[Untitled]

.rayer iri the "M_ass for the Propagation of the Fait°h. The collect of this Mass reads as follows: "O God, who. desirest that all men should be saved, and come to a l~no~vl~ lge of Thy truth, send we beseech Thee, laborers into Thy,harvesL .and gran~t them grace to Sl6e~ak Thy word in all trust, that Thy words may run and be glorified, and all nationsomay kng..w Thee, the one true God, and Him who’Thou ha~t sen~, Jestis Christ, Thy Son Our Lord.’’I -~ iThe Saint ,Ahdretv Daily Missal. 161 Reuieto for Religiotzs In his first pastoral letter to Timothy, St. Paul urges prayers" for the salvation of all: "I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanks-givings be made for all men: For kings, and for all that are in high stations

that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all piety and chastity. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and to come to a knowledge of the truth." (2: 1,-4). The Apostleship of Prayer, which is one of the better known practices of the devotion to the Sacred Heart, makes itself exactly what its name implies. It is an apostleship praying for the salvation of souls. The various intentions are, known to all who read the league leaflets. Under the calendar for the month such intentions are proposed as reconciliations, conversions, temporal and spiritual favors. sinners. The various spiritual endeavors for the neighbor of which we have spoken thus far are known as prayer of petition or impetra(ion. More specifically, and in so far as they are offered for others, they .are called intercessory prayer.. Closely allied to impetration is merit. These two acts, th6ugh similar in certain respects, are clearly distinct realities. The difference between them will appear from a ¯ consideration of the characteristics of each. Impetration is an act in which one manifests his needs to God and appeals outright to His mercy and power, It derives its value from an ackno~vledgement of personal ineffectiveness and a recognition of God’s goodness, mercy, and power. Merit, on the other hand, looks rather to an act in as much as it gives honor to another. It can be defined as an act placed in honor of God and worthy of a reward. The difference between merit and impetration becomes abun- 162 Mail, 1946 ’ MERIT FOR OTHERS dantly clear from a very~simple example. Impelled by the desire of going to a movie a.child will do one of two things. He will promise to be good or to do s6me work if he. can go to the movie

