Page:Beautifulpearlso00oreirich.djvu/182

 Raphael's first  and  pure  master-piece,  "  The  Marriage  of  The Blessed  Virgin."

Mary, become  the  wife  of  the  blameless  and  high-minded  man thus selected  by  Providence,  went  to  reside  in  her  ancestral  home at Nazareth. It is  six  months  after  the  message  delivered  to Zachary  in  the  temple — that  he  shall  be  given  a  son  to  be  called John. He shall  be  great  before  the  Lord. . .  shall  be  filled  with the Holy  Ghost  before  his  birth. He is  the  precursor  of  the Messiah, who  shall  herald  the  approach  of  the  long-expected Saviour and  point  Him  out,  walking  the  earth  in  our  flesh. The "fulness of  time"  has  come. From before  the  throne  of  the Highest the  same  angelic  messenger  descends  to  announce  tht  accomplishment of  what  is  God's  work  above  all  others.

"The Angel  Gabriel  was  sent  from  God  into  a  city  of  Galilee, called  Nazareth,  to  a  Virgin  espoused  to  a  man  whose  name  was Joseph,  of  the  house  of  David,  and  the  Virgin's  name  was  Mary. And  the  Angel  being  come  in,  said  unto  her:  Hail,  full  of  grace, the  Lord  is  with  thee;  Blessed  art  thou  among  women;  who,  having heard,  was  troubled  at  his  saying,  and  thought  with  herself  what manner  of  salutation  this  should  be."

" The  lowly  maiden,  among  the  many  graces  with  which  her soul  overflowed,  above  all,  possessed  humility.  She  was  alarmed, not  so  much  by  the  presence  of  the  angel,  as  by  the  reverence  with which  he  addressed  her.  The  divine  favors  already  lavished  upon  her have  not  begotten  pride.  It  is  a  characteristic  of  Christian  sanctity, that  its  possessors,  while  intensely  grateful  to  the  Divine  Goodness for  every  favor  in  the  natural  and  supernatural  order,  are  still  most painfully  conscious  of  their  own  shortcomings.  The  nearer  God  lifts them  to  Himself  the  more  exalted  becomes  their  ideal  of  moral  perfection, the  more  severely  do  they  compare  what  they  are  at  the present  moment,  with  what  they  might  and  ought  to  be.  But  the  dignity that  awaits  Mary,  singular  and  incommunicable  as  it  is,  had  never entered into  the  visions  of  attainable  holiness  presented  to  her mind by  the  Spirit  of  God.

"The Angel  calms  her  fears  by  announcing  the  object  of  his mission.  She  is  divinely  chosen  in  the  eternal  counsels  to  be  the mother  of  the  long-promised  Redeemer,  Jesus.  I/e  shall  be  great, and  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  the  Most  High;  and  the  Lord  shall give  to  Him  the  throne  of  David,  His  father,  and  He  shall  reign  in the  house  of  Jacob  forever;  and  of  his  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end." The youth  of  Mary,  her  voluntary  or  enforced  poverty,  and  her having placed  herself  as  an  affianced  bride  under  the  protection  of a  kinsman,. . .  have  not  deadened  in  her  bosom  the  yearning  for the appearance  of the  Orient  from  on  High,'  the  longing  for  the restoration of  her  own  royal  house. Patriotism and  religion  were intended by  God  to  be  one  undivided  and  absorbing  sentiment  in the  breast  of  every  Hebrew  woman  as  well  as  man. The daughter of David,  then,  must  have  been  thrilled  by  the  Heaven-sent  assurance of  the  resurrection  of  David's  line,  of  the  coming  glory  and eternity of  the  new  kingdom. But that  it  should  be  through  son of hers  overwhelms  her. Genuine humility  is  not  littleness  of soul:  it  merely  gives  the  soul  an  intense  feeling  of  the  distance which exists  between  what  our  own  will  has  made  us,  and  what  God wills us  to  be. It is,  therefore,  at  bottom,  a  vivid  sense  of  the  deficiency  of  one's  own  will  in  conforming  with  the  Divine. But when it  becomes  clearly  known  to  the  humble  soul  that  God  requires of  her  the  sublimest  efforts  of  self-sacrifice,  her  very  humility being a  supernatural  and  irresistible  tendency  toward  accomplishing His purpose,  she  puts  forth  a  strength  and  a  magnanimity  all  divine o doing  what  is  most  heroic  and  most  painful.

