Mary's Patience

TAKEN FROM THE GLORIES OF MARY

by Saint Alphonsus Liguori
with Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, 1931

This world being a place of merit, is rightly called a valley of tears; for we are all
placed in it to suffer, that we may, by patience, gain our own souls unto life eternal,
as our Lord Himself says, In your patience you shall possess your souls. [Luke 21 19]
God gave us the Blessed Virgin Mary as a model of all virtues, but more especially as
an example of patience. St. Francis de Sales, amongst other things, remarks, that it
was precisely for this reason that at the marriage-feast of Cana Jesus Christ gave the
Blessed Virgin an answer, by which He seemed to value her prayers but
little: Woman, what is that to thee and to Me? [John 2:4] And He did this that He
might give us the example of the patience of His most holy Mother. But what need
have we to seek for instances of this virtue? Mary's whole life was a continual
exercise of her patience; for, as the Angel revealed to St. Bridget, "as a rose grows up
amongst thorns, so did the Blessed Virgin grow up amongst tribulations."
Compassion alone for the Redeemer's sufferings sufficed to make her a martyr of
patience. Hence St. Bonaventure says, "that a crucified Mother conceived a crucified
Son." In speaking of her dolors, we have already considered how much she suffered,
both in her journey to Egypt, and during her residence there, as also during the time
she lived with her Son in the house at Nazareth. What Mary endured when present
at the death of Jesus on Calvary is alone sufficient to show us how constant and
sublime was her patience: There stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother. Then it was
that precisely by the merit of her patience, as Blessed Albert the Great says, she
brought us forth to the life of grace."

If we, then, wish to be the children of Mary, we must endeavor to imitate her in her
patience: "For what," says St. Cyprian, "can enrich us with greater merit in this life,
and greater glory in the next, than the patient enduring of sufferings?" God said, by
the prophet Osee, I will hedge up thy way with thorns. [2:6] To this St. Gregory adds,
that "the way of the elect is hedged with thorns." As a hedge of thorns protects a
vineyard, so does God protect His servants from the danger of attaching themselves
to the earth, by encompassing them with tribulations. Therefore St. Cyprian
concludes that it is patience that delivers us from sin and from Hell.

It is also patience that makes Saints: Patience hath a perfect work, [James 1:4]
bearing in peace, not only the crosses which come immediately from God, such as
sickness, poverty, but also those which come from men---persecutions, injuries, and
the rest. St. John saw all the Saints bearing palm branches---the emblem of
martyrdom---in their hands; After this I saw a great multitude, and palms were in
their hands; [Apoc. 7:9] thereby denoting that all adults who are saved must be
martyrs, either by shedding their blood for Christ or by patience.

"Rejoice then," exclaims St. Gregory, "we can be martyrs without the executioner's
sword, if we only preserve patience." "Provided only," as St. Bernard says, "we
endure the afflictions of this life with patience and joy." O what fruit will not every
pain borne for God's sake produce for us in Heaven! Hence the Apostle encourages
us, saying, That which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh
for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory. [2 Cor. 4:17]

St. Teresa's instructions on this subject are beautiful. She used to say, "Those who
embrace the cross do not feel it;" and elsewhere, "that if we resolve to suffer the
pain ceases." When our crosses weigh heavily upon us, let us have recourse to Mary,
who is called by the Church "the Comfortress of the afflicted;" and by St. John
Damascene, "the Remedy for all sorrows of the heart."

Ah, my most sweet Lady, thou who wast innocent didst suffer with so much
patience; and shall I, who deserve Hell, refuse to suffer? My Mother, I now ask thee
this favor---not, indeed, to be delivered from crosses, but to bear them with
patience. For the love of Jesus, I entreat thee to obtain at least this grace for me
from God; from thee do I hope for it with confidence.
Mary Vitamin for April 3rd

Topic: Heroic Patience* of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Quote:
St. Alphonsus di Liguori
"Mary's whole life was a continual exercise of her patience; for, as the angel
revealed to St. Bridget, 'as a rose grows up amongst thorns, so did the
Blessed Virgin grow up amongst tribulations.'"
St. Alphonsus di Liguori, TheGlories of Mary, (Tan Books), 582.
Meditation:
St. Alphonsus di Liguori
"If we, then, wish to be children of Mary, we must endeavor to imitate her
in her patience; 'For what' says St. Cyprian, 'can enrich us with greater
merit in this life, and greater glory in the next, than the patient enduring of
sufferings?' 'Rejoice then' exclaims St. Gregory, 'We can be martyrs,
without the executioner's sword, if we only preserve patience.'"
St. Alphonsus di Liguori, TheGlories of Mary, (Tan Books), 582 & 583.