or he will thrown himself outright on parental generosity and ask permission. This second. alternative is impetration~ the first, merit. it is a well-known fact ~hat man in the state o~f grace can merit graces for himself. The question now is, can he also merit graces for. others? Can he, for example, merit the graces necessary for the reconciliation of a sinner with God? Can he merit the grace of conversion for heretics and infidels? Can he merit the gift of a ha1~py death for friends and relatives? If he can, then the daily round of meri-torious actions can be a wonderful apostolate for the salva- ~:ion of souls. If he can merit for another, he has, over and above intercession, an added means of helping the neighbor. The religious busy in the hospital, or in the class room, in executive positions or in the kitchen, or in any work at all can carry on an apostolate in tl4e secret of his heart. The contemplative religious, the invalid, the helpless cripple, the one who has inculpably failed in duties assigned can play a part ~h~it will f~r surpass his expectations. The question, then, is: Can man in the state of grace merit graces for others and thus exercise his apostolic ze:i1 for souls? The practically unanimous answer of theo-logians is in the afFirmAtive. A person in the state of grace can merit graces for others. He cannot, indeed, merit them condignly. Condign merit for others is a matter of jus-tice and is a s.ingular perogative of Christ. But man can merit for others congruously, that is to say, by reason of a title based on God’s liberality. What, then,, a~re these graces that we can merit=for others? In his work on merit Father Franci~ Suarez writes 163 LEO A. CORESSEL Review /or Religious as follows: ’.’There is a,rule that the~ just man can merit congruously for another Whatever..he can merits, forohim-self, and over and above, this, something more. ~.This last is stated because,.he can’merit for-another a first grace, ’,as St. Thomas and_ all theologians teach, even though he can-not merit it for himself. ’ The reason is t.hat merit supposes first grace in the one meriting it,. not, however, in him for whom meritis gained.’’2 Here we have sketched for us "the general rule for m~riting for others.-We can best 5!ar,ify the .,v6rfls of Fathe~ Suarez by Setting down and explaining a number of the outstanding graces_we can merit for others. In doing so the whole field of .apostolic endeavor referred to will be opined up to us. It is said, first of all, that we can merit for another a grace which We cannot even merit for otirselves. Such a grase is a first actual grace. By first grace is meant one which is given to a person who is considered as acting while endowed with natural powers.alone. Such a person.lacks the ability to pla~e an act proportionat.e to eternal life. He must have graqe to do so, for a supernatural end requires supernatural help.o Hence it is that we cannot merit a first grace for ourselves: To merit grace w~e must already have grace. St. Thomas Aquinas explains why we~can merit con-gruously first grace for another. He says that "a man in grace fulfills God’s will and it is congruous and in harmony with friendship that God should fulfill man’s desire for the-. salvation of another.’’3 Some theglogians also appeal.to St. James and find support of this truth in the fo!lowing Words of his Epistle: "Pray one for another, that you .may 2Sua~z, OperaOmnia X, De Meritc, L 3Surorna Theologia 1-11, q. 114, a. 6. lish Dominican Province. 12. c. 38 n. 21. Literally translated by Fathers of the Eng- Ma~t, 1946 MERIT FOR OTHERS be saved. For the continual prayer of the just availeth " much." (5:16). When theologians cite these words," they understand praye~ not only as-impetration but also as having meritorious value. That such a concurrence of diverse realities can be had, is generally admitted. The second part of the Our Father, for example, is a series of petitions~. Yet no one will doubt that their recitation can also be highly meritorious to the suppliant. First grace will mean much more to us if we make some practical applications. In this Father Suarez gives us a lead: "The just man," he says, "can merit first grace for another because he can merit either the application of a ~ac-rament or a congruous call, even to contrition. With these two things first grace is infallibly and per se joined.,’’~ "Since this is so, it can be said that a person in the state of grace can merit the reconciliation of a sinner with God, and the conve~rsion of a heretic or of an infidel. These truths reveal our vast potentialities in the realm of daily good works in their relation to the salvation of souls. We can proceed with full confidence, offering our. days in accordance with these intentions, We shall be the more inclined to do this if we recall the pious saying that the conversion of St. Augustine was due to the tears of his mother St. Monica, that to St. Stephen is attributed the conversion of St. Paul. What Saints Monica and Stephen wrought for the glory of God and of His Church, that we can do in our own small way for the salvation of souls. It is a hidden aposotolate, but withal, a very fruitful one. The greatness and the dignity of cooperating in the ’salvation of souls is seen in a consideration offered by St. Thomas Aquinas. He asks whether the justification of the ungodly is God’s greatest work. St. Thomas answers 4Suarez, Opera Omnia X, De Merito, L. 12, c. 38, n. 21. 165 LEb A. CoREssEL ’ Review for :Religiou~ that° if-lookgd .at under :the aspect of, what, is. made

,~L’the jtistification,,of _tile ung~dl~, Which tCtminate~

it the eternal goodof a~share of .the Godhead, isgreater than the creation" of heaven~a~nd earth, which terminates~h.t ,the good .of muta.ble, nature:~ -

Cleared o’f t~echnical ,,languagit

,~Thoma~’ thought runs a~..fol,lows: If you look’,at thi~ ~matterCund~,r the aspect of the, resuIts.,produced, it is a grea~er ,work to bring a sinner to the state of grace thhn. it is to cr’eat~ heave~n and ea_rt.h. The reason,is this:,To,bring a ~inner to the state of grace~o.means the bestowal of.,divi~e ~na~ture. °creation° of .heaven, and earth means° the,~profl~uction of nature asmesee it all about us. While this is:good and the handiwork of God’s creative power, .dr is but, transitory and suhject~ to de.cay and change, As St. Augustine~says: For a ju,st°m.an to be made from a sinner is greater than to" create heaven and ,ea’rth, for. heaven and earth,shall, pa~s away, but the justification of the~, ungodly shaIl~endure, ~ The inspiring lesson in all this is not hard to see. The conversion of a sinner is-principally the~ work- of God, for it means the forgiveness of sins and the infusion ~of grace. But,humaia beings can cooperate iri this work. ~They can act as instruments of,,God’s gra~e. Their good ,works can channel this, grace to.sinners. In doing this human beings cooperate in a work which is greater than the creation of heaven, and earth.~ ~° Afiothfir possible obj’e~f of merit for otheis"is final perL severande. By this gift is meant what is commonlT?known as a h~ippy dearlY. It means the ~ontinuan~e~in the irate of grace up to the end df life and inciusive*’of death. Thd end of:life may be years away or it may be a matter of hours. In either Case one is said to have ritual pers~veran’ce if death iliads him ira the state of grace. ~" ~Surnrna ~Fheologica 1-11, q. 113, a. 9. 166 May, 1946 MERIT FOR OTHERS ~,,o ,~:~T6,merjt~finak, persegetai~ce for another.does no.~.mean that one can acquire for him a quasi-confirmation.: in grace_. ¯ If this ,~ere~ true, he. would receive-a gift which w~ould ~strai~fit~a~

