Mary, Vessel of Honor, Mary: Day 156

Mary, Vessel of Honor

Mary was a martyr, but in her soul, not her body. Blessed John Henry New- man observes that for the sake of her great honor, she was spared by her Son the bodily dishonor that he and other martyrs had to endure.
St. Paul calls elect souls “vessels of honor”: of honor, because they are elect or chosen; and vessels, because, through the love of God, they are filled with God’s heavenly and holy grace (see 2 Tim 2:20–21). How much more, then, is Mary a Vessel of Honor by reason of her having within her, not only the grace of God, but the very Son of God, formed as regards his flesh and blood out of her!

But this title “Vessel of Honor,” as applied to Mary, admits of a further and special meaning. She was a martyr without the rude dishonour which accom- panied the sufferings of martyrs. The martyrs were seized, hauled about, thrust into prison with the vilest criminals, and assailed with the most blasphemous words and foulest speeches which Satan could inspire. No, such was the unutter- able trial also of the holy women, young ladies, the spouses of Christ, whom the heathen seized, tortured, and put to death. Above all, our Lord himself, whose sanctity was greater than any created excellence or vessel of grace—even he, as we know well, was buffeted, stripped, scourged, mocked, dragged about, and then stretched, nailed, lifted up on a high cross, to the gaze of a brutal multitude.

But he who bore the sinner’s shame for sinners spared his mother, who was sinless, this supreme indignity. Not in the body, but in the soul, she suffered. True, in his agony she was agonized; in his passion she suffered a fellow passion; she was crucified with him; the spear that pierced his breast pierced through her spirit. Yet there were no visible signs of this intimate martyrdom. She stood up, still, collected, motionless, solitary, under the cross of her Son, surrounded by angels, and shrouded in her virginal sanctity from the notice of all who were
taking part in his crucifixion. —Blessed John Henry Newman, Meditations and Devotions
IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .
What is meant by Mary’s “intimate martyrdom”? Can you think of other pos- sible reasons why God willed that Mary be spared bodily harm?

CLOSING PRAYER
From a prayer of St. Alphonsus Liguori: You know, most sweet Mother of God, how much your blessed Son desires our salvation. You know all that he endured for this purpose. Show now that you love your beloved Son; by this love I beg you to assist me.

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