s one ever present!

And if our faith had given us nothing more
Than this example of all womanhood,
So mild, so merciful, so strong, so good,
So patient, peaceful, loyal, loving, pure,
This were enough to prove it higher and truer
Than all the creeds the world had known before."(270)

St. Ambrose gives us the following beautiful picture of Mary's life before
her espousals: "Let the life," he says, "of the Blessed Mary be ever
present to you in which, as in a mirror, the beauty of chastity and the
form of virtue shine forth. She was a virgin not only in body, but in
mind, who never sullied the pure affection of her heart by unworthy
feelings. She was humble of heart, serious in her conversation, fonder of
reading than of speaking. She placed her confidence rather in the prayer
of the poor than in the uncertain riches of this world. She was ever
intent on her occupation, ... and accustomed to make God rather than man
the witness of her thoughts. She injured no one, wished well to all,
reverenced age, yielded not to envy, avoided all boasting, followed the
dictates of reason and loved virtue. When did she sadden her parents even
by a look?... There was nothing forward in her looks, bold in her words or
unbecoming in her actions. Her carriage was not abrupt, her gait not
indolent, her voice not petulant, so that her very appearance was the
picture of her mind and the figure of piety."

Her life as a spouse and as a mother was a counterpart of her earlier
years. The Gospel relates one little circumstance which amply suffices to
demonstrate Mary's super-eminent holiness of life, and to exhibit her as a
beautiful pattern to those who are called to rule a household. The
Evangelist tells us that Jesus "was subject to them"(271)--that is, to Mary
and Joseph. He obeyed all her commands, fulfilled her behests, complied
with her smallest injunctions; in a word, He discharged toward her all the
filial observances which a dutiful son exercises toward a prudent mother.
These relations continued from His childhood to His public life, nor did
they cease even then.

Now Jesus being the Son of God, "the brightness of His glory and the
figure of His substance,"(272) could not sin. He was incapable of
fulfilling an unrighteous precept. The obvious conclusion to be drawn from
these facts is, that Mary never sinned by commanding, as Jesus could not
sin by obeying; that all her precepts and counsels were stamped wi