Theological Foundations new file

141 Marian Character Virgin most precious among all other creatures. Moreover, you do know how highly king Solomon, the richest and the wisest man of all people, valued the cedar trees which he decided to use to adorn the interior of the temple he built, the first and the most famous on earth. Therefore, why shouldn’t Mary be called a cedar if she herself is a temple of God?” 3 In Father Papczynski’s vision, Mary by accomodation also compares herself to a terebinth (i.e. a tree similar in look to an oak): “Like a tere- binth I spread out my branches, and my branches are glorious and grace- ful” (Sir 24, 16). Man crushed by the burden of his sins and oppressed by the anguish of his troubles can approach the Blessed Virgin without hesitation. She spreads her hands like a terebinth spreads its branches, so that anyone can hasten to her with trust and hope that she will obtain for him any kind of grace from God. One cannot even imagine the graces that she can obtain from her Son on this particular day when we remem- ber the exceptional privilege granted to her, the privilege which separat- ed her from the lot common to all other people as one conceived with- out the stain of original sin, adorned with infinite gifts and exulted above all creatures. 4 Therefore, she can say after the Eternal Wisdom: “The remembrance of me is sweeter than honey” (Sir 24, 20). The Holy Church professes this truth calling the Most Holy Virgin not only pious and gracious but also sweet. “O, you are truly sweet, Virgin Mary! For has there ever been anyone who, filled with bitterness, called upon you, the Sweetest One, and left without being comforted? Has there ever been anyone who, heartbroken and filled with grief, approached you and was not immediately strengthened? Has there been anyone who, tor- mented by vexing temptations, did not experience the sweetness of your heart? You comfort, strengthen, support, and uplift all those who are oppressed, crying, tempted, and depressed. You are sweet to all, gracious to all. I wish I could express how sweet you are as well as I understand that you are sweet! For even though the entire Christian world experi- ences and tastes your sweetness, it is not able to express it.” 5 This meditation expresses Father Stanislaus’s conviction that the Most Holy Virgin is like this because she was conceived without the