troubled, and knowing that she was the cause of his distress. One word
from her would have been sufficient to clear away all the
difficulties--and it almost seemed as if it would be for the glory of
GOD to say the word--at any rate it would have justified her, put an end
to Joseph's trouble, and saved her from suspicion, and even perhaps
shame and humiliation. But Mary has made her sacrifice--has said her
_Fiat_--and this is her first great trial, caused entirely by the fact
of her nearness to JESUS, and of the union between her life and His. And
so she does not say the word--she does not take back her sacrifice, but
meets it generously. It is not for her to publish GOD'S secrets. His
dealings with her are for herself, and are not to be shared even with
one as dear to her as is St Joseph, unless GOD bids her. Mary is silent
and abandons herself and her trouble and all that concerns her to GOD.
And this is GOD'S moment--when the need is at its height, when both His
children have proved their fidelity, and their readiness to abandon
themselves to Him and His Will, cost what it may. In his sleep an Angel
appears to Joseph and reveals the secret to him, and his sorrow is
changed to an unspeakable joy.
If I am striving to tread the way trodden by Mary and the Saints, I
shall do well to let self-justification alone. I am not likely to be put
to as great a test as were Mary and Joseph, but there are sure to be
many little occasions in my life when it is left to my choice either to
clear myself of suspicion or to leave the matter in GOD'S Hands, and out
of love to Him keep silence, and thus sacrifice a little of my
self-love. It is a difficult question, perhaps, when to keep silence and
when to speak; but at any rate I need not be in such a hurry to excuse
myself and shield myself from blame as I generally am. Nothing will be
lost by _waiting_. Mary and Joseph _waited_, with the result that GOD
Himself cleared things up for them and brought them consolation. If
Joseph had questioned Mary, or if Mary had allayed Joseph's suspicions,
both would have acted in a most natural way; but GOD would not have been
glorified, and they would have missed the consolation which He reserves
for those who are generous in their sacrifices to Him.
_Colloquy_ with Mary.
_Resolution._ To be silent the next time fault is found with
me.
_Spiritual Bouquet._ "Fear not, Joseph."
Mary's Expectation
"_His left hand is under my head, and His right hand shall
embrace me._" (Cant. ii. 6.)
"_My Beloved to me and I to Him._" (verse 16.)
_1st Prelude._ Mary and Joseph waiting.
_2nd Prelude._ Grace to believe that GOD'S plans are the
best.
_Point I._--AT NAZARETH
We should like to penetrate into those remaining six months, which Mary
and Joseph spent together, before the birth of the Holy Child. Scripture
is silent about them, but it is not difficult for a sanctified
imagination to picture something of what was taking place. Perhaps the
thought of the Altar of Repose on Maundy Thursday will bring the
realities home to us better than anything else could. Though He is
hidden from our sight, all know that He is there. Angels are in constant
adoration, and the faithful do not forget Him. All try to get near and
to hold silent communion with Him; and all are expecting the great day
when He will rise again and show Himself to them. And He is spending the
time in giving His blessing and His grace to all who, by faith, seek
Him. The house at Nazareth was in very deed GOD'S Sanctuary, containing
the Altar of Repose, where the Saviour of the world was resting. Angels
were in constant adoration before their King. The faithful consisted of
Mary and Joseph, whose thought and conversation could be about nothing
else but the Child Who was coming into the world. And who shall measure
the graces and blessings, which that Child was showering upon Mary and
her faithful spouse, during those months of waiting and prayer and holy
converse, while they planned and arranged with such care and minuteness,
as parents are wont to do, every detail connected with the birth of the
firstborn?
But man proposes and GOD disposes. GOD, Who "ordereth all things
sweetly," (Wisdom viii. 1), was stirring up the whole civilised world so
that the Scripture might be fulfilled which said: "And thou, _Bethlehem_
Ephrata, ... out of _thee_ shall He come forth to me, that is to be the
Ruler in Israel; and His going forth is from the beginning, from the
days of eternity." (Micheas v. 2.) It was in _Bethlehem_--not at
_Nazareth_, that the Child was to be born. And to effect this, "in those
days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world
should be enrolled.... And all went to be enrolled, every one into his
own city. And Joseph also went ... out of the city of Nazareth ... to
the city of David, which is called Bethlehem (because he was of the
house and family of David), to be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife."
