Sinless Mary and sinful Mary

loo

and; :

inful fl

C )LL CHRISTI REGIS SJ.

016. MAJOR

TORONTO

SINLESS MARY
AND SINFUL MARY

I. — Mary's Social Mission as the
Second Eve

II. — The Woman that was a Sinner

BY

BERNARD VAUGHAN, S.J.

C3LL CHRIST! REGIS S.J.

616. MAJOR

TORONTO

^077
BURNS & GATES LIMITEjD

28 ORCHARD STREET, LONDON, W.
1905

' ' Sinless Mary and sinful Mary —
The Mary called the Magdalen"

FRANCIS THOMPSON.

THESE WORDS ABOUT
MARY, CALLED THE MADONNA

AND

MARY, NAMED THE MAGDALEN

ARE DEDICATED WITH

REVERENCE, LOVE, AND GRATITUDE

TO

Our Holy Father
POPE PIUS X

BY

His DEVOTED SON

BERNARD
S.J.

CIVILTA CATTOLICA
ROME
December 17 th, 1904

I/

MARY'S SOCIAL MISSION AS
THE SECOND EVE

Correggio\

VIRGIN AND CHILD

Mary's Social Mission as
the Second Eve. Words
spoken in the Basilica
of the Apostles, Rome.
December 3rd, 1904.

" All generations shall call me blessed."
LUKE i. 48.

MY LORDS CARDINALS, RIGHT
REV. FATHERS, AND DEAR BRETH
REN, — We are met together, here,
in the Eternal City, to celebrate a
year that will be for ever memor
able in the history of the Church,
a year of double jubilee. From
every nation have come delegates
and representatives to keep high
and solemn festival here, in the
centre of Christendom, where fifty
years ago was first proclaimed to a

Mary's Social Mission

similar gathering, and to all the
world, the dogma of Mary's Imma
culate Conception ; and where, in
the past year, God has set upon
the Throne of Peter a Successor
whose career and whose Pontificate
already bid fair to attain a dis
tinction and a fame unique in the
annals of the world.

The Faithful from every Christian
land are gathered here, and we of
England, as I trust, in no unworthy
number, seeing that our dear native
land has had this quite special glory
and twofold honour ; the one, that
of celebrating the Feast of Our
Lady's Conception from as far back
as the eleventh century — that is, at
least one hundred years earlier than
any other people ; and the other, that
of giving, in the sixteenth century,
the lives of her highest and noblest
in the defence of the prerogatives
of the Holy See.

The occasion and the time require
that we should pass over this second
motive for the jubilee to give our
thoughts to that which is first and

The Second Eve 9

most dominant in the minds and
hearts of all — the glorious privilege
bestowed upon her whom we call
the Immaculate.

And here again there is much we
must set aside : many facets of that
most brilliant Jewel, which our dear
Lady is, we may not even glance at.
Other preachers will declare and
extol the intrinsic beauty, the trans
cendent brightness, the supernatural
grace of Mary's immaculate soul ;
a soul, which is, as a fact, after the
Sacred Humanity, the extreme of
God's creative energy, the goal of
His ambition, the pure, shining peak
of human personality, the witness
of His might, the mirror of His
beauty, the monument of His skill,
the trophy of His passion, the very
triumph of His love ; while I, for
my task, will endeavour to set forth
but one aspect of Mary's matchless
mission : the manner in which she
has repaired the sin of Eve, and
restored fallen woman to her right
ful throne. That this was in part
her mission, she herself bore witness

io Mary's Social Mission

when in that hymn of praise, her
only song — more wonderful in its
far-reaching significance than any
other that ever poured from human
lips — she prophesied before earth
and heaven: "Henceforth all genera
tions shall call me blessed."

We call Mary the Second Eve,
and well is she entitled to this name.
For, in the great drama effecting
man's redemption, did not Mary
play the part which answered by
contrast to that taken by Eve in
the tragedy that brought about the
fall of man ?

Yes ; if it was Eve who, by listen
ing to the insinuations of the evil
spirit promising that she should be
as God, brought perdition into the
world, it was Mary, by consenting
to the message of the good spirit
assuring her she was to become
the Mother of God, who brought
salvation to mankind. Mary's co
operation, then, in the work of
reparation is analogous to Eve's
part in man's prevarication : hence
we call her the Second Eve.

The Second Eve n

" By one woman," writes St
Augustine, " death came to us, and,
by another, life ": perdition by Eve,
salvation by Mary. And St
Epiphanius, treating of the same
subject, reminds us that: "Eve
was the cause of death to men,
because death entered into this
world through her ; while Mary,"
he continues, " is the cause of life
to them, because life and all that life
implies came into the world through
her." Hence the Church in her
liturgical office says of Mary :

" Quod Heva tristis abstulit
Tu reddis almo genuine."

Presently we shall see how
splendidly Mary has fulfilled her
mission to us as the Second Eve ;
meanwhile let us for a moment
pause to consider and examine the
wiles and snares employed by the
serpent, "more subtle than all the
beasts of the earth," to compass
his diabolical end : the ruin of man
kind by original sin.

12 Mary's Social Mission

Abiding his time, the evil one
waited till God had drawn forth
from the region of man's heart a
partner and helpmate in woman.
Then when Eve came forth, fresh
from the creative hand of God
" brighter than eastern skies at
daybreak strewn with fragrant
roses," Satan (seeing her sweetness
and loveliness, her weakness and
gentleness, her fine sympathies,
together with that infinite charm
and grace and tact with which God,
had dowered her exquisite soul),
realised at once what seemed
to him to be his opportunity of
robbing man of his wealth of grace
and of dragging him into the
slough of sin. He would attack
Adam through Eve ; he would play
upon her finer feelings and sensi
bilities, awakening both her curio
sity and her vanity, till at length,
being borne away by ambition, she
would, so he felt, o'erleap herself, and
thus bring about not only her own
ruin but, what most of all the enemy
was scheming and plotting for, the

The Second Eve 13

fall and ruin of her partner and lord,
Adam.

Alas, my brethren, there is no
need for me to put before you the
details of that terribly graphic
story, beginning with the word :
" Why hath God commanded you ? "
and ending with the fatal climax :
" You shall be as gods." So de
finitely, and yet so simply, is the
story told in Genesis that, whether
we accept its literal interpretation
or not, we cannot help recognising
that we have in it an account of the
fall ; while between the lines is re
vealed to us the character of him
who " once was beautiful as he is
hideous now."

Observe well, my brethren, that
man and woman, husband and wife,
are meant in the designs of God to
be helpful and not hurtful to each
other. " Each has what the other
has not, each completes the other,
and is completed by the other ;
they are in nothing alike." And
furthermore, notice that, as the
happinesss and perfection of both

14 Mary's Social Mission

depend on each sacrificing self and
studying the good of the other,
so too the misery and perdition of
both in no small measure depend
on the selfishness of each to the
neglect of the interests of the other.
That this is so I need but remind
you of the scene enacted beside the
tree of knowledge in the Garden
of Eden, where Eve " took of the
fruit thereof, and did eat ; and gave
to her husband, and he did eat :
and the eyes of both were opened."
And now to proceed to the next
chapter in the history dealing with
the downfall of woman and of man
through woman. Fully satisfied
with the success of his plan for the
ruin of our first parents, Satan,
whose one ambition is the ruin of
their children also, has changed
his tactics in little or nothing since
he first set them in action. In that
first attempt, having brought woman
from her exalted position to the
depths of degradation, it has been
Satan's endeavour ever since to hold
her down, to keep her from ever

The Second Eve 15

rising again in the social scale, so
that she should ever be in his hands
an apt instrument for the ruin of her
husband and of her offspring, and
so in time of the human race. And
the arch-enemy of mankind, in act
ing as he has done, has proved him
self to be as malignant as he is
astute.

