Oh, what a world-wide difference between this sublime
canticle and the light and frivolous conversations in which so many
women indulge; if you were to look for the reverse of this heavenly
visit you would invariably find it among the visits paid by worldly
women.
Mary carries with her the Son of God, the Author of grace, the
Principle of eternal life, the Source of chaste desires and holy
hopes. The worldly woman carries with her in her visits the spirit of
the world, the spirit of deception, egotism and folly, which is in
every way opposed to the spirit of Christianity. Mary sings the
praises of humility and proclaims it the virtue beloved of God,--the
virtue which secures His love and assistance; she extols the
happiness of those who thirst for justice and truth, deploring at the
same time the spiritual poverty and indigence of those who are puffed
up with self-conceit. The worldly woman, on the contrary, seeks in
her conversations to flatter her vanity and pride by parading the
empty resources of her imagination and misguided intelligence. She
envies the happiness of those who, rich in beauty and all those
qualities that charm, draw many admirers around them.
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