(St Luke ii. 1-5.) What a trial this order must have been to Mary! To
leave home, to forego all her plans, to take a long journey, to
interrupt her days of solitude and calm and peace--and all at the
bidding of a heathen Emperor. But Mary knew how to take her trials.
_Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum._ "Be it done to me according to Thy
word." For her there were no second causes. It was ever GOD Who was
ordering "all things sweetly" for her, and she had nothing to say but
"_Ecce ancilla--fiat_." She waited for nothing but GOD'S will. And as
_He_ arranged it, she could spend her time of waiting just as well on
the public highway to Bethlehem as in the seclusion of Nazareth.
Oh, my Mother, teach me this lesson too: if I could only learn it, how
different my life would be! My life--every detail of it--is in GOD'S
Hands. He is "ordering it sweetly," and I _complain_! How little is my
faith! When my faith is great enough, I shall take all things, as
sweetly as GOD orders them, even though they may upset my most cherished
plans.
_Point II._--ON THE WAY TO BETHLEHEM
And so, in obedience to the command, Mary and Joseph leave the calm and
quiet and solitude of their little home, and go to face poverty and
difficulties and the unknown. But JESUS is with them, and this makes
them independent of exterior circumstances--their calm and quiet are
unbroken, and they can find solitude even in the busy thoroughfares.
Mary is communing with her Child, and is peaceful with the peace He
gives. Joy, too, fills her heart as she thinks how fast the time is
approaching when she will see His face.
Oh, how I should love to be allowed to go with them on this journey! At
my request, Mary readily consents to take me as her servant, and I am so
glad to be in that blessed company that I forego everything else--I know
that the Family I have come to live with is _poor_, and I am determined
not to ask them to get any special things for _me_. The table has the
barest necessities--perhaps hardly these, for true poverty consists in
the want of necessities; but it is the company that I care about, and
nothing else matters. I can see that all sorts of inconveniences and
privations and hardships will be mine, but I cannot be an exception in
that Family; and somehow, now that I am so close to the Blessed Mother,
I do not wish to be. My great desire is to be like her, and to share all
with her and her Son.
At Bethlehem Joseph begins his weary and anxious search for a lodging;
but all in vain--no one wants the Holy Family. How Joseph suffers at
each refusal--not for himself but for Mary! Mary is too much taken up
with her joy to heed the suffering. And the servant--does she regret
that she is not in one of the big hotels, as she might have been, or
does she turn with joy to follow the Holy Family to the cave, saying:
With JESUS and Mary I have all I want, and I love every hardship and
every privation which comes to me, because I have made myself one with
them?
Oh, my Mother, I thank thee for allowing me to be thy servant; I thank
thee for bringing me into such close contact with thy Son; I thank thee
for every privation, every difficulty, every hardship, every
inconvenience, every crossing of my own will which has come to me,
because I chose to be in thy company and in that of thy Son. Help me to
persevere bravely, thinking all worth while for the sake of the company.
_Colloquy_ with Mary, asking her to get me grace to be always
joyous, because I am living my life with her and her Blessed
Son.
_Resolution._ To show myself worthy of the company I am in,
by the way I face the little difficulties of my everyday
life.
_Spiritual Bouquet._ "I am Thy servant and the son of Thy
handmaid." (Ps. cxv. 16.)
The Stable
"_Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart._"
(St Luke ii. 19.)
_1st Prelude._ Mary and Joseph, and the Infant lying in the
manger.
_2nd Prelude._ Grace to ponder with Mary
_Point I._--THE BIRTH OF HER SON
"She brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him up in swaddling
clothes and laid Him in a manger." She has seen His face at last; she
has folded Him in her arms and pressed Him to her bosom--her Son and her
GOD. And she ponders--she meditates--she cannot tell her thoughts to any
human soul--but she can tell them to her Son. _Dico ego opera mea Regi._
I will speak of my works to the King. (Ps. xliv. 2.) Many works had
been wrought in and through Mary by the Holy Ghost, but they were all
the King's secrets, and she pondered over them, speaking of them to Him
alone. There was her vow of virginity, which she did not even speak of
to her parents; there was the visit of the King's messenger, of which
she spoke to no one--not to Elizabeth, nor even to St Joseph; there was
the painful journey to Bethlehem, and the difficulty about finding a
lodging. She might have told St Luke all about it, and had it all
written down in the Gospel--but no, there is not a word except the mere
fact that they went to Bethlehem, and that there was no room for them in
the inn. Her sufferings were those of the King, and she shared them with
Him alone.
