THE ANNUNCIATION
THE MESSAGE OF THE ANGEL

2. The Greeting.
Hail, O Thou, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee and blessed art Thou amongst all women! This greeting springs from admiration. It is an outburst of enthusiasm. Every sentence gives vent to fond love. How greatly does the Angel love Mary! How finish his greeting of praise? From a human mouth these words would have sounded ridiculous flattery, a passionate overstatement. But such terms cannot be applied to the words of an angel who is incapable of adulation, of falsehood, of exaggeration! What then is Mary?

Meditation 21

THE ANNUNCIATION
THE MESSAGE OF THE ANGEL

1. The Angel Before Mary.
The Angel of the Incarnation was one of the greatest and most beautiful spirits which surround the throne of God. Watch him, a magnificent being, shining, sublime. We might be led into mistaking him for God Himself. Consider the dignity of his message, the importance of his embassy for Mary. God does not entrust it to a man as He was wont to do on other occasions, when Moses, Elias, Eliseus, the prophets and patriarchs were His messengers. No, this time to be dispatched to Our Blessed Lady He chose an angel and in fact one of the highest.
It was quite befitting that the woman who was more than an angel for Her purity should be visited by an angel of God. Let us picture that visit. The Angel enters Her dwelling and offers Her his most respectful greetings. He who would never bend except before the throne of God now falls at the feet of Mary. What did the Angel, used as he was to see the wonders of Heaven, see in Mary? What could he see on earth to strike him as wonderful? Yet when he saw Mary he was dumbfounded, struck with admiration and awe. After the beauty of the divine essence, he had never even in Heaven seen anything similar to the soul of that Virgin hidden in the retirement of Nazareth. And the world knew nothing about Her. In truth, in order to know Mary you must look at Her, not with the eyes of a man but the eyes of an angel.

THIS IS A GREAT IDEA. I’M PRINTING IT OUT AND PUTTING WITH OUR CHRISTMAS LIST.


What a Wonderful Idea!!! Think I will send two! Good Idea!!!!!!!! Yes, Christmas cards! This is coming early so that you can get ready toinclude an important address to your list. Read on........ What a GREAT idea! Fun with the ACLU...... Wanna have some fun this CHRISTMAS? Send the ACLU a CHRISTMAS CARD thisyear. As they are working so very hard to get rid of the CHRISTMAS part of thisholiday, we should all send them a nice, CHRISTIAN, card to brighten uptheir dark, sad, little world. Make sure it says "Merry Christmas" on it Here's the Address, just don't be rude or crude. (It's Not the ChristianWay, you know!) ACLU 125 Broad Street 18th Floor New York, NY 10004 So spend39 cents and tell the ACLU to leave Christmas alone. Also tell them thatthere is no such thing as a "Holiday Tree". . . . It's a Christmas Tree evenin the fields!! And pass this on to your total email lists. We really want to communicatewith the ACLU! They really DESERVE us!!

