The Purity of Mary

Extract

Mary, chosen to be the Mother of God; Mary, chosen and therefore fitted by God to be his Mother; Mary, treated ever afterwards by God in accordance with her sanctity, both personal and official; these are the connecting links in the chain of our knowledge of Mary. Just now our attention is directed to the third and final of these links—the definition of her Assumption into heaven. Here, to vary the metaphor, we have not merely a passion for tying up the loose ends of doctrine; what we see is rather the providential climax of a centuries-old process-the vindication of our Lady's place in Christian tradition.

Happily, just as we fix our minds on what may be called her external glories, there is a growing interest in her inner life, namely the devotion to her Immaculate Heart. This is an effort to seek for her personal worth. Here we are in fact studying the choicest fruit of the Redemption, by which and we are saved. One-sided stress ou, e.g., the Assumption, might lead to a dehuroanisation of Mary, just as in earlier days one-sided stress on the divinity of her Son led men to forget and even deny his humanity.