Vigil, Psalms 27:13-14, Isaiah 42:1-7, Luke 1:26-38, Pope Frances Daily Activity, Feast of the Annunciation, The Mystical City of God, The Divine History and Life of The Virgin Mother of God - Book 3:1 THE NOVENA BEFORE THEN INCARNATION and Book 3:2 THE INCARNATION OF THE SON OF GOD, Catholic Catechism Part Two Section 1:2:2 The Sacraments of The Church
Good Day Bloggers! Wishing everyone a Blessed Week!
Year of Faith - October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013
P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Serenity Happens). It has a remarkable way of producing solace, peace, patience and tranquility and of course resolution...God's always available 24/7.
The world begins and ends everyday for someone. We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have
flaws but we also all have the gift of knowledge and free will,
make the most of these gifts. Life on earth is a stepping stone to our eternal home in
Heaven. Its your choice whether to rise towards eternal light or lost to
eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and
survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes
from this earth to Purgatory and/or Heaven is our Soul, our Spirit...it's God's perpetual
gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012
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Prayers for Today: Monday in Lent
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Papam Franciscus
(Pope Francis)
LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS TO BE PRESIDED BY POPE DURING HOLY WEEK
Vatican City, 25 March 2013 (VIS) – The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff has made public the calendar of celebrations that are due to be presided by Pope Francis during Holy Week: (Posted at Rome Time which six hours ahead of USA Central Time). View via Video on Vatican TV Live Stream or Audio Vatican Radio.
28 March, Holy Thursday: 9:30am, Chrism Mass in the Vatican Basilica
5:30pm, Mass of the Lord's Supper at the Casal del Marmo youth detention centre
29 March, Good Friday: 5:00pm, Celebration of the Lord's Passion in the Vatican Basilica
9:15pm, Via Crucis at the Colosseum
30 March, Holy Saturday: 8:30, Easter Vigil in the Vatican Basilica
31 March, Easter Sunday: 10:15am, Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square
12:00pm “Urbi et Orbi” Blessing
28 March, Holy Thursday: 9:30am, Chrism Mass in the Vatican Basilica
5:30pm, Mass of the Lord's Supper at the Casal del Marmo youth detention centre
29 March, Good Friday: 5:00pm, Celebration of the Lord's Passion in the Vatican Basilica
9:15pm, Via Crucis at the Colosseum
30 March, Holy Saturday: 8:30, Easter Vigil in the Vatican Basilica
31 March, Easter Sunday: 10:15am, Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square
12:00pm “Urbi et Orbi” Blessing
Reference:
- Vatican News. From the Pope. © Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Accessed 3/25/2013.
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Message, 25. March 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World:
“Dear children! In this time of grace I call you to take the cross of my beloved Son Jesus in your hands and to meditate on His passion and death. May your suffering be united in His suffering and love will win, because He who is love gave Himself out of love to save each of you. Pray, pray, pray until love and peace begin to reign in your hearts. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
March 18 2013 Message to the World via Annual Apparition to Mirjana:
"Dear children! I call you to, with complete trust and joy, bless the name of the Lord and, day by day, to give Him thanks from the heart for His great love. My Son, through that love which He showed by the Cross, gave you the possibility to be forgiven for everything; so that you do not have to be ashamed or to hide, and out of fear not to open the door of your heart to my Son. To the contrary, my children, reconcile with the Heavenly Father so that you may be able to come to love yourselves as my Son loves you. When you come to love yourselves, you will also love others; in them you will see my Son and recognize the greatness of His love. Live in faith! Through me, my Son is preparing you for the works which He desires to do through you – works through which He desires to be glorified. Give Him thanks. Especially thank Him for the shepherds - for your intercessors in the reconciliation with the Heavenly Father. I am thanking you, my children. Thank you."
March 2, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
“Dear children; Anew, in a motherly way, I am calling you not to be of a hard heart. Do not shut your eyes to the warnings which the Heavenly Father sends to you out of love. Do you love Him above all else? Do you repent for having often forgotten that the Heavenly Father, out of His great love, sent His Son to redeem us by the Cross? Do you repent for not having accepted the message? My children, do not resist the love of my Son. Do not resist hope and peace. Along with your prayers and fasting, by His Cross, my Son will cast away the darkness that wants to surround you and come to rule over you. He will give you the strength for a new life. Living it according to my Son, you will be a blessing and a hope to all those sinners who wander in the darkness of sin. My children, keep vigil. I, as a mother, am keeping vigil with you. I am especially praying and watching over those whom my Son called to be light-bearers and carriers of hope for you – for your shepherds. Thank you.”
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Today's Word: vigil vig·il [vij-uh
l]
Origin: 1200–50; Middle English vigil ( i ) e < Anglo-French < Medieval Latin vigilia eve of a holy day, special use of Latin vigilia watchfulness, equivalent to vigil sentry + -ia -y3
noun
1. wakefulness maintained for any reason during the normal hours for sleeping.
2. a watch or a period of watchful attention maintained at night or at other times: The nurse kept her vigil at the bedside of the dying man.
3. a period of wakefulness from inability to sleep.
4. Ecclesiastical .
a. a devotional watching, or keeping awake, during the customary hours of sleep.
b. Sometimes, vigils. a nocturnal devotional exercise or service, especially on the eve before a church festival.
c. the eve, or day and night, before a church festival, especially an eve that is a fast.
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Today's Old Testament Reading - Psalms 27:1, 2, 3, 13-14
1 [Of David] Yahweh is my light and my salvation, whom should I fear? Yahweh is the fortress of my life, whom should I dread?
2 When the wicked advance against me to eat me up, they, my opponents, my enemies, are the ones who stumble and fall.
3 Though an army pitch camp against me, my heart will not fear, though war break out against me, my trust will never be shaken.
13 This I believe: I shall see the goodness of Yahweh, in the land of the living.
14 Put your hope in Yahweh, be strong, let your heart be bold, put your hope in Yahweh.
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Today's Epistle - Isaiah 42:1-7
1 Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have sent my spirit upon him, he will bring fair judgement to the nations.
2 He does not cry out or raise his voice, his voice is not heard in the street;
3 he does not break the crushed reed or snuff the faltering wick. Faithfully he presents fair judgement;
4 he will not grow faint, he will not be crushed until he has established fair judgement on earth, and the coasts and islands are waiting for his instruction.
5 Thus says God, Yahweh, who created the
heavens and spread them out, who hammered into shape the earth and what
comes from it, who gave breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it:
6 I, Yahweh, have called you in saving
justice, I have grasped you by the hand and shaped you; I have made you a
covenant of the people and light to the nations,
7 to open the eyes of the blind, to free captives from prison, and those who live in darkness from the dungeon.
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Today's Gospel Reading – Luke 1:26-38
God’s covenant with humanity
Mary’s yes and our yes
Luke 1:26-38
1. Opening prayer
Merciful Father, in this holy time of
prayer and of listening to your Word, send also to me your holy angel
that I may receive the proclamation of salvation and that, after opening
my heart, I may offer my yes to Love. Let, I beg you, the Holy Spirit
overshadow me as an overwhelming power. As from now, Father, I do not
wish to express anything other than my “Yes!” and to say to you:
“Behold, I am here for you. Do unto me whatever pleases you”. Amen.
2. Reading
a) The context of the passage:
The story of the annunciation takes us
from the temple, a holy place par excellence, to the house, to the
intimacy of a personal meeting of God with his creature; it leads us
into ourselves, into the deepest part of our being and our story, where
God alone can reach and touch us. The announcement of the birth of John
the Baptist had opened the sterile womb of Elisabeth, thus overcoming
the absolute powerlessness of humankind and transforming it into the
ability to collaborate with God. On the other hand, the announcement of
the birth of Jesus, knocks on the door of a fertile womb of the one who
is “full of grace” and awaits a reply: it is God who waits for our yes
so as to work everything in us.
b) An aid to the reading of this passage:
vv. 26-27: The first two verses place
us at the time and sacred space of the event on which we are meditating
and which we relive: we are in the sixth month from the conception of
John the Baptist and in Nazareth, a city in Galilee, the land of the
marginalized and unclean. Here God has come down to speak with a virgin,
to speak to our hearts. The persons involved in this unsettling
event are presented to us: Gabriel, the messenger of God, a young woman
called Mary and her spouse Joseph of the royal house of David. We too
are made welcome into this company and are called to enter into the
mystery.
vv. 28-29: These are the very first
words of the dialogue between God and his creature. Just a few words, a
mere breath, but all-powerful words that disturb the heart, that
question deeply the meaning of human life, plans and expectations. The
angel announces joy, grace and the presence of God; Mary is disturbed
and asks herself how can any of this be happening to her. Where can such
a joy come from? How can such a great grace, that can change her very
being, be hers?
vv. 30-33: These are the central
verses of the excerpt: it is the explosion of the announcement, the
manifestation of the gift of God, of his omnipotence in the life of
human beings. Gabriel, the strong, speaks of Jesus: the eternal king,
the Saviour, the God made child, the humble all-powerful. He speaks of
Mary, of her womb, of her life that she was chosen to be the gateway to
welcoming God in this world and into the lives of all people. Even at
this stage of the events, God begins to draw near, to knock. He stands,
attentive, by the door of the heart of Mary; and even now by our house,
our hearts…
v. 34: Mary, faced by God’s proposal,
allows herself to stand naked, she allows herself to be read to her very
depths. She speaks of herself, her heart, her wishes. She knows that
for God the impossible is possible, she does not doubt or harden her
heart and mind, she does not count the cost; she only wants to be fully
available, open, and allows herself to be reached by that humanly
impossible touch, but one already written, already realised in God. In a
gesture of utter poverty, she places before God her virginity, her not
knowing man. This is a complete and absolute surrender of self, full of
faith and trust. It is her preliminary yes.
vv. 35-37: God, most humble, gives an
answer; the all-powerful bends over the fragility of this woman, who
represents each one of us. The dialogue continues, the covenant grows
and is strengthened. God reveals the how, he speaks of the Holy Spirit,
of the fruitful overshadowing, which does no violence, does not break,
but preserves intact. He speaks of the human experience of Elisabeth, he
reveals another impossible thing made possible; almost like a guarantee
or security. And then comes the last word when one must make a choice:
to say yes or no, believe or doubt, dissolve or harden oneself, to open
the door or close it. “Nothing is impossible for God”.
v. 38: The last verse seems to contain
an infinity. Mary says her “Here I am”, she opens herself wide to God
and then the meeting, the union takes place forever. God enters into the
human and the human becomes the place of God: these are the most
sublime Nuptials possible on earth. And yet, the Gospel ends on a sad
and hard note: Mary stays alone, the angel leaves. What remains,
however, is the yes pronounced to God and God’s presence; what remains
is real Life.
c) The Text:
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel
was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin
betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's
name was Mary. He went in and said to her, 'Rejoice, you who enjoy
God's favour! The Lord is with you.' She was deeply disturbed by these
words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel
said to her, 'Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God's favour. Look!
