Spiritual Quote of the Day (St. John Henry Newman, on Mary’s ‘Holiness and Perfection’)

“Who can estimate the holiness and perfection of her, who was chosen to be the Mother of Christ? If to him that hath, more is given, and holiness and Divine favour go together (and this we are expressly told), what must have been the transcendent purity of her, whom the Creator Spirit condescended to overshadow with His miraculous presence? What must have been her gifts, who was chosen to be the only near earthly relative of the Son of God, the only one whom He was bound by nature to revere and look up to; the one appointed to train and educate Him, to instruct Him day by day, as He grew in wisdom and in stature?”—English theologian St. John Henry Newman (1801-1890), “The Reverence Due to the Virgin Mary,” Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. 2 (1835)

The image accompanying this post, The Immaculate Conception, an oil-on-canvas work, was created in 1767-68 by the Italian painter and printmaker Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770). It now hangs in the Prado Museum in Madrid.

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Cindy Perazzo, on ‘A Mary We Can Understand and Relate To’)

“As we begin to be in touch with Mary in the mysteries of the rosary and in Scripture and as we take the time to listen during the quiet times we carve out of our busy lives, we find a Mary we can understand and relate to. We become in touch with her gentle spirit and thoughtful ways. We become amazed at her underlying strength and acceptance. We are able to imagine the beauty in her that captured God’s heart. With this newfound awareness we realize that imitation, even if it is in some small insignificant manner, is the true way to model her many virtues and this in turn will honor Mary.”— Cindy Perazzo, coordinator of Lay Carmelites, “Hail Mary!”, Carmelite Review, Fall 2013-Winter 2014 issue

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Enuma Okoro, on the Gospels’ Visitation Narrative)

“I hope there's a way we can each figure out how to be an Elizabeth to a Mary in our lives, and vice versa. That we can step forward with someone else into that uncertain space of a transforming life mixed with blessing and challenge, to stand alongside another person's journey, trusting that in that act we too are somehow fortified and encouraged on our own walk.”— Nigerian-American writer and speaker Enuma Okoro, on the “Visitation” narrative in the Gospels’ Advent story, in “The Art of Life: A Season for Solidarity,” The Financial Times, Dec. 11-12, 2021 

The image accompanying this post is Visitation (c. 1517), a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael (1483-1520) that now hangs in the Museo de Prado in Madrid, Spain.

Quote of the Day (Garrigou-Lagrange)

"St. Louis (Marie de Montford) says that there are two forms of spiritual direction, just as there are two ways of making a statue. A statue can be made by hammering and chiseling a piece of wood or marble—a difficult and lengthy process, during which a single awkward blow may ruin the entire work. But there is another way, a much easier way—by putting clay into a mould. This is the method which Christ adopts for the spiritual formation of souls who have a great love for Our Blessed Lady, and who are urged by that love to a humble imitation of her virtues."—Reginald Marie Garrigou-Lagrange (1877-1964), The Priest in Union With Christ (1952), translated by G. W. Shelton

(I found this book on the shelves of Carey Cottage Inn at the Chautauqua Institution, of all places—a village renowned for spiritual inquiry, as my readers know abundantly by now, but not necessarily known for its Catholic presence. A stamp on the first page announces that it came from the library of the Seminary of Our Lady of Angels. Was that located near Chautauqua in upstate New York? Is it still around?

Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange is considered one of the greatest neo-Thomists of the 20th century. An intriguing discussion of his life—albeit one that takes as its starting point the questionable belief that “certain pre-Vatican II thinkers were buried by the liberals and reformers”—is contained in this link. In any case, I like the simple explanation that this French Dominican offered for the complex but powerful influence of Mary in the lives of believers. Not a bad meditation for the Feast of the Assumption.)