UNBORN WORD of the day

The Papal Basilica Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls

Pope Benedict has inaugurated “The Year of St Paul”, beginning on June 29, 2008, at the first Vespers of the traditional Church Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. Last night I watched some of the liturgical celebrations live from the Vatican (on EWTN) to usher in this extraordinary Pauline year of grace.

In keeping with the spirit of this special day, we offer the following short quote from UNBORN JESUS OUR HOPE concerning the mystical nature of Mary’s pregnancy and words from Paul (and Peter) which help to throw light on it:

“She is the first Christian missionary. She carries the Christ across the land from this town to that. But He dwells within her ‑ within and beneath her heart. The mystery of this particular heart‑to‑Heart, body‑to‑Body communion between mother and Child, Christian and Christ, is impossible to fathom. Many years later both Saints Peter and Paul described their own sense of oneness with Christ in words that may help us in our appreciation of Mary’s experience. Reflecting on his own personal identification with Christ’s death on the cross, St. Paul would say; “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me…” (Gal 2:20).

But what of Mary’s intimate identification with our Lord’s Incarnation, the singular experience of Mary’s maternity? Her sentiments may have resembled those of St. Paul; paraphrasing now: “I have been conceived with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me…” And as each day passed, did she not sense that she was becoming, as St. Peter would later say, a partaker “of the divine nature” (II Pet 1:4)? No other human soul has experienced the wonder and grace of this mystical passage from youthful human simplicity into the eternal mystery of mothering God! Words fail us here: ” Christ is all, and in all” (Col 3:11).”

Every Christian must discover for himself or herself, and repeatedly, just how “Christ is all, and in all” for him and for her. In a unique way, during her nine month pregnancy, Mary must have pondered within her heart - in an archetypical manner - the Incarnational mystery that “Christ is all, and in all”. He certainly was “all and in all” in her! Following baptism and the onset of the life of God within each Christian soul, it is true on the spiritual level - a mystical truth and reality grasped and taught well by St Paul - that “Christ is all, and in all”! And just as the pregnant Mary saw intimate signs of Christ’s life within her own and desired to live well her nine months for Him, so too today’s Christian recognizes personal signs of Christ’s life within his or her heart and must strive to live well all his or her days for Christ.

“Christ was humble of heart. Throughout his life he looked for no special consideration or privilege. He began by spending nine months in his Mother’s womb, like the rest of men, following the natural course of events. He knew that mankind needed him greatly. He was longing to come into the world to save all souls, but he took his time. He came in due course, just as every other child is born. From conception to birth, no one - except our Lady, St Joseph and St Elizabeth - realized the marvelous truth that God was coming to live among men.”

St. Josemaria Escriva from Christ is Passing By.

St. Josemaria Escriva’s feast day is June 26. He was canonized on October 6, 2002.

In his Apostolic Exhortaion entitled Vita Consecrata (March 25, 1996) John Paul II has a thought provoking quote from St. Augustine:

“Beautiful is God, the Word with God … He is beautiful in heaven, beautiful on earth; beautiful in the womb, beautiful in his parents’ arms, beautiful in his miracles, beautiful in his sufferings; beautiful in inviting to life, beautiful in not worrying about death, beautiful in giving up his life and beautiful in taking it up again; he is beautiful on the Cross, beautiful in the tomb, beautiful in heaven. Listen to the song with understanding, and let not the weakness of the flesh distract your eyes from the splendour of his beauty.” #24

‘Fantastic Ruins with Saint Augustine and the Child’ François de NOME,
about 1593 - after 1630

In a vision Saint Augustine saw a child trying to empty the sea into a hole dug in the sand; when Augustine told him that this was impossible, the child replied that Augustine was engaged on the equally impossible task of explaining the Trinity.