You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him
Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The
Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule
over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.' Mary
said to the angel, 'But how can this come about, since I have no
knowledge of man?' The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon
you, and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And
so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. And I tell you
this too: your cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a
son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for
nothing is impossible to God.' Mary said, 'You see before you the Lord's
servant, let it happen to me as you have said.' And the angel left her.
3. A moment of prayerful silence
I have read and listened to the words
of the Gospel. Now I stand in silence … God is present, at the door, and
asks for shelter, yes, even from me and from my poor life …
4. A few questions
a) God’s announcement, his angel,
enters my life, stands before me and speaks to me. Am I prepared to
welcome him, to give him space, to listen to him attentively?
b) Suddenly I receive an upsetting announcement; God speaks to me of joy, grace and presence. All the things that I have been seeking for so long, always. Who can make me really happy? Am I willing to trust in his happiness and his presence?
c) Not much is needed, just a movement of the heart, of my being; He is already aware of this. He is already overwhelming me with light and love. He says to me: “You have found favour in my sight”. So, I please God? He finds me pleasant, loveable? Yes, that is how it really is. Why is it that I would not believe it before? Why have I not listened to him?
d) The Lord Jesus wants to come into this world also through me; he wants to reach my brothers and sisters through the paths of my life, of my being. Would I lead him astray? Would I refuse him, keep him at a distance? Would I wipe him out of my story, my life?
b) Suddenly I receive an upsetting announcement; God speaks to me of joy, grace and presence. All the things that I have been seeking for so long, always. Who can make me really happy? Am I willing to trust in his happiness and his presence?
c) Not much is needed, just a movement of the heart, of my being; He is already aware of this. He is already overwhelming me with light and love. He says to me: “You have found favour in my sight”. So, I please God? He finds me pleasant, loveable? Yes, that is how it really is. Why is it that I would not believe it before? Why have I not listened to him?
d) The Lord Jesus wants to come into this world also through me; he wants to reach my brothers and sisters through the paths of my life, of my being. Would I lead him astray? Would I refuse him, keep him at a distance? Would I wipe him out of my story, my life?
5. A key to the reading
Some important and strong words that resonate in this passage of the Gospel.
● Rejoice!
This is a really strange greeting from
God to his creature; it seems hard to explain and perhaps even
senseless. And yet, for centuries it resonated in the pages of Sacred
Scripture and thus also on the lips of the Hebrew people. Rejoice, be
glad, exult! Many times the prophets had repeated this gentle breath of
God and had shouted the silent beat of his heart for his people, his
remnant. I read this in Joel: “Land, do not be afraid; be glad, rejoice,
for Yahweh has done great things… (2: 21-23); in Zephaniah: “Shout for
joy, daughter of Zion, Israel, shout aloud! Rejoice, exult with all your
heart, daughter of Jerusalem! Yahweh has repealed your sentence” (3:
14); in Zechariah: “Sing, rejoice, daughter of Zion, for now I am coming
to live among you – Yahweh declares!” (2, 14). I read and listen to it,
today, I say it also in my heart, in my life; a joy is announced to me,
a new happiness, never before experienced. I rediscover the great
things that the Lord has done for me; I experience the freedom that
comes from his pardon: I am no longer sentenced, but graced forever; I
live the experience of the presence of the Lord next to me, in me. Yes,
He has come to dwell in our midst; He is once more setting up his tent
in the land of my heart, of my existence. Lord, as the Psalm says, you
rejoice in your creatures (Ps 104: 31); and I too rejoice in you, thanks
to you, my joy is in you (Ps 104: 34).
● The Lord is with you
These simple and enlightened words
pronounced by the angel to Mary, liberate an all-powerful force; I
realise that these words alone would suffice to save my life, to lift me
up again from whatever fall or humiliation, to bring me back when I go
astray. The fact that He, my Lord, is with me, keeps me alive, gives me
courage and trust to go on being. If I am, it is because He is with me.
Who knows but that the experience of Isaac told in Scripture might not
be valid for me, the most beautiful thing imaginable that could happen
to a person who believes in and loves God, when one day Abimelech came
to Isaac with his men to tell him: “It became clear to us that Yahweh
was with you” (Gen 26: 28) and then asked to become friends and form an
alliance. Would that the same thing might be said of me; would that I
could show that the Lord is truly with me, in my life, in my desires, in
my affections, in my choices and actions; would that others might meet
Him through me. Perhaps for this, it is necessary for me to absorb more
the presence of God, for me to eat and drink of Him.
Let me go to the school of Scripture, to read and re-read some passages where the voice of the Lord tells me again and again of this truth and, while He speaks, to be transformed, ever more in-dwelt. “Remain for the present in that country; I shall be with you and bless you” (Gen 26: 3). “To Joshua son of Nun, Yahweh gave this order: Be strong and stand firm, for you are to be the one to bring the Israelites into the country which I have promised them on oath, and I myself shall be with you” (Dt 31: 23). “They will fight against you but will not overcome you, because I am with you to save you and rescue you” (Jer 15: 20). “The angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said: Yahweh is with you, valiant warrior!” (Judges 6: 12). “Yahweh appeared to him the same night and said: I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I shall bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake” (Gen 26: 24). “Be sure, I am with you; I shall keep you safe wherever you go, and bring you back to this country, for I shall never desert you until I have done what I have promised you” (Gen 28: 15). “Do not be afraid, for I am with you; do not be alarmed, for I am your God. I give you strength, truly I help you, truly I hold you firm with my saving right hand” (Is 41: 10)
● Do not be afraid
The Bible is packed with this
pronouncement full of kindness; like a river of mercy, these words are
found throughout the sacred books, from Genesis to the Apocalypse. It is
the Father who repeats to his children not to be afraid, because He is
with them, he will not abandon them, he will not forget them, He will
not leave them in the hands of their enemies. It is like a declaration
of love from God to humanity, to each one of us; it is a pledge of
fidelity that is relayed from hand to hand, from heart to heart, and
finally comes down to us. Abraham heard these words and after him his
son Isaac, then the patriarchs, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon and, with
them, Jeremiah and all the prophets. No one is excluded from this
embrace of salvation that the Father offers his children, even those
furthest from him, most rebellious against him. Mary knows how to listen
to these words and knows how to believe full of faith, in an attitude
of absolute surrender; She listens and believes, welcomes and lives for
us too. She is the strong and courageous woman who opens herself to the
coming of God, letting go of all fears, incredulity and a closed spirit.
She repeats these same words of God in our lives and invites us to
believe like her.
● You enjoy God’s favour
“Lord, if I enjoy favour in your
sight…”. This is the prayer that time and time again comes out of the
lips and hearts of those who seek refuge in the Lord; the Scriptures
tell us about such people, we come across them in our crossroads when we
know not where to go, when we feel hounded by solitude or by
temptation, when we experience abandonment, betrayals, heavy defeats of
our own existence. When we no longer have anyone and we fail to find
even ourselves, then we too, like them, find ourselves praying by
repeating these same words: “Lord, if I enjoy favour in your sight…”.
Who knows how often we have repeated these words, even alone and in
silence. But today, here, in this simple passage of the Gospel, we are
forestalled, we are welcomed in anticipation; we need no longer plead,
because we have already found everything that we always sought and much
more. We have received freely, we are overwhelmed and now we can
overflow.
● Nothing is impossible to God
I have nearly come to the end of this
strong journey of grace and liberation; I now come across a word that
shakes me in my depths. My faith is being sifted; the Lord is testing
me, scrutinising me, testing my heart. What the angel says here in front
of Mary, had already been proclaimed many times in the Old Testament;
now the time has come for the fulfilment, now all the impossible things
come to pass. God becomes man; the Lord becomes friend, brother; the
distant is very close. And I, even I, small and poor as I am, am given
to share in the immensity of this gift, this grace; I am told that in my
life too the impossible becomes possible. I only have to believe, to
give my consent. But this means that I have to allow myself to be
shattered by the power of God; to surrender to Him, who will transform
me, free me and renew me. Not even this is impossible. Yes, I can be
reborn today, here and now, by the grace of the voice that has spoken to
me, that has reached me even to the very depths of my heart. I seek and
transcribe the passages of Scripture that repeat this truth. And as I
write them, as I re-read them and say them slowly, devouring every word,
and what they say takes place in me… Genesis 18: 14; Job 42: 2;
Jeremiah 32: 17; Jeremiah 32: 27; Zechariah 8: 6; Matthew 19: 26; Luke
18: 27.
● Here I am
Now I cannot escape, nor can I avoid
the conclusion. I knew from the beginning that here, in this word, so
small and yet so full, so final, that God was waiting for me. The
appointment of love, of the covenant between Him and me had been fixed
precisely on this word, just a gentle voice, just a kiss. I am unsettled
by the richness of the presence I feel in this “Here I am!”; I need not
make much effort to recall the number of times that God first
pronounced and repeated these words to me. He is the ‘Here I am’ made
man, absolutely faithful, unforgettable. I only need to tune into him,
only find his footprints in the sand of my poverty, of my desert; I only
need to welcome his infinite love that never ceases to seek me, to stay
close to me, to walk with me wherever I go. The ‘Here I am’ has already
been pronounced and realised, it is already real. How many before me
and how many today have experienced this! I am not alone. I still remain
silent, listening before I reply…
“Here I am!” (Is 65: 1) God repeats; Mary replies, “Here I am, I am the servant of the Lord”; and Christ says, “I come to do your will” (Ps 39: 8)…
6. A time of prayer: Psalm 138
Ref. Father, into your hands I commend my life.
Yahweh, you examine me and know me,
you know when I sit, when I rise,
you understand my thoughts from afar.
You watch when I walk or lie down,
you know every detail of my conduct.
A word is not yet on my tongue before you,
Yahweh, know all about it.
You fence me in, behind and in front,
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such amazing knowledge is beyond me,
a height to which I cannot attain.
Where shall I go to escape your spirit?
Where shall I flee from your presence?
If I scale the heavens you are there,
if I lie flat in Sheol, there you are.
you know when I sit, when I rise,
you understand my thoughts from afar.
You watch when I walk or lie down,
you know every detail of my conduct.
A word is not yet on my tongue before you,
Yahweh, know all about it.
You fence me in, behind and in front,
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such amazing knowledge is beyond me,
a height to which I cannot attain.
Where shall I go to escape your spirit?
