Real mother

At the beginning of Dante’s Divine Comedy, Dante pictures himself as being in a dark fo-rest because "in the middle of life’s journey he had lost the right way". He sees a mountain nearby and going to the foot of it he looks up and sees that at the mountain-top dawn is beginning to glimmer. Salvation would come if he gets to the top, so he starts to climb. But his path is blocked by three wild beasts – a leo-pard, a lion and a she-wolf (representing the three great temptations of mankind, namely lust, violence and greed). Terrified by the beasts he rushes back to the dark forest, "so fearful that even the memory of it brings back the fear".

In this predicament the ghost of Virgil, the Roman poet who was Dante’s favorite author, appears and offers to lead him to salvation "through another way", namely through hell into purgatory and heaven.

The question arises: How did Virgil know that Dante needed his help? Virgil answers: A beautiful lady (Beatrice) appeared to him where he was in Limbo and asked him to help Dante. And how did Beatrice know that Dante needed help? Beatrice explains: A noble lady in heaven (Donna e gentil nel ciel) saw that Dante was in trouble and in her compassion she took steps to help him by sending word to Beatrice through Santa Lucia, the patroness of vision and enlightenment.

The "noble lady in heaven" is, of course, the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is noteworthy that at the very beginning of his great epic, Dante pays tribute to Mary’s motherly solicitude for her children.

Notice, first of all, that Mary notices Dante’s distress. She is a perceptive person. Notice, secondly, that, without being asked, she immediately takes steps to help him. Notice, finally, that the way to help him is through ways in accord with Dante’s own temperament and habits. Dante is a poet who has long studied the poetry of Virgil, so it is through Virgil that he is helped out of his predicament.

Dante is thus depicting Mary in her characteristic way of acting. This is the young woman who (as Luke’s Gospel tells us) when she learns that her elderly relative Elizabeth is expecting a child, "rises up and goes in haste to the hill country" to help her. This is the woman, who (as John’s Gospel narrates) at a wedding feast, notices that the wine has run out. To save the young newlyweds embarrassment, she quietly goes to her Son and says, "They have no wine."

That is Mary. A perceptive person. And a compassionate one. As soon as she sees that one of her children is in trouble, she takes steps at once to help the person in need.

That is Mary. A real mother. A mother of perpetual help.