Annunciation. That is why St. Thomas is content to state quite simply: "To be the worthy Mother of God, Mary needed to receive the fullness of grace". Bossuet repeats this in his sermon on the Compassion of the Blessed Virgin: 'since God disposes things with wonderful aptness, it was necessary that He should imprint on the heart of the Blessed Virgin a love going far beyond nature even to the last reaches of grace, so that she might have for her Son sentiments worthy of a Mother of God and of a Man-God. From the moment of the Annunciation, Mary's mind was full of what had happened and the oncoming consequences. Meanwhile she had studied over and over again all that the scriptures foretold about her child. Especially so when she was in Zachary's house, assisting Elizabeth as she awaited the birth of John the Baptist. Zachary being a priest would have ready access to the Old Testament scrolls. Three times in the Old Testament reference is made to the parentage of the `One who is to come` In Genesis: God's words to Satan - I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers. It will bruise your head. In Isaiah: Ahaz said: Listen now house of David are you not satisfied with trying human patience that you should try God's patience too? The Lord will give you a sign in any case. It is this: the virgin is with child and will give birth to a son whom she will call him Immanuel. (means God is with us) Micah: But you [Bethlehem] Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah from you will come to me a future ruler of Israel whose origins go back to the distant past, to the days of old. Hence Yahweh will abandon them only UNTIL SHE WHO IS IN LABOUR GIVES BIRTH, Always the woman, never a hint of a male parent, and that in a society to whom the father was everything. The Protevangelium of James - an early document - gives us the flavour of the occasion. "And he [Joseph] saddled the ass, and sat her upon it; . . . and [later] Mary said to him: take me down off the ass, for that which is in me presses to come forth. And he took her down off the ass, and said to her 'The place is a desert'. And he found a cave there, and led her into it . . . [Joseph left and when he returned he said 'When I] was walking and not walking; and I looked up into the sky, and saw the sky astonished; and I looked up to the pole of the heavens, and saw it standing and the birds of the air keeping still. . . . . And I saw the sheep walking and the sheep stood still; and the shepherd raised his hand to strike them, and his hand remained up. And I looked upon the current of the river and I saw the mouths of the kids resting on the water and not drinking, and all things in a moment were driven from their course. . . And behold a luminous cloud overshadowed the cave. . . . And a [woman] said: My soul has been magnified this day, because my eyes have seen strange things -- because salvation has been brought forth to Israel. And immediately the cloud disappeared out of the cave, and a great light shone in the cave, so that the eyes could not bear it. And in a little that light gradually decreased, until the infant appeared, and went and took the breast from His mother Mary." Luke says Mary 'brought forth her first-born son, and warped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger`, and our imaginations take up the story. Justin Martyr (a Palestinian convert), writing at the beginning of the second century and perfectly familiar with the locality, says that Joseph installed his wife in a cave such as was used, and still is used, to shelter sheep and cattle. The hills around Bethlehem are full of caves. The words "she wrapped him in swaddling clothes etc." convey the impression that Mary was alone, that there was no other woman present to assist her. According to some of the early documents she did not suffer the pains of childbirth. In the account of the Fall of Adam and Eve, birth pangs are interpreted as a consequence of Original Sin. We believe that Mary out of reverence to the child she was to bear did not carry the stain of Original Sin. It was not appropriate that the God bearer should have been tainted by sin. {Our belief is that Mary from the moment of conception was free from original sin. St. John the Baptist was sanctified in his mother's womb.} The Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Saviour takes up the story and introduces a woman. "And, behold, it [the cave] was filled with lights more beautiful than the gleaming of lamps and candles, and more splendid than the light of the sun. The child, wrapped in swaddling clothes, was sucking the breast of the Lady Mary His mother, being placed in a stall . . . Wondering at this light, the old woman asks the Lady Mary: Are you the mother of this Child? And when the Lady Mary gave her assent, she says: You art not at all like the daughters of Eve. Then came shepherds; and when they had lighted a fire, and were rejoicing greatly, there appeared to them the hosts of heaven praising and celebrating God Most High. And while the shepherds were doing the same, the cave was at that time made like a temple of the upper world, since both heavenly and earthly voices glorified and magnified God on account of the birth of the Lord Christ. And when that old Hebrew woman saw the manifestation of those miracles, she thanked God, saying: I give You thanks, O God, the God of Israel, because mine eyes have seen the birth of the Saviour of the world." The shepherds were surprised by an unknown light. They were ready to run. Then the voice of an Angel came from the light, "Fear not, for I bring good tidings of great joy to all the people. For this day is born to you a Saviour Who is Christ the Lord in the City of David. And this shall be a sign to you, You shall find the Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." The shepherds said to each other, "Let us go to Bethlehem and see what has been revealed to us." Running down the grassy slopes they quickly found the cave. Going in they found Mary and Joseph and the Infant lying in a manger. They fell down and worshipped Him. Mary spoke for Jesus, thanking the shepherds for their visit. The Koran pays its own tribute in the strange words "'How can we speak with a baby in the cradle?' He (Jesus) said: 'I am the worshiper of Allah. He has given me the Book and made me a Prophet. He made me blessed wherever I go, and He has ordered me to pray and to give alms as long as I shall live. He has made me kind to my mother; He has not made me arrogant, unprosperous. Peace be upon me the day I was born, and on the day I die; and on the day when I shall be raised up alive.' Such was Jesus, the son of Mary. That is the truth concerning what they doubt." So the young Jewish girl is admired by Christian and Moslem alike. Malcolm Muggeridge wrote: "It was precisely to revivify and replenish the world's stock of faith that the Bethlehem birth took place. Seen with the eyes of faith, the shepherds rejoice, the Wise Men prostrate themselves and offer their gifts, the very stars being rearranged to guide them on their way. Seen with the eye of faith, everything falls perfectly into place, faith being the key which enables us to decipher God's otherwise inscrutable communications The centrepiece, is of course, Mary, a Virgin Mother, with God sucking voraciously at her breast; bearing in her arms the new light that has come into the world to lighten, not just the Jews, but gentiles, all mankind as well. . . Through the eye of faith, then, Jesus is seen as, at once, God and Man, and Mary is seen as, at once, Virgin and mother." For Satan holds sway and the world gives him incense and gold, But into his kingdom God comes like a thief, and behold A daughter of Eve puts the serpent to flight. The promised Messiah is come, for whom the world prays, Men know not the good tidings yet, but, far from their gaze, The Mother is circled by Cherubim bright. By Paul Claudel Pope John Paul says: I remember a song I used to sing in Poland as a young man, a song which I still sing as Pope, which tells about the birth of the Saviour. On Christmas night, in every church and chapel, this song would ring out, repeating in a musical way the story told in the Gospel. It says: "In the silence of the night, a voice is heard: 'Get up, shepherds, God is born for you! Hurry to Bethlehem to meet the Lord'". The same story is told in the beautiful hymn "Silent Night", which everyone knows. That is a hymn which moves us deeply by reminding us that Jesus, the Son of God, was born of Mary, born to make us holy and to make us adopted sons and daughters of God. It is a hymn to the creative power of the Holy Spirit. It is a song to help us not to be afraid. |