Where shall I flee from your presence?
If I scale the heavens you are there,
if I lie flat in Sheol, there you are.
You created my inmost self,
knit me together in my mother's womb.
For so many marvels I thank you;
a wonder am I, and all your works are wonders.
You knew me through and through,
How hard for me to grasp your thoughts,
how many, God, there are!
If I count them, they are more than the grains of sand;
if I come to an end, I am still with you.
God, examine me and know my heart,
test me and know my concerns.
Make sure that I am not on my way to ruin,
and guide me on the road of eternity.
knit me together in my mother's womb.
For so many marvels I thank you;
a wonder am I, and all your works are wonders.
You knew me through and through,
How hard for me to grasp your thoughts,
how many, God, there are!
If I count them, they are more than the grains of sand;
if I come to an end, I am still with you.
God, examine me and know my heart,
test me and know my concerns.
Make sure that I am not on my way to ruin,
and guide me on the road of eternity.
7. Closing prayer
Father, you came down to me, you have
come to me, you have touched my heart, you have spoken to me and
promised joy, presence and salvation. By the grace of the Holy Spirit,
who overshadows me, I, together with Mary, have been able to say to you
yes, the ‘Here I am’ of my life for you. Now there remains only the
force of your promise, of your truth: “You are to conceive and bear
Jesus”. Lord, here is the womb of my life, of my being, of all that I am
and have, open before you. I place all things in you, in your heart.
Enter, come, come down again, I beg you, and make me fruitful, make me
one who gives birth to Christ in this world. May the overflowing love I
receive from you find its fullness and truth in touching the brothers
and sisters that you place beside me. May our meeting, Father, be open, a
gift to all. May Jesus be the Saviour. Amen.
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
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Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane
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Saint of the Day: Feast Day of the Annunciation
Feast Day: March 25
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| Feast of the Annunciation |
Here is recorded the "angelic salutation" of Gabriel to Mary, 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee" (Ave, gratia plena, Dominus tecum - Lk 1:28), and Mary's response to God's will, "Let it be done to me according to thy word" (fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum) (v. 38) This "angelic salutation" is the origin of the "Hail Mary" prayer of the Rosary and the Angelus (the second part of the prayer comes from the words of salutation of Elizabeth to Mary at the Visitation).[4]
Now recognized as a solemnity, the feast of the Annunciation goes back to the fourth or fifth century.[5]The first certain mentions of the feast are in a canon, of the Council of Toledo (656), where it is described as celebrated throughout the church, and another of the Council of Constantinople "in Trullo" (692), forbidding the celebration of any festivals during Lent, excepting the Lord's Day (Sunday) and the Feast of the Annunciation. A Synod of Worcester, England (1240), forbade all servile work on this feast day. As this feast celebrates the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity, it was discussed by many of the Church fathers, to explain it to the faithful. Some of the Church fathers who wrote on this were St. Athanasius, St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Augustine.[3]
In the Catholic Church, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgical calendars, the feast is moved if necessary to prevent it from falling during Holy Week or Easter Week or on a Sunday. To avoid a Sunday before Holy Week, the next day (March 26) would be observed instead. In years such as 2008 when March 25 falls during Holy Week or Easter Week, the Annunciation is moved to the Monday after Octave of Easter, which is the Sunday after Easter.[6]
The Eastern churches (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental and Eastern Catholic) do not move the feast of the Annunciation under any circumstance. They have special combined liturgies for those years when the Annunciation coincides with another feast. In these churches, even on Good Friday a Divine Liturgy is celebrated when it coincides with the Annunciation. One of the most frequent accusations brought against New Calendarism is the fact that in the New Calendar churches (which celebrate the Annunciation according to the New Calendar, but Easter according to the Old Calendar), these special Liturgies can never be celebrated any more, since the Annunciation is always long before Holy Week on the New Calendar. The Old Calendarists believe that this impoverishes the liturgical and spiritual life of the Church.
The date is close to the vernal equinox, as Christmas is to the winter solstice; because of this the Annunciation and Christmas were two of the four "Quarter days" in medieval and early modern England, which marked the divisions of the fiscal year (the other two were Midsummer Day, or the Nativity of St. John the Baptist—June 24—and Michaelmas, the feast day of St. Michael, on September 29).
When the calendar system of Anno Domini was first introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in AD 525, he assigned the beginning of the new year to March 25, since according to Catholic theology, the era of grace began with the Incarnation of Christ.
References
- The Feast of the Annunciation
- Feast of the Annunciation at EWTN
- CNA, Solemity of the Annunciation of the Lord'
- Holy Family Sisters, Annunciation of the Lord
- Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
- "Feast of the Annunciation". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
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Today's Snippet I: Book 3, Chapter 1
The Divine History and Life of The Virgin Mother of God
Contains the most Exquisite Preparations of the Almighty for the Incarnation of the Word in Mary most Holy; the Circumstances Accompanying this Mystery; the Exalted State, in which the Blessed Mother was placed; her Visit to Saint Elisabeth and the Sanctification of the Baptist: Her Return to Nazareth and a Memorable Battle of the Virgin with Lucifer
THE NOVENA BEFORE THE INCARNATION.
In order that her most faultless life might be to all an example of the highest holiness, the Most High had placed upon our Queen and Mistress the duties of a spouse of saint Joseph which was a position requiring more interaction with her neighbors. The heavenly Mistress, finding Herself in this new estate, was filled with such exalted thoughts and sentiments in the fulfillment of her duties, and ordered all the activities of her life with such wisdom, that She was an object of admirable emulation to the angelic spirits and an unparalleled example for men. Few knew Her and still fewer had interaction with Her: but these happy ones were so filled with that celestial influence of Mary, that with a wonderful joy and with unwonted flights of spirit they sought to express and manifest the light, which illumined their hearts and which they knew came from Her. The most prudent Queen was not unaware of these operations of the Most High but neither was it yet time, nor would her most profound humility as yet consent to their becoming known to the world. She continually besought the Lord to hide them from men, to make all the favors of his right hand redound solely to his praise, and to permit Her to be ignored and despised by all the mortals, in as far as his infinite goodness would not be offended thereby.
In such fruitful occupations and in augmenting the gifts and graces from which all this good proceeded, our Queen, the Spouse of Joseph, busied Herself during the six months and seventeen days, which intervened between her espousal and the Incarnation of the Word. I cannot pretend to refer even briefly to her great heroic acts of all the virtues, interior and exterior, to all her deeds of charity, humility, religion, and all her works of mercy, the alms and benefactions; for this exceeds the power of the pen. The best I can do is to sum up and say: that the Most High found in most holy Mary the fulfillment of all his pleasure and of his wishes, as far as is possible in the correspondence of a creature with its Creator. By her sanctity and merits God felt Himself as it were obliged, and, (according to our way of speaking), compelled, to hasten his steps and extend the arms of his Omnipotence to bring about the greatest of wonders conceivable in the world before or after: namely the Incarnation of the Onlybegotten of the Father in the virginal womb of this Lady.
In order to proceed with a dignity befitting Himself, God prepared most holy Mary in a singular manner during the nine days immediately preceding this mystery, and allowed the river of his Divinity to rush impetuously forth (Psalm 45, 5) to inundate this City of God with its floods. He communicated such great graces and gifts and favors, that I am struck dumb by the perception of what has been made known to me concerning this miracle, and my lowliness is filled with dread at even the mention of what I understood. For the tongue, the pen, and all the faculties of a creature fall far below any possibility of revealing such incomprehensible sacraments. Therefore I wish it to be understood, that all I say here is only an insignificant shadow of the smallest part of these wonders and ineffable prodigies, which are not at all to be encompassed by our limited words, but only by the power divine, which I do not possess.
On the first day of this most blessed novena the heavenly Princess Mary, after a slight rest, according to the example of her father David and according to the diurnal order and arrangement laid out for Her by the Lord, left her couch at midnight (Psalm 118, 62), and, prostrate in the presence of the Most High, commenced her accustomed prayer and holy exercises.
In this vision our Princess Mary learned most high secrets of the Divinity and of its perfections, and especially of God's communications ad extra in the work of creation. She saw that it originated in the goodness and liberality of God, that creatures were not necessary for supplementing his Divine existence, nor for his infinite glory, since without them He was glorious through the interminable eternities before the creation of the world.
Many sacraments and secrets were manifested to our Queen, which neither can nor should be made known to all; for She alone was the only One (Cant. 6, 8: 7, 6), the chosen One, selected by the highest King and Lord of creation for these delights. But as her Highness in this vision perceived this impulse and inclination of the Divinity to communicate Itself ad extra with a force greater than that which makes all the elements tend toward their center, and as She was drawn within the sphere of this divine love, She besought the eternal Father with heart aflame, that He send his Onlybegotten into the world and give salvation to men, since in this manner He should satisfy, and, (speaking humanly), execute the promptings of his Divinity and its perfections. These petitions of his Spouse were very sweet to the Lord; they were the scarlet lace, with which She bound and secured his love. And in order to put his desires into execution He sought first to prepare the tabernacle or temple, whither He was to descend from the bosom of the eternal Father. He resolved to furnish his beloved and chosen Mother with a clear knowledge of all his works ad extra, just as his Omnipotence had made them.
On the first day therefore, and in this same vision, He manifested to Her all that He had made on the first day of the creation of the world, as it is recorded in Genesis, and She perceived all with greater clearness and comprehension, than if She had been an eye-witness; for She knew them first as they are in God, and then as they are in themselves.
She perceived and understood, how the Lord in the beginning (Gen. 1; 1, 5), created heaven and earth; in how far and in what way it was void, and how the darkness was over the face of the abyss; how the spirit of the Lord hovered over the waters and how, at the divine command, light was made, and what was its nature; how, after the darkness was divided, it was called night and the light day, and how thus the first day was made. She knew the size of the earth, its longitude, latitude and depth, its caverns, hell, limbo and purgatory with their inhabitants; the countries, climes, the meridians and divisions of the world, and all its inhabitants and occupants. With the same clearness She knew the inferior orbs and the empyrean heaven; how the angels were made on the first day; She was informed of their nature, conditions, diversity, hierarchies, offices, grades and virtues. The rebellion of the bad angels was revealed to Her, their fall and the occasion and the cause of that fall, though the Lord always concealed from Her that which concerned Herself. She understood the punishment and the effects of sin in the demons, beholding them as they are in themselves; and at the conclusion of the first day, the Lord showed to Her, how She too was formed of this lowly earthly material and endowed with the same nature as all those, who return to the dust: He did not however say, that She would again return to it; yet He gave Her such a profound knowledge of the earthly existence, that the great Queen humiliated Herself to the abyss of nothingness; being without fault. She debased Herself more than all the children of Adam with all their miseries.
This whole vision and all its effects the Most High arranged in such a way as to open up in the heart of Mary the deep trenches that were required for the foundations of the edifice, which He wished to erect in Her: namely so high a one, that it would reach up to the substantial and hypostatic union of the human and divine nature. And as the dignity of Mother of God was without limits and to a certain extent infinite, it was becoming that She should be grounded in a proportionate humility, such as would be without limits though still within the bounds of reason itself. Attaining the summit of virtue, this blessed One among women humiliated Herself to such an extent, that the most holy Trinity was, as it were, fully paid and satisfied, and (according to our mode of understanding) constrained to raise Her to the highest position and dignity possible among creatures and nearest to the Divinity itself. In this highest benevolence his Majesty spoke and said to Her:
"My Spouse and Dove, great is my desire redeeming man from sin and my immense kindness is as it were strained in waiting for the time, in which I shall descend in order to repair the world; ask Me continually during these days and with great affection for the fulfillment of this desire. Prostrate in my royal presence let not thy petitions and clamors cease, asking Me that the Onlybegotten of the Father descend in reality to unite Himself with the human nature. "Whereupon the heavenly Princess responded and said: "Lord and God eternal, whose is all the power and wisdom, whose wish none can resist (Esther 13, 9), who shall hinder thy Omnipotence? Who shall detain the impetuous current of thy Divinity, so that thy pleasure in conferring this benefit upon the whole human race remain unfulfilled? If perhaps, 0 my Beloved, I am a hindrance to such an immeasurable benefit, let me perish before I impede thy pleasure; this blessing cannot depend upon the merits of any creature; therefore, my Lord and Master, do not wait, as we might later on merit it so much the less. The sins of men increase and the offenses against Thee are multiplied; how shall we merit the very blessing, of which we become daily more unworthy? In Thee thyself, my Lord, exists the last cause and motive of our salvation; thy infinite bounty, thy numberless mercies incite Thee, the groans of thy Prophets and of the Fathers of thy people solicit Thee, the saints sigh after Thee, the sinners look for Thee and all of them together call out to Thee; and if I, insignificant wormlet, on account of my ingratitude, am not unworthy of thy merciful condescension, I venture to beseech Thee, from the bottom of my heart, to speed thy coming and to hasten thy Redemption for thy greater glory."
When the Princess of heaven had finished this prayer, She returned to her ordinary and more natural state; but anxious to fulfill the mandate of the Lord, She continued during that whole day her petitions for the Incarnation of the Word and with the deepest humility She repeated the exercises of prostrating Herself to the ground and praying in the form of a cross. For the Holy Ghost, who governed Her, had taught Her this posture, by which She so highly pleased the most blessed Trinity. God saw, in the body of the future Mother of the Word, as it were the crucified person of Christ and therefore He received this morning sacrifice of the most pure Virgin as an advance offering of that of his most holy Son.
On the second day, at the same hour of midnight, the Virgin Mary was visited in the same way as described in the last chapter. The divine power raised Her up by the same elevations and illuminings to prepare Her for the visions of the Divinity. He manifested Himself again in an abstractive manner as on the first day, and She was shown the works performed on the second day of the creation. She learnt how and when God divided the waters (Gen. 1, 6), some above and others below, establishing the firmament, and above it the crystal, known also as the watery heaven. Her insight penetrated into the greatness, order, conditions, movements and all the other qualities and conditions of the heavens.
And in the most prudent Virgin this knowledge did not lay idle, nor remain sterile; for immediately the most clear light of the Divinity overflowed in Her, and inflamed and emblazoned Her with admiration, praise and love of the goodness and power of God. Being transformed as it were with a godlike excellence, She produced heroic acts of all the virtues, entirely pleasing to his divine Majesty. And as in the preceding first day God had made Her a participant of his wisdom, so on this second day, He made Her in corresponding measure a participant in the divine Omnipotence, and gave Her power over the influences of the heavens, of the planets and elements, commanding them all to obey Her. Thus was this great Queen raised to Sovereignty over the sea, the earth, the elements and the celestial orbs, with all the creatures, which are contained therein. More and more the Queen of heaven reflected his infinite attributes and virtues; more and more brilliantly shone forth her beauty under the touch of the pencil of the divine Wisdom and under the colors and lights added to it from on high.
On the third day She was informed of the works of creation as they happened on the third day. She learned when and how the waters, which were beneath the firmament, flowed together in one place, (Gen. 1, 9), disclosing the dry land, which the Lord called earth, while He called the waters the sea. She learned in what way the earth brought forth the fresh herbs, and all plants and fructiferous trees with their seeds, each one according to its kind. She was taught and She comprehended the greatness of the sea, its depth and its divisions, its correspondence with the streams and the fountains, that take their rise from it and flow back into it; the different plants and herbs, the flowers, trees, roots, fruits and seeds; She perceived how all and each one of them serve for the use of man. All this our Queen understood and penetrated with the keenest insight more clearly, distinctly and comprehensibly than Adam or Solomon. In comparison with Her all those skilled in medicine in the world would appear but ignorant even after the most thorough studies and largest experience. The most holy Mary knew all that was hidden from sight, as Wisdom says (Wis. 7, 21); and just as She learned it without any fiction, She also communicates it without envy. Whatever Solomon says there in the book of Wisdom was realized in Her with incomparable and eminent perfection.
There is another special favor, which the most holy Mary received for the benefit of the mortals on the third day and in that vision of the Divinity; for during this vision God manifested to Her in a special way the desire of his divine love to come to the aid of men and to raise them up from all their miseries. In accordance with the knowledge of his infinite mercy and the object for which it was conceded, the Most High gave to Mary a certain kind of participation of his own attributes, in order that afterwards, as the Mother and Advocate of sinners, She might intercede for them. This participation of the most holy Mary in the love of God and in his inclination to help her, was so heavenly and powerful that if from that time on the strength of the Lord had not come to her aid, She would not have been able to bear the impetuosity of her desire to assist and save mankind. Filled with this love and charity, She would, if necessary or feasible, have delivered Herself an infinite number of times to the flames, to the sword and to the most exquisite torments of death for their salvation. All the torments, sorrows, tribulations, pains, infirmities She would have accepted and suffered; and She would have considered them a great delight for the salvation of sinners. Whatever all men have suffered from the beginning of the world till this hour, and whatever they will suffer till the end, would have been a small matter for the love of this most merciful Mother. Let therefore mortals and sinners understand what they owe to most holy Mary.
From that day on, the heavenly Lady continued to be the Mother of kindness and great mercy, and for two reasons: first, because from that moment She sought with an especial and anxious desire to communicate without envy the treasures of grace, which She had comprehended and received; and therefore such an admirable sweetness grew up in her heart, that She was ready to communicate it to all men and to shelter them in her heart in order to make them participants of the divine love, which there was enkindled.
Secondly, because this love of most holy Mary for the salvation of men was one of the principal dispositions required for conceiving the eternal Word in her virginal womb. It was eminently befitting that She should be all mercy, kindness, piety and clemency, who was Herself to conceive and give birth to the Word made man, since He in his mercy, clemency and love desired to humiliate Himself to the lowliness of our nature, and wished to be born of Her in order to suffer for men. It is said: like begets like: just as the water partakes of the qualities of the minerals through which it flows; and although the birth of Christ originated in the Divinity, yet it also partook of the conditions of the Mother as far as was possible. She therefore would not have been suitable for concurrence with the Holy Ghost in this conception, in which only the activity of the man was wanting, if She had not been endowed with perfections corresponding to those of the humanity of Christ.
The Most High manifested to Her in this vision, by most special enlightenments, the new Law of grace which the Redeemer of the world was to establish, the Sacraments contained in it, the end for which He would leave them in his new Church of the Gospel, the gifts and blessings prepared for men, and his desire, that all should be saved and that all should reap the fruit of the Redemption. And so great was the wisdom, which the most holy Mary drew from these visions, wherein She was taught by the highest Teacher and the Corrector of the wise (Wis. 7, 15), that, if by any means man or angel could describe it, more books would have to be written of this science of our Lady than all those which have been composed in this world concerning all the arts and sciences, and all the inventions of men. And no wonder her science was greater than that of all other men: for into the heart and mind of our Princess was emptied and exhausted the ocean of the Divinity, which the sins and the evil disposition of the creatures had confined, repressed and circumscribed. It was concealed within its own source until the proper time, which was no other than the hour in which She was chosen as Mother of the Onlybegotten of the Father.
Joined with the sweetness of this divine science, our Queen felt a loving, yet piercing sorrow, which this very science continued to renew. She perceived in the Most High the ineffable treasures of grace and blessings, which He had prepared for mortals and She saw the weight of the Divinity as it were inclined toward the desire of seeing all men enjoy them eternally. At the same time She saw and considered the wicked disposition of the world, and how blindly mortals impeded the flow of these treasures and deprived themselves of participation of the Divinity. From this resulted a new kind of martyrdom full of grief for the perdition of men and of the desire of remedying such lamentable loss. This caused Her to offer up the most exalted prayers, petitions, sacrifices, humiliations and heroic acts of love of God and of men, in order that no one, if possible, should henceforth damn himself, and that all should recognize their Creator, and Redeemer, confess Him, adore and love Him. All this took place in this very vision; but as these petitions were of the same kind as those already described, I do not expatiate on them here.
In conjunction therewith the Lord showed Her also the works of creation performed on the fourth day (Gen. 1, 14-17). The heavenly Princess Mary learned how and when the luminaries of heaven were formed in the firmament for dividing day and night and for indicating the seasons, the days and the years; how for this purpose was created the great light of heaven, the sun, presiding as the Lord of the day, and joined with it, the moon, the lesser light, which reigns over the darkness of the night. In like manner were formed the stars of the eighth heaven, in order that they might gladden the night with their brilliance and preside with their various influences over both the day and the night. She understood what was the material substance of these luminous orbs, their form, their size, their properties, their various movements and the uniformity as well as the inequality of the planets. She knew the number of the stars, and all their influences exerted upon the earth, both in regard to the living and the lifeless creatures; the effects and changes, which they cause in them by these influences.
The fifth day of the novena, which the most blessed Trinity celebrated in the temple of most holy Mary, in order that the eternal Word might assume human shape in Her, had arrived. Just as in the preceding days She was elevated to an abstractive vision of the Divinity, and, as the veil fell more and more from the secrets of the infinite wisdom, She discovered new mysteries also during this day. For the preparations and enlightenments emitted ever stronger rays of light and divine graces, which flashed into her most holy soul and emptied the treasures of infinity into her faculties, assimilating and transforming the heavenly Lady more and more to a likeness of her God in order to make Her worthy of being his Mother.
