Part 25 - Life of Mary
Marida Ignacio
DISCLAIMER: This compilation was based on saints, blesseds,
visionaries (4 in all) accounts of the "Life of Mary" as
"revealed" to them. It is NOT officially approved by the
Church as essential to our faith and belief. It is up to
individual reader's discretion to believe it or not.
This is here for simple contemplation on what "Holy life of
Our Blessed Virgin Mother" was and what virtues we can derive
from it.
=============================================================
>From the book:
The Life of Mary as Seen by Mystics
Compiled by Raphael Brown
TAN Books and Publishers, Inc.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:
Chap. 25. The Wedding at Cana
Jesus and Mary accepted an invitation to attend a wedding at Cana
of His cousin, Nathanael.
Besides being responsible for some of the arrangements and for the
supply of wine, Jesus took this opportunity to initiate His public
ministry by sanctifying and blessing the institution of marriage.
He intended to perform a public miracle to strengthen and unit
His disciples and also He wished to refute the criticisms against
Him which spred while he was away that He was neglecting His work,
His Mother, and His relatives.
Mary traveled along a narrow and shorter path to Cana with some
women friends. Jesus on the other hand, took a longer path with
25 of His followers making stops at certain villages to instruct
some of the villagers.
When Jesus arrived, he planned all the details of the wedding
festivities and entertainments topped with serious considerations
and spirituality. He announced to the guests that they go and
enjoy but they should take into account growing in wisdom as a
result of their recreation.
On the next day after Jesus' arrived, the festivities continued
outside in a lovely meadow. Jesus organized a game among the
men who were gathered on one side while the women on the other
side of the field played a game with fruits as prizes. Mary
watched sitting between the bride and the aunt of the groom.
(exact qoute follows)
That evening, Jesus preached in the Temple before all the guests,
who now numbered over one hundred. He spoke of pleasures which
are permissible, of the motives with which one might indulge in
them of their limitations, and of the caution and restraint that
must accompany them. Then he spoke of marriage, of the mutual
obligations of husband and wife, of continence and chastity, and
also of spiritual marriage. When he was through and all the guests
had left, the bride and groom remained with Him, and He gave them
some private instructions. (end qoute)
Later in the evening, there was a banquet and a dance. First the
couple danced alone then some of the guests joined them. None of
the Apostles danced nor did the married women, but some of the
disciples did.
The wedding ceremony took place at 9 o'clock the next morning in
the Temple. The ceremony included the couple exchanging rings
that Jesus blessed, the priest making a light cut of the ring
finger of the bride and groom letting flow 2 drops of the groom's
blood and one drop of the bride's into a cup filled with wine.
Then they destroyed the cup after drinking the wine. After the
ceremony, clothes and other objects were distributed to the many
poor persons who gathered to see the wedding. Jesus greeted the
married couple upon their return to the festival hall with,
"The Peace of the Lord and His Light be with you."
(exact qoute follows)
Before the banquet, Jesus organized another remarkable game for
the men in the garden. He placed various flowers, plants and fruits
around a large table on which there was a pointer that rotated on
a pivot until it stopped before the prize of the person who had
twirled it. In this game, which the men now began to play, nothing
occurred by mere chance. Each prize somehow had a definite significance
related to the qualities and faults of its winner. And as each of
the players in turn won his particular prize, Jesus made a brief
and profound comment. Yet the personal application of His words
was grasped only by the man to whom they were directed. The others
found in them merely some broadly edifying teaching. But the
individual himself was deeply moved and felt that Jesus had
indeed seen into the most secret thoughts of his heart and conscience.
When the bridegroom won a very strikingly exotic fruit, Jesus
spoke about marriage, chastity and the hundredfold fruit which purity,
produces. And as the Master handed him his prize, the young man
was stirred to the depts of his soul. He turned pale and without
anyone noticing it, he underwent a mystical purification in which
he was supernaturally liberated from the unclean lusts of the flesh.
At the same time, the bride who was sitting among the women at some
distance, had a fainting spell and experienced something similar,
while the Blessed Virgin held her in her arms and helped her to
revive. Thereafter, both the boy and the girl seemed definitely
brighter and purer in appearance. The other disciples, after they
had eaten the fruit which they won, felt their predominant passion
awake and struggle for master within them, but when they used
their will power and resisted the impulse, they conquered it and
thereby became greatly strengthened against future temptations
...
Jesus gave an instructive talk while carving the lamb. He spoke
of the lamb being sepparated from the flock and led to be killed.
Then he explained how in the process of roasting the flesh was
purified by fire. The carving up of the parts, He said, symbolized
the way in which the followers of the Lamb of God must leave those
to whom they are attached by bonds of flesh and blood. While
distributing the pieces of meat to the guests, who were eagerly
listening to His instructions, He said that just as the lamb had
been taken from its companions and had been put to death in order
to provide food for many persons, so too he who wished to follow
the Lamb of God must leave his home and neighborhood and family,
and put his passion to death, for then he could become, through
the Lamb of God, a source of spiritual food by which he could unite
his fellow men with one another and with the Father of all in
Heaven.
...
During the festivities, the Blessed Virgin had spoken only when she
was asked a question or when it was really necessaray. At all times,
she gave a good example to the women around her by remaining perfectly
recollected and composed. In her Son's presence she listened
attentively to all that He said, and then she meditated on His words.
During the banquet Jesus and His Mother ate some of the food though
with great moderation and without showing outwardly their unusual
abstinence. Then, as the second course, consisting of bird meat,
fish, honey, fruit and pastry was being served, Mary noticed that
there was no more wine. She therefore immediately went to Jesus,
who was instructing the guests, and whispered to Him:
"They have no wine." She reminded Him that He had promised to
supply the wine.
The divine Savior, who had just been speaking of His heavenly Father
replied aloud, with calm and loving, yet impersonal majesty:
"What is that to you and to Me, woman? My hour has not yet come."
Then Mary understood that Jesus was waiting for His Eternal Father's
permission to perform His first great public miracle. Feeling
entirely relieved of her anxiety for the guests and trusting
that Almight God would reveal the Lord's power at the right moment,
she went to the worried servants and said to them with quiet
modesty and confidence: "Do whatever He tells you."
...
He said that the world gives the strong wine first and then the
poorer, but it was not so in the Kingdom. There pure water was
changed into excellent wine to demonstrate that negligence and
lukewarmness should give place to love and zeal.
...
His new followers and His relatives were now suddenly convinced
of His powers, His dignity and His divine mission. Henceforth,
they believed with frim faith that Jesus wasa indeed the promised
Messias.
...
After the banquet, the young bridegroom went to Jesus and spoke
to Him very humbly in private. He saaid that he now felt himself
dead to all carnal desires, and that if his bride consented he
wished to live in continence with her. His wife then came to Jesus
and said the same thing.
The Master took them both aside and spoke to them about marriage
and chastity in terms of sowing and reaping supernatural merit.
He explained the rich fruit of the life of the spirit and mentioned
the prophets and saints who had lived in continence and made of
their bodies a pleasing sacrifice to the Father in Heaven. Thus,
they had brought many sinners back to God and had inspired numerous
followers who in turn formed holy spiritual families and communities.
The young bride and groom now decided to take a vow of continence,
and they resolved to live as brother and sister for three years.
Then they knelt before Our Lord, and He gladly gave them His blessings.
(end qoute)
--
___ ___
(__ \/ ) His Peace through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Marida
* )XxXx/
* | / "Human-kind: Where protection of valuable life starts and
* ) / takes off."
* \/ Jeremiah 1:5: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you..."
*