The Life of Mary as Seen by the Mystics

by Raphael Brown

  “O infinite Goodness and Wisdom, purify my heart and renew it, so that it may be humble, penitent, and pleasing in Thy sight!”

  The Blessed Virgin said to St. Bridget of Sweden:

  “As soon as I understood that there was a God, I was always solicitous and fearful for my salvation. And when I heard more fully that God was also my Creator and Judge of all my actions, I loved Him intensely, and every hour I feared and pondered lest I should offend Him in word or deed. Then when I heard that He had given a Law to His people and wrought so many wonders with them, I firmly resolved in my mind to love naught but Him, and all worldly things became most bitter to me.

  “Hearing that this same God was to redeem the world and be born of a virgin, I was filled with such love for her that I thought of naught but God. I withdrew as much as possible from the conversation and presence of others. All that I could have, I gave to the poor, reserving to myself only scanty food and clothing. Nothing pleased me but God. Ever did I long in my heart to live to the time of His birth, if perchance I might be the unworthy handmaid of the Mother of God.”

  and to Venerable Mother Mary of Agreda:

  “It is true that on account of the blessings of the Lord, sin was impossible in me. But (this) was hidden from me. I saw that as far as it depended on myself alone, I could fall. Thus God left me in holy fear of sinning during my pilgrimage. From the instant of my conception until my death, I never lost this fear, but rather grew in it with time.”

  and to St. Elizabeth of Schoenau:

  “I want to teach you the prayers that I said while I was in the Temple. When my father and mother left me in the Temple, I resolved in my heart to have God as my Father, and I frequently and devoutly pondered what I might do to please God so that He would deign to give me His grace. I studied the Law of God. And of all the precepts of the Divine Law I kept three with particular care in my heart, namely, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole strength. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’

  “I kept these precepts in my soul, and I quickly understood all the virtues which they contain. A soul cannot have any virtue if it does not love God with all its heart, for from this love the abundance of grace descends into the soul. But after descending, it does not remain, but flows away like water, if the soul does not hate its enemies, that is, its sins and vices.

  “I always used to rise in the middle of the night, and, with as much longing and will and love as I could, I used to beg Almighty God to give me the grace to observe those three precepts and all the other commandments of His Law. And I used to pray these seven petitions:

  “1. I prayed for the grace to fulfill the precept of charity: to love God with all my heart.

  “2. I prayed for the grace to love my neighbour according to His will and pleasure, and that He should make me love all that He Himself loves.

  “3. I prayed that He make me hate and flee all that He hates.

  “4. I prayed for humility, patience, kindness, gentleness, and all virtues by which I might become pleasing in His sight.

  “5. I prayed that He should let me see the time when that most holy virgin would be born who was to give birth to the Son of God, and that He preserve my eyes that I might see her, my ears that I might hear her, my tongue that I might praise her, my hands that I might work for her, my feet that I might walk as her servant, and my knees that I might adore the Son of God in her lap.

  “6. I prayed for the grace of obeying the orders and rules of the High Priest of the Temple.

  “7. I prayed that God should preserve the Temple and all His people for His service.

  “I assure you that as I considered myself a most worthless creature and one unworthy of God’s grace, therefore I begged Him to give me grace and virtues.

  “The Lord did with me what a musician does with his harp. The musician sets and tunes all the strings so that they give forth a sweet and harmonious melody, and then he sings while playing on it. Thus God brought into harmony with His will my soul and heart and mind and all the senses and actions of my body. And being trained in this manner by His wisdom, I used to be carried by the angels to the bosom of God the Father, and there I received such consolation and joy, such bliss and well-being, such love and sweetness, that I no longer remembered that I had ever been born in this world. Besides I was in such close intimacy with God and His angels that it seemed to me as though I had always existed in that true glory. Then, when I had stayed there as long as pleased God the Father, He gave me back to the angels, and they carried me back to the spot where I had begun to pray. When I found myself on earth again and recalled where I had been, this memory inflamed me with such a love of God that I embraced and kissed the ground and stones, the trees and other created things, out of love for Him who had created them. And it seemed to me that I should be the handmaid of all the Temple-women, and I wished to be subjected to all creatures, out of love for their supreme Father. And I frequently had this experience.

  “Once when I was thinking that I never wanted to be deprived of God’s grace, I arose and went to read in the Scriptures, desiring something to console my soul. When I opened the book, the first thing I saw was this passage of Isaias: ‘Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.’ As I understood from this that the Son of God was going to choose a virgin to be His Mother, I immediately resolved in my heart, out of reverence for that virgin, to remain a virgin myself and to offer myself to her as a handmaid and always to serve her and never to leave her, even if I had to travel all over the world with her.

