Ave Maria Meditations
Haste is not one of those disordered tendencies of the soul, such as pride etc… But rather it is a defect caused by nervousness and we must learn to check haste at all times. Haste prevents every natural and supernatural activity from producing its full effect…Almost every language has one or two proverbs which point up the harmful effects of haste.
A person in a hurry performs a multitude of useless movements, grows tired, spoils his work, and is often obliged to do it over completely… From the spiritual viewpoint the damage caused by haste is still more disastrous. Whoever is precipitate is subject to incessant distractions; only the calm man is able to keep the eye of the soul fixed upon supernatural realities but the impetuous person hardly knows what intimate contact with God is. Such a person is rarely directed by the Holy Spirit Who speak softly and is inaudible amid agitation…haste prevents full fruitfulness in apostolic enterprises.
The impetuous person is in a hurry to execute an idea as soon as it presents itself, and is in just as much of a hurry to abandon it; he speaks before he thinks, acts imprudently, and compromises the success of the finest work. Tranquility, though not a virtue, is the indispensable condition of holiness and a full apostolic fruitfulness.
How can we overcome this deadly defect (of haste)? There are natural and supernatural ways. Here we shall consider only the Marian means, namely, the imitation of Mary and recourse to her. We should contemplate her, recollected and absorbed in the thought of God whose tabernacle she is, and who dwells in us also. We should also imitate her spirits of order. Should we feel hurried, we can perhaps pause a moment to reestablish our serenity close to Mary. A quick glance at Mary to see how she would act in our place because Jesus’ pleasure is sufficient. And then on with the action, a bit more slowly perhaps, in order to fix our whole attention on what we are doing. But it should be a calm, loving attention.
As one busy priest noted: “When I deliberately try to be (as) Mary doing the good pleasure of her Son, I am perfect master of myself and I soon can go ahead with my work more perfectly then when I do not have the time to begin in her name. Especially when I have little time I ought to say: be careful; you have so much to do; let her take over that you will be able to do it all. ”
A final suggestion: We should aim always at doing what we are doing under the direction of Mary.
Fr. Emile Neubert (from Life of Union with Mary)
