“Blessed art thou for thy believing; the message that was brought to thee from the Lord shall have fulfillment.” (Saint Josemaría, “Friends of God” at page 286).
Have been thinking about sorrow.
Though I have lived a life filled with peace and splendour and blessings more numerous than the stars in the sky, I have experienced some sorrow in my life.
And while I am not ungrateful for the blessings I have been given, I am conscious of the sorrows that my heart bears.
And I have been thinking about that sorrow as I have been thinking about the woman who bore the greatest sorrow in the world. I have been thinking about the Blessed Virgin Mary. For Saint Josemaría said, “Mary’s throne, like that of her Son, is the Cross.”
And I have been reflecting on that. For the Blessed Virgin stood at the foot of the Cross and suffered such suffering that the world could never know. She was filled with fortitude and courage. And she stood – in silence – and witnessed the death of her Beloved Son – GOD HIMSELF. And in silence she experienced her sorrow and in silence, she allowed the Holy Spirit to fill her soul so that she could endure any sorrow and any suffering.
All the suffering of all the martyrs in all the world could not even equate to a drop of the suffering that the Blessed Virgin experienced through her silent martyrdom upon that throne at the foot of the Cross…
And it is that quietness. That silence standing there that impresses upon my mind today.
You see, in my life when I have experienced any sorrow in any form, I have screamed about it. I have wanted to discuss it and deal with it. I have wanted to cry loudly about it. I have wanted others to know how bad the sorrow was because in some way their witness of that sorry alleviated some of that suffering for me. And yet, the Blessed Virgin suffered silently. For the remainder of her Earthly life, she remained close to the apostles and prayed with them and served them. And she did so silently.
And it occurs to me today that my inability to suffer in silence, my ongoing desire for a witness to my suffering, is in fact evidence of my lack of faith.
Once, when Saint Faustina was very ill in hospital, she complained to Christ (when He visited her) that she was sad to have been left alone to suffer alone. Christ replied that He was with her, was He not enough for the Saint? Saint Faustina immediately realised the error of her thinking and immediately changed her frustration to gratitude.
In “Friends of God” at page 286, Saint Josemaría wrote, “Blessed art thou for thy believing; the message that was brought to thee from the Lord shall have fulfillment.”
And I have been considering that today as I have been considering how I react to sorrow – for it seems I have much to learn from my Heavenly Mother. An awful lot to learn…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.