III
It happens at times that the star disappears from our sight.
Whether the inspiration of grace bear with it an extraordinary
character, as was the case with the Magi, or whether it be linked
to the supernatural providence of each day, as is the most
frequent case with us, the star sometimes ceases to be manifest.
The soul then finds itself in spiritual darkness. What is to be
done then ?
Let us see what the Magi did under these circumstances. The star
was shown to them only in the East, then it disappeared: Vidimus
stellam ejus in Oriente. If it taught them concerning the Birth of
the King of the Jews, it did not show the precise place where they
might find Him. What were they to do ? The Magi directed their
course towards Jerusalem, the capital of Judea, the metropolis of
the Jewish religion. Where, better than in the holy city, could
they learn what they sought to know ?
In the same way, when our star disappears, when the divine
inspiration leaves us in some uncertainty, it is God's will that
we should have recourse to the Church, to those who represent Him
amongst us, in order to learn from them the path to be followed.
This is the dispensation of Divine Providence. God loves that in
our doubts and in the difficulties of our progress towards Christ,
we should ask light and direction from those whom He has
established as His representatives: Qui vos audit, me audit (Lk
10:16).
Hear how Jesus replies to Saul's question: "Lord, what wilt Thou
have me to do ?" Does He make His will directly known? He might
have done so since He revealed Himself as the Lord; but He instead
sends Saul to His representative: "Go into the city, and there it
shall be told thee"-by another-"what thou must do" (Acts 9:7).
In submitting the aspirations of our souls to the control of those
who have the grace and mission to direct us in our seeking after
divine union, we run no risk of going astray, whatever be the
personal merits of those who guide us. At the time when the Magi
arrived at Jerusalem, the assembly of those who had authority to
interpret the Holy Scriptures was composed in great part of
unworthy members; and yet God willed that it should be by their
ministry and teaching that the Magi learnt officially where Christ
was born. Indeed, God cannot permit a soul to be deceived when,
with humility and confidence, she has recourse to the legitimate
representatives of His sovereign authority.
On the contrary, the soul will again find light and peace. Like
the Magi going out from Jerusalem, she will again see the star,
radiant and splendid, and, also like them, full of gladness, she
will go forward on her way: Videntes autem stellam, gavisi sunt
gaudio magno valde (Mt 2:10).
IV
Let us now follow the Magi to Bethlehem: it is there that we shall
especially see the manifestation of the depth of their faith.
The marvellous star leads them to the place where they were at
last to find Him Whom they had so long sought. And what do they
find ? A palace, a royal cradle, a long train of attentive
servants ? No, but a poor dwelling. They seek a king, a God, and
they see only a Babe on His Mother's knee; not a Babe transfigured
by Divine rays as the Apostles were later to see the God-Man, but
a little Child, a poor weak little Child.
However, from this Little One so frail in appearance, invisibly
went forth a divine power : Virtus de illo exibat. He, Who had
made the star arise to lead the Magi to His cradle, now Himself
enlightened them. He inwardly filled their minds with light and
their hearts with love. And so it was that in this Child, they
recognised their God.
The Gospel tells us nothing of their words, but it makes known to
us the sublime act of their perfect faith: "And falling down they
adored Him": Et procidentes adoraverunt eum (Ibid. 2:2).
The Church would have us associate ourselves with this adoration
of the Magi. When, during the Mass, she gives us these words of
the Gospel narrative to read, she causes us to kneel down, to show
that we, too, believe in the Divinity of the Babe of Bethlehem.
Let us adore Him with deep faith. God requires of us that, as long
as we are here below, all the activity of our inner life should
lead to union with Him by faith. Faith is the light which enables
us to see God in the Virgin's Child, to hear God's voice in the
words of the Incarnate Word, to follow the example of a God in the
actions of Jesus, to appropriate to ourselves the infinite merits
of a God in the sorrows and satisfactions of a Man suffering like
ourselves.
Through the veil of a humble and passible Humanity, the soul
enlightened by a living faith ever discovers God; whereever she
encounters this Humanity-whether it be in the humiliations of
Bethlehem, upon the roads of Judea, on the gibbet of Calvary, or
under the Eucharistic species- the faithful soul falls in
adoration because it is the Humanity of a God. At the feet of
Jesus she listens to Him, in order to obey and follow Him until it
shall please Him to reveal Himself in the beauty of Xis Infinite
Majesty, in the holy splendours of the Beatific Vision: Usque ad
contemplandam speciem tuae celsitudinis perducam? (Collect for the
Feast of the Epiphany).
The attitude of adoration in the Magi translates in eloquent
language the depth of their faith; the presents that they offer
are likewise full of signification. The Fathers of the Church have
laid stress on the symbolism of the gifts brought to Christ by the
Magi. In ending this conference, let us stay to consider the depth
of this symbolism: it will be a joy for our souls and food for our
devotion.
As you know, the Gospel tells us that having found the Child with
Mary His Mother, "opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts:
gold, frankincense and myrrh " (Mt 2:2). It is evident that, in
the intentions of the Magi, these gifts were meant to express the
feelings of their hearts as well as to honour Him to Whom they
were brought.
In examining the nature of these gifts which they had prepared
before their departure, we see that divine illumination had
already manifested to the Magi something of the eminent dignity of
Him Whom they desired to contemplate and adore. The nature of
these gifts likewise indicates the nature of the duties that the
Magi would fulfil towards the King of the Jews. The symbolism of
the gifts therefore refers both to the One to Whom they are
offered and to those who present them.
Gold, the most precious of metals, is the symbol of royalty; it
denotes, on the other hand, the love and fidelity. That everyone
owes to his prince.
Incense is universally acknowledge to be the symbol of divine
worship; it is offered to God alone. In preparing this gift, the
Magi showed that they had in view to proclaim the Divinity of Him
Whose Birth was announced by the star, and to confess this
Divinity by the supreme adoration that can be rendered to God
alone.
Finally, they had been inspired to bring Him myrrh. What would
they show by this myrrh which is used to dress wounds, and to
embalm the dead ? This gift signified that Christ was Man, a Man
capable of suffering, Who would one day die. The myrrh also
symbolised the spirit of penance and immolation which ought to
characterise the life of the disciples of the Crucified.
Thus grace inspired the Magi to bring presents to Him Whom they
sought. It should be the same for us. "Let us who hear the story
of the offering of the Magi," says St. Ambrose (In Lk 2:44),
"learn how to open our treasures and present like offerings." Each
time that we draw near to Christ, let us, like the Magi, bring Him
presents, but presents that are magnificent, that are, like
theirs, worthy of Him to Whom we offer them.
You may perhaps say: we have neither gold, nor frankincense, nor
myrrh. That is true; but we have what is better, we have much more
precious treasures, the only ones, moreover, that Christ, our
Saviour and our King, expects from us. Do we not offer gold to
Christ when by a life full of love and fidelity to His commands,
we proclaim that He is the King of our hearts ? Do we not present
frankincense when we believe in His Divinity, and confess it by
our adoration and prayers?
In uniting our humiliations, our sufferings, our sorrow and tears
to His, do we not bring Him myrrh ?
And if, of ourselves, we are destitute of these things, let us ask
Our Lord to enrich us with the treasures that are pleasing to Him;
He possesses them in order to give them to us.
This is what Christ Jesus Himself made known to St. Mechtilde, one
feast of the Epiphany, after she had received Communion. " Behold,
" said He, " I give thee gold, that is to say My Divine love;
frankincense, that is all My holiness and devotion; finally myrrh,
which is the bitterness of My Passion. I give them to thee to such
an extent that thou mayest offer them as gifts to Me, as if they
were shine own property (The Book of Special Grace. Part I,
chapter 8).
Yes, this is an extremely consoling truth that we ought never to
forget. The grace of divine adoption, which makes us brethren of
Jesus and living members of His Mystical Body, gives us the right
of appropriating to ourselves His treasures so that they may be
accounted as our own by Himself and His Father. " You know the
grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, " says St. Paul, " that being rich
He became poor, for your sakes; that though His poverty you might
be rich" (2 Cor 8:9).
Our Lord Himself supplies for what we lack; He is our riches, our
thank-offering; He has in Himself, in an eminent degree, that
which the gifts of the Magi signify; He perfectly realises in His
Person their deep symbolism. Therefore let us offer Him to the
Heavenly Father in thanksgiving for the inestimable gift of the
Christian faith. God has given us His Son; according to Jesus' own
words, the Infinite Being could not manifest His love for us in a
more striking way: SIC Deus dilexit mundum, ut Filium suum
Unigenitum DARET (Jn 3:16); for, in giving Him to us, adds St.
Paul, He has " given us all things": Quomodo non etiam cum illo
omnia nobis donavit (Rom 8:32).
But we owe, in return, signal acts of thanksgiving to God for this
ineffable Gift. What can we give to God that is worthy of Him? His
Son Jesus. In offering His Son to Him, we render to Him that which
He gives us: Offerimus praeclarae majestati tuae de tuis donis ac
datis (Canon of the Mass), and there is no gift that is more
pleasing to Him.
The Church, knowing God's secret better than anyone, knows this so
well ! On this day, when her mystical nuptials with Christ begin,
she offers to God no longer gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but the
One Who is Himself represented by these gifts, immolated upon the
altar and received into the hearts of His disciples: Ecclesiae
tuae, quaesumus, Domine, dona propitius intuere, quibus non jam
aurum, thus et myrrha profertur, sed quod eisdem muneribus
declaratur, immolatur et sumitur, Jesus Christus Filius tuus,
Dominus noster (Secret of the Mass for the Epiphany).
Let us, then, with the priest, offer the Holy Sacrifice. Let us
offer to the Eternal Father His Divine Son, after having received
Him at the Holy Table; but let us also lovingly offer ourselves
with Him, that in all things we may accomplish what His Divine
will manifests to us: this is the most perfect gift we can present
to God.
The Epiphany still continues; it is prolonged throughout the
centuries. "We, too," says St. Leo (Sermo 35, In Epiphanie
solemnitate 6), " are to taste the joys of the Magi, for the
mystery which is accomplished upon this day is not to remain
confined to it. Through the munificence of God and the power of
His goodness, we in our day enjoy the reality whereof the Magi had
the first fruits."
The Epiphany is renewed, indeed, when God makes the light of the
Gospel shine in the sight of the pagans; each time that the truth
is realized by those living in error it is a ray of the Magi's
star that appears to them.
The Epiphany continues too in the faithful soul when her love
becomes more fervent and steadfast. Fidelity to the inspirations
of grace-it is Our Lord Himself Who tells us so,--becomes the
source of a more ardent and brighter illumination : Qui diligit
me... manifestabo ei meipsum (Jn 14:21). Happy the soul that lives
by faith and love ! Christ Jesus manifests Himself ever more and
more within her; He makes her enter into an ever deeper and closer
comprehension of His mysteries.
Holy Scripture compares the life of the just man to a path which "
as a shining light, goeth forwards and increaseth even to perfect
day (Prov 4:18), to that day whereon every veil will fall away,
all shadows flee, when the eternal splendours of the divinity will
appear in the light of glory. In the heavenly city, says St. John,
in his mysterious book of the Apocalypse where he describes the
magnificence of the Jerusalem which is on high, there is no need
of the sun, for the Lamb, that is to say Christ, is Himself the
I,ight which enlightens and gladdens the souls of all the elect
(Apoc 21:23; 22:5).
That will be the heavenly Epiphany.
" O God, Who upon this day by the leading of a star, didst reveal
Thine Only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; mercifully grant, that we
who already know Thee by faith, may be brought to the
contemplation of the beauty of Thy majesty ": Deus, qui hodierna
die Unigenitum tuum gentibus stella duce revelasti: concede
propitius, ut qui jam te ex fide cognovimus, usque ad
contemplandam speciem tuae celsitudinis perducamur.
Showing posts with label Christ in His Mysteries by Dom Marmion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christ in His Mysteries by Dom Marmion. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The Mysteries Of The Childhood And Hidden Life Of Christ - Blessed Columba Marmion, OSB - Part II
II
Mary understands this prayer, for she is closely associated with Jesus in the work of our redemption. Eight days after the Birth of her Son, she has Him circumcised according to the Jewish Law; she then gives Him the name told her by the Angel, the name of Jesus, which denotes His mission of salvation and His work of redemption.
When Jesus is forty days old, the Blessed Virgin associates herself yet more directly and deeply with the work of our salvation by presenting Him in the Temple. She is the first to offer to the Eternal Father His Divine Son After the oblation that Jesus, the supreme High Priest, made of Himself from the moment of His Incarnation and that He consummated on Calvary, Mary's offering is the most perfect. It goes beyond all the sacerdotal acts of men, because Mary is the Mother of Christ, while men are but His ministers.
Let us contemplate Mary in this solemn act of the Presentation of her Son in the Temple of Jerusalem.
All the magnificent and circumstantial ceremonial of the Old Covenant converged towards Christ; in the New Covenant, the obscure symbols were to find their perfect reality.
You know that every Jewish mother has to present herself in the Temple a few weeks after the birth of her child, in order to be purified from the legal stain thereby contracted in consequence of original sin. Moreover, if it was her firstborn and a son, she must present him to the Lord to be consecrated to Him as to the sovereign Master of every creature:(Lk 2:23; cf. Ex 13:2). However, he could be "redeemed" by a more or less considerable offering—a lamb or a pair of turtledoves according as the parents could afford.
Certainly this prescription obliged neither Mary nor Jesus. Jesus was the supreme Law-giver of all the Jewish ritual; His Birth had been miraculous and virginal; there was nothing about it but what was pure:SANCTUM, (Lk 1:35). It was therefore unnecessary to consecrate Him to the Lord as He was the very Son of God. Neither was it requisite that she who had conceived Him by the Holy Spirit and remained a virgin should be purified.
