Pentecost and the Early Church
uring the ascension of Christ, the Blessed Virgin underwent a marvelous mystical experience: by the will and power of Almighty God her soul was raised with her divine Son, and she was told to choose between remaining henceforth in the glory of heaven or returning to the world to guide and assist the new Church. But when she looked down and saw the pitiful condition of the bewildered followers of Christ just after His Ascension, she was stirred by compassion for them and for all mankind, and prostrating herself before the Holy Trinity, she said:
“Eternal God, I accept this task, and for the time being I renounce the peace and the joy of Thy presence. I sacrifice it to further the love which Thou hast for men. Accept this sacrifice, my Lord, and let faith in Thee be spread, and let Thy holy Church be enlarged!”
Thus, by her own free choice and with the blessing of God, Mary returned to help in founding the Church Militant on earth.
During the next nine days before Pentecost she made an intensive retreat in the Cenacle with the Apostles, during which she prepared them for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Every day, at the request of either St. Peter or St. John, she spoke to the Twelve informally for one hour, explaining to them the great Mysteries of the Christian religion as her divine Son had taught them to her. She also prayed regularly with the Apostles and disciples, and gave them helpful instruction on mental prayer. Gradually they all realized that their departed Master had left them an ideal guide in His modest and holy Mother, and more and more they came to look upon Mary as their Mediatrix with Him and as the Consoler and Mother of His spiritual family, the Church. Now they knelt before her whenever she gave them her blessing as they left or entered the Cenacle.
Every day during this “novena” to the Holy Spirit, the Apostles were all united in heart and soul and mind, and while they prayed together their fervor and charity increased.
Early on Pentecost morning in the Cenacle, Mary urged the Apostles, disciples, and Holy Women, who numbered about one hundred and twenty, to pray and to renew their ardor, as the hour was at hand when they were to be visited by the Spirit of God. They had often wondered anxiously just how this would occur, but now as they took their places they had complete peace of mind. St. Peter stood near one end of the hall in which the Last Supper had been celebrated, while Mary and the rest of the Apostles stood around him. Thus they remained for some time, quietly engaged in fervent prayer, with their arms crossed on their chests and their eyes closed or looking down at the ground. The disciples and Holy Women were praying in various other rooms in the building, which soon became filled with perfect silence.
Toward dawn, yet before sunrise, a luminous silvery cloud descended from heaven and covered the entire city of Jerusalem, particularly Mount Sion and the Cenacle, over which an enormous mass of light seemed to condense and become transparent, like a sun throwing out its flames in all directions. Suddenly the sound of a violent wind arose, as though a cyclone were approaching from above, and the air resounded with a tremendous roaring that filled the whole house. Then this disturbance gave way to a display of light, a soft murmur, and a warm, healing breeze. From out of the cloud appeared rays which intercrossed seven times in a fiery rainbow and fell like burning drops onto the Cenacle.
At this moment the building and everything in it was flooded with a dazzling light. The Apostles and especially the Blessed Virgin seemed to be blazing with a mystical transparent luminosity. In the rapture of their ecstasy, they simultaneously raised their heads and opened their mouths, as though thirsting for heavenly grace. Then into each mouth there fell a jet of fire, a small parted tongue of live flame of varying degrees of intensity and color, in which the Holy Spirit came to them, filling each person with divine inspiration and grace and wisdom.
In the holy Mother of God these effects were altogether supernatural. She was utterly transformed and exalted in God.
The Apostles were also filled with a marvelous increase of grace, which they were never to lose. Into all of them, according to each individual’s condition, were infused the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost: Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Piety, Counsel, Fortitude, and Fear. By this wonderful blessing the Twelve were transformed into truly apostolic founders and missionaries of the Church of Christ.
Similar graces were communicated proportionally to the rest of the disciples and the faithful in general. All those who had felt some compassion for the Saviour in His sufferings and death were interiorly enlightened and purified, so that they were later disposed to become Christians.
When all had received this mystical infusion from above, a holy inspiration filled the group in the Cenacle. They were stirred to the depths of their souls, and they seemed almost intoxicated with happiness and confidence. As they gathered around the Blessed Virgin, who as ever remained perfectly calm and recollected, the Apostles embraced one another, and throughout the little flock there flowed a new life and a new spirit of holy joy, faith, and courage.
Then, while St. Peter and the other Apostles went out into the city and openly preached the Message of Christ with extraordinary fervor and inspiration, Mary remained in the Cenacle, prostrate on the floor, praying for the conversion of all who heard the Word of God. “And there were added that day about three thousand souls.”
When the Apostles returned to the Cenacle, she welcomed them with great joy, and Peter introduced a group of the new converts to her, saying:
“My brethren, this is the Mother of our Redeemer Jesus Christ, whose faith you have received. She bore Him, remaining a Virgin before, during, and after His birth. Receive her as your Mother and Intercessor, for through her you and we shall receive light, guidance, and release from our sins and miseries.”
And at Peter’s request the Mother of God gave them all her blessing and urged them to persevere strongly in the faith.
