St. Thomas Aquinas (cf. Summa Theologiæ. II-II, q.30, a.4) questions whether mercy is the greatest of all virtues. In fact, by repeating Hosea’s exhortation – “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” (Hos 6:6; Mt 12:7) – Jesus would seem to indicate this.
However, following St. Paul (cf. Col 3:14), the Angelic Doctor makes a distinction: charity is the greatest of the virtues with respect to the one who possesses it, because it unites man to God through love and makes us similar to Him; but in itself, mercy proves to be the most excellent and the one that spreads the most good, because it is capable of providing for others in their necessities, which is proper to one in a higher position.
The merciful man imitates God in a sublime way. Our Lord rightly puts mercy in parallel with perfection: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36); “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).
These presuppositions help us to appreciate the greatness of the Sacrament of Penance, which is so appropriate for us to consider during this Lenten Season.
Here the Virgin Mary plays a singular role, as the most merciful Mother, always ready to arouse feelings of contrition in the soul of the sinner who implores her help. No creature has imitated God as perfectly as the Blessed Virgin, and this is true especially as regards mercy.
In reality, only a mother could reflect the “compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience” (Col 3:12) which the minister of God puts on in welcoming the repentant sinner, and this is aptly symbolized by the gesture of an embrace. In this vein, Our Lord revealed to St. Faustina Kowalska:
“When a soul sees and realizes the gravity of its sins, when the whole abyss of the misery into which it immersed itself is displayed before its eyes, let it not despair, but with trust let it throw itself into the arms of My mercy, as a child into the arms of its beloved mother” (Diary, no. 1541).
This is what Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias experienced on July 12, 2008 when, in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, in Caieiras (Brazil), he received what he called “the greatest sensible manifestation of Mary’s mercy” in his life. As he narrated in his work Mary Most Holy: The Paradise of God Revealed to Men, he felt himself physically embraced by the Mother of God, followed by a flood of consolations.
This merciful embrace prepared him for the stroke he suffered in 2010, after which he began to make even greater sacrifices: the manifestation of his own mercy towards his spiritual children, by becoming aware of his mission to offer his sufferings for the good of his work, subordinate to that of the Church. In fact, mercy is the sacrifice most pleasing to God, as the Letter to the Hebrews attests: “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (13:16).
In short, Our Lady is truly the Mother of Mercy not only because She embraces her wretched children with compassion, but also because She can make others share in her mercy. Her embrace extends to many, through the children whom She has especially held close to her Immaculate Heart, and in this sense She is also the Mother of the embrace. ◊