But Mary, guided by the Holy Spirit, was in perfect conformity of soul with the soul of her Son. Jesus had said to His Father on coming into this world: "Behold I come... that I should do Thy will, O God ":(Heb 10:5-7). And the Blessed Virgin's words were "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word ":
Therefore she willed to accomplish this ceremony, showing thereby the depth of her submission. With Joseph, her husband, she brought her Firstborn,He who was to remain her only Son, was to become "the Firstborn amongst many brethren" who, by grace, were to be like unto Him: (Rom 8:29).
When we meditate upon this mystery, we are forced to say: "Verily Thou art a hidden God ", O Saviour of the world!(Isa 45:15). Upon this day, Christ enters for the first time into the Temple, and it is into temple that He enters. This wonderful temple, the admiration of the nations and the pride of Israel, wherein were performed all the religious rites and sacrifices of which God Himself had regulated the details, this temple belongs to Him; for this Child carried in the arms of a young Maiden is the King of kings and the Sovereign Lord: SUUM (Mal 3:1).
And how does He come? In the splendour of His majesty? As the One to Whom all these offerings alone are due? No, He comes thither absolutely hidden.
Listen to what the Gospel relates. There must have been a hustling crowd at the approach of the sacred building—merchants, levites, priests, doctors of the Law. A little group passes unnoticed through this crowd. They are poor people for they do not bring a lamb, the offering of the rich; they bring only two pigeons, the offering of the poor. No one heeds them, for they have no following of servants; the great, the haughty among the Jews have not so much as a glance for them, and it is needful that the Holy Spirit should enlighten the old man Simeon and Anna the prophetess in order that they should recognise the Messias. He Who is the Saviour promised to the world, the Light to be revealed to all nations,(Lk 2:30-31), comes into His temple as a hidden God:
Nothing, moreover, outwardly betrays the feelings of the holy soul of Jesus. The Light of His Divinity remains hidden, veiled; but He renews, here in the Temple, the self-oblation He had made at the moment of His Incarnation. He offers Himself to God to belong to Him by every right:It was like the offertory of the Sacrifice that was to be consummated on Calvary.
This act was extremely pleasing to the Father. To outward appearance, there was nothing particular in this simple action that all Jewish mothers performed. But on this day God receives infinitely more glory in the temple than he had ever received by all the sacrifices and holocausts of the Old Law, for on this day it is His Son Jesus Who is offered and Who Himself offers infinite homage of adoration, thanksgiving, expiation and supplication. The Heavenly Father receives with incommensurable joy this sacred offering, this Gift worthy of Himself, and all the heavenly court fix their ravished gaze upon this unique oblation. There is now no more need of holocausts and sacrifices of animals. The only Victim worthy of God had just been offered to Him.
And it is by the hands of Our Lady, Our Lady full of grace, that this offering is presented. Mary's faith was perfect. Filled with the light of the Holy Spirit, her soul understood the value of the offering that she was making to God at this moment; by His inspirations, the Holy Spirit put her soul in harmony with the inward dispositions of the Heart of her Divine Son.
In the same way as she had given her consent in the name of the whole human race when the Angel announced to her the mystery of the Incarnation, so upon this day, Mary offered her Son Jesus in the name of the human race. She knew that her Son is "the glorious King of the new Light... begotten before the day-star... the Lord of life and death." And so she presents Him to God in order to obtain for us all the graces of salvation that Jesus, according to the Angel's promise, is to bring to the world:(Antiphon at the Blessing of the Candles on the Feast of the Purification.).
Do not forget besides that the One she thus offers is her own Son, Whom she bore in her virginal and fruitful womb.
What priest, what saint ever presented the Eucharistic oblation to God in such close union with the Divine Victim as was the Virgin at this moment? Not only was she united to Jesus by faith and love, as we ourselves can be, although in an infinitely lesser degree, but the bond that united her to Christ Jesus was unique. This is why Mary, from the day on which she presents Jesus as the first fruits of the future sacrifice, has such a great part in the work of our redemption.
And see how, also from this instant, Christ Jesus associates His Blessed Mother with His state of Victim.
The old man, Simeon, guided by and filled with the Holy Spirit, is led thither:He recognizes the Saviour of the world in this Child, He takes Him in his arms and sings his joy in having at length seen with his eyes the promised Messias. After having exalted "the Light of the revelation of the Gentiles," he says, as he restores Him to His Mother: "Behold this Child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; and thy own soul a sword shall pierce. (Lk 2:25, 27, 32-35)" It was the foreshadowing of the Sacrifice of Calvary.
The Gospel tells us nothing of how Our Lady received this prediction which she could never forget. St. Luke reveals to us later that Mary "kept all these words in her heart":(Lk 5:1). Could not this be already said of Simeon's unexpected announcement? Yes, she kept the memory of these words, so terrible in their mystery; now and henceforward they pierced her soul. But Mary, whose pure heart was in full accord with the Heart of her Son, already accepted to be thus closely associated with His Sacrifice.
We shall one day see her consummate, like Jesus, her oblation upon the mount of Golgotha; we shall see her standing,(Cf. Jn 19:25), to offer again her Son, the fruit of her womb, for our salvation, as she had offered Him thirty-three years before in the Temple of Jerusalem.
Let us thank Our Lady for having presented her Divine Son for us; let us render fervent acts of thanksgiving to Jesus Himself for offering Himself to His Father for our salvation.
At Holy Mass, Christ offers Himself anew; let us present Him to His Father; let us unite ourselves to Him, like Him, in perfect submission to the will of His heavenly Father; let us unite our faith to the intense faith of our Lady. It is by this true faith and faithful love,(Collect for the Blessing of Candles), that our offerings will deserve to be pleasing to God.
(Cf. Secret of the Mass for the Feast of the Purification.)
Mary understands this prayer, for she is closely associated with Jesus in the work of our redemption. Eight days after the Birth of her Son, she has Him circumcised according to the Jewish Law; she then gives Him the name told her by the Angel, the name of Jesus, which denotes His mission of salvation and His work of redemption.
When Jesus is forty days old, the Blessed Virgin associates herself yet more directly and deeply with the work of our salvation by presenting Him in the Temple. She is the first to offer to the Eternal Father His Divine Son After the oblation that Jesus, the supreme High Priest, made of Himself from the moment of His Incarnation and that He consummated on Calvary, Mary's offering is the most perfect. It goes beyond all the sacerdotal acts of men, because Mary is the Mother of Christ, while men are but His ministers.
Let us contemplate Mary in this solemn act of the Presentation of her Son in the Temple of Jerusalem.
All the magnificent and circumstantial ceremonial of the Old Covenant converged towards Christ; in the New Covenant, the obscure symbols were to find their perfect reality.
You know that every Jewish mother has to present herself in the Temple a few weeks after the birth of her child, in order to be purified from the legal stain thereby contracted in consequence of original sin. Moreover, if it was her firstborn and a son, she must present him to the Lord to be consecrated to Him as to the sovereign Master of every creature:
Certainly this prescription obliged neither Mary nor Jesus. Jesus was the supreme Law-giver of all the Jewish ritual; His Birth had been miraculous and virginal; there was nothing about it but what was pure:
But Mary, guided by the Holy Spirit, was in perfect conformity of soul with the soul of her Son. Jesus had said to His Father on coming into this world: "Behold I come... that I should do Thy will, O God ":
Therefore she willed to accomplish this ceremony, showing thereby the depth of her submission. With Joseph, her husband, she brought her Firstborn,
When we meditate upon this mystery, we are forced to say: "Verily Thou art a hidden God ", O Saviour of the world!
And how does He come? In the splendour of His majesty? As the One to Whom all these offerings alone are due? No, He comes thither absolutely hidden.
Listen to what the Gospel relates. There must have been a hustling crowd at the approach of the sacred building—merchants, levites, priests, doctors of the Law. A little group passes unnoticed through this crowd. They are poor people for they do not bring a lamb, the offering of the rich; they bring only two pigeons, the offering of the poor. No one heeds them, for they have no following of servants; the great, the haughty among the Jews have not so much as a glance for them, and it is needful that the Holy Spirit should enlighten the old man Simeon and Anna the prophetess in order that they should recognise the Messias. He Who is the Saviour promised to the world, the Light to be revealed to all nations,
Nothing, moreover, outwardly betrays the feelings of the holy soul of Jesus. The Light of His Divinity remains hidden, veiled; but He renews, here in the Temple, the self-oblation He had made at the moment of His Incarnation. He offers Himself to God to belong to Him by every right:
This act was extremely pleasing to the Father. To outward appearance, there was nothing particular in this simple action that all Jewish mothers performed. But on this day God receives infinitely more glory in the temple than he had ever received by all the sacrifices and holocausts of the Old Law, for on this day it is His Son Jesus Who is offered and Who Himself offers infinite homage of adoration, thanksgiving, expiation and supplication. The Heavenly Father receives with incommensurable joy this sacred offering, this Gift worthy of Himself, and all the heavenly court fix their ravished gaze upon this unique oblation. There is now no more need of holocausts and sacrifices of animals. The only Victim worthy of God had just been offered to Him.
And it is by the hands of Our Lady, Our Lady full of grace, that this offering is presented. Mary's faith was perfect. Filled with the light of the Holy Spirit, her soul understood the value of the offering that she was making to God at this moment; by His inspirations, the Holy Spirit put her soul in harmony with the inward dispositions of the Heart of her Divine Son.
In the same way as she had given her consent in the name of the whole human race when the Angel announced to her the mystery of the Incarnation, so upon this day, Mary offered her Son Jesus in the name of the human race. She knew that her Son is "the glorious King of the new Light... begotten before the day-star... the Lord of life and death." And so she presents Him to God in order to obtain for us all the graces of salvation that Jesus, according to the Angel's promise, is to bring to the world:
Do not forget besides that the One she thus offers is her own Son, Whom she bore in her virginal and fruitful womb.
What priest, what saint ever presented the Eucharistic oblation to God in such close union with the Divine Victim as was the Virgin at this moment? Not only was she united to Jesus by faith and love, as we ourselves can be, although in an infinitely lesser degree, but the bond that united her to Christ Jesus was unique. This is why Mary, from the day on which she presents Jesus as the first fruits of the future sacrifice, has such a great part in the work of our redemption.
And see how, also from this instant, Christ Jesus associates His Blessed Mother with His state of Victim.
The old man, Simeon, guided by and filled with the Holy Spirit, is led thither:
The Gospel tells us nothing of how Our Lady received this prediction which she could never forget. St. Luke reveals to us later that Mary "kept all these words in her heart":
We shall one day see her consummate, like Jesus, her oblation upon the mount of Golgotha; we shall see her standing,
Let us thank Our Lady for having presented her Divine Son for us; let us render fervent acts of thanksgiving to Jesus Himself for offering Himself to His Father for our salvation.
At Holy Mass, Christ offers Himself anew; let us present Him to His Father; let us unite ourselves to Him, like Him, in perfect submission to the will of His heavenly Father; let us unite our faith to the intense faith of our Lady. It is by this true faith and faithful love,
(Cf. Secret of the Mass for the Feast of the Purification.)
Monday, January 16, 2012
The Mysteries Of The Childhood And Hidden Life Of Christ - Blessed Columba Marmion, OSB
The mystery of the Incarnation can be summed up as an exchange, in every point admirable, between the Divinity and our humanity. In return for the human nature that He takes, the Eternal Word makes us partakers of His Divine life.
It is indeed to be remembered that it is we who give a human nature to the Word. God could have created, so as to unite it to His Son, a humanity fully established in the perfection of its organism, as was Adam on the day of his creation. Christ would have been truly man because nothing that constitutes the essence of man would have been lacking to Him; but in not joining Himself directly to us by a human birth, He would not have been, properly speaking, of our race.
God did not will to act thus. What was the design of Infinite Wisdom? That the Word should take from us the humanity to which He was to be united. Christ would thereby be truly "the Son of man "; He would be a member of our race: (Gal 4:4) ... (Rom 1:3), When at Christmas we celebrate Christ's Nativity, we go back through the centuries in order to read the list of His ancestors, His human genealogy. The successive generations pass before us till we see Him born of David's race, of the Virgin Mary (Mt 1:16).
As you know, God is by His nature infinitely generous; it is of the essence of goodness to diffuse itself:. Infinite Goodness is urged in an infinite manner to give itself. God is this boundless Goodness; revelation teaches us that there are between the Divine Persons, from the Father to the Son, and from the Father and the Son to the Holy Spirit, infinite communications wherein God finds the full satisfaction of this natural tendency of His Being to give itself.
But beyond this natural communication of Infinite Goodness, there is another, arising from God's love towards the creature. The fulness of Being and of Good that is God has overflowed beyond, through love. And how has this come to pass? God has chosen in the first place to give Himself in an altogether special manner to a creature by uniting it in a personal manner with His Word. This gift of God to a creature is unique: it makes of this creature chosen by the Holy Trinity the very Son of God, (Ps 2:7). It is Christ, it is the Word united personally and in an indissoluble manner to a human nature, like to ours in all things, excepting sin.
From us He asks this human nature. It is as if the Eternal Father were saying to us: Give Me your nature for My Son, and I, in return, will give to this nature, and, through it, to every man of good will, a participation in My Divinity.
For God thus communicates Himself to Christ only in order to give Himself, through Christ, to us all; God's plan is that Christ should receive the Divinity in its fulness and that we should draw, in our turn, from this fulness: (Jn 1:16).
Such is this communication of God's goodness to the world: DILEXIT DARET (Jn 3:16). This is the wonderful order that rules the exchange between God and humanity.