Resolution:
Today, I can share in a small way the martyrdom of the Blessed Virgin Mary
by persevering in patience. I beg to be able to remember her unbloody, yet
true martyrdom at the foot of the Cross. I will try to remember the Seven
Dolors and do my utmost to preserve patience by keeping my mind on her.

Marian Vow:
I have the martyred Soul of patience always with me by virtue of my Marian
Vow. I must allow Her to be the guiding breath within me. Be the
instrument! Call on the vow to persevere in patience.

I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Thanks be to God for graces received.

Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate & AirMaria

*Heroic Patience is one of the virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary listed by
St. Louis de Montfort, the other 9 are:

Profound humility
Living faith
Burning charity
Universal mortification
Angelic sweetness
Divine wisdom
Continuous prayer
Blind obedience
Divine purity

In my new book, A Heart Like Mary’s: 31 Daily Meditations, I reflect on many

different attributes and desires of Mary’s heart. The reflection which begins the
book focuses on the attribute of patience. I can be very impatient at times–
whether I’m waiting in a line or following a car driving under the speed limit. I
think about patience for myself a lot. Since I wrote that daily reflection to open A
Heart Like Mary’s, I’ve had more opportunity to reflect on Mary’s patience,
especially moments in her life which demanded it of her. I’d like to share those
thoughts, as they invite us during this season of Advent, to be more patient with
our world and ourselves.
Waiting for the Messiah
Mary’s patience, I believe, is depicted by the great artists who capture the
Annunciation scene. They portray Mary kneeling, reading from a book, signifying
to me that Mary was patiently waiting with all of Israel for the coming of the
Messiah. Her patience, her waiting, came to fulfillment, as she received word
herself that she would be the mother of the Messiah. Her people had to wait no
longer. But she did, as she waited for 9 months to give birth to the savior of the
world and meet the long expected one. Just as Mary patiently waited in her day
and age for Jesus’ coming, as an Advent people, we patiently wait for the
unexpected hour in which the Lord will return, or we patiently wait for that time
when God will call us to our eternal home.

Patience During Travels

As I alluded earlier, one of the times I can be impatient is when I’m stuck behind
a slow car or in my rural Wisconsin assignment, farm equipment on a country
road or highway. I have come to realize that Mary traveled a lot, both while she
was pregnant and after as well. I’m sure that the situation demanded her to have
exercise patience with the mule or donkey, or the slow caravan, or whatever she
might have experienced.

Patience with Joseph

Matthew’s gospel tells us that Joseph, not wanting to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly. Mary had to show patience toward her betrothed,
the one whom she loved, hoping and knowing that he would come around. She
had to wait. Sometimes in our life, we need to be patient with those we love, our
family members, friends, or co-workers. We believe, trust, and hope, that they
will come around.

Patience with History

After the birth of Jesus and his presentation in the temple, Mary had to patiently
wait to return to Nazareth. She had to be patient with history, since Herod felt
threatened by the Christ child and sought to kill all the newborn infants. Mary
endured this trial by fleeing into Egypt and waiting for years to return home to
Nazareth. Sometimes, like Mary, we need to be patient with whatever our history
may be. We might have certain expectations or wants for the present moment,
but maybe God is asking us to wait, and if we do so with patience, whatever we
expect might come to pass.
Patience with God’s Children
From her throne in Heaven, Mary exercises patience with all of us, whom Jesus
entrusted to her as her very own children. We sometimes go astray, and do not
follow the commands of God. We try to do things our way. And as a loving
mother Mary patiently waits for us to come to our senses. Mary has spoken in
many places to different visionaries and she has imparted messages to them,
calling us to conversion and repentance. She patiently waits for us to listen and
respond, praying like any good mother would for her children.

Mary, Model of Patience, pray for us.

Patience is the virtue that enables us to endure all the wrongs and misfortunes of life without
discouragement, but instead with hope and trust in God.

Think of the patience and trust in Divine Providence that Mary must have had when she was
awakened by Joseph in the middle of the night and told that their family would have to make a quick,
nocturnal escape from Herod's murderous soldiers — indeed, that they would have to flee to safety
all the way to Egypt, a place where they had (as far as we know) no job, no friends, no relatives,
nothing at all! Only patience, founded upon complete trust in Divine Providence, could have borne
Mary through this sudden flight and prolonged exile.

