"QuÆ est ista quÆ progreditur quasi aurora consurgens, pulchra ut luna, electa ut sol, terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata?" "Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?" (Cant. vi. 9.)

1st Prelude. The Angels asking three times: "Who is she?" (Cant. iii. 6; vi. 9; viii. 5.)

2nd Prelude. Grace to understand who she is.

"Who is she?" ask the Angels, as they see Mary coming into Heaven. Once before had One clothed in the robe of His beautiful, glorified Body passed through Heaven's portals; and the Angels had said: "Who is this that cometh with dyed garments from Bosra, this beautiful One in His robe?" (Isaias lxiii. 1), and they had opened wide Heaven's gate to let in the Conqueror of sin and death, the King of glory, the Lord mighty in battle. But who is she—a woman, who, though she is beautiful as the morning rising, fair as the moon, and bright as the sun, is also terrible as an army set in array? She also has come from the battlefield; she also is a conqueror, for she has crushed the serpent's head; she has undone Eve's terrible work, and, as far as a creature can, has made reparation for it. She it is who has stood like a rock amidst the most crushing sorrows. Her strength is terrible to the devil, but the Angels rejoice in it, and her children flee to her as the Refugium peccatorum, saying: Da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos. (Give me, too, strength against thy enemies.) And so the Angels open wide Heaven's gates again, to let in the Mother of the King—the Queen of Heaven—their Queen—who has earned her right to her throne; not by being the Mother of God, but by nobly fighting the battle against sin, the world, the flesh, and the devil.

(O Mary, Mother of grace, sweet fount of gentleness, do thou protect us from the enemy, and receive us in the hour of our death.)

And she will; she is there for her children. "Who is she?" She is our Mother; she will never forget it, though she is the Queen of Heaven, of Angels, and of Saints; and she will ever be terrible to all who dare to attack her children.

"Who is she that goeth up by the desert as a pillar of smoke, of aromatical spices, of myrrh and frankincense, and of all the powders of the perfumer?" (Cant. iii. 6.) That is: Who is she who is adorned with all possible graces and virtues? "Who is she?" She is the "fairest among women" (chap. i. 7) because of her humility, answers the Angel who heard her say: Ecce ancilla Domini, at the most exalted moment of her life. "Who is she?" She is the "fairest among women" because of her conformity to God's will, say those who have heard over and over again her Fiat when the sword was piercing her soul. "Who is she?" We, too, can answer the question, for we know her. We have watched her, and meditated upon her life, from the moment of her Immaculate Conception till her holy death of love and desire; and we have seen that she has always been growing in grace and in conformity to her Divine Son. Yes, she is the "fairest among women," and she is my Mother and my model. How is it with me? Am I known to my friends, to those who live with me, to my Guardian Angel, yea, to the Blessed Trinity, as one, who is growing in virtue and grace; as one, whose conformity to Jesus and His will, is apparent from the use I make of the Ecce ancilla and the Fiat? There must be some resemblance between the child and the Mother.

For the third time the Angels ask the question: "Who is she that cometh up from the desert flowing with delights, leaning upon her Beloved?" (chap. viii. 5.) There is no doubt about it now—she is His Mother, and her Beloved is Jesus, the Son of God and of Mary. What unspeakable joy is hers to find herself once more in the arms of her Beloved! "His left hand is under my head, and His right hand shall embrace me," (chap. ii. 6), and she leans upon Him. She had never left Him really; she had been leaning on Him all the time of her exile: by her memory, by her love, by her Communions, by her constant doing of His will. This is why I can so safely lean on Mary, the Mother of Good Counsel, because to lean on her is to lean on Jesus, on Whom she leans. She nurses her children for Him.

"Who is she that cometh up from the desert?" In spirit Mary had ever been coming up. Always had she sought "the things that are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God." Her treasure was in Heaven, and nothing on earth had power to attract or attach her.

How far do I copy my Mother in this? Are my affections set on things above, where Jesus and Mary are? Have things of earth no attraction for me in comparison with heavenly things? Am I ready to give them up to Him to Whom they belong when He asks for them? Is my whole heart in Heaven because my treasure is there? This is what is meant by going up from the desert. It means striving always after what is more perfect. It means that each day finds me more charitable, more faithful, more careful about occasions of sin, more like my Mother. And it means also Sursum corda (Lift up your hearts) whenever the difficulties and sorrows of the desert seem too much.

Colloquy with Mary.

Resolution. To ask myself the question often to-day: "Who is she?"

Spiritual Bouquet. "Pulchra es et decora filia Jerusalem, terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata." (Thou art fair and comely, O Daughter of Jerusalem, terrible as an army set in array.)