Marie du jour, 6 May: St. Edith Stein
Divine virginity has a characteristic aversion to sin as the contrary of divine holiness. However, this aversion to sin gives rise to an indomitable love for sinners.
Christ has come to tear sinners away from sin and to restore the divine image in defiled souls. He comes as the child of sin—his genealogy and the entire history of the Old Covenant show this—and he seeks the company of sinners so as to take all the sins of the world upon himself and carry them away to the infamous wood of the cross, which thereby precisely becomes the sign of his victory.
This is precisely why virginal souls do not repulse sinners. The strength of their supernatural purity knows no fear of being sullied. The love of Christ impels them to descend into the darkest night.
And no earthly maternal joy resembles the bliss of a soul permitted to enkindle the light of grace in the night of sins. The way to this is the cross. Beneath the cross, the Virgin of virgins becomes the Mother of Grace.
Saint Edith Stein
Exaltation of the Cross, 14 September 1941
Stein, E. 2014, The Hidden Life: hagiographic essays, meditations, spiritual texts, translated from the German by Stein, W, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Featured image: The Crucifixion with Saints and a Donor (detail), Joos van Cleve and a collaborator, oil on wood, ca. 1520. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How does Mary’s strength beneath the cross shape my view of purity, suffering, and love?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.
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