Indeed, constituted and circum
stanced as woman is, a cleverer plan
than that employed by Satan to
mar and spoil God's great creative
work cannot be conceived. For,
putting aside her matchless gifts
and charms to fascinate the eye of
man, woman in her unspoilt per
fection, whether as wife or mother
or daughter or friend, is knit to
man's very soul by ties so fine and
strong, she is woven into the very
fibre of his being by relations so
tender, so affectionate, and so in
timate that she seems to hold in
her hand the key itself of man's
heart, and, therefore, the very springs
themselves of his life may be said
to be under her control.

1 6 Mary's Social Mission

The history of woman from her
first fall in Eve till her rise again
in Mary is a painful proof that, if
woman in her innocence may have
such a powerful influence on the
destiny of man, woman in her fall
may deserve and incur man's
bitterest contempt and scorn. With
rare exceptions, now in a chapter
dealing with the Jewish people, now
in that of the Greeks, or again in
that of the Romans, and lastly of
the German races, woman stands
out before us as moving, ever surely
if sometimes slowly, lower and
lower down the incline, till at last
she is seen in the time of the Empire
on a social plane so base and degraded
that a French writer speaks of her
as "la divinite de la corruption,
trouvant son supreme honneur dans
sa supreme haute." Whatever in
fluence at an earlier date she was
able to exercise for good, later,
alas ! we are forced to admit what
little power was left to her she was
permitted to put forth for evil
only.

The Second Eve 17

Time does not permit us to estab
lish this statement by a series of
quotations from historians, philo
sophers, satirists, and poets, who
lived in what was called the Golden
Age, but what in reality was an
age of mud and blood and shame.
But one author I will cite, Seneca,
whose noble pagan wife was Paulina.
" Woman," he writes, '' is but a
shameless animal, in whom men can
see nothing but a savage creature
incapable of restraining its passions."
Alas ! be this as it may, anyhow it
is true to say that, in the last days
of the Empire, the unfortunate
sisters of fallen Eve were treated as
though they were little better than
non-human beings w7ith no human
rights.

And what other fate was woman
to expect in an Empire where it was
openly proclaimed that woman was
not man's soda but serva, not the
partner of his life and helpmate,
but the toy of his fancy and the
instrument of his pleasure ? True,
at one time Greek andfRoman life

1 8 Mary's Social Mission

had recognised the sanctity of the
marriage tie and the duty of rearing
children, but when so-called civilisa
tion had reached its highest point in
paganism, not only was the indissol
uble character of wedded life utterly
ignored, but its duty to the race
was looked upon as an intolerable
burden, to be cast off as unworthy
of freemen. Hence, in the time of
Augustus, the very highest and
noblest Roman families were dying
out for want of heirs ; while lower
down the rungs of the social ladder
self-inflicted extinction was, a his
torian tells us, obtaining far and
wide, desolating whole provinces,
and even Rome itself.

The far-seeing Augustus, realising
the revolting state of things, ad
dressed himself to the task of at
tempting to stem the tide of corrup
tion which was sapping the very
foundations on which his empire
rested — family life.

With infinite patience and per
severance he succeeded at length,
in the teeth of opposition, in framing

The Second Eve 19

and passing laws punishing adultery
as a civil crime, fining profligate
celibacy, and rewarding fruitful
marriages. But if these laws
themselves bear witness to the in
iquitous state to which a shameless
race had come through its scorn and
contempt of its mothers and sisters,
their utter impotence to deal effect
ively with the widespread evil is
a proof, if proof were needed, that
no merely human legislation can
touch the springs of moral action.
Augustus, as he stood beside the
death - bed of his empire expiring
through moral suicide, was forced to
confess that not even he could pre
scribe an antidote to neutralise the
poison which was infecting its life-
blood, bringing it swiftly to inevit
able destruction.

What Augustus failed to achieve
by force of will and law, Mary,
under God, accomplished by the
simple fiat of her will ; where the
greatest Roman Emperor failed
a simple village maiden, as we shall
now see, succeeded :

20 Mary's Social Mission

" Sumens illud ave
Gabriel! s ab ore,
Funda nos in pace,
Mutans Evae nomen."

Come with me, my Lords Car
dinals, and dear brethren, in spirit,
and, leaving behind the city of the
Caesars, let us cross the tideless Medi
terranean, and make our way through
the plains of Israel, till, beyond
Esdraelon, nestling in the bosom of
the highlands of Galilee, we catch
sight of the most obscure village of
the most obscure province of Rome,
called Nazareth.

" Can any good come out of
Nazareth " ; can any balm for the
healing of the nations be gathered
in that high-perched hamlet beyond
the reach of civilisation ; can any
virgin fountain of life, " purer
than foam on central ocean tost,"
be there found to send forth its
cleansing stream to purify the
nations of the earth ? Look up,
listen, and be satisfied : " Behold,
an angel is sent by God to a city
of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a

The Second Eve 21

Virgin, and the Virgin's name was
Mary."

In that interview with Gabriel
Mary is asked to give her consent
to become the Mother of God. But
she, mindful of her vow of virginity,
dearer to her than pearls beyond
price, cannot see her way consis
tently with it to become a mother,
till, the angel assuring her that even
this is possible with God, the modest
maiden bows her assent, saying :
" Behold the handmaiden of the
Lord, be it done unto me according
to Thy word." In that meeting
between Mary and the good spirit
the disgrace and degradation
brought on the fairest portion of our
race by Eve's seduction were more
than repaired, for " in the world's
sad aspirations, One Success," in
the Immaculate Virgin - Mother of
God, every woman, whether virgin
or mother, recognises her ideal of
true and pure womanhood — an ideal
to be respected and revered for all
time, in all lands, by all men. Did
not the Second Eve with her own

22 Mary's Social Mission

lips proclaim that it should be so ?
Did not Mary utter, as already
we have said, the prophetic word
when, shortly after the Annunciation,
she stood upon the threshold of
the holy priest's house, locked in the
arms of her sainted cousin Elizabeth,
and declared : " From henceforth all
generations shall call me blessed " ?
And was not that canticle of the
Incarnation a song of triumph, in
whose chorus every member of
Mary's sex may gladly and with
conscious pride join to the full com
pass of her voice ?

Not only is Mary ever-blessed be
cause she sprang from the hand of
the Triune God — " Coming forth as
the morning, rising fair as the
moon, bright as the sun, shining
in the Temple of God as the morning
star in the midst of a cloud " ; not
blessed merely, because later on she
was to appear in the heavens as
" the Woman clothed with the sun,
with the twelve stars about her
brow, and the moon beneath her
feet " ; but blessed also, and most

The Second Eve 23

especially in our eyes, because in
her and through her woman was
to be blessed with a blessing that
should be for the healing of the
nations. Well, then, may the Bride
of Christ, the Church, turn to the
Second Eve, " the blessed among
women," and exclaim : " O, thou
glory of Jerusalem, thou joy of
Israel, thou honour of thy people " ;
and well may we too lift up our
voices with that of the Church, and
in full choir proclaim to all the
world that Mary is the First and
Only

Mother whose Virgin bosom was un-

crost
With the least shade of thought to

sin allied ;

Woman above all women glorified,
Our tainted nature's solitary bc.a«t:''

The world, my brethren, is
governed more by ideals than by
ideas, more by example than by
precept. Accordingly, the unique

24 Mary's Social Mission

moral and social status universally
recognised in every Christian
nation as belonging to Mary's
devout sex is to be attributed and
ascribed not, indeed, so much to the
teaching of Christ's Church as to
the example of Christ's Mother.
Mary's example is most truly a
potent factor and a really vital
energy penetrating and permeating
every Christian family going to
make up the Christian state. Thus
is the Second Eve more to the
Second Adam than the fallen Eve
was to the fallen Adam : she is
Mater viventium, the Mother of all
living in Christ. She it is who
may be said to rule the Christian
home. Yes : the Christian home :
does it not owe its sweet orderliness
and its pure loveliness as well to
M?rv, the Second Eve ? Home,
we are told, is the place of peace,
" the shelter not only from all injury,
but from all terror, doubt, and
division. And wherever a true wife
comes, this home is always round
her. The stars only may be over

The Second Eve 25

her head ; the glowworm in the
night-cold grass may be the only
fire at her foot, but home is yet
wherever she is, and for a noble
woman it stretches far round her,
better than ceiled with cedar or
painted with vermilion, shedding
its quiet light far for those who else
were homeless." Oh, what an up
lifting influence does not the
Christian wife exert upon him
whose partner and helpmate she is
and whose home she is !