But who is it, out of all others, that God will ask to be a mother to this humanity to which He wills to unite Himself so closely, in order to make of it the instrument of His graces to the world?
We have already named her whom all generations declare blessed: the human genealogy of Jesus ends with Mary, the Virgin of Nazareth. From her, and through her from us, the Word asked a human nature, and Mary gave it to Him; this is why we shall henceforward see her inseparable from Jesus and from His mysteries. Wherever Jesus is found, we shall see her: He is her Son as much as He is the Son of God.
However, if Jesus everywhere remains the Son of Mary, it is above all in the mysteries of His Childhood and Hidden Life that He is revealed under this aspect; if Mary everywhere occupies a unique place, it is in these mysteries that her position as His Mother is most actively manifested outwardly and her divine Maternity shines forth most brightly. This incomparable dignity is the source of all the other privileges of the Virgin.
Those who do not know the Blessed Virgin, those who do not truly love the Mother of Jesus, run the risk of not profitably understanding the mysteries of Christ's Humanity. Christ is the Son of man as well as the Son of God; these two characters are essential to Him. If He is the Son of God by an eternal ineffable generation, He became Son of man by being born of Mary in time.
Let us then contemplate this Virgin at the side of her Son; in return she will obtain for us the power of entering more deeply into the comprehension of these mysteries to which she is so closely united.
I
In order that the exchange which God willed to contract with humanity should be possible, it was necessary that humanity should consent to it.
Let us transport ourselves to Nazareth. The fulness of times has come. God decreed, says St. Paul, to send His Son into the world in causing Him to be born of a woman. The Angel Gabriel, God's messenger, brings to the young Maiden the heavenly proposals. A sublime dialogue takes place whereon hangs the deliverance of the human race. The Angel first salutes the Maiden declaring her, in the name of God, "full of grace": Indeed, not only is she sinless, no stain has tarnished her soul,—the Church has defined that she, alone among all creatures, has not been touched by original sin;—but moreover, because He predestined her to be the Mother of His Son, the Eternal Father has lavished His gifts upon her. She is full of grace, not, doubtless, as Christ is to be, , for He is so by right and with the Divine plenitude itself; Mary receives all in participation, but in a measure which cannot be estimated, and in correlation with her eminent dignity as Mother of God. "Behold," says the Angel, "thou start bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus... He shall be called the Son of the Most High, and He shall reign in the house of Israel for ever." "How shall this be done," asks Mary, "because I know not man"? For she wishes to keep her virginity. "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word": (Lk 1:28, 31-35, 38).
In this solemn moment, the exchange is concluded. When Mary pronounces her, all humanity says to God by her mouth: "Yes, O God, I consent, so be it." And immediately the Word is made Flesh: At this instant, the Word becomes incarnate by the operation of the Holy Spirit; the Blessed Virgin becomes the Ark of the New Covenant between God and man.
When the Church sings, in the, the words that recall this mystery: , she obliges her ministers to bend the knee in token of adoration. Let us too adore this Divine Word made man for us in the womb of a Virgin; let us adore Him with so much the more love the more He humbles Himself in taking, as St. Paul says, "the form of a servant ": (Phil 2:7). Let us adore Him, in union with Mary, who, enlightened with light from above, bows down before her Creator become her Son; let us adore Him with the Angels marvelling at this infinite condescension towards humanity.
Let us next salute Our Lady, and thank her for having given Jesus to us. It is to her consent that we owe Him: (Collect for the office of the Circumcision.). Let us add our congratulations. Consider how the Holy Spirit by the mouth of Elizabeth, , saluted her on the morrow of the Incarnation. "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb !... And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord" (Lk 1:41-42, 45): Blessed, for this faith in God's word made the Virgin the Mother of Christ. What simple creature has ever received like praises from the infinite Being?
Mary refers to the Lord the glory of the marvels wrought in her. She sings within her heart a canticle full of love and gratitude. With her cousin Elisabeth, she lets the innermost feelings of her heart overflow; she sings the which, throughout the centuries, her children will repeat after her in praise of God for having chosen her out of all women: "My soul cloth magnify the Lord, because He hath regarded the humility of His handmaid... because He that is mighty, hath done great things to me," (Lk 1:46, 49).
Mary was at Bethlehem, for the enrolment ordered by Caesar, when, says St. Luke, "her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn (Lk 2:6-7). "Who is this Child? He is Mary's Son, since he has just been born of her:
But she saw in this Child, a child like other children, the Very Son of God. Mary's soul was full of immense faith, which went far beyond the faith of all the just of the Old Testament; and therefore in her Son she saw her God.
This faith translated itself outwardly in an act of adoration. As soon as she looked upon Jesus, the Maiden-Mother adored Him with an intensity we cannot conceive.
To this intense faith, this deep adoration, were added the transports of an incommensurable love, a love both human and supernatural.
God is love, and so that we may have some idea of this love, He gives a share of it to mothers. The heart of a mother with her unwearying tenderness, the constancy of her solicitude, the inexhaustible delicacy of her affection is a truly divine creation, although God has placed in her only a spark of His love for us. Yet, however imperfectly a mother's heart reflects the divine love towards us, God gives us our mothers to take His place in some manner with us. He places them at our side, from our cradles, to guide us, guard us, especially in our earliest years when we have so much need of tenderness.
Hence imagine with what predilection the Holy Trinity fashioned the heart of the Blessed Virgin chosen to be the Mother of the Incarnate Word. God delighted in pouring forth love in her heart, in forming it expressly to love a God-Man.
In Mary's heart were perfectly harmonised the adoration of a creature towards her God, and the love of a mother for her only Son.
The supernatural love of Our Lady is not less wonderful. As you know, a soul's love for God is measured by its degree of grace. What is it that, in us, hinders the development of grace and love? Our sins, our deliberate faults, our voluntary infidelities, our attachment to creatures. Each deliberate fault narrows the heart, and strengthens egotism. But Our Lady's soul is of perfect purity; unstained by sin, untouched by any shadow of a fault, she is full of grace: Far from encountering in her any obstacle to the unfolding of grace, the Holy Spirit ever found her heart wonderfully docile to His inspirations, and therefore full of love.
What must have been the joy of the soul of Jesus to feel Himself loved to such an extent by His Mother! After the incomprehensible joy arising for Him from the Beatific Vision and from the look of infinite complacency wherewith the Heavenly Father contemplated Him, nothing can have rejoiced Him so much as the love of His Mother. He found in it a more abundant compensation for the indifference of those who would not receive Him. He found in the heart of this young Virgin a fire of undying love that He Himself further enkindled by His divine glances and the inward grace of His Spirit.
Jesus gave Himself to Mary in such an ineffable manner, and Mary corresponded so fully that after the union of the Divine Persons in the Trinity, and the hypostatic union of the Incarnation, we cannot conceive one greater nor deeper.
Let us draw near to Mary with a humble but entire confidence. If her Son is the Saviour of the world, she enters too deeply into His mission not to share the love that He bears to sinners. "O Mother of our Redeemer," let us sing to her with the Church, "thou didst bear thy Creator whilst remaining a Virgin, succour this fallen race which thy Son came to save in taking from us a human nature": "Have pity upon the sinners whom thy Son came to redeem" For, O Mary, it was to redeem us that He vouchsafed to descend from the eternal splendours into thy virginal bosom.
It is indeed to be remembered that it is we who give a human nature to the Word. God could have created, so as to unite it to His Son, a humanity fully established in the perfection of its organism, as was Adam on the day of his creation. Christ would have been truly man because nothing that constitutes the essence of man would have been lacking to Him; but in not joining Himself directly to us by a human birth, He would not have been, properly speaking, of our race.
God did not will to act thus. What was the design of Infinite Wisdom? That the Word should take from us the humanity to which He was to be united. Christ would thereby be truly "the Son of man "; He would be a member of our race:
As you know, God is by His nature infinitely generous; it is of the essence of goodness to diffuse itself:
But beyond this natural communication of Infinite Goodness, there is another, arising from God's
From us He asks this human nature. It is as if the Eternal Father were saying to us: Give Me your nature for My Son, and I, in return, will give to this nature, and, through it, to every man of good will, a participation in My Divinity.
For God thus communicates Himself to Christ only in order to give Himself, through Christ, to us all; God's plan is that Christ should receive the Divinity in its fulness and that we should draw, in our turn, from this fulness:
Such is this communication of God's goodness to the world:
But who is it, out of all others, that God will ask to be a mother to this humanity to which He wills to unite Himself so closely, in order to make of it the instrument of His graces to the world?
We have already named her whom all generations declare blessed: the human genealogy of Jesus ends with Mary, the Virgin of Nazareth. From her, and through her from us, the Word asked a human nature, and Mary gave it to Him; this is why we shall henceforward see her inseparable from Jesus and from His mysteries. Wherever Jesus is found, we shall see her: He is her Son as much as He is the Son of God.
However, if Jesus everywhere remains the Son of Mary, it is above all in the mysteries of His Childhood and Hidden Life that He is revealed under this aspect; if Mary everywhere occupies a unique place, it is in these mysteries that her position as His Mother is most actively manifested outwardly and her divine Maternity shines forth most brightly. This incomparable dignity is the source of all the other privileges of the Virgin.
Those who do not know the Blessed Virgin, those who do not truly love the Mother of Jesus, run the risk of not profitably understanding the mysteries of Christ's Humanity. Christ is the Son of man as well as the Son of God; these two characters are essential to Him. If He is the Son of God by an eternal ineffable generation, He became Son of man by being born of Mary in time.
Let us then contemplate this Virgin at the side of her Son; in return she will obtain for us the power of entering more deeply into the comprehension of these mysteries to which she is so closely united.
I
In order that the exchange which God willed to contract with humanity should be possible, it was necessary that humanity should consent to it.
Let us transport ourselves to Nazareth. The fulness of times has come. God decreed, says St. Paul, to send His Son into the world in causing Him to be born of a woman. The Angel Gabriel, God's messenger, brings to the young Maiden the heavenly proposals. A sublime dialogue takes place whereon hangs the deliverance of the human race. The Angel first salutes the Maiden declaring her, in the name of God, "full of grace":
In this solemn moment, the exchange is concluded. When Mary pronounces her
When the Church sings, in the
Let us next salute Our Lady, and thank her for having given Jesus to us. It is to her consent that we owe Him:
Mary refers to the Lord the glory of the marvels wrought in her. She sings within her heart a canticle full of love and gratitude. With her cousin Elisabeth, she lets the innermost feelings of her heart overflow; she sings the
Mary was at Bethlehem, for the enrolment ordered by Caesar, when, says St. Luke, "her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn (Lk 2:6-7). "Who is this Child? He is Mary's Son, since he has just been born of her:
But she saw in this Child, a child like other children, the Very Son of God. Mary's soul was full of immense faith, which went far beyond the faith of all the just of the Old Testament; and therefore in her Son she saw her God.
This faith translated itself outwardly in an act of adoration. As soon as she looked upon Jesus, the Maiden-Mother adored Him with an intensity we cannot conceive.
To this intense faith, this deep adoration, were added the transports of an incommensurable love, a love both human and supernatural.
God is love, and so that we may have some idea of this love, He gives a share of it to mothers. The heart of a mother with her unwearying tenderness, the constancy of her solicitude, the inexhaustible delicacy of her affection is a truly divine creation, although God has placed in her only a spark of His love for us. Yet, however imperfectly a mother's heart reflects the divine love towards us, God gives us our mothers to take His place in some manner with us. He places them at our side, from our cradles, to guide us, guard us, especially in our earliest years when we have so much need of tenderness.
Hence imagine with what predilection the Holy Trinity fashioned the heart of the Blessed Virgin chosen to be the Mother of the Incarnate Word. God delighted in pouring forth love in her heart, in forming it expressly to love a God-Man.
In Mary's heart were perfectly harmonised the adoration of a creature towards her God, and the love of a mother for her only Son.
The supernatural love of Our Lady is not less wonderful. As you know, a soul's love for God is measured by its degree of grace. What is it that, in us, hinders the development of grace and love? Our sins, our deliberate faults, our voluntary infidelities, our attachment to creatures. Each deliberate fault narrows the heart, and strengthens egotism. But Our Lady's soul is of perfect purity; unstained by sin, untouched by any shadow of a fault, she is full of grace:
What must have been the joy of the soul of Jesus to feel Himself loved to such an extent by His Mother! After the incomprehensible joy arising for Him from the Beatific Vision and from the look of infinite complacency wherewith the Heavenly Father contemplated Him, nothing can have rejoiced Him so much as the love of His Mother. He found in it a more abundant compensation for the indifference of those who would not receive Him. He found in the heart of this young Virgin a fire of undying love that He Himself further enkindled by His divine glances and the inward grace of His Spirit.
Jesus gave Himself to Mary in such an ineffable manner, and Mary corresponded so fully that after the union of the Divine Persons in the Trinity, and the hypostatic union of the Incarnation, we cannot conceive one greater nor deeper.
Let us draw near to Mary with a humble but entire confidence. If her Son is the Saviour of the world, she enters too deeply into His mission not to share the love that He bears to sinners. "O Mother of our Redeemer," let us sing to her with the Church, "thou didst bear thy Creator whilst remaining a Virgin, succour this fallen race which thy Son came to save in taking from us a human nature":
Friday, January 13, 2012
EPIPHANY BY BLESSED COLUMBA MARMION, OSB - Part IV
IV
Let us now follow the Magi to Bethlehem: it is there that we shall
especially see the manifestation of the depth of their faith.
The marvellous star leads them to the place where they were at
last to find Him Whom they had so long sought. And what do they
find ? A palace, a royal cradle, a long train of attentive
servants ? No, but a poor dwelling. They seek a king, a God, and
they see only a Babe on His Mother's knee; not a Babe transfigured
by Divine rays as the Apostles were later to see the God-Man, but
a little Child, a poor weak little Child.
