MOTHER MOST ADMIRABLE
Among the divinely inspired passages of Sacred Scripture, the one from the twelfth chapter of the Apocalypse is a compendium of all the great things that can be said or thought of our marvelous Queen. “A great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” What is this great sign? Who is this miraculous woman? Many Doctors of the Church agree that the woman is Mary, the Queen among women, the Sovereign of angels and men, the Virgin of virgins. She is the woman who bore in her chaste womb the perfect man, the God-Man.
Mary appears in heaven because she comes from heaven, because she is heaven’s masterpiece, the Empress of Heaven, its joy and its glory, in whom everything is heavenly. Even when her body dwelt on earth, her thoughts and affections were all rapt in heaven. She is clothed with the eternal Sun of the Godhead and with all the perfections of the Divine Essence, which surround, fill and penetrate her to such an extent that she has become transformed into the power, goodness, and holiness of God. She has the moon under her feet to show that the entire world is beneath her. None is above her, save only God, and she holds absolute sway over all created things. She is crowned with twelve stars that represent the virtues which shine so brightly in her soul. The mysteries of her life are as many stars more luminous by far than the brightest lights of the sky.
But why is she called “a great sign”? It is simply to tell us that everything in her is wonderful, and that the marvels that fill her being should be proclaimed to the entire world, so that she may become an object of the admiration for the inhabitants of heaven as well as for mankind on earth, and so that she may be the sweet delight of angels and men. Mary is truly admirable in all her perfections and in all her virtues. It was through the humility, purity, and love that she merited to become the Mother of God and to receive the graces and privileges with which God enriched her on earth.
0 most holy Mary, whom we venerate as Our Lady of Arabia, we beseech you today to intercede for us that we may become truly worthy of the promises of Jesus your Son and to be numbered among the children of your own maternal heart. Amen.
