Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/71

 quire the  consent  of  the  Virgin  to  be  the  mother  of  God. God has  a  right  to  exact  anything  that  He  pleases  from His creatures,  but  he  wishes  that  our  correspondence  with His will  should  be  voluntary. " He  who  created  you without  your  own  concurrence,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "  will not  save  you  without  it." Alas! how often  does  God send you  His  invisible  angels,  His  holy  inspirations,  to gain  your  good  will,  and  consent  that  He  may  be  conceived spiritually  in  your  soul,  and  you  refuse  Him. Ask pardon for  your  obstinacy,  and  "  if  to-day  you  shall  hear His  voice  harden  not  your  hearts." (Ps. xciv.  8.)

I. "  And  the  angel  having  come  in,  said  to  her,  Hail full  of  grace,  the  Lord  is  with  thee." (Luke i.  28.)  The grave comportment  of  the  angel  and  the  modesty  of  his countenance corresponded  to  his  veneration  of  the  Virgin. Learn hence  to  act  like  an  angel  in  your  intercourse with  men,  but  more  especially  so  with  God  in prayer. The Virgin  was  pronounced  by  the  angel  to  be full  of  grace,  by  excellence,  and  far  superior  to  all  other pure creatures. Reflect what  you  are  full  of,  whether  of grace  and  virtue,  or  not  rather  of  pride,  vanity  and  self-love. " Our  Lord  is  with  thee,"  continued  the  angel,  by His  special  presence  and  the  effects  of  His  grace;  and  she was with  God  in  her  thoughts,  desires,  and  affections. Happy communication! Examine your  actions  and  affections, and  try  to  unite  them  to  God.

II. Consider the  actions  and  thoughts  of  the  Virgin  at that  time. She was  alone  and  praying  in  her  closet  (as the  holy  Fathers  tell  us),  to  teach  you  how  you  ought  to entertain  yourself  with  God  in  solitude,  if  you  desire  to