A Happy Death

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Nature and grace together establish an immutable necessity of dying. It is a law of nature that all mortal things owe their tribute to death, and grace has not exempted mankind from this common necessity. The Son of God, having resolved to defeat death by dying, promulgated this law for us, so that we must pass through the hands of death in order to escape its grasp, we must enter the tomb in order to be reborn, and we must die once in order to strip mortality of its power. And so the death of the Blessed Virgin was a necessary part of her triumph: she had to submit to the law of death in order to leave behind her mortality.

We must not suppose, however, that in submitting to the common law, she did so in an ordinary way. Everything about Mary is supernatural: a miracle gave Jesus Christ to her, and her life, full of miracles, came to an end by a death that was entirely divine. What was the principle of this admirable death? It was her love, maternal and divine, that brought it about. It was love that carried off Mary’s soul and which, breaking the bonds of her body, the bonds that were keeping her from rejoining her son, at last reunited them in heaven.

Mary’s love was made by a flowing forth of the heart of God into her own heart, and the love that she had for her son came from the same source which gave her that son. What can human reason say in the face of this mystery? Do we pretend to comprehend the union of Mary and Jesus? We should not even attempt to explain the nature of a maternal love from so exalted a source, which is a participation in the love of the Father for his only-begotten Son. If we cannot understand its force or strength, how shall we imagine the emotions it generated? All we are able to understand is that there never was so great a human emotion as Mary’s longing to be reunited to Jesus, nor any violence like the one her heart suffered from their separation.

We need seek no other cause for her death. This love was so ardent that one of its sighs alone would have sufficed to break the bonds of its mortal body. One of its regrets was sufficient to disturb the harmony of her being. A single desire sent heavenward was enough to draw forth Mary’s soul. Mary’s death was less of a miracle than the continual miracle of her remaining alive while separated from her beloved.

Let us learn from her love to desire Jesus Christ, who is infinitely desirable. And what does Jesus desire? Will he find a heart that pines for him? Such a chaste longing is rarely found in this world, and it is a sure mark of the paltriness of our desire for Jesus if we are content to enjoy the good things of the earth. When fortune smiles upon us, and when we have all the wealth that we require for pleasure and health, do we nonetheless wish for another paradise? Do we imagine that there could be another happiness? If we let our heart speak to us, will it tell us how content it is with this life? If this be our condition, we may be assured that we are not Christians. And if we wish to be Christians, we know what we must do. We must believe that everything is lacking to us, though the world thinks that we have all that we need. We must groan in prosperity, and we must hope for rest only when we will be with Jesus. Otherwise, the words of St. Augustine will apply to us: “If you do not groan like a pilgrim, you will not rejoice like a citizen.” That is to say that you will never be an inhabitant of heaven because you wished to be one of the earth. Refusing the labors of the journey, you will not enjoy the repose of the fatherland, and resting when you should have been marching, you will never arrive at your destination. This is why Mary always wept in remembrance of Zion: her heart could have no peace as long as it was separated from her beloved. At last her desire took her to him, by means of a happy death.

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

O God, who, looking on the lowliness of the Blessed Virgin Mary, raised her to this grace, that your Only Begotten Son was born of her according to the flesh and that she was crowned with surpassing glory, grant through her prayers, that, saved by the mystery of your redemption, we may merit to be exalted by you on high. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

IMAGE: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, The Assumption of the Virgin, 1670, Oil on canvas, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia