Flower of Devotion

On the evening before the glorious Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Mechtilde was immersed in prayer, it seemed to her as if she were in a little house where the Blessed Virgin lay on a bed covered with a white sheet. And she said to her, “O virgin Mother! From what could sickness have come upon you, when, as we believe, you were free from all the sufferings of death?”
The Blessed Virgin answered: “While in prayer and in meditation on the benefits of God bestowed upon me, I was inflamed with an ineffable desire to give glory and thanksgiving to God; I felt a new fire of God’s love, which gave me an ineffable desire to see Him and to be in His presence. And when this seraphic fire of love grew in Me so mightily that I no longer had sufficient bodily strength to bear it, I lay myself down on My bed, and all the choirs of angels began to serve Me. And the Seraphim helped My love and kindled in Me this flame of God more and more. The cherubim served me with the light of discernment, so that I foresaw in my mind all the great things that My Lord, My God and My Bridegroom wanted to do in Me. So I said praying, “Let not the spirit of darkness meet me, so that by his presence this heavenly light may not be darkened for a moment.” The thrones have preserved for me that undisturbed peace which I have enjoyed in God. The states stood by my side, serving me with reverence. All the Princes have paid homage to Me as their Queen and the Mother of their King. The principalities prevented by their presence that none of those who came to Me could do anything to Me that could disturb the peace of My soul. The powers that be have been holding back multitudes of evil spirits so that they cannot come near Me. The powers stood around Me to the fullness of My glory, clothed and adorned with the power of My virtues. The angels and archangels caused all present to serve Me with the greatest reverence and devotion.”
And she saw the feasts in the spirit of the Lord Jesus among the angels hovering in and around the Blessed Virgin, and the seraphic spirits dwelling near her.