The Princess Mary, through these words of the Most High, was instructed in the great mysteries regarding the number of the predestined and the reprobate and also regarding the hindrances and impediments by which sinful men delayed the coming of the eternal Word as man into the world. Having present before Herself the vision both of the infinite bounty and equity of the Creator and of the measureless iniquity and malice of men, the most prudent Mistress, inflamed by the fire of divine love, spoke to his Majesty and said:
"My Lord and infinite God of wisdom and incomprehensible sanctity, what mystery is this, which Thou hast manifested to me? Without measure are the misdeeds of men, so that only thy wisdom can comprehend them. But can all these and many more, perhaps, extinguish thy bounty and love, or vie with them? No, my Lord and Master, it must not be so; the malice of men must not detain thy mercy. I am the most useless of all the human race; yet on its behalf I remind Thee of thy fidelity. Infallibly true it is, that heaven and earth will come to naught, before thy word can fail (Is. 51, 6), and it is also true, that Thou hast many times given thy word through the holy Prophets; and Thou hast promised them by word of mouth, a Redeemer and our sa1vation. How then, my God, can these promises fail of fulfillment without conflicting with thy infinite wisdom; or how can man be deceived without conflicting with thy goodness? In order to induce Thee to fulfill thy promise and to secure them eternal felicity through thy incarnate Word, I have nothing to offer on the part of mortals nor can any creature oblige Thee; and if this blessing could be merited, then thy infinite and bounteous clemency would not thereby be glorified. Only through thy own Self can this obligation be imposed upon Thee, for only in God can a sufficient reason be found for his becoming man: in Thee alone was the reason and the motive for our creation, and therefore in Thee alone also the reason for our reparation after our fall. Do not seek, my God and most high King, for merits, nor for a greater motive, than thy own mercy and the exaltation of thy holy name."
"It is true, my Spouse," answered the Most High, "that on account of my goodness I bound Myself to the promise of vesting Myself in human nature and of dwelling among them, and that no one could merit in my sight such a promise; but the ungrateful behavior of men, so abominable in my sight and in my justice, does not merit the execution of this promise. "
It is impossible to describe the hidden secrets, which most holy Mary then saw in the Lord; for She perceived in Him all the creatures of the past, present and the future, and the position of each one in creation, the good and bad actions and the final ending of each one. If She had not been strengthened, She could not have preserved her life under the effects and feelings caused by the knowledge and insight into these hidden sacraments and mysteries. But as his Majesty, in these new miracles and blessings had such high ends in view, He was not sparing but most liberal with the beloved One, whom He had chosen as his Mother. And as our Queen derived this science from the bosom of God itself, She participated also in the fire of his eternal Charity, which inflamed Her with the love of God and the neighbor. Therefore, continuing her intercession, She said:
"Lord and eternal God, invisible and immortal, I confess thy justice, I magnify thy works, I adore thy infinite Essence and hold in reverence thy judgments. My heart melts within me with tenderest affection, when I perceive thy unlimited bounty toward men and their dark ingratitude and grossness toward Thee. For all of them, 0 my God, Thou seekest eternal life; but there are few who are thankful for this inestimable benefit, and many who will perish by their malice. If on this account, 0 my eternal Good, Thou relinquishest thy undertaking, we mortals are lost; but while Thou, in thy divine foreknowledge, perceivest the sins and the malice of men who offend Thee so much, Thou also foreseest thy Onlybegotten made man and his works of infinite price and value in thy sight; and these will counterbalance and exceed the malice of sin beyond all comparison.
At this prayer of most pure Mary, the eternal Father (in our way of speaking) represented to Himself his Onlybegotten as borne in the virginal womb of this great Queen; and He was moved by her humble and loving petitions. His apparent hesitation was merely a device of his tender love in order to enjoy so much the longer the voice of his Beloved, causing her sweet lips to distil most sweet honey (Cant. 4, 11) and her emissions to be like those of paradise (Cant. 4, 13). And to draw out still more this loving contention, the Lord answered Her: "My sweetest Spouse and chosen Dove, great is that which thou askest of Me and little is that which obliges Me on the part of men; how then shall such a singular blessing be conferred on those unworthy ones? Leave Me, my friend, to treat them according to their evil deserts." Our powerful and kind Advocate responded: "No, my Master, I will not desist from my importunity; if much I ask, I ask it of Thee, who are rich in mercies, powerful in action, true in thy words. My father David said of Thee and of the eternal Word: "The Lord hath sworn, and He will not repent: thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech" (Ps. 109, 4). Let then that Priest come, who is at the same time to be the sacrifice for our rescue; let Him come, since Thou canst not repent of thy promise; for Thou dost not promise in ignorance. Let me be clothed.
In this contest (just as it once happened to Jacob) our Lady and Queen was asked, what was her name; and She said: "I am a daughter of Adam, formed by thy hands from the insignificant dust." And the Most High answered: "Henceforth Thou shalt be called: Chosen for the Mother of the Onlybegotten." But the latter part of this name was heard only by the courtiers of heaven, while to Her it was as yet hidden until the proper time. She therefore heard only the word "Chosen." Having thus protracted this amorous contention according to the disposition of his divine wisdom and as far as served to inflame the heart of this elected One, the whole blessed Trinity gave to Mary, our most pure Queen, the explicit promise, that They would now send into the world the eternal Word made man. Filled with incomparable joy and exultation by this fiat, She asked and received the benediction of the Most High. Thus this strong Woman issued forth from the contest with God more victorious than Jacob; for She came out rich, strong and laden with spoils, and the One that was wounded and weakened (to speak in our way) was God himself; for He was drawn by the love of this Lady to clothe Himself in that sacred bridal chamber of her womb with the weakness of our passible nature. He disguised and enveloped the strength of his Divinity, so as to conquer in allowing Himself to be conquered, and in order to give us life by his death. Let the mortals see and acknowledge, how most holy Mary, next to her most blessed Son, is the cause of their salvation.
During this vision were also revealed to this great Queen the works of the fifth day of the creation in the manner in which they happened; She saw how, by the force of the divine command, were engendered and produced in the waters beneath the firmament, the imperfect reptiles, which creep upon the earth, the winged animals that course through the air, and the finny tribes that glide through the watery regions. Of all these creatures She knew the beginnings, the substance, the form and figure according to their kinds; She knew all the species of the animals that inhabit the fields and woods, their conditions, peculiarities, their uses and connections; She knew the birds of heaven (for so we call the atmosphere), with the varied forms of each kind, their ornaments, feathers, their lightness; the innumerable fishes of the seas and the rivers, the differences between the whales, their forms, composition and qualities, their caverns and the foods furnished them by the sea, the ends which they serve, the use to which they can be put in the world. And his Majesty especially commanded all these hosts of creatures to recognize and obey most holy Mary, giving Her the power to command all of them, as it happened on many occasions to be mentioned later on. Therewith She issued from the trance of this day and She occupied Herself during the rest of it in the exercise and petitions, which the Most High had pointed out to Her.
Having seen God in this vision She was immediately shown the works on the sixth day of the creation of the world. She witnessed, as if She Herself had been present, how at the command of the Lord the earth brought forth the living beings according to their kinds, as Moses says (Gen. 1, 24). Holy Scripture here refers to the terrestrial animals, which being more perfect than the fishes and birds in life and activity, are called by a name signifying the more important part of their nature. She saw and understood all the kinds and species of animals, which were created on this sixth day, and by what name they were called: some, beasts of burden, because they serve and assist man, others, wild beasts, as being more fierce and untamed; others, reptiles, because they do not raise themselves or very little from the earth. She knew and comprehended the qualities of all of them: their fury, their strength, the useful purposes which they serve, and all their distinctions and singularities. Over all these She was invested with dominion and they were commanded to obey Her. She could without opposition on their part have trodden upon asps and basilisks, for all would have meekly borne her heel. Many times did some of these animals show their subjection to her commands, as when, at the birth of her most Holy Son, the ox and the ass prostrated themselves and by their breaths warmed the infant God at the command of his blessed Mother.
After seeing the creation of all the irrational creatures, She became aware, how the most blessed Trinity, in order to complete and perfect the world, said: "Let us make man to our image and likeness" (Gen. 1, 26), and how by virtue of this divine decree the first man was formed of the earth as the first parent of all the rest. She had a profound insight into the harmonious composition of the human body and soul and of their faculties, of the creation and infusion of the soul into the body and of its intimate union with the body. Of the structure of the human body and all its parts, She obtained a deep knowledge: She was informed of the number of the bones, veins, arteries, nerves and ligatures; of the concourse of humors to compose the befitting temperaments, the faculties of nutrition, growth and locomotion; She learned in what manner the disturbances or changes in this harmony caused the sicknesses, and how these can he cured. All this the most prudent Virgin understood and comprehended without the least error, better than all the wise men of the world and better than even the angels.
The Lord manifested to Her also the happy state of original justice, in which He placed the first parents Adam and Eve; She understood their condition, beauty and perfection of innocence and grace; and for how short a time they persevered in it. She perceived how they were tempted and overcome by the astuteness of the serpent (Gen. 2, 51), and what were the consequences of their sin; and how great were the fury and hate of the demon against the human race. At the vision of all these things our Queen made great and heroic acts of virtue, highly pleasing to God. She understood, that She was a daughter of these first parents and that She descended from a nature so thankless to its Creator. In the remembrance of this She humiliated Herself in his divine presence, thereby wounding the heart of God and obliging Him to raise Her above all that is created. She took it upon Herself to weep for the first sin and for all the rest, that followed from it, as if She Herself had been guilty of them all. Hence, even at that time, that first sin might have been called a fortunate fault, which caused tears so precious in the eyes of the Lord, and which earned us such sureties and pledges of our Redemption.
The seventh day of this mysterious preparation for the approaching sacrament arrived, and in the same hour as already mentioned, the heavenly Lady was called and elevated in spirit, but with this difference, that She was bodily raised by her holy angels to the empyrean heaven, while in her stead one of them remained to represent Her in corporeal appearance. Placed into this highest heaven, She saw the Divinity by abstract vision as in other days; but always with new and more penetrating light, piercing to new and more profound mysteries, which God according to his free will can conceal or reveal. Presently She heard a voice proceeding from the royal throne, which said: "Our Spouse and chosen Dove, our gracious Friend, who hast been found pleasing in our eyes and hast been chosen among thousands: We wish to accept thee anew as our Bride, and therefore We wish to adorn and beautify thee in a manner worthy of our design."
