All the joy that the Incarnation brought to the Blessed Trinity, Mary to a great extent must have shared. There was the joy of God the Father, because He saw His designs in creating man fulfilled, His justice satisfied and a human creature doing Him perfect homage and bringing Him so much glory. There was the joy of God the Son, because at last He was united to our human nature, because He being God had nevertheless a human Soul and a human Body, to which He could unite all the Divine perfections, and by means of which He could carry out all His Father's designs for the lost human race. There was the joy of the Holy Spirit Who had overshadowed Mary and by His Divine power created in her a Soul and a Body so beautiful that they were worthy to be taken by the Eternal Word and for ever united to the Divinity. The Holy Ghost saw now a human Soul into which He could pour all the grace that would be needed by the whole human race. Of His fulness all were to receive (St. John i. 16).

And what was the means whereby all this joy was given to the Blessed Trinity? The Body which had been formed from the most pure flesh and blood of Mary. She had lent herself at God's request to be the instrument used, and now she was the Tabernacle where the God-Man lay hidden. As He shared His life with His Mother, since it was her blood which was coursing through His Veins, so He shared all His acts with her. That first perfect act of adoration made by a human Soul to God was shared by Mary—she adored too. That first whole-hearted oblation of a human Soul to God was shared by Mary when she said her: "Fiat mihi secundum verbum Tuum." That first perfect act of love from a human Heart was shared by Mary for how close was the union between the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the most pure heart of Mary! When Jesus made acts of reparation of humility, of conformity to His Father's Will, Mary made them too—she could not but do so, for her life was so closely bound up with that of her Son; He became the mainspring of all she did. It was the charity and humility in His Heart that made her go to visit her cousin Elizabeth and make herself her handmaid; it was His salutation that made hers so powerful with regard both to Elizabeth and to the infant John; it was the thanksgiving in His Heart which overflowed into hers and made her sing her Magnificat. That Mary spent the nine months in adoration we may well believe, but she spent them also in union with her Son, sharing all with Him and giving us a perfect model of the interior life—which means not only that God shares in the acts of the soul, but also that the soul shares in the acts of God, Emmanuel—God with us—in order that we may be "with the King for His works" (1 Paralip. iv. 23).

He was incarnate for me, and His Mother is my Mother; it is to her that I must look now to teach me how to spend these days before His birth. Teach me, my Mother, to follow the great example which you set. Teach me, too, to rejoice in the wonders of the Incarnation. Who should be more filled with joy than I for whom He was incarnate? Teach me what the interior life means, teach me to allow Him to be the mainspring within me of all I do, so that the life which I live is not mine but His, the words which I speak not mine but His,—Jesus acting, thinking, speaking through me. This is the interior life which Mary understood so well and lived so perfectly during her time of waiting. There is, however, another side to the interior life, and this is the one we want to meditate about more especially, while we are thinking of the Son of God incarnate in the womb of the Blessed Virgin. He has taken human nature, my nature, and joined it to the Godhead. He has made Himself a partaker of my human nature in order that I may be a partaker of His divine nature. I must not only think, then, of His working in and through me, but of my working in and through Him. Mary entered into and shared not only His Acts of adoration and love and praise, but also the work He had come to do, His plans for the Redemption of the world. "They dwelt with the King for His works, and they abode there" (1 Paral. iv. 23). How true this was of Mary! It is in this that I must try to copy her. "I will abide in the Tabernacle of the Most High," and I will offer myself for His works, His interests shall be mine, He shall feel that one soul at least, sympathizes and cares and intends to co-operate in the great work He has come to do.

Let me, then, as the season of Advent is fast passing, ask myself once again: Am I doing all I can for the spread of the Kingdom which He came to this earth to set up? Am I trying to look at the world with the eyes of love with which He regarded it, when He first made Himself incarnate for it? Am I helping His poor, tending His sick, instructing His ignorant, bringing Home His sheep, loving His little ones, comforting His sorrowful ones? Such are "His works," and if I would do them, I must dwell with the King and learn to do them in His way—I must live an interior life.

It is only those who do not understand the Incarnation who stumble over this statement. What could be more natural? If He chose to redeem the world through Mary, to do all His great works which depend on the Incarnation—such as the foundation of the Church with all her Sacraments—through Mary, is it strange that when I want to help the King in His works, I should do the same and put my little gifts for the King into her hands? Rather would it be strange if I wanted to work on a different plan from my King's. She is the Janua coeli, the Turris Davidica, the Sacrarium Spiritus Sancti; the Tabernacle where He was incarnate for me. Through her and by means of her, He hands me all the graces I receive. What more natural than that I should make use of such a messenger to take back my offerings? And do they lose in the transaction? Surely they must gain, first because she will purify them and add to them her own merits and graces, and secondly because a gift presented by His own Mother cannot but be enhanced in value.

Blessed Grignon de Montfort says: "God has chosen her for the treasurer, steward and dispenser of all His graces, so that all His graces and all His gifts pass through her hands; and according to the power she has received over them, as St. Bernardine teaches, she gives to whom she wills, as she likes, and as much as she likes, the graces of the Eternal Father, the virtues of Jesus Christ and the gifts of the Holy Ghost." We may, if we like, "do all our actions with Mary, in Mary, by Mary, for Mary, in order to do them more perfectly with Jesus, in Jesus, by Jesus, and for Jesus, our Last End."[1]

If I am a child of Mary in anything more than in name, I shall not hesitate to use this great privilege which is offered to me, knowing that by so doing, not only will the value of my prayers and penances and actions be enhanced in God's sight, but my merits and graces will be increased. Mary will see to it that her children who thus trust her have a Benjamin's portion.

Colloquy with Mary, asking her to obtain for me during this waiting time the grace to trust her with all my secrets for her Son.

Resolution. To dwell "with the King for His works" to-day.

Spiritual Bouquet. Janua coeli, ora pro nobis.