Our Lady and Light

De Maria, numquam satis.

So ended Lent, so came the glorious Resurrection of Our Lord.
Easter comes every year but somehow every Easter feels so different to one another, does it not? I guess that is only natural though; we always fight different demons for different Lents. In some Lent we may be fighting sluggishness; in others we may be fighting gossiping and swearing. And with part victories and part defeats, we witness the consummation of God's promise; freedom from Sin and Death. Even if we always fall short, even if we fail as God's Temple, victory comes every year, because we have such a wonderful King, so wonderful we even call Adam's fault blessed. (O felix culpa!)

Now, what about the very first Temple of God, Our Lady?
Personally, I often call Her the first Monstrance.
When we go to Adoration, as Monsignor Knox had put it, we gaze upon "the Window in the wall". He described the Blessed Sacrament in Monstrance as "the Window in the wall", the wall of deceiving bodily senses, the world of appearances. And if I may paraphrase, the Window is that small hole in that wall through which the faithful can gaze upon the World of Forms (if you like Plato) or the World of Truth. The wall darkens the world around us but that Window affords us a single beam of light. Now imagine a living Monstrance, full of Grace, without any blemish or scratches at all, that was crafted by God Himself. Would it not invite us infinitely more to look upon the Eucharistic Lord more fervently?

(After all, St John the Baptist did leap in joy!)

Before I heard of Monsignor Knox's description though (which I think is absolutely beautiful), I have thought of the Blessed Sacrament in Monstrance, in a way, as a Heavenly mirror. You see, the great thing about Truth is that it vanquishes all Falsehood. Just as Satan flees in the Holy Name of Jesus, Falsehood immediately melts away in the presence of Truth. In a way, that is one of the things we hope to do when we go to Adoration. As the Blessed Lord opens up His Heart and shows Himself in a Monstrance, we also, in our prayers, open up our hearts in return and show Him our true selves and pray to Him as though we are speaking face to face. And although Our Blessed Lord is a few yards away from us when we adore Him, nevertheless we ask Him to show us the true reflection of ourselves to become better sons and daughters of Christ, through that Heavenly mirror.

(St Stanislaus's, Chicago. Red is known to have been chosen for Kingship. I would have preferred good old Our Lady's blue myself though.)

So whenever we go to Adoration, whilst all praises and thanksgiving should first and foremost go to Our Lord, we should also remember that the Monstrance that contains the Blessed Sacrament is only a poor replica to Our Lady. The only true Monstrance, the only fitting Monstrance was made by God Himself, with human flesh and blood but without Original Sin. I have seen Monstrances of celestial beauty, so faithfully looked after that it shines from a few hundreds of yards. But still, that is not enough. You may adorn that Monstrance with the most precious jewels in this world, polish it seven million times and it will never be fitting for Our Blessed Lord and it will never be able to look half as beautiful as Our Lady.

Today's parting gift is Regina Caeli. That is the Marian hymn for Eastertide (instead of Ave Regina Caelorum for Lent), and it also substitutes Angelus. And after we sing Regina Caeli, the Priest may chant "Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia" which means "Rejoice and be glad, Virgin Mary, alleluia." to which we all chant in response "Quia surrexit Dominus vere, Alleluia!" which means "For the Lord has truly risen, Alleluia!" It is short so it will not take more than an hour to learn if you have not already.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-EJiI_yAas