Tradition holds that Saints Joachim and Anne, Mary’s parents, made to God a total offering of their little child in the temple. This is the mystery of the Presentation of Mary which Holy Mother Church bids us to celebrate today, November 21st.
It was also the will of Mary to dedicate herself entirely to God’s service and she never took that gift back. She lived in the temple yet accepted God’s will that she should marry Saint Joseph later on. She was perfectly content with her littleness, but assumed the greatest work possible for a creature. She is a virgin, but also a mother. She was glad to attend a wedding feast and even happier to bear crosses. She lavished all her love on Jesus, but gave Him up for our salvation.
This is how saints live. They are ever ready for whatever God wills.
Saint Anthony of the desert could have claimed ‘his right’ not to be disturbed in his life of silence, solitude and union with God, but he accepted the mission of forming other people called to a monastic way of life. We wouldn’t have Saint John Paul II if he hadn’t been faithful in continually assuming greater responsibilities and demands of the priesthood. Saint Cecilia vowed her virginity to Christ yet married because it was God’s will. She kept her virginity to the end and was instrumental in her husband’s conversion. (Both of them shed their blood for God.) We have Saint Therese and her religious sisters because of Saints Martin and Zelie, who both wanted to be religious, but accepted their vocation to married life. And how many priests and sisters had to leave their convents and the blessed discipline of religious life because they were imprisoned in concentration camps? We can name Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe and Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.
We should have the same spirit as our Lady and the saints.
Another thing worth pointing out on this day[1], especially to all the members of the Religious Family of the Incarnate Word, be they priests, sisters or third order members, is that our Lady lived the non-negotiable elements of our charism. This is sort of a conclusion after the reading of “La Pura y Limpia Concepción de Luján” compiled, edited and published by the Religious Family.
Why did our Lady end up in Lujan? We know the details of the miracle, but we should not forget that the main reason is that the man who commissioned an image of Mary wanted to build a chapel so he can go to Mass. Wherever the Blessed Sacrament is, there is Mary. How are we living our participation in the Holy Mass and our love for the Eucharist?
Now Lujan was a very dangerous place. People who pass there had to go in great numbers because of the brutal natives that attack and rob people. There were also wild beasts and the place was very poor. We can see that Mary went to an emblematic mission, to a place where nobody wants to go.
There were many difficulties in building the church dedicated to her and in spreading devotion to her. The glorification of God and the salvation of souls are not easy because they are noble ends for which we must sacrifice all. This is the reality in which we should live in and with deep faith. However, Mary stayed and kept on working since she knows better than anyone else that everything is in God’s providence.
Thus, little by little, the village of Lujan was formed. Mary’s apostolic and missionary creativity drew many. Remember the many miracles both in the supernatural and the natural order. Vocations and works of mercy, including redemption of captives, were fostered. Culture, especially the way of feasting, was purified and elevated.
She even formed government leaders to have a serious spirituality. They were not content in saying some prayers and helping build a church. They practiced what they learned. A very good example of is how they released some prisoners. They made the prisoners do spiritual exercises and make public resolutions of conversion. Not only that, the officials even made a feast for them and went so far to serve at table.
And what about docility to the Church’s Magisterium and formation in Saint Thomas Aquinas? Let us not forget that the Servant of God Fr. Jorge Maria Salvaire, wrote his “Historia de Nuestra Señora de Luján” also as a powerful weapon to combat evil modernism, rationalism and secularism that were creeping in Argentina during his time. In the same work he also edifies us because of his deep love for the Popes, the Vicars of Christ. Father Salvaire may not have been thinking about these goals when he made the promise to propagate devotion to Our Lady of Lujan if she saves him from imminent death. But Mary knew because she is the one God chose to crush the head of the serpent. She is the enemy to whom the devil and all hell are no match.
Now this happy missionary was not content to stay in Argentina. She continues to go out to all the world to share her joy: Jesus Christ.
Actually, maybe it’s not right to say that she lived the non-negotiable elements of our charism. She continues to live them, and she wants to live them in us.
[1] A few days ago, the Religious Family had its 5th Lujan Congress.