Listen to the poet giving expres
sion to King Arthur's mind upon
this subject :

" I know

Of no more subtle master under Heaven
Than is the maiden passion for a maid,
Not only to keep down the base in man,
But teach high thoughts and amiable

words

And courtliness and the desire of fame
And love of truth and all that makes a

man."

And to come to a later date, what,
indeed, \vas Beatrice but an influence

26 Mary's Social Mission

to purify and sanctify the soul of
Dante ? The mere smile of the
maiden as she passed sufficed to
flood the poet's soul with joy and
peace, to blot out his pride, and
dispose his soul to virtue ; and
when she appeared to him in the
topmost point of purgatory it was
not to receive mere flattery and
empty praise but, on the contrary,
blame for not having vowed to her
a love that was pure and sweet
enough for one whose ideal was
Mary, who will have no one

" Following false images of good that

make
No promise perfect."

Listen again to the Christian
type of woman as presented to us
in St Bathilda, Queen of the Franks.
" Being of Saxon race," says the
chronicler, " she was of a gracious
and subtle form, and of a beautiful
and cheerful countenance. To the
king her husband she showed herself
as an obedient wife, to the princes
as a mother, to the priests as a

The Second Eve 27

daughter, to young men and boys
as the best of nurses, to her friends
as splendidly loyal and true. To
the poor she was always distribut
ing alms, and to Christ, the Heavenly
King, always commending herself
with tears."

" Happy the men," exclaims the
ancient chronicler, " to whom God
has given wives and mothers such
as are to be seen throughout Christen
dom."

Did time permit, my brethren,
I might here enumerate a very litany
of sainted names under the title of
wife or mother, cited from any
Christian nation under the sun, each
one of them conspicuous for a
delicacy, a dignity, and a purity,
borrowed from the ever - blessed
Virgin-Mother. With reason, then,
did pagans who were witnesses of the
wrords and works of this new creation,
called into being by Mary's example,
exclaim : " Quales feminas habent
Christiani"

If to Mary, under God, we owe
the Christian home, it was she,

28 Mary's Social Mission

as St Ambrose reminds us, who in
it raised the standard of virginity,
an ensign never before unfurled,
as the rallying-point for those wish
ing to signalise themselves in His
service who born of a Virgin
was Himself a Virgin, and who,
as St Augustine tells us, is followed
by a bodyguard of virgins singing
a song which others may hear but
cannot utter. And what a brave
and glorious troop it is, including
such names as Agnes, Cecilia,
Ursula, Hilda, Mildred, Bridget of
Kildare, Ethelreda, and Winefride,
and ten thousand times ten thou
sand others, called from the utter
most part of the earth to the Virgin
Standard, and armed each one of
them in defence of it with the
strength of ten, because her heart
is pure.

Observe then, my brethren, that
the prototype set up before the
Christian woman is not the Spartan
mother, or the Roman matron, or
the Vestal virgin, but the ever-
blessed Woman, who is the Virgin-

The Second Eve 29

Mother. Nor is her image, her
example, her life, and character
confined merely to the domestic
and social life of Christendom, but it
broods no less over its philosophy,
its literature, its poetry, and its
painting, as though the arts would
unite in saying of her :

" All higher knowledge in her presence

falls

Degraded; wisdom in discourse with her
Loses, discountenanced, and like folly

shows."

Nay, I do not hesitate to say
that the Church is in no small meas
ure indebted to woman for many
of the more brilliant names adorn
ing the list of sainted heroes which
she holds up before her children
for their admiration and imitation.
Take, for example, such saints as
Francis of Sales, Louis of France, or
Francis the Seraphic, or Benedict
and Augustine, or Gregory and
Jerome, not to mention a score and
more of others equally familiar to
you ; and let me ask you : Where

30 Mary's Social Mission

did these giants among men learn
those special lessons in the art
of Divine Love which have made
them so deservedly attractive and
so popular with the faithful, irres
pective of nationality ? You will
tell me they were taught the finer
touches of delicate sympathy with
the suffering and the sorrowful
children of humanity by the spiritu
ally-gifted women with whom it
was their privilege to have been
brought into contact. Truth to
tell, there are phases in the all-
embracing character of Christ rarely
found in men who have not felt the
influence of woman. It is her
mission as Mary's representative
on earth to soften, sweeten, and
chasten man, and so in her hands
he becomes more truly Christlike
in his character and more Christ-
like in his sympathies.

To summarise what Mary's social
mission as the Second Eve has been
to Christianity I will say with a
modern rationalistic historian :
k' Because of her and through her,

The Second Eve 31

woman was elevated to her rightful
position, and the sanctity of weak
ness became recognised as well as
the sanctity of sorrow. No longer
the slave or tool of man, no longer
associated only with the ideas of
degradation and sensuality, woman
rose in the person of the Virgin-
Mother into a new sphere, and
became the object of a reverential
homage of which antiquity had had
no conception. Love was idealised,
the moral charm and beauty of
female excellence were fully felt, a
new type was called into being, a
new sort of admiration was every
where fostered. Into a harsh and
ignorant and benighted age this
ideal type infused a conception
of gentleness and purity unknown
to the proudest civilisations of the
past. ... In * the many millions
who in many lands and many ages
have striven with no barren desire
to mould their characters into her
image, in those holy maidens who
out of love of Mary have separated
themselves from the glories and

32 Mary's Social Mission

pleasures of the world to seek in
fastings and vigils and humble
charity to render themselves more
worthy of her benediction, in the
new sense of honour, in the chival
rous respect, in the refinement of
tastes displayed in all the walks of
Society — in these and in many other
ways we detect the influence of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. All that was
best in Europe clustered round this
ideal of woman, and it is the origin
of many of the purest elements of
our civilisation."

Yes, my brethren, to the observant
student of history there is, perhaps,
nothing more striking in the making
of Europe than the part played in
almost every department and pur
suit of life by Mary's fair and
gentle followers. Who would care to
deny that the contrast between
woman's position within and without
the pale of Christianity is always,
and nearly everywhere, as the differ
ence between light and darkness,
day and night ? In vain will you
search through the purest and

The Second Eve 33

brightest pages of pagan literature
for a galaxy of names to mate those
which shine forth, like constellations,
on almost any chapter dealing with
the story of Christianity.

Hence, we must conclude that,
wherever the " world-wide Mother "
has been recognised as the archetype
of woman, there have her devout
and gentle handmaidens been given
a sphere of influence and a place of
honour which, so long as Mary shall
retain her hold upon the world, they
can never lose.