However, from this Little One so frail in appearance, invisibly
went forth a divine power : Virtus de illo exibat. He, Who had
made the star arise to lead the Magi to His cradle, now Himself
enlightened them. He inwardly filled their minds with light and
their hearts with love. And so it was that in this Child, they
recognised their God.
The Gospel tells us nothing of their words, but it makes known to
us the sublime act of their perfect faith: "And falling down they
adored Him": Et procidentes adoraverunt eum (Ibid. 2:2).
The Church would have us associate ourselves with this adoration
of the Magi. When, during the Mass, she gives us these words of
the Gospel narrative to read, she causes us to kneel down, to show
that we, too, believe in the Divinity of the Babe of Bethlehem.
Let us adore Him with deep faith. God requires of us that, as long
as we are here below, all the activity of our inner life should
lead to union with Him by faith. Faith is the light which enables
us to see God in the Virgin's Child, to hear God's voice in the
words of the Incarnate Word, to follow the example of a God in the
actions of Jesus, to appropriate to ourselves the infinite merits
of a God in the sorrows and satisfactions of a Man suffering like
ourselves.
Through the veil of a humble and passible Humanity, the soul
enlightened by a living faith ever discovers God; whereever she
encounters this Humanity-whether it be in the humiliations of
Bethlehem, upon the roads of Judea, on the gibbet of Calvary, or
under the Eucharistic species- the faithful soul falls in
adoration because it is the Humanity of a God. At the feet of
Jesus she listens to Him, in order to obey and follow Him until it
shall please Him to reveal Himself in the beauty of Xis Infinite
Majesty, in the holy splendours of the Beatific Vision: Usque ad
contemplandam speciem tuae celsitudinis perducam? (Collect for the
Feast of the Epiphany).
The attitude of adoration in the Magi translates in eloquent
language the depth of their faith; the presents that they offer
are likewise full of signification. The Fathers of the Church have
laid stress on the symbolism of the gifts brought to Christ by the
Magi. In ending this conference, let us stay to consider the depth
of this symbolism: it will be a joy for our souls and food for our
devotion.
As you know, the Gospel tells us that having found the Child with
Mary His Mother, "opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts:
gold, frankincense and myrrh " (Mt 2:2). It is evident that, in
the intentions of the Magi, these gifts were meant to express the
feelings of their hearts as well as to honour Him to Whom they
were brought.
In examining the nature of these gifts which they had prepared
before their departure, we see that divine illumination had
already manifested to the Magi something of the eminent dignity of
Him Whom they desired to contemplate and adore. The nature of
these gifts likewise indicates the nature of the duties that the
Magi would fulfil towards the King of the Jews. The symbolism of
the gifts therefore refers both to the One to Whom they are
offered and to those who present them.
Gold, the most precious of metals, is the symbol of royalty; it
denotes, on the other hand, the love and fidelity. That everyone
owes to his prince.
Incense is universally acknowledge to be the symbol of divine
worship; it is offered to God alone. In preparing this gift, the
Magi showed that they had in view to proclaim the Divinity of Him
Whose Birth was announced by the star, and to confess this
Divinity by the supreme adoration that can be rendered to God
alone.
Finally, they had been inspired to bring Him myrrh. What would
they show by this myrrh which is used to dress wounds, and to
embalm the dead ? This gift signified that Christ was Man, a Man
capable of suffering, Who would one day die. The myrrh also
symbolised the spirit of penance and immolation which ought to
characterise the life of the disciples of the Crucified.
Thus grace inspired the Magi to bring presents to Him Whom they
sought. It should be the same for us. "Let us who hear the story
of the offering of the Magi," says St. Ambrose (In Lk 2:44),
"learn how to open our treasures and present like offerings." Each
time that we draw near to Christ, let us, like the Magi, bring Him
presents, but presents that are magnificent, that are, like
theirs, worthy of Him to Whom we offer them.
You may perhaps say: we have neither gold, nor frankincense, nor
myrrh. That is true; but we have what is better, we have much more
precious treasures, the only ones, moreover, that Christ, our
Saviour and our King, expects from us. Do we not offer gold to
Christ when by a life full of love and fidelity to His commands,
we proclaim that He is the King of our hearts ? Do we not present
frankincense when we believe in His Divinity, and confess it by
our adoration and prayers?
In uniting our humiliations, our sufferings, our sorrow and tears
to His, do we not bring Him myrrh ?
And if, of ourselves, we are destitute of these things, let us ask
Our Lord to enrich us with the treasures that are pleasing to Him;
He possesses them in order to give them to us.
This is what Christ Jesus Himself made known to St. Mechtilde, one
feast of the Epiphany, after she had received Communion. " Behold,
" said He, " I give thee gold, that is to say My Divine love;
frankincense, that is all My holiness and devotion; finally myrrh,
which is the bitterness of My Passion. I give them to thee to such
an extent that thou mayest offer them as gifts to Me, as if they
were shine own property (The Book of Special Grace. Part I,
chapter 8).
Yes, this is an extremely consoling truth that we ought never to
forget. The grace of divine adoption, which makes us brethren of
Jesus and living members of His Mystical Body, gives us the right
of appropriating to ourselves His treasures so that they may be
accounted as our own by Himself and His Father. " You know the
grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, " says St. Paul, " that being rich
He became poor, for your sakes; that though His poverty you might
be rich" (2 Cor 8:9).
Our Lord Himself supplies for what we lack; He is our riches, our
thank-offering; He has in Himself, in an eminent degree, that
which the gifts of the Magi signify; He perfectly realises in His
Person their deep symbolism. Therefore let us offer Him to the
Heavenly Father in thanksgiving for the inestimable gift of the
Christian faith. God has given us His Son; according to Jesus' own
words, the Infinite Being could not manifest His love for us in a
more striking way: SIC Deus dilexit mundum, ut Filium suum
Unigenitum DARET (Jn 3:16); for, in giving Him to us, adds St.
Paul, He has " given us all things": Quomodo non etiam cum illo
omnia nobis donavit (Rom 8:32).
But we owe, in return, signal acts of thanksgiving to God for this
ineffable Gift. What can we give to God that is worthy of Him? His
Son Jesus. In offering His Son to Him, we render to Him that which
He gives us: Offerimus praeclarae majestati tuae de tuis donis ac
datis (Canon of the Mass), and there is no gift that is more
pleasing to Him.
The Church, knowing God's secret better than anyone, knows this so
well ! On this day, when her mystical nuptials with Christ begin,
she offers to God no longer gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but the
One Who is Himself represented by these gifts, immolated upon the
altar and received into the hearts of His disciples: Ecclesiae
tuae, quaesumus, Domine, dona propitius intuere, quibus non jam
aurum, thus et myrrha profertur, sed quod eisdem muneribus
declaratur, immolatur et sumitur, Jesus Christus Filius tuus,
Dominus noster (Secret of the Mass for the Epiphany).
Let us, then, with the priest, offer the Holy Sacrifice. Let us
offer to the Eternal Father His Divine Son, after having received
Him at the Holy Table; but let us also lovingly offer ourselves
with Him, that in all things we may accomplish what His Divine
will manifests to us: this is the most perfect gift we can present
to God.
The Epiphany still continues; it is prolonged throughout the
centuries. "We, too," says St. Leo (Sermo 35, In Epiphanie
solemnitate 6), " are to taste the joys of the Magi, for the
mystery which is accomplished upon this day is not to remain
confined to it. Through the munificence of God and the power of
His goodness, we in our day enjoy the reality whereof the Magi had
the first fruits."
The Epiphany is renewed, indeed, when God makes the light of the
Gospel shine in the sight of the pagans; each time that the truth
is realized by those living in error it is a ray of the Magi's
star that appears to them.
The Epiphany continues too in the faithful soul when her love
becomes more fervent and steadfast. Fidelity to the inspirations
of grace-it is Our Lord Himself Who tells us so,--becomes the
source of a more ardent and brighter illumination : Qui diligit
me... manifestabo ei meipsum (Jn 14:21). Happy the soul that lives
by faith and love ! Christ Jesus manifests Himself ever more and
more within her; He makes her enter into an ever deeper and closer
comprehension of His mysteries.
Holy Scripture compares the life of the just man to a path which "
as a shining light, goeth forwards and increaseth even to perfect
day (Prov 4:18), to that day whereon every veil will fall away,
all shadows flee, when the eternal splendours of the divinity will
appear in the light of glory. In the heavenly city, says St. John,
in his mysterious book of the Apocalypse where he describes the
magnificence of the Jerusalem which is on high, there is no need
of the sun, for the Lamb, that is to say Christ, is Himself the
I,ight which enlightens and gladdens the souls of all the elect
(Apoc 21:23; 22:5).
That will be the heavenly Epiphany.
" O God, Who upon this day by the leading of a star, didst reveal
Thine Only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; mercifully grant, that we
who already know Thee by faith, may be brought to the
contemplation of the beauty of Thy majesty ": Deus, qui hodierna
die Unigenitum tuum gentibus stella duce revelasti: concede
propitius, ut qui jam te ex fide cognovimus, usque ad
contemplandam speciem tuae celsitudinis perducamur.
Let us now follow the Magi to Bethlehem: it is there that we shall
especially see the manifestation of the depth of their faith.
The marvellous star leads them to the place where they were at
last to find Him Whom they had so long sought. And what do they
find ? A palace, a royal cradle, a long train of attentive
servants ? No, but a poor dwelling. They seek a king, a God, and
they see only a Babe on His Mother's knee; not a Babe transfigured
by Divine rays as the Apostles were later to see the God-Man, but
a little Child, a poor weak little Child.
However, from this Little One so frail in appearance, invisibly
went forth a divine power : Virtus de illo exibat. He, Who had
made the star arise to lead the Magi to His cradle, now Himself
enlightened them. He inwardly filled their minds with light and
their hearts with love. And so it was that in this Child, they
recognised their God.
The Gospel tells us nothing of their words, but it makes known to
us the sublime act of their perfect faith: "And falling down they
adored Him": Et procidentes adoraverunt eum (Ibid. 2:2).
The Church would have us associate ourselves with this adoration
of the Magi. When, during the Mass, she gives us these words of
the Gospel narrative to read, she causes us to kneel down, to show
that we, too, believe in the Divinity of the Babe of Bethlehem.
Let us adore Him with deep faith. God requires of us that, as long
as we are here below, all the activity of our inner life should
lead to union with Him by faith. Faith is the light which enables
us to see God in the Virgin's Child, to hear God's voice in the
words of the Incarnate Word, to follow the example of a God in the
actions of Jesus, to appropriate to ourselves the infinite merits
of a God in the sorrows and satisfactions of a Man suffering like
ourselves.
Through the veil of a humble and passible Humanity, the soul
enlightened by a living faith ever discovers God; whereever she
encounters this Humanity-whether it be in the humiliations of
Bethlehem, upon the roads of Judea, on the gibbet of Calvary, or
under the Eucharistic species- the faithful soul falls in
adoration because it is the Humanity of a God. At the feet of
Jesus she listens to Him, in order to obey and follow Him until it
shall please Him to reveal Himself in the beauty of Xis Infinite
Majesty, in the holy splendours of the Beatific Vision: Usque ad
contemplandam speciem tuae celsitudinis perducam? (Collect for the
Feast of the Epiphany).
The attitude of adoration in the Magi translates in eloquent
language the depth of their faith; the presents that they offer
are likewise full of signification. The Fathers of the Church have
laid stress on the symbolism of the gifts brought to Christ by the
Magi. In ending this conference, let us stay to consider the depth
of this symbolism: it will be a joy for our souls and food for our
devotion.
As you know, the Gospel tells us that having found the Child with
Mary His Mother, "opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts:
gold, frankincense and myrrh " (Mt 2:2). It is evident that, in
the intentions of the Magi, these gifts were meant to express the
feelings of their hearts as well as to honour Him to Whom they
were brought.
In examining the nature of these gifts which they had prepared
before their departure, we see that divine illumination had
already manifested to the Magi something of the eminent dignity of
Him Whom they desired to contemplate and adore. The nature of
these gifts likewise indicates the nature of the duties that the
Magi would fulfil towards the King of the Jews. The symbolism of
the gifts therefore refers both to the One to Whom they are
offered and to those who present them.
Gold, the most precious of metals, is the symbol of royalty; it
denotes, on the other hand, the love and fidelity. That everyone
owes to his prince.
Incense is universally acknowledge to be the symbol of divine
worship; it is offered to God alone. In preparing this gift, the
Magi showed that they had in view to proclaim the Divinity of Him
Whose Birth was announced by the star, and to confess this
Divinity by the supreme adoration that can be rendered to God
alone.
Finally, they had been inspired to bring Him myrrh. What would
they show by this myrrh which is used to dress wounds, and to
embalm the dead ? This gift signified that Christ was Man, a Man
capable of suffering, Who would one day die. The myrrh also
symbolised the spirit of penance and immolation which ought to
characterise the life of the disciples of the Crucified.
Thus grace inspired the Magi to bring presents to Him Whom they
sought. It should be the same for us. "Let us who hear the story
of the offering of the Magi," says St. Ambrose (In Lk 2:44),
"learn how to open our treasures and present like offerings." Each
time that we draw near to Christ, let us, like the Magi, bring Him
presents, but presents that are magnificent, that are, like
theirs, worthy of Him to Whom we offer them.
You may perhaps say: we have neither gold, nor frankincense, nor
myrrh. That is true; but we have what is better, we have much more
precious treasures, the only ones, moreover, that Christ, our
Saviour and our King, expects from us. Do we not offer gold to
Christ when by a life full of love and fidelity to His commands,
we proclaim that He is the King of our hearts ? Do we not present
frankincense when we believe in His Divinity, and confess it by
our adoration and prayers?
