Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
Consider that we find Mary entering into the glory of Heaven without obstacle. For what could have opposed such a great queen advancing with so great a retinue ? She was prefigured by the Queen of Saba, of whom it is said: “Entering into Jerusalem with a great train, and riches, and camels that carried spices, and an immense quantity of gold and precious stones” (3 Kings X, 2.) Consider in these words the glory of Mary entering into the heavenly Jerusalem. Consider, I say, the excellence of her who enters, her power and her wealth. Consider the excellence of the primacy of our Queen Mary, insomuch as she is compared to the Queen of Saba, which signifies a cry. For Mary is the Queen of the world, where there is a cry of mourning. She is also the Queen of Heaven, where there is a cry of joy. For the dwellers in Heaven cry out, as it is said in the Apocalypse: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!” And this Queen of those who cry out, ceases not herself to cry out with the others, as St. Augustine says: “Thou, O Mary, fellow-citizen of the inhabitants of Heaven, being endlessly associated with the angels and archangels, ceasest not to cry out with untiring voice: “Holy, holy, holy!” She indeed is the queen whom the Psalmist describes, saying: “The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety” (Ps. XLIV, 10.) All can follow this Queen with confidence into the kingdom who have faithfully served her in this world. St. Bernard says: “Our Queen has gone before us: she has gone before us and has been so gloriously received that her servants may confidently cry out: ‘Draw me after thee.’ “ Likewise consider in the entering in of our Queen the power of the retinue accompanying her, for it says: “with a multitudinous retinue.” Mary entered into the heavenly Jerusalem with a multitudinous retinue of angelic powers. St. Jerome says: “We read how the angels have come to the death and burial of some of the Saints, and how they have accompanied the souls of the elect to Heaven with hymns and praises.” And he adds: “How much more should we believe that the heavenly army, with all its bands, came forth rejoicing in festive array, to meet the Mother of God, surrounded her with effulgent light, and led her with praises and canticles to the throne prepared for her from the beginning of the world.”
Likewise, consider in Mary the wealth of her merits, as it were in a dower of precious gifts: for she brought with her infinite gold in her love of God and of her neighbor, the precious gems of virtues and gifts, the spices of good works and examples. What I say of the treasures of Mary is little compared with what St. Bernard says. “In thy hands,” he says, speaking to Mary, “are all the treasures of the mercies of the Lord. God forbid that thy hand should cease to give; for thy glory is not diminished, but augmented, when sinners are pardoned and the justified are taken up into glory.” The Mother of God, therefore, entered into glory, as the Queen of Heaven, accompanied by a vast retinue of angels, with innumerable riches of merit.
Finally, consider that we find her surpassing all the Saints in the superabundance of her merits and rewards without end, according to the saying: “Many daughters have gathered together riches, thou hast surpassed them all.” Thou hast indeed surpassed them in nature, in grace, in glory; thou hast surpassed all the daughters of men, all souls, all angelical intelligences, O Mary. I say that Mary in nature has surpassed all the daughters of men, for what nature does not admit of, she, a virgin, conceived, and brought forth, according to that word: “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son.” And it was not this alone that is above all nature, that a virgin should bring forth a son, but that she should bring forth God. Therefore, St. Jerome says: “What nature does not possess, what custom wots not, what reason knows nothing of, what the human mind cannot grasp, what the heavens fear, what the earth is astonished at, all this was what was divinely announced by the Angel Gabriel to Mary, and was fulfilled in Christ.” Likewise, Mary surpassed in grace all the souls of the Saints, for she was not only full of grace, but overfull (superplena), as Gabriel signified, who said at first, “full of grace,” and afterwards added: “And the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee.” If, therefore, she was full of grace, whatever the Holy Spirit brought her afterwards was more than full measure; she was then more than full, she was surpassingly full (superplena). St. Bernard says: “While the Holy Spirit was coming, she was full of grace for herself (plena sibi); but when the Holy Spirit had come upon her, she was overfull and overflowed with grace for our sakes (superplena nobis).” So Mary surpassed in glory all the angelical intelligences; for she is the sapphire throne which, as we read in Ezechiel, is raised above the angelic firmament. St. Bernard says: “Mary ascended above every heavenly creature; up to the angels and even above these.” So, therefore, Mary went forth, and advanced, and entered in, and went beyond all. She went forth, I say, by coming into this mortal life; she advanced in grace and privileges; she entered in by attaining to the Heavenly Kingdom; she surpassed all by exceeding the glory of all the blessed. Behold, therefore, O most sweet Virgin Mary, the Lord is truly with thee, as the sun is with the dawn which goes before it, as the flower is with the flowering stem, as the King is with the Queen entering in. O most sweet aurora, grant that the Sun of justice may also be with us ! O most sublime Rod, grant that with us also may be the flower of grace! O most powerful Queen, grant that the King of glory, Our Lord Jesus Christ, may stay with us!
Musical Selection (Kathleen Deignan)