The Virgin Mary’s Crown of Humility
Humility brought about the triumph of Jesus and so must also be the cause of Mary’s glory. She was exalted because of her humility, and in the following manner. We recall that it belongs to the humble person to impoverish himself and strip himself of his advantages. Yet, by a marvelous exchange, humility enriches by stripping away, because it restores all that it takes away. Nothing is more fitting to humility than these words of St. Paul: “as having nothing, and yet possessing everything” (2 Cor. 6:10).
The Blessed Virgin possessed three precious goods: high rank, an admirable purity of body and mind, and, what is above every treasure, Jesus Christ himself. She had a beloved Son, in whom “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Col. 1:19). Here is a creature different from every other creature, but her very great humility stripped her, in a certain sense, of these advantages.
Let us gather together into one all of these acts of humility of the Blessed Virgin. Her high rank is covered with the mantle of servitude. Her purity is hidden under the marks of sin. She even loses her Son and consents to have another in his place. Her humility has stripped everything away. Yet we also see that this humility restores every advantage to her: “as having nothing, yet as possessing everything.”
It is now for us to pay our respects to this great Queen and, seeing her so close to her Son, to pray her to assist us by her all-powerful intercession. O holy, blessed Mary, because you are with Jesus, enjoying a holy and blessed familiarity with him, speak for us to his heart. Speak, and your Son will listen. We do not ask you for human glory. Obtain for us only that humility by which you have been crowned. May all those who celebrate your triumph enter profoundly into the knowledge that there is no glory except that which is founded upon humility and nothing truer than the words of the Gospel: the one who humbles himself in this life shall be exalted forever in the eternal joy to which we are being led by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Editor’s note: This article is an excerpt from Bishop Bossuet’s Meditations on Mary, which is available from Sophia Institute Press.
Humility brought about the triumph of Jesus and so must also be the cause of Mary’s glory. She was exalted because of her humility, and in the following manner. We recall that it belongs to the humble person to impoverish himself and strip himself of his advantages. Yet, by a marvelous exchange, humility enriches by stripping away, because it restores all that it takes away. Nothing is more fitting to humility than these words of St. Paul: “as having nothing, and yet possessing everything” (2 Cor. 6:10).
The Blessed Virgin possessed three precious goods: high rank, an admirable purity of body and mind, and, what is above every treasure, Jesus Christ himself. She had a beloved Son, in whom “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Col. 1:19). Here is a creature different from every other creature, but her very great humility stripped her, in a certain sense, of these advantages.
Let us gather together into one all of these acts of humility of the Blessed Virgin. Her high rank is covered with the mantle of servitude. Her purity is hidden under the marks of sin. She even loses her Son and consents to have another in his place. Her humility has stripped everything away. Yet we also see that this humility restores every advantage to her: “as having nothing, yet as possessing everything.”
It is now for us to pay our respects to this great Queen and, seeing her so close to her Son, to pray her to assist us by her all-powerful intercession. O holy, blessed Mary, because you are with Jesus, enjoying a holy and blessed familiarity with him, speak for us to his heart. Speak, and your Son will listen. We do not ask you for human glory. Obtain for us only that humility by which you have been crowned. May all those who celebrate your triumph enter profoundly into the knowledge that there is no glory except that which is founded upon humility and nothing truer than the words of the Gospel: the one who humbles himself in this life shall be exalted forever in the eternal joy to which we are being led by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Editor’s note: This article is an excerpt from Bishop Bossuet’s Meditations on Mary, which is available from Sophia Institute Press.
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