First published in 1904 as a limited edition of 155.
​This book was written by a man called Kenneth Guthrie at the turn of last century. He claims to have translated it, and so we could think of it as an apocryphal book, like the Gospel of Thomas, but it is probably more accurate to say that this book was "channeled" rather than discovered and translated.
Whatever its origins, it was a book which Rev Mario was very fond of and he insisted that The Centre reprint this book so that it would be available to many people to read.
Rev Mario writes: Because of the gentle language used and the images it conjures within your mind, this small book will delight and enrich your soul. The tone of this book is deeply mystical and the content worthy of deep contemplation. To a certain extent it will give you a better understanding of the spiritual role that Mother Mary played in the evolution and redemption of this world.
Those who have studied occultism with Rev Mario will surely notice that many things in this book are inaccurate in the occult sense, especially the past lives of Mary and Jesus. However, on an inner metaphysical level it contains a great truth. Mary is our soul and Mary recounts in this story how, through many lives, she faced many lessons and learned them through loving different people.
At the end of the book we hear Jesus say that he was all those people. He says, "I am Abraham, I am Zarathustra, I am Socrates." I AM … I AM ... Mary loved the I AM through all her lives in all its many facets, and through loving the I AM, she progressed, and was finally united completely with the Christ.
Coming from a Catholic tradition, Rev Mario had a great feeling and affection for Mary. In fact, he was named for her - Mario is the masculine form of Mary. In the Catholic tradition, which is really the keeper of many of the Christ mysteries, there is a feast day in August, on the 15th August, which is called the Assumption of Mary. Mario would sometimes refer to this. He called it: the bodily assumption of Mary into the heavenlies. We used to laugh about that phrase when it came to editing - but those were his words.
There are many mysteries surrounding Mary, her own immaculate conception, her training, her being chosen to be the mother of Jesus, the virgin birth, and finally her assumption into heaven.
The legend of the Assumption of Mary tells us that Mary, having been told by Archangel Gabriel that her life was coming to an end, summoned the apostles to her bedside in the place of the Upper Room.
As she awaited the arrival of the apostles of Christ, she devoted herself to constant prayer and discourse with beings of a higher world. It is said that by then Mary no longer required earthly sustenance, but was nourished by the bread of angels which she received daily.
The legend goes on to say that the disciples then gathered around her bedside. Most were present in their physical bodies, although some of them, who had already died a martyr's death, were present as well.
When Mary breathed out her soul, the 12 solemnly carried her body to a specific area within the Kidron Valley. At a certain spot they were commanded by spirit to stop the procession. As Gabriel, the Archangel of the Moon, had come to Mary and foretold her imminent death, now the Archangel of the Sun, Michael, appeared in powerful radiance. Sent by the Christ, Michael carried Mary's body up into heaven. It is said that there she became completely one with the image of the woman in Revelation who is clothed with the sun, and on her head a crown of stars. She became the Queen of Heaven. The Mater Dolorosa, the sorrowing mother, became the Mater Gloriosa, the mother transfigured into light.
Mary is a wonderful subject for our contemplation. She shows us the way, for it was she who subjected herself utterly to the will of God and bore the Christ. She triumphed over sorrow and held fast to that which is good.
Her story tells us that it is the destiny of all human souls to become utterly at one with Christ, and to be crowned with the glory of the universe.
And she said, "Dear souls that have watched with me during this the last night of my stay on earth, God will repay you your labour of love." And it came to pass that when the angels had done singing, that a great peace fell upon us all, who lay prone on the ground, so still that we heard the beating of our hearts. But when we looked up, behold, we were all alone.