Many have assumed that the child  St. Augustine saw in his vision was the Christ Child - Below is a beautiful passage on the Incarnation from a sermon given by St. Augustine:

“He by whom all things were made was made one of all things. The Son of God by the Father without a mother became the Son of man by a mother without a father. The Word Who is God before all time became flesh at the appointed time. The maker of the sun was made under the sun. He Who fills the world lays in a manger, great in the form of God but tiny in the form of a servant; this was in such a way that neither was His greatness diminished by His tininess, nor was His tininess overcome by His greatness.”(St. Augustine, Sermon 187)

Our Lady of the Expectation

The emphasis of the French School of Spirituality (which had its beginning with Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle (1575-1629) and continued with his disciples such as the Venerable Jean-Jacques Olier (1608-1657) and St. John Eudes (1601-1680) was on the nine months during which Jesus lived in the womb of Mary. These men rightly perceived the mystery of the beauty and depth of the communication which took place between Mary and her Son during this blessed period. Olier and Eudes especially would speak of this communication as being between their hearts. St. Louis de Montfort also was influenced by this Spirituality when he entered Saint-Sulpice which was founded by Jean-Jacques Olier, one of the leading exponents of what came to be known as the ‘French School of Spirituality’.

Following are a few of the quotes about the Unborn Christ Child by St. Louis de Montfort from his Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin:

“God the Son came into her virginal womb as a new Adam into his earthly paradise, to take his delight there and produce hidden wonders of grace. God-made-man found freedom in imprisoning himself in her womb. He displayed power in allowing himself to be borne by this young maiden.” 18

“Time does not permit me to linger here and elaborate on the perfections and wonders of the mystery of Jesus living and reigning in Mary, or the Incarnation of the Word. I shall confine myself to the following brief remarks. The Incarnation is the first mystery of Jesus Christ; it is the most hidden; and it is the most exalted and the least known. It was in this mystery that Jesus, in the womb of Mary and with her co- operation, chose all the elect. For this reason the saints called her womb, the throne-room of God’s mysteries.” 248

“Our good Master stooped to enclose himself in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, a captive but loving slave, and to make himself subject to her for thirty years. As I said earlier, the human mind is bewildered when it reflects seriously upon this conduct of Incarnate Wisdom. He did not choose to give himself in a direct manner to the human race though he could easily have done so. He chose to come through the Virgin Mary. Thus he did not come into the world independently of others in the flower of his manhood, but he came as a frail little child dependent on the care and attention of his Mother. Consumed with the desire to give glory to God, his Father, and save the human race, he saw no better or shorter way to do so than by submitting completely to Mary.” 139

Prominent Men and Women of or influenced by the French School:

· Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle (1575-1629)

· Jean-Jacques Olier (1608-1657), disciple of Cardinal Berulle. Olier founded the Society of St. Sulpice, in 1642, to train and form future priests

· Jeanne Chezard de Matel (1596-1670), foundress of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word in Avignon, France, in December, 1639.

· St.John Eudes, founder of the Eudists.

· St. Louis de Montfort. (1673-1716)

· Blessed William Joseph Chaminade (1761-1850)

Here is a quote from Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

” ‘He saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband’ (Rv 21:2 and 9ff.). As Christ himself descended to earth from heaven, so too his Bride, the holy church, originated in heaven. She is born of the grace of God, indeed descended with the Son of God himself; she is inextricably bound to him. She is built of living stones; her cornerstone was laid when the Word of God assumed our human nature in the womb of the Virgin. At that time there was woven between the soul of the divine Child and the soul of the Virgin Mother the bond of the most intimate unity which we call betrothal…”

Marriage of the Lamb, For September 14, 1940

The Seventh Way of Prayer – St. Dominic
While praying, he (St. Dominic) was often seen to reach towards heaven like an arrow which has been shot from a taut bow straight upwards into the sky.*

Towards the end of the Gospel of Life, John Paul II gives us an important reminder about “prayer” and fasting. He does this to help us be properly prepared for the Pro - Life battle:

“Jesus himself has shown us by his own example that prayer and fasting are the first and most effective weapons against the forces of evil (cf. Mt 4:1-11). As he taught his disciples, some demons cannot be driven out except in this way (cf. Mk 9:29). Let us therefore discover anew the humility and the courage to pray and fast so that power from on high will break down the walls of lies and deceit: the walls which conceal from the sight of so many of our brothers and sisters the evil of practices and laws which are hostile to life.”