On hearing these words the most Humble among the humble abased and annihilated Herself in the presence of the Most High more than can be comprehended by human power. Entirely submissive to the divine pleasure and with entrancing modesty, She responded: "At thy feet, 0 Lord, lies the dust and abject worm, ready is thy poor slave for the fulfillment of all thy pleasure in her. Make use, 0 eternal Good, of this thy insignificant instrument according to thy desire, and dispose of it with thy right hand." Presently the Most High commanded two seraphim, of those nearest to his throne and highest in dignity to attend on this heavenly Virgin. Accompanied by others, they presented themselves in visible form before the throne, and there surrounded the most holy Mary, who was more inflamed with divine love than they.
The heavenly Princess, most holy Mary, had now attained such fullness of grace and beauty and the heart of God was so wounded by her tender affections and desires (Cant. 4, 9), that He was so to say irresistibly drawn to begin his flight from the bosom of the eternal Father to the bridal-chamber of her virginal womb and end the long delay of more than five thousand years. Nevertheless, since this new wonder was to be executed in the plenitude of his wisdom and equity, the Lord arranged this event in such a way, that the Princess of the heavens Herself, being the worthy Mother of the incarnate Word, should at the same time be also the most powerful Mediatrix of his coming and the Redeemer of his people much more than Esther was of Israel (Esther ch. 7 and 8). In the heart of most holy Mary burned the flame, which God himself had enkindled, and without intermission She prayed for the salvation of the human race. However, as yet the most humble Lady restrained Herself in modesty, knowing that on account of the sin of Adam, the sentence of death and of eternal privation from the vision of God had been promulgated (Gen. 3, 9).
The Most High received his holy and chosen Bride, most holy Mary, into his presence. Although this happened not in an intuitive, but in an abstractive vision of the Divinity, it was accompanied with incomparable favors of light and purification proceeding from the Lord himself, such as were specially reserved for this day. For they were so divine, that, in our way of speaking, God himself who wrought them, was astonished and was charmed with the work of his hand. As if entranced with love, He spoke to Her and said: "Revertere, revertere, Sulamitis, ut intueamur te" (Return, return, 0 Sulamitess, that We may behold thee). "My Spouse, my most perfect and beloved Dove, pleasing in my sight, turn and advance toward Us, that We may behold thee and be charmed by thy beauty. I do not regret to have created man and I delight in his formation, since thou hast been born of him. Let my celestial spirits see how justly I have desired and do desire to choose thee as my Spouse and the Queen of all the creatures. Let them see what good reason I have to rejoice in this my bridal chamber, from whence my Onlybegotten, next to that of my own bosom, shall derive the greatest glory. Let all understand, that if I justly repudiated Eve, the first queen of the earth, on account of her disobedience, I now place thee and establish thee in the highest dignity, showing my magnificence and power in dealing with thy purest humility and self-abasement."
In order to put the last touch to this prodigious work of preparing the most holy Mary, the Lord extended his powerful arm and expressly renewed the spirit and the faculties of the great Lady, giving Her new inclinations, habits and qualities, the greatness and excellence of which are inexpressible in terrestrial terms. It was the finishing act and the final retouching of the living image of God, in order to form, in it and of it, the very shape, into which the eternal Word, the essential image of the eternal Father (II Cor. 4, 4) and the figure of his substance (Heb. 1, 3), was to be cast. Thus the whole temple of most holy Mary, more so than that of Solomon, was covered with the purest gold of the Divinity inside and out, (III Kings, 6, 30), so that nowhere could be seen in Her any grossness of an earthly daughter of Adam. Her entire being was made to shine forth the Divinity; for since the divine Word was to issue from the bosom of the eternal Father to descend to that of Mary, He provided for the greatest possible similarity between the Mother and the Father.
No words at my disposal could ever suffice to describe as I would wish, the effects of these favors in the heart of our great Queen and Mistress. Human thought cannot conceive them, how then can human words express them? But what has caused the greatest wonder in me, when I considered these things in the light given to me, is the humility of this heavenly Woman and the mutual contest between her humility and the divine power. Rare and astonishing prodigy of humility, to see this Maiden, most holy Mary, though raised to the supremest dignity and holiness next to God, yet humiliating Herself and debasing Herself below the meanest of the creatures; so that, by the force of this humility, no thought of her being destined for the Mothership of the Messias could find entrance into her mind! And not only this: She did not even have a suspicion of anything great or admirable in Herself (Ps. 130, 1). Her eyes and heart were not elated; on the contrary the higher She ascended by the operation of the right hand of her God, so much the more lowly were her thoughts concerning Herself. It was therefore just, that the Almighty should look upon her humility (Luke 1, 48), and that therefore all generations should call her fortunate and blessed.
WORDS OF THE QUEEN. (The Virgin Mary speaks to Sister Mary of Agreda, Spain.)
My daughter, whoever has only a selfish and servile love is not a worthy spouse of the Most High, she must not love or fear like a slave, nor is she supposed to serve for her daily wages. Yet although her heart must be a filial and generous love on account of the excellence and immense goodness of her Spouse, she must nevertheless also feel herself much bounden to Him, when she considers how rich and liberal He is; how, on account of his love for souls, He has created a variety of visible goods in order that they might serve those who serve Him; and especially, when she considers how many hidden treasures He has in readiness in the abundance of his sweetness (Ps. 30, 20) for those that fear Him as his true children. I wish that thou feel deeply obliged to thy Lord and Father, thy Spouse and Friend, at the thought of the riches given to those souls, who become his dearest children. For, as a powerful Father, He holds in readiness these great and manifold gifts for his children, and if necessary, all of his gifts for each one of them in particular. In the midst of such motives and incentives of love the disaffection of men is inexcusable, and at the sight of so many blessings, given without measure, their ingratitude is unpardonable.
Remember, also, my dearest, that thou wast no foreigner, or stranger in this house of the Lord, his holy Church (Ephes. 2, 19); but thou wast made a domestic and a spouse of Christ among the saints, favored by his gifts and by the dowry of a bride. Since all the treasures and riches of the bridegroom belong to the legitimate spouse, consider of how great possessions He makes thee participant and mistress. Enjoy them all, then, as his domestic, and be zealous for his honor as a much-favored daughter and spouse; thank Him for all these works and benefits, as if they had all been prepared for thee alone by the Lord. Love and reverence Him for thyself and for all thy neighbors, to whom God has been so liberal. In all this imitate, with thy weak faculties, that which thou hast understood of what I have done. I assure thee also, daughter, that it will he very pleasing to me, if thou magnify and praise the Omnipotent with fervent affection, for the favors and riches which, beyond all human conception, the divine right hand showered upon me.
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Today's Snippet II: Book 3, Chapter 2
The Divine History and Life of The Virgin Mother of God
THE INCARNATION OF THE SON OF GOD.
Thereupon his Majesty announced to all the other angels that the time of the Redemption had come and that He had commanded it to be brought to the world without delay; for already, in their own presence, the most holy Mary had been prepared and adorned to be his Mother, and had been exalted to the supreme dignity. The heavenly spirits heard the voice of their Creator, and with incomparable joy and thanksgiving for the fulfillment of his eternal and perfect will, they intoned new canticles of praise, repeating therein that hymn of Sion: "Holy, holy, holy art thou, God and Lord Sabaoth (Is. 6, 3). Just and powerful art Thou, Lord our God, who livest in the highest (Ps. 112, 5) and lookest upon the lowly of the earth. Admirable are all thy works, most high and exalted in thy designs."
The supernal prince Gabriel, obeying with singular delight
the divine command and accompanied by many thousands of most beautiful angels in
visible forms, descended from the highest heaven. The appearance of the great
prince and legate was that of a most handsome youth of rarest beauty; his face
emitted resplendent rays of light, his bearing was grave and majestic, his
advance measured, his motions composed, his words weighty and powerful, his
whole presence displayed a pleasing, kindly gravity and more of godlike
qualities than all the other angels until then seen in visible form by the
heavenly Mistress. He wore a diadem of exquisite splendor and his vestments
glowed in various colors full of refulgent beauty. Enchased on his breast, he
bore a most beautiful cross, disclosing the mystery of the Incarnation, which He
had come to announce. All these circumstances were calculated to rivet the
affectionate attention of the most prudent Queen.
The whole of this celestial army with their princely leader
holy Gabriel directed their flight to Nazareth, a town of the province of
Galilee, to the dwelling place of most holy Mary. This was an humble cottage and
her chamber was a narrow room, bare of all those furnishings which are wont to
be used by the world in order to hide its own meanness and want of all higher
goods. The heavenly Mistress was at this time fourteen years, six months and
seventeen days of age; for her birthday anniversary fell on the eighth of
September and six months seventeen days had passed since that date, when this
greatest of all mysteries ever performed by God in this world, was enacted in
Her.
The bodily shape of the heavenly Queen was well proportioned
and taller than is usual with other maidens of her age; yet extremely elegant
and perfect in all its parts. Her face was rather more oblong than round,
gracious and beautiful, without leanness or grossness; its complexion clear, yet
of a slightly brownish hue; her forehead spacious yet symmetrical; her eyebrows
perfectly arched; her eyes large and serious, of incredible and ineffable beauty
and dovelike sweetness, dark in color with a mixture tending toward green; her
nose straight and well shaped; her mouth small, with red-colored lips, neither
too thin nor too thick. All the gifts of nature in Her were so symmetrical and
beautiful, that no other human being ever had the like. To look upon Her caused
feelings at the same time of joy and seriousness, love and reverential fear. She
attracted the heart and yet restrained it in sweet reverence; her beauty
impelled the tongue to sound her praise, and yet her grandeur and her
overwhelming perfections and graces hushed it to silence. In all that approached
Her, She caused divine effects not easily explained; She filled the heart with
heavenly influences and divine operations, tending toward the Divinity.
Her garments were humble and poor, yet clean, of a
dark silvery hue, somewhat like the color of ashes, and they were arranged and
worn without pretense, but with the greatest modesty and propriety. At the time
when, without her noticing it, the embassy of heaven drew nigh unto Her, She was
engaged in the highest contemplation concerning the mysteries which the Lord had
renewed in Her by so many favors during the nine receding days. And since, as we
have said above, the Lord himself had assured Her that his Onlybegotten would
soon descend to assume human form, this great Queen was full of fervent and
joyful affection in the expectation of its execution and inflamed with humble
love, She spoke in her heart: "Is it possible that the blessed time has
arrived, in which the Word of the eternal Father is to be born and to converse
with men? (Brauch 10, 38). That the world should possess Him? That men are to
see Him in the flesh? (Is. 40.5). That his inaccessible light is to shine forth
to illumine those who sit in darkness? (Is. 9, 2). O, who shall be worthy to see
and know Him! O, who shall be allowed to kiss the earth touched by his
feet!"
"Rejoice, ye heavens, and console thyself, O earth (Ps.
