For only by passing through your heart
could the sword enter the flesh of your Son.
The martyrdom of
the Virgin is set forth both in the prophecy of Simeon and in the actual story
of our Lord’s passion. The holy old man said of the infant Jesus: He has been
established as a sign which will be contradicted. He went on to say to Mary:
And your own heart will be pierced by a sword.
Truly, O blessed Mother, a sword has pierced your heart. For only by passing through your heart could the sword enter the flesh of your Son. Indeed, after your Jesus—who belongs to everyone, but is especially yours—gave up his life, the cruel spear, which was not withheld from his lifeless body, tore open his side. Clearly it did not touch his soul and could not harm him, but it did pierce your heart. For surely his soul was no longer there, but yours could not be torn away. Thus the violence of sorrow has cut through your heart, and we rightly call you more than martyr, since the effect of compassion in you has gone beyond the endurance of physical suffering.
Or were those
words, Woman, behold your Son, not more than a word to you, truly piercing your
heart, cutting through to the division between soul and spirit? What an
exchange! John is given to you in place of Jesus, the servant in place of the
Lord, the disciple in place of the master; the son of Zebedee replaces the Son
of God, a mere man replaces God himself. How could these words not pierce your
most loving heart, when the mere remembrance of them breaks ours, hearts of
iron and stone though they are!
Do not be
surprised, brothers, that Mary is said to be a martyr in spirit. Let him be
surprised who does not remember the words of Paul, that one of the greatest
crimes of the Gentiles was that they were without love. That was far from the
heart of Mary; let it be far from her servants.
Perhaps someone
will say: Had she not known before that he would not die? Undoubtedly. Did
she not expect him to rise again at once? Surely. And still she grieved over
her crucified Son? Intensely. Who are you and what is the source of your
wisdom that you are more surprised at the compassion of Mary than at the
passion of Mary’s Son? For if he could die in body, could she not die with him
in spirit? He died in body through a love greater than anyone had known. She
died in spirit through a love unlike any other since his.