Spirit & Life
"The words I spoke to you are spirit and life." (Jn 6:63) Volume 01, Number 46 | Friday, Dec. 15, 2006
......................	WWW.hli.org
Setting the Record Straight on Mary The new movie that debuted on December 1st, The Nativity Story, has received many positive reviews around the country already and also a fair amount of attacks by the standard group of village atheists. Criticisms notwithstanding, the movie certainly has many redeeming qualities to it including its portrayal of Joseph and the touching scene of Mary's visit to Elizabeth, but at the same time I feel it necessary to correct the record about its presentation of Mary. More to the point, twenty centuries of theological reflection on the Virgin Mary have been effectively glossed over in the movie, and we have been given someone's private interpretation of Mary's role in salvation history which does not match the public record of historical Christianity. The Catholic Church has made it clear from the beginning that we do not understand Jesus as a historical and theological figure without Mary, and so a Nativity story that gets Mary wrong also skews our understanding of Jesus. First and foremost, any portrayal of Mary as giving birth in pain is simply contrary to the Christian Church's long tradition of Mary as virginal before, during and after birth. In this view, Her intact physical integrity during birth was accompanied by a psychic integrity that admitted of no pains during childbirth in any form. That may be a surprise to some, but it is nonetheless the historical Christian view of this event. The movie's portrayal of Her childbirth is thus not the Church's mainstream understanding and qualifies as a strictly private interpretation of the event. In fact, the movie had a chance to contrast the painful childbirth of John the Baptist to Elizabeth with the miraculous birth of Jesus to Mary, and it missed the perfect opportunity to provoke a good theological debate! Biblical Christians should know that there is a Scriptural reason for this doctrine. The virtually unanimous opinion of the Fathers of the Church in the first six centuries was that Mary is the "New Eve," the necessary counterpart to Christ, the New Adam (cf. Rom 5:12-14). Just as the old Eve collaborated in the sin of Adam, so the New Eve, with the New Adam, reverses the original disobedience and undoes the curse brought upon the human race by the first sinners. That same curse also brought about the grim consequence of labor pains for all of Eve's daughters (cf. Gen 3:16), but the New Eve who broke the curse was not subject to its dictates. Secondly, Mary was not an immature adolescent as she is portrayed in the movie. The director of the movie, Catherine Hardwicke, intended to portray Her as such in order to make her more "real" to teens. That is fine as an evangelistic motive, but depicting Her in a quasi-feminist tizzy against her father's authority when he addresses the delicate subject of pre-marital relations is simply inaccurate to the historical record and doesn't help kids to take Her as a role model. The immaculate Mary's passions were first and foremost totally consecrated to the Lord and without the slightest disorder in any sense; she is not your typical teen in western society. She is the teen Mother of the Messiah, the perfect role model for all kids and adults alike. Not only would it not have entered the mind of the All Pure Mary to have pre-marital relations, She could not have had a fit of rebellion against Her father's legitimate authority that concretized God's Will for Her. This presentation of Mary is quintessentially Hollywood and reflects neither historical Christianity nor even the Biblical evidence. It is also a reflection of the Protestant view that Mary is just another person who happened to follow Jesus. No, Mary is the Mother of God, perfectly pure in every respect and, even as a teenager dedicated heart, mind, soul and strength to God's Plan of salvation. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me as you say." (Lk 1:38) Let the historical record speak for itself. Sincerely Yours in Christ, Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer President, Human Life International

THE ANNUNCIATION
OUR LADY'S RETIREMENT

3. Your Own Recollection.
Have you learnt how to speak with God in the solitude of the sanctuary of your soul? Examine your interior and exterior life and see how frequently the latter interferes with the former. See if you love retirement, or do you rather pine for the outside world? Examine your visits and conversations. Are they frivolous?, against charity?, dissipated? Do you keep recollected everywhere? At home, in your amusements and relaxations? Do you give the necessary importance to your monthly recollection, to your yearly Retreat? Do you make use of them for your spiritual advancement? Do you look forward to those sacred days?
Rigorously put right any faulty attitude in this regard. You should often take stock of your interior life: any increase or decrease in it should be carefully watched.

THE ANNUNCIATION
OUR LADY'S RETIREMENT

2. Mary A Model.
How She loved retirement in Her little house!
Nobody sees Her. No one is aware of what She is doing. But God is pleased with that recollection and there He goes to meet Her. The Angel does not appear in the street, in the squares, not even publicly in the Temple but only in the solitude and retirement of Nazareth. It is there that Mary feels Herself to be wholly and exclusively God's and God is wholly Her's. There, without witnesses, the great and intimate communications between God and Mary take place. There the great mystery of the Incarnation is brought about. Her retirement is definite. If She goes out of Her home, it is for the sake of charity, as at the Visitation, or in a spirit of obedience, as when She goes to Bethlehem, to Egypt, or to the Temple of Jerusalem. She would never indulge in touring for recreation or as a mere pastime.
Watch Her in the street and see Her interior recollection as shown in Her demeanor, in Her eyes. Be present at the visits She makes, mark Her actions. Attend to Her conversations, listen to the words that fall from Her mouth. Convinced that She is God's Temple, She is not carried away by social life: even in the midst of the world, She never abandons Her interior recollection. Look at Her, busy at home. Even in those days when the work is most pressing She knows how to sanctify it in the presence of God, whose sight She never loses. Everything helps to increase the intensity of Her already intense interior life.