And now that she has got her JESUS, she spends her time in pondering--in
telling Him her thoughts and her secrets, which are His too.
How much I should gain if I could be a little more like my Mother in
this!--if, instead of being so ready to go and talk of all the things
that have been said and done to me, or of what I have said or done, or
of what I have had to suffer, I were just to speak to my King about
it--let it be something between us which nobody else knows anything
about. It may often be my duty to speak, as it was Mary's later on, when
she was obliged, for example, to tell St Luke all about the Angel's
visit and what he said to her, because GOD wanted that piece of
revelation to be written. But this was later. She did not go at once and
tell Elizabeth all about it. Let us learn from Mary to let our _first_
words, at any rate, be for our King; and, if this is so, it is probable
that in many cases the matter will go no further, and others as well as
ourselves will be saved from the miseries which so often follow from our
being too ready to talk. _Dico ego opera mea Regi._ To _Him_ I can never
say too much, and He loves those silent heart-to-heart colloquies. He
loves the things which are talked over with Him only--the King's
secrets.
_Point II._--THE SHEPHERDS
"They came with haste, and they found Mary and Joseph, and the Infant
lying in a manger." And during their visit they "understood," and went
away to tell the good news to wondering listeners, leaving Mary still
pondering. Each moment of her Son's life on earth brings her fresh
matter for meditation. She has scarcely time to think of the miraculous
birth before she hears "a multitude of the Heavenly Army" proclaiming
the birth, praising GOD, and telling of the glory that is being given to
Him, and of the peace that is being brought to earth. And Mary realises
that she no longer has her Babe all to herself, that Heaven and earth
claim Him. Then the Shepherds arrive; and after they have adored the
Saviour Who is born to them, they tell His Mother of all the wonders of
that night: of the Angel of the Lord who suddenly stood by them in the
night watches; of the "brightness of GOD"; of how they feared; of how
the Angel bid them: "Fear not"; of the good tidings that he brought, and
of the great joy which was to be for everyone; that the Angel had
actually told them that the Child was the Messias, and that he had given
them the strangest sign by which they could know Him--He will be wrapped
in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger! And lastly, how they had
come in haste, as soon as the Angels had gone back to Heaven, and had
found it all to be true. What joy this beautiful, simple, story must
have brought to the Mother's heart! What fresh subjects for meditation
now were hers! What a tender welcome she would give to these simple
shepherds, whom GOD had picked out for such signal favours, and had
allowed to be the first worshippers of her Son! How she would realise
all the "great things" that GOD was doing now that she heard them from
the mouths of these "little ones" to whom GOD had revealed them! (St
Matt. xi. 25.) How graciously she would accept the poor offerings of
these poor men to her Child Who had chosen to be poor! And how proud she
would be that she, as His Mother, had the right to lift that little
Hand, to convey the blessing which His Heart was giving to those who
were going to be His first witnesses and apostles.
"Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart." How easy
meditation was to Mary! Why? Because she lived always in the closest
possible union with JESUS. If I find my meditations difficult, let me
examine myself, and see whether the cause may not be that my union with
Him is not so close as it was, that I have let something come between
us, that I am not telling all my secrets to the King. If this is so, let
me hasten to put things right with Him; and then I shall find again that
my most precious moments are those in which I can devote my thoughts
entirely to my King and ponder over the simple stories told of Him and
His Blessed Mother.
_Colloquy._ _The Alma Redemptoris Mater_:--"Sweet Mother of
our Redeemer, gate whereby we enter Heaven, and star of the
sea, help us, we fall; yet do we long to rise. Nature looked
upon thee with admiration when thou didst give birth to thy
Divine Creator, thyself remaining before and after it a pure
Virgin. Gabriel spoke his _Hail_ to thee; we sinners crave
thy pity." (_Anthem from Advent to the Purification._)
_Resolution._ To ponder more and speak less.
_Spiritual Bouquet._ "Dico ego opera mea Regi."
The Circumcision of Mary's Son
"_And after eight days were accomplished that the child
should be circumcised, His name was called JESUS, which was
called by the Angel before He was conceived._" (St Luke ii.
21.)
_1st Prelude._ Mary with her Child.
_2nd Prelude._ Grace to learn more about them both.
