Mary’s Heart, A Garden of God

 When we think of a garden, we imagine it to be enclosed with trees, flowers, streams and lawn. Mary’s Garden is a garden, filled with flowers, plants and trees designed to be a place of beauty. It allows one to experience God's creation, and invites prayer and contemplation. The Garden of Mary is very well depicted in the words of St. Bernard –

“Thou art an enclosed garden O mother of God, wherein we cull all kinds of flowers. Among them we gaze with particular admiration on thy violets, lilies and roses, which fill the Home of God with their sweet fragrance. Thou art O Mary, violets of humility, a lily of chastity and a rose of charity.”

The heart of Mary is spotless, pure and radiant. She is the unspotted mirror of God’s majesty and the image of His goodness. She is fair as the moon, bright as the sun. She is an enclosed Garden; a sealed up fountain.

In the heart of the Mary there existed anger, aversion, courage, desire, fear, joy, love and sadness. But the spirit of Christ reigned so perfectly in her heart that she never experienced any motivation contrary to the will of God. She never employed them except under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and for the glory of His Divine Majesty.

She never loved anything beside God. She never desired anything except to please Him; she feared nothing but to displease Him. Even her emotions existed and vibrated only for Him who possessed, animated and directed them. Mary’s heart was truly enshrined by peace and tranquility, accompanied by ceaseless praise and adoration of God who had established his throne in his paradise.

In the heart of Mary we learn to be loyal, and obedient to the will of God at all times just as Jesus learnt to be obedient to his Father’s will. In the heart of Mary God was never disappointed. There he has always been worthily praised; for the heart of Mary is the garden of the Beloved, sealed garden and a Garden of delight.

The joy of Mary’s heart was ineffable, and ineffable her sorrows too. Mary’s sorrow emptied and deepened the spiritual vessel of her heart.  Today the heart of Mary rejoices in heaven, vibrating in union with the Heart of Jesus in his triumphs. The Gospel recounts for us Mary’s Canticle of praise, ‘Magnificat’. Her heart overflowed with joy, love and gratitude at the astounding miracle that had been worked within her.

It is right and just that we should cherish a most tender devotion to this most loving, benign, perfect, compassionate, devoted and loving heart, keenly alive to all that concerns the glory of God and the honour of her Divine Son.

In the first garden, God pronounced sentence upon the serpent: “the woman shall crush thy head and then shall lie in wait for her heel (Gen 3:15). In the Garden of Mary’s heart this promise was fulfilled. Her immaculate conception smashed Original Sin; Her sanctity routed the power of evil. Man having rebelled against God in the first paradise, was driven from the garden and banished forever with all his posterity, and at the gate was placed an angel with a flaming sword in his hand that prevented the children of Adam from re-entering that garden of Eden. From this we learn that to enter and share the second paradise, we must cease to be sons of Adam and become children of Jesus Christ.  

This will happen only when our old self dies. Death seems fearful; the sword of the Cherubim and Michael is terrifying; yet it is the sword of love and this sword even slays the blessed in order to heal their souls and make them live the life of God. “Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of his saints (Ps 115:15).” Meaning the death that is not a death but beginning of eternal life.  If you banish sin, self-love from the garden of your heart, opening wide the door of grace and to the king of virtues, He will enter in and find repose in that place (Pro15: 15) (Rev: 3: 20). If you drive away the grace, mortification and letting sin grow in your heart then the demon will come and make his home. But if you try to imitate Mary, by tending your heart with wisdom, love, grace, and patience, God will not refuse you the full measure of his gifts that you may cultivate your garden fruitfully and make it like Mary’s paradise of delight for your Lord and Saviour.

Studying and reflecting on the heart of Mary, calls us to imitate her purity and all other virtues and detachment from the things of ephemeral worth, so as to increase in sanctity and in the Christian virtues: Love, joy, peace, patience, generosity, forgiveness, and temperance.

Let the heart of Mary which is the garden of God inspire each one of us to be like Him.