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NIHIL OBSTAT:
Fr. M. Albericus Wulf, O.C.S.O.
Fr. M. Maurice Malloy, O.C.S.O.

Censores Deputati
die 2a Aprilis, 1941

IMPRIMI POTEST:
+ Fredericus M. Dunne, O.C.S.O.
Abbas Monasterii B. M. de Gethsemani

die 6a Aprilis, 1941

NIHIL OBSTAT:
Rev. Joannes B. Furay, S.J.

Censor Librorum

IMPRIMATUR:
Samuel A. Stritch, D.D.

Archiepiscopus Chicagiensis
die 27^ mensis Junii, 1941

Fifth printing, 1944

Total printed 90,000

COPYRIGHT 1941
by the

ABBEY OF GETHSEMANI, Inc.

DgacfdHIed



IN

LOVING MEMORY

OF

MY SISTER

SISTER LEO STANISLAUS

WHO

DOUBLED FOR MARY

THEN

LIKE A MYSTICAL ROSE

DIED

LETTING FALL PERFUMED PETALS

OF

FRAGRANT MEMORIES

AND

THE SEED FOR FUTURE FLOWERS

THIS IS ONE



FOREWORD

I know that the proper title differs for
many of you, but I am going to rely on the
kindness so characteristic of all of you and

address “Mothers,” “Madames,” and “Sisters”

under the one title of “Sister.” I know you
won’t mind.

I am saying:

“Sister, you have only six lines to learn

and six lines to live.

Learn them and live them and you

have shown the world its Saviour.
You have doubled perfectly for the
Mother of God!”

Now, let me explain. . . .

Feast of the Annunciation
March the Twenty-fifth
Nineteen Hundrel and Forty-one



YOUR ROLE

IN

THE GREAT DRAMA

OF

THE REDEEMING



6 Doubling for the Mother of God

WILL YOU THINK ALONG WITH ME?

In this our day and age, Sister, there has

burst upon us, with all the force of a new
revelation, the centuries-old doctrine of the

Mystical Body of Christ. As always, God, in
His goodness, gives us the grace, the par-

ticular grace, that is suited to the particular

need of the hour.

We needed this almost new revelation!
We needed to know that God is near and
that we are of infinite worth. Why? — Be-
cause modern writers and thinkers had made
us little more than animals whose destiny

is the ever-nearing grave. Literature is

nothing but a lamentation when not a howl
of despair. From platform, the professor’s
chair and the ever reeling press we hear
that life is hardly worth living. But then it

comes! From out the past, from out the
nineteen hundred years that have passed,

comes the voice of Paul, the voice of John

and the voice of Jesus Christ. And we learn
to lift up our heads, to lift up our eyes and

to lift up our hearts. For these three voices

tell us that we are men, yes, but men with a
destiny divine! These three tell us that we
are branches of the Vine, members of His
Body, parts of the Mystical Christ.

That changes the whole universe for us,

Sister. Life and living take on a fuller, more

sacred, meaning. The men of all lands come
closer to us. They are members, actual or
potential, of our members, and Christ is our

Head! This is a dogma that not only dignifies,
but actually divinizes! And now the good God
goes on and on, through His gifted writers

ever clarifying this ennobling doctrine and

showing us its various applications,



Doubling for the Mother of God 7

Recently I received “Mary in Our Soul-
Life,

n
a charming little book by the glitter-

ing Raoul Plus, S.J. In it he treats a phase
of the Mystical Body that has always in-
trigued me. — I might as well confess here,
Sister, that the dogma of the Mystical Body
has absorbed me. I am an enthusiast for it.
It has so gripped me that, with Emile Mersch,
S.J., the author of “The Whole Christ” and
of “Morality and the Mystical Body,” I am
quite convinced that when this doctrine has
become known and loved and lived, the
world is saved! I have read everything that
I could lay my hands on treating of the dog-
ma, but I had to wait until Raoul Plus wrote
before I found a treatise on the Mother of the
Mystical Body — Mary Immaculate. And
how beautifully he does it! He admits the
difficulty of Mary, who is a member of that
Body, being also Its mother. He alludes to
the well-known anatomical function assigned
Mary by the early Fathers of the Church —
that of the Mystical Neck. But then he does
what I always wanted to do, or have some-
one else do, he proves from Scripture, Tradi-
tion and Reason that Mary is truly the Moth-
er of the Mystical Body of Christ.

I cannot begin to tell you how thrilled I
was; for it confirmed me in a view that I
had taken long ago, and it now gives me
solid grounds for telling you of a concept
which I think will help you greatly. I can
now talk of “Doubles” for the Mother of God.

Sister, for centuries you have been called
“The Spouse of Christ.” It is a delightful
concept. Spiritual writers take texts from
the Old and the New Testament, texts which
primarily deal with the Church or the in-
dividual soul, and apply them by accommoda-
tion to you. It is legitimate. It can be in-



8 Doubling for the Mother of God

spiring; for it helps immensely when we
can concretize and capture the whole spirit-
ual life in a concept, sublimate, as it were,
our entire existence in a symbol. Sister, I
think I have found a new concept for you, a
new concretion, a fascinating sublimation and
symbolization. It grew out of my pondering
on the various applications of the doctrine of
the Mystical Body. It is this: To me, Sister,
your whole life is summed up in the phrase
“DOUBLING FOR THE MOTHER OF GOD.”
Do you like the concept? Do you catch all
that is contained in the symbol? Do you thrill
to the thought of being a “double” for the
Mother of God? You know what a “double”
is, Sister, and what a “double” does — she
reproduces the Original perfectly!

At first I thought the idea a bit of fetching
fancy, but I kept on pushing it and pushing
it, and, Sister, I came to see that it was not
only legitimate but absolutely solid, safe and
substantial. So I give it to you for what it is
worth. Now understand me clearly, Sister,
this is NOT a new revelation! You do not
have to accept it. But if you will think along
with me and see how apt the concept is and
how perfectly applicable to your life, I feel
sure that you will have found something that
not only helps you to understand much that
has puzzled you in the years that are gone,
but something that will shed light even on
the days that are to come.

You see, Sister, when St. Paul says that he
“fills up in his flesh those things that are
wanting of the sufferings of Christ,” he tells
us that, though the Drama of the Redemption
is ended, the Great Drama of the Redeeming
still goes on. Christ satisfied for us once,
and did it superabundantly. But that satis-
faction must be applied! The Physical Jesus



Doubling for the Mother of God 9

redeemed mankind twenty long centuries ago
by the awful sufferings of His Passion and
Death. And because of what St. Paul says, I
like to think of the Mystical Jesus as redeem-
ing mankind this moment by filling up in
His Body “those things that are wanting.” In
other words, Sister, I conceive life as nothing
other than The Great Drama of the Redeem-
ing, a drama that is now going on and in
which every baptized person has his or her
particular role. Yours, I take to be that of
doubling for Mary Immaculate.
“Why?” you may ask.
Because, Sister, of the many motherly

things you do to the members of the Mystical
Christ. I know something of what Mary did
to and for the Physical Jesus. I know more
of what you do to and for the members of the
Mystical Jesus. Hence, I find a parallel that
is just about perfect, and I think you will,
too, if you will but think along with me.

WILL YOU ADMIT THIS ANALOGY?
You remember the birth of the Physical

Christ, don’t you, Sister? There was much
cruelty, heart-wrench and piercing anguish
connected with it. But Mary was there, and
that changed much! Have you ever thought
of the birth of many who are destined to be
Christ’s mystical members? There are mod-
ern Bethlehems, Sister, of closed doors and
crowded inns. There is a whole world of hu-
man cruelty, heart-wrench and piercing an-
guish connected with them. Ah, but there
are also modern hillside caves and there are
modern Marys who croon over the new-born
members of Christ. We find them wearing
religious garb, living in infant asylums, or-
phan asylums and foundling homes. Obvious-
ly, they are doubling for the Mother of God.



10 Doubling for the Mother of God

You see that, don’t you, Sister? And you see
what a difference their presence makes to
the new-born babes!

You remember Nazareth and the Boy Christ,
don’t you, Sister? You remember how Mary
took the golden-haired Son of God and
taught Him how to walk, to read, to write,
to sing and to pray. There are little boy and
little girl members of the Mystical Christ,
and from Seattle to Key West, from San
Francisco and San Diego to Boston and New
York they are being taught how to walk, to
read, to write, to sing and to pray by wom-
en whom the world calls “Nuns” but whom I
call “Doubles for the Mother of God.” You
will admit that parallel, won’t you, Sister?

And then the Man of Sorrows — How many
of His msytical members merit that same
name! Countless indeed are the men and
women of deep, deep sorrows. Ah, but they
are seldom alone. We find a double for Mary
bending over them in hospital room and
ward, soothing agonizing bodies and com-
forting tortured souls. How like the work of
the Mother of God is the work of the nursing
nuns!

And, Sister, when the mystical members
die, many of them, like their Head, look down
upon those whom they have called “Mother.”
Little Sisters of the Poor, Sisters of Mercy and
of Providence, and others stand by the agon-
izing members of the Mystical Christ and
stand by until the end!

And how like Mary are the contempla-
tives, those silent souls behind cloister walls
and heavy grills! You remember how the
Mother of God watched and wept over and
lovingly adored the Broken Host of Calvary’s
first Mass, don’t you, Sister? Then you must



Doubling: for the Mother of God 11

see how aptly the Poor Clares, the Carmelites,
the Dominicans of Perpetual Adoration, the
Trappistines, and all others of like nature
are called “Doubles for Mary Immaculate.'’
They do what she did. They weep over and
lovingly adore the outraged God of the tab-
ernacle.

And you haven’t forgotten how Mary com-
forted and consoled those in the Uper Room,
have you, Sister? The apostles and disciples
wanted to hear many things about their
Christ, things that Mary knew intimately,
things that Mary told ardently. That scene is
reproduced today. There are Sisters of the
Cenacle who tell members of the Mystical
Body things about their Head and tell them
with ardor and love.