gi~nicet~, as it 4er~,~th~ re~t gf fiis li~e ~nd pre- ~very ~ great an~ ,aq,,exceedingly w~!c0m~ one.. The o9~y trouble,is that it cannbt bemerited ~for another. This~,is cl~ar fr~-t~e wo~ds ~f F~t~r"~uarez already .qugtea, in which the extent ot merit tot another was esgbhsneo. . . ,_ To ,merit&na! perseverance for another means tha~ one cag, indeed, merit e~cacious helps for him. But,this is,true onlyg[~sing!e’instagces at a time, : That~i~is to say,.one can merit an e~cacious help for another so that, he will. not fall on~ this or that-oc~asion.,.~ Dqi~g this one .can merit for ~ . vtcgg~ after y~ctqry, so)that.he _goes from’act to act.with sug~es~,.,doigg~ ~hat is 9f~pr$ceP.t, or overcoming ~t~mptat~ons, and finally,, 9y~ives ay~_t~e judgem~ntrseat,, God in the state oLgrace. ,. ~e difference,~betw~en~a quasi-confirmation

in:gracer ~ha"c"h .cannota ,-b e’,, adm"itted, and, the -second manner, of meriting fifial pirseverafice for another can b~ illugtrated~’gy an example. Eet,us suppose, two teachers ea.ch.oLwhom has charge of a stud~ group. ,~The first, teacherois" given th~ p.Qver~go~,.~i:vg~b~is students genera!.permission, to,go io the lib~gy, whenever ~hey.~ish. The second teacher, is restricted ~n ~ch

~ay that,,he m~st give ~ermission,-eagh time.~ ,In som~Nhag,theosome ~way,~God does not allow us to, merit p~rseyerg~ge,f0r gnother al! at once.,, A single ,act on ou~r part will nqtmerit for anot~e~ a,gi[Lpre~enting a~fall~ into m~rtal-sin, in every diNculty and ~temptation: theieafteL ~e can merit~’su&ess for another only in this~or,th~t :t~b~ tatiofl~6rfulfillment of a prec~pt.-~

We can r~p~at’~t~iS, winfiing for gim individ6alOhelps fo~qn~ivi6ua~occasions,,- ~167 LEo A. COk£SSEL and thus see a person through life, tothe very end in the state of grace. It is not certain that we can merit final perseverance for another