95, 11); let all things bless and extol Him, since already his eternal happiness
is nigh! O children of Adam, afflicted with sin, and ye creatures of
my Beloved, now shall you raise your heads and throw off the yoke of your
ancient servitude! (Is. 14, 25). O, ye ancient Forefathers and Prophets, and all
ye just, that are detained in limbo and are waiting in the bosom of Abraham, now
shall you be consoled and your much desired and long promised Redeemer shall
tarry no longer! (Agg. 2, 8). Let us all magnify Him and sing to Him
hymns of praise! O who shall be the slave of Her, whom Isaias points out as his
Mother (Is. 7, 4); O Emmanuel, true God and Man! O key of David, who art to
unlock heaven! (Is. 22, 22). O eternal Wisdom! O Lawgiver of the new Church!
Come, come to us, O Lord, and end the captivity of thy people; let all flesh see
thy salvation!" (Is. 40, 5).
In order that the mystery of the Most High might be
fulfilled, the holy archangel Gabriel, in the shape described in the preceding
chapter and accompanied by innumerable angels in visible human forms and
resplendent with incomparable beauty, entered into the chamber, where most holy
Mary was praying. It was on a Thursday at six o'clock in the evening and at the
approach of night. The great modesty and restraint of the Princess of heaven did
not permit Her to look at him more than was necessary to recognize him as an
angel of the Lord. Recognizing him as such, She, in her usual humility, wished
to do him reverence; the holy prince would not allow it; on the contrary he
himself bowed profoundly as before his Queen and Mistress, in whom he adored the
heavenly mysteries of his Creator. At the same time he understood that from that
day on the ancient times and the custom of old whereby men should worship
angels, as Abraham had done (Gen. 38, 2), were changed. For as human
nature was raised to the dignity of God himself in the person of the Word, men
now held the position of adopted children, of companions and brethren of the
angels, as the angel said to Evangelist Saint John, when he refused to be
worshipped (Apoc. 19, 10).
The holy archangel saluted our and his Queen and said:
"Ave gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu in mulieribus" (Luke 1,
28). Hearing this new salutation of the angel, this most humble of all creatures
was disturbed, but not confused in mind (Luke 1, 29). This disturbance arose
from two causes: first, from her humility, for She thought herself the lowest of
the creatures and thus in her humility, was taken unawares at hearing Herself
saluted and called the "Blessed among women;" secondly, when She heard
this salute and began to consider within Herself how She should receive it, She
was interiorly made to understand by the Lord, that He chose Her for his Mother,
and this caused a still greater perturbance, having such an humble opinion of
Herself. On account of this perturbance the angel proceeded to explain to Her
the decree of the Lord, saying: "Do not fear, Mary, for thou hast found
grace before the Lord (Luke 1, 30); behold thou shalt conceive a Son in thy
womb, and thou shalt give birth to Him, and thou shalt name Him Jesus; He shall
be great, and He shall be called Son of the Most High," and the rest as
recorded of the holy archangel.
Our most prudent and humble Queen alone, among all the
creatures, was sufficiently intelligent and magnanimous to estimate at its true
value such a new and unheard of sacrament; and in proportion as She realized its
greatness, so She was also moved with admiration. But She raised her humble
heart to the Lord, who could not refuse Her any petition, and in the
secret of her spirit She asked new light and assistance by which to govern
Herself in such an arduous transaction; for, as we have said in the preceding
chapter, the Most High, in order to permit Her to act in this mystery solely in
faith, hope and charity, left Her in the common state and suspended all other
kinds of favors and interior elevations, which She so frequently or continually
enjoyed. In this disposition She replied and said to holy Gabriel, what is
written in saint Luke: "how shall this happen, that I conceive and bear;
since I know not, nor can know, man?" At the same time She interiorly
represented to the Lord the vow of chastity, which She had made and the
espousal, which his Majesty had celebrated with Her.
The holy prince Gabriel replied (Luke 1, 24): "Lady, it
is easy for the divine power to make Thee a Mother without the cooperation of
man; the Holy Spirit shall remain with Thee by a new presence and the virtue of
the Most High shall overshadow Thee, so that the Holy of holies can be born of
Thee, who shall himself be called the Son of God. And behold, thy cousin
Elisabeth has likewise conceived a son in her sterile years and this is the
sixth month of her conception; for nothing is impossible with God. He that can
make her conceive, who was sterile, can bring it about, that Thou, Lady, be his
Mother, still preserving thy virginity and enhancing thy purity.
With these and many other words the ambassador of heaven
instructed the most holy Mary, in order that, by the remembrance of the ancient
promises and prophecies of holy Writ, by the reliance and trust in them and in
the infinite power of the Most High, She might overcome her hesitancy at the
heavenly message. But as the Lady herself exceeded the angels in wisdom,
prudence and in all sanctity, She withheld her answer, in order to be able to
give it in accordance with the divine will and that it might be worthy of the
greatest of all the mysteries and sacraments of the divine power. She reflected
that upon her answer depended the pledge of the most blessed Trinity, the
fulfillment of his promises and prophecies, the most pleasing and acceptable of
all sacrifices, the opening of the gates of paradise, the victory and triumph
over hell, the Redemption of all the human race, the satisfaction of the divine
justice, the foundation of the new law of grace, the glorification of men, the
rejoicing of the angels, and whatever was connected with the Incarnation of the
Onlybegotten of the Father and his assuming the form of servant in her virginal
womb (Philip 2, 7)
A great wonder, indeed, and worthy of our admiration, that
all these mysteries and whatever others they included, should be intrusted by
the Almighty to an humble Maiden and made dependent upon her fiat. But
befittingly and securely He left them to the wise and strong decision of this
courageous Woman (Prov. 31, 11), since She would consider them with such
magnanimity and nobility, that perforce his confidence in Her was not misplaced.
The operations, which proceed within the divine Essence, depend not on the
cooperation of creatures, for they have no part in them and God could not expect
such cooperations for executing the works ad intra; but in the
works ad extra and such as were contingent, among which that of
becoming man was the most exalted, He could not proceed without the cooperation
of most holy Mary and without her free consent. For He wished to reach this acme
of all the works outside Himself in Her and through Her and He wished that we
should owe this benefit to this Mother of wisdom and our Reparatrix.
Therefore this great Lady considered and inspected profoundly
this spacious field of the dignity of Mother of God (Prov. 21, 16) in order to
purchase it by her fiat; She clothed Herself in fortitude more than
human, and She tasted and saw how profitable was this enterprise and commerce
with the Divinity. She comprehended the ways of his hidden benevolence and
adorned Herself with fortitude and beauty. And having conferred with Herself and
with the heavenly messenger Gabriel about the grandeur of these high and divine
sacraments, and finding herself in excellent condition to receive the message
sent to Her, her purest soul was absorbed and elevated in admiration, reverence
and highest intensity of divine love. By the intensity of these movements and
supernal affections, her most pure heart, as it were by natural consequence, was
contracted and compressed with such force, that it distilled three drops of her
most pure blood, and these, finding their way to the natural place for the act
of conception, were formed by the power of the divine and holy Spirit, into the
body of Christ our Lord. Thus the matter, from which the most holy humanity of
the Word for our Redemption is composed, was furnished and administered by the
most pure heart of Mary and through the sheer force of her true love. At the
same moment, with a humility never sufficiently to be extolled, inclining
slightly her head and joining her hands, She pronounced these words, which were
the beginning of our salvation: "Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum'' (Luke 1,
31).
At the pronouncing of this "fiat," so sweet to the
hearing of God and so fortunate for us, in one instant, four things happened.
First, the most holy body of Christ our Lord was formed from the three drops of
blood furnished by the heart of most holy Mary. Secondly, the most holy soul of
the same Lord was created, just as the other souls. Thirdly, the soul and the
body united in order to compose his perfect humanity. Fourthly, the Divinity
united Itself in the Person of the Word with the humanity, which together became
one composite being in hypostatical union; and thus was formed Christ true God
and Man, our Lord and Redeemer. This happened in springtime on the twenty-fifth
of March, at break or dawning of the day, in the same hour, in which our first
father Adam was made and in the year of the creation of the world 5199, which
agrees also with the count of the Roman Church in her Martyrology under the
guidance of the Holy Ghost. This reckoning is the true and certain one, as was
told me, when I inquired at command of my superiors. Conformable to this the
world was created in the month of March, which corresponds to the beginning of
creation. And as the works of the Most High are perfect and complete (Deut. 32,
4), the plants and trees come forth from the hands of his Majesty bearing fruit,
and they would have borne them continually without intermission, if sin had not
changed the whole nature. The divine Child began to grow in the natural manner
in the recess of the womb, being nourished by the substance and the blood of its
most holy Mother, just as other men; yet it was more free and exempt from the
imperfections, to which other children of Adam are subject in that place and
period. For from some of these, namely those that, are accidental and
unnecessary to the substance of the act of generation, being merely effects of
sin, the Empress of heaven was free. She was also free from the superfluities
caused by sin, which in other women are common and happen naturally in the
formation, sustenance and growth of their children. For the necessary matter,
which is proper to the infected nature of the descendants of Eve and which was
wanting in Her, was supplied and administered in Her by the exercise of heroic
acts of virtue and especially by charity. By the fervor of her soul and her
loving affections the blood and humors of her body were changed and thereby
divine Providence provided for the sustenance of the divine Child. Thus in a
natural manner the humanity of our Redeemer was nourished, while his Divinity
was recreated and pleased with her heroic virtues. Most holy Mary furnished to
the Holy Ghost, for the formation of this body, pure and limpid blood, free from
sin and all its tendencies. And whatever impure and imperfect matter is supplied
by other mothers for the growth of their children was administered by the Queen
of heaven most pure and delicate in substance. For it was built up and supplied
by the power of her loving affections and her other virtues. In a like manner
was purified whatever served as food for the heavenly Queen. For, as She knew
that her nourishment was at the same time to sustain and nourish the Son of God,
She partook of it with such heroic acts of virtue, that the angelic spirits
wondered how such common human actions could be connected with such supernal
heights of merit and perfection in the sight of God.
