OUR LADY'S SUFFERING IN THE PASSION
Thy own soul a sword
shall pierce. —Luke ii. 35
In these words
there is noted for us the close association of Our Lady with the Passion of
Christ. Four things especially made the Passion most bitter for her.
Firstly, the
goodness of her son, Who did no sin (1 Pet. ii. 22).
Secondly, the
cruelty of those who crucified Him, shown, for example, in this that as He lay
dying they refused Him even water, nor would they allow His mother, who would
most lovingly have given it, to help Him.
Thirdly, the
disgrace of the punishment, Let us condemn him to a most shameful death (Wis.
ii. 20).
Fourthly, the
cruelty of the torment. O ye that pass by the way, attend and see if there be
any sorrow like to my sorrow (Lam. i. 12).
The words of
Simeon, Thy own soul a sword shall pierce Origen, and other doctors with him,
ex plain with reference to the pain felt by Our Lady in the Passion of Christ.
St. Ambrose, however, says that by the sword is signified Our Lady's prudence,
thanks to which she was not without knowledge of the heavenly mystery. For the
word of God is a living thing, strong and keener than the keenest sword (cf.
Heb. iv. 12).
Other writers
again, St. Augustine for example, understand by the sword the stupefaction that
overcame Our Lady at the death of her Son, not the doubt that goes with lack of
faith but a certain fluctuation of bewilderment, a staggering of the mind. St.
Basil, too, says that as Our Lady stood by the cross with all the detail of the
Passion before her, and in her mind the testimony of Gabriel, the message that
words cannot tell of her divine conception, and all the vast array of miracles,
her mind swayed, for she saw Him the victim of such vileness, and yet knew Him
for the author of such wonders.
Although Our Lady
knew by faith that it was God's will that Christ should suffer, and although
she brought her will into unity with God's will in this matter, as the saints
do, nevertheless, sadness filled her soul at the death of Christ. This was
because her lower will revolted at the particular thing she had willed and this
is not contrary to perfection.
Source:
MEDITATIONS FOR LENT FROM ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
Translated
by Fr. PHILIP HUGHES
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