Mary knew herself truly, Mary: Day 087

Mary knew herself truly

Mary was humble because she had true self-knowledge, St. Alphonsus observes, and she knew her utter dependence on God’s grace.

The first effect of humility of heart is a modest opinion of ourselves. Mary always had so humble an opinion of herself that, as it was revealed to St. Matilda, even though she saw herself enriched with greater graces than all other creatures, she never preferred herself to anyone else.

This is not to say, of course, that Mary considered herself a sinner. For humility is truth, as St. Teresa remarks; and Mary knew that she had never offended God. Nor was it that she failed to acknowledge that she had received greater graces from God than all other creatures. For a humble heart always acknowledges the special favors of the Lord, in order to humble itself all the more.

Instead, the Mother of God, by the greater light through which she knew the infinite greatness and goodness of God, also knew her own nothingness. For this reason, more than all others, she humbled herself. Yes, says St. Bernardine, for “the Blessed Virgin always had the majesty of God, and her own nothing- ness, present to her mind.”

When a beggar is clothed with a rich garment that has been given to her, she doesn’t pride herself on it in the presence of the giver. Instead, she’s humbled, because it reminds her of her own poverty.

In the same way, the more Mary saw herself enriched, the more she hum- bled herself, remembering that all was God’s gift. For this reason, St. Bernardine says: “After the Son of God, no creature in the world was so exalted as Mary, because no creature in the world ever humbled itself so much as she did.” —St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .
Have I sometimes labored under a false understanding of what true humility is? Does humility mean denying the gifts I have—or acknowledging, with gratitude, their Giver?

CLOSING PRAYER
Lord, teach me to know myself truly, and to know that there is nothing I have that I didn’t receive as a gift from you (see 1 Cor 4:7).

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