CHAPTER XII -- MARY A ROD OR STEM, AND A FLOWERING STEM
"The Lord is with thee." Having seen how the Lord was with Mary, as the sun is with the dawn which goes before it, let us now see how the Lord is with Mary as the flower is with the budding stem. For Mary is that rod of which it is said in Isaias: "There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall ascend from that root, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of piety, and He shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord" (Is. XI.) Let us place these words before the eye of our mind, and direct our consideration first to the rod and then to the flower.
First consider, that this rod, this royal rod, is the Virgin Mary, as St. Ambrose testifies, saying in speaking to the Blessed Virgin: "Thou thyself, who hast brought forth the Lord, art of the land of Israel; thou hast grown into a rod, the rod from the root of Jesse; thou hast arisen and flowered, O rod of Aaron; thou hast flowered and brought forth." For Mary is a rod smoking with incense, a rod of wood, a rod of gold, a rod of iron. Mary is a rod smoking to beginners, a rod of wood to those who are advancing, a rod of gold to the perfect, a rod of iron to the incorrigible and the demons.
I say that the Virgin Mary is as a smoking rod to beginners and to penitents. Of this rod it is said in the Canticle of Canticles: "Who is she that cometh up from the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices, of myrrh, and frankincense, and of all the powders of the perfumer?" (Cant. III, 6.) The desert is the heart of the sinner, which is indeed devoid of grace and virtue. The aromatical spice, the sweet incense of the soul, is the aspiration of hope for pardon. The Blessed Virgin Mary, therefore, came up from the desert as a pillar of smoke, when, by her prayers, the heart of the sinner received the smoking incense of pardon. This smoke is generated from the aromatical myrrh of contrition, and of incense in confession, and from all the powders of the perfumer in manifold satisfactions. No desert doth the Virgin Mary abhor, no sinner doth she despise; but wherever she passes, she spreads the sweet incense of pardon. Excellently, therefore, does St. Bernard say: "Thou dost not abhor or despise any sinner, however foul, if he but sighs to thee, and begs with a repentant heart for thy pardon; thou drawest him from the abyss of despair with thy loving hand, thou breathest upon him the remedy of hope, and embracest him, the outcast of all the world, with maternal affection, thou cherishest him and dost not desert him, until he is reconciled with the tremendous Judge."
Again, Mary is the rod of wood, the rod which is flowering to those who are advancing. Of this rod it is said in the Book of Wisdom that the rod of Aaron, which was of wood, bore fruit and flowers. By the flowers are signified virtues, which, after the passing of the devilish winter, rise up in hearts, as it is well said in the Canticle: "Now the winter is over and gone, and flowers have appeared in our land." Let the winter, therefore pass, let that torpor in which charity grows cold, pass, and then the flower of virtue will appear again. Oh, with what flowers the flowering Virgin hath abounded, as St. Bernard says, speaking to her: "Thou art as a garden-plot of holy perfumes, planted by the heavenly Perfumer, delectably flourishing with the flowers of all virtues." As flowers signify virtues, so fruits denote the works of the virtues. Of these it is well said: "By their fruits you shall know
them." When, therefore, we advance in virtues and in the works of the virtues, we advance by the examples and merits of Mary, and then the Virgin Mary is to us a rod of wood, flowering and fruitful.
Likewise the Virgin Mary is to the perfect and contemplative a golden rod. We read that Esther; with two maidens went to King Assuerus, and when she had become faint from exceeding fear, the King held out to her the golden scepter to console her. Esther means "raised up" or "hidden," and is a figure of the contemplative soul, whom God raises up in contemplation and hides in the hidden place of His face from the tumult of men. This soul by contemplation enters into Christ the King. The two maidens by whose help she enters are the two powers of the soul, the intellect, which proceeds by way of knowledge, and the affections, which follow by love. The soul which has thus entered into Christ, sometimes faints away by a kind of stupor, when she recognizes the inaccessible brightness of the divine glory, or the terrible severity of the divine justice. The golden rod, the royal scepter,
is the Virgin Mary. Golden indeed by her charity, royal by her nobility; golden by her purity, royal by her justice; golden by her incorruption and virginal integrity, royal by her domination and power. This is the happy rod, which is extended with clemency to comfort the contemplative soul, when the happy Virgin Mary, by contemplation and devotion of this soul, which is so loving and sweet, enters into it; so that from this the soul is strengthened against fear of the divine splendor and justice. The contemplative soul of St. Anselm desired this rod to be extended to it, when he exclaimed: "O Virgin fair to look upon, lovable to contemplate, delightful to love, who transcendest the capacity of the heart, give
thyself, O Lady, to the weak soul who followeth thee."
