The worshipful silence of the Immaculata is the perfect response to divine transcendence, for this silence includes the most perfect self-annihilation.
She is deeply and perpetually aware of being completely dependent on God. She fully realizes this presence of immensity, this presence of God by grace in the soul. She contemplates it and She lives it. She is lost in God, She is fascinated by Her God, She sees only Him, nothing else is able to occupy Her.
“Breathe the scent of incense that rises from this sanctuary. Mary, a contemplative soul if ever there was one, never left the presence of God. She did not pour Herself out in words, but She exposed Her virginal soul to the warm light of God’s love to be penetrated by its rays. Like a mirror whose limpidity is not dulled by any shadow, She received the image of God to refract it in adoration and praise. She rendered with glory what was given to Her by grace.” And when we are Hers, by a total consecration to Her Immaculate Heart, She does this in us: She gives back in glory and adoration what is given to us by grace.
Yet Her silence of adoration is not only the perfect response to the silence of God’s transcendence. She participates in some way in this silence of God’s transcendence. She is elevated by grace to be the Mother of the Eternal. This eternal and transcendent God takes Her as Mother. And when one is in the presence of the Virgin Mary, one feels a fear that comes from Her union with God. She is so united to God that, before Her, one is seized by His greatness, His holiness.
Of course, She is only a creature, but She is so enriched by God, so filled with God, so beautiful! We are all intimidated. The angel himself prostrates himself: “Hail Mary”! The angel is in reverential awe before Her who was chosen by God, tremunt potestates!
We must recollect ourselves in front of this glory of the Virgin Mary. Once again, She is the reflection of the glory of God. A reflection that gives us this transcendental light that is far too bright, far too dazzling for us. What does the Immaculate Herself do in the face of so much splendor? She humbles Herself in silence because that is the best way to adore this divine transcendence.
Thus, in contemplating the Virgin Mary, we have an idea of this splendor of God and we find in Her the prototype and model of all our adoration. Better still, being Her property, it is in us that She will humble Herself, it is in our soul that She will adore divine transcendence, transforming us little by little into a mirror of grace.
