did. One day, we will understand. If
Calvary does not reveal it, Heaven will!
Study Mary Immaculate prayerfully.
We are not to sit in the wings of the
stage and watch. Our part is on the
center of the stage. We are doubling
for Mary:
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We must walk like, talk like,
act like, live like, be like
MARY!
It is a tremendous role. Heaven or Hell
can depend upon how we double for
the Mother of God. We must study Mary
so that we know her mannerisms, her
heart and will, and all her ways.
The Holy Ghost, her Spouse, has
written her life in six lines:
I. “How is this to be,
since I know not man?”
Mary spoke these words to the angelic
Messenger of Heaven. Mary so loved
purity that, seemingly, She would send
Gabriel back to Heaven’s halls with
a negation, rather than violate her
virginity. That is purity! That is love!
We must keep a close guard on our
affections, and keep a continual consciousness
of our dignity and be ever
mindful of our consecration. Modesty
is the guardian of body and soul. Mary
was distant from no one; She was
dignified with all; affectionate but
never over demonstrative; never for a
moment did She step out of character.
She was an angel in the flesh! The
spirit of the world must not creep into
our lives. Remember, we are doubling
for Mary!
II. “Ecce ancilla Domini.”
Behold the handmaid of the Lord!
Pride created Hell and closed Paradise.
Pride caused the first war in Heaven
and the last war on earth. Pride
changed angels into demons and men
into wandering exiles on earth, and
crucified God! Remember that pride
is as insidious as a serpent. It will
insinuate itself in a hundred different
ways and be manifest in a million. Pride
was born with us; it is in the marrow of
our bones and the corpuscles of our
blood. Pride is the first of the Capital
Sins; humility, the first of the Cardinal
Virtues. The slightest indication of pride
scandalizes. An act of impatience,
injustice and open display of jealousy
or pettiness before others will remain
in their minds forever. The eyes of the
youth are all-seeing eyes; the eyes of
middle age are critical; the eyes of old
age are deeply discerning. We are ever
before these eyes. The hardest virtue
to acquire is obedience. We love our
own mind and our own opinion! If
only we could hold onto the concept
that, when our superior or parent gives
us a command, it is God Himself
Who is commanding us. Ours is not
to reason, why? Mary never reasoned it
out. When Joseph woke her in the night
and said they must fly into Egypt, She
asked no questions. She said, FIAT. “Let
us start at once.” Handmaids only
obey. If we are asked to do something
impossible, OBEY; for then, we will
be fashioning our key to Heaven.
Watch a key maker at work. He takes a
file that bites and rasps away at that
bit of steel until it has the perfect form