Yea, through thine own soul a sword shall pierce
(St. Luke ii. 35)
At these words of holy Simeon all Mary's joy
was changed to sorrow. Her Divine Son was to be
a sign that would be contradicted. His life was to
be one long series of disappointments, outrages,
insults, ill-usage from those He had come to save.
Who can describe the grief of Mary at hearing
this? Her darling Son, her God, was to be persecuted even to the death.
From that time forth Simeon's words were
ever present to her mind. There came up before
her all the prophecies, the full meaning of which
she had not realized before. She remembered holy
David's words, "They pierced My hands and My
feet," and she thought, as she watched the Divine
Infant, of His future Crucifixion. The cry of the
Psalmist, "My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
reminded her of the dereliction of His Human
Soul. From this time forward she was indeed the
Mother of Sorrows.
Yet God in thus giving Mary so large a share
in the sorrow of her Son was manifesting His
special love for her. "Whom the Lord loveth He
chastiseth" (Prov. iii. 12). Mary's chastisement was
great in proportion to His love for her. If we
remembered this we should welcome suffering, not
shrink from it, and say in real earnest:
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew,
Of my Saviour crucified.