THOUGHTS FOR THE CHILDREN OF MARY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume V, Issue 258, 12 April 1878, Page 5

THOUGHTS FOR THE CHILDREN OF MARY.

With thy comeliness and thy beauty sot out, in-oered Iprosjwously, .and reign. (Psalm xliv., 5.) I The Royal Psalmist gives us in these few words a fine description of our Blessed Lady. She " set out " in life with her own special beauty, the beauty of sinlessness. This charm was hers alone, for she alone was conceived without original sin. What a wondrous privilege this was ! we love to express it in the beautiful lines so often sung to the " Heavenly Queen " : " O Virgin meek, alone of all mankind, In whom not God can stain or blemish find !" Not even God Himself can find a stain, a fault, an imperfection j in our dearest Mother. Thus setting out in her immaculate beauty, { she " proceeded prosperously." To the original charm of sinlessness, she constantly added fresh beauties, by the acts of virtue that made her pure soul every instant fairer and brighter before God. That first beauty with which God had endowed her in the Immaculate Conception was all His own gift ; she had no merit in it. But by keeping it carefully, she gained merit, and she proceeded prosperously towards God. Had she not cared to proceed thus, had she not all the time endeavoured to correspond faithfully with divine grace, her soul, all pure and radiant as it was, would have lost its beauty. But because she kept her precious treasure of holiness with care, she proceeded prosperously, gaining new perfections every hour, till she was worthy to " reign " as Queen of heaven and earth. The children of Mary must imitate her. They, too, " set out " with souls made beautiful by the holy Sacrament of Baptism. Although this purity is not a miraculous endowment like the Immaculate Conception, still it is a wonderful beauty before God. The child that dies in baptismal innocence goes straight into heaven. What a grace, then, must this be, that makes the young soul worthy to go and live with God and His Blessed Mother, the angels and the saints, £or ever 1 But. alas ! this beautiful soul can soon lose its purity and 'bVghtness. Mary's children must take pains to keep their purity bright and unsullied, in order that, like her, they may "proceed prosperously.*' It is true they cannot keep from committng some faults. That was their Mother's glorious privilege. But by prayer and by avoiding bad company, they can preserve their souls from mortal sin, and also learn a horror of those serious faults into which children are constantly falling who do not love God and the Blessed Virgin. Thus proceeding prosperously, they will gradually acquire habits of virtue. Every little victory gained over their bad inclinations will add fresh lustre to their bsiptismal loveliness. Every good act, every prayer, will add new charms. Then there is all the beauty that comes to the soul from hearing Mass, approaching the Sacraments, and every religious duty. By and by, the Children of Mary who have thus far proceeded, will '• reign " with her. Even in this world they will be conquerors ; and in the Kingdom of Mary's Divine Son, they will be princes and princesses, joyously reigning with the King and Queen for evermore. — Arc Jfaria,