but there are good grounds for saying that we can do so. If this great gift is beyond the scope of our merit for others, there remains the opportunity of offering impetratory prayer in supplication for this intention. We have now considered a number of the graces that can be rcierited for others. Although they do not exhaust "the list, they are the most significant and as such’deserve ~special mention. As to other objects of merit, they nded detain us only long enough to state the more important and to add a word,of explanation. We car/merit ~in increase of sanctifying grace and of gloryfor another, but.’only indirectly. This is done by acquiring actual grades for him, the good use of which brings about an increase of sanctifying grace. Sanctifying grace, in turn, determines the degree of glory in eternity. Also obtainable for another are e~cacious graces. Such are gracesthat the recipient will most-certainly put to good use. They will be helps to do good and to avoid evil. Finally, even temporal goods can be merited for another, but only in so far as they are conducive to eternal life. These various objects of merit are encouraging pros-pects for our zeal. But we must be reconciled to the possi-bility of failure in acquiring them for others. Suppose we have been offering our good works for this Or that person. We have also given our days and months to the salvatibn of heretics and infidels and notorious sinners. But we see very little fruit as the result of all our endeavors. A reason for this is the perversity of the human will. As long as human beings retain freedom of will they can put obstacles to grace. This is the thought of St. Thomas, .who says of 1~68 May, 1946 MERI~T FOR OTHER8 congruous merit for .others" "It is congruous and in har-mony with friendship that God should fulfill man’s desire for the salvation of another, although ~ometimes ~here may be an impediment on the part of him who_se salvation the just man desires.’’6 We must also recognize the fact that in meriting for others, we have no divine guarantee that our good works will actually win the various graces enumerated. Merit for others is based on God’s liberality and on a sense of what is becoming, or as St. Thomas has it, on a sense of what is "congruous and in harmony with friendship." But this basis will l~e sufficient for us to set about sharing in a work the possibilities of which are too great to be passed by. We can confidently expect that our endeavors will become in God’s plans, genui.ne contribution_s~to His glory and the good of souls throughout the world. It onlyremains for us to indicate a good practice in ~this matter. We should continue our prayers of petition and intercession for our ~¢arious intentions. But to these can be added the purpose of meriting for others. We go about this in the very same way that we merit for ourselves. We make the very same offering, but we now include the inten-tion of vinning certain graces for others. This does not mean that we will give a!l our merit to some one e!Se. Bu~ it does mean that our efforts will enable us tO share in an apostolate.with tremendous power for good. 6Summa Theologica 1-1 1. q. 114. a. 6. 169 . iE, DITORS’ NO2FE: Faiher Edmund 3. Baumei~ter, S.M., has kindly sent us some rather d~tailed ihforn~ati0ff coriierning the Marian Lil~rary.: ~ In the’’ f611bwing park-graphs we present this information (condensed somewhat because of spac,¢ limita-tions) to our readers, whom we earn’estly fequ~est to do all in their power to make this splendid project ~ne of the great glories of Mary in our country:] ~Fbe Maiian Library, begun recently at the.University b,f~Dayton to cc~’~memorat~ its’:centenary in 1950, is a nev~ type of monument to Mary, It aims’ to serve, ~11

and it. looks, f01 the cooperat, i0n~o~f all, Its beginnings’have been alded by Mary s~chlldren froni alLvCall~s of life, and even by. non-Cath61ics. A Protestant army .sergeant,, was among the.donors when the pr.oject was first announc~e.d.~ The late ~:ranz Werfel grac’iously donated an autographed copy of his Song of Bernadette. ~urpose. The purpose of the library is ~o ga~her all ava!.lable niaterialofi" our Blessed Mother-into one place, so that ’it may be readily accessible for research either~on the ’local campus or through, the inter:library loan service for those Carrying on their investigations. elsewhere. All forms of printed materials are ,being,. assembled. Eventually a Marisn~museum may supplement the library~ proper. Sources of Marian art and music are b~i~g ~tudie~l with th[~ in ~,iew. Movie~, slid s, phonograph records, and musical scores ~ilt integral part of the °Marian clearing house proposed: for ge~neral service. Obstacles in the way. The greatest handicap to th.e,~ more rapid developme~nt of the Marian Library collection is the fact. ~tbat pr~ac.ti-rally all but the most recent Marian books are out of prifif. All.the leading Catholic publisher.s have been contacted but the message invariably most discouraging

only the very lates~ are still puichas-able. The wa~ oat. Though it must have been obvious to all from the start that many valuable books may never reach the Marian Library, it dbes not follow that these books are excluded from the.service of the library. Through a carefully planned system, the Marian Library is constructing a Union Catalogue which in effect will include the catalogues of all Marian books to be found in every library that is willing to cooperate. Through this Union Catalo~ueo once it is ade-quately developed, the Marian Library will be able to inform anyone 170 THE M~RIAN LIBRARY of the nearest library that contains the book he may desire for research-purposes. The Booklist of the Marian Lib~’d~l~publi’sh’d~d last fall contains 4200 entries including most of the Marian. books found in libraries. Since each of these entries is nUmb~rdd,’~ny lliisbtr~airnyg cthaea nbuem rb~eeras doifl yit sc hhoelcdkinegds f’oorn t ~hseE Uecnia~l’~o .nR eCcaotradl oCgaured s’ bthya tm,t.he~reely Marian Libra’ry will ’be glad to suppl~ to" all th0~e"~ willing~ to check their libr~iries. A~ lotea for ~Our~ Lad~!. .Of ttie 4200 entries in the Booklist,~:l~s~s than a-thousand have actually found their way into the Marian Library. ~0n~e~ hope still looms bright.~for the library staff: and that~ is the possibility, of loca~ing many of these books in private’uncata-logued’~ lil~rarids that ~rill be willing to° sell,’ them. The S~taff under-stands that individuals a~e not anxious to part with all theifMarian books: consequently, it 15roposes to ask each individual .having tiny out-of:pr.int books to 0be~willing to sell j.ust one to the Marian Library..,: In this way Mary’s project can gro.w while private libr~aries may’b~e practicall~r left. intac~ - " H6w~re~i, t~’p’e~rmit ~he Staff to carry out ~his plan it wiil be neces-sary to contact hundreds of libraries and to record, their Marianobooks ~or th~,~Union Catalogue