Meditation 20

THE ANNUNCIATION
OUR LADY'S RETIREMENT

1. A Life of Recollection.
Such is the life of the one who says goodbye to everything external and makes use of it only in so far as it is indispensable for his interior life. How little we understand the interior life! What a confusion of ideas prevail when we believe that what matters is to work much, to do much, with a good intention of course, but only externally, without giving proper importance to the real life of our soul, namely, to the interior life. An external work will never be fruitful, either for you or for others, if it is not well grounded on the interior life. Nobody can give what he does not possess. And how could you give a life of fervor and sanctity to others, if you do not have it yourself? God gives Himself to souls only in retirement and recollection. His voice, says the Holy Scripture, is like a murmur of a soft breeze. In the tumult of external occupations, that Voice is not heard. That is why nobody is so keen on promoting that din and tumult of external things as the devil, who thus can silence the Voice of God.
Moreover, virtue flourishes like plants in a green-house, well protected against the rigors of the weather. How can virtue grow in the midst of the noise of worldly bustle?

OUR LADY AT PRAYER

4. Your Own Prayer.
In front of this sublime model, reflect:
a) how necessary prayer is for you. Your passions, your sins, your imperfections and miseries ceaselessly remind you of this necessity;
b) what fruit would you reap if you were a soul of prayer. Your communication with God, your relishing the things of God, your perfection and sanctity depend on your prayer;
c) how do you pray and how ought you to pray in the presence of such a model. Consider your want of fervor, your inattention, your want of composure, your tiredness and sloth, your excuses to shorten , or perhaps drop, your prayer when you most need it;
d) see how you say your vocal prayers such as the Little Office, the Rosary and the rest.
Implore a great spirit of prayer. Through the prayers of holy souls entreat the Lord to grant the world many children of Mary.

OUR LADY AT PRAYER

3. Why She Prays.
She prays because prayer is not only useful but necessary. She needed it not for Herself, neither did Christ; yet the prayer of Jesus and the prayer of Mary go on without interruption. The first time that the Gospels speak of Mary, they introduce Her praying. It was during Her prayer that She received the visit from the Angel. The last time the Evangelists mention Her, She is portrayed in the Supper Room teaching the Apostles how to pray, preparing them to receive in a prayerful way the Holy Spirit. Mary begins Her life praying and ends it in prayer. What an example God has given us in Mary! Moreover, it was through prayer that She prepared to become the Mother of the Messias. The holy work of the Incarnation is pivoted around Mary's prayer.

OUR LADY AT PRAYER

2. What She Prays for.
Later on Jesus would teach us that we must ask for the Kingdom of God and its justice and this is exactly what Mary is asking for: that the Savior come, that God send the Messias, that the Lord hasten the hour of Redemption. And She asks it with such fervor that God does not know how to refuse. Mary's prayer anticipates the happy hour. Remember the wedding feast at Cana: Christ said there that His hour had not yet arrived. But through the intercession of Mary He anticipates it and works the miracle. Think of God advancing the hour when He will send His Son on to earth. In the same way as He advances the hour of the first miracle, He anticipates the hour of Redemption on the Cross, the hour of His Resurrection, all in response to Mary's request.

Feast Day of St Juan Diego (Cuauhtlatoatzin)

(1474-1548).

Little is known about the life of Juan Diego before his conversion, but tradition and archaelogical and iconographical sources, along with the most important and oldest indigenous document on the event of Guadalupe, "El Nican Mopohua" (written in Náhuatl with Latin characters, 1556, by the Indigenous writer Antonio Valeriano), give some information on the life of the saint and the apparitions.

