The Communion of Mary
Preface
Preface
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After the heavenly Father whom it adores in heaven, the Christian religion has two main objects of its piety and religious duties in the Church: Jesus Christ, the God-Man, and Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ. It honors Jesus Christ as the author who founded it, the Redeemer who redeems it, the head who unites it to Himself, the divine exemplar on which He formed it. It adores Him as its God, loves Him as its spouse, listens to Him as its master, follows Him as its way, imitates Him as its rule, and inseparably adheres to Him as to its supreme head.
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St. Mary Major (Rome)
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It is from Jesus Christ and His Wisdom that it receives the lights which illuminate it; it is from His goodness that it receives the graces which sanctify it, the charity which enkindles it, and the laws which govern it. It is from His Wisdom that it receives the rules of its conduct; it is from His Holiness that it receives the examples which it imitates; finally it is from His Power that it receives the divine Sacraments which enrich it with all the treasures of heaven.
After these supreme duties which are due only to Jesus Christ, the God-Man, religion turns its gaze to a being who is without doubt infinitely lower than the first, but whom He has been pleased to associate with His grandeurs and mediation for the salvation of the world: this being is the Virgin Mary! Mary, whom the Church honors as the Mother of the Son of God, because she conceived Him in her virginal womb, because she gave birth to Him in a stable, and because she feeds Him with her milk.
The Church honors and loves Mary because of her divine maternity which raises her above the Angels, and because of the benefits with which this Immaculate Virgin fills us. In her and through her, Jesus Christ is our chief; in her and through her, Jesus Christ is made man and thus becomes our brother, our Pontiff who reconciles us with His Father, our victim who saves us by His Blood; our heavenly Bread which fattens us with His divinity in the divine Eucharist.
Mary is loved and invoked everywhere and always by true Christians. However, everyone considers her in her grandeurs in order to honor her as Mother of God; several contemplate her in her benefits in order to recognize her as their benefactress, and to love her as their mother; others study her heavenly virtues, in order to imitate her as their exemplar; however, there are always few of them who consider her in her relationship with the divine Eucharist, in order to thank her for this incomparable gift that, through her, we have received from Jesus Christ; there are few of them who, in their communions, propose Mary to themselves as the most perfect model to imitate.
The Church honors and loves Mary because of her divine maternity which raises her above the Angels, and because of the benefits with which this Immaculate Virgin fills us. In her and through her, Jesus Christ is our chief; in her and through her, Jesus Christ is made man and thus becomes our brother, our Pontiff who reconciles us with His Father, our victim who saves us by His Blood; our heavenly Bread which fattens us with His divinity in the divine Eucharist.
Mary is loved and invoked everywhere and always by true Christians. However, everyone considers her in her grandeurs in order to honor her as Mother of God; several contemplate her in her benefits in order to recognize her as their benefactress, and to love her as their mother; others study her heavenly virtues, in order to imitate her as their exemplar; however, there are always few of them who consider her in her relationship with the divine Eucharist, in order to thank her for this incomparable gift that, through her, we have received from Jesus Christ; there are few of them who, in their communions, propose Mary to themselves as the most perfect model to imitate.
It is from the hands of Mary that we receive infinite benefits, which oblige us to honor her. The most signal, however, those which bind us more closely to her and contain all other benefits, are the Incarnation and the Eucharist. It is in her womb that Jesus Christ clothed Himself with the flesh which makes Him man and makes Him her Son; it is through Mary that He becomes our host and that He died for us on the Cross; it is through Mary that He becomes our heavenly Bread in order to feed us in the Upper Room. That is why the greatest of the Fathers of the church, St. Augustine, said: “Jesus Christ has taken from Mary the flesh which made Him man, and this same flesh, He gives us in the Eucharist to be our food.”
What obligations of love and gratitude do we not have for Mary, when we participate in the holy mysteries of the Eucharist? Where shall we find a more perfect model to imitate in our communions? Let’s not divide what grace has so divinely united. In receiving the Son, let us think of the mother; let us think of the divine connections of the Son and the Mother in the Eucharist; like pious children who must always imitate their mother, let us propose to ourselves the communion of so lovable a Mother in order to serve us as a guide.
Here is the plan of this work; it is divided into five parts. In the first, we reveal the purpose of the institution of the Eucharist, in connection to Mary, and how holy were her dispositions in order to participate in it. In the second, we examine what was Mary’s interior diligence in the reception of the Eucharist. In the third, we explain the admirable effects worked in Mary by this august sacrament. In the fourth, we show Mary receiving her Son as host. Finally, in the fifth, we discuss our duties and obligations to Mary, who in all our communions we must honor, love and acknowledge as the One in whose womb our heavenly Bread was formed.
Such is the plan of this work. We warn the reader that we have been obliged to eliminate unnecessary details, to correct certain passages which would not have been understandable; then we have added certain considerations that we considered useful for the good of souls.
What obligations of love and gratitude do we not have for Mary, when we participate in the holy mysteries of the Eucharist? Where shall we find a more perfect model to imitate in our communions? Let’s not divide what grace has so divinely united. In receiving the Son, let us think of the mother; let us think of the divine connections of the Son and the Mother in the Eucharist; like pious children who must always imitate their mother, let us propose to ourselves the communion of so lovable a Mother in order to serve us as a guide.
Here is the plan of this work; it is divided into five parts. In the first, we reveal the purpose of the institution of the Eucharist, in connection to Mary, and how holy were her dispositions in order to participate in it. In the second, we examine what was Mary’s interior diligence in the reception of the Eucharist. In the third, we explain the admirable effects worked in Mary by this august sacrament. In the fourth, we show Mary receiving her Son as host. Finally, in the fifth, we discuss our duties and obligations to Mary, who in all our communions we must honor, love and acknowledge as the One in whose womb our heavenly Bread was formed.
Such is the plan of this work. We warn the reader that we have been obliged to eliminate unnecessary details, to correct certain passages which would not have been understandable; then we have added certain considerations that we considered useful for the good of souls.
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