Quote/s of the Day – 11 February – The Immaculate Virgin Mary

Quote/s of the Day – 11 February – Apparition of the Immaculate Virgin Mary at Lourdes

“This Virgin Mother
of the Only begotten of God,
is called Mary,
worthy of God,
Immaculate of the Immaculate,
One of the One.”

Origen (c 185-253)

“Today humanity, in all the radiance
of her Immaculate nobility,
receives its ancient beauty.
The shame of sin
had darkened the splendour
and attraction of human nature
but when the Mother
of the Fair One par excellence,
is born, this nature again,
regains in her person,
its ancient privileges
and is fashioned according to a perfect model,
truly worthy of God….
The reform of our nature begins today
and the aged world,
subjected to a wholly divine transformation,
receives the first fruits of the second creation.”

St Andrew of Crete (c 650-c 740)
Bishop, Theologian, Hymnist

Rosa Mystica
By Fr Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ (1844-1889)

The rose in a mystery, where is it found?
Is it anything true? Does it grow upon ground? —
It was made of earth’s mould
but it went from men’s eyes
And its place is a secret and shut in the skies.
In the Gardens of God, in the daylight Divine
Find me a place by thee, Mother of mine.

But where was it formerly? which is the spot
That was blest in it once, though now it is not? —
It is Galilee’s growth: it grew at God’s Will
And broke into bloom upon Nazareth hill.
In the Gardens of God, in the daylight Divine
I shall look on thy loveliness, Mother of mine.

What was its season then? how long ago?
When was the summer that saw the bud blow? —
Two thousands of years are near upon past
Since its birth and its bloom
and its breathing its last.
In the Gardens of God, in the daylight Divine
I shall keep time with thee, Mother of mine.

Tell me the name now, tell me its name.
The heart guesses easily: is it the same? —
Mary the Virgin, well the heart knows,
She is the Mystery, she is that Rose.
In the Gardens of God, in the daylight Divine
I shall come home to thee, Mother of mine.

Is Mary the Rose then? Mary the tree?
But the blossom, the blossom there, who can it be? —
Who can her Rose be? It could be but One:
Christ Jesus our Lord, her God and her Son.
In the Gardens of God, in the daylight Divine
Shew me thy Son, Mother, Mother of mine.

What was the colour of that blossom bright? —
White to begin with, Immaculate white.
But what a wild flush on the flakes of it stood
When the Rose ran in crimsonings
down the Cross-wood!
In the Gardens of God, in the daylight Divine
I shall worship His Wounds with thee, Mother of mine.

How many leaves had it? — Five they were then,
Five like the senses and members of men;
Five is their number by nature but now
They multiply, multiply who can tell how?┬░
In the Gardens of God, in the daylight Divine
Make me a leaf in thee, Mother of mine.

Does it smell sweet too, in that holy place? —
Sweet unto God and the sweetness is grace:
O Breath of it bathes great Heaven above
In grace that is charity, grace that is love.
To thy breast, to thy rest, to thy glory Divine
Draw me by charity, Mother of mine.
Amen