"Did the  divine  light  which  must  have  flooded  that  favored  soul on  this  occasion — unique  in  the  whole  economy  of  the  supernatural government — enable  Mary  to  perceive  that,  to  become  the  Mother  of the  Second  Adam  she  must  fulfil  the  part  of  the  Second  Eve?  that His  triumph  must  be  through  suffering;  that  His  diadem  was  to  be a  crown  of  thorns,  and  His  death  that  of  an  executed  criminal,  the horror  and  abomination  of  His  own  and  of  all  civilized  peoples? If  so,  her  acceptance  of  such  motherhood  meant  a  share  in  all  this shame  and  torture  of  soul.  Thus  was  humility  satisfied;  it  should have  its  sublimest  satisfaction  in  the  cross,  in  her  companionship with  the  Crucified.

" Light  having  been  given  her  to  understand  the  operations  of  the Divine  Power,  and  the  scruples  both  of  her  humility  and  her  purity having  been  removed  by  the  words  of  the  Angel,  she  bows  herself to  the  Divine  Will,  and  accepts  the  awful  responsibilities  of  Mother of  the  Redeemer.  Behold  the  handmaid  of  the  Lord;  be  it  done unto  me  according  to  thy  word.  And  the  Angel  departed  from  her. " (Heroic Women  of  the  Bible  and  the  Church.)

She was  related  on  her  mother's  side,  at  least,  to  Elizabeth  and Zachary, the  parents  of  the  Baptist,  whose  approaching  birth  the Angel had  revealed  to  her. Probably these  noble  relatives  had been the  comforters  of  Anna  in  her  widowhood,  and  the  consolers as well  of  Mary  herself  in  the  first  period  of  her  orphaned  life. Her first  thought  is  to  visit  their  privileged  home. It was  a  long journey to  the  southern  extremity  of  Juda,  and  over  perilous  roads. But the  Spirit  who  henceforth  is  the  very  soul  of  that  Blessed Mother's soul,  is  one  of  generosity;  and  Mary  goes  on  her  way rejoicing. She is  the  Ark  of  the  New  Covenant,  bearing  over  the mountains and  through  the  valleys  of  Judaea,  not  the  manna  put within the  former  ark  by  Moses  together  with  the  Tables  of  the Law. Here is  He,  who  is  the  true  Bread  of  Life,  the  Divine  Law-Giver,  the  very  "Angel  of  the  Testament"  Himself. And as Mary  crosses  the  threshold  of  Elizabeth,  John  feels  the  presence  of Jesus;  at  the  approach  of  "the  Bridegroom,"  His  "Friend"  is quickened  with  the  pulses  of  a  new  life. His mother  "cried  out with  a  loud  voice  .  .  .  Blessed  art  thou  among  women!  .  .  .  And whence  is  this  to  me  that  the  Mother  of  my  Lord  should  come  to me?" . ..

Mary, unwilling  to  deny  what  has  been  revealed  to  her  saintly kinswoman, only  thinks  of  referring  the  homage  paid  to  herself  to Him  from  whom  every  perfect  gift  descendeth. The light  of prophecy  floods  her  soul,  as  the  future  ages  are  spread  out  before her, and  she  pours  forth  the  strains  of  the  sublime  song,  which  has ever since  been  the  hymn  of  Christian  triumph  and  thanksgiving:

"Three months  did  Mary  abide  with  Elizabeth,  not  seeking  the public  eye,  but  both  of  them  communing  with  God  in  prayer,  in obedience  to  the  Holy  Spirit  who  filled  them;  and  increasing  in their  own  souls  the  zeal  for  His  glory  and  for  the  salvation  of  His people.  So  entirely  does  Mary  trust  to  the  divine  wisdom  to  dis« close  the  secret  of  her  heart,  that,  on  her  return  to  Nazareth,  she makes  no  mention  of  it  to  Joseph.  She  is  rewarded  for  her  absolute trust:  an  angel  is  sent  to  this  prudent  and  God-fearing  man  to apprise  him  of  the  Treasure  lying  hidden  beneath  his  roof.  He  is thenceforth  to  be  the  faithful  steward  in  God's  family  on  earth, guarding  and  cherishing  the  two  Beings  in  all  creation  the  most precious  in  the  sight  of  Heaven — that  exalted   Mother  and  her