A Shower of Roses that the Blessed Mother Mary carries in her Heart

A Shower of Roses that the Blessed Mother Mary carries in her Heart

It should not be a surprise that our Blessed Mother Mary is the center of what roses seem to imply; beauty, fresh fragrance, a sign of purity, and most of all the symbol of love.  As we all try to impress our beloved with attention the decision to find the most meaningful color in the choice we make can sometimes become difficult to match her with our thoughts.

The same adoration to our Blessed Mother Mary is beyond conjecture. The woman whom God chose to bear his Son Jesus was from the beginning of our redemption a work of exquisiteness that far surpasses any effort we can bear witness to.  

To become the mother of the Savior, Mary “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.”  The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as “full of grace.”  In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God’s grace.  (CCC 490).

Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception.  That is the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:  (CCC 491).  

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin. (Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, 1854).

At once virgin and mother, Mary is the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church: “the Church indeed…by receiving the word of God in faith becomes herself a mother.”  By preaching and Baptism she brings forth sons, who are conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of God, to a new and immortal life.  She herself is a virgin, who keeps in its entirety and purity the faith she pledged to her spouse.  (CCC 507).

Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory,  and elated by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.  The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians:  (CCC 966)

In giving birth you kept your virginity, in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life.  You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death.  (Byzantine Liturgy, Troparion, Feast of the Dormition, August 15th).

In trying to match our selection of roses keep in mind the essence of the one who is the Rose of Life herself and attempt to at least present the symbol of purity that these roses imply.

Ralph B. Hathaway