And indeed, when we glance at
our immediate environment, or look
back upon the last three glorious
Pontificates, we are free to confess we
can detect no signs of any diminu
tion on the part of the faithful in
their whole - hearted devotedness
to her whom they address as the
most prudent, most venerable,
most renowned Virgin ; as the
inviolate, amiable, and admirable
Mother ; the Refuge of sinners, the
Comfort of the afflicted, the Help of
Christians, the Queen of men and

34 Mary's Social Mission

of angels. On the contrary, through
out the Universal Church, we see
a most sure and steady growth
(especially fostered in the numerous
congregations and confraternities),
of devotion to her whom they claim
as their " Mother, Queen, and Ad
vocate."

But what need have we to ask
the experience of others in order
to bring home to us the reality of
Mary's rightful place in the economy
of the Incarnation ? For us who
are among her children, "mourning
and weeping in this vale of tears,"
it is altogether superfluous to borrow
from others what we ourselves
already possess in ample abundance.
We know, and do we not know it
with a knowledge which is one of the
dearest treasures of life, that to
Mary, after Jesus, we are more
deeply indebted for all that smoothes
the rough ways of this present life,
for all that soothes its sufferings
and sweetens its sorrows, than to any
other of God's creatures ? Glance
back but for a moment upon the

The Second Eve 35

ways by which you have come, and
I tell you, no matter whether they
have been shaded by sorrow or
flooded with sunshine or chequered
by both, you must acknowledge
that the " blessed among women "
and the most blessed of all mothers,
has been through all your paths more
than a mother to you, and that she
to whom God hath done mighty
things hath through Him done mighty
things for you also ; so that you,
no less than St Bernard, can from
your own experience proclaim
to the world : " No one ever had
recourse to her protection without
obtaining relief"; and, with the
Church, that " no one ever fled to
her patronage and had his petition
despised or denied."

Thanks be to God, we, the mysti
cal members of Christ, have the
guarantee of His expiring utterance
assuring us that this should be so.
For, as He lay dying on the Cross,
did He not say " Behold thy
son," and "Behold thy mother" ;
and what, let me ask you, was that

36 Mary's Social Mission

save an all but creative word and
sacramental sign, teaching the whole
Church that, as He Himself through
Mary came to us, so would He have
us by Mary go to Him ? Provided
that we, on our part, in this vale
of tears, continue to look upon
her as " our life, our sweetness, and
our hope," she on hers, when this
same exile shall be ended, will " show
us the blessed fruit of her womb,
Jesus."

" O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin
Mary ! "

On earth, then, as in heaven, there
is no pause in the praise and worship
of God's " Perfect One."

" When Jesus looks upon thy face,
His heart with rapture glows ;
And in the Church by His sweet grace
Thy blessed worship grows."

What a refining, elevating, and
spiritualising influence does she
not exercise, this " Woman clothed
with the sun," through her devout
clients, upon the sons of men ; what

The Second Eve 37

a power for checking evil and pro
moting good is in their hands ; with
what a magic delicacy do they not
bestow sympathy, mitigate pain,
and alleviate sorrow ; how wisely
do they inspire virtue and create
a very atmosphere of purity where
soever they come. Follow them from
their homes into the slums of
poverty and misery, or into the
fever wards of the hospital, or the
nursing homes of the sick, or indeed
where you will, for always and where-
ever there is wrong to be redressed,
or suffering to be relieved, or sadness
to be comforted, or sorrow to be
pitied, or loss to be mourned,
there you will find self-sacrificing,
self - forgetful Christian women,
practising the lessons learned at
the feet of their Mistress and their
Queen — the Virgin-Mother.

And here, lest perchance some
one among my hearers, alien to the
Church, may feel disposed to call
to account the strict accuracy of
my statements, permit me to cite,
in support of them, the testimony

38 Mary's Social Mission

of one who has studied from without
the wondrous influence of Mary
upon the Church. " I am per
suaded, after the most careful ex
amination," writes this student of
history, " that the worship of the
Madonna has been one of the noblest
and most vital graces of Catholicism,
and has never been otherwise than
productive of true holiness of life
and purity of character. There
has probably not been an innocent
cottage home throughout the length
and breadth of Europe, during the
whole period of vital Christianity,
in which the imagined presence
of the Madonna has not given
sanctity to the humblest duties
and comfort to the sorest trials of
the lives of women ; and every
brightest and loftiest achievement
of the arts and strength of manhood
has been the fulfilment of the
answered prophecy of the Israelite
maiden : ' He that is mighty hath
made me great, and holy is His
name.' "

Yes ; and let me, in gratitude, add

The Second Eve 39

that, among the twelve millions
of Catholics who under the liberty-
giving flag of England exercise
their religion unmolested, and amid
an equal number of our co-religionists
enjoying beneath the star-spangled
banner of America an inalienable
right no less marked, there has been
ever since the proclamation, now
fifty years ago, of the dogma defining
her Immaculate Conception, a steady
tightening of the love-ties between
them and her who shields pure
women and strengthens brave men.

And now, my Lords Cardinals,
Right Rev. Fathers, and dear
Brethren, let me conclude this
discourse, spoken to remind you of
the world's indebtedness to Mary
as the Second Eve, by especially
exhorting my fellow countrymen and
countrywomen not to forget that
we, the liegemen and vassals of
her dowry, are bound by quite ex
ceptional ties of fealty and homage
to this " Lady mighty as she is
great."

If Albion, that gemlike land

4° Mary's Social Mission

set in the silver sea ; if that rock-
bound home, studded with shrines
called by her name ; if even Anglo-
Saxon England can make good the
proud boast of ..V having been the
very first to keep, the feast of Mary's
Conception as a " great and joyous
festal day" (though Ireland may
have caught a glimpse of its
morning rising yet earlier still)
—then, surely, on a unique occa
sion such as this, when delegates
from every nation under the
sun are met here, in the centre
itself of Christendom, to commem
orate with a splendour, pomp, and
solemnity rarely seen before this
miraculous immaculate event, it
is but fitting and appropriate that
we of England should be here not
only as the representatives of our
Catholic forefathers, Mary's devotees,
but also as the living witnesses of
the tradition of England's devo
tion to that Conception, which, as
a rich heirloom, has been so faith
fully handed down to us.

And while we offer homage and

The Second Eve 41

praise and thanksgiving no less on
our own behalf to her whom " all
generations call the Blessed," let
us remember to implore, with a very
storm of prayer, that Mary's Dowry,
our island home, may be in no distant
day given back to her, and that
England may thus through her
become once more restored to its
rightful place as a great Catholic
nation.

" And now fixing our gaze
Unto that visage most resembling Christ,
For in her splendour only shall we win
The power to look on Him,"

let us raise our voices to her the
greatest of the great and the mighti
est of the mighty, the fairest of the
fair, the loftiest of the lofty, and the
holiest of the holy in God's creation,
beseeching her to incline her gracious
countenance, and to stretch forth
her sheltering arms, that in them
England may regain what Ireland
has never lost — faith and trust in
the united love of the Mother and
the Child Divine. May that most

42 Mary's Social Mission

fruitful blessing rest upon our
beloved King and Queen and their
royal house, and may it extend to
the farthest limit of our world-wide
Empire !

" Nos cum prole pia
Benedicat Virgo Maria."

THE WOMAN THAT WAS
A SINNER"

Carlo Dolci\

[A linari

THE MAGDALEN

" The Woman that was a
Sinner." Words spoken
at the Church of Notre
Dame de Bon Voyage,
Cannes. Lent 1898.

" And behold, a woman that was in
the city, a sinner." — ST LUKE vii. 37.

YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESSES, RIGHT
REV. FATHERS, AND DEAR BRETHREN,
—The woman whose name, out of
a delicacy of feeling, the Evangelist
has in my text suppressed, and who
is introduced to us in the character
of a sinner, I take to be the sister
of Martha and Lazarus, whose home
was at Bethany. In doing so I am
following a cherished tradition con
cerning her in the Catholic Church.
According to it, the woman here
described as "a sinner " is Mary
of Magdala, or Mary Magdalen,

45

46 The Woman that was a Sinner

who, after her conversion, became,
like the other members of her family,
very dear to Jesus Christ. Refer
ring to them, the Beloved Disciple
says : " Jesus loved Martha, and her
sister Mary, and Lazarus."

At the time when Mary " was in
the city, a sinner," Jesus Christ,
" the Friend of sinners," was there
also. He was staying at Nairn,
" preaching and evangelising the
Kingdom of God " ; showing forth
His miraculous powers, proving
Himself to be God in the flesh. In
its streets His voice was heard
proclaiming : " The blind see, the
lame walk, the lepers are made
clean, the deaf hear, the dead rise
again, to the poor the Gospel is
preached " ; " nigh to the gate of
the city" His power was felt, for,
meeting there a funeral procession,
He touched the bier, and forthwith
an only son was restored in health
to his widowed mother. Thus by
the magic of His presence, by the
power of His word, and by the might
of His deed, did the " Son of Man "

The Woman that was a Sinner 47

win a way into the hearts of the
poor people of Nairn, who, in their
enthusiasm on account of what they
heard and saw, lifted up their voices
as they ran through the narrow,
winding streets of their town,
shouting : " A great Prophet is risen
among us ; and God hath visited
His people."

While God was thus visiting His
people of Nairn, Mary Magdalen, it
would seem, happened to be staying
there. Tradition says that while
yet a mere girl she was enticed away
from her peaceful home at Bethany,
and married to one Pappus, who,
growing jealous of her, finally de
serted her, and that it was then,
when her life, lonely and blighted,
craved for sympathy, that she
became entangled with Pandera,
an officer of Magdala. What this
tradition is worth we have no means
of knowing with any certainty, but
this much we do know, that St John,
speaking of her at the time to which
I refer, calls her " a sinner," and the
word which he uses, coupled with the

48 The Woman that was a Sinner

tradition of her extreme beauty, and
of her profligacy, which has come
down tousfrom Talmudist and Chris
tian writers alike, as well as the whole
setting of the beautiful and touching
story of her conversion at the feet
of Our Saviour, seem to leave no
doubt as to the true character of
the sin which was washed out in
the house of Simon the Pharisee.
Nevertheless, as I have already
stated, St John, with a refinement
of feeling which we cannot too much
praise, omits the name of the sin
as he does the name of the sinner.

It was then, while Magdalen was
playing the part of a public sinner
in Nairn, while she was vainly seek
ing, like so many others before and
since her time, to satisfy the soul's
hunger with the Dead Sea fruit of
sin, that she came upon the path
of the sinner's true Friend. Perhaps
she was present at the city's gate
when He restored to the widow's
embrace her only son as they were
carrying him outside the walls for
burial ; or perhaps it was her good

The Woman that was a Sinner 49

fortune to have heard the Divine
panegyric pronounced not long
afterwards on the hair-clad Baptist.
Nay, it is not at all impossible that
she may have been on the outskirts
of the throng which pressed about
Him when, on another occasion,
He spoke the words which have ever
since been the comfort of every
sorrow-stricken soul, and even now
ring out clear, a harmony of heaven,
above the din and discord and
despair of the human life of to-day,:
" Come to Me all ye that labour
and are burdened, and I will refresh
you." However, whether it was a
look or a word, a smile or a miracle
of " the Son of Man " that first
stirred the heart of " the woman
that was a sinner," we cannot
positively say. We are not even told
by the inspired writer what motive
it was that in the first instance drew
Magdalen to seek and find our
Lord. Likely enough the rumour of
His gift of speech, of His command
of nature, and of His empire over
hearts had reached her ears as she

SQ The Woman that was a Sinner

walked, shameless, through the city,
and her curiosity had been aroused.
And so she may have been led to
follow the crowdjthat went after
Him, attracted perhaps by a desire,
not so much to hear what He had
to say, as to look upon His face.

Poor Magdalen ! When she had
drawn near enough to catch sight
of Him, when, for the first time, her
eyes fell full on that countenance,
so intensely human although so
ineffably Divine, she felt in her soul
a quickening never felt before. How
to account for it she knew not, it
was stronger than herself, she could
not pluck her eyes away — still she
gazed on in wonder, in awe ; she
held her breath to listen, and she
drank in, with a thirst never ex
perienced before, the flow of that
Divine eloquence, which seemed to
thrill her soul with a new life, re
vealing to her the awful contrast
between the sanctity of God and
the foulness of sin.

The marvellous utterance has
ceased, the crowd disperses, Magdalen

The Woman that was a Sinner 51

takes her way home from the Divine
Presence with slow and faltering
steps, as though oppressed by the
weight of some heavy burden. Sin,
which she had reckoned so little of
hitherto, which she had come to
look upon almost as a necessity
of life, sin, which she had so often
made merry over, or dressed out
in tine phrases, or used to season
a joke, sin grew before the eyes of
her soul into a Shape, monstrous,
horrible, detestable. The words of
the Messiah had stripped all its
disguises away, and she saw it as
God sees it — as it is. The weight
of guilt, of shame, seemed to threaten
to crush out her very life. Yet
again and again, even when she
seemed on the point of sinking
helpless, hopeless, beneath the
consciousness of her sins, a secret
voice seemed to whisper in her ear,
as though the refrain of some hymn :
" All ye who labour and are heavy
burdened come to Me, and I will
refresh you."

What was the burden of which

52 The Woman that was a Sinner

the Prophet spoke ? She remem
bered His pleading eyes and out
stretched arms : " Come to Me ! "
Did He then mean literally what
He had said ? Could it be that
One so sinless could desire the com
pany of the sinful, and invite the
wicked and transgressors to venture
into His saintly Presence, that they
might lay down, at His sacred feet,
their burden of filthy pleasures and
shameful sins ? Oil ! what would
she not give to be certain that in
that gracious invitation she herself
had been included. But it seemed
almost like presumption even to
hope so. And, even supposing her
own sad case had been specially
contemplated in that Divine appeal,
how could it help her, unless she
broke with the past ? How could
she ever break asunder those chains
of her own forging which bound
her hand and foot to evil ? Nay,
even if that Prophet were actually
to put forth His miraculous power
on her behalf, and release her from
these habits of sin, what guarantee

The Woman that was a Sinner 53

had she that, with the return of
temptations, she would not relapse
into them, so that her last state
would become even worse than the
first ? What remained for her to do,
whither could she turn in her misery?
She fell upon her knees, and buried
her face in her hands, and in agony
of spirit groaned aloud. She tried
to pray, and as she wrestled in
prayer she seemed to gain confidence,
till at length light came to her
mind, warmth to her heart, and
strength to her will. When
Magdalen rose from prayer she
stood resolved to go forth, and at
all risks to surrender herself un
conditionally to Him whose gracious
words kept ever sounding in her
ears : " Ye that are heavy burdened
come to Me."

Now, while " the sinner in the
city " was thus struggling between
her higher and lower nature, while
she was emerging from the fight of
faith with the signs of victory
already gleaming on her brow, it
chanced that one Simon, a Pharisee,

54 The Woman that was a Sinner

sent an invitation to our Lord ask
ing Him " to eat with him." The
rumour of the invitation soon spread
abroad, and became the occasion
of no little comment among the
various sections of the community
at Nairn. Was not Simon, it was
asked, setting at defiance all the
unwritten laws which regulated
Pharisaical society ? It was an
open secret that not only were the
Pharisees as a party embittered
against Jesus Christ, but that He
too had been at no pains to conceal
His strong disapproval of their
whole policy and spirit. If it was
strange that the invitation had been
given, it seemed stranger still that
it had not been declined.

