Choose a topic from Part 3a:
1. The Mother of Christ was a virgin inconceiving our Lord; Christ has no human father. It is notfitting that Christ should have a father other than the EternalFather. And St. Augustine says (De Sanct. Virg.): "Itis fitting that our Head, by a great miracle, should be born, inthe flesh, of a virgin, to signify that his members should be born,in the Spirit, of a virgin Church."
2. The Mother of Christ was a virgin in givingbirth to her Divine Son. She fulfills the prophecy (Isa.7:14): "Behold a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear ason." And St. Augustine, in a Christmas sermon, declares howsuitable is the Virgin Birth of Christ: "He who came to curecorruption should not, by his birth, violate integrity."Christ was born of Mary, by divine power, so that her body was notbroken or violated. Nor did Mary endure birth-pangs, or need thehelp of kindly neighbor-women for the delivering of her Child.Painlessly, and without change in Mary's virgin body, her Sonemerged from the tabernacle of her spotless womb, as he was laterto emerge from the tomb, without moving the stone or breaking theseal of Pilate.
3. The Mother of God was a virgin after the birthof Christ. Mary had no children other than our Lord. For: (a) Theonly begotten of the Father has such dignity as God, that he mustnecessarily, as man, be the only-begotten of his mother. (b) Thevirginal womb of Mary is the shrine of the Holy Ghost, and shouldnot be desecrated by a merely human conception. (c) It isunthinkable that Mary, after the divinely wrought conception ofChrist in her womb, should choose to forfeit the sacred virginitymiraculously preserved in her during the conception and birth ofour Lord. (d) St. Joseph would never have presumed to approachcarnally one whom he knew, by the angel's word, to haveconceived of the Holy Ghost. Hence, we must say that Mary, before,during, and after the birth of Christ, was a virgin.
4. Mary had a vow of virginity. Her words to the angel ofthe Annunciation, "I know not man" (Luke 1:34), indicateas much. Besides, works of perfection are more excellent whenconsecrated by a vow, and Mary's virginity had surely thegreatest excellence it could have. Mary took a husband, as customrequired, yet took with him a vow of virginity.
"The name of Jesus, pronounced with reverence and affection, has a kind of power to soften the heart. "
St Philip Neri
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"Shun too great a desire for knowledge, for in it there is much fretting and delusion. Intellectuals like to appear learned and to be called wise. Yet there are many things the knowledge of which does little or no good to the soul, and he who concerns himself about other things than those which lead to salvation is very unwise.
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Thomas á Kempis
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"There is nothing which gives greater security to our actions, or more effectually cuts the snares the devil lays for us, than to follow another person’s will, rather than our own, in doing good."
St Philip Neri
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