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10. The Annunciation
Sermon for a religious Profession on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 1621, concerning Our Lady as the spouse described in the Song of Songs, God as the only true satisfaction for the heart of man, perfect dedication to God, the intimacy with God enjoyed by religious, Mary as the perfect religious, the excellence of Our Lady's virginity, virginity and humility, charity and humility, Our Lady's drawing of young girls to the life of virginity, the difference between the religious life as practiced by men and by women, and Our Lady as exemplar of religious.
"Let Him kiss me with the kiss of His mouth! For Your breasts are better than wine, and pour forth perfumes of sweet ointments."— Song 1:1-2, Douay
The divine lover,[1] heaving a deep sigh, begins by saying: Let Him kiss me, this dear Friend of my soul, let Him kiss me with the kiss of His mouth! For Your breasts are better than wine, giving forth odors of delicious fragrance. Your Name is as oil poured out which, being composed of all the most precious perfumes, gives forth odors delightful above all others; and that is why the young maidens love You. Then continuing, she adds: Draw me and we will run after Your ointments. [Song 1:3, Douay].
The Fathers, considering this word of the Song of Songs which the spouse addresses to her Spouse: "Let Him kiss me with the kiss of His mouth," say that this kiss which she so ardently desires is nothing else but the accomplishment of the Mystery of Our Lord's Incarnation, a kiss so awaited and desired during the long flow of years by all souls who merit the name of lovers. But at length this kiss, which had been so long refused and deferred, was granted to this sacred lover. Our Lady, who, above all others, merits the name of "spouse" and "lover" par excellence. It was given to her by her Heavenly Spouse on the day of the Annunciation, which we celebrate today, at the same moment that this most loving sigh burst from her heart: "Let Him kiss me with the kiss of His mouth!" Then that divine union of the Eternal Word with the human nature, represented by this kiss, was made in the sacred womb of this glorious Virgin.
See how delicately this divine lover expresses her love; Let Him kiss me—that is to say: "Let this Word, which is the Word of the Father coming forth from His mouth [Sir. 24:3; cf. Matt. 4:4, Douay], come to unite Itself with me through the work of the Holy Spirit, who is the Eternal Sigh of the love of the Father for His Son and, reciprocally, of the Son for His Father." But when was this divine kiss given to this incomparable spouse? At the same moment that she gave this greatly desired response to the angel: "Let it be done to me as you say" [Lk. 1:38]. 0 consent worthy of great rejoicing among men, for it is the beginning of their eternal happiness! Let this be considered as a preface for what follows, for we will make a little meditation on the subsequent words which the divine lover spoke to her Beloved, by which she gave Him admirable praises.
After having first asked for this loving kiss she adds; For Your breasts are better than wine, pouring forth very sweet odours. Consider, please, how marvellously she expresses her love. The breasts of Our Lord are His loves. Your milk—or "Your loves," she means—are better than wine. In fact, the breasts represent the affections because they are placed over the heart and, as physicians say, the milk with which they are filled is as the marrow of the maternal love of mothers for their children, that love producing it for their nourishment.[2]
Now, says the dear lover: Your loves, which are Your breasts, O my Beloved, produce a certain fragrant liquor which so marvellously refreshes my soul that I have no esteem for the excellence of the most precious and delicate wines of earthly pleasures. In comparison they are nothing; they are, rather, weariness. According to Church Doctors, the wine which delights and strengthens the heart [Jgs. 9:13; Ps, 104:15] represents earthly joys and satisfactions. More than all earthly pleasures, the loves of Our Lord have an incomparable strength and indescribable power to refresh the human heart—not only more than anything else, but nothing is capable of giving it perfect satisfaction except the love of God alone. Consider, if you will, all the great ones of the earth and consider their condition one after another; you will see that they are never really satisfied. If they are rich and raised to the highest dignities of this world they always desire more.
The example of Alexander, whom worldlings call "the Great," is sufficient proof of what I say. He had almost universal dominion over the whole earth. He seemed to be absolute master of it, so that the earth fell silent before him [1 Mace. 1:3], and princes dared not whisper a word. All trembled, so to speak, under his authority because of the great reverence they had for him. Yet having once heard a certain foolish philosopher declare that there are many worlds which he had not conquered, Alexander began to cry like a child. But for what? Alas, he said, there were so many worlds and he had not entirely conquered a single one. He was in despair at not having them all under his dominion.[3] What great foolishness!