But we may venture to conjecture
with no want of charity that the
motives urging Simon to ask our
Lord to sup with Him were not
altogether of a disinterested char
acter. No doubt he honestly de
sired to meet that Jesus of Nazareth
whose name was on everyone's lips,
and he was glad to entertain a

The Woman that was a Sinner 55

Preacher who was said to work
miracles in confirmation of His
words. Further, the Pharisee would
consult his own best interests by
placing so popular a Prophet under
an obligation to him, and it might
even be the means of checking oppor
tunely any possible public utterance
unfavourable to the party which
he represented. Perhaps this hos
pitality would win for him what
he had so long sought for in vain,
the reputation of being a man of
large and generous views, with a
soul above mere party spirit. On
the other hand, when we ask our
selves why did Our Lord accept
the hospitality of a man who, as
He knew only too well, was half
ashamed of entertaining Him, and
who, to avert criticism, would
studiously omit to offer Him the
ordinary courtesies which prevail
in the East when a guest is
received by his host, we have the
answer in the very character of the
Divine Guest Himself. The " Friend
of sinners " was ready and willing

5 6 The Woman that was a Sinner

to endure all these slights and insults,
which He foresaw. He even yearned
for the approach of this hour of His
humiliation, because He knew that
at this banquet He would meet " the
woman that was a sinner." For
her sake, in order to give her in
exchange for the " burden of sin ':
" the yoke of peace," Jesus accepted
the invitation to eat with the
Pharisee. Though our Lord's fine
nature felt a slight like a wound,
yet He did not pause to reckon up
the cost when there was question
of winning the soul of a sinner.
Had he not come to save sinners ?
Magdalen was one, that was enough.
Accordingly Jesus Christ looked
forward with longing to that moment
when, at His feet, Magdalen should
find salvation and He could send
her thence with the blessed word :
" Go in peace."

Of course, the little town of Nairn
was astir on the evening of Simon's
banquet given in honour of Jesus
the Prophet. I have already spoken
of the difference of opinion between

The Woman that was a Sinner 57

the busybodies of the neighbour
hood as to the propriety or wisdom
of their fellow-townsman's conduct,
and they awaited, with no little
impatience the hour when the
meeting between the host and his
Guest should take place.

The sun was already setting when
most of the invited guests had
passed up to the great house, and
little groups of citizens began to
move stealthily in the same direction.
They knew very well that the law
of hospitality which obtained in the
East was so universally respected
that the Pharisee would not dare
to act in the teeth of it, and forbid
their crossing his threshold, moving
freely under the verandah, looking
into the dining-room, or even pene
trating into the house itself, where
they could witness, as freely as those
included in the dinner party, all
that went to make up the evening's
entertainment.

That very evening Mary Magdalen
was abroad. Under the cover of
twilight she had stolen forth from

58 The Woman that was a Sinner

the struggle of prayer in the hope
of meeting Him who had made so
deep an impression on her soul.
And yet, as the story of her past
life rose in terrible distinctness
before her mind, and as in her
loneliness she thought what that
life might have been had she only
followed the advice of Martha and
her brother Lazarus, nay, what
actually it would have been had she
only listened in patience to her own
better self, she almost began to hope
she would not encounter Him.
After all what would He, what could
He think of one, whose path in life
had been strewn with broken vows
and with glorious gifts abused ?
Others might hope for pardon, they
had not sinned so deeply, but what
place of repentance could be found
for her ? Buried in these bitter
thoughts, she chances to hear one
of the passers-by cry out to a friend
that Jesus Christ is already at supper
in the house of Simon the Pharisee.
A Pharisee, she knew, had no human
pity for a frailty so notorious as

The Woman that was a Sinner 59

hers had been through all the borders
of Magdala. Nay, more, she had
no doubt that to venture into his
house would be to expose herself
to public criticism, and perhaps to
insult, even if some pretext were not
found for putting her forth, and
closing the door in her face. Was
it then prudent on her part, was it
a matter of duty, to court such
treatment ? Had she sufficient
courage to support the gaze of the
many scornful eyes which would be
bent upon her if " the sinner in the
city " intruded into so august a
company ? She did not stay to
argue with these agonising objec
tions which crossed and recrossed
her mind. This was her first, it
might be her last, opportunity of
forgiveness ; at any hazard she
would seize it. By one supreme
effort, at one bound, so to say, she
over-passed all the obstacles in her
path, and with a heroism good for
us to remember, she resolved to
venture all.

" Come to Me." " Come to Me

60 The Woman that was a Sinner

all ye that labour and are heavy
burdened " —the words kept chiming
in her ears. She would go to Him
through fire, if need be, through
shame worse than death, if only in
the end she could be near to Him.
Gathering up the folds of her dress
she conceals in it an alabaster box
of precious ointment, which shall
be spent upon Him whose gracious
sweetness has already drawn after
Him her sin-burdened soul.

The board is spread with rare
viands and costly wines, with frag
rant flowers and luscious fruit, when
Simon, conducting his guests to
the supper-room, bids them take
their appointed places, and recline
on the couches set around the tables.
Presently swarthy slaves pass noise
lessly to and fro in attendance on the
guests with movements as graceful
and measured as if they were pacing
to the music of the half-concealed
orchestra, while the townsfolk
and the unbidden onlookers, now
that the banquet has begun, dis
tribute themselves where best they

The Woman that was a Sinner 61

may in order to gratify their curiosity
to the full.

The feeling of constraint which
marked the opening of the feast
relaxes a little as the entertainment
proceeds. The guests speak to
gether more freely ; there is merri
ment, and not ill-bred laughter ;
the host is congratulating himself
on the complete success of his
scheme ; when lo ! without warning,
suddenly there is a pause in the
conversation — a felt silence, abrupt
as though an earthquake shock
had been experienced ; every sound
of laughter is checked, even the
most giddy have become suddenly
serious. The draped form of a
well-known figure is seen to fling
its darkness across the gaily-lighted
supper-room. The guests look up,
exchange glances with one another,
scarcely trusting their own eyes.
" Surely," they thought, " it cannot
be. It must be someone resembling
her. It is not possible that a sinner
so well known as Magdalen should
dare thus to transgress all laws

62 The Woman that was a Sinner

of decency, and to show herself in
so distinguished an assemblage on
such an occasion." And yet it
was impossible to mistake that well-
poised figure, even the outlines of
that beautiful form, the graceful
mien, the shapely head with its
wealth of beautiful hair. The young
men sit up on their couches, and
whisper to one another : "It is, it
is she — it is Magdalen herself ! "
Meanwhile the woman who, to the
intense indignation of Simon, has
caused this strange commotion at
his supper-table, has glided almost
like one wralking in her sleep across
the length of the room. Preoccu
pied seemingly by some over
powering thought, the sinner ex
changes glances with^no one, but
is borne onward past^them all till
she reaches the couch from which
the feet of the Divine Guest are
turned towards her. There, trem
bling with emotion, she pauses, her
eyes riveted on the sacred feet so
often wearied in the pursuit of
sinners. As she gazes, big hot

The Woman that was a Sinner 63

tears, like the first drops of a summer
storm, begin to fall upon those
unsandalled harbingers of peace.
Broken with grief the Magdalen
sinks to her knees, and as she does
so her unloosed hair, like a silken
veil, falls over her, concealing from
the rude gaze of Simon's guests her
sorrow and her shame.