Likewise the Virgin Mary is as an iron rod to the demons and incorrigible sinners. To this rod we may apply that word of the Psalm: "Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron." O Mary, rod of gold to the perfect, rod of gold to the hard, rod of gold to men, rod of iron and hard to the demons, keep the demons from us I This, Lady, we ask, and we ask it devoutly with Innocent: "Hail, loving Mother of God, who from the dignity by which thou art Mother of God, hast power to restrain the demons, restrain the demons lest they hurt us; command the angels to guard us." Thus, therefore, the Blessed Virgin Mary is to us a rod of smoke or incense in our conversion, a flowering rod in our lives, a golden rod in our contemplation, an iron rod in our defense. St. Bernard, admiring and worthily contemplating this rod, saith: "O Virgin, sublime rod, to how great a height thou raisest thy summit even unto Him who sitteth on the throne, unto the Lord of Majesty, for thou castest deep down thy roots in humility."
Let us now consider the flower of this rod; let us consider in the royal rod, and in the Virgin Mary a fourfold flower, a precious flower, a flower of virginity, of virtuous reputation, of miraculous fecundity, and of glorious immortality.
Of this flower consider, first, in Mary the flower of precious virginity, which is virginity itself. Of this it is said in Isaias: "The desert shall rejoice and shall flower as a lily." Mary can fittingly be said to be a desert, who was so willing to be alone, who was in her voluntary solitude visited by an angel. Therefore St. Ambrose well says: "Alone in the inner part of her house, she whom no man could see, he found her alone without a companion, alone
without a witness." In what manner this desert, the Virgin Mary, should rejoice, let her say herself: "And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior." This desert of earth flowered like a lily by virginity. O angelical lily! O heavenly flower! O truly heavenly flower! Whom that
supercelestial Bee hath so loved. For St. Bernard saith: "That Bee who feedeth among the lilies, who dwelt in a flowering fatherland, when He flew to Nazareth, which is interpreted a flower, flew towards thee, and came to the sweet smelling flower of thy perpetual virginity, he rested upon it, he embraced it." The flower of virginity has as many petals, so to speak, as the conditions and praises of virginity. Oh, how greatly the crowns of this flower were multiplied by Mary! St. Ambrose says: "In the whole world the flower Mary weaves unfading crowns, and keeps the royal court of purity with immaculate affection, until integrity perseveres to the palm of victory, that in maidens it may grasp the trophy of sanctity, and in the footprints of the Virgin Mary, attain to the heavenly bridal chamber."
Secondly, consider in Mary the flower of virtuous reputation, of manners and of life, and hear what she herself says: "My flowers are the fruits of honor and riches" (Ecclus. XXIV, 23.) Of these it is also said: "Our bed is flowering." Behold, we find flowers in the earth, and in the bed. The earth is the mind of the active (souls); the bed is the mind of contemplatives. The earth, I say, is the mind bearing fruit in good actions; but the bed is the mind seeking quiet in contemplation. Let the mind be active, or let it be contemplative, it should always be beautiful with flowers. Note also that the flower of honesty, of a good reputation, yea, the flower of any virtue has, as it were, as many petals as it has good and meritorious works to show. Oh, how flowering was that earth, how flowering was the bed of Mary, who in the flowering virtue of her life flourished in the beauty of every virtue, as St. Bernard testifies, saying: "Thou art the casket of holy perfumes, O Mary, gathered by the heavenly Perfumer, delightfully blooming with the beautiful flowers of every virtue, among which three are excellent above all, the violet of humility, the lily of chastity, and the rose of charity."
