Because the Blessed Virgin was in great need

The Easter season offers many stories of apparitions of the risen Lord to the early Christians, but oddly seems to forget or leaves someone in the shadows, keeping a discreet silence about her: the Virgin Mary. She is mentioned at the foot of the Cross, and is present among the first community gathered in the Cenacle, but where is she at Easter? Scripture seems to cast a modest veil over what must have been the most moving encounter between the Mother and her Son who conquered death.

Thankfully popular piety has filled this void, and trusted authors embraced it. In his Spiritual Exercises, for the mystery of the Resurrection, Saint Ignatius of Loyola recommends that we meditate on the fact that Jesus appeared to the Virgin Mary. Even though Scripture does not mention it, it is implied, when it is written that Jesus appeared to many others. Saint Teresa of Avila had a private revelation: “Jesus told me that having resurrected; he went to see Our Lady, because she was in great need. Her sorrow kept her absorbed and pierced, and she had not yet turned into herself to enjoy this joy of faith; and that he stayed with her a long time, because it was necessary to console her.”

Meditations