What joy it must have been to Mary to see that precious Body which He had taken from her, which she had nurtured and tended and loved, which she had seen so recently covered with scars and gaping wounds! What joy it must have been to her to see It in all the beauty of Its Resurrection--to see It glorified! Her joy was so intense that the saints tell us it was only by a miracle that her body could master her soul and keep it still a prisoner. And then the consolation of knowing that never again would He suffer--the joy of seeing the Five Wounds and knowing that He would keep them always, as precious memorials of His death and of His victory over death, of His undying love for His Church, and of His right to give it all that it should ever claim, because with those wounds He had more than paid for all that it would ever need. Mary entered into all these truths as no one else could, and therefore her Easter joy was greater than that of anybody else. Her joy was greater, too, because her _love_ was greater. Her love for JESUS was wholly unselfish, and so was her joy; it was wholly on account of the joy of her Son. She forgot her own joy for the moment; she forgot the long exile that lay before her; she forgot everything but His joy. Her _suffering_ also was indirectly another cause of her joy. Our capacity for joy is in proportion to our capacity for suffering. We have seen something of what Mary's capacity for suffering was, and so we can understand in some small measure how full was her cup of joy. Mary had other joys too, which were incidental to the joy of seeing her Son risen and glorified. She saw the saints who rose with Him, for He would be sure to present them to His Mother. Some would need no introduction--her dear spouse St Joseph, her parents St Joachim and St Anne. Yes, Mary's joys more than made up for her sorrows. One day, if we try to receive our cup of sorrow as Mary did, that is, take it _for_ JESUS and _with_ JESUS, we too shall receive the cup of joy, and we shall be able to say with St Paul as we put the two side by side: "The sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory." (Rom. viii. 18.) Teach me, O holy Mother of GOD, something of this real joy--the joy that is arrived at through faith, through suffering, through a perfect union of heart with the Sacred Heart of JESUS, and through conformity to GOD'S will; the joy of the risen life--the new life that rises out of the death to self. _Colloquy._ The _Regina Coeli_:-- "Queen of Heaven, rejoice,--Alleluia For He Whom thou wast made worthy to bear--Alleluia Hath risen as He said--Alleluia. Pray for us to GOD--Alleluia." (_Anthem from Easter to Trinity._) _Resolution._ To say my _Fiat_ bravely with Mary, as the surest way of sharing her joy. _Spiritual Bouquet._ "Causa nostræ lætitiæ, ora pro nobis." The Second and Third Glorious Mysteries