Thirdly, consider in Mary the flower of her miraculous fecundity. This flower is the Son of the Virgin, of whom it is said: "There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall arise from its root." Oh, how beautifully this flower came forth, being born without sin, and how sadly was it crushed by dying, as it were like a sinner, according to that word: "Like a flower he goeth forth and is crushed." Oh, how white in His going forth, and how ruddy in His bruising was this flower! A flower, I say, delightful to the angels and most useful to men for life. St. Bernard saith: "The flower is the Son of the Virgin, a flower white and ruddy, a flower on whom the angels long to look, a flower by whose perfume mortals live again." Happy the wood which produces such a flower! Happier the stem or rod which in the wood produces this flower! Happy above all the flower, without whom there can neither be wood nor rod happy! Truly a most happy flower, in which the Holy Ghost so rested that without Him no one could have the grace of the Spirit. St. Jerome testifies to this, saying: "The Holy Ghost, who in the vast wood of the human race had found no rest, at last rested upon this flower, so that without Christ no one could be wise, no one could have understanding, or counsel, or fortitude, or learning, or piety, or the fear of the Lord." This flower has, as it were, as many petals as it had ministries and examples. If thou desirest to have this flower, thou must bend its stem down to thee by prayer. If the flower is exceedingly high by its divinity, the stem is flexible by its love. And if the flower is
most rare, because neither in Heaven nor on earth is there found another one, it is nevertheless most common, like a flower not enclosed in a garden, but in a field exposed to all passersby. Therefore, well could Christ say: "I am the flower of the field." He can be called a flower of the field, not only because it is openly exposed to the view of all, but also because it is produced without human culture. This St. Bernard hath in mind when he says: "The field flourishes without any human aid, it is not sowed by anyone, not harrowed by the plough, not made fertile with manure; thus indeed did the womb of the Virgin flower, so did the chaste and entire interior of Mary like pastures of eternal greenness produce Him whose beauty sees not corruption, whose glory will never fade."
Fourthly, consider the flower of gracious immortality, of which it is said in Numbers that the rod of Aaron bore at the same time both flowers and fruit. The rod of Aaron prefigures the Virgin Mary. In the straightness of the rod is prefigured the integrity of Mary; in the flower, the beauty of her glorified body; and in the fruit, the beatitude of her soul. It is to be noted that in youth the body is most beautiful, as it is said: "In the morning it blooms and fades." But the flower perishes in death, as it is said in Isaias: "The grass is withered, and the flower is fallen." It will flower again in a glorious resurrection, according to the Psalmist: "My flesh has flowered again." This flower of the glorification of the body has, as it were, as many petals as the glorified body has gifts and rewards. And certainly the holy Doctors seem to hold it as probable, and strive with some show of reason to prove, and the pious sense of the faithful always held, that the Blessed Virgin was taken up body and soul into Heaven, and that her body and soul are now in glory. St. Augustine says: "I hold that Mary is in Christ and with Christ; in Christ, because in Him we live and move and have our being; with Christ, because she is assumed into glory." Therefore we worthily believe that Mary rejoices with ineffable joy both in body and soul, in her own Son, by her own Son; nor has she ever felt the sting of corruption because no stain was communicated to her integrity in bringing forth her Son, because she begot Him who is the whole and perfect life of all; let her be with Him, whom she bore in her womb; let her be with Him, who bore Him, nursed Him, and fed Him. Mary is the Mother of God, the servant of God, the nurse of God, the follower of God. According to this belief she can now say: "My flesh hath flowered again." And according to this she has at the same time both fruit and flowers: as flower, her glorified body; and for fruit, her glorified spirit. A flower indeed in the beauty of her glorious body; and fruit in the unspeakable pleasure of her soul. We must note that, according to the aforesaid fourfold flower, the Virgin Mary has a fourfold flower of virginity, and a fourfold flower of fecundity; she has the flower of good repute and the flower of humility; she has at the same time in her Child the flower of humanity and the fruit of the divinity; she has at the same time the flower of immortality in the body and the fruit of blessed pleasure in the soul. Let us, therefore, discern these flowers in the virginal rod, and gather these new flowers of joy from the virginal garden, which St. Bernard saw gathered and commended to us, when, speaking to Mary, he said: "Thy most holy womb, O Mary, is to us a garden of delights; because from it we gather the flowers of manifold joys as often as we think in our minds how great a sweetness flowed thence over the entire world." Therefore, most sweet Virgin Mary, behold, the Lord is truly with thee, as the flower is with the stem which produced it. Grant that the Lord may also be with me, yea, with all of us, and give to us this flower, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
CHAPTER XIII -- MARY COMPARED TO A QUEEN ENTERING INTO THE PALACE WITH THE KING
The Lord is with thee, O Lady most dear to the Lord, most intimate with the Lord! The Lord is with thee, O most well-fitted Lady, most worthy of the Lord! The Lord is with thee: with thee most certainly, according to what has been said above, as the sun is with the dawn which precedes it, as the flower is with the stem which produces it, as the king is with the queen entering into his palace.