Man takes great pleasure in trafficking in this life to find satisfaction and repose, and generally this trafficking is vain, because he derives no advantage from it. If a merchant should labor much at a certain trade which would bring him only trouble, would he not be considered very foolish and lacking in judgment? Therefore, I ask you, do not those whose understanding, being enlightened by the heavenly light, know with certainty that God alone can give true satisfaction to their hearts, carry on a very useless traffic in fixing their affections on inanimate creatures, or even on men like themselves? Worldly advantages, houses, gold and silver, riches, even honors, dignities, which our ambition makes us seek so madly — are they not vain pursuits? All these being perishable, are we not foolish to fix our hearts on them? Instead of giving true repose and tranquility, they cause eagerness and great anxiety, to preserve or increase them if we have them, or to acquire them if we do not possess them.
If we fix our love and affections on men who are living creatures capable of reason, of what profit will it be? Our traffic will still be vain since, being men like ourselves, equal in nature, they can only make us an exchange by loving us because we love them. This will be all, for not being greater than we they will be of no advantage to us and we shall receive no more than we give. We shall give them our love and they will give us theirs, one for the other. I say more: If we love the angels what shall we gain, ordinarily speaking, for they are creatures like ourselves, equally subject to God, our common Creator. Can they add anything to our stature? [Matt. 6:27, Douay]. Nothing. The cherubim and seraphim have no power to make us greater or to give us perfect satisfaction, because God has reserved that for Himself, not wishing us to fix our affections outside of Him, so jealous is He of them.
I will give you a very appropriate example on this subject. His Holiness had a singer whom he loved exceedingly, for he sang marvelously well. Although this singer was so beloved by his master, he was nevertheless inconstant, and one day he took a fancy to leave his court and go away, which he did; and his good master was much upset at his departure. Now, the Pope, devising a way to recall him, adopted this artifice. He wrote to all the princes and all the great men that if this singer should present himself they should not receive him into their service, hoping that if the poor singer found no better retreat he would return to him. It came to pass as the Pope desired, for seeing himself rejected everywhere, the singer returned to serve in the incomparable chapel of His Holiness.
The human heart is a singer infinitely loved by God, who is the Supreme Holiness, but this singer is changeable and more inconstant and fickle than can be expressed. You cannot imagine what pleasure God takes in hearing the praises that are given Him by the heart that loves Him. He delights exceedingly in the outbursts of our voices and the harmony of our music.[4] Nevertheless, this inconstant heart takes a fancy to go elsewhere, not being satisfied to please its Lord unless it pleases itself also. Intolerable folly! For what a happiness — rather, what an honor, what a favor, and what a source of perfect satisfaction to be loved by God and to dwell in the house of His Divine Majesty, that is to say, to have placed in Him all our love and to have no ambition but to be pleasing to Him! And yet this human heart allows itself to be carried away by its fancies and goes from creature to creature, from house to house, to see if it cannot find someone who will receive it and give it perfect satisfaction. But in vain, for God — who has reserved this singer for Himself alone — has commanded all creatures, of whatever nature they may be, not to give him any satisfaction or consolation whatever, that by this means he may be compelled to return to Him who is that good Master of incomparable goodness. And although this singer returns more frequently by force than by love, instead of reproaching him God does not fail to receive him and give him the same office in His chapel as before — or, it seems, even a higher one.
Oh, how great is the goodness of our God! Therefore the spouse rightly exclaims: 0 my Beloved, better are Your breasts beyond compare; Your loves and Your delights are a thousand times more pleasing than those of earth, for creatures, were they the highest and the most exalted, and even angels, were they brothers or sisters, could not satisfy or content us.
God has placed in our power the acquisition of His pure love which can exalt us infinitely above ourselves. He gives it to whosoever gives Him his. Why, then, do we amuse ourselves with creatures, hoping for something in the traffic that we carry on in seeking their affections?