In uniting our humiliations, our sufferings, our sorrow and tears
to His, do we not bring Him myrrh ?
And if, of ourselves, we are destitute of these things, let us ask
Our Lord to enrich us with the treasures that are pleasing to Him;
He possesses them in order to give them to us.
This is what Christ Jesus Himself made known to St. Mechtilde, one
feast of the Epiphany, after she had received Communion. " Behold,
" said He, " I give thee gold, that is to say My Divine love;
frankincense, that is all My holiness and devotion; finally myrrh,
which is the bitterness of My Passion. I give them to thee to such
an extent that thou mayest offer them as gifts to Me, as if they
were shine own property (The Book of Special Grace. Part I,
chapter 8).
Yes, this is an extremely consoling truth that we ought never to
forget. The grace of divine adoption, which makes us brethren of
Jesus and living members of His Mystical Body, gives us the right
of appropriating to ourselves His treasures so that they may be
accounted as our own by Himself and His Father. " You know the
grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, " says St. Paul, " that being rich
He became poor, for your sakes; that though His poverty you might
be rich" (2 Cor 8:9).
Our Lord Himself supplies for what we lack; He is our riches, our
thank-offering; He has in Himself, in an eminent degree, that
which the gifts of the Magi signify; He perfectly realises in His
Person their deep symbolism. Therefore let us offer Him to the
Heavenly Father in thanksgiving for the inestimable gift of the
Christian faith. God has given us His Son; according to Jesus' own
words, the Infinite Being could not manifest His love for us in a
more striking way: SIC Deus dilexit mundum, ut Filium suum
Unigenitum DARET (Jn 3:16); for, in giving Him to us, adds St.
Paul, He has " given us all things": Quomodo non etiam cum illo
omnia nobis donavit (Rom 8:32).
But we owe, in return, signal acts of thanksgiving to God for this
ineffable Gift. What can we give to God that is worthy of Him? His
Son Jesus. In offering His Son to Him, we render to Him that which
He gives us: Offerimus praeclarae majestati tuae de tuis donis ac
datis (Canon of the Mass), and there is no gift that is more
pleasing to Him.
The Church, knowing God's secret better than anyone, knows this so
well ! On this day, when her mystical nuptials with Christ begin,
she offers to God no longer gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but the
One Who is Himself represented by these gifts, immolated upon the
altar and received into the hearts of His disciples: Ecclesiae
tuae, quaesumus, Domine, dona propitius intuere, quibus non jam
aurum, thus et myrrha profertur, sed quod eisdem muneribus
declaratur, immolatur et sumitur, Jesus Christus Filius tuus,
Dominus noster (Secret of the Mass for the Epiphany).
Let us, then, with the priest, offer the Holy Sacrifice. Let us
offer to the Eternal Father His Divine Son, after having received
Him at the Holy Table; but let us also lovingly offer ourselves
with Him, that in all things we may accomplish what His Divine
will manifests to us: this is the most perfect gift we can present
to God.
The Epiphany still continues; it is prolonged throughout the
centuries. "We, too," says St. Leo (Sermo 35, In Epiphanie
solemnitate 6), " are to taste the joys of the Magi, for the
mystery which is accomplished upon this day is not to remain
confined to it. Through the munificence of God and the power of
His goodness, we in our day enjoy the reality whereof the Magi had
the first fruits."
The Epiphany is renewed, indeed, when God makes the light of the
Gospel shine in the sight of the pagans; each time that the truth
is realized by those living in error it is a ray of the Magi's
star that appears to them.
The Epiphany continues too in the faithful soul when her love
becomes more fervent and steadfast. Fidelity to the inspirations
of grace-it is Our Lord Himself Who tells us so,--becomes the
source of a more ardent and brighter illumination : Qui diligit
me... manifestabo ei meipsum (Jn 14:21). Happy the soul that lives
by faith and love ! Christ Jesus manifests Himself ever more and
more within her; He makes her enter into an ever deeper and closer
comprehension of His mysteries.
Holy Scripture compares the life of the just man to a path which "
as a shining light, goeth forwards and increaseth even to perfect
day (Prov 4:18), to that day whereon every veil will fall away,
all shadows flee, when the eternal splendours of the divinity will
appear in the light of glory. In the heavenly city, says St. John,
in his mysterious book of the Apocalypse where he describes the
magnificence of the Jerusalem which is on high, there is no need
of the sun, for the Lamb, that is to say Christ, is Himself the
I,ight which enlightens and gladdens the souls of all the elect
(Apoc 21:23; 22:5).
That will be the heavenly Epiphany.
" O God, Who upon this day by the leading of a star, didst reveal
Thine Only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; mercifully grant, that we
who already know Thee by faith, may be brought to the
contemplation of the beauty of Thy majesty ": Deus, qui hodierna
die Unigenitum tuum gentibus stella duce revelasti: concede
propitius, ut qui jam te ex fide cognovimus, usque ad
contemplandam speciem tuae celsitudinis perducamur.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
EPIPHANY BY BLESSED COLUMBA MARMION, OSB - Part III
III
It happens at times that the star disappears from our sight.
Whether the inspiration of grace bear with it an extraordinary
character, as was the case with the Magi, or whether it be linked
to the supernatural providence of each day, as is the most
frequent case with us, the star sometimes ceases to be manifest.
The soul then finds itself in spiritual darkness. What is to be
done then ?
Let us see what the Magi did under these circumstances. The star
was shown to them only in the East, then it disappeared: Vidimus
stellam ejus in Oriente. If it taught them concerning the Birth of
the King of the Jews, it did not show the precise place where they
might find Him. What were they to do ? The Magi directed their
course towards Jerusalem, the capital of Judea, the metropolis of
the Jewish religion. Where, better than in the holy city, could
they learn what they sought to know ?
In the same way, when our star disappears, when the divine
inspiration leaves us in some uncertainty, it is God's will that
we should have recourse to the Church, to those who represent Him
amongst us, in order to learn from them the path to be followed.
This is the dispensation of Divine Providence. God loves that in
our doubts and in the difficulties of our progress towards Christ,
we should ask light and direction from those whom He has
established as His representatives: Qui vos audit, me audit (Lk
10:16).
Hear how Jesus replies to Saul's question: "Lord, what wilt Thou
have me to do ?" Does He make His will directly known? He might
have done so since He revealed Himself as the Lord; but He instead
sends Saul to His representative: "Go into the city, and there it
shall be told thee"-by another-"what thou must do" (Acts 9:7).
In submitting the aspirations of our souls to the control of those
who have the grace and mission to direct us in our seeking after
divine union, we run no risk of going astray, whatever be the
personal merits of those who guide us. At the time when the Magi
arrived at Jerusalem, the assembly of those who had authority to
interpret the Holy Scriptures was composed in great part of
unworthy members; and yet God willed that it should be by their
ministry and teaching that the Magi learnt officially where Christ
was born. Indeed, God cannot permit a soul to be deceived when,
with humility and confidence, she has recourse to the legitimate
representatives of His sovereign authority.
On the contrary, the soul will again find light and peace. Like
the Magi going out from Jerusalem, she will again see the star,
radiant and splendid, and, also like them, full of gladness, she
will go forward on her way: Videntes autem stellam, gavisi sunt
gaudio magno valde (Mt 2:10).
It happens at times that the star disappears from our sight.
Whether the inspiration of grace bear with it an extraordinary
character, as was the case with the Magi, or whether it be linked
to the supernatural providence of each day, as is the most
frequent case with us, the star sometimes ceases to be manifest.
The soul then finds itself in spiritual darkness. What is to be
done then ?
Let us see what the Magi did under these circumstances. The star
was shown to them only in the East, then it disappeared: Vidimus
stellam ejus in Oriente. If it taught them concerning the Birth of
the King of the Jews, it did not show the precise place where they
might find Him. What were they to do ? The Magi directed their
course towards Jerusalem, the capital of Judea, the metropolis of
the Jewish religion. Where, better than in the holy city, could
they learn what they sought to know ?
In the same way, when our star disappears, when the divine
inspiration leaves us in some uncertainty, it is God's will that
we should have recourse to the Church, to those who represent Him
amongst us, in order to learn from them the path to be followed.
This is the dispensation of Divine Providence. God loves that in
our doubts and in the difficulties of our progress towards Christ,
we should ask light and direction from those whom He has
established as His representatives: Qui vos audit, me audit (Lk
10:16).
Hear how Jesus replies to Saul's question: "Lord, what wilt Thou
have me to do ?" Does He make His will directly known? He might
have done so since He revealed Himself as the Lord; but He instead
sends Saul to His representative: "Go into the city, and there it
shall be told thee"-by another-"what thou must do" (Acts 9:7).
In submitting the aspirations of our souls to the control of those
who have the grace and mission to direct us in our seeking after
divine union, we run no risk of going astray, whatever be the
personal merits of those who guide us. At the time when the Magi
arrived at Jerusalem, the assembly of those who had authority to
interpret the Holy Scriptures was composed in great part of
unworthy members; and yet God willed that it should be by their
ministry and teaching that the Magi learnt officially where Christ
was born. Indeed, God cannot permit a soul to be deceived when,
with humility and confidence, she has recourse to the legitimate
representatives of His sovereign authority.
On the contrary, the soul will again find light and peace. Like
the Magi going out from Jerusalem, she will again see the star,
radiant and splendid, and, also like them, full of gladness, she
will go forward on her way: Videntes autem stellam, gavisi sunt
gaudio magno valde (Mt 2:10).
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
EPIPHANY BY BLESSED COLUMBA MARMION, OSB - Part II
II
If we now return to some of the details of the Gospel narrative,
we shall see how rich in teaching is this mystery.
I have said that the Magi at Bethlehem represented the Gentiles in
their vocation to the light of the Gospel. The way in which the
Magi acted show us the qualities that our faith ought to have.
What is at first apparent is the generous fidelity of this faith.
Let us consider it. The star appeared to the Magi. Whatever be the
country whence they originated-Persia, Chaldea, Arabia or India,-
the Magi, according to tradition, belonged to a priestly caste and
devoted themselves to the study of the stars. It is more than
probable that they were not ignorant of the revelation made to the
Jews of a King Who would be their Deliverer and the Master of the
world. The prophet Daniel, who had prophesied the time of His
coming, had been in relation with some of the Magi; perhaps even,
Balaam's prophecy that a star should "rise out of Jacob" (Num
24:17) was not unknown to them. However that may be, behold now a
wondrous star appears to them. Its extraordinary brightness
attracting their gaze, awakens their attention at the same time
that an inward grace of illumination enlightens their souls. This
grace prepared them to recognize the prerogatives of the One Whose
Birth the star announced; it inspired them to set out to seek Him
in order to offer Him their homage.
The Magi's fidelity to the inspiration of grace is wonderful.
Doubt takes no hold upon their minds; without staying to reason,
they immediately begin to carry out their design. Neither the
indifference nor the scepticism of those who surround them, nor
the disappearance of the star, nor the difficulties inherent to an
expedition of this kind, nor the length and dangers of the way
stop them. They obey the divine call without delay or hesitation.
"We have seen His star in the East and are come" (Mt 2:2).
In this the Magi are our models, whether it concerns the vocation
to the faith, or whether it be a question of the call to
perfection. There is indeed for every faithful soul a vocation to
holiness: Sancti estote quia ego sanctus (Lev 11:44). "Be holy
because I am holy." The apostle St. Paul assures us that from all
eternity there exists for us a divine decree full of love
containing this call: Elegit nos ante mundi constitutionem, ut
essemus sancti et immaculati in conspectu ejus (Eph 1:4).
And for those whom He calls to holiness God makes "all things work
together unto good": Iis qui secundim propositum vocati sunt
sancti (Rom 8:28). The manifestation of this vocation is for each
of us his or her star. It takes different forms, according to
God's designs, our character, the circumstances wherein we live,
the events that befall us; but it shines in the soul of each one.
And what is the end and object of this call ? For us as for the
Magi, it is to lead us to Jesus. The Heavenly Father causes the
star to shine in us; for, says Christ Himself, " no man can come
to Me, except the Father, Who hath sent Me, draw him ": Nemo
potest venire ad me, nisi Pater, qui misit me, traxerit eum (Jn
6:44).
If with fidelity we listen to the divine call, if we generously
press onward with our gaze fixed upon the star, we shall come to
Christ Who is the life of our souls. And whatever be our sins, our
failings, our miseries, Jesus will welcome us with kindness. He
has promised to do so: " All that the Father giveth Me shall come
to Me, and him that cometh to Me, I will not cast out ": Omne,
quod dat mihi Pater, ad me veniet: et eum qui venit ad me non
eficiam foras (Ibid. 6:37).
The Father drew Magdalen the sinner to the feet of Jesus. And see
how Magdalen, at once following with a generous faith the divine
ray of the star that shone in her soul, suddenly enters into tbe
festal hall to manifest publicly to Christ her repentance and her
love. Magdalen followed the star, and the star led Magdalen to the
Saviour: " Thy sins are forgiven thee... thy faith hath made thee
safe. Go in peace" (Lk 7:48, 50). Et eum qui venit ad me non
eficiam foras.
The lives of the saints and the experience of souls show that
there are often, in our supernatural life, decisive moments upon
which depend all the value of our inner life, and sometimes our
eternity itself.
Look at Saul upon the road to Damascus. He is the enemy and bitter
persecutor of the Christians: Spirans minarum, "breathing out
threatenings and slaughter, "against those who bore that name. And
then the voice of Jesus makes itself heard. It is for Saul the
star, the divine call. He hears the call, and follows the star:
"Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" What promptitude and what
generosity ! And from that moment, become a " vessel of election"
(Acts 9:1, 6, 15), he will live for Christ alone.
