Verse 51 The peculiar character of Mary's feelings towards her infant son is beautifully intimated to us in these and similar expressions, which show the strong affection of the mother, repressed and controlled by the mysterious sacredness with which the subject of it was invested. She observes every thing, watches every thing, but is silent in respect to what she sees, laying it up in her heart. It seems as if the sacred writers perceived the peculiar dramatic interest of her position; for every allusion to her is in keeping with it, and heightens the effect. Wherever she appears,--on this occasion, at the marriage in Cana of Galilee, in her attendance upon Jesus in his journeyings, and at his last hour, standing by his side, at the cross,--we seem to see in her look, her attitude, her tone of voice, and in the meaning of the few words she utters, that mingling of maternal pride and maternal anxiety,--of motherly fondness for a son, and of religious veneration for a Savior,--which we might almost have supposed to have been inconsistent with each other. Silent, unobtrusive, and retiring, but ever watchful, ever at hand, we know not which most to admire, the ardent affection which kept her near her son, even in his greatest dangers, or the singular quietness of spirit and reserve, through which she always keeps, in every scene, a position so becoming to the gentleness and modesty of woman. It is not surprising that in the dark and superstitious ages of the church, she was almost worshipped as divine.