Oh, how fully did this holy lover. Our Lady and Mistress, enjoy the sweetness of these divine breasts when, in the abundance of the consolations which she received in contemplation, transported with gladness and inexpressible happiness, she began to praise them! Oh, by her example she invites us to lay aside all desires for the satisfactions of earth, that we may have the honor and grace of drawing from them and receiving the milk of mercy, which distils drop by drop upon those who approach them to receive it.
But the spouse does not stop here for, continuing, she says that the Name of her Beloved is as an oil poured out, composed of many excellent odors which cannot be imagined, wishing to signify: My Beloved is not only perfumed, but He is perfume itself;[5] that is why, she adds, the young maidens love You.
What does the divine lover wish us to understand by these young maidens? Here young maidens represent certain young souls who, having not yet given their love anywhere, are marvelously suited to love the Heavenly Lover of our hearts, Our Lord Jesus Christ.[6] I do not mean to say, however, that if those who have given their hearts to someone withdraw them to consecrate them to God, this Sacred Spouse will not receive them heartily and accept this gift of their affections. But nevertheless He is greatly pleased with these young souls who dedicate themselves entirely to the perfection of His love. Your Name, continues the holy spouse, pours forth such delicate odors that the young maidens love You, dedicating to You all their love and all their affection. Oh God! What a grace to reserve all your love for Him who recompenses us so well by giving us His! In giving our love to creatures we receive no advantage because they return us no more than we give. But our Divine Saviour gives us His love which is as a precious balm which diffuses a sovereign fragrance through all the faculties of our soul.
Oh, how supremely did this young maiden, Our Lady, love the Divine Spouse! And how supremely was she loved by Him, for at the same time that she gave herself to Him and consecrated her heart to Him — which was when she pronounced these words: I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me as you say, or as it will please Him — Immediately He descended into her chaste womb and became 'the Son of her who called herself His servant. Now I know very well that no one can ever attain to so high a degree of perfection as to dedicate her love to God and her submission to His divine will as absolutely as Our Lady. But we ought to desire it and to begin to do so as soon and as perfectly as possible according to our capacity, which is incomparably less than that of this holy Virgin. She is that unique maiden who loved the Divine Spouse more excellently than any creature ever did or will do; for she began to love Him from the moment of her glorious Conception in the womb of the good St. Anne, giving herself to God and dedicating her love to Him as soon as she began to exist.
The sacred spouse, continuing the conversation with her Divine Spouse, said: Draw me, and we will run. The holy Fathers pause to consider what this spouse means by these words: Draw me and we will run, for it is as if she said: "Although You draw only me, we shall be many who will run." Some think that when she asks her Beloved to draw her, she thus protests that she needs to be assisted by His prevenient grace, without which we can do nothing;[7] but when she adds: "We will run," that means: "You and I, my Beloved, will run together." Or as some others think: "Many will run with me in imitation of me, following me; many souls will run after You to the odor of Your ointments."[8]
We come now to the other pan of our exhortation, which is the Profession, and the dedication which young ladies make of their hearts to the Divine Majesty, a dedication and offering which they would never have had the desire to make if the Sovereign Spouse of our souls had not drawn them and assisted them with His grace. Likewise, without the aid of this divine grace and the Constitutions which are observed here under the guidance of our sacred Mother and Mistress, the holy Virgin, they would never have attained to this high rank of spouses of Jesus Christ, Oh, happy are the religious who live in the congregation of this divine Abbess and are instructed by this great Doctor, who drew her knowledge from the very Heart of her dear Son, our Saviour, who is the Wisdom of the Eternal Father [Sir. 1:4].
We shall make our third consideration on this point:[9] that Our Lady was alone in her room when the angel came to salute her and bring her the blessed and gracious tidings of the Incarnation of the Word of God in her holy and chaste womb. What do religious do but remain in their cells and, not satisfied with that, withdraw into themselves to remain more alone and thus render themselves more capable of enjoying the conversation of their Spouse? They retire into the depths of their hearts as into a heavenly cabinet where they live in solitude. But in vain do you hide yourselves; the angels will know well how to find you. Do you not see that Our Lady, being all alone, was yet found by the angel Gabriel?