Then at last, from the full fountain
of her heart, gushes over her
Saviour's holy feet the unchecked
stream of sorrow — burning, contrite
tears, which with her long, flowing
hair she strives to wipe away,
vainly, again and again. And still,
as she washes those feet with her
tears and wipes them with her hair,
she almost fancies that she can read
written upon them the awful story
of her past life — its rebellion, its
treachery, its treason against the
majesty of her only true Friend, her
Saviour, her God. Ah ! what an
agony it is to her ! How can she
undo what has been already done ;
how shall she blot out these sin
stains upon the feet of Him, the

64 The Woman that was a Sinner

Sinless One ? What would she not
give to wipe out from her own soul
that history, the thought of which
pierces her through and through
with the keenest pangs of remorse ?
Drawing from her bosom the ala
baster box of precious ointment
she empties its sweet-scented con
tents over those beautiful feet, which
have been a magnet to her soul,
attracting her so gently ; while from
her heart she utters a prayer that
this sweet nard, pressed out of God's
sinless creation, may in mystic
symbol sweeten her life's bitter past
and blot out all its stains. Ah !
that she had never offended Him
from whose Presence she now feels
a virtue going forth, transforming
her, steeping her soul in a calm she
has never known before. Is it
the echo of the songs of angels re
joicing over her penitence that she
seems to hear as she next ventures
with trembling hands to lay hold
of His feet, and with cleansed lips
adores and kisses them again and
again, with love chastened by

The Woman that was a Sinner 65

sorrow ? By what name to call
this new life which thrilled her
through and through Magdalen
knew not ; all she knew was this,
that her bold act of faith was now
more than rewarded, her hope more
than realised, and her love more
than satisfied at the feet of Him
who had said : " Come to me ye
who are heavy burdened, and I will
refresh you." She had come ; she
had been refreshed.

Meanwhile no word had been
spoken. Magdalen's heart was too
full of emotion to utter a word ;
our Lord's heart was too full of
compassion to speak ; while Simon's
heart was too full of what he con
sidered righteous indignation to
allow him to break silence. He
looked upon this woman's intrusion
as an intolerable insult offered him
in his own home. That a woman
who was a notorious sinner should
dare to defile by her impure presence
him and his company, that she
should brush past him to stand un
bidden at the feet of his chief Guest,

66 The Woman that was a Sinner

was a crime which he did not know
how to punish, simply because it
was so outrageous, so inconceivable.
Could it be, he asked himself, that
he was mistaken in this Nazarene
Prophet ? Surely, if He were a
Prophet, He would know what
kind of woman this Magdalen was.
And did He know, why then, of
course, He would shrink from the
defilement of her touch as from a
serpent. He would spurn her from
His feet, and, in spite of that storm
of tears and those agonies of con
trition, He would turn away from
her as from some unclean thing.
" Why does He not make me a sign,"
thought Simon, " and give me a
pretext for ejecting her from the
supper-room, and relieving us all
from the scandal of her presence ? "
While Simon is thus arguing within
himself, and while his guests are
still hushed in surprise and expecta
tion, Jesus Christ, reading the
thoughts that were uppermost in the
mind of His host, yet not wishing
to embarrass one who from motives

The Woman that was a Sinner 67

however selfish had shown Him a
kindness, conveys His answer and
His rebuke in the form of a parable.
" Simon," said our Lord gently,
" I have somewhat to say to thee."
" Master, say on," was the curt
reply. " A certain creditor had
two debtors, the one owed five
hundred pence, the other fifty, and
whereas they had not wherewith
to pay, he forgave them both.
Which therefore of the two loveth
him most ? " Simon, still as slow
to catch our Lord's true meaning
as David was slow to understand
the parable of Nathan, answered
carelessly, with the assumed indiffer
ence and languid manner of a man
who thinks it fine not to appear to
be interested too easily ; "I suppose
that he to whom he forgave most."
' Thou hast judged rightly," said
Our Lord, and then followed the
application of the parable, the point
of which, we may be quite sure,
the self-condemned Magdalen was
quicker to see than the self-righteous
Pharisee.

68 The Woman that was a Sinner

But what must have been the
emotion of her soul when Our Lord,
who hitherto had given no sign of His
recognition of her presence, now
turned His Sacred Face towards
her, and with outstretched finger,
calling attention to her as she knelt,
hiding her face behind her flowing
hair that covered His feet, thus
addressed the Pharisee : " Simon,
dost thou see this woman ? I
entered into thy house, and thou
gavest Me no water for My feet, but
she with tears hath washed My
feet, and with her hair hath wiped
them. Thou gavest Me no kiss,
but she, since she came in, hath not
ceased to kiss My feet. My head
with oil thou didst not anoint, but
she with ointment hath anointed
My feet. Wherefore I say to thee,
many sins are forgiven her because
she hath loved much. But to whom
less is forgiven he loveth less."
Simon in his confusion could not
utter a word.

Our Lord turned to Magdalen,
whom He refrained from calling

The Woman that was a Sinner 69

by her name, which had passed into
a byword throughout the city,
and said : " Thy sins are forgiven
thee." Whereupon the guests at
the table began to say within them
selves : " Who is this that forgiveth
sins also ? " Jesus said to the
woman : " Thy faith hath made
thee safe, go in peace." Yes ; it is
faith, the supernatural gift of God,
in which every conversion begins,
as it is charity, that other gift of
God, which perfects it, producing
in the soul of the penitent that peace
of God which is the earnest, as it is
the foretaste, of the bliss of heaven.
"Go in peace ! " Magdalen rose to
her feet, crossed the supper-room,
and, passing from that house of
wonders into the darkness of night,
was soon lost to sight.

Let us pause for a moment to
dwell on the change that had been
wrought in the soul of " a woman
in the city, that was a sinner," while
she knelt at the feet of Jesus Christ,
in the house of Simon the Pharisee.
She entered it overwhelmed with

70 The Woman that was a Sinner

confusion and sorrow, she leaves it
made whole, in peace and joy. For
the first time since her first fall
Magdalen begins to feel that her
whole being has been set in order,
attuned, even as one of the harps
of heaven, to the blessed concords
of grace. " Go in peace ! " The
words are, as it were, sacramental,
creative, producing that which they
signify, giving the peace which they
describe. They are a peal of joy
bells, making ceaseless melody in
the temple of her soul, wherein not
seven devils, as of old, but the Holy
Spirit of God now dwells. That
night, we may be sure, Mary of
Magdala spent in the seclusion of
prayer, praising and thanking her
Benefactor, who by His preventing
grace had drawn her out of the
darkness of sin into the admirable
light of His love.

Here, my brethren, it may not
be out of place to ask ourselves this
question : What was it that con
verted Magdalen from evil to good,
what was the process which changed

The Woman that was a Sinner 71

her from being one of the greatest
sinners in the city of Nairn to
become one of the greatest of saints
in the Church of God ? Clearly
the change was not due to any
formal set of words publicly acknow
ledging her state of sin, and as
publicly renouncing it, for, from her
first entrance into Simon's house
till leaving it, no word of any kind
seems to have escaped her lips.
" From the heart come forth evil
thoughts," and " the things which
defile a man," Jesus Christ has
said, and in the heart is the victory
over sin to be won. Yes, it was there,
deep down in Magdalen's heart, far
away from the eyes of all but One in
the supper-room, that was wrought
this wonderful, this beautiful con
version, which throughout the
Christian world has made the name
of Magdalen the synonym for a true
penitent, who presented to God that
contrite and humble heart which
holy David tells us He will not
despise.