Notice in the above quote John Paul II points out the need for “humility and courage to pray and fast”. This reminds me of a sermon given by St. Francis de Sales on March 29, 1615 regarding “The Spirit of Prayer”. Here is an excerpt:

“for do you not see how a marksman with a crossbow, when he wishes to discharge a large arrow, draws the string of his bow lower the higher he wants it to go? Thus must we do when we wish our prayer to reach Heaven; we must lower ourselves by the awareness of our nothingness. David admonishes us to do so by these words: When you wish to pray, plunge yourself profoundly into the abyss of your nothingness that you may be able afterward, without difficulty, to let your prayer fly like an arrow even up to the heavens. [Cf. Ps. 130:1-2; Sir. 35:21].”

De Sales compares prayer to the shooting of an arrow “up to the heavens”. I would like to ask if we shoot our prayer up to God in Heaven, exactly what are we aiming at? His Heart perhaps? Imagine, if you will, a target in Heaven like that used by a common archer here below. We supplicants, weary and wayward as we are, shoot our prayer heavenward but the target seems to elude us - except that God hears our prayer before we say it and he sees that arrow before it is released. God moves that heavenly target so that it meets the arrow - your arrow - your prayer is mercifully heard by God, your prayer is lovingly received by God. God cheats sometimes because of our incapacity. What we lack He makes up for in Mercy.

*Taken from the Nine Ways of Prayer - the Nine Ways of Prayer was written by an anonymous Bolognese author, sometime between A.D. 1260 and A.D. 1288, whose source of information was, among other followers of St. Dominic, Sister Cecilia of Bologna’s Monastery of St. Agnes. Sister Cecilia had been given the habit by St. Dominic himself. “The Nine Ways of Prayer” has been sometimes printed as a supplement to “The Life of St. Dominic” by Theodoric of Apoldia, though they aren’t an actual part of that work.

Answer: The great Father Faber (1814-1863) who pioneered devotional insights into the life of the unborn Christ Child. As some of you know we have quoted Father Faber on a number of occasions. Besides being an impressive preacher and spiritual writer Father Faber also wrote many wonderful hymns - including Faith of Our Fathers and There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy. Two of his books that touch upon the mystery of the unborn Christ Child are Bethlehem and The Blessed Sacrament.

St. Therese of Lisieux is also known as St. Therese of the Child Jesus due to her well known devotion to the Infant Christ. Here is what St. Therese wrote in a letter to her aunt on November 16, 1896 about Father Faber:

“Fortunately, I have the deep Father Faber to console me. He understood that words and sentences here below are incapable of expressing feelings of the heart and that full hearts are the ones containing the most within themselves.” Letters of St. Therese of Lisieux, Volume II, ICS Publications.

Here is a surprising quote from Father Faber where he talks about devotion to ‘our dearest Lord’s life in the womb”.

“It would simply weary the reader to repeat almost word for word this description of our dearest Lord’s life in the Womb, changing the phrases to apply it to the Blessed Sacrament. The parallel is so complete, that it must already have suggested itself; and I have dwelt upon it at greater length, because, as the devotion to the life in the womb is especially a devotion of interior souls, so the corresponding thoughts with regard to the Blessed Sacrament are those which are most familiar to interior souls in their prayers before the tabernacle; and again as all the mysteries of the Sacred Infancy take their color and character from the life in the womb, to establish the analogy between it and the Blessed Sacrament is in truth to establish the analogy between the Blessed Sacrament and the Sacred Infancy altogether.”

The Blessed Sacrament, Fr. F. W. Faber

In his book, Treatise on the Love of God Creator, St. Francis de Sales tells of a vision that St. Bernard of Clairvaux had as a young boy.

