Let us now consider how her blessed transition took place. After Christ's ascension, Mary remained on earth to attend to the spread of the faith. The apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ turned to her, and she resolved their
doubts, comforted them during persecutions, and encouraged them to work for the glory of God and the salvation of redeemed souls.
She gladly remained on She gladly remained on earth,
understanding that this was God's will for the good of the Church, but she longed to be with her Son who had ascended into heaven. “Where your treasure is,” said the Redeemer, “there your heart will be also” (Lk 12:34). Where one thinks
one's treasure and happiness are, there one's love and desire are always fixed.
For if Mary loved no one more than Jesus, while he was in heaven, that is where her longings and desires were.
Tablero writes of Mary that “she had her dwelling place in heaven,” because having all her love there, she had her constant rest there; “she had eternity as her school,”
always detached from material goods; “she had the truth of God as her teacher,” acting in everything according to his divine light; “she had divinity as her mirror,”
she only contemplated God in order to conform herself in everything to his divine will; “her devotion was her adornment,”
always ready to follow the divine will; “her only rest was God,”
since in uniting herself completely with him she found all her peace; “the place where the treasure of her heart was was only God,” and this even in her dreams.
The Blessed Virgin, writes this author, walked, consoling her loving heart in that painful distance, visiting, as it is said, the holy places where her Son had been: the cave in Bethlehem where he was born, the little house in Nazareth where he had lived for so many years, the garden of Gethsemane where his passion began, and Pilate's praetorium where he was scourged, as well as the place where he was crowned with
thorns; but most often she visited Calvary, where her Son gave up his spirit, and the holy tomb where she had laid him. And so the most loving Mother was consoled for the pain of her harsh exile.
But this was not enough to satisfy his heart, which could not find its perfect rest on earth, so he did nothing but sigh constantly to his Lord, exclaiming with David but with more ardent love: "Who would give me wings like a dove, and I would fly away and rest! Who would give me wings to fly to
my God and find my rest in him! As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, my God" (Ps 41:2). As the wounded deer longs for the stream, so my soul, wounded by your love, my God, seeks you and longs for you. The groans of this little dove pierced the heart of her God who loved her so much: "The voice of the dove has been heard in our land" (Song of Songs 2:12). Not wanting to delay the consolation of his beloved any longer, he finally fulfills her desire and calls her to his kingdom.
The Glories of Mary - Saint Alphonsus