Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/476

 Lord that  His  flesh  and  blood  in  the  Holy  Sacrament of the  altar  can  almost  be  said  to  be  the  flesh  and blood of  Mary  herself — how,  I  say,  can  I  believe  that that body  was  one  of  those  of  whom  God  said:  "  Dust thou  art  and  into  dust  thou  shalt  return 99?  Or  if  it did  return  to  dust;  if  it  awaits,  like  other  mortals, the  general  resurrection,  is  it  not  reasonable  to  suppose that  God  would  have  done  as  much  for  it  as  He has  for  so  many  others  of  the  saints,  and  miraculously preserved  it  from  corruption  and  decay?  The  Catholic mind,  instinctively  almost,  rejects  the  thought that  the  body  of  Mary — the  temple  of  the  Lord — should  ever  be  the  food  of  worms,  but  believes, rather,  that  it  was  preserved  as  free  from  corruption as  was  the  soul  that  animated  it.  Now  if  it  was  so preserved,  where,  I  ask,  does  it  now  rest?  The  whole world  knows  where  lie  the  bodies  of  the  Apostles  and the  principal  saints,  but  who  will  tell  us  where  lies  the body of  Mary? Surely it  is  unreasonable  to  suppose that almighty  God,  while  providing,  in  a  wonderful manner, for  the  preservation  and  veneration  of  the bodies of  His  saints,  should  allow  the  body  of  that saint of  saints — His  own  Mother — either  to  return  to the  dust  from  which  it  sprung  or  to  lie  in  an  unknown and an  unhonored  grave. No. I  prefer,  rather,  to believe  what  our  Catholic  faith  suggests,  and  what reason and  the  traditions  of  our  Church  confirm, that soon  after  Our  Lord  entered  into  the  home  of His  eternal  rest,  turning  to  His  Mother  He  said  with the Psalmist:  "Enter  thou,  also,  into  thy  rest,  thou and  the  ark  of  thy  sanctification." As Solomon,