You see how naturally the analogy works
itself out, but naturally you will wonder as
I did; you will wonder if this concept of
doubling for the Mother of God is not pure
fancy, or at best a mere surface analogy.
The parallel between the Physical Christ and
His Mother and the work of the Nuns with
the various members of the Mystical Body
is clear and quite striking. But does it end
there? You won’t think so, Sister, if you
will only

GO BACK TO YOUR NOVICESHIP DAYS
What was the deepest lesson taught you in

those happy days? Was it not that your great
work in life was “to form Christ in you”?
Did not your Mistress of Novices insist that
you labor at this task in season and out of
season? Is it not the summation of the whole
spiritual life? Of course it is, Sister. And
everyone who has ever had charge of you,
everyone from your Mistress of Novices to
your last Superior and your present Spiritual



12 Doubling for the Mother of God

Guide, can say with St. Paul: “I am in labor
. . . until Christ be formed in you.” Sister,
Customs, Rules, Constitutions and Vows have
no other end! And I know that you have
caught this truth. I feel sure that that has
been the fundamental resolution of your ex-
ery retreat, the one object of all your years
of striving and the predominant petition in
your ceaseless prayers. But, Sister, I wonder
if you realize that that was the work of Mary
Immaculate in cooperation with God the Holy
Ghost. That was what her “Fiat” started —
the formation of Christ in her. See how like
Mary you are, then; for your one great work
in cooperation with that same Holy Ghost
is to see to it that “Christ be formed in you.”
Would anyone be wrong, then, in calling you
a double for Mary Immaculate? Hardly!
True of your interior life, it is more strik-

ingly true of your exterior life. Do you
recall your earliest lessons on how to deal
with others? Don’t you remember how you
were taught to look upon all human beings
as images of God and members, actual or
potential, of Jesus Christ? Were you not told
to see Jesus in everyone from first Superior
to latest postulant, and everyone from the
Pope of Rome to the janitor of the school or
the elevator man of the hospital? Don’t you
remember how you were trained to say, “Do-
minus est,” and, “Fiat,” to everyone and ev-
erything that crossed your path? It was sound
training, Sister; for after all, is not this seeing
of Christ in everyone and welcoming His
will in everything the whole secret of sanctity
and the deepest foundation of a substantial
spiritual life?

Would it not be tragedy to do anything
else? If you do not see Jesus in the children
you teach in school, or the children you care



Doubling for the Mother of God 13

for in the asylum or home, if you expend all
your energies of body and soul on angel-
faced, bright-eyed boys and girls without see-
ing in those angel-faces and bright-eyes the
Infant Jesus and the Boy Christ, are you not
wasting your years and stultifying yourself
with a greater stultification than the one the
sneering world attributes to you?

If it is humanity you serve as you take in
Magdalens, orphans, or decrepit old age, if
it is humanity you educate from kindergarten
to cap and gown, if it is only broken humanity
you nurse in your many hospitals, and crazed
humanity you care for in your institutions for
the insane, if it is only troubled humanity you
guide in your Cenacles, then the worldly
world is right — and you have missed your
whole ascetical training.

But no, Sister, it is not humanity that you
serve. Never! It is divinity in humanity!
And that combination is found only in Jesus
Christ and the members of His Mystical Body.
I am sure that, as you look into the winsome,
laughing eyes of youth in your schools, as
you bend over broken and sick humanity in
your hospitals, as you care for the old, the
ugly and the discarded in your homes, as you
croon foundlings and orphans to sleep, you
are conscious of what you are doing. I am
sure that you realize, in some vague way at
least, that you are doing for members of the
Mystical Jesus what Mary did for the Physi-
cal Jesus. And hence, I expect you to under-
stand me when I say you are acting as a
double for Mary Immaculate and your whole
life is summed up in the phrase “Doubling
for the Mother of God.” Does not that con-
cept make life very worth while living, Sis-
ter, and bring Heaven very, very near? You
are taking care of Jesus, for as Emile Mersch,



14 Doubling for the Mother of God

S.J., always insists, there is only ONE Christ
— the WHOLE CHRIST!
As you see, Sister, what at first seemed like

a mere happy figure that could be accepted
because of surface likenesses is found to have
roots deep in ascetical theology. Doubling for
the Mother of God is metaphorical and yet
most actual! Sister, were one to tell you that
it is a very sure way to Heaven, you should
not start or be surprised; for then one would
be but paraphrasing the words of Infinite
Truth Himself — our Head. Jesus one time
said, ‘‘Amen I say unto you, as long as you
did it to one of these, my least brethren, you
did it unto me.” That text tells us how near
God is, and it also tells us how legitimate is
our concept. But, Sister, I quote it to call
your attention to the fact that Christ was
here giving His reason for taking certain
people into HEAVEN! That is where we all
want to end. You can get there by doubling
for the Mother of God!

SEE HOW NATURAL THIS MAKES
THE SUPERNATURAL

The spiritual life is hard at times, isn’t it,
Sister? Very hard. I think one of the reasons
is that we too often mix up our prefixes. We
think that the super-natural is un-natural
and make the awful mistake of taking the un-
natural to be super-natural.

Everyone admits that grace perfects na-
ture and does not destroy it. Almost every-
one will tell you that you should build your
supernatural on the natural. And yet most
of us fail to apply these principles in our
actual practices. Most of us are afraid to
be natural in our supernatural works. It is a
common error, Sister, and a very grievous



Doubling for the Mother of God 15

mistake. What am I leading up to? Just this,
Sister; that, if you will take this concept that
you are doubling for the Mother of God and
make it your own, if you will acquire the
habit of looking out on life and all things
in life through the eyes of Mary, you will
find that the spiritual life is normal, natural

and easy.

Let us take one example. Let us take medi-
tation for an instance. You have had periods
of dryness, haven’t you, Sister, and found
meditation an awful bore? I think that you
will greatly reduce the number of such peri-
ods and the dryness of them if you will take
this concept and remember your role. St.
Luke tells us what Mary did. Twice in his
second chapter he tells us. After the visit of
the shepherds he says, ‘‘But Mary kept all
these words, pondering them in her heart.”
And after the finding in the Temple he says,
“And His mother kept all these words in her
heart.” “These words,” you know is a He-
braism meaning “these events.” You see,
then, Sister, how aptly that phrase sums up
the contemplative life; and you are a con-
templative. There is no such thing as a pure-
ly active life for women. Meditation, then,
when done as a double for Mary, becomes a
heart talk of a mother with her boy. And
mothers are never silent, nor are their hearts
barren and dry when their boy is near!
Mothers love to recall baby-days and baby-

ways. They live on the memories of their
growing children. And when their babies be-
come men, then they take pride in their
every accomplishment. That is your method
of meditation, Sister. Be womanly in your
method and manner. Do as Mary did. Look
upon Jesus through her eyes! Feel for Him
and love Him with the motions of a mother’s



16 Doubling for the Mother of God

heart. If you do this, contemplation on the
Incarnation will become a mother’s ecstasy
and your colloquy will be like the crooning
of a lullaby. Meditation on the Hidden Life
will be but a tissue of mother’s memories,
gladsome memories of the growing Boy.
Can’t you see Him, Sister, as Mary did? He
is only a toddling tot. See Him take those
early baby-steps, so full of effort. See Him
fall, and hear Him cry. See Mary pick Him
up, kiss away the hurt and the tears, and
stop those sobs by telling her God that He
is her “Little Man.” Can’t you see Him fol-
lowing His Mother from room to room, sing-
ing those wordless songs that babies sing and
that make of home a heaven? You must re-
member that Christ was a Baby, then grew to
be a Boy and a Man. Look at Him through
Mary’s eyes, and meditation and contempla-
tion becomes a delight. Follow your wom-
anly nature in prayer and you’ll learn to love
your God the way He wants to be loved by
you. Further, you’ll learn to live your role in
the Mystical Body!

If you will but double for the Mother of
God, meditation on the Public Life of Christ
will become a series of thrills; for you will
be looking upon Galilee’s Wonder-worker
through the eyes of His Mother. His ser-
mons will sing their way into your very
soul. Your heart will dilate as you witness
the miracles of Mary’s young Man. Sister,
be like Mary, and the Gospels will be your
album of blessed memories. Do you see how
natural the supernatural can become?

As for the Passion, I will be silent. I
have not a mother’s mind or a mother’s heart.
Death is too sacred, too intimate, too heart-
deep for me to intrude. But you, you are a
woman. You know how to suffer and sorrow



Doubling for the Mother of God 17

with the Son of God as Mary did. You know
how to comfort and console the Man of sor-
rows. It is a woman's blessed prerogative.
Yes, and you know how to die with Christ as
Mary did with her dying Boy.

I can appreciate Mary's longing for Heaven.
Part of her died when Jesus gave up the
ghost. It is true of every mother, part of
her dies with her dying child. So Mary
longed to be brought back to life with Him
who had arisen. She longed to be joined to
her Baby-Boy. So, too, you should meditate
on Heaven. So, too, you should live the Uni-
tive Way. So, too, you should yearn for
union with the Son of her for whom you
double.

I know that your deepest craving is for a
more intimate union with the God who made
you. I know that you want to give Him all
the glory you possibly can by loving Him
with all your heart and soul. But, Sister,
that is exactly my point. Look! A star gives
glory to God by shining in silver splendor;
the moon, by waxing and waning in a light
that she borrows; the sun, by giving golden
radiance to all the world; the sea, by being
ever restless, yet governed by the magic of
the moon; a violet glorifies God by being a
lowly bit of purple loveliness; a rose, by being
radiance and soft beauty among thorns; a
man by being a man; and a nun, by being
a woman! by being motherly! by being a
double for Mary! That is my whole point,
Sister — Be yourself! If you will learn to
live your role as mother to the Mystical Je-
sus, your whole spiritual, interior life will be
warmed and colored by what is richest and
deepest in you — your womanliness! Yes, I
say it again: Be yourself! Act towards God
the way He wants YOU to act. Follow those



18 Doubling for the Mother of God

instincts He placed deep in your soul, those
womanly instincts that make you so gener-
ously loving and so sweetly tender. Be nat-
ural in your supernatural life, because grace
perfects nature, it does not destroy it!

SEE HOW THIS COLORS
YOUR RELATIONS WITH OTHERS

Let this concept that you are doubling for
Mary become part of you, Sister; I mean an
active part, not an idle fancy, but a pulsating,
palpitating part of you; let it become an
everyday fact for you, and you will see that
your attitude towards everybody and every-
thing will change. You will be living the
doctrine of the Mystical Body then, and Su-
periors, inferiors, and equals, those wear-
ing the veil and those without the veil, will
be looked upon as parts of yourself, parts
of Mary’s Boy, parts of Christ’s Mystical
Body. What a different color that gives to
persons and things! Don’t you see how easy
this will make the spiritual life? If not,
then perhaps my confession will show you.

