The saints welcome Mary into heaven, Mary: Day 281

The saints welcome Mary into heaven

The angels weren’t the only citizens of heaven to welcome Mary when she arrived there; the saints of all the ages came to honor her as well. St. Alphon- sus imagines the scene.

The angels have welcomed Mary at her assumption into heaven. Now

all the saints in paradise at that time come to welcome her and salute her as their queen. All the holy virgins come: “The maidens saw her and called her blessed; the queens . . . and they praised her” (see Sg 6:9). “Most Blessed Lady,” they say, “we are also queens in this kingdom, but you are our queen. For you were the first to give us the great example of consecrating our virginity to God. We all bless and thank you for it.”

Then come the holy confessors to salute her as their mistress; by her holy life, she has taught them so many beautiful virtues. The holy martyrs also come to salute her as their queen. For by her great constancy in the sorrows of her Son’s passion, she has taught them, and by her merits she has also obtained for them the strength to lay down their lives for the faith. St. James, the only one of the twelve Apostles who is already in heaven, also comes to thank her in the name of all the other Apostles for all the comfort and help she gave them while she was on earth. The prophets next come to salute her, saying: “Lady, you were the one foreshadowed in our prophecies.”

Next come the holy patriarchs of Old Testament times, saying: “Mary, it is you who were our hope. It was for you that we sighed with such longing and for so long a time.” Amongst these come our first parents, Adam and Eve, to thank her with still greater affection. “Beloved daughter,” they say, “you have repaired the injury that we inflicted on the human race. You have obtained for the world the blessing that we lost by our crime. Through you we are saved. For that, be ever blessed!” —St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .

What other groups of saints can you imagine welcoming Mary when she arrived? What other Old Testament figures might have met her? What might they have said to her?

CLOSING PRAYER

“Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Result and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! . . . The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst!” (Zeph 3:14–15).

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