_Point I._--THE CIRCUMCISION
After one week of peace and joy, Mary is called upon to suffer with, and
on account of, her Son. The Law of GOD is clear. "On the eighth day, the
infant shall be circumcised." (Lev. xii. 3.) And there is no doubt in
the minds of Mary and Joseph, that, though the Holy Child has no need of
the rite which probably cleansed away original sin, He must nevertheless
submit to it, as being part of His Father's law, every jot and tittle of
which He has come to fulfil. So JESUS, of His own free will, classes
Himself with sinners, and offers to GOD the firstfruits of that Blood
which He will shed for them on Calvary.
The Circumcision of her Son means much to Mary; she sees Him suffer; she
hears His cry of pain; she sees the Blood flow; and she understands that
to be the Mother of GOD means being the _Mater Dolorosa_; and now she
has fresh matter for her Meditations. Her Son is to be the Victim for
sin, and she unites her sacrifice to His.
The rite of Circumcision was to the Jew a sign of the Covenant that GOD
had made with his nation--it marked him out as one of GOD'S own people;
it was a mark of his dependence on GOD, and also of his slavery to sin
till GOD set him free.
"Circumcision is that of the heart," St Paul tells us, "in the spirit,
not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of GOD." (Rom. ii.
29.) By assisting with Mary at the Circumcision of her Son, I mean that
I want to understand something of this circumcision of the
_heart_--understand, that is, that GOD has made a covenant with me, that
I belong to Him, and am dependent on Him; I mean that I am ready with
the knife of mortification to cut away all that prevents me from being a
good servant, ready to "resist unto blood," if need be, but, at any
rate, ready to make myself a victim with JESUS, as Mary did, willing to
suffer anything which He calls upon me to suffer.
_Point II._--HIS NAME--JESUS
His Name was chosen by His Heavenly Father, and revealed both to Mary
and Joseph before His birth--to Mary by the Angel Gabriel at the
Annunciation, and to Joseph by the Angel who was sent to allay his
suspicions about his wife. JESUS--the "name which is above every name"!
GOD gave it Him because "He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto
death--even the death of the cross." (Phil. ii. 8.) He earned His Name
by the Cross, and it was given Him at the moment when He shed the first
drops of His Precious Blood. He could have allowed this first shedding
of His Blood to redeem the world, had He so willed. He could have made
it the _redeeming_ Blood, but it was not yet His Will; His time had not
yet come; He wished to live and to suffer long years on earth before He
shed the Blood which He intended to be efficacious for the Redemption of
the world. "Thou shalt call His Name JESUS, for He shall save His people
from their sins." (St Matt. i. 21.) And when at length He did shed His
redeeming Blood on Calvary, there was a title nailed to the Cross,
proclaiming His Name to all: "This is JESUS," the Saviour. He is saving
His people from their sins.
It cost Him much to be the Saviour, and it cost Mary much to be the
Mother of the Saviour; but both cheerfully made the sacrifice in
advance--both entered into GOD'S plan for my salvation. JESUS had come
to do His Father's will--He was content to do it--and His Mother was
content to be identified in everything with her Son, and to say her
_Fiat_. If my salvation cost JESUS and Mary so much, ought it not to
cost me something too? Would it be fair if all were easy and smooth for
me? Surely not. Surely, if I have a part in the Saviour, I ought to have
a part in His Cross. Let the thought of the Holy Babe shedding His first
drops of Blood on His Mother's knee brace me up to meet suffering, of
whatever kind GOD chooses for me; let it hush my murmurs and my
discontent; let it make me not only willing but anxious to suffer, and
thus to have an opportunity of being like Him, Who was in such a hurry
to shed His Blood, that it seemed as though it were too long for Him to
wait till Calvary. He must make the sacrifice in advance, and offer at
any rate the firstfruits of His Blood to His Father.
_Colloquy_ with Mary, who is identifying herself with the
sufferings, intentions, and desires of her Son. Teach me, my
Mother, not only to expect but to appreciate suffering. How
can I be like JESUS, and a child of thine without it? I want
to look upon it always as a sign of love, as a sign that I am
recognised as one of the Holy Family.
_Resolution._ To understand that my very existence on earth
means suffering, and that my identification with JESUS and
Mary means suffering willingly and cheerfully.
_Spiritual Bouquet._ "I come to do Thy Will, O my GOD."
Her Purification
"_They carried Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord._"
_1st Prelude._ JESUS, Mary, and Joseph going to the Temple.
_2nd Prelude._ Grace to go too, and learn the lessons.