Juan Diego was born in 1474 with the name "Cuauhtlatoatzin" ("the talking eagle") in Cuautlitlán, today part of Mexico City, Mexico. He was a gifted member of the Chichimeca people, one of the more culturally advanced groups living in the Anáhuac Valley.

When he was 50 years old he was baptized by a Franciscan priest, Fr Peter da Gand, one of the first Franciscan missionaries. On 9 December 1531, when Juan Diego was on his way to morning Mass, the Blessed Mother appeared to him on Tepeyac Hill, the outskirts of what is now Mexico City. She asked him to go to the Bishop and to request in her name that a shrine be built at Tepeyac, where she promised to pour out her grace upon those who invoked her. The Bishop, who did not believe Juan Diego, asked for a sign to prove that the apparition was true. On 12 December, Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac. Here, the Blessed Mother told him to climb the hill and to pick the flowers that he would find in bloom. He obeyed, and although it was winter time, he found roses flowering. He gathered the flowers and took them to Our Lady who carefully placed them in his mantle and told him to take them to the Bishop as "proof". When he opened his mantle, the flowers fell on the ground and there remained impressed, in place of the flowers, an image of the Blessed Mother, the apparition at Tepeyac.

With the Bishop's permission, Juan Diego lived the rest of his life as a hermit in a small hut near the chapel where the miraculous image was placed for veneration. Here he cared for the church and the first pilgrims who came to pray to the Mother of Jesus.

Much deeper than the "exterior grace" of having been "chosen" as Our Lady's "messenger", Juan Diego received the grace of interior enlightenment and from that moment, he began a life dedicated to prayer and the practice of virtue and boundless love of God and neighbour. He died in 1548 and was buried in the first chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe. He was beatified on 6 May 1990 by Pope John Paul II in the Basilica of Santa Maria di Guadalupe, Mexico City.

The miraculous image, which is preserved in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, shows a woman with native features and dress. She is supported by an angel whose wings are reminiscent of one of the major gods of the traditional religion of that area. The moon is beneath her feet and her blue mantle is covered with gold stars. The black girdle about her waist signifies that she is pregnant. Thus, the image graphically depicts the fact that Christ is to be "born" again among the peoples of the New World, and is a message as relevant to the "New World" today as it was during the lifetime of Juan Diego.

[From 'Vatican News']

Opening Mass Prayer

Lord God,
through Saint Juan Diego
You made known the love of
Our Lady of Guadalupe
towards You people.
Grant by his intercession
that we who follow the
counsel of Mary, Our Mother,
may strive continually to do Your will.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Meditation 19

THE ANNUNCIATION -
OUR LADY AT PRAYER

1. How She Prays.
Moved by holy curiosity peep through the little window of the home in Nazareth and you will find Mary at prayer. What a sight! Admire Her external demeanor. No exaggerations. No dramatic attitudes. Her hands joined or crossed on Her breast. Perhaps Her forehead touches the ground for She is prostrate in adoration. Her eyes lowered in modest recollection or raised to the Heavens towards the Mansions above.

See Her interior fervor! No distractions, inopportune thoughts, tiredness, lukewarmness, or annoyance. Look at Her well, for She is the model of prayer. The angels in ecstasy joyfully witness Her prayer. God is pleased with Her, He communes with Her, gives Her an increase of grace, grants favors to the world in response to the prayers of Mary. Could you not learn how to copy some of your Mother's fervor?

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE ESPOUSAL OF OUR LADY

3. Practical Conclusion.
Strengthen your trust in God. Ask pardon for your hesitation, timidity. Never doubt that although you do not see the aim of the trials and tribulations sent you by the Lord, nevertheless it is all for the best. Do not insist that every detail of the divine plan in your regard should be made known to you. Allow yourself to be led even when you think everything is just the contrary of what it ought to be. See how St. Joseph becomes more virginal the closer he approaches Mary. And do not forget that to look at Mary, to approach Her, to be united with Her, will be also for you a source of purity, an increase of chastity, an increase of your love for virginity.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE ESPOUSAL OF OUR LADY

2. The Virginal Union.

But God, for whom nothing impossible, found a way out. His solution was the virginal union of Mary and Joseph. Mary should not remain alone nor should She bear a Son without being betrothed. The world, having no idea about the miraculous conception brought about by the Holy Spirit, might have punished Mary for adultery, but the wisdom of God by giving Her a spouse, safeguards the honor of Mary, whilst at the same time through a virginal betrothal Her virginity is safeguarded. How well God does things!