  “I did what a man does when he wants to build a beautiful fountain. He goes to the foot of a hill and carefully investigates where the springs of water are located, and having found their source, he digs with care until he finds them, and then he directs their flow to the spot where he wants to have the fountain. Next he makes the place neat and wide and clean, so that the water will stay clear. Then he puts up a wall around the fountain and erects a column in the middle and makes channels around it so that the water can flow out freely for everyone’s convenience. That is what I did: I went to the hill when I applied myself to studying the Law; I found the spring when through prayer and study I realized that the principal source of all good is to love God with all one’s heart; then I prepared and cleaned and enlarged the site when I conceived the desire of loving all that He loves. I also wanted the water to be pure and clear—that was when I resolved to flee and hate all stain of sin. Then I built the walls when I inseparably united the virtues of humility, patience, kindness, and gentleness by the fire of charity, and kept them thus fused together until the end of my life. I erected the column and made the channels when I offered myself as an example and helper for all mankind, for I am ever ready to give generous gifts of grace to all who invoke me for themselves or for others. God placed me on earth as a teacher and example for all the elect. And I want you to do as I did.

  “My daughter, you think that I had all these graces without trouble, but it is not so. I assure you that I received from God no grace, no gift, or virtue, without great labor, continual prayer, ardent desire, profound devotion, many tears and much affliction, and by always saying, thinking, and doing what was pleasing to God, as far as I knew how and was able to do—except for the grace of sanctification by which I was sanctified in the womb of my mother.

  “I assure you that no grace descends into the soul except through prayer and mortification of the body. And after we have given God all that we can give by our own efforts, however small they may be, He Himself comes into the soul, bearing with Him such exalted gifts that it seems to the soul as though she faints away and loses her memory and forgets that she has ever said or done anything pleasing to God, and then she seems to herself more vile and more despicable than she has ever been.

  “And what must the soul do then? She must give fervent praises and thanks to God for these graces, and she must consider herself unworthy of the divine gifts, and she must weep. And then God, seeing the
soul humiliate herself still more after receiving His gifts, is moved to give even greater gifts. . . .

  “Thus did He do with me. For my mind yearned for the Son of God. My spirit burned with longing to have Him. My whole soul became inflamed with such sweet bliss that it seemed to me as though I already had Him, but as the human tongue does not have the power to express my inner fire of love—I prayed only to keep my external senses, in order to place them at the service of that virgin.

  “My dearest daughter, I have revealed to you the prayers that I used to say, in order that by following my example you should confidently ask God in prayer for the graces and virtues which you do not have, and in order that you should humbly persist in asking for them. And I want you to pray with fervor and devotion for your salvation and for that of others, because God wants those who have to help those who have not.”

  The Betrothal of the Holy Virgin and St. Joseph

  VI

  The Espousals

  hen Mary reached the age of thirteen and a half, having grown considerably for her age, Almighty God in a vision commanded her to enter the state of matrimony. Because of her intense love of chastity and her early vow of perpetual virginity, which she had often renewed, this divine order meant to her a sacrifice as painful as that of Abraham when God commanded him to offer up his son’s life.

  When Mary heard this unexpected decree, she was astonished and became greatly afflicted. Nevertheless she prudently suspended her own judgment and preserved her faith and hope more perfectly than Abraham. Still hoping against hope, she meekly replied:

  “Eternal God, Thou, O Lord, canst dispose of me, Thy worthless little worm, according to Thy pleasure, without making me fail in what I have promised. And if it be not displeasing to Thee, my good Lord, I renew my desire to remain chaste during all my life.”

  Thus Mary in her great trial, though she felt some human uneasiness and sadness, obediently resigned herself entirely to the will of God. And the Lord answered her:

  “Mary, let not thy heart be disturbed, for thy resignation is acceptable to Me. And by My disposition, that will happen which is best for thee.”

  Then, as God intended, while left between uncertainty and hope, Mary gave herself over to fervent prayer and inner acts of love, faith, humility, obedience, and chastity.

  Meanwhile the Lord spoke in sleep to the High Priest, who happened to be St. Simeon, and commanded him to arrange the marriage of Mary, whom He regarded with special love, to whomever it seemed right to the council of priests. After consulting together, the priests appointed a day on which all the bachelors of the line of David, which was also Mary’s, were to assemble in the Temple.

  Nine days before that date, Simeon called in Mary and gently explained to her that as she was an orphan and a firstborn daughter with an inheritance, now near the age when the young girls had to leave the service of the Temple and marry, the priests were planning to find her a worthy husband. Though deeply moved, Mary replied with great composure and modesty:

  “As far as my inclinations are concerned, I desire to preserve chastity during all my life, and I never had the intention to enter the married state. But you, my master, will teach me God’s holy will.”

  During the nine days that followed, Mary continually prayed to God with many tears and sighs for that which she had so much at heart. And once the Lord appeared to her and said:

  “My dove, let not thy heart be sad or disturbed. I will guide the priests by My light, and I will give thee a husband selected by Myself, and one who will not hinder thy holy desires. I will choose a man perfect and according to My heart.”