_Point I._--MARY'S PURIFICATION
It is the fortieth day after the birth of her Son, the day when it is
Mary's turn to keep the legal observances, and so to identify herself in
all things with her Son. There is no need for her to be purified, before
she is allowed to enter GOD'S Temple; neither is there any need for her
to present her Firstborn in the Temple and pay the ransom money for Him,
for His Name is Saviour and He is Himself the Ransom for His people.
There is no _need_; but Mary gladly does both, that she may enter more
closely into the spirit of her Son, Who had undergone the rite of
circumcision.
How many unnecessary humiliations and unpleasant duties do I undertake
just for the sake of identifying myself with JESUS and Mary, and sharing
their spirit?
We may imagine the Holy Family quietly setting out for their two hours'
walk to the Temple, attracting no more notice than was usually attached
to an event so common. Passing remarks were probably made as to its
being the first time she was out; as to the disparity in their age; as
to their poverty, for Joseph was carrying two doves, the offering of the
poor, to be offered by Mary for her Purification.
Ah, how little the world sees! Extraordinary things are going on, though
they are hidden, as is ever GOD'S wont, under things most ordinary.
Mary, the purest of creatures, the Virgin of virgins, the Queen of
Heaven, of Angels and of men, is bearing in her arms the Lord of glory,
Who is on His way to visit His Temple for the first time, and thus to
fill it with a greater glory than ever Solomon's Temple had possessed.
Angels are worshipping and adoring at every step of that journey, and
presently they will throw open wide the gate of the Temple to let the
King of Glory in. And the humble and silent Joseph is playing a part
which no Jew before or since has ever played; for though the verdict of
the world is that he is too poor to afford to take a lamb, in reality he
is too rich to need one, for is he not bringing to the Temple the Lamb
of GOD--an offering which no one has ever been rich enough to make
before? Let us try to see things and judge them from GOD'S point of
view--not from the world's.
_Point II._--THE PRESENTATION OF HER SON
This involved three sacrifices.
(1) The sacrifice made by JESUS. _Ecce Venio._ "Lo, I come to do Thy
will, O my GOD." He has come to the Temple to offer Himself as a
sweet-smelling sacrifice to His Father. This is the morning
sacrifice--the evening sacrifice will be on Calvary. This is like the
_Offertory_ at Mass, when the Priest offers to GOD the Bread and Wine
which He will use presently to accomplish the sacrifice at the
Consecration. He is the "Firstborn amongst many brethren," (Rom. viii.
29), that is why He must be presented in the Temple. He is our Elder
Brother. He represents us all, and answers to GOD for all those who are
united to Him. He offers Himself as a Ransom that all the rest of the
family may go free.
Am I prepared to ratify this offering that my Elder Brother made in my
name? Have I any right to claim the privileges? Yes, if I am united with
Him, identified with Him; if I am saying as He did: "Behold, I come to
do Thy Will," and this in the little sacrifices of my everyday life.
(2) The sacrifice made by Mary. _Ecce ancilla._ "Behold the handmaid of
the Lord." Mary knows perfectly well what she is doing when she puts
her JESUS into the arms of the Priest. She knows that she is offering to
GOD the firstfruits--the earnest of what is to come; and she makes her
sacrifice whole-heartedly, zealously, lovingly. She said her _Fiat_ at
the Incarnation, and she will never take it back. She is His Mother--it
is with Blood drawn from her veins that He will one day redeem the
world; and she offers to GOD now, not only the Victim Who is to be the
Redeemer, but herself as a co-victim--herself to suffer with Him.
"Behold the Handmaid of the Lord"--ready to give Him all that He
requires. How perfectly Mary identifies herself with JESUS! It is her
intense love which enables her to copy so exactly.
(3) The sacrifice made by Joseph. _Ecce adsum._ "Behold, I am here too,
ready for any sacrifice." Joseph is so closely connected with JESUS and
Mary that he must share their spirit and do what they do. But his
sacrifice is made in the dark, as ours are for the most part. He does
not know what JESUS and Mary are doing. He cannot gauge the extent of
their sacrifices--enough for him to unite his intention with theirs, and
to offer with perfect detachment his two treasures to GOD, begging Him
to use them as He will. Am I ready to make my sacrifice--even a blind
one--ready to say: _Ecce adsum_--"Behold, here I am"--and to trust where
I cannot understand?
_Point III._--THE FIRST DOLOUR