Look, on the other hand, at the young man full of good will, with
upright and sincere heart, who approaches Jesus and asks what he
must do to possess life everlasting. "Keep the commandments,"
answers our Divine Saviour. "Master, all these have I kept from my
youth, what is yet wanting to me?" Then, says the Gospel," Jesus,
looking on him, loved him": Jesus autem intuitus eum dilexit eum.
This look full of love was the ray of the star. And see how it is
immediately manifested: "One thing is wanting unto thee: if thou
wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and
thou shalt have a treasure in heaven; and come follow me." But the
youth does not follow the star. Sorrowful at this saying, "he went
away sad; for he had great possessions." Some commentators see the
prediction of the loss of this soul in the words that our Lord
pronounced immediately afterwards: "How hardly shall they that
have riches enter into the kingdom of God" (Mk 10:17-23; cf. Mt
19:16-23; Lk 18:18-24).
Thus, whether it concerns the call to faith or holiness, we shall
only find Christ and the life whereof He is the source on
condition that we are attentive to grace and perseveringly
faithful in seeking after divine union.
The Heavenly Father calls us to His Son by the inspiration of His
grace. Like the Magi, as soon as the star shines in our hearts, we
should instantly leave all: our sins, the occasions of sin, evil
habits, infidelities, imperfections, attachment to creatures.
Taking no account of criticism nor the opinion of men, nor the
difficulties of the work to be done, we should set out at once to
seek Jesus. He wills this whether we have lost Him by mortal sin,
or whether, already possessing Him by sanctifying grace, He calls
us to a closer and more intimate union with Himself.
Vidimus stellam: Lord, I have seen Thy star, and I come to Thee:
what wilt Thou have me to do ?
If we now return to some of the details of the Gospel narrative,
we shall see how rich in teaching is this mystery.
I have said that the Magi at Bethlehem represented the Gentiles in
their vocation to the light of the Gospel. The way in which the
Magi acted show us the qualities that our faith ought to have.
What is at first apparent is the generous fidelity of this faith.
Let us consider it. The star appeared to the Magi. Whatever be the
country whence they originated-Persia, Chaldea, Arabia or India,-
the Magi, according to tradition, belonged to a priestly caste and
devoted themselves to the study of the stars. It is more than
probable that they were not ignorant of the revelation made to the
Jews of a King Who would be their Deliverer and the Master of the
world. The prophet Daniel, who had prophesied the time of His
coming, had been in relation with some of the Magi; perhaps even,
Balaam's prophecy that a star should "rise out of Jacob" (Num
24:17) was not unknown to them. However that may be, behold now a
wondrous star appears to them. Its extraordinary brightness
attracting their gaze, awakens their attention at the same time
that an inward grace of illumination enlightens their souls. This
grace prepared them to recognize the prerogatives of the One Whose
Birth the star announced; it inspired them to set out to seek Him
in order to offer Him their homage.
The Magi's fidelity to the inspiration of grace is wonderful.
Doubt takes no hold upon their minds; without staying to reason,
they immediately begin to carry out their design. Neither the
indifference nor the scepticism of those who surround them, nor
the disappearance of the star, nor the difficulties inherent to an
expedition of this kind, nor the length and dangers of the way
stop them. They obey the divine call without delay or hesitation.
"We have seen His star in the East and are come" (Mt 2:2).
In this the Magi are our models, whether it concerns the vocation
to the faith, or whether it be a question of the call to
perfection. There is indeed for every faithful soul a vocation to
holiness: Sancti estote quia ego sanctus (Lev 11:44). "Be holy
because I am holy." The apostle St. Paul assures us that from all
eternity there exists for us a divine decree full of love
containing this call: Elegit nos ante mundi constitutionem, ut
essemus sancti et immaculati in conspectu ejus (Eph 1:4).
And for those whom He calls to holiness God makes "all things work
together unto good": Iis qui secundim propositum vocati sunt
sancti (Rom 8:28). The manifestation of this vocation is for each
of us his or her star. It takes different forms, according to
God's designs, our character, the circumstances wherein we live,
the events that befall us; but it shines in the soul of each one.
And what is the end and object of this call ? For us as for the
Magi, it is to lead us to Jesus. The Heavenly Father causes the
star to shine in us; for, says Christ Himself, " no man can come
to Me, except the Father, Who hath sent Me, draw him ": Nemo
potest venire ad me, nisi Pater, qui misit me, traxerit eum (Jn
6:44).
If with fidelity we listen to the divine call, if we generously
press onward with our gaze fixed upon the star, we shall come to
Christ Who is the life of our souls. And whatever be our sins, our
failings, our miseries, Jesus will welcome us with kindness. He
has promised to do so: " All that the Father giveth Me shall come
to Me, and him that cometh to Me, I will not cast out ": Omne,
quod dat mihi Pater, ad me veniet: et eum qui venit ad me non
eficiam foras (Ibid. 6:37).
The Father drew Magdalen the sinner to the feet of Jesus. And see
how Magdalen, at once following with a generous faith the divine
ray of the star that shone in her soul, suddenly enters into tbe
festal hall to manifest publicly to Christ her repentance and her
love. Magdalen followed the star, and the star led Magdalen to the
Saviour: " Thy sins are forgiven thee... thy faith hath made thee
safe. Go in peace" (Lk 7:48, 50). Et eum qui venit ad me non
eficiam foras.
The lives of the saints and the experience of souls show that
there are often, in our supernatural life, decisive moments upon
which depend all the value of our inner life, and sometimes our
eternity itself.
Look at Saul upon the road to Damascus. He is the enemy and bitter
persecutor of the Christians: Spirans minarum, "breathing out
threatenings and slaughter, "against those who bore that name. And
then the voice of Jesus makes itself heard. It is for Saul the
star, the divine call. He hears the call, and follows the star:
"Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" What promptitude and what
generosity ! And from that moment, become a " vessel of election"
(Acts 9:1, 6, 15), he will live for Christ alone.
Look, on the other hand, at the young man full of good will, with
upright and sincere heart, who approaches Jesus and asks what he
must do to possess life everlasting. "Keep the commandments,"
answers our Divine Saviour. "Master, all these have I kept from my
youth, what is yet wanting to me?" Then, says the Gospel," Jesus,
looking on him, loved him": Jesus autem intuitus eum dilexit eum.
This look full of love was the ray of the star. And see how it is
immediately manifested: "One thing is wanting unto thee: if thou
wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and
thou shalt have a treasure in heaven; and come follow me." But the
youth does not follow the star. Sorrowful at this saying, "he went
away sad; for he had great possessions." Some commentators see the
prediction of the loss of this soul in the words that our Lord
pronounced immediately afterwards: "How hardly shall they that
have riches enter into the kingdom of God" (Mk 10:17-23; cf. Mt
19:16-23; Lk 18:18-24).
Thus, whether it concerns the call to faith or holiness, we shall
only find Christ and the life whereof He is the source on
condition that we are attentive to grace and perseveringly
faithful in seeking after divine union.
The Heavenly Father calls us to His Son by the inspiration of His
grace. Like the Magi, as soon as the star shines in our hearts, we
should instantly leave all: our sins, the occasions of sin, evil
habits, infidelities, imperfections, attachment to creatures.
Taking no account of criticism nor the opinion of men, nor the
difficulties of the work to be done, we should set out at once to
seek Jesus. He wills this whether we have lost Him by mortal sin,
or whether, already possessing Him by sanctifying grace, He calls
us to a closer and more intimate union with Himself.
Vidimus stellam: Lord, I have seen Thy star, and I come to Thee:
what wilt Thou have me to do ?
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
EPIPHANY BY BLESSED COLUMBA MARMION, OSB - Part I
I
The Fathers of the Church have seen in the call of the Magi to
Christ's cradle the vocation of pagan nations to the Faith. This
is the very foundation of the mystery, explicitly indicated by the
Church in the collect wherein she sums up the desires of her
children on this solemnity: Deus qui hodierna die Unigenitum tnum
GENTIBUS stella duce revelasti.
The Incarnate Word is first of all manifested to the Jews in the
person of the shepherds. Why was this? Because the Jewish people
were the Chosen People. From this people was to come forth the
Messias, the Son of David. The magnificent promises to be realised
in the establishing of the Messianic Kingdom had been made to this
people; it was to them that God had entrusted the Scriptures and
given the Law whereof each element prefigured the grace that was
to be brought by Christ. It was then befitting that the Incarnate
Word should first be manifested to the Jews.
The shepherds, simple and upright men, represented the Chosen
People at the Crib: Evangelizo vobis gaudium magnum.., quia natus
est vobis hodie Salvator (Lk 2:10-11).
Later on, in His public life, Our Lord would again manifest
Himself to the Jews, by the wisdom of His doctrine and the
splendour of His miracles.
We shall even find that He restricts His teaching to the Jews
alone. See, for example, when the woman of Canaan, from the pagan
regions of Tyre and Sidon, asks Him to have mercy upon her. What
does Christ answer to the disciples when they interpose in her
favour? "I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the
house of Israel" (Mt 15:24). It needed the ardent faith and
profound humility of the poor pagan woman to wrest from Jesus, so
to speak, the grace that she implored.
When, during His public life, Our Lord sent His Apostles to
preach, like Himself, the good news, He likewise said to them: "Go
ye not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the city of
Samaritans enter you ye not. But go ye rather to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel" (Mt 10:5-6). Why this strange
recommendation? Were the pagans excluded from the grace of
redemption and salvation brought by Christ? No; but it entered
into the divine economy to reserve the evangelization of the pagan
nations to the Apostles, after the Jews should have definitely
rejected the Son of God, by crucifying the Messias. When Our Lord
dies upon the cross, the veil of the temple is rent in twain to
show that the Ancient Covenant with the Hebrew people had ceased.
Many Jews indeed did not want to receive Christ. The pride of
some, the sensuality of others, blinded their souls, and they
would not receive Him as Son of God. It is of them that St. John
speaks when he says: "The light shineth in darkness, and the
darkness did not comprehend it" (Jn 1:5, 11). Therefore Our Lord
says to these incredulous Jews: "The Kingdom of God shall be taken
from you, and shall be given to a nation yielding the fruit
thereof" (Mt 21:43).
The pagan nations are called to become the inheritance promised by
the Father to His Son Jesus: Postula a me, et dabo tibi gentes
haereditatem tuam (Ps 11:8). Our Lord Himself says: "The good
shepherd giveth His life for His sheep," adding immediately:
"Other sheep I have, that are not of this fold": Alias oves habeo,
quae non sunt ex hoc ovili. "Them also I must bring, and they
shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd"
(Jn 10: 11, 16).
This is why, before ascending into heaven, He sends His Apostles
to continue His work and mission of salvation, no longer among the
lost sheep of Israel, but among all people. "Going therefore," He
says to them, "teach ye all nations... preach the gospel to every
creature... I am with you all days, even to the consummation of
the world" (Mt 28:19-20).
The Word Incarnate did not, however, await His Ascension to shed
abroad the grace of the Gospel upon the Gentile world. As soon as
He appeared here below, He invited it to His cradle in the person
of the Magi. He, Eternal Wisdom, would thus show us that He
brought peace, Pax hominibus bonae voluntatis (Lk 2:14), not only
to those who were nigh to Him- the faithful Jews represented by
the shepherds, -but also to those who " were afar off "-the Pagans
represented by the Magi. Thus, as St. Paul says, of the two people
He made but one: Qui fecit utraque unum, because He alone, by the
union of His Humanity with His Divinity, is the perfect Mediator,
and "by Him we have access both in one Spirit to the Father" (Eph
2:14, 17-18).
The calling of the Magi and their sanctification signifies the
vocation of the Gentiles to the faith and to salvation. God sends
an angel to the shepherds, for the Chosen People were accustomed
to the apparition of the celestial spirits; to the Magi, who
studied the stars, He causes a marvellous star to appear. This
star is the symbol of the inward illumination that enlightens
souls in order to call them to God.
The soul of every grown-up person is in fact enlightened, once at
least, like the Magi, by the star of the vocation to eternal
salvation. To all the light is given. It is a dogma of our faith
that God "will have all men to be saved": Qui OMNES homines vult
salvos fieri, et ad agnitionem veritatis venire (1 Tim 2:4).
On the day of judgment, all without exception will proclaim, with
the conviction produced by evidence, the infinite justice of God
and the perfect rectitude of His judgments: Justus es, Domine, et
rectum judicium tuum (Ps 118:137). Those whom God shall have told
to depart from Him for ever will acknowledge that they are the
workers of their own ruin.
Now this would not be true if the reprobate had not had the
possibility of knowing and accepting the divine light of faith. It
would be contrary not only to God's infinite goodness, but even to
His justice, to condemn a soul on account of its invincible
ignorance.
Doubtless, the star that calls men to the Christian faith is not
the same for all; it shines in different ways, but its brightness
is visible enough for hearts of good will to be able to recognise
it and see in it the sign of the Divine call. In His providence
full of wisdom, God incessantly varies His action,
incomprehensible like Himself. He varies it according to the ever
active promptings of His love and the ever holy exigencies of His
justice. We ought herein to adore the unfathomable depths of God's
ways and proclaim that they infinitely surpass our created views.
Indeed "who hath known the mind Or the Lord ? Or who hath been His
counsellor ? " O altitudo divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei!
Quam incomprehensibilia sunt judicia ejus et investigabiles viae
ejus! (Rom 11:33).
We have "seen the star" and have recognised as our God the Babe of
Bethlehem; we have the happiness of belonging to the Church
whereof the Magi were the first fruits.
