MARY, THE QUEEN OF MARTYRS

Saturday after Sexagesima                                Morning Meditation                                                       

MARY, THE QUEEN OF MARTYRS

As Jesus is called the King of Sorrows and the King of Martyrs, because He suffered more than all the Martyrs, so also is Mary with good reason called the Queen of Martyrs, having merited this title by suffering a Martyrdom the most cruel, after that of her Divine Son. Of her can the words of Isaias with all truth be said: He will crown thee with a crown of tribulation (Is. xxii. 18) -- that is to say, Mary's sufferings, which exceeded the sufferings of all the other Martyrs united, were the crown by which she was shown to be the Queen of Martyrs.

I.

Who can have a heart so hard that it will not melt on hearing the most lamentable event that has event occurred in the world? There was a noble and holy woman who had an only son. This son was the most amiable that can be imagined -- innocent, virtuous, beautiful, who loved his mother most tenderly; so much so that he had never caused her the least displeasure but had ever shown her all respect, obedience, and affection; hence this mother had placed all her affections on earth in this son. Hear, then, what happened. This son, through envy, was falsely accused by his enemies; and though the judge knew, and himself confessed, that he was innocent, yet, that he might not offend his enemies, he condemned him to the ignominious death that they demanded. This poor mother had to suffer the grief of seeing that amiable and beloved son unjustly snatched from her in the flower of his age by a barbarous death; for, by dint of torments and drained of all his blood, he was made to die on an infamous gibbet in a public place of execution, and this before her own eyes. Devout souls, what say you? Is not this event, and is not this unhappy mother, worthy of compassion?

You already understand of whom I speak. This son, so cruelly executed, was our loving Redeemer, Jesus; and this mother was the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, for the love she bore us, was willing to see Him sacrificed to Divine justice by the barbarity of men. This great torment, then, which Mary endured for us -- a torment that was more than a thousand deaths -- deserves both our compassion and our gratitude. If we can make no other return for so much love, at least let us give a few moments to consider the greatness of the sufferings by which Mary became the Queen of Martyrs.

O my afflicted Mother, Queen of Martyrs and of Sorrows, thou didst so bitterly weep over thy Son, Who died for my salvation, but what will thy tears avail me if I am lost? By the merits, then, of thy sorrows, obtain for me true contrition for my sins, and a real amendment of life, together with constant and tender compassion for the sufferings of Jesus and thy Dolours.

II.

As Jesus is called the King of Sorrows and the King of Martyrs, because He suffered during His life more than all other Martyrs, so also is Mary with reason called the Queen of Martyrs, having merited this title by suffering the most cruel Martyrdom possible after that of her Son. Hence with reason was she called by Richard of St. Laurence, "the Martyr of Martyrs"; and of her can the words of Isaias with all truth be said, He will crown thee with a crown of tribulation (Is. xxii. 18); that is to say, that Mary's sufferings, which exceeded the sufferings of all the other Martyrs united, were the crown by which she was shown to be the Queen of Martyrs.

That Mary was a true Martyr cannot be doubted, as Denis the Carthusian, Pelbart, Catharinus, and others prove; for it is an undoubted opinion that suffering sufficient to cause death is Martyrdom, even though death does not ensue from it. St. John the Evangelist is revered as a Martyr, though he did not die in the cauldron of boiling oil, but "came out more vigorous than he went in." St. Thomas says, "that to have the glory of Martyrdom, it is sufficient to exercise obedience in its highest degree, that is to say, to be obedient unto death." "Mary was a Martyr," says St. Bernard, "not by the sword of the executioner, but by bitter sorrow of heart." If her body was not wounded by the hand of the executioner, her blesesd heart was transfixed by a sword of grief at the Passion of her Son, grief which was sufficient to cause her death not once, but a thousand times. From this we shall see that Mary was not only a real Martyr, but that her Martyrdom surpassed all others; for it was longer than that of all others, and her whole life may be said to have been a prolonged death.

And if Jesus and thou, O Mary, being so innocent, have suffered so much for love of me, obtain that at least I, who am deserving of hell, may suffer something for your love. "O Lady," will I say with St. Bonaventure, "if I have offended thee, in justice wound my heart; if I have served thee, I now ask wounds for my reward. It is shameful to me to see my Lord Jesus wounded, and thee wounded with Him, and myself without a wound." In fine, O my Mother, by the grief that thou didst experience in seeing thy Son bow down His head and expire on the Cross in the midst of so many torments, I beseech thee to obtain me a good death. Ah, cease not, O advocate of sinners, to assist my afflicted soul in the midst of the combat in which it will have to engage on its great passage from time to eternity. And as it is probable that I may then have lost my speech and strength to invoke thy name and that of Jesus, who are all my hope, I do so now; I invoke thy Son and thee to succour me in that last moment; and I say, Jesus and Mary, to you I recommend my soul. Amen.