«Tell us more about Your Mother. Her childhood is so bright! The very reflection of that brilliance makes our souls pure, and I, a poor sinner, need that light so badly!» exclaims Matthew.
«What shall I tell you? There are so many episodes, one more touching than the other…»
«Did She tell You about them?»
«Yes, some. But Joseph told Me many more, as the most beautiful stories he could tell a child, and also Alphaeus of Sarah, who was a few years older than My Mother, and was Her friend during the short period She was at Nazareth…»
«Oh! Please, tell us…» begs John.
They are all sitting in a circle in the shade of the olive-trees, with Jabez in the centre staring at Jesus as if he were listening to a heavenly tale.
«I will tell you about the lesson on chastity that My Mother gave Her little friend and many more people a few days before entering the Temple. A girl in Nazareth, a relative of Sarah’s, got married on that day and also Joachim and Anne had been invited to the wedding. Little Mary went with them and with other children She was to spread loose flower petals on the bride’s way. They say that She was most beautiful, as a child, and everybody contended for Her after the joyful arrival of the bride. It was not easy to see Mary every day, as She lived mostly at home, where She loved a little grotto more than any other place, and even nowadays She calls it “the grotto of Her nuptials”. So when She appeared outside, fair-haired, rosy and kind, She was overwhelmed by caresses. They used to call Her “the Flower of Nazareth” or “the Pearl of Galilee” or also “the Peace of God” in remembrance of a huge rainbow, which suddenly appeared as soon as She was born. She was in fact all that, and much more. She is the Flower of Heaven and of creation, the Pearl of Paradise and the Peace of God… Yes, the Peace of God. I am the Peaceful One because I am the Son of the Father and the Son of Mary: the Infinite Peace and the sweet Peace. On that day everybody wanted to kiss Her and take Her on their laps. And as She was averse to being kissed and touched, She said with kind seriousness: “Please, do not rumple Me”. They thought She was talking of Her linen dress, held tight to Her waist, to Her wrists and neck by a blue band, or of Her little wreath of blue flowers, with which Anne had adorned Her head to keep Her light curls in place, and they assured Her that they would not crease Her dress or the wreath. But, sure of Herself, a little three year old woman standing in the middle of a circle of adults, She said seriously: “I am not thinking of what can be mended. I am speaking of My soul. It belongs to God. And it does not wish to be touched but by God”. They objected: “But we are kissing You, not Your soul”. She replied: “My body is the temple of My soul and the Spirit is its priest. People are not allowed to enter the enclosure of priests. Please, do not enter the enclosure of God”. Alphaeus, who was then about eight years old and was very fond of Her, was greatly impressed by that reply and the following day, seeing Her near Her little grotto, he asked Her: “Mary, when You are grown up, would You marry me?”. He was still under the excitement of the nuptial feast at which he had been present. And She answered: “I am very fond of you. But I do not see you as a man. I will tell you a secret. I see only the soul of a living being. And I love it so much, with all My heart. But I see only God as the ‘True Living Being’ to Whom I will be able to give Myself”. That is one of the episodes.»
«The True Living Being”!!! That is a very deep word!» exclaims Bartholomew.
And Jesus, humbly and smiling replies: «She was the Mother of Wisdom.»
«Was She?… But was She not three years old?»
«She was. I already lived in Her, as God was in Her, in His most perfect Unity and Trinity, since She was conceived.»
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«Excuse me if I, a sinner, dare speak, but did Joachim and Anne know that She was the chosen Virgin?» asks Judas Iscariot.
«No, they did not know.»
«In that case, how could Joachim say that God had saved Her in advance? Does that not refer to Her privilege over sin?»
«Yes, it does. But Joachim spoke inspired by God, like all the prophets. He himself did not understand the sublime supernatural truth that the Spirit spoke through his lips. Because Joachim was just. So just as to deserve that paternity. And he was humble. There is no justice where there is pride. He was just and humble. He comforted his Daughter out of fatherly love. He taught her through his wisdom of a priest, as he was such as a guardian of the Ark of God. As a Pontiff he consecrated Her with the sweetest title: “The Immaculate One”. And the day will come when another grey haired Pontiff will say to the world: “She is the Immaculate Conception” and will give this truth to the world of believers, as a dogma which cannot be rejected, so that the Most Beautiful Virgin of God, crowned with stars, clad with the rays of the moon, which are not so pure as She is, brighter than all stars, the Queen of Creation and of God, may shine, fully revealed, in the world which in those days will be sinking deeper and deeper in the grey fog of heresies and vices. Because God-King has as His Queen, in His Kingdom, Mary.»
«So Joachim was a prophet?»
«He was a just man. His soul repeated like an echo what God said to his soul which was loved by God.»