Who can read the story of

72 The Woman that was a Sinner

Magdalen's conversion, as it is told
by St Luke, without feeling his own
heart thrilled with strong emotion,
and his eyes filling with tears for
his own past follies ; who can study
the action of grace, as one sees
its wondrous workings made almost
visible in Magdalen's soul, without
praying for a larger share of it in
his own ; and who can follow the
stages of her conversion, and watch
in her soul the strife between grace
and nature, without gaining fresh
strength himself to vanquish self
in his own conflict, so incomparably
less severe ; and finally, who can
note Mary's bravery and generosity,
her humility, and her contempt of
the opinion of men, which have won
for her, a fallen woman, the praise as
well as the forgiveness of the Son of
God, without being conscious that
Magdalen's conversion has given
him courage and true help to begin
his own ?

Yes, my brethren, I venture to
think that the penitence of Magdalen
has brought to the feet of the

The Woman that was a Sinner 73

Saviour a larger harvest of souls
than even the innocence of John.
Truly God is wonderful in His
saints, but is He not most wonderful
in the sinners whom from sinners
He changes into saints ?

And if, after watching the example
set us by Magdalen, we begin to feel
within our own souls the pangs of
remorse, or the call to nobler things,
surely we cannot pass from the
scene in which the sinner's Friend
shows forth so much sweetness and
compassion without making up our
minds, like Magdalen, once and for
all, to convert these stirrings of
grace into tears of compunction
for the past, and into purposes of
amendment for the future. What
Magdalen did, we can do ; and what
Jesus did for her, he will do for us.
Only bring to Him a contrite and
humble heart — that is to say, a
heart broken with sorrow and
crushed with shame — and with the
unction of His sweetness He will
make it whole, and with the virtue
of His goodness fill it with a

74 The Woman that was a Sinner

peace that surpasseth all under
standing.

How ingenious are the devices of
the Redeemer's love ! Remember
ever how wonderfully He smoothed
the way for the Magdalen's return
to Him ; first of all drawing her by
the cords of Adam, and then by
those of grace, till finally He held
her, a willing captive, bound to His
feet, nay, rather bound to His heart
for ever by the golden links of love.
Mark, too, though at first He said
nothing, how observant all the
while He was of her conduct, noting
each graceful act of humble, confid
ing, and lovingkindness offered
there at His feet, and contrasting
each of these traits of courtesy with
the several slights He met with at
the hands of His ungracious host.
And once more forget not, for your
own instruction, the lesson which
this parable teaches to the end of
time : that this same Lord, who
gently rebuked Simon and delicately
praised the Magdalen, although as
God He stands not in need of our

The Woman that was a Sinner 75

goods, still, as Man, feels the sting
of a slight, yet never forgets a
kindness.

In Him you will find a Friend,
everlastingly chivalrous, unfailingly
generous. When the Magdalen
gave up the friendship of this world,
which ever promises, ever dis
appoints, for the friendship of Him
whose gifts are ever in excess of
our deserts, she found in Our Lord
One ready not only to make what
in her soul was red as scarlet here
after as white as snow, and to remove
her sins from her as far as the East
is from the West, but in Him she
found also the rare Friend with
whom to forgive means likewise
to forget. Never afterwards re
ferring to her past, or even hinting
at it ever so indirectly, our Lord
seems to have made use of every
opportunity to assure her that she
was now to Him not less dear,
certainly,- than another who, in
the course of a flawless life, might
have served Him with greater sted-
fastness of loyalty but with less

76 The Woman that was a Sinner

ardour of love. To take a single
instance in illustration of my mean
ing. Who can ever forget the
picture representing that pathetic
scene in the Garden between the
Risen Saviour and the repentant
sinner, when to convince her, as it
would seem, that the startling events
of the past days had in no way
changed the feelings of His Heart
towards her — that He was "the same
yesterday, to-day, and for ever "
—He appeared in the guise of a
gardener before her. Almost beside
herself in her despair of ever again
seeing on earth her Crucified Re
deemer, Magdalen had been seen
hurrying to and fro with flying feet,
she knew not where, in agonised
eagerness to catch the faintest
tidings about Him, when suddenly
Jesus presents Himself before her.
She, whose heart is where she be
lieves her Lord to be, far away from
the garden- tomb, fails at first to
recognise Him, until in the music
of His own familiar voice He, on
the only occasion recorded in Scrip-

The Woman that was a Sinner 77

ture, calls her by her name —
" Mary ! "

Oh ! the winning ways of His
kindness ; oh ! how unwearied is
His love. Alas ! that we are sinners ;
. if we have hearts at all, let us lay
them down, like Magdalen, at His
feet. Since we now know Him to
be what He is, what rival henceforth
shall compete with Him for our love?
Where shall we ever find a Friend
like Him ? Ask Magdalen, and she
will tell you that in Him she dis
covered not only a Friend who
never upbraided her for the past,
but a Friend who was ever ready
to take her part, to make excuses
for her, and to sound her praises, not
once only, but whenever the occasion
arose — in the house of Simon the
Pharisee, in the house of Martha
her sister, in the house of Simon the
Leper, and who on one occasion
went so far in her praise as to de
clare that, wheresoever His Gospel
should be preached, her acts of lov-
ingkindness to Him should be told
for a memorial of her. Nor was His

7 8 The Woman that was a Sinner

friendship for Magdalen misplaced,
for whatever may have been the
true history of her unhappy life
before she washed its stains away
in her tears upon His feet, when she
had once found there her real
treasure there ever after was found
her heart also. At his feet in the
house of Simon of Nairn, at His
feet in the house of Martha of
Bethany, at His feet in the house
of Simon the Leper, at His feet on
Calvary, at His feet in the garden,
Mary Magdalen has become, in her
ever-abiding sorrow for sin, where-
ever the Gospel message of peace
is carried, the model of all true
Penitents. At His feet on earth,
what place will she hold in Heaven ?
Fancy, my brethren, that the
blessed hour has arrived when we,
by God's most dear mercy, shall
wing our flight to the land beyond
the stars, when we have crossed the
golden threshold, and are standing
within the precincts of the presence-
chamber of God. We raise our eyes
above the troops of Virgins, singing

The Woman that was a Sinner 79

the song which they alone may sing,
above the glorious companies of
Confessors, above the armies of
Martyrs, who have dyed their
garments white in the Blood of the
Lamb, above the twelve Apostles,
who for the Master laid down their
lives — higher, higher still, even to
the steps of the Great White Throne
itself, and there we see Magdalen
again, clasping in adoration those
Sacred Feet at which she first threw
herself in abasement in the supper-
room of Simon the Pharisee.

But oh ! how changed in appear
ance from her former self : now no
longer bathed in a flood of tears,
for behold ! every tear is wiped
away from her eyes ; now no more
lamenting over a bitter past, for lo !
" the former things are passed
away." Yes, she has passed from
time into eternity — Magdalen has
exchanged a world of shadows,
hypocrisy, and death for a land of
truth and light and love. Look
up once more, dear brethren, and
let us try to realise that she whom

So The Woman that was a Sinner

we see so radiant, so exalted, is,
nevertheless, the self-same Magdalen
who was once introduced to us as
" a woman that was in the city, a
sinner," and whom afterwards wre
knew as the penitent in the house
of the scornful Pharisee. Yes, it is
the same Magdalen, only the light
of glory has completed in her beauti
ful soul what grace had begun, and
her whole being is flooded with bliss
unspeakable, breaking forth into
transports of joy and praise. Can
we not fancy that we can distinguish,
even in the full concert of the
melodies of heaven, one voice unlike
all others, not loud but entrancingly
sweet, the voice of the repentant
sinner, of Magdalen, singing for ever
more : "I have found Him whom
my soul loveth ; I hold Him, and I
will not let Him go " ?

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