In his book Holy Mary, Mother of God, Fr. John Kane tells us:
Despite the severity of the trial, Mary's mind was at rest ... [in] total abandonment to God's will. Without
voluntary anxiety or fear, she obeyed immediately, and started in the darkness of the night on her long
journey with her divine Child and Joseph. She had nothing to fear ... because she carried God in her arms.

We are so familiar with the Gospel story of the Flight into Egypt that we can easily ignore the
hardships that this journey entailed for the Holy Family. It began with a sudden crisis, when the
angel said to Joseph in a dream, "Rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and remain
there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him" (Mt 2:13). That was then
immediately followed by a perilous journey across the Sinai desert and an extended period of exile in
a foreign land.

Father Federico Suarez describes these hardships in detail in his book, Mary of Nazareth:
They left immediately, by night, without hesitation or delay. They left in a hurry for fear delay might cost the
precious life of the Child.

It was a long and tiring journey over hundreds of miles of rough, uneven paths across the desert. It was a
long time before they could feel safe and out of reach of the enemy. And at the end of the journey lay a
strange and unknown country, very different from everything that was familiar to them: their fields and
mountains, their customs and beliefs. It cannot have been a pleasant journey, or full of the pleasant
surprises that the apocryphal gospels describe: palm trees bowing in mute adoration as they passed by,
ferocious bandits who suddenly changed into tender, solicitous and kind protectors, fountain springing up
miraculously in the desert to quench the thirst of the humble travellers. On the contrary, we can only believe
that it was the same for the Holy Family as for other travellers of the time: an exhausting trip, fatiguing,
monotonous, little rest. So, once again the journey to Egypt was made by the chosen ones of God, like
Abraham and Joseph, like Jacob and the patriarchs.

In Egypt they had to start life all over again. Probably they went to some city in the north and got in contact
with a Jewish colony, relying on the racial bonds to find help and make new friends. They were in a country
with a different mentality and different customs, a country of idolaters. The angel's instructions had been
both concrete and vague: "be there until I shall tell thee." That was very clear, but Joseph had no idea how
long he would have to remain there. Whenever anything is indefinite it is uncomfortable. This uncertainty
was in itself enough to make their stay difficult.

Not many of us have had the experience of being refugees, but there is no human life that does not
include the challenge of unexpected trials of uncertain duration. Whether they take the form of an
onset of major illness, a sudden loss of a loved one, the unplanned loss of a home or a job, the list of
such tribulations that can afflict us is seemingly endless, and such crosses are especially hard to
bear when the blow seems to come out of the blue, and when, for a long time, there seems to be no
light at the end of the tunnel. This kind of cross certainly puts the virtues of patience and trust in God
to the test — and yet it can also strengthen these virtues within us, if we walk forward in faith, relying
on the help of God's grace.

Saint Alphonsus reminds us, "patience makes us saints." If it was so for Mary, it could not be
otherwise for us: The more we walk forward in patience and trust, the stronger these virtues will
become within us. Drawing upon Scripture and the breadth of the Catholic Tradition in his book The
Glories of Mary, St. Alphonsus explains:
Patience hath a perfect work [James 1:4], bearing in peace not only the crosses which come immediately
from God, such as sickness and poverty, but also those which come from men — persecutions, injuries
and the rest. St. John saw all the saints bearing palm branches — the emblem of martyrdom — in their
hands: After this I saw a great multitude and palms were in their hands [Rev 7:9]; thereby denoting that all
adults who are saved must be martyrs, either by shedding their blood for Christ or by patience. "Rejoice
then," exclaims St. Gregory; "we can be martyrs without the executioner's sword, if only we persevere with
patience." "Provided only," as St. Bernard says, "we endure the afflictions of this life with patience and with
joy." O what fruit will not every pain borne for God's sake produce for us in heaven! Hence the apostle
encourages us, saying, That which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh for us above
measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory[2 Cor 4:17].

As with the virtues of obedience and holy poverty, so with the virtue of patience: It is founded on the
trust that "in everything God works for good with those who love him" (Rom 8:28). Of course, this
does not mean that in this life we will always be able to see how all things ultimately can work out
according to God's plan. Mary and Joseph probably had no idea at the time what part their exile in
Egypt might play in the plan that the Lord had revealed to them to "save his people from their sins"
through their son Jesus (Mt 1:21). All they knew for sure was the fact that taking refuge in Egypt, for
a time at least, meant safety for them all. No doubt they prayed every day for the chance to return to
their homeland, if it should be God's will, but there is no indication from the Gospels that those
prayers were answered with anything but silence for several years. Not until Joseph's dream, some
months or years later, did they learn from an angel that it was finally safe for them to go back (Mt
2:20). The Imitation of Mary tells us:
Providence does not always liberate the upright from all fear and danger, nor does it always give them in
their need the kind of help they want and ask for. But its plans are no less wonderful, whether it releases
men from need or leaves them in it, whether it avenges them against injustice or leaves them to be its
victims.