In the office of the feast, the Liturgy celebrates this vocation
of all humanity to faith and salvation in the person of the Magi
as the nuptials of the Church with the Bridegroom. Hear with what
gladness, in what magnificent symbolical terms, borrowed from the
prophet Isaias, the liturgy proclaims (Epistle of the Mass) the
splendour of this spiritual Jerusalem which is to receive into her
maternal bosom the nations become the inheritance of her divine
Bridegroom. "Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for thy light is
come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold,
darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people; but the
Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the
brightness of thy rising. Lift up thy eyes round about, and see;
all these gathered together, they are come to thee: thy sons shall
come from afar, and daughters shall rise up at thy side. Then
shalt thou see, and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be
enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to
thee, the strength of the Gentiles shall come to thee" (Is 60:15).
Let us offer continual thanksgiving to God "Who hath delivered us
from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the
kingdom of the Son of His love" (Col 1:13), " that is to say into
His Church.
The call to the faith is a signal benefit because it contains in
germ the vocation to the eternal beatitude of the Divine vision.
Never let us forget that this call was the dawn of all God's
mercies towards us, and that for man all is summed up in fidelity
to this vocation; faith is to bring us to the Beatific Vision
(Collect for the Feast).
Not only ought we to thank God for this grace of the Christian
faith, but we ought each day to render ourselves more worthy of it
by safeguarding our faith against all the dangers that it
encounters in our age of naturalism, scepticism, indifference,
human respect, and by living a life of faith with constant
fidelity.
Moreover, let us beseech God to grant this precious gift of the
Christian faith to all the souls who yet "sit in darkness, and in
the shadow of death"; let us beseech Our Lord that the star may
shine upon them; that, through His tender mercy, He Himself will
be the Sun to visit them from on high: Per viscera misericordiae
Dei nostri in quibus visitavit nos, Oriens ex alto (Lk 1:78-79)
This prayer is very pleasing to Our Lord; it is, in fact, to
beseech Him that He may be known and exalted as the Saviour of all
mankind and the King of kings.
It is likewise pleasing to the Father, for He desires nothing so
much as the glorification of His Son. Let us then often repeat,
during these holy days, the prayer that the Incarnate Word Himself
has put upon our lips: O Heavenly Father, "Father of Lights," Thy
Kingdom come, that kingdom whereof Thy Son Jesus is the head.
Adveniat regnum tuum! May Thy Son be more and more known, loved,
served, glorified, so that in His turn He may, by manifesting Thee
the more to men, glorify Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost:
Pater, clarifica Filium taum ut Filius tuus clarificet te !
The Fathers of the Church have seen in the call of the Magi to
Christ's cradle the vocation of pagan nations to the Faith. This
is the very foundation of the mystery, explicitly indicated by the
Church in the collect wherein she sums up the desires of her
children on this solemnity: Deus qui hodierna die Unigenitum tnum
GENTIBUS stella duce revelasti.
The Incarnate Word is first of all manifested to the Jews in the
person of the shepherds. Why was this? Because the Jewish people
were the Chosen People. From this people was to come forth the
Messias, the Son of David. The magnificent promises to be realised
in the establishing of the Messianic Kingdom had been made to this
people; it was to them that God had entrusted the Scriptures and
given the Law whereof each element prefigured the grace that was
to be brought by Christ. It was then befitting that the Incarnate
Word should first be manifested to the Jews.
The shepherds, simple and upright men, represented the Chosen
People at the Crib: Evangelizo vobis gaudium magnum.., quia natus
est vobis hodie Salvator (Lk 2:10-11).
Later on, in His public life, Our Lord would again manifest
Himself to the Jews, by the wisdom of His doctrine and the
splendour of His miracles.
We shall even find that He restricts His teaching to the Jews
alone. See, for example, when the woman of Canaan, from the pagan
regions of Tyre and Sidon, asks Him to have mercy upon her. What
does Christ answer to the disciples when they interpose in her
favour? "I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the
house of Israel" (Mt 15:24). It needed the ardent faith and
profound humility of the poor pagan woman to wrest from Jesus, so
to speak, the grace that she implored.
When, during His public life, Our Lord sent His Apostles to
preach, like Himself, the good news, He likewise said to them: "Go
ye not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the city of
Samaritans enter you ye not. But go ye rather to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel" (Mt 10:5-6). Why this strange
recommendation? Were the pagans excluded from the grace of
redemption and salvation brought by Christ? No; but it entered
into the divine economy to reserve the evangelization of the pagan
nations to the Apostles, after the Jews should have definitely
rejected the Son of God, by crucifying the Messias. When Our Lord
dies upon the cross, the veil of the temple is rent in twain to
show that the Ancient Covenant with the Hebrew people had ceased.
Many Jews indeed did not want to receive Christ. The pride of
some, the sensuality of others, blinded their souls, and they
would not receive Him as Son of God. It is of them that St. John
speaks when he says: "The light shineth in darkness, and the
darkness did not comprehend it" (Jn 1:5, 11). Therefore Our Lord
says to these incredulous Jews: "The Kingdom of God shall be taken
from you, and shall be given to a nation yielding the fruit
thereof" (Mt 21:43).
The pagan nations are called to become the inheritance promised by
the Father to His Son Jesus: Postula a me, et dabo tibi gentes
haereditatem tuam (Ps 11:8). Our Lord Himself says: "The good
shepherd giveth His life for His sheep," adding immediately:
"Other sheep I have, that are not of this fold": Alias oves habeo,
quae non sunt ex hoc ovili. "Them also I must bring, and they
shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd"
(Jn 10: 11, 16).
This is why, before ascending into heaven, He sends His Apostles
to continue His work and mission of salvation, no longer among the
lost sheep of Israel, but among all people. "Going therefore," He
says to them, "teach ye all nations... preach the gospel to every
creature... I am with you all days, even to the consummation of
the world" (Mt 28:19-20).
The Word Incarnate did not, however, await His Ascension to shed
abroad the grace of the Gospel upon the Gentile world. As soon as
He appeared here below, He invited it to His cradle in the person
of the Magi. He, Eternal Wisdom, would thus show us that He
brought peace, Pax hominibus bonae voluntatis (Lk 2:14), not only
to those who were nigh to Him- the faithful Jews represented by
the shepherds, -but also to those who " were afar off "-the Pagans
represented by the Magi. Thus, as St. Paul says, of the two people
He made but one: Qui fecit utraque unum, because He alone, by the
union of His Humanity with His Divinity, is the perfect Mediator,
and "by Him we have access both in one Spirit to the Father" (Eph
2:14, 17-18).
The calling of the Magi and their sanctification signifies the
vocation of the Gentiles to the faith and to salvation. God sends
an angel to the shepherds, for the Chosen People were accustomed
to the apparition of the celestial spirits; to the Magi, who
studied the stars, He causes a marvellous star to appear. This
star is the symbol of the inward illumination that enlightens
souls in order to call them to God.
The soul of every grown-up person is in fact enlightened, once at
least, like the Magi, by the star of the vocation to eternal
salvation. To all the light is given. It is a dogma of our faith
that God "will have all men to be saved": Qui OMNES homines vult
salvos fieri, et ad agnitionem veritatis venire (1 Tim 2:4).
On the day of judgment, all without exception will proclaim, with
the conviction produced by evidence, the infinite justice of God
and the perfect rectitude of His judgments: Justus es, Domine, et
rectum judicium tuum (Ps 118:137). Those whom God shall have told
to depart from Him for ever will acknowledge that they are the
workers of their own ruin.
Now this would not be true if the reprobate had not had the
possibility of knowing and accepting the divine light of faith. It
would be contrary not only to God's infinite goodness, but even to
His justice, to condemn a soul on account of its invincible
ignorance.
Doubtless, the star that calls men to the Christian faith is not
the same for all; it shines in different ways, but its brightness
is visible enough for hearts of good will to be able to recognise
it and see in it the sign of the Divine call. In His providence
full of wisdom, God incessantly varies His action,
incomprehensible like Himself. He varies it according to the ever
active promptings of His love and the ever holy exigencies of His
justice. We ought herein to adore the unfathomable depths of God's
ways and proclaim that they infinitely surpass our created views.
Indeed "who hath known the mind Or the Lord ? Or who hath been His
counsellor ? " O altitudo divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei!
Quam incomprehensibilia sunt judicia ejus et investigabiles viae
ejus! (Rom 11:33).
We have "seen the star" and have recognised as our God the Babe of
Bethlehem; we have the happiness of belonging to the Church
whereof the Magi were the first fruits.
In the office of the feast, the Liturgy celebrates this vocation
of all humanity to faith and salvation in the person of the Magi
as the nuptials of the Church with the Bridegroom. Hear with what
gladness, in what magnificent symbolical terms, borrowed from the
prophet Isaias, the liturgy proclaims (Epistle of the Mass) the
splendour of this spiritual Jerusalem which is to receive into her
maternal bosom the nations become the inheritance of her divine
Bridegroom. "Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for thy light is
come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold,
darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people; but the
Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the
brightness of thy rising. Lift up thy eyes round about, and see;
all these gathered together, they are come to thee: thy sons shall
come from afar, and daughters shall rise up at thy side. Then
shalt thou see, and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be
enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to
thee, the strength of the Gentiles shall come to thee" (Is 60:15).
Let us offer continual thanksgiving to God "Who hath delivered us
from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the
kingdom of the Son of His love" (Col 1:13), " that is to say into
His Church.
The call to the faith is a signal benefit because it contains in
germ the vocation to the eternal beatitude of the Divine vision.
Never let us forget that this call was the dawn of all God's
mercies towards us, and that for man all is summed up in fidelity
to this vocation; faith is to bring us to the Beatific Vision
(Collect for the Feast).
Not only ought we to thank God for this grace of the Christian
faith, but we ought each day to render ourselves more worthy of it
by safeguarding our faith against all the dangers that it
encounters in our age of naturalism, scepticism, indifference,
human respect, and by living a life of faith with constant
fidelity.
Moreover, let us beseech God to grant this precious gift of the
Christian faith to all the souls who yet "sit in darkness, and in
the shadow of death"; let us beseech Our Lord that the star may
shine upon them; that, through His tender mercy, He Himself will
be the Sun to visit them from on high: Per viscera misericordiae
Dei nostri in quibus visitavit nos, Oriens ex alto (Lk 1:78-79)
This prayer is very pleasing to Our Lord; it is, in fact, to
beseech Him that He may be known and exalted as the Saviour of all
mankind and the King of kings.
It is likewise pleasing to the Father, for He desires nothing so
much as the glorification of His Son. Let us then often repeat,
during these holy days, the prayer that the Incarnate Word Himself
has put upon our lips: O Heavenly Father, "Father of Lights," Thy
Kingdom come, that kingdom whereof Thy Son Jesus is the head.
Adveniat regnum tuum! May Thy Son be more and more known, loved,
served, glorified, so that in His turn He may, by manifesting Thee
the more to men, glorify Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost:
Pater, clarifica Filium taum ut Filius tuus clarificet te !
Monday, January 9, 2012
EPIPHANY BY BLESSED COLUMBA MARMION, OSB - INTRODUCTORY SUMMARY
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.
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.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Divine Preparations - Time of Advent from CHRIST IN HIS MYSTERIES by Dom Columba Marmion, O.S.B.- Part IV
IV
What are these dispositions? They can be summed up in four.
Purity of heart. Who was the best disposed for the coming of the Word to earth? Without any doubt, it was the Blessed Virgin Mary. At the moment when the Word came into this world, He found Mary's heart perfectly prepared, and capable of receiving the Divine riches which He willed to heap upon her. What were the dispositions of her soul?
Assuredly she possessed all the most perfect dispositions; but there is one which shines with particular brilliancy: that is her virginal purity. Mary is a virgin. Her virginity is so precious to her that it is her first thought when the angel proposes to her the mystery of the divine maternity.
Not only is she a virgin, but her soul is stainless. The liturgy reveals to us that God's special design in granting to Mary the unique privilege of the Immaculate Conception was to prepare for His Word a dwelling place worthy of Him: "Deus qui per immvaculatam Virginis conceptionem dignum Filio tuo HABITACULUM PRAEPARASTI" (Collect for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception). Mary was to be the Mother of God; and this eminent dignity required not only that she should be a virgin, but that her purity should surpass that of the angels and be a reflection of the holy splendour wherein the Father begets His Son: "In splendoribus sanctorum" (Ps 59:3). God is holy, thrice holy; the angels, the archangels, the seraphim hymn His infinite purity: "Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus" (Is 6:3). The bosom of God, of an infinite purity, is the dwelling-place of the Only-begotten Son of God. The Word is ever in "sinu Patris"; but, in becoming Incarnate, He also willed, in ineffable condescension, to be in "sinu Virginis Matris". It was necessary that the tabernacle that Our Lady offered Him should recall, by its incomparable purity, the indefectible brightness of the light eternal where as God He ever dwells: "Christi sinus erat in Deo Patre divinitas, in Maria Matre virginitas" (Sermo, XII, in Append. Operum S. Ambrosii).
Thus the first disposition that attracts Christ is a great purity. But as for ourselves, we are sinners. We cannot offer to the Word, to Christ Jesus, that immaculate purity which He so much loves. What is there that will take the place of it in us ? It is humility.
God possesses in His bosom the Son of His delight, but upon this bosom He also presses another son,-the prodigal son. Our Lord Himself tells us so. When, after having fallen so low, the prodigal returns to his father, he humbles himself to the dust, he confesses himself to be miserable and unworthy; and, at once, without a word or reproach, the father receives him into the bosom of his compassion: Misericordia motus (Lk 15:20).