How infinite is His wisdom. And how masterful His providence. It is madness to insist that everything should go according to our plans, measures and time-tables, disregarding altogether whatever God may have designed for us.

Contemplate now these two virginal spouses. St. Joseph was chosen by the priests because amongst all those who aspired to the hand of Mary he was virginal. Poetical tradition says that the Lord caused Joseph's rod to blossom with lilies after it had been placed in the Ark of the Covenant. St. Joseph had made no vow of virginity, such a vow being unknown in his day but certainly Our Blessed Lady on the very same day of Her espousals would have informed Joseph of the vow She had taken. Then St. Joseph admiring the pure virtue of the Virgin and not wanting to lag behind would, in the footsteps of his spouse, also by vow consecrate his virginity to God. It is sweet to think that it was Joseph who through Mary after Her made the first vow of virginity. Joseph immediately realized that his destiny was to be the guardian of the virginal purity of Mary. There was a veil over the Ark of the Covenant warding off the curious glances of the bystanders. That veil was an image of Joseph who hid and guarded the great mystery that was enclosed in the Ark of the New Testament, Mary.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

MEDITATION 18

THE ESPOUSAL OF OUR LADY

Traditionally Our Lady is believed to have remained in the Temple from the age of three until She was fifteen, when, according to the Jewish custom She was betrothed by order and arrangements of the priests to St. Joseph. Since everything that Mary did cannot but be a matter of instruction for us, let us today see what we can learn from Her at this moment of Her life.

1. Trust in God.
This is the first lesson. Inspired by God, Our Lady had in His honor made a vow of virginity. By this vow She had renounced the very possibility of marriage and this only to conform to the will of God. Now in the name of God the priests tell Her that the divine will is that She should get married. What would anyone else have done in such a case? How difficult it is for us to divest ourselves of our opinions and especially, of course, when we are perfectly convinced that we are right.
See, instead, the most prudent behavior of our Heavenly Mother. Nobody could be more sure than She that Her vow of virginity was from God. Nor could She doubt that, humanly speaking, marriage and the vow were absolutely incompatible. What could She do? Should She insist on Her point and disregard that of the priests? She obeys and trusts. This is the solution. A blind obedience and boundless trust in God. It was His work. It was He who allowed the obstacles and the contradictions. It was for Him to straighten them out. What an example for us! A difficult one, no doubt, but beautiful, sublime, pleasing to God. Do you not instead argue and doubt and pass judgment regarding the orders and suggestions of your superiors? See how little you resemble Mary in this regard.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE PRESENTATION OF MARY
Continued

3. You and Virginal Purity.
Meditate on the greatness of this virtue so that you may be induced to thank God for the love that He has put in your heart for it. To be a virgin is to be an angel on earth, but even with more merit than they. The angels are virgins: they cannot be otherwise because they are not of flesh. But for you, burdened with flesh and a corruptible body, saddled with all concupiscence in the midst of a corrupt world, with a constant struggle against the passions which the devil is fanning in you and around you, yet inspite of all to be pure, to be chaste, to be a virgin; all this although it may sound as an exaggeration is more than angelic. A pure soul is the image of Mary, is her faithful portrait. Such a soul is the spouse of God.
God's predilection for virginity goes to the extent of loving virginal souls as His spouses on whom He lavishes divine gifts, for whom He reserves such a singular reward which only a virgin can enjoy. In fact, they are the bodyguard of the Virgin of Virgins. They follow the Immaculate Lamb in close attendance, singing the hymn of virginity which they alone may sing. Glory to this virtue. Glory to Mary who taught us the value of virginity. Let this enthusiasm for virginity and for the Virgin of virgins encourage us in our difficulties, strengthen us to practice self-denial and penance and fervor, so that Christian purity may till the end of our life blossom within us without ever failing. So let it be, dear Mother Mary.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LADY
Continued

2. The Value of Virginity.
From this you can deduce what this mysterious virtue means for God and for Mary. Although without any counsel or command to follow, without either any example to guide Her, Mary seems to guess the value of virginity in God's eyes; and realizing that it gives Him pleasure and glory decides to embrace it. She could see that this virtue, unknown as it was in Her world, would not be appreciated; that, indeed, all Her companions and even Her very relations would deem Her dishonored.
She foresaw that to be a virgin would draw down on Her sorrow, reproaches, rudeness and contempt. However, She does not hesitate. God wants it, that suffices. The rest She will leave in the hands of God. What an example of detachment and generosity for us, who are always complaining, we who are so reluctant to obey that at times we even refuse Him. So half-hearted is our surrender, so calculating are we when it is a matter of making a heavy sacrifice.
But God was already preparing Her reward. God cannot be beaten in generosity. When we are generous with Him, He overwhelms us with new graces and favors. Mary thought that by that pledge She was renouncing to be the Mother of God, that as She later on told the angel the divine maternity was not possible for Her. And yet the reward of that vow of virginity was none other than that God appoints Her to be His Mother. How great is God in His rewards, but especially how generously He rewards virginity and purity. How great must be the value of this virtue when it so attracts and enamors the Heart of God!

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

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AmericanPapist: Not Your Average Catholic!

THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LADY
Continued

Her Virginity. We might end our meditation on the Presentation of Our Lady by thinking of Her virginity, since it was on that occasion that She made Her vow of virginity to God.

1. The Vow of Virginity of Our Lady.
It is not dogmatically certain that She made this vow, for we are told only that She was a Virgin, before, during and after Her giving forth the Child Jesus. However, with many doctors and holy fathers, the Church admits that Mary chose to be united with God through this vow. Tradition tells us that She uttered this vow when She was presented in the Temple at the age of three. Contemplate that scene as best you can. Mary in the Temple, in the presence of God surrounded by choirs of admiring angels. The angels do not know what is going to happen. Yet they guess something great is about to take place, since God is all intent. Then She opens Her lips and utters Her vow of virginity. What a marvelous sight! Hear the canticles intoned by the angels in praise of this young maid. Picture God's joy on hearing that vow. Innumerable graces were poured on Our Lady, at that moment.
How many sins are committed in the world! How much He is offended, how deeply His Heart is wounded. However, the joy and complaisance of God in the vow of Mary was much greater than all the sorrow that the sins of the world could cause Him. She alone by this action gave God enough glory to cancel out all the loss of glory destroyed by sinners with their horrible sins.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LADY
Continued

4. Your Own Life in The Temple.
Remember how Our Lord Jesus Christ once cast out from the Temple those who were profaning it. Although His goodness and kindness were so great, yet on this occasion He purified that Mansion of Prayer, the House of God, with energetic wrath and a holy, burning zeal, even taking a scourge in His hand to purify it the better.
The House of God! How well was that term understood by Our Blessed Lady! How worthily She lived it! When you are in the Temple do you also imitate Our Lady? Or do you rather imitate those who caused such displeasure to Our Lord? Have you nothing to reprove yourself with as regards your reverence towards the House of God or in your way of speaking with Him? Do you honestly try hard to fight against voluntary distractions?
Think, moreover, that there is another Temple where above all God wishes to dwell, to speak with you and to be spoken to by you. It is the Temple of your heart. He has condescended to be in those temples scattered over the earth, that He might establish His Mansion in the living temples of our souls. It is there that He achieves His communion with us. Have you mastered the art of withdrawing into the solitude of the sanctuary of your soul, there to speak with God? Do you always behave with the dignity due to the Mansion of God that you have in your heart? Derive from Mary a greater devotion to the shrine of your soul. Often visit Jesus and His churches and tabernacles; but do not forget to visit Him much oftener in the Temple of your Heart!

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]