I’ll be honest and most open with you,
Sister. I’ll tell you in all sincerity that I
have never been able to see Christ in all peo-
ple. I fail to find any of His lineaments in
an overbearing and inconsiderate superior;
I look in vain for His likeness in an arrogant,
assertive and over-aggressive inferior; I can-
not discern a single resemblance to Him in
small-minded, wizen-souled, shriveled-heart-
ed individuals, whether they be in religious
attire or not. And this failure hurt my spir-
itual life. For years I sweated and strained
and tried to be overcharitable. But I could
never be dishonest. I simply could not see
Jesus in every individual. Now I do not try.



Doubling for the Mother of God 19

And I have more peace and much more truer
charity. For, Sister, I have done what I ad-
vise you to do; I have reversed the process!
Instead of trying to see Jesus in all others, I

now see all others in Jesus. You know, Sister,
a small-mind is only a small-mind and can
never be the mind of Christ; a shriveled-heart
is only a shriveled-heart and can never be
the Heart of Christ; and a cross-grained in-
dividual is a cross-grained individual, and
NOT Jesus Christ. BUT . . . every single
person, no matter what his or her character-
istics, can be looked upon as a member, either
actual or potential, of the Mystical Body of
Jesus Christ, and thus he or she can be seen
in Christ even when Christ cannot be seen
in him or her!
You see my point, Sister. All people are

put in a different perspective. I have more
reverence, more respect, more Christian love
for them. And you will, too, Sister, if you
will always remember your dignity and your
destiny — your role in the Great Drama of
the Redeeming as Double for the Mother of
God.

SEE HOW THIS CONCEPT
EXPLAINS YOUR PAST

Look back upon the years that have gone,
Sister; look back upon your life conscious of
your role, and see what a different aspect
things assume. The thing that will startle
you is to see how like the years of Mary your
own past years have been. I think that you
will learn from the Leading Lady, the First
Lady of Heaven and Earth, how to account
for many things that have happened to you
since you first became a nun.
Look! At an early age Mary spoke five

words. She said, “Fiat mihi secundum ver-



20 Doubling for the Mother of God

bum tuum.” “Be it done unto me according
to thy word.” She meant every one of those
words, and they meant salvation for man-
kind! It was Mary Immaculate’s profession.
It brought God into her womb. — Some years
ago, you, too, spoke five words. You said:
“Voveo paupertatem, castitatem et obedien-
tiam.” It was your religious profession. I
am sure that you meant every one of them.
I know they brought God into your soul in
a new way. So far, then, the parallel is
perfect. Now, go on!
What happened to Mary after her profes-

sion?—From that moment everything seemed
to go wrong! Joseph, her spouse, doubted. It
hurts to have people doubt us, doesn’t it,
Sister? It hurts to have superiors misunder-
stand and equals or inferiors misinterpret. It
hurts not to be trusted implicitly; and very
specially does it hurt us who have conse-
crated ourselves to God alone. But remem-
ber, Sister, that you are doubling for Mary.
See what happened to her. See what has
happened to you. It will happen again, Sis-
ter; but now you know what to do — double
for Mary! She was silent! Virgo prudentis-
sima!

Yes, doubting has come and doubting will
come. It hurts, and it is hard. But remem-
ber that it is God’s way of fashioning the
soul of His Mother. Seemingly, He has only
one pattern and one plan. It is the Cross. He
traced it on the soul of Mary Immaculate
from the moment of His conception until the
day of His crucifixion. He will do the same
on yours. The Cross was present at the In-
carnation. He sent His Mother to a hillside
cattle cave. She brought forth her firstborn
among beasts. Hardly had her Boy been born
when she was told to flee. She did not argue.



Doubling for the Mother of God 21

She could have reasoned and shown the ab-
surdity of a God running away from one of
His puny creatures. But no! Her consecra-
tion read, “Fiat mihi secundum verbum tu-
um” She lived that consecration. She went
into Egypt. — Haven’t you had commands
that seemed absurd and could have been
easily reasoned away? It was God fashion-
ing the soul of His Mother’s double! You’ll
have them again, Sister. But now you know
what to do. Go into Egypt. You are doubling
for Mary.

Look at that scene in the Temple. That
beautiful Boy could have smiled and said,
“Mother, I am going to remain in the Tem-
ple for three full days.” Mary would have
said, “Fiat.” But no! He wanted to trace
the Cross on the soul of His Mother, so He
silently slipped away; and we have that heart-
breaking scene of a Virgin Mother with
streaming eyes searching through Temple and
town for three endless days and three in-
terminable nights. You see, Sister, sorrow is
often Sanctity’s sculptor! — You are doubling
for Mary. Sorrow has come. Sorrows will
come. But when they do, remember that God,
the Sculptor of all sanctities, is putting on
the finishing touches to the saintly soul of His
Mother’s double. When they do come, do
what Mary did, seek your Jesus! You will
find Him in the Temple! He will wipe away
the tears.

Sister, do not expect to understand all that
God does to you. Mary Immaculate did not.
Even when Jesus spoke to her in the Temple,
she did not understand. St. Luke tells us so
explicitly: “And they (Mary and Joseph) un-
derstood not the word that He spoke unto
them.” — Have you not had days and weeks,
and even years, when you did not and could



22 Doubling for the Mother of God

not understand? There are times when our
whole world goes black. And even when
Jesus speaks to us from behind the tiny can-
dle flame of the sanctuary lamp, we can-
not understand. No! our hearts are sore
and our minds are sick; we have to sway and
stagger and grope our way along not under-
standing the why of things or the ways of
God. Reason cannot help us. Our horizons
are black. There are stabs in the dark. We
have to go on blinded. Ah, but, Sister,
revelation does light up our way, even if it
does not light up our minds. Revelation tells
us that Mary, for whom you are doubling,
did not always understand. But she went on!
For twenty-one long years she went on, pon-
dering over what He had done and what He
had said in the Temple. And for twenty-one
years she did not understand; she understood
only on Calvary, when He had given up the
ghost.

So, Sister, when puzzled and perplexed,
when bewildered by the ways of God, go on!
go on trustingly! go on as Mary did. You,ll
understand one day. If Calvary does not re-
veal it, Heaven will!

* * *

As you note, Sister, my manner of speech
has changed. I have assumed that you have
thought along with me and that you are
willing to accept the concept. I am now go-
ing to plunge and tell you many things about
you and your role, but before I do I want to
give you what I consider a very fetching
figure.

People talk of “vocation,” don’t they, Sis-
ter? They say that you had “a call” to the
religious life. We know what they mean. It
is a figure of speech, a perfectly legitimate

one, for we liken the grace God gave you to



Doubling for the Mother of God 23

a voice speaking. Then, Sister, why cannot
you and I take another figure, one equally
legitimate, and, in connection with your role
as double for the Mother of God, one that is
more apt? Instead of calling the great grace
that God gave you a “vocation,” why can't
we name it an “annunciation”? Why cannot
we say that just as Mary was told that she
was to be the Mother of the Physical Jesus
in somewhat the same manner it was “an-
nounced” to you that you were to be the
mother of members of the Mystical Jesus,
that you were to be a Mystical Mother? Some
might say that I strain, but I do not think
so, Sister; the metaphor is new, but I think
it every bit as legitimate as the metaphor of
the “voice.” Logically, then, it is allowable.

Psychologically it is thrilling, for it makes
you that much more like unto her for whom
you are doubling. If you like it, take it, Sis-
ter. To me it is a fetching figure. But now
for some facts. I am going to plunge, Sister,
are you ready?

THIS CONCEPT REVEALS YOUR FUTURE
The Drama of the Redemption is ended,

Sister; but the Great Drama of the Redeem-
ing still goes on. Calvary was the final scene
of the first; it was but the prologue to the
second. Our Head merited, and merited su-
perabundantly; but we, the members, must
share in those sufferings if we are to have
part in that satisfaction. The dogma of the
Mystical Body is only a doctrine saying: “The
Great Drama of the Redeeming still goes on!”
And in that drama, Sister, you and I are the
principal actors.

Now you know upon whom the success or
failure of a drama depends—entirely upon the



24 Doubling for the Mother of God

leading lady and the leading man. Hamlet
needs a superb Prince of Denmark and a
winsome Ophelia. Macbeth must have an am-
bitious Thane of Cawdor and a fiendish wom-
an for a consort. The Merchant of Venice
needs a charming Portia and a shrewd, sly
Shylock.

But that is all fiction. True to life, but
not life. The Great Drama of the Redeeming,
however, is life! Life in time and life for
eternity. And you, Sister, take the leading
feminine role. You are going to fail and fail
miserably; you are going to miss your cues,
forget your lines, omit your gestures; you are
going to fail completely in your portrayal of
the character of the Leading Lady, you are
going to misinterpret and misrepresent Mary,
the Immaculate One, UNLESS . . . UNLESS, I
say, you study her prayerfully. Remember,
Sister, this is not play-acting. This is work-
ing out your salvation! The Great Drama of
the Redeeming was planned to be a Divine
Romance, but you can make of it an Eternal
Tragedy, if you fail in your role as double for
the Mother of God.

You are not an understudy in this Drama.
You are not a mere extra. You do not stand
in the wings and watch. Never! Your place
is in the center of the stage. You are the
Leading Lady. You are doubling for the
Mother of God. Hence, you are to do just
what Mary did, and you are to do it just as
Mary did it! You are to walk like, talk like,
think like, act like, live like, BE like Mary.
Yours is a tremendous role, Sister. Yours is
a fear-filled part. For Heaven or Hell can de-
pend on how you double for the Mother of
God. And the terrifying part of it all is that
you go neither to Heaven or Hell alone. I
doubt that any adult does! Hence, if you



Doubling for the Mother of God 25

once assume this role of “Mother,” that will
connote “children”; and whether you be en-
gaged in school, hospital, asylum or home,
whether you be behind grating and grill as
silent contemplative or out in the madding
crowd, you will be a “mother,” you will be
doubling for the Mother of God and hence,
you’ll take “children” with you to Heaven
or to Hell.

You see, then, the necessity for close study.
You must reproduce the Maid of Nazareth
perfectly, else tragedy, eternal tragedy, re-

sults for untold souls; and for your own first
of all! Daily, hourly, you have to walk like,
talk like, look like, act like, live like, be
like the Mother of Jesus; hence, you must
know her mind and mannerisms, you must
know her heart, her will and all her ways.
Why, Sister, you must know Mary much more
intimately than you know yourself. It is the
only way to success.

