We hear the words of the Mother of God and we think how much the generations have fulfilled them. Over the centuries, increasingly, men have recalled the wonder that is Mary and have held her blessed. What is that glory in her soul that causes us to halt and gaze in awe and love? Rosa mystica, the mystic rose, is before us and therein is a whole world of mystery, a life, a deep-set complex of relations. Look into the heart of a rose, of a rosebud, you will see an interweaving, interscrolled patterning of petals and from it you will breathe a scent as of all heaven. So, in the Spirit, is Mary, containing the divine mysteries and breathing the very ‘odour of Christ Jesus. ‘The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee.'