This is a great day, not only to man, but even to God Himself; for it is the anniversary of the most solemn event that time has ever witnessed. On this day, the divine Word, by whom the Father created the world, was made flesh in the womb of a virgin, and dwelt among us. [St John i. 14.] We must spend it in joy. Whilst we adore the Son of God who humbled Himself by thus becoming Man, let us give thanks to the Father, who so loved the world, as to give His only-begotten Son; [Ibid. iii. 16] let us give thanks to the Holy Ghost, whose almighty power achieves the great mystery. We are in the very midst of Lent, and yet the ineffable joys of Christmas are upon us: our Emmanuel is conceived on this day, and, nine months hence, will be born in Bethlehem, and the angels will invite us to come and honour the sweet Babe.
During Septuagesima week, we meditated upon the fall of our first parents, and the triple sentence pronounced by God against the serpent, the woman, and Adam. Our hearts were filled with fear as we reflected on the divine malediction, the effects of which are to be felt by all generations, even to the end of the world. But in the midst of the anathemas then pronounced against us, a promise was made us by our God; it was a promise of salvation, and it enkindled hope within us. In pronouncing sentence against the serpent, God said that his head should one day be crushed, and that, too, by a woman.
The time has come for the fulfilment of this promise. The world has been in expectation for four thousand years; and the hope of its deliverance has been kept up, in spite of all its crimes. During this time, God has made use of miracles, prophecies, and types, as a renewal of the engagement He has entered into with mankind. The blood of the Messias has passed from Adam to Noe; from Sem to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; from David and Solomon to Joachim; and now it flows in the veins of Mary, Joachim's daughter. Mary is the woman by whom is to be taken from our race the curse that lies upon it. God has decreed that she should be Immaculate; and has thereby set an irreconcilable enmity between her and the serpent. She, a daughter of Eve, is to repair all the injury done by her mother's fall; she is to raise up her sex from the degradation into which it has been cast; she is to co-operate, directly and really, in the victory which the Son of God is about to gain over His and our enemy.
A tradition, which has come down from the apostolic ages, tells us that the great mystery of the Incarnation was achieved on the twenty-fifth day of March. [St. Augustine, De Trinitate. Lib. iv. cap. v.] It was at the hour of midnight, when the most holy Virgin was alone and absorbed in prayer, that the Archangel Gabriel appeared before her, and asked her, in the name of the blessed Trinity, to consent to become the Mother of God. Let us assist, in spirit, at this wonderful interview between the angel and the Virgin: and, at the same time, let us think of that other interview which took place between Eve and the serpent. A holy bishop and martyr of the second century, Saint Irenaeus, who had received the tradition from the very disciples of the apostles, shows us that Nazareth is the counterpart of Eden. [Adv. haereses. Lib. v. cap. xix.]
In the garden of delights there is a virgin and an angel; and a conversation takes place-between them. At Nazareth a virgin is also addressed by an angel, and she answers him; but the angel of the earthly paradise is a spirit of darkness, and he of Nazareth is a spirit of light. In both instances it is the angel that has the first word. 'Why,' said the serpent to Eve, 'hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?' His question implies impatience and a solicitation to evil; he has contempt for the frail creature to whom he addresses it, but he hates the image of God which is upon her.
See, on the other hand, the angel of light; see with what composure and peacefulness he approaches the Virgin of Nazareth, the new Eve; and how respectfully he bows himself down before her: 'Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women!' Such language is evidently of heaven: none but an angel could speak thus to Mary.
Eve imprudently listens to the tempter's words; she answers him; she enters into conversation with one that dares to ask her to question the justice of God's commands. Her curiosity urges her on. She has no mistrust in the serpent; this leads her to mistrust her Creator.
Mary hears what Gabriel has spoken to her; but this most prudent Virgin is silent. She is surprised at the praise given her by the angel. The purest and humblest of virgins has a dread of flattery; and the heavenly messenger receives no reply from her, until he has fully explained his mission by these words: 'Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a Son: and thou shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of David His father: and He shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.'
What magnificent promises are these, which are made to her in the name of God! What higher glory could she, a daughter of Juda, desire, knowing, as she does, that the fortunate Mother of the Messias is to be the object of the greatest veneration? And yet it tempts her not. She has for ever consecrated her virginity to God, in order that she may be the more closely united to Him by love. The grandest possible privilege, if it is to be on the condition of violating this sacred vow, would be less than nothing in her estimation. She thus answers the angel: 'How shall this be done? because I know not man.'
The first Eve evinces no such prudence or disinterestedness. No sooner has the wicked spirit assured her that she may break the commandment of her divine Benefactor and not die; that the fruit of her disobedience will be a wonderful knowledge, which will put her on an equality with God Himself: than she immediately yields; she is conquered. Her self-love has made her at once forget both duty and gratitude: she is delighted at the thought of being freed from the twofold tie which binds her to her Creator.