“The most sweet St. Bernard, as yet a little boy at Chastillon-sur-Seine, was waiting in Church on Christmas night for the divine office to begin, and while waiting the poor child fell into a light slumber, during which he saw in spirit, yet in a vision very distinct and clear, how the Son of God, having espoused human nature, and becoming a little child in His Mother’s most pure womb, was with a humble sweetness mingled with a celestial majesty, virginally born of her:-As a bridegroom coming out of his bride-chamber: a vision, which so replenished the loving heart of the little Bernard with gladness, jubilation and spiritual delights, that he had all his life an extreme sense of it, and therefore, though afterwards as a sacred bee he ever culled out of all the divine mysteries the honey of a thousand sweet and heavenly consolations, yet had he a more particular sweetness in the solemnity of the Nativity, and spoke with a singular relish of this birth of his Master.”

Treatise on the Love of God Creator: St. Francis de Sales,  (1567-1622)

Michele Tosini (1503-77) St. Luke

October 18 is the feast day of St. Luke.

In chapters One and Two of the Gospel of St. Luke we have 127 verses of narrative concerning the infancy and childhood of Jesus Christ and mysteries surrounding His infancy (Lk 1:5 - 2:52). These verses are unique to Luke and outline the earliest vignettes known about the childhood of Jesus Christ. The verses restricted to the infancy period are slightly less: 114 verses (Lk 1:5 - Lk 2:39).

The extraordinary account of the Annunciation to Mary by the Archangel Gabriel, for example, is presented only in Luke and no where else. Likewise, the remarkable Visitation event (and Magnificat “song”) and Bethlehem birth saga are Lukan treasures only. Which might lead us to wonder how would Christianity be different if there was no Luke? Would we celebrate Christmas? (Matthew also provides 47 verses of invaluable introductory information as well concerning Mary, Joseph and Jesus, before and after the birth. Mt 1:18 - 2:23)

We are indebted to Luke in a thousand ways, but especially for the first two chapters of his Gospel which are in a way a “prologue”, comparable to the famous “Prologue” to the Gospel of John (Jn 1:1-18): “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God…” But while the Prologue of John is about Mysteries and realities concerning the Word Incarnate, this “prologue” of Luke’s is focused on biological and historical events which reveal the Child Incarnate. While John is mystical, Luke is highly personal yet supernatural. All of this is to say that, the Incarnation Mystery of faith is so wondrous, that we need both Luke and John to unfold for us its beauty and reality. We can listen to John’s Prologue and see it with the eyes of the heart, but Luke’s we visualize all in fabulous images.

But it is only Luke who reveals to us the babyhood of Jesus and the attendant mysteries thereto. Luke is one of the Church’s great “Pro - Life” saints! There is no way around it. He alone tells of the conception of Jesus Christ, paints for us the tender mother who opens up her heart and soul to God’s plan and Spirit, then recounts the mysterious encounter between pregnant mothers and unborn children and finally recounts in all its poverty and glory the birth of humankind’s Savior in a manger.

St. Luke we thank you for the little details you carefully recorded about our Savior’s first nine months in the womb and then in the manger. You, St. Luke, have brought more tears of joy to human eyes than any other author in human history. You have revealed to us the mother of the baby Jesus and have transported us in our thoughts to kneel beside the beasts and shepherds, beneath the angels’ meditative gaze. It was first your descriptive words which gave rise to those Christmas hymns we sing now that cause our hearts to bow down in adoration again.

St. Luke, when we see you in heaven, we will get in that very long reception line of pro-life Christians who want to shake your hand, the hand which wrote down the sacred events of our Savior’s babyhood, events which gave us hope for all our earthly days.

George A. Peate, Unborn Word Alliance

El Greco (1541-1614) St. Luke (detail)

I have carved you in the palm of my hand (Isaiah 49:16)

Today, October 15 is the feast day of St. Teresa of Avila. In their book, Miracles of the Christ Child, Bob and Penny Lord recount this story of the Christ Child and St. Teresa of Avila:

“Teresa had such a great love of the Child Jesus that one day, as she was preparing to ascend stairs leading to the upper rooms of the convent she met a beautiful child. He asked her “Who are you?” She replied, “I am Teresa of Jesus, and who are you?” To which the child responded, “I am Jesus of Teresa.”