~ For’ thi~ purpose

field workers have vol-unteefed:. their services .in,~the persons, of priests, Sisters

. Brothers, and hymen in many:parts~0f~the states. Our plea is~th~n that priests, superiors of religious houses, and owners of piivate libiaries allow these field .workers or assistants to ~heck their libraries in _order tO s&bmi~ a lis[ ofthe~r~" lq01dings for’our Union~’~C~taloq’ue. The sta~ff"will be gladto furnish gratis copies of the Booklist to all those ~who are willing to check for Marian ’ books the .libraries,in their region. Many new field workers are needed to speed up" this work of chec.ki~ng libraries. The staff will b~ glad. tg _hear from you and keeI3 ydu informed Of its l~rogress through the Newsletter." "~ F6~" further" dbtails write: Marian Library, University ~o~f Dayton, Dayton 9, ~Ohio!~- 171 f Ave Maria 3amesA. Kleist, S.3. .r’~ERHAPS no prayer is more frequently upon~the lips of devout Catholics than the Hail Mary. Could we wish it otherwise? The Church is the world-wide family of God’s children, over which Mary presides as the mother. And in every well-regulated family it is always the mother~. , who is appealed to for "first aid" When things, go wrong. If sh~ can do no more, she must at least blow upon the injured finger to cheer the little sufferer. TO this relation-ship between mother and child, God has seen fit to adapt His ways of dealing with us’in spiritual m~t~ers. He wants us to go to Mary when help is needed. Mary is His Mother as well as ours. Mary is the universal, dispenser of grace, the Mediatrix of All Graces. Since we say the Hail Mary so frequently, we should say it with great devotion lest it become mere lip-servlce: and devotion springs from intelligent appreciation. It may not ~be amiss, therefore, to renew our understanding of what the scene bf the Annunciation meant in the life-of Mary, for the Hail Mary is a glorious reminder of that scene. In this effort the Gospel according to St. Luke will l~e our guide. One day in Mary’s early life, the Angel Gabriel came to visit her. ’When or where "he came into her prese_nce" we are not told. It may have been in daytime, ot late in the afternoon, or perhaps at night. Nor do we know what she happened to be doing at the time. She may have been praying--and praying, perhaps, for th~ speedy coming of the long-promised Messias--or she may have been going about her ordinary household duties. The great artists of the Renaissance were hard pressed for finding a suitable 17~ o, AVI~ MARIA ,bakkgroun~ for,thd angel’s,,visit. ~But .that matters little to us:~ and each one~ may follow his own imagination in ,pkturing the great e%nt. ~ ~- ° " What odoes."matter is that suddenly the angel stood. before her "with amessage from God " Mary knew at once that the messenger was an angel. It may well be tha~t she-had seen him before. There have been many saints in every age of the Church who were favored with frequent angelic"visitatibns. We-read in the life of Gemma Galgani that on one occasion she and her-guardian angel played at m~rbles together

on another she gave him a letter to deliver to her spiritual, director ,who was miles away at the time. "What are the angels, all of ~hem," s~iys St.’ Paul (Hebrews 1:14), "’but spirits apt for service, whom He sends out when the destined hdrs of osalv

ition, have need of them._ (Msgr. ~Knox’s ttanilation.} ":And shall we believe that Mary, the (~ueen of Angels~ was less favored-in this respect? At all events, the’re is, no hint in St. Luke’s accoun~ of her entert~iiningany doubt or fear on seeing the Angel Ghbrid. The first ~thing the angel did was to greet Mary) ~ .That is what-the word "Hair:~,means.- Since he spoke in Aramaic, Which was’the language of the people in that part 0£ the" w6rld at that, time, .the Greek oword~ rendered ’,"Hail" may have meant as much as/