Such is the woman that caused our perdition. But how different is she that was to save us! The former cares not for her posterity; she looks but to her own interests: the latter forgets herself to think only of her God, and of the claims He has to her service. The angel, charmed with this sublime fidelity,, thus answers the question put to him by Mary, and reveals to her the designs of God: 'The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren; because no word shall be impossible with God.' This said, he is silent, and reverently awaits the answer of the Virgin of Nazareth.
Let us look once more at the virgin of Eden. Scarcely has the wicked spirit finished speaking than Eve casts a longing look at the forbidden fruit: she is impatient to enjoy the independence it is to bring her. She rashly stretches forth her hand; she plucks the fruit; she eats it, and death takes possession of her: death of the soul, for sin extinguishes the light of life; and death of the body, which, being separated from the source of immortality, becomes an object of shame and horror, and finally crumbles into dust.
But let us turn away our eyes from this sad spectacle, and fix them on Nazareth. Mary has heard the angel's explanation of the mystery; the will of heaven is made known to her, and how grand an honour it is to bring upon her! She, the humble maid of Nazareth, is to have the ineffable happiness of becoming the Mother of God, and yet the treasure of her virginity is to be left to her! Mary bows down before this sovereign will, and says to the heavenly messenger: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word.'
Thus, as the great St. Irenaeus and so many of the holy fathers remark, the obedience of the second Eve repaired the disobedience of the first: for no sooner does the Virgin of Nazareth speak her fiat, 'be it done,' than the eternal Son of God (who, according to the divine decree, awaited this word) is present, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, in the chaste womb of Mary, and there He begins His human life. A Virgin is a Mother, and Mother of God; and it is this Virgin's consenting to the divine will that has made her conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost. This sublime mystery puts between the eternal Word and a mere woman the relations of Son and Mother; it gives to the almighty God a means whereby He may, in a manner worthy of His majesty, triumph over Satan, who hitherto seemed to have prevailed against the divine plan.
Never was there a more entire or humiliating defeat than that which this day befell Satan. The frail creature, over whom he had so easily triumphed at the beginning of the world, now rises and crushes his proud head. Eve conquers in Mary. God would not choose man for the instrument of His vengeance; the humiliation of Satan would not have been great enough; and therefore she who was the first prey of hell, the first victim of the tempter, is selected to give battle to the enemy. The result of so glorious a triumph is that Mary is to be superior not only to the rebel angels, but to the whole human race, yea, to all the angels of heaven. Seated on her exalted throne, she, the Mother of God, is to be the Queen of all creation. Satan, in the depths of the abyss, will eternally bewail his having dared to direct his first attack against the woman, for God has now so gloriously avenged her; and in heaven, the very Cherubim and Seraphim reverently look up to Mary, and deem themselves honoured when she smiles upon them, or employs them in the execution of any of her wishes, for she is the Mother of their God.
Therefore is it that we, the children of Adam, who have been snatched by Mary's obedience from the power of hell, solemnize this day of the Annunciation. Well may we say of Mary those words of Debbora, when she sang her song of victory over the enemies of God's people: 'The valiant men ceased, and rested in Israel, until Debbora arose, a mother arose in Israel. The Lord chose new wars, and He Himself overthrew the gates of the enemies.' [Judges v. 7, 8.] Let us also refer to the holy Mother of Jesus these words of Judith, who by her victory over the enemy was another type of Mary: 'Praise ye the Lord our God, who hath not forsaken them that hope in Him. And by me, His handmaid, He hath fulfilled His mercy, which He promised to the house of Israel; and He hath killed the enemy of His people by my hand this night. ... The almighty Lord hath struck him, and hath delivered him into the hands of a woman, and hath slain him.' [Judith xiii. 17. 18; xvi. 7.]
FIRST VESPERS.
When the Annunciation falls on any other day than Monday, the first Vespers of this feast are sung before midday, according to the rule prescribed for fast-days of Lent: but when it falls on a Monday, this Office is celebrated at the ordinary time of Vespers, and only a commemoration is made of the Sunday by the Magnificat antiphon and the prayer.
