May 17th: Mary not only practiced perfect obedience, but recommended it to all in the Gospel
2 min • Digitized on May 17, 2022
From The Month of Mary According to the Spirit of St. Francis De Sales, page 139
By Don Caspar Gilli
SEVENTEENTH DAY.
MARY, THE MODEL OF PERFECT OBEDIENCE, IN THE MYSTERY OF THE PURIFICATION.
Let us consider in this meditation how our adorable Saviour and His Most Holy Mother united perfect obedience to profound humility.
Our Lord preferred the death of the Cross rather than fail in obedience. “Jesus Christ,” says the great Apostle, “was obedient unto death, even to the death of the Cross.” And what signal obedience did not Mary exercise at the death of her Son, the only object of her heart’s affection!
She stood firm and constant at the foot of the Cross, pierced with the sword of sorrow, perfectly resigned to the Will of the Eternal Father.
All the actions of Our Divine Saviour were regulated by obedience, as He Himself declared, saying: “I am come not to do My Will, but the Will of Him that sent Me.” Thus He teaches us that the Will of His Heavenly Father was the sole guide of all His thoughts.
Notice Our Lady’s life, and you will always see her obedient. So highly did she esteem this virtue of obedience, that she obeyed the command to espouse St. Joseph, although she was bound by a vow of virginity.
She always persevered in the practice of this virtue, and as the mystery of the Purification shows us, she presented herself in the Temple, that she might observe the Law she was not bound to observe.
Thus her obedience was the more precious as it was voluntary. Indeed, this is the only virtue that she has recommended to the practice of mankind. The Gospel tells us that when she spoke to the attendants at the marriage of Cana, she said to them: “Whatsoever He shall say to you, do.”
Here she teaches the practice of holy obedience, which is inseparable from the virtue of humility, beciuse it springs from this virtue. Only those who are truly humble subject themselves to the Will of God.