I was thinking about Our Lady lately and wondering to myself if having a Devotion to Our Blessed Lady brings special gifts, special fruits of Holiness and graces special to following Our Lady. It seems to me that Our Mother is perfect in all the Spiritual ways and so she can be the perfect Mother to all her children. Each of us is different and I suspect for each of us what we see in her will very for each of us. She is like a sun of holiness and no matter what angle each of us are at ,when we look at her we will always be inspired by what we see. There are two things about Mary, however that have always inspired me, both mentioned in Litanies to Mary; the First is Mystical Rose {Rosa Mystica} and the second is The Garden Enclosed. Both of which are, I think, closely linked. The Title of Mary, as Garden Enclosed is based on Chapter Four of the Song of Songs and is, perhaps the original reason why monasteries and religious houses often have enclosed gardens and cloisters. How beautiful art thou, my love, how beautiful art thou! thy eyes are doves' eyes, besides what is hid within. Thy hair is as flocks of goats, which Come up from mount Galaad. Thy teeth as flocks of sheep, that are shorn which come up from the washing, all with twins, and there is none barren among them. Thy lips are as a scarlet lace: and thy speech sweet. Thy cheeks are as a piece of a pomegranate, besides that which lieth hid within. Thy neck, is as the tower of David, which is built with bulwarks: a thousand bucklers hang upon it, all the armour of valiant men. Thy two breasts like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. Till the day break, and the shadows retire, I will go to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee. Come from Libanus, my spouse, come from Libanus, come: thou shalt be crowned from the top of Amana, from the top of Sanir and Hermon, from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards. Thou hast wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse, thou hast wounded my heart with one of thy eyes, and with one hair of thy neck. How beautiful are thy breasts, my sister, my spouse! thy breasts are more beautiful than wine, and the sweet smell of thy ointments above all aromatical spices. Thy lips, my spouse, are as a dropping honeycomb, honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments, as the smell of frankincense. My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up. Thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruits of the orchard. Cypress with spikenard. Spikenard and saffron, sweet cane and cinnamon, with all the trees of Libanus, myrrh and aloes with all the chief perfumes. The fountain of gardens: the well of living waters, which run with a strong stream from Libanus. Arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind, blow through my garden, and let the aromatical spices thereof flow. When we look through Scripture there is so little said by Our Lady, she is herself the Garden Enclosed. I wrote a poem about this one time in the Monastery: 'Mary spoke but seldom, When she did, The heavens bowed their head and all creation murmured to a hush At wisdom's ruling' you know I was off work the other day and I was walking round the park (which is locked at night, but I slip in anyway) and I said something to the dog (don't fool yourself dogs love conversation} when it suddenly hit me that this was the first time I had spoken to anyone, or should I say anything, all day. It also struck me that it was not uncommon that this should be so as I live on my own. In fact if I did not work I suppose ther would be many days of not speaking to anyone. This should make me feel lonely but this is never so. Jesus said: Luke 17 (KJV) And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Lovely Padraig, Although our Lady is an 'enclosed garden' she never looks within or thinks of self but always radiates love and thinks of others: she is self - less and giving [as is her son]. I love the story of the visitation - sums up our Lady really heading off to help her cousin Elizabeth [but on the quiet!]
Hi Bobby. I am sorry I took so long in posting, I have been wrestling with my computer again. "I was exalted like a palm tree in Engedi, like the rose bushes of Jericho" -Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 24:14 I think the Mysteries of the Rosary are like explosions of light. In the life of Our Blessed Lady it is as though something secret and hidden is suddenly revealed; the door to the Enclosed Garden is thrown open and what is within is astonishingly revealed. So deep are these mysteries, so superb the graces that I think we could spend all Eternity contemplating them with the angels in awe. Here ,with Saint Elizabeth, we see the perfect type of the Child of Mary, of Marian devotion. Through reflection on Mary and her role, Elizabeth does what others so very much fail to do , she actually enters the Enclosed Garden and joins Our Lady there. This is what we do when we say the Rosary and follow Mary, we enter the enclosed garden. But I think more than this, we grow to really love the Enclosed Garden of prayer and we eventually stay there. This is , I believe , what Jesus meant when he advised: But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. Matthew 6:6 Its really stunning to consider that Jesus Himself must have learnt this at the very feet of Mary and by her lived example. That the child and man Jesus watched Mary, His mother often turned inwards to prayer, so much so that she lived constantly in this wonderful enclosed Garden of prayer. I find myself so often doing this in my own prayer life. At work ,at breaks I go out and walk around the hospital grounds, I love working on my own. At morning and nights I walk with my dog. I try to get away from the city to the woods and mountains in my caravan. I love the period just before sleep ,a chance to talk with God and catch up with the events of the day. Earlier in my prayer life I loved to sit for many, may hours each day in front of the Blessed Sacrament, whereas now I love to walk in nature. I would say that growth in prayer, when prayer deepens it is to stay for longer and longer periods in the Enclosed Garden until I found myself always staying there with Marry, so that my life is lived there and in a real way I never leave this blessed garden. In a sense this is what heaven is , to enter this Blessed Garden for all Eternity and never, never to leave it again, but to sit there. for Ages unending at the feet of Mary, who led us there to rest. ...and I have found this profound quality with people of deep prayer, this interior stillness, this joy, this quality of deep interior peace and contemplation; so that when they do speak , or act, I sense from them they are doing so from some deep interior place, from this Enclosed Garden where their souls are at ease. ]
Hi Padraig, It is a wonderful thing to admire Our Blessed Mother and think about her qualities and how beautiful she must be if only we could see her. When I read what you said about Our Lady as an enclosed garden it reminded my of this beautiful passage Jesus wrote about Her in True Life in God - just like to share a small bit in praise of Her who is doing such much to help us all get back to the right path: "O Masterpiece of My Father! O Sublime Masterpiece of Yahweh! Spouse to My Holy Spirit! My Radiant Tabernacle! Your Heart, Beloved of the Beloved, is One with Ours! Your Heart is My enclosed garden, a sealed fountain; your Heart is a Fountain that makes the gardens fertile; your Heart, Adorable One, is My Throne, on which I have been honoured; Heart of the Heart, whom I crowned in Our presence and in the presence of all My celestial court, how can any of My creatures deny Your Heart? You, the Ark of power, all vested in virtues, My New Song, My Harp, My Citadel, in whom the Maker of heaven and earth is ravished by Your magnificence, You who stand in Our Presence, stand ever so close to all who invoke You;" My every hope I place in you Mother of God, keep me under your Protection. God Bless, Mary
Our Lady reminds me of a gentle wind, Mary. Those who follow her become gentle and hidden too, I think. But very,very very strong. Love your quotation.
You are welcome to the forum Mary. Thist is a really beautiful canticle to Our lady. My favourite devotion to Our lady is 'Our Lady of Good Success' Our Lady said that in these times that we live in,if we invoke her under the title of Our Lady of Good Success our prayer will be like a lightning rod to heaven . I have personally found it very powerful in getting response to my prayers. God bless mary
Our Lady reminds me of a gentle wind, Mary. Those who follow her become gentle and hidden too, I think. But very,very very strong. Love your quotation.
During a homily a couple weeks ago (on the feast of the Annunciation), the priest quoted Thomas Merton, who said about the Blessed Mother that her chief glory is how little we know about her. So true, and so profound. Mary's littleness, her "nothingness", her tremendous humility, is that which makes her great. By submitting totally to the will of God (as she did in her fiat) Mary shows us the way.