Thus adorned and deified by the Divinity and its gifts, the
most holy soul of Christ our Lord proceeded in its operations in the following
order: immediately it began to see and know the Divinity intuitively as It is in
Itself and as It is united to his most holy humanity, loving It with the highest
beatific love and perceiving the inferiority of the human nature in comparison
with the essence of God. The soul of Christ humiliated itself profoundly, and in
this humility it gave thanks to the immutable being of God for having created it
and for the benefit of the hypostatic union, by which, though remaining human,
it was raised to the essence of God. It also recognized that his most holy
humanity was made capable of suffering, and was adapted for attaining the end of
the Redemption. In this knowledge it offered itself as the Redeemer in sacrifice
for the human race (Ps. 39, 8), accepting the state of suffering and giving
thanks in his own name and in the name of mankind to the eternal Father. He
recognized the composition of his most holy humanity, the substance of which it
was made, and how most holy Mary by the force of her charity and of her heroic
virtues, furnished its substance. He took possession of this holy tabernacle and
dwelling; rejoicing in its most exquisite beauty, and, well pleased, reserved as
his own property the soul of this most perfect and most pure Creature for all
eternity. He praised the eternal Father for having created Her and endowed Her
with such vast graces and gifts: for having exempted Her and freed Her from the
common law of sin, as his Daughter, while all the other descendants of Adam have
incurred its guilt (Rom. 5, 18). He prayed for the most pure Lady and for saint
Joseph, asking eternal salvation for them. All these acts, and many others, were
most exalted and proceeded from Him as true God and Man. Not taking into account
those that pertain to the beatific vision and love, these acts and each one by
itself, were of such merit that they alone would have sufficed to redeem
infinite worlds, if such could exist.
Even the act of obedience alone, by which the most holy
humanity of the Word subjected itself to suffering and prevented the glory of
his soul from being communicated to his body, was abundantly sufficient for our
salvation. But although this sufficed for our salvation, nothing would satisfy
his immense love for men except the full limit of effective love (John 13, 1);
for this was the purpose of his life, that He should consume it in
demonstrations and tokens of such intense love, that neither the understanding
of men nor of angels was able to comprehend it. And if in the first instant of
his entrance into the world He enriched it so immeasurably, what treasures, what
riches of merits must He have stored up for it, when He left it by his Passion
and Death on the cross after thirty-three years of labor and activity all
divine! O immense love! O charity without limit! O mercy without measure! O most
generous kindness! and, on the other hand, O ingratitude and base forgetfulness
of mortals in the face of such unheard of and such vast benefaction! What would
have become of us without Him? How much less could we do for this our Redeemer
and Lord, even if He had conferred on us but small favors, while now we are
scarcely moved and obliged by his doing for us all that He could? If we do not
wish to treat as a Redeemer Him, who has given us eternal life and liberty, let
us at least hear Him as our Teacher, let us follow Him as our Leader, as our
guiding light, which shows us the way to our true happiness.
These operations of Christ our Lord in the first instant of
his conception were followed, in another essential instant, by the beatific
vision of the Divinity, which we have mentioned in the preceding chapter (No.
139); for in one instant of time many instants of essence can take place. In
this vision the heavenly Lady perceived with clearness and distinction the
mystery of the hypostatic union of the divine and the human natures in the
person of the eternal Word, and the most holy Trinity confirmed Her in the title
and the rights of Mother of God. This in all rigor of truth She was, since She
was the natural Mother of a Son, who was eternal God with the same certainty and
truth as He was man. Although this great Lady did not directly cooperate in the
union of the Divinity with the humanity, She did not on this account lose her
right to be called the Mother of the true God; for She concurred by
administering the material and by exerting her faculties, as far as it pertained
to a true Mother; and to a greater extent than to ordinary mothers, since in Her
the conception and the generation took place without the aid of a man. Just as
in other generations the agents, which bring them about in the natural course,
are called father and mother, each furnishing that which is necessary, without
however concurring directly in the creation of the soul, nor in its infusion
into the body of the child; so also, and with greater reason, most holy Mary
must be called, and did call Herself, Mother of God for She alone concurred in
the generation of Christ, true God and Man, as a Mother, to the exclusion of any
other natural cause; and only through this concurrence of Mary in the
generation, Christ, the Man-God, was born.
But She was especially persistent and fervent in her prayer
to obtain guidance of the Almighty nor the worthy fulfillment of her office as
Mother of the Onlybegotten of the Father. For this, before all other graces, Her
humble heart urged Her to desire, and this was especially the subject of her
solicitude, that She might be guided in all her actions as becomes the Mother of
God. The Almighty answered Her: "My Dove, do not fear, for I will assist
thee and guide thee, directing thee in all things necessary for the service of
my onlybegotten Son." With this promise She came to Herself and issued from
her ecstasy, in which all that I have said had happened, and which was the most
wonderful She ever had. Restored to her faculties, her first action was to
prostrate Herself on the earth and adore her holiest Son, God and Man, conceived
in her virginal womb; for this She had not yet done with her external and bodily
senses and faculties. Nothing that She could do in the service of her Creator,
did this most prudent Mother leave undone. From that time on She was conscious
of feeling new and divine effects in her holiest soul and in her exterior and
interior faculties. And although the whole tenor of her life had been most noble
both as regards her body as her soul; yet on this day of the incarnation of the
Word it rose to still greater nobility of spirit and was made more godlike by
still higher reaches of grace and indescribable gifts.
WORDS OF THE QUEEN. (The
Virgin Mary speaks to Sister Mary of Agreda, Spain.)
My dearest daughter, many times I have confided and
manifested to thee the love burning within my bosom: for I wish that it should
be ardently re-enkindled within thy own, and that thou profit from the
instruction, which I give thee. Happy is the soul, to which the Most High
manifests his holy and perfect will; but more happy and blessed is he, who puts
into execution, what he has learned. In many ways God shows to mortals the
highways and pathways of eternal life: by the Gospels and the holy Scriptures,
by the Sacraments and the laws of the holy Church, by the writings and examples
of the saints, and especially, by the obedience due to the guidings of its
ministers, of whom his Majesty said : "Whoever hears you, hears Me;"
for obeying them is the same as obeying the Lord himself. Whenever by any of
these means thou hast come to the knowledge of the will of God, I desire thee to
assume the wings of humility and obedience, and, as if in ethereal flight or
like the quickest sunbeam, hasten to execute it and thereby fulfill the divine
pleasure.
Besides these means of instruction, the Most High has still
others in order to direct the soul; namely, He intimates his perfect will to
them in a supernatural manner, and reveals to them many sacraments. This kind of
instruction is of many and different degrees; not all of them are common or
ordinary to all souls; for the Lord dispenses his light in measure and weight
(Wis. 11, 21). Sometimes He speaks to the heart and the interior feelings in
commands; at others, in correction, advising or instructing: sometimes He moves
the heart to ask Him; at other times He proposes clearly what He desires, in
order that the soul may be moved to fulfill it; again He manifests, as in a
clear mirror, great mysteries, in order that they may be seen and recognized by
the intellect and loved by the will. But this great and infinite Good is always
sweet in commanding, powerful in giving the necessary help for obedience, just
in his commands, quick in disposing circumstances so that He can be obeyed,
notwithstanding all the impediments which hinder the fulfillment of his most
holy will.
In receiving this divine light, my daughter. I wish to see
thee very attentive, and very quick and diligent in following it up in deed. In
order to hear this most delicate and spiritual voice of the Lord it is
necessary, that the faculties of the soul be purged from earthly grossness and
that the creature live entirely according to the spirit; for the animal man does
not perceive the elevated things of the Divinity (I Cor. 2, 14). Be attentive
then to his secrets (Is. 34, 16) and forget all that is of the outside; listen,
my daughter, and incline thy ear; free thyself from all visible things (Ps. 44,
11). And in order that thou mayest be diligent, cultivate love; for love is a
fire, which does not have its effect until the material is prepared; therefore
let thy heart always be disposed and prepared. Whenever the Most High bids thee
or communicates to thee anything for the welfare of souls, or especially for
their eternal salvation, devote thyself to it entirely; for they are bought at
the inestimable price of the blood of the Lamb and of divine love. Do not allow
thyself to be hindered in this matter by thy own lowliness and bashfulness; but
overcome the fear which restrains thee, for if thou thyself art of small value
and usefulness, the Most High is rich (I Pet. 1, 18), powerful, great, and by
Himself performs all things (Rom. 10, 12). Thy promptness and affection will not
go without its reward, although I wish thee rather to be moved entirely by the
pleasure of thy Lord.
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Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part Two: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, Sect 1:2:2
CHAPTER ONE THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IN THE AGE OF THE CHURCH
Article 2 THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IN THE CHURCH'S SACRAMENTS
II. The Sacraments of the Church
1117
As she has done for the canon of Sacred Scripture and for the doctrine of the
faith, the Church, by the power of the Spirit who guides her "into all
truth," has gradually recognized this treasure received from Christ and,
as the faithful steward of God's mysteries, has determined its "dispensation."Jn 16:13; cf.
⇒ Mt 13:52; ⇒ 1 Cor
4:1
Thus the Church has discerned over the centuries that among liturgical
celebrations there are seven that are, in the strict sense of the term,
sacraments instituted by the Lord.
1118
The sacraments are "of the Church" in the double sense that they are
"by her" and "for her." They are "by the Church,"
for she is the sacrament of Christ's action at work in her through the mission
of the Holy Spirit. They are "for the Church" in the sense that "the
sacraments make the Church,"St.
Augustine, De civ. Dei, 22, 17: PL 41, 779; cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 64,2 ad 3. since they manifest and communicate
to men, above all in the Eucharist, the mystery of communion with the God who
is love, One in three persons.
1119
Forming "as it were, one mystical person" with Christ the head, the
Church acts in the sacraments as "an organically structured priestly
community."LG 11; cf. Pius
XII, Mystici Corporis (1943) Through Baptism and Confirmation the pRiestly people
is enabled to celebrate the liturgy, while those of the faithful "who have
received Holy Orders, are appointed to nourish the Church with the word and
grace of God in the name of Christ."LG 11 # 2
1120
The ordained ministry or ministerial priesthood is at the service of the
baptismal priesthood.LG 10 # 2 The ordained priesthood guarantees that it
really is Christ who acts in the sacraments through the Holy Spirit for the
Church. the saving mission entrusted by the Father to his incarnate Son was
committed to the apostles and through them to their successors: they receive
the Spirit of Jesus to act in his name and in his person.Jn 20:21-23;
⇒ Lk 24:47; ⇒ Mt
28:18-20 The
ordained minister is the sacramental bond that ties the liturgical action to
what the apostles said and did and, through them, to the words and actions of
Christ, the source and foundation of the sacraments.
1121
The three sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders confer, in
addition to grace, a sacramental character or "seal" by which the
Christian shares in Christ's priesthood and is made a member of the Church
according to different states and functions. This configuration to Christ and
to the Church, brought about by the Spirit, is indelible,Council of Trent (1547): DS 1609 it remains
for ever in the Christian as a positive disposition for grace, a promise and
guarantee of divine protection, and as a vocation to divine worship and to the
service of the Church. Therefore these sacraments can never be repeated.
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