In affliction, God gives them the grace to be patient, and thereby bestows a greater blessing on them than
if He were to overwhelm them with prosperity.

Whether divine providence leads us down pathways filled with sorrow or with joy (and every human
journey certainly contains its share of both), with Mary and Joseph we can trust in the Lord, with
great patience, that he will find a way through our trials that is best for us, and best for his whole
kingdom. The Imitation of Mary sums it all up for us in the form of a prayer:
Lord, you bid me travel by paths I do not know. Your command is enough for me. Your will is my light and
all the reason I need. Admittedly, I do not know where I am going, but I am sure that if I let myself be led by
a guide as wise as You are I shall not go astray. ...

We often trust entirely the advice of a man who is regarded as prudent and enlightened. Have we any
reason to mistrust when You, eternal Wisdom, are the one who directs us?

Therefore, however surprising I may find your plans for me, I shall simply bow down before them in
adoration, for Your power surpasses my power to understand it.

Prayer
Recite the Chaplet of the 10 Evangelical Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary and prayerfully reflect on
Mary's virtue of patience.

Questions for Discussion for Part 15

1. How does the gospel story of the Flight into Egypt show Mary and Joseph exercising the virtue of
patience, founded upon trust in God?
2. Has life ever thrown you an unexpected "curve ball" that required you to walk forward through a
time of sufferings and trials with sheer faith: when patience and trust in God were just about the only
things that enabled you to get through it?
3. Look up some of the Scripture passages mentioned in this chapter (James 1:2-4, Rev 7:9-17, 2
Cor 4:16-18, Rom 8:28-32). What can we learn from these passages about why we can walk forward
on our life journey with patience and trust in God, no matter what troubles or sufferings we may face
along the way?

Suggestions for Further Reading

Read St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary, Part Four, chapter IX, entitled "Mary's Patience."

The Evangelical Virtues of Mary

– Answered by Father Johann Roten, S.M.
Q: What are the ten evangelical virtues of Mary?
A: Marian devotion and spirituality has many facets, many expressions, and many
traditions. The "Ten Evangelical Virtues" is one of them. This devotion comes in the
form of a chaplet, and belongs to the Marians of the Immaculate Conception. These
ten evangelical virtues are not only object of prayer. More important, they present us
with a program of virtuous life, which is that of Mary as she appears to us in the
Bible.
The "Ten Evangelical Virtues" are as follows:
Most Pure (Mt 1:18, 20, 23; Lk 1:24,34)
Most Prudent (Lk 2:19; 51)
Most Humble (Lk 1:48)
Most Faithful ( Lk 1:45; Jn 2:5)
Most Devout (Lk 1:46-47; Acts 1:14)
Most Obedient (Lk 1:38; 2:21-22; 27)
Most Poor (Lk 2:7)
Most Patient (Jn 19:25)
Most Merciful (Lk 1:39, 56)
Most Sorrowful (Lk 2:35)
On the ceiling of the eighteenth-century Marian Church of Gozlin, Poland, there is a
ten-pointed star symbolizing Mary's evangelical virtues dear to the Marians. Mary's
virtues are like the rays of a star enlightening our path and inspiring our behavior. The
Marians made the "Ten Evangelical Virtues" their Rule of Life (1699). However, the
origin of this spiritual tradition antedates the foundation of the Marians of the
Immaculate Conception. It goes back to the foundation of another order, the sisters of
the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1501). This religious order was co-
founded by Jeanne of Valois (canonized 1950) and the Franciscan Blessed Gilbert
Nicolas (1463-1532). He wrote the sisters' rule and based it on the ten Marian virtues,
while Jeanne of Valois (1464-1505) is considered the author of the chaplet. The
chaplet was to be a constant reminder of the rule of life and its Marian foundation. It
later became the Marians' everyday prayer up until the reform of the order in 1910.
The chaplet is recited like the rosary. After each Hail Mary / "Holy Mary ... Mother of
God," one virtue is offered in prayer following the order in which they are listed
above (Most Pure to Most Sorrowful). The Ave is then concluded with "pray for us
sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen."