MEDITATION 12
THE NATIVITY OF OUR LADY
(CONTINUED)
THE NATIVITY OF OUR LADY
(CONTINUED)
If the joy of God and of the angels in the Nativity of Mary was great, ours shall be no less, because after all Our Blessed Lady was born especially for us. She has our own nature and it is we who are to enjoy the benefits of that happy birth.
1. Our Joy.
The birth of our Heavenly Mother is the end of a sad night; a night of centuries during which mankind was buried. Isaias says that men were submerged in the shadows of death, since sad indeed is the night of sin and nothing can be compared with it so well as the black and terrible darkness of death.
See mankind filing past without seeing a ray of light in the midst of that darkness. How sad is night. What, then, would be a night of many years, of many centuries? In the midst of this night there used to shine a few holy souls but in comparison with the surrounding darkness, their light was as nothing. The darkness could not be dispelled.
When the night is pitch dark, and the light of the stars cannot be seen we cannot take one safe step. We grope and labor under the fear of stumbling over something.
But if in the darkness we see the light of dawn, a light which spreads every minute increasing in clarity and light, then we feel joy; a joy completed when at length the sun fully shines.
So it was when Mary appeared in the darkness of death: She was the sweet twilight heralding the dawn of God, a promise of the divine Sun which will soon appear to cast its rays on the whole world.
As the light of dawn rises in the East, the animals of the forest hide themselves in their dens while the nocturnal birds of the air chirp and sing, the flowers open and give forth their perfume, while all things are clad in gorgeous colors. So it was when Mary was born. The devils flee, the angels sing, virtues flourish and the whole world is filled with light and joy. How beautiful and magnificent was the morning of our redemption!
[From 'Marian Mediations' Book]
1. Our Joy.
The birth of our Heavenly Mother is the end of a sad night; a night of centuries during which mankind was buried. Isaias says that men were submerged in the shadows of death, since sad indeed is the night of sin and nothing can be compared with it so well as the black and terrible darkness of death.
See mankind filing past without seeing a ray of light in the midst of that darkness. How sad is night. What, then, would be a night of many years, of many centuries? In the midst of this night there used to shine a few holy souls but in comparison with the surrounding darkness, their light was as nothing. The darkness could not be dispelled.
When the night is pitch dark, and the light of the stars cannot be seen we cannot take one safe step. We grope and labor under the fear of stumbling over something.
But if in the darkness we see the light of dawn, a light which spreads every minute increasing in clarity and light, then we feel joy; a joy completed when at length the sun fully shines.
So it was when Mary appeared in the darkness of death: She was the sweet twilight heralding the dawn of God, a promise of the divine Sun which will soon appear to cast its rays on the whole world.
As the light of dawn rises in the East, the animals of the forest hide themselves in their dens while the nocturnal birds of the air chirp and sing, the flowers open and give forth their perfume, while all things are clad in gorgeous colors. So it was when Mary was born. The devils flee, the angels sing, virtues flourish and the whole world is filled with light and joy. How beautiful and magnificent was the morning of our redemption!
[From 'Marian Mediations' Book]
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