The Office of first Vespers is always the commencement of a feast. The antiphons of the Vespers, at which we are going to assist, are taken from the Gospel of St. Luke, where the evangelist reveals to us the sublime interview between the angel and the Virgin. The psalms are those which tradition has consecrated to the celebration of Mary's glories. We have elsewhere [see our volume for Advent, in the Vespers of December 8.] shown how each of the five refers to the Mother of God.
| Ant. Missus est Gabriel angelus ad Mariam Virginem desponsatam Joseph. | Ant. The angel Gabriel was sent to Mary, a Virgin espoused to Joseph. |
PSALM 109.
| Dixit Dominus Domino meo: * Sede a dextris meis. Donec ponam inimicos tuos: * scabellum pedum tuorum. Virgam virtutis tuae emittet Dominus ex Sion: * dominare in medio inimicorum tuorum. Tecum principium in die virtutis tuae in splendoribus sanctorum: * ex utero ante luciferum genui te. Juravit Dominus, et non poenitebit eum: * Tu es Sacerdos in aeternum secundum ordinem Melchisedech. Dominus a dextris tuis: * confregit in die irae suae reges. Judicabit in nationibus, implebit ruinas: * conquassabit capita in terra multorum. De torrente in via bibet: * propterea exaltabit caput. | The Lord said to my Lord, his Son: Sit thou at my right hand, and reign with me. Until, on the day of thy last coming, I make thy enemies thy footstool. O Christ! the Lord thy Father, will send forth the sceptre of thy power out of Sion: from thence rule thou in the midst of thy enemies. With thee is the principality in the day of thy strength, in the brightness of the Saints: For the Father hath said to thee: From the womb, before the day-star, I begot thee. The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: he hath said, speaking of thee, the God-Man: Thou art a Priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech. Therefore, O Father, the Lord, thy Son, is at thy right hand: he hath broken kings in the day of his wrath. He shall also judge among nations: he shall fill the ruins of the world: he shall crush the heads in the land of many. He cometh now in humility: he shall drink, in the way, of the torrent of sufferings: therefore, shall he lift up the head. |
Ant. Missus est Gabriel angelus, ad Mariam Virginem desponsatam Joseph. Ant. Ave, Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum: benedicta tu in mulieribus. | Ant. The angel Gabriel was sent to Mary, a Virgin, espoused to Joseph. Ant. Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. |
PSALM 112.
| Laudate, pueri, Dominum: * laudate nomen Domini. Sit nomen Domini benedictum: * ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum. A solis ortu usque ad occasum: * laudabile nomen Domini. Excelsus super omnes gentes Dominus: * et super coelos gloria ejus. Quis sicut Dominus Deus noster qui in altis habitat:* et humilia respicit in coelo et in terra? Suscitans a terra inopem: * et de stercore erigens pauperem. Ut collocet eum cum principibus: * cum principibus populi sui. Qui habitare facit sterilem in domo: * matrem filiorum laetantem. | Praise the Lord, ye children: praise ye the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord: from henceforth, now and for ever. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, the name of the Lord is worthy of praise. The Lord is high Above all nations: and his glory above the heavens. Who is as the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high: and looketh down on the low things in heaven and in earth, nay, who cometh down amidst us? Raising up the needy from the earth: and lifting up the poor out of the dunghill. That he may place him with princes: with the princes of his people. Who maketh a barren woman to dwell in a house, the joyful mother of children. |
| Ant. Ave, Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum: benedicta tu in mulieribus. Ant. Ne timeas, Maria; invenisti gratiam apud Dominum: ecce concipies, et paries filium. | Ant. Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Ant. Fear not, Mary; thou hast found grace with God: behold thou shalt conceive, and shalt bring forth a Son. |
PSALM 121.
| Laetatus sum in his quae dicta sunt mihi: * In domum Domini ibimus. Stantes erant pedes nostri: * in atriis tuis Jerusalem. Jerusalem quae aedificatur ut civitas: * cujus participatio ejus in idipsum. Illuc enim ascenderunt tribus, tribus Domini: * testimonium Israel ad confitendum Nomini Domini. Quia illic sederunt sedes in judicio: * sedes super domum David. Rogate quae ad pacem sunt Jerusalem: * et abundantia diligentibus te. Fiat pax in virtute tua: * et abundantia in turribus tuis. Propter fratres meos et proximos meos: * loquebar pacem de te. Propter domum Domini Dei nostri: * quaesivi bona tibi. | I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord. Our feet were standing in thy courts, O Jerusalem! Our heart loves and confides in thee, O Mary. Mary is like to Jerusalem, that is built as a city; which is compact together. For thither did the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord: the testimony of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord. Because seats sat there in judgment; seats upon the house of David, and Mary is of a kingly race. Pray ye, through Mary, for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem: and may abundance be on them that love thee, O Church of our God! The voice of Mary: Let peace be in thy strength, O thou new Sion! and abundance in thy towers. I, a daughter of Israel, for the sake of my brethren and of my neighbours, spoke peace of thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good things for thee. |
Ant. Ne timeas, Maria: invenisti gratiam apud Dominum; ecce concipies et paries filium. Ant. Dabit ei Dominus sedem David patris ejus, et regnabit in aeternum. | Ant. Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God: behold thou shalt conceive, and shalt bring forth a Son. Ant. And the Lord shall give unto him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign for ever. |
PSALM 126.
| Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum: * in vanum laboraverunt qui aedificant eam. Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem: * frustra vigilat qui custodit eam. Vanum est vobis ante lucem surgere: * surgite post quam sederitis, qui manducatis panem doloris. Cum dederit dilectis suis somnum; * ecce haereditas Domini, filii: merces, fructus ventris. Sicut sagittae in manu potentis: * ita filii excussorum. Beatus vir, qui implevit desiderium suum ex ipsis: * non confundetur cum loquetur inimicis suis in porta. | Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth' it. It is vain for you to rise before light; rise ye after you have sitten, you that eat of the bread of sorrow. When he shall give sleep to his beloved: behold the inheritance of the Lord are children; the reward, the fruit of the womb. As arrows in the hand of the mighty, so the children of them that have been shaken. Blessed is the man that hath filled his desire with them; he shall not be confounded when he shall speak to his enemies in the gate. |
| Ant. Dabit ei Dominus sedem David patris ejus, et regnabit in aeternum. Ant. Ecce ancilla Domini: fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. | Ant. And the Lord shall give unto him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign for ever. Ant. Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word. |
PSALM 147.
| Lauda, Jerusalem, Dominum: * lauda Deum tuum, Sion. Quoniam confortavit seras portarum tuarum: * benedixit filiis tuis in te. Qui posuit fines tuos pacem, * et adipe frumenti satiat te. Qui emittit eloquium suum terrae: * velociter currit sermo ejus. Qui dat nivem sicut lanam: * nebulam sicut cinerem spargit. Mittit crystallum suam sicut buccellas: * ante faciem frigoris ejus quis sustinebit? Emittet verbum suum, et liquefaciet ea: * flabit spiritus ejus, et fluent aquae. Qui annuntiat verbum suum Jacob: * justitias, et judicia sua Israel. Non fecit taliter omni nationi: * et judicia sua non manifestavit eis. | Praise the Lord, O Mary, thou true Jerusalem: O Mary, O Sion ever holy, praise thy God. Because he hath strengthened against sin the bolts of thy gates: he hath blessed thy children within thee. Who hath placed peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the fat of corn, with Jesus, who is the Bread of life. Who sendeth forth, by thee, his Word to the earth: his word runneth swiftly. Who giveth snow like wool; scattereth mists like ashes. He sendeth his crystal like morsels; who shall stand before the face of his cold? He shall send forth his Word by Mary, and shall melt them: his Spirit shall breathe, and the waters shall run. Who declareth his word to Jacob: his justices and his judgments to Israel. He hath not done in like manner to every nation: and his judgments he hath not made manifest to them. |
| Ant. Ecce ancilla Domini: fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. | Ant. Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word. |
CAPITULUM.
(Is. vii.)
| Ecce virgo concipiet et pariet filium, et vocabitur nomen ejus Emmanuel. Butyrum et mel comedet, ut sciat reprobare malum, et eligere bonum. | Behold a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel. He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good. |
HYMN.
| Ave, maris stella! Dei Mater alma, Atque semper Virgo, Felix coeli porta. Sumens illud Ave | Hail, star of the sea! blessed Mother of God, yet ever a Virgin! O happy gate of heaven! Thou that didst receive the Ave from Gabriel's lips, confirm us in peace, and so let Eva be changed into an Ave of blessing for us. |
V. Ave, Maria, gratia plena. | V. Hail, Mary, full of grace. R. The Lord is with thee. |
In monastic churches it is preceded by this responsory:
R. breve. Angelus Domini * Nuntiavit Mariae. Angelus. V. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto. * Nuntiavit. Gloria Patri. Angelus.
ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT.
| Spiritus Sanctus in te descendet, Maria, et virtus Altissimi obumbrabit tibi. | The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, O Mary, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. |
PRAYER.
| Oremus. Deus, qui de beatae Mariae Virginis utero, Verbum tuum, angelo nuntiante, carnem suscipere voluisti: praesta supplicibus tuis: ut qui vere eam Genitricem Dei credimus, ejus apud te intercessionibus adjuvemur. Per eumdem. | Let us pray. O God, who wast pleased that thy Word, when the angel delivered his message, should take flesh in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, give ear to our humble petitions, and grant that we, who believe her to be truly the Mother of God, may be helped by her prayers. Through the same, &c. |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are subject to deletion if they are not germane. I have no problem with a bit of colourful language, but blasphemy or depraved profanity will not be allowed. Attacks on the Catholic Faith will not be tolerated. Comments will be deleted that are republican (Yanks! Note the lower case 'r'!), attacks on the legitimacy of Pope Francis as the Vicar of Christ (I know he's a material heretic and a Protector of Perverts, and I definitely want him gone yesterday! However, he is Pope, and I pray for him every day.), the legitimacy of the House of Windsor or of the claims of the Elder Line of the House of France, or attacks on the legitimacy of any of the currently ruling Houses of Europe.