This is the study that aids you in that
putting off of self of which all the ascetical
writers speak. This is the study that trans-
forms you into what God wants you to be,
what He planned you to be from all eternity,
and what the world, blase, weary, and wicked
though it is, expects you to be — a double
for the Mother of God. That is the prayerful
study that most call meditation, daily medita-
tion.

You know, Sister, to insure perfection in
their portrayals great actresses live the char-
acter they assume. On stage and off stage,
they submerge themselves and concentrate
with a fierce intensity on being the woman
they are to represent. Every lift of the eye,
every turn of the head, every movement of
the hand is done with a consciousness of the



26 Doubling: for the Mother of God

way in which the person they are to repro-
duce would do them. They never step out of
character! That is the secret of their success.
Neither must you, Sister, if you are to be a
success. Every movement of your body and
soul must be a movement mindful of the
Mother of God. Then study her you must,
but also study yourself. And this study is
called by most the daily examen. Make it
faithfully, to see if you ever step out of
character!

But how will you learn your part? Where
will you find Mary’s life? — In the Gospels,
Sister! The Holy Ghost, her Spouse, has
written her life in six lines. Those are the
lines that you are to learn. Sister; and those
are the lines that you are to live if you want
to be a perfect double for the Mother of God.
You meant those five tremendous words you
one day spoke: “Voveo paupertatem, castita-
tem et obedientiam,” didn’t you, Sister? Well,
you can look upon that day as the day you
signed a life’s contract, a contract that calls
for a perfect doubling for the Mother of God.
Only six lines to learn. Not an overwhelm-

ing task, is it, Sister? Learn them perfectly.
Then live them, and the Great Drama of the
Redeeming, as far as you are concerned, is a
smashing success. Live them, and in very
truth, you have shown the world its Saviour.
Now let me show you the lines.



THE

FEW LINES

YOU MUST

LEARN AND LIVE



28 Doubling for the Mother of God

LILIES ARE LOFTY
The first line that you will have to learn

and live is the line Mary spoke to the angel.
It is a question. Mary said to the Messenger
from Heaven, “How is this to be, because I
know not man?”
What a line to learn! What a line to live!

Mary so loved purity that seemingly she
would send Gabriel back to Heaven’s high
halls with a negation. She would refuse to
be Mother of God rather than violate her
virginity. That is sincerity for you. That is
purity. That is love.

Have you learned that line, Sister? Have
you lived it? It means a constant watch on
your imagination and your readings. It means
a very close guard on your affections. It
means a continual consciousness of your dig-
nity, your majestic, queenly dignity. Mary
was never over-demonstrative. Mary was
never given to purely natural and particular
friendships. Mary was ever mindful of the
solemn consecration and the sacred dedication
she had made of her heart, her affections and
her flesh to God. Hence, a modesty that was
the quintessence of charm won all hearts to
her; a reserve that was both a delightful in-
vitation and a royal demand that all keep
their distance, inspired respect and enkindled
devotion. Mary was distant to no one; she
was dignified with all.

Sister, this is a line that is quite easily

learned, but not so easily lived. Let me tell
you that I know grayhaired men who still
carry the shock of their boyhood with them,
the shock given by a nun who momentarily
stepped out of character, forgot her role and
became a trifle overdemonstrative. Mary was
affectionate always, overdemonstrative, never.



Doubling for the Mother of God 29

It is this momentary stepping out of char-
acter that does harm. Not necessarily al-
ways to self, but inevitably always to others.
I once saw rouge and lipstick under a wimple.
A trifle, isn’t it, Sister? Just a passing vani-
ty, a momentary slip back to girlish ways
and the conceits of cosmetics. And yet, Sis-
ter, that trifle loomed to such tremendousness
in the eyes of some worldlings that they
likened it to the abomination of abominations
in the Holy of Holies. See what the world
expects of you? It expects you to be what
you vowed to be — an angel in the flesh! It
expects you to be dead to all vanities and
girlish conceits. Don’t disappoint that world!

Sister, our battle consists in this — we are
bound to live in the world of spirit, and yex
we are ever attracted to the spirit of the
world. It is a bitter battle. The natural is
ever calling to us; and yet, we must be su-
pernatural. We must be very different and
yet, we find ourselves very often alike! Would
you safeguard yourself, Sister, so that you can
live this first line, this line of purity? —
Then, watch Poverty and the Parlor!

Remember your first vow and the first be-
atitude. I am not talking about poverty of
the purse. We all observe that fairly well.
But I am talking about poverty of the heart
and mind. That is not so universally ob-
served. Examine your room and your ward-
robe. Do they bespeak the poverty of the
wife of Nazareth’s carpenter and the mother
of the carpenter’s Son? Examine your mind.
What is your attitude towards food and cloth-
ing and lodging? Are you happy with what
poor people have? Or do you look for, expect
and even demand better, and sometimes, the
best? You know, Sister, if most of us had
remained in the world, we would never have



30 Doubling for the Mother of God

the dental care and the medical care that we
get; because we could never afford it! We
would never be housed or clothed or fed as
we are; we would never be as comfortable
or as worry-free! I know that all this is part
of the hundredfold promise by your Head,
but the point I make is this: are our hearts
and our minds the hearts and the minds of
poor people, or has the spirit of the world
crept in?

Secondly, the parlor. Much good, very
much good can be done in the parlor; but so
can very much harm! Some crave popularity.
That is the spirit of the world. Some love to
be in demand. That is the spirit of the
world. Some long for the news, the distrac-
tions, the affections that come through the
parlor, and then wonder what is wrong with
their prayer and their spiritual life. Can you
picture Mary Immaculate in the parlor? How
would she entertain? Would it be gossip or
God? You are doubling for Mary. Use the
parlor for God! not for self; else you will
never live this first line!

Sister, be wise! Do not allow a neglect of
poverty or an overindulgence in the parlor to
rob you of the promise of the first beatitude
or of the sixth: “Blessed are the clean of
heart, for they shall see God.”

VIOLETS ARE LOVELY
It was to the Angel also that Mary spoke

her second line. She said, “Ecce ancilla Do-
mini.”

Learn that line, Sister, and live it! Your
first line showed you the lofty lily in all the
splendor of its majestic purity. This line

shows you the lowly violet in all the loveli-
ness of its true humility. The angel said,



Doubling for the Mother of God 31

“Blessed art thou among women,” thou art
to be the Mother of God. Mary answered,
“I am His handmaid.” Daughter of David,
but servant of God.

Live that line, Sister! It is the lesson that
our day needs. It is not impurity that we
have to battle so much. It is pride! If men
and women were not so arrogant, self-satis-
fied, puffed up with high-blown pride, nine-
tenths of the world's impurities would never
be committed.

This is the hardest line that you will be
asked to learn, and the hardest line that you
will try to live. We all like to go up; but
we all must go down, and there is no one
who likes it. Pride created Hell and closed
Paradise. Pride caused the first war in Heav-
en and the latest war on earth. Pride changed
angels into demons, men into wandering ex-
iles on earth, and crucified God. Pride caused
the slaughter of the innocents when the Phys-
ical Christ was born. It is still causing the
slaughter of the innocents and preventing
potential members of the Mystical Christ from
being born. Pride took birth in the mind of
Lucifer and caused catastrophe. Pride took
root in the hearts of Adam and Eve and
caused catastrophe. Pride was born with you
and with me; it is in the marrow of our bones
and the corpuscles of our blood. It has al-
ready caused catastrophe in our lives and will
do so again if we do not go down! Pride is
the first of the Capital sins; humility a part
of the first of the Cardinal Virtues. Double for
Mary, Sister, and you shall crush the ser-
pent's head!

Remember that pride is as insidious as a
serpent. It will insinuate itself in a hundred
different ways, and be manifest in a million.



32 Doubling for the Mother of God

The lowering of an eyelid oft tells of a mon-
strous pride in a human heart. And the pity
of it is that we, who are filled with pride,
hate the semblance of it in others. How care-
ful you have to be, Sister! You are ever in
the center of the stage; on you is focused the
spotlight. And the whole world from tiny
tot in baby-grades to old-age tottering to the
grave is quick to detect in you the slightest
indication of pride. It scandalizes. And “woe
to them by whom scandal cometh.” Learn
your lines and live them!

Beware of little scandals. They do the most
harm.

A nun’s apostasy will stir a parish for a
time; yet, the talk will die down; but an im-
patience, an injustice, an open display of
jealousy or pettiness before others will stay
in the minds of the witnesses forever. I could
not begin to tell you the vocations that have
been blighted by little scandals. And know
well, that every one of these little scandals
is rooted in self-love, in pride.

Remember, Sister, that the eyes of youth
are all-seeing eyes; the eyes of middle age
are critical; the eyes of old-age are deeply
discerning. You are ever before such eyes!
They are the eyes of a camera, the eyes of
the candid camera! Show them a perfect
likeness of Mary. She was humility itself.
Learn your second line, Sister . . . “Ecce an-
cilla Domini” . . . and live it!

Need I tell you the second half of that
line? It tells of obedience: It was “Fiat mihi
secundum verbum tuum.” Ah, Sister, un-
doubtedly the hardest of our vows to observe
and the hardest of the virtues to acquire is
obedience. Most people say it is because we
love our own will. I wonder if they are



Doubling for the Mother of God 33

right. I think it is because we love our own
mind, our own opinion! St. Ignatius, who
wrote the classic on obedience, places the per-
fection of this virtue in the obedience of the
understanding. I think that he is most right;
and I further think that all our trouble comes
from an attitude of mind. If we can only
hold on to the concept that it is not a hu-
man being who is commanding us, not this
individual who happens to be in office, but
God Himself, then all our difficulty is ended.
When you receive a telegram, Sister, do

you look at the messenger-boy to learn what
the message is and who sent it? When you
are called to the phone, do you give your
attention to the receiver or to the voice that

is coming through that receiver? When you
listen to a broadcast, do you focus your at-
tention on the loudspeaker or on the program
that comes through that loudspeaker? You
never scrutinize these instruments, do you?
Then, why do it with regard to the instru-
ments whom God uses to transmit His mes-
sages to you? A foolish attitude of mind,
isn’t it?