Do not let us forget that the Word, the Son, only wills what His Father wills. If He becomes Incarnate and appears upon earth, it is in order to seek sinners and bring them back to His Father: "Non vend vocare justos sed peccatores "(Mt 9:13), This is so true that later Our Lord will often be found, to the great scandal of the Pharisees, in the company of sinners; He will allow Magdalen to kiss His Feet and bathe them with her tears.
We have not the Virgin Mary's purity, but let us at least ask for the humility of Magdalen, a contrite and penitent love. O Christ Jesus, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst come to me; my heart will not be for Thee a dwelling-place of purity, misery dwells there. But I acknowledge, I avow this misery; come and relieve me of it. O Thou Who art mercy itself; come and deliver me, O Thou Who art almighty: Veni ad liberandum nos, Domine Deus virtutum!
A like prayer, joined to the spirit of penance, draws Christ to us because the humility that abases itself in its nothingness thereby renders homage to the goodness and power of Jesus: Et eum, qui venit ad me, non eficiam foras (Jn 6:37).
The sight of our infirmity ought not, however, to discourage us; far from that. The more we feel our weakness, so much the more ought we to open our soul to confidence, because salvation comes only from Christ.
Pusillanimes, confortamini et nolite timere, ecce Deus noster veniet et salvabit nos (Communion for the 3rd Sunday of Advent, cf. Is 35:4). "Ye faint-hearted, take courage and fear not: behold God, our God, will come and will save us." See what confidence the Jews had in the Messias. For them, the Messias was everything; in Him were summed up all the aspirations of Israel, all the wishes of the people, all the hopes of the race; to contemplate Him was all their ambition; to see His reign established would have fulfilled all their desires. And how confident and impatient the desires of the Jews became: "Come, O Lord and do not delay" (Alleluia for the 4th Sunday of Advent) "Shew us Thy face, and we shall be saved" (Ps 79:4).
Oh, if we who possess Christ Jesus, true God as well as true Man, really understood what the Sacred Humanity of Jesus is, we should have an unshaken confidence in it; for in His Humanity are all the treasures of knowledge and of wisdom; in it the Divinity itself dwells. This God-Man, Who comes to us is the Emmanuel, He is "God with us," He is our Elder Brother. The Word has espoused our nature, He has taken upon Himself our infirmities so as to know by experience what suffering is. He comes to us to make us partakers of His divine life; all the graces for which we can hope He possesses in their fulness in order to grant them to us.
The promises that, by the voice of the prophets, God made to His people so as to arouse in them the desire of the Messias, are magnificent. But many of the Jews understood these promises in the material and gross sense of a temporal and political kingdom. The good things promised to the just who awaited the Saviour were but the figure of the supernatural riches which we find in Christ; we have the divine reality, that is to say the grace of Jesus. The liturgy for Advent constantly speaks to us of mercy, redemption, salvation, deliverance, light, abundance, joy, peace. "Behold the Saviour cometh; on the day of His Birth, the world shall be flooded with light" (Antiphon for Lauds of the 1st Sunday in Advent; "exult then with joy, O Jerusalem, for the Saviour shall appear" (Antiphon for Lauds for the 3rd Sunday in Advent); "peace shall fill our earth when He shews Himself" (Response for Matins for the 3rd Sunday in Advent). Christ brings with Him all the blessings that can be lavished upon a soul: "Cum illo omnia nobis donavit" (Rom 8:32).
Let then our hearts yield themselves up to an absolute confidence in Him Who is to come. It is to render ourselves very pleasing to the Father to believe that His Son Jesus can do everything for the sanctification of our souls. Thereby we declare that Jesus is equal to Him, and that the Father "hath given all things into His hand" (Jn 3:35). Such confidence cannot be mistaken. In the Mass for the first Sunday in Advent, the Church thrice gives us the firm assurance of this. "None of them that wait on Thee shall be confounded": "Qui te exspectant non confundentur."
This confidence will above all be expressed in the ardent desire to see Christ come to reign more fully within us. "Adveniat regnum tuum!" The liturgy gives us the formula of these desires. At the same time that she places the prophecies, especially those of Isaias, under our eyes, and causes us to read them again, the Church puts upon our lips the aspirations and the longings of the just men of old time. She wills to see us prepared for Christ's coming within our souls in the same way as God willed that the Jews should be disposed to receive His Son. "Come, O Lord, They mercy, and grant us Thy people" (Alleluia for the 4th Sunday of Advent). "Shew us, O Lord, Thy mercy, and grant us Thy salvation" (Offertory for the 2d Sunday of Advent). "Come and deliver us, Lord, God Almighty! Raise up Thy power, and come" (Collect for the 4th Sunday of Advent).
The Church makes us constantly repeat these aspirations. Let us make them our own, let us appropriate them to ourselves with faith, and Christ Jesus will enrich us with His graces.
Doubtless, as you know, God is master of His gifts; He is sovereignly free, and none may hold Him to account for His preferences. But, in the ordinary ways of His Providence, He hears the supplications of the humble who bring their needs before Him: "Desiderium pauperum exaudivit Dominus" (Ps 9:17). Christ gives Himself to us according to the measure of the desire that we have to receive Him, and the capacity of the soul is increased by the desires that it expresses: "Dilata os tuum, et implebo illud" (Ps 80:2).
If then we want the celebration of Christ's Nativity to procure great glory for the Holy Trinity, and to be a consolation for the Heart of the Incarnate Word, a source of abundant graces for the Church and for ourselves, let us strive to purify our hearts, let us preserve a humility full of confidence, and above all let us enlarge our souls by the breath and vehemence of our desires.
Let us ask our Lady to make us share in the holy aspirations that animated her during those blessed days that preceded the Birth of Jesus.
The Church has willed--and what is more just?--that the liturgy of Advent should be full of the thought of the Blessed Virgin; she continually makes us sing the divine fruitfulness of a Virgin, a wonderful fruitfulness that throws nature into astonishment: "Tu quae genuisti, natura mirante, tuum sanctum genitorem, virgo pries ac posterius" (Antiphon Alma Redemptoris Mater).
Mary's virginal bosom was an immaculate sanctuary whence arose the most pure incense of her adoration and homage.
There is something veritably ineffable about the inward life of the Virgin during these days. She lived in an intimate union with the Infant-God Whom she bore in her bosom. The soul of Jesus was, by the Beatific Vision, plunged in the Divine light; this light radiated upon His Mother. In the sight of the angels, Mary truly appeared as "a woman clothed with the sun": "Mulier amicta sole" (Rev 12:1), all irradiated with heavenly brightness, all shining with the light of her Son. Her feelings indeed reached the high level of her faith. She summed up in herself all the aspirations, all the impulses, all the longings of humanity awaiting the world's Saviour and God, at the same time going far beyond them and giving them a value that they had never hitherto attained. What holy intensity in her desires! What unshaken assurance in confidence! What fervour in her love!...
This humble Virgin is the Queen of Patriarchs, since she is of their holy lineage, and since the Child Whom she is about to bring into the world is the Son Who resumes in His person all the magnificence of the ancient promises.
She is, too, the Queen of Prophets, since she is to bring forth the Word by Whom all the prophets spoke, since her Son is to fulfil all prophecy and announce to all people the good news of redemption (Lk 4:19).
Let us humbly ask her to make us enter into her dispositions. She will hear our prayer; we shal1 have the immense joy of seeing Christ born anew within our hearts by the communication of a more abundant grace, and we shall be enabled, like the Virgin, although in a lesser measure, to understand the truth of these words of St. John: "The Word was God... and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory... full of grace and truth... And of His fulness we have all received, and grace for grace" (Jn 1:14-16).
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Divine Preparations - Time of Advent from CHRIST IN HIS MYSTERIES by Dom Columba Marmion, O.S.B.- Part III
III
We ourselves have the happiness of believing in this Light "which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world" (Jn 1:9). We live, moreover, in the blessed "fulness of time"; we are not deprived, like the Patriarchs, of seeing the reign of the Messias. If we are not of those who looked upon Christ in person and heard His words, those who beheld Him going about doing good everywhere, we have the signal happiness of belonging to those nations of which David sang that they should be Christ's inheritance.
And yet the Holy Spirit, Who governs the Church and is the first author of our sanctification, wills that each year the Church should consecrate four weeks in recalling to memory the long duration of the divine preparations, and that she should strive to place our souls in the interior dispositions in which the faithful Jews lived whilst awaiting the coming of the Messias.
You will perhaps immediately say: This preparation for Christ's coming, these longings, these expectations, all that was excellent for those living under the Old Covenant; but now that Christ has come, why this attitude which does not seem to be in accordance with the truth?
The reason for it is manifold.
To begin with, God wills to be praised and blessed in all His works.
All, indeed, are marked with His infinite wisdom: "Omnia in sapientia fecisti" (Ps 53:24); all are admirable both in their preparation and their realisation. This is above all true of those which have the glory of His Son for their direct end, for it is the will of the Father that this Son should be for ever exalted (Cf. Jn 12:25). God wills that we should admire His works, that we should return thanks to Him for having thus prepared, with so much wisdom and power, the kingdom of His Son amongst us: we enter into the divine thoughts when we recollect the prophecies and promises of the Old Covenant.
God wills also that in these preparations we should find confirmation of our faith.
If God gave so many different and precise signs, such numerous and clear prophecies, it was in order that we might recognise as His Son the One Who has fulfilled them in His person.
See how in the Gospel Our Lord Himself invited His disciples to this contemplation. "Scrutamini Scripturas", "Search the Scriptures" (Jn 5:39), He said to them--"the Scriptures," which then consisted of the books of the Old Testament:--search them, you will find them full of My name; for "all things must need be fulfilled which are written... in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me": "Necesse est impleri omnia quae scripta sunt in prophetic et psalmis de me" (Lk 24:44). Again we hear Him on the day after His Resurrection explaining to the disciples of Emmaus, so as to strengthen their faith, and dissipate their sadness, all that concerned Him throughout the Scriptures, "beginning at Moses and all the prophets": "Et incipiens a Moyse et omnibus prophetic, interpretabatur illis in omnibus scripturis quae de ipso erant" (Ibid. 27).
When, therefore, we read the prophecies that the Church proposes to us during Advent, let us in the fulness of our faith, say like the first disciples of Jesus: "We have found Him of Whom... the prophets did write" (Jn 1:45). Let us repeat to Christ Jesus Himself: Thou art truly the One Who is to come; we believe it, and we adore Thee Who to save the world didst deign to become incarnate and to be born of a Virgin: "Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem non horruisti virginis uterum" (Hymn Te Deum).
This profession of faith is extremely pleasing to God. Never let us weary of reiterating it. Our Lord will be able to say to us as to His Apostles: "The Father Himself loveth you, because you... have believed that I came forth from God" (Jn 16:28).
Finally, there is a third reason, one deeper and more intimate. Christ did not come only for the inhabitants of Judea, His contemporaries, but for us all, for all men of every nation and century. Do we not sing in the Credo: "Propter NOS et propter NOSTRAM salutem descendit de caelis?" The "fulness of time" is not yet ended; it will endure as long as there shall be souls to save.
But it is to the Church that Christ, since His Ascension, has left the mission of bringing Him forth in souls. "My little children," said St. Paul, the Apostle of Christ Jesus among nations," of whom I am in labour again, until Christ be formed in you" (Gal 4:19). The Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, Who is the Spirit of Jesus, labours at this work by making us contemplate every year the mystery of her Divine Bridegroom. For, as I said at the beginning of these conferences, all Christ's mysteries are living mysteries; they are not merely historical realities of which we recall the remembrance, but the celebration of each mystery brings a proper grace, a special virtue intended to make us share in the life and states of Christ Whose members we are.
Now, at Christmas, the Church celebrates the Birthday of her Divine Bridegroom: "tamquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo" (Ps 18:6); and she wills to prepare us, by the weeks of Advent, for the grace of the coming of Christ within us. It is an altogether inward, mysterious advent which is wrought in faith, but brings forth much fruit.
Christ is already within us by the sanctifying grace which makes us children of God. That is true, but the Church wills that this grace should be renewed, that we should live a new life more exempt from sin and imperfection, more free from all attachment to ourselves and creatures: "Ut nos Unigeniti tui nova per carnem nativitas liberet quos sub peccati jugo vetusta servitus" tenet (Collect for the Feast of Christmas.) She wills above all to make us understand that Christ, in exchange for the humanity which He takes from us, will make us partakers of His Divinity, and will take a more complete, more entire, more perfect possession of us. This will be like the grace of a new divine birth in us: "Ut tua gratia largiente, per haec sacrosancta commercia, in illius inveniamur forma, in quo tecum est nostra substantia" (Secret for the Midnight Mass).
It is this grace of a new birth that the Incarnate Word merited for us by His Birth at Bethlehem.
However, we should remember that if Christ was born, and lived and died for us all: Pro omnibus mortuus est Christus (2 Cor 5:15), the application of His merits and the distribution of His graces are made according to the measure of the dispositions of each soul.
Consequently we shall only share in the abundant graces that Christ's Nativity should bring to us in proportion to our dispositions. The Church knows this perfectly, and therefore she neglects nothing that can produce in our souls that inward attitude required by the coming of Christ within us. Not only does the Church say by the mouth of the Precursor: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord," for "He is near," "prope est Dominus" (Invitatory of Matins for the 3rd Sunday in Advent); but she herself, like a Bride attentive to the wishes of her Bridegroom, like a mother careful for her children's good, suggests to us and gives us the means of making this necessary preparation. She carries us back as it were under the Old Covenant so that we may appropriate to ourselves, although in an altogether supernatural sense, the thoughts and feelings of the faithful who longed for the coming of the Messias.
If we allow ourselves to be guided by her, our dispositions will be perfect, and the solemnity of the Birth of Jesus will produce within us all its fruits of grace, of light and life.
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