During the days after Pentecost, Mary talked with many of the new converts in private interviews, and as all the secrets of their hearts were revealed to her, she gave each individual precisely the kind of practical advice which he or she most needed. And besides instructing groups of new Christians, she prayed fervently for them during many hours each day and night. Some wealthy converts offered her rich presents, but she always refused such gifts or inspired the givers to present them to the Apostles for distribution among the poor. The Blessed Virgin gave the women an unforgettable example by nursing the sick personally with touching kindness. Often she prepared the Apostles’ meals and served them with impressive reverence.
On the seventh day after Pentecost, when about five thousand converts had been instructed, Mary prayed to her divine Son that they might receive the purifying Sacrament of Baptism and that the Apostles might soon celebrate their first Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in order that the Bread of Life might then be distributed to the new children of the Church.
And the Lord said to her:
“My beloved Dove, let what thou wishest be done.”
Then the Holy Spirit inspired St. Peter and St. John to consult the Mother of God while planning these two ceremonies. And at a meeting of the seventy-two Apostles and disciples who were priests, Mary explained the significance of the Holy Eucharist and the Mass. At this meeting also when the subject of money was being discussed, Peter and John asked the Blessed Virgin to describe to them the attitude that would be most pleasing to her Son, and she said:
“My masters and brethren, many times during His life our true Teacher, my divine Son, told me that one of the important purposes of His coming into the world was to uplift poverty and to teach it to mortals who have a horror of it. In His conversations, His teachings, and His holy life, He made me understand that the holiness and perfection which He had come to teach were to be based on the most perfect voluntary poverty and contempt of money. I am therefore of the opinion that we should all detach our hearts from the love of money and of wealth.”
In preparation for the Solemn Baptism and Mass, the Mother of God helped the Holy Women in getting ready the linens
, white cloaks, and other objects which the Apostles would need; she provided the basins and bread and wine, and she also cleaned and scrubbed the great hall of the Cenacle.
While the Apostles were baptizing the converts, Mary was present, but she modestly stood at one side of the hall, praying for each of the reborn Christians, as a clear light, which was visible to everyone, descended on each person who was being baptized. Everybody present was deeply moved.
Afterward St. Peter recited with the assembled Apostles and disciples the same prayers and psalms that the Saviour had used at the Last Supper. Taking the unleavened bread in his hands, he pronounced over it the words of the Consecration, and he did likewise with the chalice. After he had received the Blessed Sacrament, the Mother of God humbly approached the altar, making three profound prostrations and touching the ground with her face, and then from St. Peter’s hands she received the Body of her divine Son. When she returned to her place, for a long time she remained in an ecstatic trance, wholly absorbed and somewhat elevated from the floor, although her angels prevented this fact from being observed. Thereafter she very strictly limited the use of her five senses, and she ate still more seldom and more sparingly than ever.
Some time later, when St. Peter and St. John were arrested by the Pharisees, they prayed to Mary for help, and in answer to her prayers for them, their divine Master allowed her to send one of her angels to effect the acquittal of the two Apostles. Similarly she often sent some of her angels to help, guide, and encourage the other Apostles when they were traveling and preaching the Message of Christ throughout the Holy Land.
The Blessed Virgin was especially kind to the saintly young disciple named Stephen, and she forewarned him that he was destined to be the first martyr of the Church. Several times she was able to save him from being murdered by his enemies, and when he was finally arrested and brought to trial, the Lord permitted Mary’s angels to carry her into the courtroom, where she appeared only to Stephen and inspired him to make the splendid discourse which is recorded in the seventh chapter of the Book of Acts. It was due to this first apparition of the Mother of God that St. Stephen’s face seemed to all who saw him “as though it were the face of an angel.” At the end of his talk, through Mary’s intercession, he was given a vision of Christ at the right hand of God. And as the brave disciple was being condemned to death by stoning, the Blessed Virgin lovingly gave him her blessing and encouraged him. During his martyrdom she prayed fervently for him, and then she witnessed and rejoiced over his reception by his Lord into the glory of heaven.
Knowing that the Apostles were soon going to leave Jerusalem in order to preach the Message of Christ throughout the world, the Mother of God realized that they needed one short formula or creed in which the whole Christian religion would be summed up. She therefore prayed and fasted for this intention during thirty days, until the Lord inspired St. Peter and the other Apostles to consult her on this matter. After another ten days of prayer together, St. Peter met with the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin, celebrated Mass, and distributed Holy Communion to them. And while they were all praying to the Holy Spirit, they heard the rumbling of thunder and saw the Cenacle become filled with a supernatural light. Then Mary asked each of the Apostles to define one of the mysteries of the religion of Christ as the Spirit of God would inspire them. And so, beginning with St. Peter, each of them in turn uttered one phrase after another of the Apostles’ Creed exactly as we have it today. Very appropriately, St. John contributed the words: “Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried”; while St. Thomas continued: “Descended into hell, arose from the dead on the third day. . . .”
Then the Blessed Virgin with her own hands wrote out many copies of this Creed for the various disciples preaching in different parts of Palestine, and her angels delivered the precious documents to some of the more distant followers of Christ.
