The
saintly Church Fathers believed and taught that before original sin, roses
bloomed without thorns, but that later, after sin entered the world, the stems
bristled. It is in this manner that roses announced our redemption. As
the rose emerges tender and lovely without assuming anything hard from the
stem, or anything sharp, thus, sprung Mary, sweet with grace, perfumed of
Christ, beautiful with love. Like the rose, she, born from the thorn,
issued forth from our human flesh. And as the rose is the glory of the thorn,
likewise Mary is the glory and the remedy of our nature.
The
august Mother of God in being thus elevated, passed through the old thorns of
our deformed nature, aromatizing the heavens. And her heavenly fragrance
is the announcement of our Redemption. It is the sweet odor of Christ,
the fragrance that revives the fainthearted, the unction which heals the wounds
of sin.
As
the rose pales when caressed by the rays of the moon, so was Mary graced in
whiteness by her impeccable virginity. And as the rose brightens in
ruddiness when touched by the sun, likewise Mary was set aflame by charity when
in the afternoon of her holy life, the Sun of Justice came to dwell amongst us.
In
all truth, a spiritual Master teaches that the saints are small flowers which
the tempests of spiritual combat shake violently, and the dry winds of
temptation agitate; but Mary is the Mystical Rose dawning in the springtime,
when there are no devastating tempests nor drying winds. She sprung forth
during a time of peace when God desired to set all things in peace for the
birth of His Son, born of the flesh, because of the birth of Him who is the
Prince of peace.
Because
of that, Mary never ever broke any hearts, nor offended the eyes of
anyone. What entered into the eyes of our humanity, was her chastity
which attracts a love for heaven, for the beauty of what is holy. And as
the largest of roses inclines the entire cluster, so Mary teaches us that
humility is the weight of the most excellent grandeur.
This
glorious Woman placed in our hearts the divine Word, the Son whom the Father
engendered in a most ineffable manner. That is why today there pours
forth from our lips a beautiful poem: «Apparuerunt flores in
terra nostra». Well, brethren, flowers did sprout in our land when you appeared, O
Woman, in the midst of our thorns. Your humble apparition, Holy Mother of
God, has inebriated with joy our sinful souls, much like a bee —which cannot lose
its stinger without dying— delights with happiness before charming roses.
Together with the
birds, which with all their colors are unable to perfume the skies, [Oh,
heavenly Mother] we fill the heavens with song and orations; but neither the
most beautiful of songs, nor the most sublime of words can equal the perfume of
your virtues: perfume of unity, perfume of charity, perfume of love. Take
us with you, beautiful Virgin. Cut off our thorns like we cut roses, and
thus, humble and simple, present us before the Father with the good odor of
Christ, the good odor which you gave forth on the day of His birth, the day of
the joy of His Heart.
Graciously translated by Maty Aune
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