Thought for the Day – 22 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 (VIII)
The Splendour of the Race, in Mary
I. Perfect beauty bears a new name; it is “splendour.” Splendour is itself a virtue.
All virtue has, in effect, an active side and a passive side.
It produces works which we sec and, it is produced by causes which we do not see.
In Mary, the splendour and the illustriousness of her race ,operate these marvels which cause love and admiration to be born which, entice hearts and elevate souls.
Let us be drawn to Mary;
Trahimur ad te, we are drawn to thee – chants the Liturgy.
II. This splendour in Mary arises from her race and her descent. She is the heir of a royal line which reaches back to Joachim, to Solomon, to David, to Jesse, to Abraham, to Adam.
Flowered stem, blessed branch which was to bear the Divine Fruit of the Eucharist – Caro Christi, caro Mariae, said St Augustine.
III. Also, let us ask Mary, with the pious Author of the Imitation, for the hope which is a source of consolation, awaiting the realisation of Love in Heaven, where we shall see our Mother and our Queen in all her splendour.
MEDITATION
Feminine Beauty
Beauty is not only a brilliance, it is also a harmony of the proportions which constitutes perfection.
The man who would possess this harmony, would be the perfect man.
But there is in the beauty of a woman, a more luminous and a more delicate grace which constitutes charm.
Let her be queen or shepherdess, a great lady or a simple worker, a woman can always refine herself more than a man and arrive, at this harmonious beauty of gestures, if not of forms which will make her particular charm.
Do not doubt that this be a virtue instead of coquetry, if it is used in the service of the good and in the perfection of the soul.
All which requires effort and an effort is always an act of virtue.
Be careful then, as St Francis de Sales said, of your appearance and cultivate your heart, so that the fire which leaps forth from this heart, illumines your face with heavenly splendour equal to that of our Divine Mother Mary, the most beautiful of all women.
Practice:
To make an effort everyday, to be gracious to everyone.
Thought:
You are all beautiful, O Mary:
Tota pulchra es Maria!
Fr & Dr Célestin Albin de Cigala (1865-1928)
Faculty of Paris (1947)
Doctor of Theology and Philosophy
AnaStpaul 