  This good man whom God found worthy of becoming Mary’s husband and the foster father of the Word Incarnate, and who is now honored and loved throughout the world as St. Joseph, the Protector of the Universal Church, was at this time a humble, unmarried carpenter who worked for a master in a small town in Galilee.

  Joseph was born near Bethlehem, the third of six brothers. His parents were well off and lived in a large two-storied country house which had a bubbling fountain in a court and was surrounded by lovely streams. The Saint’s marvelous holiness began when he was sanctified in the womb of his mother seven months after his conception. At his birth he was a beautiful baby with a perfectly formed body, and he caused an extraordinary delight to his parents and relatives. From his third year, thanks to unusual graces, he began to know God by faith. With surprising understanding he eagerly learned all that was taught to him about religion and already practiced advanced forms of prayer. At the age of seven he had attained the perfect use of reason and a high degree of holiness. He was a quiet, likable, and humble boy.

  The parents, who were neither very good nor bad people, did not spend much time with their children, but left them to the care of an elderly tutor, who gave the boys lessons on a porch that went around the upper floor. Joseph’s brothers used to tease him and make fun of him and often tried to hurt him. Each boy had a small garden, and his brothers sometimes stole into his and tore up the plants he liked best. When he was praying on the porch with his face to the wall and his eyes closed, they sneaked up behind him and pushed him over. At such moments he seemed to awaken from a trance, but he did not become angry or seek revenge. He merely withdrew somewhere and continued his prayers.

  As the boys grew up, the parents complained that Joseph was too serious and solitary, too simple and lacking in ambition. They wanted him to take advantage of his good qualities and prepare himself for a prosperous career, but he had no desire for such a life. All he wanted was to pray and quietly to perform some manual labor. Often during his teens, to escape from the continuous persecution of his brothers, he went to the other side of Bethlehem among some good, devout families, and worked with an old carpenter or prayed in some grottoes, in one of which the Child Jesus was later born.

  Finally, one night when he was about twenty, Joseph left home and went off to earn his living in the country north of Jerusalem. For some time he worked as assistant to a poor carpenter in a small town near Mount Gerizim. He was finishing his apprenticeship, and he humbly did all sorts of jobs for his master. Often he had to carry heavy loads of wood on his back.

  When, after a long search, his brothers found him, they scolded him bitterly, for they were ashamed of his modest position. But he was too humble to change it. Later he moved to Taanach on the Plain of Esdraelon, and then to Tiberias, where he dwelt alone in a little house by the Lake of Galilee. Wherever he lived, he was always loved by those who knew him. He was a good, kind, and devout workingman—lovable, gentle, and utterly sincere. He spent much time in prayer, fervently asking God for the coming of the Messiah. He led a very retiring life and consistently avoided the society of women. From the age of twelve he had made and perfectly kept a vow of chastity, and his purity of soul, which was known to all, was that of an angel.

  One day, when Joseph was adding a little oratory to his house, an angel appeared to him and told him not to go on with the work, because just as formerly God had given to the Patriarch Joseph the superintendence of the grain in Egypt, so now the granary of salvation was going to be confided to him. St. Joseph in his humility was not able to understand this message. Soon afterward he heard that as an unmarried descendant of King David, he was to go to the Temple in Jerusalem, with his best clothes. He was at this time thirty-three years old, a handsome, modest, and serious man, with pleasing, honest features.

  It was on Mary’s fourteenth birthday that the young men gathered in the Temple, dressed in their feast-day robes. After the High Priest had presented Mary to them and explained the purpose of the meeting, she returned to her cell and wept, while he gave to each youth a dry branch and announced that they were all to pray that the Lord might single out the one whom He had chosen as Mary’s spouse. Knowing that she was an unusually beautiful and virtuous maiden with a good inheritance, they were eager to win her hand.

  One pious young man from Bethlehem was particularly anxious to become her husband, h
oping that perhaps the expected Messiah might be born of their union. Although the humble carpenter Joseph had a deeper veneration for her than any of the others, he alone considered himself unworthy of such a blessing, and remembering his vow of chastity, he inwardly renewed it and resigned himself entirely to the will of God.

  After a number of prayers had been recited, each suitor came forward and placed his branch on an altar facing the Holy of Holies. When Joseph, the last in line, was about to deposit his branch, all of a sudden it blossomed into a white lily-like flower, and at the same time a dove of the purest and most dazzling white was seen to descend and rest on his head for a moment, during which God said in his heart:

  “Joseph, My servant, Mary shall be thy spouse. Receive her with all care and respect, for she is pleasing in My sight. She is just and pure in mind and body. And thou shalt perform all that she shall ask.”

  Thereupon the priests announced that Joseph was the husband selected for Mary by the Lord Himself, and they sent for her, while the other suitors departed—the young man from Bethlehem joined the hermits of Elias on Mount Carmel and continued to pray fervently for the Messiah.