First Saturday meditation – August 2018

The Fourth Glorious Mystery: The Assumption of Our Lady, or The mercy that fills
the spaces between Heaven and Earth

Introduction:

Let us begin our First Saturday devotion, meditating on the Fourth Glorious
Mystery: The Assumption of Our Lady, whose feast the church celebrates this
coming 15th of August.
Brought up to heaven body and soul, Our Lady confirms our faith in the
Resurrection of the body and initiates the divine promise of reuniting all the risen
just together with Him, to enjoy eternal glory. On the other hand, crowned Queen
of Heaven and Earth, Our Lady intercedes for each and every one of us at the side
of her adorable Son.

Site Composition:

For our composition of place let us imagine a beautiful and ample garden
full of colorful and fragrant flowers where we find Our Lady surrounded by the
Apostles and disciples of Jesus. She is completely resplendent in light and beauty.
At a certain moment before the amazed eyes of all present, the Mother of God
begins to rise towards heaven enveloped in intense luminosity and angelic sounds
until she disappears from sight.

Preparatory Prayer:

O glorious Queen of Fatima whose body and soul glorified by the Holy
Trinity resides in eternal blessedness, cast Thy gaze full of goodness over each one
of us and obtain for us the necessary graces to meditate well on this Mystery of the
Rosary that exalts Thee as the Sovereign Assumed into Heaven, and from this
mystery may we reap all the fruits for our sanctification. Amen.

Gospel: St. Luke (1,46-50)

And Mary said:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is from age to age
to those who fear him.

I- CROWNED QUEEN ALONSIDE THE KING

In 1950 Pope Pius XII proclaimed the Dogma of the Assumption of Our Lady,
declaring it to be a revealed truth that the Virgin Mary “at the termination of Her
earthly life, was gloriously assumed into heaven body and soul”.

1. Supreme glory in Heaven!

Who would be capable of expressing in words with what honor and with what
joy Mary was received in Heaven? For as great as the graces were that she received
on Earth above all other creatures, so much more glory would she also obtain in
Heaven. And if eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has the human heart imagined
that which God has prepared for those who love Him, what can be said about what
He has reserved for Her who engendered Him and loved Him more than all of
mankind?
“Honor and glory to the Most High God that conferred on Thee, O Mary, greater
graces than all the daughters of men that have ever existed in the world!”, exclaims
the pious author of “Imitation of Christ”, adding: “And immediately placed Thy seat
together with the throne of Thy Son in the Reign of Heaven, in the most eminent
place, above all the choirs of angels and saints that He had prepared for Thee, with
the most perfect beauty, since all eternity”.

2. A splendor greater than all the stars of the universe

On the day of the Assumption, the splendor of Mary surpassed that of the sun
itself and the other stars of the firmament. Mary having been superior to the
patriarchs in firmness of faith, the prophets in contemplation of divine things, the
apostles in zeal for the honor of God and the good of souls, the martyrs in the
virtue of strength, the holy fathers in wisdom, the confessors in patience and
gentleness, the virgins in purity and all in sanctity, having corresponded to grace in
a most eminent degree and having practiced all the most precious virtues, because
of this, on the day of her Assumption, she appeared with a gold trimmed dress
embellished with various adornments seated at the right hand of the Most High
and crowned Queen of all the Saints.
Let us ask ourselves, therefore, if we nourish within our hearts an immense
joy of being children and devotees of this august Queen who was exalted by God to
the highest glory in Heaven and deserves all of our love and our fervent praises.

II- OUR CONSOLATION AND OUR HOPE

This truth of faith already known by Tradition, was affirmed by the Fathers
of the Church, and was above all, a relevant aspect of devotion to the Mother of
Christ since the beginning times of Christianity. The belief of the Assumption of
Mary was part, therefore, of the piety of Christians of all times. And what does this
truth teach each one of us during our life in this world?

1. God awaits us in Heaven According to Pope Benedict XVI.

The Assumption of Our Lady shows us that God truly has many rooms prepared
for us in His eternal mansion. The Pope affirms that the mystery of Mary's
Assumption into Heaven joins faith, hope and charity to give us the certainty that a
glorious existence is reserved for us after the difficulties and battles of this earthly
life.
Thus, there is one thing we cannot doubt: as God has received Mary body and
soul into Heaven He also awaits all of us in order to gather us into his House. We do
not walk in a vacuum, we are expected. God awaits us and we will find, upon
arriving in Paradise the unfathomable goodness of the Mother; we will find our
loved ones, and above all, we will find Him, the eternal Love. God awaits us: this is
the great joy and the great hope that is born precisely on the feast of the
Assumption of Mary.

