Thought for the Day – 18 May – The Imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary By Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)
Extracts from The Imitation
of the Blessed Virgin Mary
By Thomas à Kempis CRSA (1380-1471)
Imprimatur 17 February 1947
SERMON (VI)
The Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Dominion and power are interesting in the hands of a protector, only if he exercises them in favour of the protected.
I. The intervention of Mary,for us,poor sinners, is necessary in every state of life. But especially in the moment of temptations then, above all, is her protection useful to us.
Temptations do not come to us from without, they originate within us, still more than around us.
II. What are they?
Each one knows them and recognises them.
Therefore, let us seek the Blessed Virgin Mary at the moment of these intimate struggles, in order to beg assistance of her and in order to receive consolation.
“Solamen et dictamen – Comfort and advice.” –
III. The faithful ask the Mother for the light to recognise their way and to be able to follow it well.
Let us go to Mary, as to a Mother and as to a Queen.
MEDITATION
The Role of the Mother in Mary
That which denotes the grandeur and the charm of maternity in a woman, arc grief and tenderness.
Grief which rends the heart, as it rends the body, in order to give life.
Tenderness which binds the child to the mother and the mother to the child, in such a way, as to form only one being, as they form only one flesh.
All these characteristics are found physically in the human maternity of Mary, in her relationship with Jesus and mystically, in the spiritual maternity of Mary vis-a-vis all Christians but, more especially Religious.
The poem of maternal love which each mother lives, often without knowing it, is found in Mary with more grandeur and glory.
It is necessary to know how to understand it and to meditate upon it, in order to better perceive it and transfer it into life; this is the end of meditation.
Practice:
Offer a sacrifice each day to Mary – however small it may be.
Thought:
A mother is, in life, the bark and the star –
“Stella et nacella.”
Fr & Dr Célestin Albin de Cigala (1865-1928)
Faculty of Paris (1947)
Doctor of Theology and Philosophy
AnaStpaul 