But, of course, this superb writing about the Blessed Mother stems, like that of Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, from a great love for her. Being priests, the Lady Mary would be their lady.
Fr. Gabriel writes that the thirty years in Nazareth provided Mary with time to have Jesus as the total center of her life. She did everything for Him. As Fr. notes, all her affections, thoughts, all her actions, surrounded the needs of Christ. Her heart, states Fr., beat in "perfect harmony with His".
This is a description of the deepest love possible. Fr. Gabriel quotes St. Pius X from Ad Diem Illum: she "shared the thoughts of Christ and His secret wishes, in such a way that it can be said that she lived the very life of her Son."
But, Mary is part of the Trinitarian life, and was, in Nazareth. " She was (from the moment of the Incarnation), the beloved Daughter of the Father, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, and the Mother of the Word...Thus Mary is the temple of the Trinity."
Fr. Gabriel then writes that Mary is the great model for those of us desiring intimacy with God. "She leads us to Jesus and teaches us to concentrate all our affections on Him, to give ourselves entirely to Him, until we are completely lost and transformed in Him. Then, through Jesus, she guides us to the life of union with the Trinity. By reason of sanctifying grace, our soul is also a temple of the Trinity, and Mary teaches us how to abide in this temple as a perpetual adorer of the three divine Person who dwell therein."
How wonderful to be thus lost in God, totally....