Having seen how Mary is as the dawn to the eternal Sun, preventing the Sun of justice; having seen also how Mary is as the stem or rod to the eternal flower, producing the flower of mercy; let us now consider in what manner Mary is the Queen of the Eternal King, entering into glory.
Mary is that Queen entering in, of whom it is said that the queen entered into Jerusalem with a great company and with riches (3 Kings, X, 1.) Truly Mary is a queen. St. Augustine says: "We truly confess her to be the Queen of Heaven, because she brought forth the King of angels." I have spoken of this Queen in my sermon, "The Queen stood, etc."; therefore, I will now speak of her entrance.
We are to consider, therefore, that we find Mary going in, going forth, going on, and going above. Her going forth was of nature, her progress was of grace, her entrance was into glory, her elevation was in abundance.
She went forth by being born, she progressed by advancing in grace and virtue, she entered in by attaining, she surpassed all by her sanctity. She went forth without sin, she made progress beyond all example, she entered in without obstacle, she surpassed all without limits.
First consider that we find Mary going forth into the world by her nativity without sin....
Secondly, consider that we find Mary advancing without equal by her grace. Therefore it is said in the Canticle: "Who is she that cometh forth as the rising dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun?" (Cant. VI, 9.) To these three luminaries, that is, the dawn, the moon, and the sun, Mary is fitly compared, for three excellent perfections shine forth in her. Resplendent virginity was in her mind and heart in a superlative degree; in her virginity shone forth fecundity, and in her fecundity shone forth a singular pre-eminence. A refreshing dawn and one pleasing to the birds was Mary; for by her virginity she. cooled the ardor of the flesh, as St. Bernard says, speaking to her: "By the virtue of chastity thou didst extinguish in thy virginal flesh the ardor of the forbidden concupiscence, that He, in whose sight even the stars are not pure, judged thy flesh to be of such purity that He deigned to unite it to His own divine purity." She also by her virginity was pleasing to the birds of heaven, that is, to the angels of God, for, as St. Jerome says: "Virginity is always related to the angels." Therefore we read that the angel blessed Jacob in the dawn. Jacob may here signify a chaste spirit, because Jacob supplanted his brother, that is, the body, his body. He was blessed not only by the angel, but also by his father, in the dawn, or in
the morning, that is, in the chaste Virgin Mary, to whom the angel said: "Blessed art thou among women." Likewise Mary was fair as the moon in the lightgiving fecundity of her virginity; for the beauty of the moon consists in the light it receives from the sun. Think, therefore, what a beautiful moon was Mary, when that Eternal Sun was wholly received and conceived in her. Mary, therefore, is that moon in whose fullness that Man returned to the Church of whom it is said: "In the day of the full moon he will return to his house" (Prov. VII, 20.) The Blessed Virgin was the full moon, when it was said to her: "Hail, full of grace!" Again Mary was chosen as the sun in the illumining privilege of her fecundity, when not mere man alone, nor a real angel, but the Son of God Himself placed in her His tabernacle, when He was conceived in Mary. Without doubt it would have been most singular if the Virgin had conceived a mere man; but it would have been much more singular if the Virgin had conceived an angel. It was singular above all that a virgin conceived and brought forth God. Well, therefore, doth St. Augustine say: "Rightly is the Blessed Mary extolled by us with extraordinary praise, who has shown to the world so extraordinary a benefit, when she is raised to so sublime a height that, while the Word was from the beginning abiding with God, she should yet receive Him into her bosom from the highest heavens." The Blessed Virgin Mary, therefore, has advanced like the rising morning, in admirable virginity of mind and body; bright as the sun, in the adorable divinity of her virginal offspring.
Thirdly, consider that we find Mary entering into the glory of Heaven without obstacle. For what could have opposed such a great queen advancing with so great a retinue? She was prefigured by the Queen of Saba, of whom it is said: "Entering into Jerusalem with a great train, and riches, and camels that carried spices, and an immense quantity of gold and precious stones" (3 Kings X, 2.) Consider in these words the glory of Mary entering into the heavenly Jerusalem. Consider, I say, the excellence of her who enters, her power and her wealth. Consider the excellence of the primacy of our Queen Mary, insomuch as she is compared to the Queen of Saba, which signifies a cry. For Mary is the Queen of the world, where there is a cry of mourning. She is also the Queen of Heaven, where there is a cry of joy. For the dwellers in Heaven cry out, as it is said in the Apocalypse: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!" And this Queen of those who cry out ceases not herself to cry out with the others, as St. Augustine says: "
Thou, O Mary, fellow-citizen of the inhabitants of Heaven, being endlessly associated with the angels and archangels, ceasest not to cry out with untiring voice: "Holy, holy, holy!" She indeed is the queen whom the Psalmist describes, saying: "The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety" (Ps. XLIV, 10.) All can follow this Queen with confidence into the kingdom who have faithfully served her in this world. St. Bernard says: "Our Queen has gone before us: she has gone before us and has been so gloriously received that her servants may confidently cry out: 'Draw me after thee.' "Likewise consider in the entering in of our Queen the power of the retinue accompanying her, for it says: "with a multitudinous retinue." Mary entered into the heavenly Jerusalem with a multitudinous retinue of angelic powers. St. Jerome says: "We read how the angels have come to the death and burial of some of the Saints, and how they have accompanied the souls of the elect to Heaven with hymns and praises." And he adds: "How much more should we believe that the heavenly army, with all its bands, came forth rejoicing in festive array, to meet the Mother of God,
surrounded her with effulgent light, and led her with praises and canticles to the throne prepared for her from the beginning of the world."
Likewise, consider in Mary the wealth of her merits, as it were in a dower of precious gifts: for she brought with her infinite gold in her love of God and of her neighbor, the precious gems of virtues and gifts, the spices of good works and examples. What I say of the treasures of Mary is little compared with what St. Bernard says. "In thy hands," he says, speaking to Mary, "are all the treasures of the mercies of the Lord. God forbid that thy hand should cease to give; for thy glory is not diminished, but augmented, when sinners are pardoned and the justified are taken up into glory." The Mother of God, therefore, entered into glory, as the Queen of Heaven, accompanied by a vast retinue of angels, with innumerable riches of merit.
Fourthly, consider that we find her surpassing all the Saints in the superabundance of her merits and rewards without end, according to the saying: "Many daughters have gathered together riches, thou hast surpassed them all." Thou hast indeed surpassed them in nature, in grace, in glory; thou hast surpassed all the daughters of men, all souls, all angelical intelligences, O Mary. I say that Mary in nature has surpassed all the daughters of men, for what nature does not admit of, she, a virgin, conceived, and brought forth, according to that word: "Behold a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son." And it was not this alone that is above all nature, that a virgin should bring forth a son, but that she should bring forth God. Therefore, St. Jerome says: "What nature does not possess, what custom wants not, what reason knows nothing of, what the human mind cannot grasp, what the heavens fear, what the earth is astonished at, all this was what was divinely announced by the Angel Gabriel to Mary, and was fulfilled in Christ." Likewise, Mary surpassed in grace all the souls of the Saints, for she was not only full of grace, but overfull (superplena), as Gabriel signified, who said at first, "full of grace," and afterwards added: "And the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee." If, therefore, she was full of grace, whatever the Holy Spirit brought her afterwards was more than full measure; she was then more than full, she was surpassingly full (superplena). St. Bernard says: "While the Holy Spirit was coming, she was full of grace for herself (plena sibi); but when the Holy Spirit had come upon her, she was overfull and overflowed with grace for our sakes (superplena nobis)." So Mary surpassed in glory all the angelical intelligences; for she is the sapphire throne which, as we read in Ezechiel, is raised above the angelic firmament. St. Bernard says: "Mary ascended above every heavenly creature; up to the angels and even above these." So, therefore, Mary went forth, and advanced, and entered in, and went beyond all. She went forth, I say, by coming into this mortal life; she advanced in grace and privileges; she entered in by attaining to the Heavenly Kingdom; she surpassed all by exceeding the glory of all the blessed. Behold, therefore, O most sweet Virgin Mary, the Lord is truly with thee, as the sun is with the dawn which goes before it, as the flower is with the flowering stem, as the King is with the Queen entering in. O most sweet aurora, grant that the Sun of justice may also be with us! O most sublime Rod, grant that with us also may be the flower of grace! O most powerful Queen, grant that the King of glory, Our Lord Jesus Christ, may stay with us!
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