They say that encounter with the Lord, as a child, affected her so deeply, after that, when Saint Teresa set out to found a new house (she founded eighteen in all) she always brought a statue of the Child Jesus with her.”

Today, October 5, 2007 is the feast day of St. Mary Faustina Kowalska, the Apostle of Divine Mercy. Here she speaks about the Mercy of God in the Incarnation.

“…Mercy has moved You to deign to descend among us and lift us up from our misery. God will descend to earth; the Immortal Lord of lords will abase Himself. But where will You descend, Lord; will it be to the temple of Solomon? Or will You have a new Tabernacle built for Yourself? Where do You intend to come down? O Lord, what kind of tabernacle shall we prepare for You, since the whole earth is Your footstool?

You have indeed prepared a tabernacle for Yourself; the Blessed Virgin. Her Immaculate Womb is Your dwelling place, and the inconceivable miracle of Your mercy takes place, O Lord. The Word becomes flesh; God dwells among us, the Word of God, Mercy incarnate. By Your descent, You have lifted us up to Your divinity. Such is the excess of Your love, the abyss of Your mercy. Heaven is amazed at the superabundance of Your love. No one fears to approach You now.”

From the The Diary of the Servant of God Saint M. Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy In My Soul, Notebook VI.

Today, October 4, 2007 is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi.

Many Franciscans will tell you that the Christmas Crib holds a special place of honor in Franciscan spirituality. We know about Francis re-creating the Christmas scene one year as a living Nativity with real animals and so on. From his inspiration came the tradition of celebrating Christmas with a nativity scene. St. Bonaventure tells the story here.

One might even say that the Crib of Christ balances out, so to speak, the Cross of Christ. Not that the Cross needs to be balanced out or toned down or made pretty. No not at all. Rather, the reality of God’s Love and Incarnation have two marvelous windows for the soul – like sunrise and sunset - in the Crib and the Cross. And Francis lived these realities when he instituted the living Nativity and when he received the stigmata.

One of his modern day followers in writing about “The Simplicity of St. Francis of Assisi” lists five characteristics, the second of which is: A Childlike Quality. This is one of the gifts one can receive from Bethlehem, not under the Christmas tree, not from one of the wise men, but from the baby Jesus Himself. If we go to the crib to honor the baby God there He will bless us in a childlike manner. Here is a wonderful quote from Mother Angelica (a Franciscan nun) of EWTN fame:

“I want very much to spread devotion to the Divine Child Jesus. Not only is He powerful, but what you need and I need is family, and that Child Jesus will make us one again. He will put love in our hearts, back where it should be.“

Another Franciscan nun focusing on the Advent dimension of her Franciscan spirituality speaks of creating space for Jesus in one’s own heart; a “crib in our hearts”. This is definitely a childlike concept. Can we relate to it in our sophisticated world with our complicated perspectives?

The crucified Christ saves our souls, perhaps the infant Christ can heal our attitudes!

Today, Tuesday, September 25, 2007 is the feast day of Blessed Herman (1013-1054). He was born with many medical problems: cleft palate, cerebral palsy, and spina bifida. During his lifetime he was known as Blessed Herman the Cripple. Father Robert F. McNamara on his website, Saints Alive, calls him Blessed Herman the Disabled.

He was a remarkable man. Despite his daunting physical limitations he studied and wrote on astronomy, theology, math, history, poetry, Arabic, Greek, and Latin. He also built musical and astronomical equipment. He was considered a genius in his time. He wrote prayers and hymns - the most notable being the Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen).

Father McNamara in his article on Blessed Herman the Disabled comments on the great meaning of Herman’s life with this closing insight:

“In his own day, the heroic cripple who achieved learning and holiness was called ‘The Wonder of His Age’.

In our day, many voices say that people with disabilities should be phased out of existence. Which were the Dark Ages, then or now!”