Jesus the sun, Mary the moon, Mary: Day 187

Jesus the sun, Mary the moon

St. Alphonsus concludes that if Jesus is the Sun of justice, as the prophet Malachi called him, then Mary is the moon reflecting his light.

In the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, we read that “God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night” (Gn 1:16).

The Dominican biblical commentator Cardinal Hugh of Saint-Cher says that “Christ is the greater light to rule the just, and Mary the lesser light to rule sinners.” He means that the sun is a figure of Jesus Christ, “the Sun of justice” (see Mal 4:2), whose light is enjoyed by the just who live in the clear day of divine grace. But the moon is a figure of Mary, by whose means those who are in the night of sin are enlightened.

Since Mary is this favorable light, and has been made so for the benefit of poor sinners, if anyone is so unfortunate as to fall into the night of sin, what is he to do? Pope Innocent III replies: “Whoever is in the night of sin, let him cast his eyes on the moon: Let him implore Mary.”

Since he has lost the light of the sun of justice by losing the grace of God, let him turn to the moon, and beseech Mary. She will certainly give him light to see the misery of his state, and strength to leave it without delay. As St. Methodius says, “By the prayers of Mary, almost innumerable sinners are converted.” —St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .
Does my life have seasons when I seem to be in a dark night of sin, doubt, or confusion, and the light of the Lord is difficult to find? That’s the time to look to Mary, whose gentle face reflects the Lord’s light to illuminate my darkness.

CLOSING PRAYER
When the Sun of righteousness seems hidden from my view below the horizon, Mary, catch the bright rays of light from his face, and reflect them into my eyes, so that I can see through the darkness, and walk through it safely toward the dawn.

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