2. Consolation and hope for those who journey in this world!

Yes, Our Lady assumed into Heaven is the joy of our life and is the hope of
our joy without end. The meditation of this privilege of Mary Most Holy allows us
to see Her as the dawn and the splendor of the Church triumphant but also as the
consolation and the hope for those who still journey in this world: having recourse
to Her we will not be deviated from the narrow path that leads us to Heaven.
Let us look at our day to day life and ask ourselves if we have used the time that
God has given us in this life to good advantage living according to His precepts,
benefiting from the graces He has given us and attentive to the call that makes us
in this world, pilgrims full of the hope for Heaven, where we are heading through
the maternal intercession of Mary.

III- GRANDEUR THAT CONDESCENDS TO US

Let us always remember that Our Lady assumed into Heaven is the gate by
which we will one day enter into eternal glory. And therefore, it is to Her that we
must always turn full of love and total confidence. Confidence yes, as Mary is
the Most High and the most eminent of all creatures and also the most
benevolent, most merciful, most affable and the one who most condescends to us.

1. Created so as to help us!

The grandeur of Our Lady is so immense that it makes up for all the
shortcomings, enormous though they may be, for those who turn to Her including
the least of men. Although enthroned in the highest Heaven, She is the most
accessible to us, She is most disposed to attend to us and to pardon us. We can and
we must have total confidence in her untiring love for the exiled children of Eve.
From Her most exalted throne of glory, Mary turns her maternal gaze
towards us and says: “I inhabit the heights in order to enrich those that love me
and to accumulate treasures for them”. Consequently, since her Assumption into
heaven the constant and uninterrupted recourse of Christians to Mary commenced.
And, as affirmed by St. Bernard, never was it known that anyone who had recourse
with confidence to her, who is the most pious Mother, was left unaided. This is the
reason that every century, year, day and moment in history is marked by some
favor granted to those who invoked Her with faith.

2. God placed the scepter of mercy in the hands of Mary!

God who so exalted Mary in Heaven, wished that her glorification would
also have its splendor on Earth. He placed in her hands the scepter of mercy, the
keys of beneficence. From that point therefore, all the favors and all the mercies
reach men through the mediation of Mary. Through Her they obtain the glory of
Heaven, peace on Earth, faith of the people, a rule of life, and discipline of customs.
Through her the valley rejoices, the desert blooms, the fields are covered with a
new greenery, and the tears of the disgraced turn into smiles. And just asd there
does not exist a nation where there is not an altar erected for the glory of Mary, so
also there is not a people to whom the extraordinary graces and miracles obtained
by the benevolent patronage of the Virgin are not spoken of.
Because of this the saints encourage us to place all of our confidence and all of our
faith in Mary, never forgetting that she rose up to Heaven in order to better help us
and attend to us, as Queen and, above all, as Mother.

CONCLUSION

Raised to the glory of Heaven body and soul, Our Lady is the Queen seated
next to the throne of the Eternal King, Jesus Christ, her Divine Son, always disposed
to intercede for each and every one of us. Being closer to the treasure of graces
which God wishes to grant to us, She shortens the space between Heaven and
Earth, showering upon us all the mercy and all the favors from on high that we
need during our pilgrimage on this earth.
Thus, let us end this meditation by turning once again with confidence towards the
Glorious Virgin Assumed into Heaven and ask that She cast her gaze full of
goodness upon us and may She help us at every moment of our life. May she help
us in a special way in growing love of God, in devotion to Her and in the practice of
virtue so we may obtain the sanctity to which we have been called and, one day,
enjoy Their presence in blessed eternity. Amen.

Hail Holy Queen, mother of mercy...

Bibliographical References
Based on:
Benedict XVI, Homily at the Mass of the Assumption of Our Lady, August 15, 2012.
Mons. Joao s. Cla Dias, Commentary to the “Little Office of the Immaculate
Conception”, Our Lady of Fatima Cultural Association, Sao Paulo,2010.

Nota bene: This is not an official translation.