A Carthusian Reflects on the Presentation of the Lord

See, then, what we shall be if we are to prepare ourselves to be offered in the temple by Mary -- faithful, tranquil, simple and trustful; blind as one becomes blind through an excess of light. Then will she carry us in her arms, and each of our actions, offered by her to the Father, will have an infinite value. For a soul thus abandoned there are no longer any little things. To fulfill the most ordinary household duties -- everything is so precious when offered at Mary's hands...

It is a lovely thing, indeed, to feel oneself abandoned into those pure hands. How sure one is of not straying; what assurance their very purity imparts. Mary has no need of purification, but we need it, everyone of us, if we are to receive Jesus the Light of the Father.

And finally she lifts us up in her arms and presents us to the Father. He gazes unceasingly at us, and we at him. This "face to face" is the highest form of the interior life; it is thus that St. Paul describes heaven. We shall no longer see him, he says, in the mirror of creatures, but "face to face."

Dear Mary, Mother most wonderful, how happy I am to abandon myself into your loving hands! Amen!