Our Lady's peaceful life at Nazareth with her
chaste and holy spouse had continued for some
weeks or months, when the wondrous message came
to her that she was to be the Mother of God. The
Son of God became incarnate in her holy womb!
How it must have transformed her whole life to
know that her God dwelt within her! She was no
longer Joseph's spouse before all else; he had to
give place to One holier than he, to One who was
not mere man, but God! Now she was before all
and above all the sacred house in which the
Eternal Wisdom of God dwelt, under a veil of
flesh!
Did Joseph perceive any change in her? Yes;
he was conscious of a dignity, of a grace, of a
divinity encircling Mary, which with all her holiness
had not been there before. Mary's sanctity
was transformed. She herself, who before had been
like a beautiful crystal, was now like a crystal
through which some brilliant light continually
darted its rays of splendor. So ought we to be
when we receive Holy Communion. What a
change it should make in us! How in our
conversation the recent presence of our God within us
should show its Divine effects in us!
Why did not Mary tell Joseph? She could not.
She who always acted under Divine inspiration was
inspired to conceal the Divine secret. How could
she, with her humility, reveal this unexampled
privilege? She knew all that her silence would
bring on her, but until God urged her to speak
she would be silent. Are we similarly guided by
God in all things, and are we anxious to conceal
what exalts us in the eyes of others?