At Pentecost, Mary’s mystical marriage with the Paraclete was sublimated, and a greater fullness of gifts was bestowed upon her.
Newsroom (05/06/2023 09:31, Gaudium Press) The Paraclete wished first to mould in the Heart of his Spouse what he had cogitated in his divine mind. Our Lady meditated and modelled in her Heart how the Church should be in all its details and institutions: the splendours of the Papacy, the various ways of holiness, the beauty of the Liturgy, the wealth of charisms of the Religious Orders… in short, everything that would blossom from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. When she had finished her meditation, all that remained for her to do was to dispose worthily the souls of the Apostles for the memorable event.
The fuse of Pentecost
One of the usual practices in those days was to read together passages from the Scriptures that dealt with the Messiah and then listen to a commentary by St. Peter or St. John, previously guided by Our Lady.
On one occasion the Virgin Apostle, overcome with enthusiasm, asked Mary to say a few words. She spoke of their great vocation to spread the Church throughout the world and the fruits that would come from this expansion. With each new narrative, the enthusiasm of her listeners grew to the point where, seized by grace, they completely forgot the persecutions that threatened them and were ready to receive the Gift of God!
At this height of fervour, “suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2). Then the tongues of fire described in the Acts of the Apostles appeared, united and rested on Our Lady, and were distributed among those present.
The disciples embraced one another with an affection never before manifested. Great consolation and indescribable relief pervaded Mary’s soul on seeing those who a few days before had been on the verge of discouragement being confirmed in grace for the heroic fulfilment of their mission. From these ordinary men, given over to their own interests, there would soon emerge, by the irrepressible action of the Consoler Spirit, Saints who would mark History and make the splendorous, beautiful and immortal tree of the Church blossom.
But it was the Blessed Virgin who drew the Paraclete to earth! When devotion to Mary reached the pinnacle and the disciples began to consider all things with her, through her and in her, the Holy Spirit so often promised by her Divine Son deigned to descend from Heaven, bringing this transforming grace. The Father acted as a prophet in the Old Testament, making announcements and promises; the Son confirmed the Father’s word through signs and obtained its fulfilment at the price of the Most Precious Blood poured out in the Passion; and it fell to the Holy Spirit to fulfil these promises and perpetuate them in the Church.
Pentecost and Our Lady
The Holy Spirit is essentially Love. His virginal Bride, his alter ego, to be like Him could only have a soul made entirely of love. And the meeting of these two loves generated the unprecedented grace that transformed faint-hearted men into true heroes of the Faith!
The flame that settled upon each Apostle represented, deep down, the grace bestowed on them by the certainty of how much God and Our Lady loved them.
After he espoused Mary Most Holy at the Annunciation, the Holy Spirit never ceased to love her as her perfect Spouse, nor to shower her with his pleasures and gifts.
At Pentecost, however, this mystical marriage was sublimated and a greater plenitude of gifts was bestowed upon Her. How can a greater fullness be conceived in a creature “full of grace” who at every moment, especially after the Incarnation, already possessed the fullness of fullness?
Although it can be said without the slightest doubt that up to that moment Our Lady had responded exquisitely to all the graces she had received throughout her life, the descent of the Holy Spirit opened for her a new horizon of holiness, which would mark in her person the new era that was beginning for humanity.
Mary was like a finite ocean capable of embracing the infinite, as the Incarnation itself proves: the One whom Heaven could not contain came to dwell in her most chaste womb! There was no limit to her gifts and virtues; she was capable of progressing in the supernatural world in unimaginable ways, due to the constant growth of her relationship with the Blessed Trinity.
The Paraclete inhabited her completely and united himself to her in such an intimate and profound way that the two formed, as it were, one spirit. But it was necessary that Our Lady should be, as it were, introduced into the bosom of the Most Holy Trinity in order that she might henceforth act with the strength and intensity of the Three Divine Persons for the benefit of the Church. This was only possible through the Holy Spirit, since the bond existing between the two communicated to her all the rights of her mystical Spouse, enabling her to act in his name and with his power.
At Pentecost the divine power that throbbed there unfolded and expanded to the Apostolic College, and all came to share in the gifts, virtues and charisms of Our Lady’s soul; in short, they became an unfolding of Her for the world. And since they were reborn in the Heart of Mary through the action of the Holy Spirit, their mission was bound to Her forever.
Msgr João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, EP
Text taken, with adaptations, from the book Mary Most Holy! God’s Paradise revealed to men.
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