark xvi. 4-7 And looking, they saw the stone rolled back. For it was very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed with a white robe: and they were astonished. Who saith to them: Be not affrighted; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he is risen, he is not here, behold the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee; there you shall see him, as he told you. (continued)

2 of 2 3.—The Holy Women on Their Way to the Sepulchre 1. All through the Sabbath day the holy women had been anxiously looking forward to the mournful pleasure of carrying to the sepulchre sweet spices and perfumes that they had prepared to embalm the Body of Jesus; and very early in the morning of the first day of the week they started on their pious errand. But,strange to say, it had never occurred to them that a huge stone closed the door of the tomb, sealed with an official seal and guarded by a picket of soldiers. This is one of the truest marks of love, it seems to forget all difficulties, to overleap all obstacles; it has a wonderful confidence that it will attain its object. Is this the character of my love to Christ? Am I confident that I shall overcome all those hindrances which now seem to bar my way to holiness? 2. On the road to the sepulchre, as the difficulty became close at hand, they were stricken with fear—"who shall roll us back the stone?" Yet on they went, nothing daunted, trusting God with implicit confidence, relying on His power to take away what seemed to be an insuperable obstacle. So, when dangers and difficulties threaten me, do I go straight on, trusting in the goodness of my God? 3. Their holy confidence was not disappointed: holy confidence never is disappointed. The more we trust God, the more marvels He will work for us. An angel had been sent to reward them for their persevering devotion by doing, with angelic hands, what was altogether beyond their power to perform. So now God will send an angel, if needful, to fulfil the desires of those who trust in Him. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

THE RESURRECTION and ASCENSION of JESUS CHRIST April 7th, 2026 ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ 3.—The Holy Women on Their Way to the Sepulchre Read St. Mark xvi. 1-4. And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought sweet spices, that coming, they might anoint Jesus. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to the sepulchre, the sun being now risen. And they said one to another: Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And looking, they saw the stone rolled back. For it was very great. (continued)

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Eucharist ~ April 7th St. Ambrose says of David when he was insulted by Semei with vituperations and stoning, that he “held his peace and humbled himself,” [Lib. 1, Offic., cap. xviii] keeping his mind fixed on this one thought: “The Lord hath bid him curse me.” [2 Kings xvi, 10] We are grateful to the surgeon who bleeds us, even though he may not be thinking of our health but of this particular office of his profession. Therefore if we understood this, not as Stoic philosophers but as good Christians, we ought to be grateful to those who humiliate us, for although they have no intention of making us humble but only of humiliating us, yet in reality this humiliation helps us to acquire humility if such be our desire. The benefit is a real benefit, although he who confers it has no intention that it should be so. An insult is only an insult in the intention of the man who gives it, and the humiliation belongs only to him who receives it; and it is a most sure means of acquiring and practicing humility, if he knows how to receive it in a Christian spirit. To this end God permits us to be humiliated at itimes so that we may give a proof of our virtue “in the furnace of humiliation,” [Ecclus. ii, 5] and the teacher of this wise rule goes on to say: “Humble thy heart and endure.” [Ecclus. ii, 2] ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Holy Eucharist ~ April 7th 63. I ought to be most grateful to anyone who helps to keep me in humility by subjecting me to humiliations of word and deed, because he is co-operating with the Divine mercy to fulfill the work of my eternal salvation. And although he has no thought of my salvation when he offends me, he is nevertheless an instrument thereof, and all the evil comes from me if I do not make a good use of it. (continued)

