Feast of the Nativity
of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Rev. Raphael Frassinetti, 1900 Gospel. Matt. i. 1-16. Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac: and Isaac begot Jacob: and Jacob begot Judas, and his brethren. And Judas begot Phares and Zara of Thamar: and Phares begot Esron: and Esron begot Aram. And Aram begot Aminadab: and Aminadab begot Naasson: and Naasson begot Salmon. And Salmon begot Booz of Rahab: and Booz begot Obed of Ruth: and Obed begot Jesse: and Jesse begot David the king. And David the king begot Solomon of her who was wife of Urias. And Solomon begot Roboam: and Roboam begot Abias: and Abias begot Asa. And Asa begot Josaphat: and Josaphat begot Joram: and Joram begot Ozias. And Ozias begot Joatham: and Joatham begot Achaz: and Achaz begot Ezechias. And Ezechias begot Manasses: and Manasses begot Amon: and Amon begot Josias. And Josias begot Jechonias and his brethren in the transmigration of Babylon. And after the transmigration of Babylon, Jechonias begot Salathiel: and Salathiel begot Zorobabel. And Zorobabel begot Abiud: and Abiud begot Eliacim: and Eliacim begot Azor. And Azor begot Sadoc: and Sadoc begot Achim: and Achim begot Eliud. And Eliud begot Eleazar: and Eleazar begot Mathan: and Mathan begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. What a beautiful feast this is on which we celebrate the birth of the Blessed Virgin! The Church sings in her anthems of solemn celebration, "Thy birth, O Virgin Mother of God, has filled the whole world with joy, for from thee is born the Son of justice, who, freeing the human race from malediction, has heaped upon them many benedictions, and having conquered death has given us eternal life." Let us celebrate the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary with great devotion. But now let me follow the flight of my imagination: I see bands of angels descend from paradise, to celebrate the birth of this child. About her cradle are thousands of angels, held there by the affection servants feel for their mistress; joyful is their union, glorious their song; they bow in deep respect, they adorn the cradle with flowers, heavenly music is played and fills the house of Joachim and Ann who, rapt in contemplation of God's wonders, stand there admiring the beautiful face of the infant. The patriarch of Jerusalem wrote, "The face of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from her very birth, shone with a kind of divine light." My dear young friends, let us also join the myriads of angels at the birth of Mary; let us exult with them, let us celebrate with becoming joy the birth of the most beautiful, the most pure, the most holy of creatures! You must not think that she was born in sin, like other mortals; she was exempt from the curse which Adam brought upon the human race. We are born in sin, the curse of God is on us from our very conception, because we belong to a wicked race, but Mary was not touched by that guilt of Adam, for she was to be the Mother of God. We, as St. Paul says, have been children of anger, but she was a child of joy. It is of faith that Mary was born free from sin; she came into the world, therefore, pure and immaculate, fit from the very beginning to be an instrument in the hands of God for the completion of His designs for the salvation of mankind. Providence had formed the idea of the Blessed Virgin and had brought that idea into existence. When Mary was three years old she devoted herself to God's service in the Temple in solitude and retirement from the distraction of this world. Thus she co-operated with God in making herself worthy of His love. After such an offering, my dear young friends, would it not appear to you that this young and holy maiden should consider herself secure, and pay no further attention to her innocence and holiness? But no; Mary increased her vigilance to preserve herself pure and immaculate. The Temple was to her an asylum where that delicate purity could be preserved. St. Bonaventure says that she would rise at midnight to pray; during the day she would busy herself with embroidery, sewing and mending. Her whole occupation was to sanctify her soul and live up to the dignity of one called by God to a glorious work on this earth. "She was planted," says St. John Damascene, "in the garden of the Lord as a fruitful olive tree; every virtue nourished in her." After a period of time she returned to her parents and there led the same holy life. She had no intimate friends but her saintly parents; she had no desire but to show them love, respect and obedience. Whatever threatened to raise a shadow of wrong to her innocence, she scrupulously avoided; at the Annunciation she was much troubled at the sight of an angel. What a lesson for us, my dear young friends! Mary had nothing to fear, having been preserved by the will of God from original sin. She never felt a secret repugnance to being good, she never had an inclination to evil; pleasures and vices had no allurements for her; still, with all those safeguards of grace, she was extremely careful and used every means to preserve in herself the fulness of grace which was intrusted to her. But you, my young friends, so frail, so inconstant in good, so exposed to many dangers, and so much tempted by Satan, do you watch, carefully so as not to lose the great treasure of grace? Ah, many young people instead of being very careful expose themselves to all dangers; they even seek the society of bad companions; they do not place a guard over their senses, especially their eyes, and in this way they lose the grace of God, and fall into sin. Many come to the use of reason and then throw away this precious gift of innocence and abandon themselves to vice. They drive Our Lord from their heart and give themselves over to the devil; they are not grieved at the loss of the friendship of God, which is worth more than all the wealth of the world. What blindness and wickedness this is! You, who are still innocent, follow the example of Mary; use every possible means to guard against any defilement of sin. Let me relate to you a little story. Godfried, third duke of Brabent, after the death of his father came into possession of many states, but he was still so young that the sceptre of government could not be trusted into his hands. The neighboring people, who had been at continual war with the old duke, took advantage of this weakness of the government, took up arms and invaded the states of the infant duke, not supposing that they would meet with much resistance to their unjust designs. The nobles of the state hastened to the defense of their child-prince; but there was no leader to head the army. One of the officers proposed that the child should be brought to the front in its cradle, and that the army would be inspired with courage at the sight of it. This was done. The sight of the cradle and the sound of the poor child's cries gave them such courage that they attacked the enemy with fury, and drove them back in confusion. In your temptations you, too, will be moved to make great efforts against the devil if you think of Mary in her little cradle; you will also be protected, you will feel new strength born in your soul, you will make a bold stand against the enemy, put him to flight, and preserve in your souls the divine grace. Have a devotion to the birth of the Blessed Virgin, honor her on this day with a special love. Mary will not forget you, she will be generous of her gifts. When princesses of this world give great favors to their subjects on their birthdays, will not the generous and good-hearted Queen of heaven make presents on this day to those who devoutly ask for them? Say with St. Germanus, "We beg of thee, O holiest Virgin, on this day which commemorates thy birth, to bring peace to all the world, and to our souls grace and divine mercy." http://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/ |