:Pehee:be .to you," which was ’the ordinary Jewish greeting. Just ohow we may suitably r~n2 der it in modern English- is not°a matter of gr~at conse-quence. Some scholars ,,translate it "Good ~morning," which~ seems out of place because it takes for grahted that the 9isit occurred in the morning. Perhaps :’I greet you" or "Greetings" will do. For m°~rself, I prefer to think that the literaFrendering ’,’Rejoice" is perhaps the best, as though the angel meant to say: "Rejoice, Mary

I have good news for you." It is ’extremely interesting to see with what adroitness 1’73 ¯ ~AMES A. KLEIST Review for Religions the angel proceeded.to carry out his delicate embassy, which consisted in o.btaining Mary"s consent to become the mother of Christ. At first, he only distantly hinted his ~object :by addressing Mary as Kecharitomene. Whether he als0 pronounced Mary’s name, as we do in saying the Hail Mary, we do not know. Some scholars think that Kechar, .itortTene, used in the vocative case, was meant to take ~the place of Mary’s name in his address to her. But it is not ,certain thai this Word isin the vocative case

it may be taken by itself as a statement: "You are full of grace." ~ Be this as it may, it is at once evident that such.~an, expression was most appropriate on this occasion..It assured Mary at the very .beginning ttiat she stood high in God’s factor. .- Mary knew, therefore, that she was the recipient of a special "grace" at the hands of God. But, of course, ""grace" may be of .one kind or another. By itself, the Greek word rendered ".grace" may mean that inward endowment Which we call sanctifying .grace

and if this is the meaning here, then Mary was told that she was "full of grace’

and in the possession of that abundance of grace which means con-summate holiness. But I doubt v~ry much whether.this,is what the, angel intended to say

for why should she be told -that hersanctity was so extraordinary? I prefer to believe that the Greek word rendered "grace" ,meant-rather a more external favor_granted, or to be gra’nted, to Mary .by the .grace of God. In ,English, too, the word "grace" may be so interpreted

so, for example, a bishop will’introduce his pasto, ral letters with the phrase: "I, by the grace of God and the favor of the Apostolic See, Bishop of such and such a diocese." The episcopal dignity is here. called a grace

and it. so happe.ns that the Greek word underlying the expres-sion "full of .grace" may mean both kinds of "grace" at the same time. It is reasonable to believe, therefore, that the angel wished to convey the idea that Mary had received 174 May, 1946 A~rE MARIA from God both the special favor of~ becoming the Lord’s Mother, and the grace that was adorning her ~oul in view of that favor. For the moment the precise shade of meaning in the wor~ "grace" was left in abeyance

and Mary prob-ably understood that by a special grace or favor of God she was expected to undertake an office, accept a dignity, and to render a service, though she may not as yet have ha~d a clear idea of what was to be asked of her. If the word "grace" is taken in the sense just explained --a sense, by the way, found in several passages of the New Testament--it becomes at once clear’ why the angel fol-lowed up by saying, "The ~Lord is with you"

for this expression in ‘lewish parlance, meant as much as "the Lord is your Helper." Mary would certainly-need God’s~very special help if she became the Mother of the l~edeemer

for -this office implied heavy obligations and, as she was ~o" final out. later, much suffering. All this was but the introducti6n to the angel’s mission. He went on to’say:"’You, are the most blessed woman on earth." Mary knew now that, in discharging the Special t~isk laid upon her, her womanhood would be called into play, Did it, perhaps, dawn upon her that she was expected tO become a mother? Among the ‘lews, at all events, motherhood was the crown of womanhood. And now the angel paused awhile, as if to study the effects of his words on Mary, and to give her time to show her reaction. Mary was "troubled," in fact "she was shaken in her inmost soul" at the angel’s address, and she puzzled "to know what this form of greeting might mean.", So it was time for the messenger tocome to the point. "Do not fear, Mary," he said to her" "you have found favor with God. ,lust think! You are to become a mother, and to bear a Son, and to call Him ,lesus." And then he went on in .glowing language to picture to her the greatness of her 175 JAMES A. KLEIST" Review [or Religious Son: "He will be great! ,The Lord God will give Him the ’throne of his father David, and He ’will be King over the house of Jacob, and of His kingship there will be no end!" That, surely, was to’ Mary’s enlightened mind a clear indi-o catiQn that her Son would be the Messias. "How shall this be since I am a virgin?" the current rendering continues. This question presupposes that Mary was resolved to keep her virginity intact even in the mar: tied state. Note that I said Mary "was resolved" to remain.a virgin