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Eucharist ~ April 7th St. Ambrose says of David when he was insulted by Semei with vituperations and stoning, that he “held his peace and humbled himself,” [Lib. 1, Offic., cap. xviii] keeping his mind fixed on this one thought: “The Lord hath bid him curse me.” [2 Kings xvi, 10] We are grateful to the surgeon who bleeds us, even though he may not be thinking of our health but of this particular office of his profession. Therefore if we understood this, not as Stoic philosophers but as good Christians, we ought to be grateful to those who humiliate us, for although they have no intention of making us humble but only of humiliating us, yet in reality this humiliation helps us to acquire humility if such be our desire. The benefit is a real benefit, although he who confers it has no intention that it should be so. An insult is only an insult in the intention of the man who gives it, and the humiliation belongs only to him who receives it; and it is a most sure means of acquiring and practicing humility, if he knows how to receive it in a Christian spirit. To this end God permits us to be humiliated at itimes so that we may give a proof of our virtue “in the furnace of humiliation,” [Ecclus. ii, 5] and the teacher of this wise rule goes on to say: “Humble thy heart and endure.” [Ecclus. ii, 2] ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Eucharist ~ April 6th Therefore the profit we ought to derive from such thoughts is this: to live always in fear and humility before God, to do good diligently and to avoid evil without ever exalting ourselves in our self-esteem above others because we do not know what our doom may be. “Serve ye the Lord with fear.” [Ps. ii, 11] “Fear the Lord all ye His Saints.” [ Ps. xxxiii, 10] Such is the Divine will towards us, manifested through St. Paul. God expects us always to be humble, whether it be for that which He reveals to us or for that which He withholds from us. When we read the Holy Scriptures, we find many prophecies proceeding from the Holy Ghost that terrify us; but many others that console us. When we read the writings of the holy fathers we find in them some judgments that are very terrible, and some that are very lenient. When we read the theological works of the scholastics we find in them opinions upon the subjects of grace and predestination that alarm us and others that encourage us. Why is this? The Providence of God has thus disposed it, so that between hope and fear we might remain humble. The mysteries of grace and predestination would no longer be mysteries if we were capable of grasping them with our understanding. To pause and consider whether God has forgiven our sins or not, and whether we are living in a state of grace or whether we are predestined, etc., is in itself an act of temerity and pride, inasmuch as we are seeking to know the hidden judgments of God Who does not wish us to know them so that we may remain in humility. “Be not highminded but fear,” says St. Paul. [Rom. xi, 20] ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Holy Eucharist ~ April 6th 62. The following thoughts may sometimes trouble us: Who knows whether my past confessions have been good? Who knows whether I have felt real sorrow for my sins? Who knows if my sins have been forgiven? Who knows whether I am in the grace of God? Who knows whether I shall obtain the grace of final perseverance, and who knows if I am predestined to be saved? But it is not God’s intention that this uncertainty should cause us these anxieties and scruples. In His infinite wisdom He has hidden from us the mysteries of His justice and mercy, so that our ignorance should prove a most efficacious help to keep us in humility. (continued)

2 of 2 2.—The Appearance of Jesus to His Holy Mother 1. Our Lord's first visit was to His Holy Mother. It is not mentioned in Holy Scripture, because it stands to reason that He should first minister comfort to her who had before all else shared His sufferings. It would have been something quite unnatural if He had passed her over and given joy to some other heart before hers. Was He not united to her by a closer tie than any, save that alone of the Hypostatic Union? and had not her heart alone always beat in unison with His? The instinct of every Catholic echoes the saying of Ignatius that those indeed must be without understanding who suppose that on Easter morn any creature could be preferred to her. 2. How shall we paint the happiness of that meeting? For Mary, it was Paradise begun. That one moment was more than enough to make her forget all her sorrows. As each pang of His sacred suffering had echoed in her heart, so much more each pulsation of joy, each note of triumph. From that day forth, the remembrance of that meeting was ever present to her, lighting up all the rest of her life with a boundless joy. 3. What earned that happiness for Mary? Her perfect obedience. There was none who imitated the obedience of Jesus as Mary; and therefore the joy of Jesus, in His triumph, flowed unchecked into her Immaculate Heart. It is my disobedience to grace which makes me gloomy and downcast. If I am obedient, I too shall be full of peace and joy. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)