16 August 1982
Paris, France

Mother Rogé, Father Lloret, my dear Confreres and my dear Sisters,

When I was flying to Philadelphia for the funeral of Father Slattery, I spent part of the time reading a little book about Our Blessed Lady. The author devoted a paragraph to the consideration of the one Greek word which expresses the phrase "full of grace" in the salutation of the Angel Gabriel to Our Blessed Lady. It brought back to my mind an observation which a professor of Sacred Scripture made to me some years ago. He said that the Greek word, "Kecharitomene" or "full of grace", could suggest not only spiritual beauty, but also physical beauty. It is not difficult for us to imagine that Our Lady must have been physically very beautiful as well as being spiritually perfect. The physical beauty of our bodies changes with the passing of the years. Even if it did not, death will change the physical beauty of our bodies, as we return to the dust out of which we were made.

Apropos of the beauty of our bodies, it is good to recall often St. Peter's advice to the Christian women of his time: "You should not use outward aids to make yourselves beautiful.... Instead your beauty should consist of your true inner self, the ageless beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of the greatest value in God's sight." (1 Pt 3:3-4).

It is good to recall some of those wise counsels which St. Vincent gave to guide us towards a true appreciation of spiritual and physical beauty through our vow of chastity. We would be mistaken to think that the advice which St. Vincent and St. Louise offered us is no longer relevant today for the living of our chastity. We have heard and read much in recent years about the positive aspects of chastity. We would, however, deceive ourselves by thinking that there is no longer place for those essential negative safeguards which St. Vincent along with the saints of other ages have emphasized. Times may change, but human nature does not. Relationships which begin in the spirit can still end in the flesh. The beauty of the human body can and should lead us to God. It can, however, lead us away from Him, if our chastity is not rooted in the love of the Person of Christ and in a crucified life.

The physical beauty of Our Lady was not touched by the change or corruption of the grave, for when the course of her earthly life was complete, she was taken, body and soul, into heaven, so that she could fully share in the Resurrection of Him Whom she bore in her womb. "...Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia; Resurrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia...."

In the Preface of today's Mass there is a lovely little phrase describing the present activity of Our Blessed Lady, assumed into heaven: "She guides and supports the hope of your people still journeying." Which of us here has not experienced in a tangible way in our lives the guidance and the hope which Our Blessed Lady offers to us all?

What Mary does for each of us, God wills that we should try to do for our fellow pilgrims. Within the limits of what St. Vincent would call our little abilities, our vocation is to guide and sustain the hope of the poor, in that humble and unobtrusive way which characterized all that Mary did, when she, like us, was a pilgrim in this life.