I have never been able to figure out how
or why God selects certain people to be su-
periors; and I defy anyone to do it. But He
does! That is enough. “Ours is not to reason
why”! Mary never reasoned it out. Mary
never argued and analyzed the matter. Do
you recall the Flight into Egypt? Could not
Mary have started as we usually do, “What a
strange command!” She could have gone on,
as we so often do: “What a crazy command!”
She could have argued: “This is Joseph talk-
ing. Only a man. The man who doubted me.
Further, he says he heard all this in a dream!
I believe him. It is a dream, and a bad one.
Imagine a God running away!” But she did



34 Doubling for the Mother of God

NOT. She said, “Fiat.” “Let us start at once.”
Her attitude of mind was: “I must save my
Son.” “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Hand-
maids only obey.” You are doubling for Mary,
Sister, get that attitude of mind!

Of course you are allowed, and at times
obliged, to represent. Superiors are instru-
ments of God; but they are human instru-
ments and must act “humano mode.” They
can be misinformed. They can be unin-
formed. You may, and at times you must,
inform them. But now note, Sister, that I
say “represent.” I do not say “argue,” or
“defend your point of view.” I most cer-
tainly do not say “demand your way.” No!
I merely say “represent” and I think that St.
Benedict has expertly detailed the qualities
that should be found in every representation.
In the sixty-eighth chapter of his Rule he
says, “ . . . let them represent with calmness
and circumspection . . . and exhibit no sign of
pride, contradiction or resistance.” He then
adds, “But if the superior insists . . . relying
on God’s assistance, obey.” And, Sister, he is
here talking about times when the impossible
is commanded!
You will hardly ever be commanded the

impossible. But if you are, obey. For then
you will be fashioning your key to Heaven.
If you ever get the opportunity, watch a key-
maker at work. He puts a bit of steel in a
vise. He then takes a file that bites and with
it rasps away at that bit of steel. Sister, look
upon every act of obedience, every “Fiat”
that you say, as a rasp on the steel of your
soul. Sometimes it will be a biting, tearing
rasp; at such times, rejoice! for you are then
giving your key the exact form that will fit it
to the tumblers in the lock of the gate of
Heaven. That lock, you know, was forged by



Doubling for the Mother of God 35

disobedience; first of the angels, then of man.

The only key that has ever opened it, and the

only key that will ever open it, is the key of

obedience. Christ was an expert Locksmith.

He came only to obey. Your Model was also
an expert Key-maker. She said “Fiat,” and

meant it. You have said, “Voveo”; if you
really meant it, every “Fiat” is another ex-

pert filing on your key to Heaven!

Go to Egypt, Sister, even if it is only a
dreamer who tells you to go. Mary did it
and saved her Son. You shall do the same
if you imitate her! Obedience may take you
out into a sea of sand, it may give you days
that are mercilessly hot and nights that are

star-studded but lonely and chill; but what

do you care? You can press to your bosom,
even as Mary did, the Infant God! Yes, go to
Egypt, Sister; it is Heaven—for God is there!
Isn’t obedience beautiful and profitable? Live

this line, and you will never find sadness or

any uneasiness of conscience in your nights or

your days.

THE LADY OF THE SMILING EYES AND
THE SINGING HEART

It was to her cousin that Mary spoke her
third line. She sang it. It was a heart-burst
of joy “Magnificat anima mea Dominum.”
That is your work, Sister. “Magnify the

Lord! Make Him great!” — Make Him
greatly loved, greatly served. But words
will never do it. Works will!

You know it is the easiest thing in the
world to develop “pious lips.” It can be-

come second nature and positively instinc-
tive with us to drop such sweetly pious

phrases from our lips as “Praise be to God,”
“God’s holy will be done,” “Dominus est



36 Doubling for the Mother of God

“Fiat,” “All for Thee, O Heart of Jesus.” But
do we mean them? — Our actions give the
answer. “Verba sonant; actus tonant!” How
true it is that what we are shouts so loud
that people can never hear what we say.
Actions do speak much louder than words,
don’t they, Sister?

They say that there is no spiritual ther-
mometer, or any gauge by which to take the
blood-pressure of a soul. I think that they are
wrong. I think that I can take the temper-
ature of a soul and rather accurately read its
blood-pressure. I think that the spiritual
health of an individual can be very exactly
known. All that one has to do is to look at
the joy that is manifest in her works. “The
Lord loves a cheerful giver,” and so does
everyone else. That much, at least, we have
in common with the Creator. A nun’s coun-
tenance tells very clearly whether she is
modeling on Jeremias or Mary. The tone of
her voice tells whether she will do for
“Tenebrae” or for “Alleluia.” Her very car-
riage speaks clearly and says whether her
heart is throbbing in tune with the “Magni-
ficat” or a “Lamentation.”

Ah, Sister, it is a thrill to hear people ask,
“What makes nuns so cheerful?” It is amus-
ing to hear some of the answers. Of course,
there is only one true reply. It is: “They
are doubling for the Mother of God; they
have the Child Jesus in their hearts.”

Yes, it is an inspiration to see a cheerful
nun; but a desecration to see one frivolously
dissipated. Joy does not mean hilarity or
levity. Light-heartedness is not shown in
light-headedness. To be religiously agree-
able and agreeably religious one has to be
vivid, but not excessively vivacious. Which
reminds me of a danger. In their dealings



Doubling for the Mother of God 37

with lay people, the sons of St. Ignatius have

a plan which says: “Go in their door, but
come out your own.” It is a good plan, a
grand plan; but one that is difficult to follow.

Many have tried it. Not all have succeeded.
The going in is easy; but the coming out pre-
sents the difficulty.

I am told that at a recent Sodality Con-
vention nuns were seen lounging in the cor-

ridor of a hotel. No doubt they meant to be
friendly. They intended to “be natural.” But
others expected them to be supernatural and
never to be familiar, as is evidenced by the
aggrieved tone of the people who spoke of it
and from more than one vocation that was
shaken!

Sister, never step out of your role. You
can be sure that the Mother of God was al-
ways cheerful. Even on Calvary there was
a song in her soul. It was “Magnificat.” You
can be equally sure that she was never
worldly-wise nor wisely-worldly. Remember,
Sister, you are not like the people of the

world. You have been called “out of the
world.” Do not go back! Do not adopt their
ways, their words, their gestures or their

jokes. It may seem and sound “smart.” It
most certainly is not wise. And remember
that Mary is the “Seat of Wisdom.” You are
not to be stiff. You are not to be formal,
frigid or coldly distant. You are to be digni-
fied and charmingly cheerful, because Mary
is “Causa nostrae laetitiae,” and you are her
double.

I know that there are some who are afraid
of joy. But these are wrong. They are cling-
ing to an inheritance direct from paganism
and heresy. It was the ancient Greeks, pa-
gans, who depicted their gods as jealous of
the laughter of men. They are the ones who



38 Doubling for the Mother of God

said that anger and the spite of the gods pur-
sued men who did not weep enough. There
are some of us who have caught the spirit of
that superstition and sip our joys, as it were,
on the sly; persuading ourselves somehow
that in experiencing real joy we are some-
what unfaithful to God. Sister, that is heresy!
It was our Lord Himself who said, “Ask and
you shall receive, that your joy may be full.”
St. Luke ends his Gospel, the good-tidings,
with the words, “cum gaudio magno” — with
great joy! Joy is the ultimate purpose of
God’s revelation. It is a fruit of the Holy
Ghost. And, Sister, holy joy is the surest
sign of a soul’s predestination.

How can you be other than joyful? God
has selected you from among millions to be a
double for His Mother. That is a cause for
endless joy! Look at your day. You rise
early to make a prayer. What a privilege it
is to be allowed to pray. To lift up mind and
heart, up above the petty cares and worries
of the world, up above the paltry things of
time, up above the earth, the sun, the moon
and the stars, up to the very throne of God,
and talk with Divinity. What a joy! Then
the Mass. Love is slain for you. Love is
given to you. Love abides with you. Your
work? It is hard, I know. But when you
love your work, it becomes easy. And why
not love it? Looked at as a penance, it is a
source of joy; for you need such penance,
other souls need your penance, the world
needs your penance. Looked at as a labor of
love, looked at as doing something for God,
looked at as ministering to the Mystical Body
of Christ, drudgery becomes a delight, weari-
ness a comfort, fatigue a consolation. Work,
Sister, is a wellspring of joy, when you work
as a double for Mary.



39Doubling for the Mother of God

Now understand me. I am not talking about
sentiment or mere feeling. I am not talking
about the surface joy of the senses or of the

superficial pleasure of animal good-spirits.

No, I am talking about deep joy. You know,
as well as I, that down in the deepest deep
of your soul, you have a citadel, a last strong-

hold, that can never be taken. It is away

down there that you meet God’s grace. To
reach it at times takes courage. To stay there

at all times takes heroism. But that is where

true joy is found; for joy is not a pleasant

feeling, it is a fruit of genuine, soul-deep

Faith. To obtain that joy you have to fight.

To maintain it you have to put up a continual

struggle. But you know that there is much
blood on the road that leads to the glory of

the resurrection, and that is why you can
and do hold on to your joy even in the midst

of heart-breaking sorrow.

When a whole world of woe threatens to
overwhelm you, then go down as pearl-divers
do with closed eyes. Go down to the deepest
deep of your soul and lay strong hold on your

Faith. You are bound to find joy!
Sister, if you will but reflect, you will al-

ways be joyful. Reflect on the fact that God
is using you; that nothing you do is ever lost;

that the eight beatitudes are eternal; that

Christ and you are not two, but one; that you

are doubling for Mary Immaculate, and your
heart will always sing.

That is the real secret and the source of

your constant joy. Mary sang, “Magnificat
anima mea Dominum . . . quia fecit mihi ma-
gna” — “Because He hath wrought great
things for me.” You can sing the same, Sister.
You can sing, “I rejoice because He hath
wrought great things for me.” It is true. He
hath made you exceeding great. You are one



Doubling: for the Mother of God

in millions. Remember that. Remember that
the “Angel” who “announced” to you that
you were to be a mother of God is seldom
“sent” on so glorious a mission. The world
does not know that you have been made
great, but you do! How like your Model that
makes you! How many knew that she was
great? Elizabeth knew. An angel told Jo-
seph. She sang it herself. But who else in
the whole wide world realized it? Why,
even the apostles did not appreciate it until
almost at the end.

