VIII. --THE EPIPHANY
Abbot Marmion, O.S.B.
SUMMARY. - - God Eternal light, is chiefly manifested by the
Incarnation. - I. The manifestation to the Magi signifies the
calling of the pagan nations to the light of the Gospel. II. The
Magi's faith, prompt and generous, is the model of what ours
should be. - III. What the Magi did when the star disappeared. - -
IV. The greatness of their faith at Bethlehem; symbolism of the
gifts offered by them to the Child God; how we may imitate them
Whenever a soul comes into a more intimate contact with God, she
feels herself wrapt around with mystery: Nubes et caligo in
circuitu ejus (Ps 46:2). This mystery is the inevitable
consequence of the infinite distance that separates the creature
from the Creator. On all sides, the finite being is surpassed by
Him Who, everlastingly, is the plenitude of Being.
This is why one of the most profound characters of the Divine
Being is His incomprehensibility. The invisibility here below of
the Divine Light is a truly wonderful thing.
"God is Light," says St. John; He is the Infinite Light, "and in
Him there is no darkness": Deus lux est, et tenebrae in eo non
sunt ullae. St. John is careful to note that this truth
constitutes one of the foundations of his Gospel: Et haec est
annuntiatio quam audivimus ab eo, et annuntiamus vobis (1 Jn 1:5).
But this light, which bathes us all in its brightness, instead of
manifesting God to the eyes of our souls, hides Him. It is with
this light as with the sun: its very brilliancy prevents us from
contemplating it: Lucem inhabitat inaccessibilem (1 Tim 6:16).
And yet this light is the life of the soul. You will have noticed
that, in Holy Scripture, the ideas of life and light are
frequently associated. When the psalmist wants to describe the
eternal beatitude whereof God is the source, he says that in God
is the principle of life: Torrente voluptatis tuae potabis eos.
Quoniam apud te est fons VITAE; and he immediately adds: "And in
Thy light we shall see light": Et in lumine tuo VIDEBIMUS LUMEN
(Ps 35:9-10). It is in the same way that Our Lord declares Himself
to be "the Light of the world". Again He says (and here is
something more than a mere juxtaposition of words), "He that
followeth Me walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of
life ":: Habebit LUMEN VITAE (Jn 8:12). And this light of life
proceeds from the Life by essence which is Light: In ipso vita
erat, et vita erat lux hominum (Ibid 1:4). Our life in heaven will
be to know the Eternal Light unveiled, and to rejoice in the
splendour of this Light.
Already, here below, God gives a participation of this light by
endowing the human soul with reason. Signatum est super nos lumen
vultus tui, Domine (Ps 4:7). Reason is a true light for man. All
the natural activity of man, if he is to be worthy of himself,
ought to be directed first of all by that light which shows him
the good to be pursued; a light so powerful that it is even
capable of revealing to man the existence of God and some of His
perfections. St. Paul, writing to the faithful in Rome (Rom 1:20),
declares the pagans to be inexcusable for not having known God
through contemplating the world, His handiwork. God's works
contain a vestige, a reflection of His perfections, and thus, up
to a certain point, declare the infinite light.
There is another deeper, more merciful manifestation that God has
made of Himself: it is the Incarnation.
The divine light, too dazzling to be manifested in all its
splendour to our feeble sight, is veiled beneath the sacred
Humanity: quod est velamen, is the expression of St. Paul" (Cf.
Heb 10:20). "The brightness of eternal light" (Sap 7:26), light
shining forth from light, lumen de lumine, the Word had clad
Himself in our flesh that through it we may contemplate the
Divinity: Nova mentis nostrae oculis lux tuae claritatis infulsit
(Preface for the Nativity), Christ is God brought within our
reach, showing Himself to us in a life authentically human; the
veil of the Humanity prevents the infinite and dazzling splendour
of the Divinity from blinding us.
But for every soul of good will, rays come forth from this Man
revealing that He is likewise God. The soul enlightened by faith
knows the splendour hidden behind the veil of this Holy of Holies.
In the mortal Man that Jesus is, faith finds God Himself, and in
finding God, she drinks at the source of light, salvation and
immortal life: Quia cum Unigenitus tuus in substantia nostrae
mortalitatis apparuit, nova nos immortalitatis suae luce reparavit
(Preface for the Epiphany).
This manifestation of God to men is so extraordinary a mystery, a
work so full of mercy; it constitutes one of the characters so
essential to the Incarnation that, in the first centuries, the
Church had no special feast in honour of the Saviour's Birth at
Bethlehem. She celebrated the feast of the "Theophania," the feast
of the "Divine manifestations" in the Person of the Incarnate
Word:-the manifestation to the Magi,-the manifestation upon the
banks of the Jordan at the Baptism of Jesus,-and the manifestation
at the marriage feast of Cana where Christ wrought His first
miracle. In passing from the Church of the East to that of the
West, the feast has retained its name in Greek: Epiphany, the
"manifestation"; but it has almost exclusively for its object the
manifestation of the Saviour to the Gentile world, to the pagan
nations, in the person of the Magi.
You well know the Gospel narrative of the coming of the Magi to
Bethlehem, a narrative illustrated and popularised by tradition
(Most authors place the coming of the Magi after the presentation
of Jesus in the Temple we here follow the order indicated by the
Church which, in the liturgy, celebrates the Epiphany on January
6th and the Presentation on February 2nd.) . I will simply say a
few words upon the general signification of the mystery;
afterwards, whilst dwelling on certain details, I will point out
some of the numerous lessons that it contains for our devotion.
