If other saints’ bodies were raised, so was Mary’s, Mary: Day 260

If other saints’ bodies were raised, so was Mary’s

Blessed John Henry Newman reasons that if other saints had their bodies raised, Jesus certainly would not have withheld that grace from his mother.

As soon as we apprehend by faith the great fundamental truth that Mary is the Mother of God, other wonderful truths follow in its train. One of these is that she was exempt from the ordinary lot of mortals, which is not only to die, but to become earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Die she must, and die she did, as her divine Son died, for he was Man. But even though her body was for a while separated from her soul and consigned to the tomb, yet it did not remain there. Instead, it was speedily united to her soul again, and raised by our Lord to a new and eternal life of heavenly glory.

Other servants of God have been raised from the grave by the power of God, and it is not to be supposed that our Lord would have granted any such privilege to anyone else without also granting it to his own mother. We are told that after our Lord’s death upon the Cross, “the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints that had slept”—that is, slept the sleep of death—“arose, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, came into the Holy City, and appeared to many” (see Mt 27:52–53). St. Matthew says, “many bodies of the saints”—that is, the holy prophets, priests, and kings of former times—rose again in anticipation of the last day.

Can we suppose that these should have been thus favored, and not God’s own mother? Had she no claim on the love of her Son to have what any others had? Wasn’t she nearer to him than the greatest of the saints before her? There- fore we confidently say that our Lord, having preserved her from sin and the consequences of sin by his passion, lost no time in pouring out the full merits of that passion upon her body as well as her soul. —Blessed John Henry Newman, Meditations and Devotions

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .

When I consider the decay of the body after death, does it sometimes seem hard to believe that in the end, the souls of the faithful departed will once again be joined to their bodies and transformed in glory? How does Mary’s bodily assumption into heaven provide me hope in this regard?

CLOSING PRAYER

From “Thirty Days’ Prayer to the Blessed Virgin”: Mother of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, grant my petition through the joy beyond words that you felt at your assumption into heaven.

__________________________________________________________________________
Remember to subscribe to my feed so you will not miss a day! This recurring feature at The Catholic Blogger is possible through the cooperation of author Paul Thigpen and publisher Saint Benedict Press. To get your own copy of this book, click below.