Before the Twelve Apostles left Jerusalem, Mary wove for each of them a brownish-gray robe similar to that of their Master, and she gave to each a large, wooden cross and a small, metal case containing some sacred relics of her divine Son: some of the thorns and pieces of the swaddling clothes and linens used at His Circumcision and Passion.
The Mother of God knew that Saul, the most fanatical persecutor of the new Church, would eventually be converted, and for a long time she prayed very fervently for him, offering to suffer and to die, if necessary, for his conversion. And as a direct result of her prayers and sacrifices, as well as those of St. Stephen the Martyr, Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus and transformed him into a sincerely penitent Christian, revealing to him among other things how much he owed to Mary’s intercession. On the day after his baptism, she sent one of her angels to give him her blessing and an assurance of her forgiveness and future assistance in his apostolate.
Soon after the conversion of St. Paul, the Blessed Virgin, while praying for the Church, was shown in a vision the coming sufferings of its early saints and martyrs. The Lord then explained to her that despite her intense desire to take upon herself all that the first Christians would suffer, in the plan of Divine Providence it was necessary that those holy martyrs should have such opportunities to earn their eternal reward and to advance the cause of the Church by their example. Later she described to Peter and John the conversion of Saul, their greatest enemy, and at the same time she warned them that all the followers of Jesus Christ would soon have to suffer cruel persecution at the hands of the enemies of His Church.
Speaking of Pentecost, the Blessed Virgin said to Venerable Mother Mary of Agreda:
“My daughter, the children of the Church hold this blessing of Almighty God in small esteem and thankfulness. The Divine Spirit, in coming for the first time upon the Apostles, intended it as a pledge and proof that He would confer the same favor on the rest of the children of the Church, and that He was ready to communicate His Gifts to all who would dispose themselves to receive them. In our times, too, He comes to many just souls, although not so openly. Blessed is the soul who longs for this grace which enkindles, enlightens, and consumes all that is earthly and carnal and raises it up to a new union with God Himself. As your true and loving Mother, I want you to have this happiness, and therefore I again urge you to prepare your heart by trying to maintain an unshatterable inner peace and calm, no matter what happens to you.”
Mary in Old Age
XXXV
Mary’s Last Years
he Blessed Virgin lived about fifteen years after our Lord’s Ascension. Yet there were never any wrinkles or signs of age in her lovely features, which always remained just as they were when she was in her thirty-third year. As time passed, Mary became more and more serious and recollected. No one ever saw her laugh, but she did occasionally smile with a very touching expression. She became quite thin and pale, for she slept very little, often only half an hour, and she ate only very light meals consisting usually of nothing but plain bread and sometimes a little fish.
When she appeared among the Apostles on important occasions, she wore a large, white mantle and veil and a long, sky-blue scarf ornamented with embroidery. Usually she wore a simple, white robe. But she put on a black veil whenever she went along the sorrowful Way of the Cross in Jerusalem, for she regularly made devout pilgrimages to all the places which her divine Son had made holy by His sufferings during His Passion.
The Mother of God loved St. James, the brother of St. John, with special tenderness because of his extraordinary generosity and fervor, which made him the first of the twelve Apostles to set out on an extended missionary journey and the first to suffer martyrdom. Consequently, after James left to preach the Gospel in Spain, the Blessed Virgin often sent him help and consolations through her angels. Once in Granada she appeared to him and saved his life just as he was about to be executed, and later in another apparition in Saragossa she informed him that God wanted him to found a shrine there in her honor and then return to Jerusalem and die a martyr’s death.
At this
time St. John, when Mary told him that Herod was about to persecute the Christians in the Holy City, urged her to seek a temporary refuge in Asia Minor. Although both of them would gladly have died as martyrs for Christ at any time, the Lord revealed to His Mother that she should now accompany John to the city of Ephesus.
Therefore, after again visiting all the holy places and after bidding a sad farewell to their friends, Mary and her adopted son John traveled to a port and embarked on a ship which sailed northward across the Mediterranean Sea. During her first trip on the water, the Mother of God prayed that the Lord might protect all ocean travelers who would ask for her intercession, and she gave her blessing to the fishes in the sea.
In Ephesus John and Mary settled in an isolated home of some poor women, where the Mother of God spent many hours praying fervently for the Christians who were suffering the cruel persecution of Herod in the Holy Land.
On his way back from Spain, St. James visited the Blessed Virgin. She encouraged him to face bravely his approaching death in Jerusalem and asked him to intercede for the Church as soon as he reached heaven. After requesting her always to give Spain her special protection and to be with him at the end, James sorrowfully said a last farewell in this world to the Mother of his Lord and to his brother John. Then he left for Jerusalem, where he preached fearlessly until he was arrested and condemned to be beheaded. As he was being led to the place of execution, he prayed fervently for Mary’s help, and just before he died, he was consoled by seeing a vision of the glorious Mother of God surrounded by her angels. And he silently said to her:
The Life of Mary as Seen by the Mystics Page 23