whether or not her resolution was streng-thened by a vow can neither be denied nor affirmed. It is also clear that Mary did not dream of setting her "resolve" against the clearly expressed will of God in case God’wished her to become a mother. The question thus understood shows~her to be the "Virgin most prudent." Without doubting the words of the angel, she merely inquired what she, in her pec liar circumstances, would have to,-do to accomplish God s design. .~ That was reasonable

and most Catholic interpreters explain the question in that sense. It so happens, how-. ever, ~that her words as expressed in the Greek of St. Luke are capable of another interpretation

they need not have been a question at all, but an exclamation of glad surprise clothed in the .form of a question: "Oh~ can this be true how wonderful this will bepsince (by God’s .arrange-ment) I remain a wrgm. This makes beautiful sense and, incidentally, shows us Mary in: all her girlish innocence. We may assume, therefore, that when the angel told, Mary ~that she was.to become a mother, her quick mind, enlight-ened by the grace of God, recalled at once the prophecy of Isaias which said: "A virgin shall be with child and bear a Son. ~’ The Jews at that time did not, it is true, expect that the mother of the Messias would be a virgin

but it is rea-sonable to think that, in her supreme moment, God gave 176 May, 1946 AVE MARIA Mary light to know’the real meaning of, the~ well~known. prophecy of Isaias, If God sent anangel to obtain Mary’s consent

~He dertainly ~must ~have enlightened’ her about the nature of the work imposed upon her and about the nificance~of the angel’s proposal. Hence, far from~seeing.in her vir~inity~an obstacle: to her becoming .the mother of the Reedeemer,.,she understood that her virginity, . was in fact the first .step .towhrd realizing this~motherhood.~ ° It :is hardly likely, therefore, that Mary asked to be enlightened by the angel as to what she was to,do

:it seems to me much more worthy of Our Lady to assuifie that in the spirit~of~ her later Maglnificat~ she gave lively expression to her:glad surprise ~that she could be both mother and virgin at the :same. time. ~ Reverently contemplating~ the scene from. a~ distance through the eyes of St. Luke, and awaiting with bated breath Mary’s~ answer,’ we,~are ~deeply moved with admiration when we hear her say: ".0h~ how wonderful this will be~---since I remain a virgin!" "~Yes, Mary," we silendy exclaim, "it was ~all very wonderful! Motherhood was "highly ,prized by the women of~your nation

but you," Mary, are the: most blessed of them all

for, by a sweet disposition of Go, d’s .pr6vidence, you"are able,to crown your motherhood with the jewel of vir-ginity.~’~ ~ 0 The angel then: proceeded:to

’explain’~ to her~ that the Holy Spi.ri[ would ~o~ie~shadow" her~,and that for this reasoia her Son would b~ the~Son’~of’the Most High~ God! This is a new stage in the unfolding of,.the.ahgel’s~message: not only was Mary to be the Mothe~’6f.the ~Messias~ ~but also the Mother of !~he’Son of God.~ ’~After hearin~ this fur-ther e~planation

there was but one thing for Mary to say: ~’Regard~me asthe humble servanf~of the Lord! M.ay all that you have said be fulfilled in fine!" ,, ~ ,, The angel’s mission was now eke~uted and crowned 177 JAMES A. KLEIST with success

and "he departed from her.~’ But we who have watched this,entrancing scene cannot be so abrupt in leaving her. We pause a moment to ~dore the Child thus miraculously conceived and tO indulge in a little colloquy with the happy mother. "Indeed, Mary, you were right When you exclaimed, ’How wonderful this will be!’ It is very wonderful that, by accepting God’s ,proposal, _you became God’s Mother and our mother

you are mother and virgin at the same time. And that is why, in your Litany, we address you as ’Mother most admirable.’ And now that the Annunciation is accomplished, what remains to be done? Two, things remain, of which we will do the one and you the other. You said in your Magnit~cat,,that all generations shall call you blessed. -It will be 6ur privilege to-bring your prophecy to its destined fulfillment. With renewed fervor we will go on saying the Hail Mary

we will kindle our~ devotion by contemplating the glorious scene of the ’Annuncihtion and we will offer you the-h6mage due to you as God’s chosen instrument in bringin~ about the Incarnation.and the Redemption... Our praise of you shall-never disappear from