So keep that “Magnificat” singing in your
soul; let it shine out through your eyes and
be seen in your constant smile. Sorrows will
come, but they can never dampen the joy in
your heart, if you will but remember your
role. Sister, the sorrowful mysteries lasted
twenty-four hours. The joyful mysteries are
still going on. They will never know an end.
Life is a wind. Eternity is tomorrow Be
joyful! “Magnificat Dominum.”

.

Show this joy to the world. It needs the
sight, for despite its mad rush after pleasure,
it is a sad and sorrowful old world. Show it
the Lady with the smiling eyes and the sing-
ing heart Mary of the Magnificat.

DO NOT LOSE YOUR GOD
Mary s second line was in sharp contrast to

her first; her fourth is in even sharper con-
trast to her third. Her song of joy is followed
by tears. The heart that overflowed in a
Magnificat” was broken for three long days
and three endless nights. Mary had lost her
Son. Your fourth line, Sister, is: “Behlod, Thy
father and I have sought Thee, sorrowing.”

This is a line that you must learn, Sister,
but one you do not have to live!



Doubling for the Mother of God 41

When the world was very young, our fa-
ther and mother moved from Paradise to this
Valley of Tears, and that is why sadness and
suffering is in the legacy they left us. Sister,
there are much sadness and many sufferings
in life, but there is only one sorrow; and
that is the loss of God. Sin loses you your
God. And that is why I say that you must
learn this fourth line, but you do not have to
live it.

For you, the danger of losing your God by
mortal sin is very remote; but be careful of
venial sins and imperfections. Watch out for
little things; they can bring tremendous disas-
ter.

Now I know that a little thing is only a
little thing and can never be a big thing. I
know that a venial sin is only a venial sin
and can never be a mortal sin. And yet I
say: Watch out for little things; watch out for
venial sins. For as St. Augustine has so well
said, “It is not their magnitude, but their
multitude, that brings disaster.”

A rain-drop is a tiny thing, isn’t it? One
fell one day in the arctic and froze. Then
another and another and another fell and
froze. In the course of the years there grew
from those tiny rain-drops that fell and froze,
a mighty mountain of ice. One early spring
that mountain split open; half of it slid into
the sea and started to drift. About the same
time, the “Titanic,” the largest ship afloat, at
that time, majestically slipped from dock in
the harbor of Queenstown and pointed her
prow for New York. It was her maiden
voyage. Those two met, and the drifting
mountain of ice ripped that mistress of the
sea from stern to stern, sending hundreds to
a watery grave and burying a fortune in
freight and equipment beneath the cold waves



42 Doubling for the Mother of God

of the icy North Atlantic. Little things had
caused a tremendous disaster.
A snowflake is a tiny thing, isn’t it? From

out gray Russian skies one fluttered down one
day and melted on the hand of one of Napo-
leon’s soldiers as he marched toward Moscow.
Then another and another and another fell.
Soon Russian roads were covered and heavy
artillery had to be left behind. Snowflakes
kept on falling, and light artillery was aban-
doned. Snowflakes still fell, and with them
fell the muskets from the frozen hands of
France’s finest and fairest. The “Little Cor-
poral” knew tremendous disaster because of
little things.

The flame of a kerosene hand-lamp is a
tiny thing; but one started the conflagration
that leveled the city of Chicago.

While she was in southern waters, a tiny
match started a smouldering in the hold of
the “Moro Castle.” Four days later, off the
Jersey coast, we saw the terror of the sea —
a ship enveloped in flames. Hundreds met
their death. Indeed, tiny things have caused
tremendous disasters.

And in the spiritual order it is equally
true. Eve started with a little conversation.
David, with a look. Judas, with a tiny at-
tachment! And you, Sister, will never fill
your role if you are careless about tiny things.

St. Alphonsus gives the explanation when
he says, “A careless soul deprives herself of
God’s illumination and inspiration.” A whole
theological treatise is captured within the
confines of that tiny sentence. Briefly, it is
this: actual grace consists in God’s illumina-
tion and inspiration and actual grace is ab-
solutely necessary for every salutary act.
Without actual grace one cannot long observe



Doubling for the Mother of God 43

even the Natural Law; while even the just,
those in sanctifying grace, need a special
actual grace to avoid venial sin for any
length of time. That is all sound dogma.

You see the application, Sister. The careless
soul deprives herself of actual grace. The re-
sult is inevitable. Sin. You become more dis-
tant from your God. And, as the Holy Ghost
says, we fall “little by little. ,, You can lose
your God, Sister. You will lose Him if you
are tepid ! He Himself has said so. In one of
the most frightening passages of all Scripture,
a passage that is, as Father Faber has said,
without parallel, He says: “Because thou art
lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will
begin to vomit thee out of my mouth.”
Think of it! Infinite Love, He who died

that all men might live, cannot stomach one
whom He chose to double for His Mother
when she is habitually careless about little
things.

“Catch the little foxes,” Sister. They will
ruin your life! A little attachment, a little
antipathy, a little distraction voluntarily en-
tertained, a little laziness, a little jealousy, a
little vanity — habitually indulged — means
that one day you are going to lose your God.
Be careful! That day could be the Dawn of
Eternity!

Appalling, isn't it? You who were selected
to play the role of “Mystical Rose” can be
blighted. You who were chosen to be “Tower
of Ivory” and “House of Gold” can be
destroyed.

You know the safeguard, Sister. It is not
to “seek your God sorrowing.” No. It is to
be ever mindful of your part in the Mystical
Body! It is to see that you never step out
of character! You can be sure that Mary



44 Doubling for the Mother of God

Immaculate never grew careless about little
things.

Sister, I beg you to admit the possibility.
I plead with you to recognize the danger.
The law of gravity, you know, is absolute
and universal. It admits of no exceptions.
Stars fall. Birds fall. Leaves fall. The law
of gravity in the spiritual order is likewise
absolute and universal. It admits of no ex-
ceptions. We all have a tendency down! An-
gels fell. Apostles fell. You and I can fall!

Don’t lose your God. Take as your particu-
lar examen: “Am I doubling for Mary?” “Am
I conscious of my role?” “Do I step out of
character?” “Do I make every effort to play
my part in the Mystical Body perfectly?”
Keep it for years and years, and you will
never lose your God!

THE LAST LINES
The last lines that you will have to learn

are lines that you will have to live. St. John
gives us the setting. It is at a wedding. “And
the Mother of Jesus was there.” The wine
failed. Not a catastrophe. Wedding-feasts
lasted for weeks in those days. For the wine
to fail was no great mishap. But a heart
filled with genuine human sympathy, a soul
throbbing in loving unison with other souls,
will do all she can to spare the newly-weds
even a momentary embarrassment. “The
Mother of Jesus sayeth to Him, ‘They have
no wine.’ ”

Sister, learn that line. Live it! — Be char-
itable! And remember that charity begins at
home. Your sisters are human. They are
your sisters. Mystically, they are parts of
yourself, members of your members, and
Christ is your Head. St. Paul said, “No man



Doubling for the Mother of God 45

hateth his own flesh”; meaning, of course,
that everyone loves himself. Then show that
love to your sisters, be they superiors, sen-

iors or juniors. They have hearts of flesh
and souls that can be wounded. See to it

that no word, look or gesture of yours ever

hurt a member of your community. Give!
Give! Give! Give kind words, generous smiles,

warm encouragement. Be not stinting with
praise. Hold jealousy so far below you that
you hardly know its name. Root out all
meanness from your make-up. Lavish the
sincere affection and pure love of your soul
upon those with whom God has decreed that
you should play your motherly role in the
Great Drama of the Redeeming. Give the
best that is in you to those of your own house-
hold. And when you have beggared yourself
of loving kindness, genuine, tender sympathy,

womanly, sisterly amiability and affection,
when you have poured out the last drop of
your honied sweetness and shed the full
splendor of your soul's sunshine on your own,
then turn to your God as Mary turned to her
Son and say, “They have no wine.”

Our lives are made up of little things, Sis-
ter; and that is why a little smile, a little
word, a little expression of appreciation or

affection means so much. Give them!

The one word that a mother seems to know
best is the monosyllable, “Give.” From con-
ception until death she gives. She lavishes
her very self on her own. With her selfless-
ness is instinct. Sister, you are a mother. No
one is nearer to you than those of your own
household; those who in God’s wise plan of
redemption are your other selves. Be a moth-
er to them. If you are a superior — praise,
be patient, sympathetic and appreciative. If
you are an inferior — cooperate! Remember



46 Doubling for the Mother of God

that those in office are human. They have
sensitive hearts. They need encouragement,
appreciation and cooperation. Give it! Let
them hear kind words. Let them see open
hands. Let them bask in the radiant sunshine
of your ever-ready smile. Don’t be a syco-
phant. Don’t be a politician. But do be a
sister to your sisters, for you are mothering
the one same Mystical Jesus Christ. Do your
part, and your God will change the water in
your characters to rich, red, rare wine!

It was from one of your own that I gar-
nered the paraphrase of “They have no wine.”
She put it in the form of a prayer. Janet
Stuart, a wonderful woman, prayed, “My
God, give to each of us a heart too noble,
too pure to be disturbed by little misunder-
standings, petty prejudices, mean, unworthy
thoughts.” Take that prayer, Sister, and make
it your own. Say it daily for yourself and
your community. That will be being Mary-
like. That will be saying, “They have no
wine.”

It was the same grand character who
prayed, “Grant me, O God, strength enough
to be gentle and calmness enough to be
strong.” Pray that prayer, Sister, for your-
self. You need it. We all need it. We need
that strength to be gentle, gentle in our
thoughts, words and actions, but especially
in our thoughts! And we all need great
calmness so that we can play our roles with
perfection.

From out the past there comes an echo to
me. I hear a former retreat-master of mine
saying, “If I were Pope, I would command
every religious superior, under pain of ex-
communication, to have burned into the
brick over the monastery’s entrance this one



Doubling for the Mother of God 47

imperative: HAVE CONSIDERATION FOR
OTHERS.”

I paraphrase him, Sister, as I say to you:
Burn into your being the truth that you are
doubling for the Mother of God, and you will
always be the soul of charity toward your
own. You will be Mary at the wedding-feast,
who turned to her Son and said: “They have
no wine.”

