Today is the feast day of St. Robert Bellarmine. On the Canadian Catholic Conference of Bishops website they have a beautiful quote from St. Robert about the Incarnation.
So be still now, o my soul, and just listen to the way St. Robert Bellarmine compares the Incarnation to a marriage!
“The king is God the Father; the son is the Word of God; the marriage is the Incarnation; and the bride is human nature. It is most appropriate, indeed, that the Incarnation is compared to a marriage!
First, before a marriage is contracted, there is a time of courtship and engagement: hence the declaration of divine love, celebrated by the wise Solomon in his nuptial poem, the Song of Songs, and the solemn promise made by God to the patriarchs and the prophets that the nuptials would take place.
A marriage also requires mutual consent: this took place when God, through the angel Gabriel, voiced his Son’s intention to Mary, and she, the mother of the bride-to-be [the human race], answered for her daughter: ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word’ (Lk 1:38).
The marriage is then consummated, whereby in all truth the two become one flesh-two natures so intimately united in one person that, unlike other marriages, not even death itself could long separate them.
And once a marriage has taken place, the couple hold everything in common: what had hitherto belonged to the Word-his unique titles, honors, and special privileges-are now bestowed on his bride; and similarly everything that belonged to human nature-its needs, aspirations, weaknesses and sufferings-is assumed by the bridegroom. Even more, a definite new relationship and familiarity begin to exist between the relatives and friends of the bride and groom: that happy intercourse between heaven and earth, which is called the “communion of saints”.
And finally, the traditional ends of marriage are also apparent in the Incarnation. Rightly, therefore, is this union called a marriage which the King of kings made for his divine Son.” (St. Robert Bellarmine)
Prayer
Listen kindly to my prayer, Lord God.
Help me to appreciate more fully the awesome beauty of this great mystery, the Incarnation, and so come to know the depth of your everlasting love. Give me an eye with which to recognize your beloved Incarnate Son; an ear that can understand his word; a heart like unto his; and teach me to ever place my hand trustingly in his.
Taken from The Canadian Catholic Conference of Bishops
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