SATURDAY.
Choice of a Mother for the Word Incarnate. II.
I. It was proper that the eternal Word should honor His mother, and raise her above the common condition of mortals by special privileges. If " king Solomon made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with the finest gold — so that there was no such work made in any kingdom" (3 Kings x. 18), with how much more reason might the King of heaven adorn His throne, and decorate the habitation in which He was to remain for nine months.
II. Some of her special privileges were: 1. The greatest sanctity that ever fell to the lot of any pure creature was communicated to her from the first moment of her conception; for it was not proper that the mother of God should ever have been subject to the devil, even for a moment. 2. She never felt the stings of concupisence. 3. She was confirmed in grace, which she never lost by mortal sin, and which was never diminished by venial sin. 4. This grace was continually increased by her heroic acts of virtue. 5. She conceived and remained a virgin. 6. She brought forth her Son without pain, and without detriment to her virginal integrity. 7. She is finally an ocean of all kinds of grace, and her perfection surpassed the united perfections of all the Saints and angels.
III. Consider the exalted titles to which she has a just claim. She is in a special manner the daughter of the eternal Father, the chosen mother of the only begotten Son, and the spouse of the Holy Ghost. She is the sovereign of men and angels. She is the mother of mercy and the refuge of sinners. Conceive what a refuge you have and what a protection you may find in such a
