Mary in the Temple (IV)

I went during the night to the altar of the Temple Saint Elizabeth, a Benedictine nun from the Schoenau monastery, received this revelation from the Virgin, related by St Bonaventure: "After my parents left me in the Temple, I made a resolution in my heart to take God as my father, and I often wondered what I could do to please him. I also made vows to remain virgin and possess nothing on this earth. I placed my whole will in the hands of God." She added: "Of all the divine precepts, the one I constantly beheld was that of love: You shall love the Lord our God. I would go in the middle of the night to the altar of the Temple to ask for the grace of being able to follow the precepts of the Law. I longed for the birth of the Redeemer's mother and eagerly entreated God to preserve my eyes so that I might see her, my tongue so that I might praise her, my hands and feet so that I might serve her, my knees so that I might worship the true Son of God in her womb." To which Elizabeth replied: "But my Queen, weren't you already full of grace and virtue?" The Blessed Virgin answered, "You should know that I considered myself to be the vilest creature and most unworthy of divine grace. Therefore I never ceased to ask for virtue and grace."