You know Mary’s last line. She turned to
the waiters and said, “Whatsoever He shall
say to you, do ye.” It must have seemed
strange to these waiters to hear guests or-
dering the household about. But they obeyed,
and that wedding-feast became immortal.
That last line of Mary’s sums up the mes-

sage you have for men. “Whatsoever He
shall say to you, do ye.” To many it will seem
strange that you should order them about.
But if they obey, they will become immortal.
You do your part fearlessly, Sister; let God,
with His grace, do the rest. Mary did not
work the miracle; she merely pointed out the
need to her Son. Do the same, Sister. You
need not be a miracle worker; you must be a
mediatrix; and that you will be if you will
play your part as double for the Mother of
God and the Mother of men!



SOME

STAGE-DIRECTIONS

FOR

THE LEADING LADY



Doubling for the Mother of God 49

SHOW THYSELF A MOTHER
In the early pages of this little chat, I said

that you had a special function in life — to
show the world its Saviour. I mean that,
Sister, and I do not change it now as I say,
“Show thyself a mother.” You cannot hold
out a Physical Babe as Mary did to shepherds
and to Magi. You cannot point out a Physical
Boy as Mary did to Egypt and Nazareth. You
cannot walk beside a Physical Man as Mary
did in all Judea, but you can show Jesus
Christ to the world! and you shall do it by
showing yourself a mother!

Sister, the doctrine of the Mystical Body
must be lived. The world has sorry need of
learning it. But the world will never learn
it from books. It must get it from lives;
lives like yours and mine. America needs
high spirituality, but the only spirituality she
will ever accept is the spirituality that is
wrapped up in flesh and blood. America
needs the highest spirituality, that of the
Mystical Body of Christ; but the only way
she will ever get it is from you and me and
the other members of His Body. We mys-
tical members of Christ must act as members
of Christ. We must love and labor and suffer
and die with Christ and in Christ, for all the
immensity of His Body. We are over three
hundred million members actually, but two
billion potentially. You see, then, that our
work is large. We must remember that leaves
will wither and branches get broken and die
if we do not play our part. You must remem-
ber that the weak will never grow strong,
the sick, well, nor the dying come back to life
again unless you show yourself a mother.

Sister, our sin-sodden world needs YOU!



50 Doubling for the Mother of God

Literature, looked at as a mirror of life, gives
a lurid picture of our present-day rottenness.
The world is sex-mad. Homes are divorce-
riddled. Marriages are sin-filled. Middle-age
is lustful and lust-filled. Youth is pleasure-
bent and promiscuous. Society presents a
hateful sight. The whole world is hideous.
Look at Russia that is Bolshevik; Spain that
is still staggering after being Red-rent; Mexi-
co that is Communistic; and the whole mad
realm dominated by Germany’s upstart, Hit-
ler. Mary’s Son is gone from them. So, too,
is Mary. And when a Mother goes, a home
always breaks up!

Do you see your work? It is not teaching
this handful of boys or girls. It is not taking
care of these few orphans or foundlings. It
is not caring for a home full of old people.
It is not conducting a Cenacle or becoming a
contemplative. No! those are only means.
Your work is to play Mother to all Men!
You must be the Mystical Rose! You must
cooperate with Jesus Christ in the Redeem-
ing of Mankind! You must suffer and sorrow
and live and die that men come back to their
God, that the wandering world find its way
home to its heart-broken God and His heart-
broken Mother. There is nothing little about
your life, Sister. You are saving the world!
The world of today is not God-oblivious.

It is God-defying and God-denying. The one
spectacle that will strike that world and com-
pel it to admit that Christ still lives and that
He is God is the spectacle of selfless souls who
double for Mary Immaculate.
When that cynical, skeptical, self-centered,

self-satisfied, self-intoxicated world sees
women like you forget themselves, renounce
themselves, abandon themselves, in order to
live in Christ to God and all minkind, it



Doubling for the Mother of God 51

catches its breath and blinks. The world has
forgotten what abnegation means. It needs
to relearn that word and its meaning; for the
only way to an exaltation is through abnega-
tion. It can re-learn and it will re-learn both

the word and its meaning from you. More!
It will learn that God lives. Sister, when
the world sees that word written large in
the lives of yourself and your sisters, lives

that are nothing but one long death to self

in order that others might know life and live;
when it sees self-effacement blazoned before
them by women who spend themselves in the
service of Church and humanity; when it sees
utter dedications and entire consecrations of

individuals to all the children of God; then,

like Didymus of old, the world will fall down
on its stiff knees and say, “My Lord and my
God!”

That is your life, Sister. Show Christ to
the world by showing yourself a mother, a
double for the Mother of God. Make it your
one role. Receive it jealously. Carry it out

perfectly, else you betray the human race
and your Son, who loves it so!
That is what the doctrine of the Mystical

Body means. I am not spinning poetic fancy
or giving vent to flaring rhetoric. I am talk-
ing fact! By showing yourself a mother you
can show Christ to Red Russia, Nazi Ger-
many, Communistic Mexico, pagan England
and indifferent America. You can prove to
atheist and indifferentist that Jesus Christ
lives, lives just as vitally today as He did
when He walked Judean Hills; that He loved
doubter, scoffer, denier, with the same blood-
love that He had for High-priest, Scribe and
Pharisee, follower, disciple and apostle — a
love that took Him to death.



52 Doubling for the Mother of God

You must show yourself a mother by pray-
ing and working for these. They are your
mystical children potentially. Yes, Hitler and
Stalin are vivified by the breath of God, and
on the soul of every Nazi and Red is stamped
the image of our Father! For them you must
live and love, for them you must work and
slave, for them you must suffer, sacrifice and
finally die; for the Mother of God was made
the Mother of men by Christ’s last will and
testament, and you are Mary’s double.

Do you say, “Impossible”? Then I say that
you do not understand your role nor the
Drama in which you have a part. You do not
know the doctrine of the Mystical Body of
Christ.

Let me see if an example will clarify it.
Sister, you may feel small. You are small.
But small things can do great harm or great
good. A tiny diseased nerve in a toe or a
tooth makes your whole being miserable,
doesn’t it? Well, fail to show yourself a
mother and you will affect the whole Mystical
Body of Christ, for we are one!

Here is a better example. If you cut your
little finger and it becomes infected, what
happens? Your whole body is affected, be-
cause you are a unit. Then immediately the
leucocytes, those tiny, healthy, life-giving

corpuscles in your blood-stream, rush from
every part of your body to do battle unto
death with the phagocytes which are causing
the infection. Because you are a unit, the
healthy parts speed aid to the member that
is diseased. It is the law of life. Christ’s
Mystical Body is just as much a unit and has
just as much a law. But some parts are
diseased and dying and some parts are dead;
so you, a tiny, robust, vigorous leucocyte,



Doubling for the Mother of God 53

must give your strength to the weak, health
to the diseased and life to the dying and the
dead. You fulfill that law of life by showing
yourself a mother.

Oh, Sister, the world is like a lost child. It
is weeping. It is wandering. It is bewildered.
From all lands I hear but one cry. From the
steppes of Russia to the waters of the Eng-
lish sea, from Scandinavia to the Mediterra-
nean, from dark Africa and yellow Asia and
the land “down under” I hear a cry that rises
and rises; it is the cry of a weeping child.
And here in America the same voice wails. I
hear it. You must hear it if you love Christ.
The whole wide world is crying “Mother!
Mother! I want my Mother!” It is the cry
of the Child of God lost in the maze of the
mad material world. Sister, save that child!
Our God is weeping, too. I hear Him.

Can’t you? He is weeping over the same
mad modern world. Through tears that blur
and blind Him, He looks on a sorry, sorry
race of men and says, “If thou hadst known,
if thou hadst known. . . !” Sister, it will
never know unless you show yourself a
mother, unless you go on ever more perfectly
doubling for the Mother of God, unless you
learn six lines and live them: Purity —
Humility — Joy—Seeking Christ—Considera-
tion for others — Charity. — But, no! I am
wrong. There are not six lines. There is only
one! The world will be lost unless you learn
and live — LOVE! Mother’s love! The LOVE
of the Mother of Christ for the whole Christ!



AIDS

TO

LEARNING YOUR LINES



Doubling for the Mother of God 55

SOME PARTING SUGGESTIONS

It is a beautiful role that God has assigned
you, Sister; it is the leading feminine role in

the Great Drama of the Redeeming. And I
supopse that as you sit reflecting on what

you have read, you say to yourself, “How
can I keep it alive?” You want to know some
method of keeping conscious of your part in

the Mystical Body; some means to prevent

you from ever stepping out of character.

I understand, Sister. Perfectly! Though

from the skin out we be clothed in garments
that are religious; though we live in a house
that is religious; though we be surrounded
by pictures and statues and crucifixes that

are religious; though we have as our imme-
diate family only those who are religious; we
seem to be unable to keep conscious of our

religious state. We have been given ideals
before. We have thrilled to them; but they
faded. We have made retreats and read
treatises before, and they fired us to generous

resolutions. But we broke them. We some-
times shake ourselves and wonder what is
wrong. We feel that we are little more than
seculars in religious garb, I understand, Sis-

ter. Perfectly!

Usually, we lay the blame on our work.
We say that we become so absorbed in the
harvest that we forget the Lord of the har-
vest; so concerned with the vineyard that

we neglect the vineyard’s Master. It is a
common, a universal complaint. Teachers be-
come intent on teaching and say that they
forget the Teacher. Nurses become absorbed
in curing and say that they neglect the Di-

vine Physician. Little Sisters tell me that
they so fall in love with the old folk that



56 Doubling: for the Mother of God

they pay not enough attention to the Father
of us all. Those in homes and asylums say
that they are entirely taken up with the
homes and asylums and look not enough to
Eternal Mansions and to Him who has pre-
pared them. Why, Sister, even contemplatives
complain of their work!

I know the complaint. I further know that
there are spiritual writers and retreat-masters
who are talking about the Heresy of the
Twentieth Century, the heresy of WORK!

But, Sister, pause for a moment and think!
You have seen mothers washing clothes, pre-
paring meals, sweeping rooms, haven’t you?
You have seen them busy about the house
from dawn to dusk. Tell me, who works
more than a mother? And let me tell you
that she is intent on her work. Very intent.
But does that make her less a mother? Does
that absorption in getting those clothes clean,
those meals palatable, those rooms spotless,
take anything from her love for her children?
Is it not rather a wonderful manifestation of
her selfless heart? Love has direct and in-
direct manifestations, you know. Words are
the direct, works the indirect. And, Sister, the
indirect are often more trustworthy than the
direct! Do not take my word for it, but re-
call what our Master said, “Not all who say:
Lord, Lord, shall enter Heaven.”
Work, your specific work, is the will of

God in your regard. How, then, can absorp-
tion in it take you from Him? A general
talks to a soldier, giving him a message for
a distant command. The soldier leaves the
presence of his general to carry out his com-
mand. Is that soldier neglecting his leader?
The President talks to an ambassador, telling
him the policy to follow in a foreign land.
The ambassador sails away and carries out



Doubling for the Mother of God 57

that policy in that foreign land. Is he neglect-
ing his President? Then, how are you?

