9781644135945

The Light of the World
Prayer
Deliver us from our sins, O Lord, and let us come unto Thee with pure souls, through Christ
our Lord. Amen.
Third Day in the Octave
With Holy Mother the Church, we exclaim in admiration: “Thou art all fair. Thy vesture is white
as snow, and thy face is as the sun. Blessed art thou, O Virgin Mary, by the Lord, the most high
God, above all women upon the earth. Draw us, O immaculate Virgin; we will run after thee in
the odor of thy ointments” (Antiphons at Vespers).
“The things that are contemptible hath God chosen, . . . that He might bring to nought things
that are” (1 Cor 1:28). Men place great importance on talent, intelligence, art, and invention;
God prizes more the possession of sanctifying grace, union with God, and supernatural riches.
Before God the great are they who are pure of heart, free from inordinate passions and desires.
They are great in the sight of God who are children of God and are rich in virtue, faith, and love,
as Mary was. We become truly great before God when Christ lives in us and we in Him. Our
greatness depends on our being branches of the tree, Christ, having one will, one spirit, and
one love with Him. “The Lord is with thee,” and therefore “blessed art thou among women.”
“Behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed” (Lk 1:48). Draw us to thee, O
Virgin Mary, and bring us to that true greatness, greatness before God.
“Full of grace.” Mary is the acme of human greatness and beauty because of the plenitude
of her graces and the perfection of her union with God. “Thou art all fair.” Her beauty consists
in the perfect harmony between her soul and her body, her heart and her spirit, her will and
her affections, her nature and her grace. Mary, full of all grace, is the new man in whom there is
nothing wanting, whose soul and body are perfectly formed, and in whose thoughts, desires,
and character there is no defect. Hers is a beauty and perfection without blemish, a beauty and
perfection never before found in man. Grace perfects and elevates our nature in that way. “Thou
art all fair, O Mary. Draw us, O immaculate Virgin.”
Yet men place so much importance in mere human greatness. We should strive rather for supernatural
greatness, and seek to excel in faith, in grace, and in union with God. “Seek ye therefore
first the kingdom of God and His justice [that is, be justified in the eyes of God], and all these
things shall be added unto you” (Mt 6:33). “Draw us, O immaculate Virgin.” Thou wilt lead us
to that true greatness, union with God.
“But the foolish things of the world hath God chosen, that He may confound the wise;
and the weak things of the world hath God chosen, that He may confound the strong. And
the base things of the world and the things that are contemptible hath God chosen, and
things that are not, that He might bring to nought things that are” (1 Cor 1:27–28). Yet
we shun these things that God has chosen, that seem foolish in the eyes of the world. We
fear being forgotten; we dread to be thought unimportant; we shrink from being despised.
How unenlightened we still are! “Draw us, O immaculate Virgin.” Pray for us, most wise
Virgin, that we may be wise.
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