{"id":4150,"date":"2015-10-10T03:30:47","date_gmt":"2015-10-10T08:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicbookblogger\/?p=4150"},"modified":"2015-10-03T14:43:43","modified_gmt":"2015-10-03T19:43:43","slug":"in-heaven-mary-is-better-us-able-to-help-mary-day-081","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicbookblogger\/2015\/10\/10\/in-heaven-mary-is-better-us-able-to-help-mary-day-081\/","title":{"rendered":"In heaven Mary is better us able to help, Mary: Day 081"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"year_with_mary_alphonsus_1\"<\/a>In heaven Mary is better us able to help<\/strong><\/p>\n

We should rejoice in Mary\u2019s exalted position in heaven, says St. Alphonsus. Not only should we be glad for her blessedness; we should be grateful that she\u2019s better able to help us there.<\/em><\/p>\n

St. Bernardine of Siena teaches, with St. Bernard, that the saints have\u00a0a share in the divine glory. But the Blessed Virgin has been, in a certain way, so greatly enriched with it, that it seems no creature could be more closely united with God than Mary is: \u201cShe has penetrated into the bottom of the deep, and she seems immersed as deeply as it is possible for a creature in that inaccessible light.\u201d St. Albert the Great confirms this insight, saying that our queen \u201ccon- templates the majesty of God in incomparably closer proximity than all other creatures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s rejoice, then, with Mary that God has exalted her to so high a throne in heaven. Let\u2019s also rejoice on our own account. For even though our mother is no longer present with us on earth, having ascended in glory to heaven, yet she\u2019s always with us in affection. In fact, since she\u2019s nearer to God there, she knows better our miseries; her pity for us is greater; and she\u2019s better able to help us.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Mary\u2019s compassion for the miserable was great when she lived on earth,\u201d says St. Bonaventure, \u201cit\u2019s far greater now that she reigns in heaven.\u201d In the meantime, then, let\u2019s dedicate ourselves to the service of this queen, to honor and love her as much as we can. For, as Richard of Saint Lawrence remarks, \u201cShe\u2019s not like other rulers, who oppress their vassals with burdens and taxes. Instead, she enriches her servants with graces, merits, and rewards.\u201d\u00a0\u2014St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary<\/p>\n

IN GOD\u2019S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .<\/strong>
\nIf I were rescued from a burning house, but my children were still in danger inside, would I be less likely, or more, to be concerned with helping my children to safety? Now that Mary is safely in heaven, wouldn\u2019t she feel the same way about her children still in danger on earth?<\/p>\n

CLOSING PRAYER<\/strong>
\nFrom a prayer of Guarric, Abbot of Igniac: Mother of Mercy, you who sit on so lofty a throne and in such close proximity to God, enjoy your fill of the glory of your Jesus; and send us your servants, the fragment that are left.<\/p>\n

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