Work, Sister, is an indirect prayer. Prayer
is a direct work. St. Benedict said, “Ora ET
labora,” not “Ora AUT labora.” But we often
confusedly suppose that we should hop from
one to the other, like a canary jumping from
side to side of its cage. We imagine that we
should be ever interrupting our work to lift
our minds and hearts to God. We look on
work and prayer as if they were parallel
lines. They are not! They are not juxtaposed
like twin brother and sister; they are inter-
posed like yeast in the dough or the soul in
the body. God works with you, Sister. His
grace precedes and accompanies your every
salutary act. So you need not divert your-
self from your work to find your God. He
is your work!

There is no heresy in work, or in absorp-
tion in work. It is but the visible manifes-
tation of the spirit of faith and love by which
we live. Prayer should not distract from
work, nor work be an interruption of your
converse with God; they are one when you
have a pure intention.

I can almost hear you shout, “But work IS
a distraction!”

Of course, I am not now talking to those
who have become such slaves to their em-
ployments that they no longer pray. Those
few do not need this pamphlet. What they
need is what St. Ignatius gives his sons at
the close of their studies — a third year of
probation in which to recapture the religious
spirit. These few have become executives or
members of institutional staffs; they have
ceased to be religious.



58 Doubling for the Mother of God

But to the almost universality of you —
you who make the Morning Offering and
mean it; you who start every big action with
a little prayer; v you who make daily medita-
tion and examen; you who are religious but
who are ridden by that bugaboo of ‘‘work
is a menace to union with God”; to you who
shout, “But work IS a distraction,” I say . .

.

All right, Sister. Then to solve the difficulty
and help you learn your lines and live them,
I give three suggestions. All are tangible.
All are material. All are connected with your
work. To employ them effectively calls for
a little mental discipline. But you will make
the slight effort, I am sure; especially since
their tangibility renders even this discipline
relatively easy. I made them material, for
our minds are more at home in the quantita-
tive and dimensional than in the ideal and the
abstract. Our souls are still in our bodies!
And it is this oversight that makes us fre-
quently fallacious. We are still human, we
want to be angelic. We want the absorption
of Heaven, that complete immersion in God
and God alone, even while we walk on earth.
We are not going to get it. But perhaps these
may help you somewhat

I. LET THOUGHTLESSNESS REMIND YOU!
You say that your work distracts you. Well

and good. Then I say make these very dis-
tractions a means to recollection. Your two
biggest distractions are discouragement and
disappointment. Use them as means to remind
you of your role.

How?
This way. You teach a little class, walk a

hospital floor, look after some very old peo-
ple, nurse a foundling or an orphan, take



Doubling for the Mother of God 59

in a few Magdalens or live behind a grating

and a grill, and you feel that your trifle of

occupation, absorbing as it is, means nothing

to the wide world or to the great God. It is

most true, Sister, that you do very little in

this very big world. But let me ask you*.
“Did Mary do more?’’ See how Mary-con-
scious, Mother-conscious and hence, Christ-

conscious even distractions of this discourag-

ing nature can make you? Sister, Mary Im-
maculate did not do as much as you do, yet
she showed the whole world its Redeemer.

Take courage! When these depressing
thoughts come, laugh and say, “How like
Mary I am!”
Another source of trouble is routine. The

sameness dulls our spirits and renders life

drab. I know it, Sister. But tell me, what
does a mother do? Can you picture a more
monotonous life? Today she prepares three

meals and cleans the house; tomorrow she

will clean the house and prepare three meals.

And that goes on for years! Keep smiling,
Sister, and when routine bothers you say,
“I am doubling for the Mother of God!”
Again, you may say that you have too much

work. I know, Sister. What you mean is that
your works are never done; for you have only

one work, that is to make of life an act of
love! But it is true that your works are never

done. But are a mother’s? I am quite sure
that we will all go to our graves with our
works unfinished. That is our lot. But use

it to remind you of your role. And see to it
that you do not go to your grave with your

one work, your act of love, unfinished!

Finally, your life is unappreciated. That is

a tremendous disappointment. Pupils are

never grateful. The sick only care to get well
and to get as far from you and your hospital



60 Doubling for the Mother of God

as they can. The Magdalens often feel that
they are in prison. Old folks can be very
sour and cranky, while orphans and found-
lings know nothing. Yours is a thankless life.
I know it. And if you are a contemplative,
you will, at times, experience a human lone-
liness and lovelessness that borders on dere-
liction. The more intense you are in your
work, the greater will be your disappointment.
Why, there are times when even superiors
seem most unappreciative. Ah, Sister, use
this distraction to bring you in closest union
with God; for herein you are being every
inch the mother. Are mothers ever properly
thanked or rightly appreciated? Hardly
ever. Most certainly not until the children
are fully grown. Sometimes not until mother
has gone!
You are a mother, Sister. You are mother-

ing a world of souls for Christ. That world is
not fully grown. It does not appreciate and
will not thank. But realize that this makes
you the Mater Dolorosa — a beautiful part to
play opposite the Man of Sorrows!

Yes, Sister, use the thoughtlessness and the
thanklessness of those you serve as a means
to keep you mindful of your role. The mem-
bers of the Body do not understand or appre-
ciate. The Head does. Take courage. The
world one day will be fully grown. On that
day it will appreciate. For on that day it
will know Christ as the King of kings and
Judge of the living and the dead. That day
it will know you as the woman who doubled
for Mary Immaculate.

II. MEET ST. JOHN
That brings me to my second suggestion.

If you want to keep conscious of your role,
read the Apocalypse. It says much about



Doubling for the Mother of God 61

you. In the seventh chapter you will find
the verse: “After this I saw a great multi-
tude, which no man could number . . . clothed
with white robes, and palms in their hands.”
That is for you, Sister. You are of that mighty
number. You will be robed in white; for you
have been washed in the Blood of the Lamb
— Baptism, Confirmation, Confession, Com-
munion! You will be robed in white; for
purgatory here and hereafter makes one
white! Yes, I say, purgatory here! Those
heartaches, headaches, backaches and ear-
aches; those desolations, discouragements and
disappointments are purgatory here. Use
them, Sister; use them to make you white as
the Immaculate One you reproduce. The
palm will be yours, too. Victories! Victories
won by the Valiant Woman!
Read chapter twelve. That is you! A

woman clothed with the sun . . . and being
with child, she cried travailing in birth, and
was in pain to be delivered.” Indeed, that is
you, Sister. You are in pain as you mother
the mystical members of Christ.
Read the fourteenth chapter. “They are

virgins. These follow the Lamb whitherso-
ever He goeth.” In life you followed the
Lamb; not only in the Commandments, but
also in the counsels; you mothered mystical
members for Him; in death, then, you shall
be high above Sion, singing the song only
the few know. Yes, Sister, that is for you!
Take the twenty-first and twenty-second

chapters and dream over them. The New
Jerusalem. Your home. “And God shall
wipe away all tears from the eyes and death
shall be no more. . . . Behold I make all things
new . . . And they shall see His face!” You
shall know your own in Heaven, Sister. You
shall know all whom you mothered directly



62 Doubling for the Mother of God

and indirectly. You shall know our Head!
Read the Apocalypse, Sister. It says much
about you!

That is my way of saying, “Keep your eye
on Eternity!” That is all that Time is for.
Be not near-sighted. Read the Apocalypse
and learn how to look up and beyond, to look
so far up that you see the New Jerusalem.
Then youTl remember to double for Mary!

III. USE DOORS!
If the above be not tangible enough for

you; if you say: “It’s too spiritual, and I’m
material. It’s too idealistic, and I’m realis-
tic. It’s too mystical, and I’m only a muddled
wayfarer groping my way.” Then I say: USE
DOORS!
Let me explain. I know full well that our

fight is to die to the spirit of the world and
to live in the world of the spirit. I also
know that this concept of doubling for the
Mother of God is most practical. I further
know that it will fade unless we devise some
tangible way of keeping it bright. I had
thought of a little picture of the “Madonna
of the Sleeping Child.” That concretizes and
epitomizes this booklet. But I was torn
between the representation of Love just born
and Love just consummated. I did not know
whether the Madonna or the Pieta was more
representative of your happy lot. Mothers of
the Mystical Christ must go from Bethle-
hem to Golgotha, else the Great Drama of
the Redeeming will be incomplete. I could
not decide.

My next thought was an apt title for each
of you. “Refugium Peccatorum” fits the Good
Shepherds. “Salus Infirmorum” is exact for
all who work with the physically or mentally



Doubling for the Mother of God 63

ill. “Consolatrix Afflictorum” is true for

the Little Sisters of the Poor and all in or-

phan or foundling homes. “Auxilium Chris-

tianorum” is the title for teachers. “Vas In-

signe Devotionis” I select for contemplatives.

But the one title that fits you all is “JANUA
COELI.”

Mothers are portals to life. Mystical moth-

ers are gates to Heaven. So I say, “Use

Doors!” Use every door you pass through as

a reminder of what you are supposed to be!
You are a double for the mother of God and
therefore a “GATE TO HEAVEN”!
As you see, Sister, these three suggestions

have as their end a focusing of your atten-

tion on Heaven. I want you to keep your
eye on eternity. Life is a wind. Eternity is

tomorrow! So I again say, “Use Doors!” Use
every door as an Inquisitor who asks you:
“Are you a Gate to Heaven for yourself? Are
you a Gate to Heaven for others? Are you
doubling for the Mother of God?”

* * *

I must end, but before I do, let me tell you,
Mystical Mother of God, that you have had
most of your mysteries. You have had your
Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Presenta-

tion and Finding. You are now living the
Passion. Your glorious mysteries will soon
begin! I will not promise you an Assump-
tion, but I will fearlessly prophesy your Cor-

onation if you go on doubling for the Mother
of God!

Will you be like the Mother of God to me?
Will you “pray for me, a sinner, now and at
the hour of my death”? Please! Life is a
wind, you know, Eternity is tomorrow!

MISSION PRESS, S.V. D., TECHNY, IIA.



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