Ortus Christi: Meditations for Advent

O Eternal Wisdom, help me to make better use of this Thy most wonderful plan for continuing the Incarnation! He was incarnate for me in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, but He is incarnate for me in a more special and personal way each time that I receive Him in Holy Communion. By means of my Communions and their effects I can dwell always without any interruption in the tabernacle of the Most High, for it is of me that Eternal Wisdom speaks when He says: "My Father will love him, and We will come to him and will make Our abode with him." (St. John xiv. 23).

Point II. "Reaching from end to end mightily and disposing all things sweetly."

Wisdom "can do all things" (Wisdom vii. 27) and it is God hidden in the womb of Mary, Who is reaching from end to end of the earth and ordering the whole world to be enrolled everyone in his own city. Why was this? Because the Roman Emperor wanted to know the number of the subjects in his vast empire just to satisfy his ambition? This is the answer the world would give, but in this case the children of Light – the children of the Incarnate Wisdom know better. The world is being agitated, though it does not know it, not by the command of any earthly monarch, but by the King of kings Who is about to be born and Who must fulfil a certain prophecy as to His birthplace. The prophet Micaias said of Him: "His going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity. And thou, Bethlehem Ephrata art a little one among the thousands of Juda; out of thee shall He come" (chap. v. 2); and Mary, the mother who had been destined from all eternity to give birth to Him Who was "from the days of eternity," was living quietly at Nazareth making all her preparations for His birth there. But could not God have devised means to send Mary to Bethlehem without disturbing the whole world? Yes, but He would show to those who have eyes to see, that wisdom "can do all things," that though He is to all appearances helpless, hidden and dependent, yet it is He and not any other Who is King of the whole world, and that even now before His birth He can reach from end to end of it mightily and do what He will therein. And so "there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled … everyone in his own city," and Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem and it so happened (as we should say) "that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered" (St. Luke ii. 1-6) and the King was born in Bethlehem. Sweetly He had ordered all things to suit His divine purpose.

Point III. "Come and teach us the way of prudence."

Come, my little King, Who art nevertheless the Eternal Wisdom, come and teach me this heavenly prudence. I know Thy power and I know Thy gentleness. I know, that is to say, that Thou canst do everything and that Thou art disposing sweetly everything in my life; but I want Thee to come and teach me to put my knowledge into practice. If the whole world could be set in motion by Thee just in order that one little desire of Thy Divine Providence might be fulfilled, shall I not be ready to own that Thou art indeed the King, that whatever may happen in the earth, it is the Lord Who reigneth; and in my own life when things seem, as they sometimes do, inexplicable and beyond all human ken, Oh! come and teach me that the way of prudence is to lie still like a little child in its mother's arms, not to try to fathom nor to understand, but to say: I am in the Arms of the Eternal Wisdom, Who can do all things, Who loves me with an infinite love and Who is disposing all things sweetly, gently, mercifully for my sake.

This is the lesson the Child yet unborn would teach. His Mother understood, for, as we have seen, one principle guided the two lives; but it was not easy for her to have all her plans disarranged, to hear that she and her husband must take a long journey perhaps of two or three days, to know that her Son could not be born in her own little home so dear to her with all its hallowed memories, to know that she could not lay Him in the little cradle that she had so lovingly prepared for Him nor surround Him with the little comforts that she had been able to provide. All this would have been much even for a rich mother to give up, and Mary was poor and she knew that she and Joseph would have to take just what they could get and no more. Yet in Mary's heart there was no anxiety, no murmuring, no hesitation, no regret even. Why? Because the Babe within her taught her prudence, taught her, that is, that God's ways are best, that it was He Who was ordering all things sweetly, and that if her plans were upset, it simply meant that they did not happen to be God's plans; and she willingly gave up hers for His.

O Mary as I kneel before the Tabernacle where Thy Son as yet lies hidden, present my petitions to Him. Tell Him that, cost what it may, I do want His Will to be done, I do want to realize that it is He Who is ordering all things sweetly for me and that though the way is often difficult it is His way and therefore mine – "the way of prudence."

Colloquy with the Incarnate Wisdom.

Resolution. "I purposed therefore to take her (Wisdom) to me to live with me, knowing that she will communicate to me of her good things" (Wisdom viii. 9).

Spiritual Bouquet. "O Sapientia! … come and teach us the way of prudence."

O ADONAI!

December 18th. Feast of the Expectation of Our Lady.

"O Adonai and Leader of the House of Israel! Who appearedst to Moses in the fire of the flaming bush and gavest him the law on Sinai. Come and redeem us by Thy outstretched arm."

(Ex. vi. 3, iii. 1-9, xx. 18-22).

1st. Prelude. The Tabernacle of the Hidden God.

2nd. Prelude. Grace to expect and desire with Mary.

Point I. "O Virgo virginum!"

We think again to-day of the Mother as well as of the Son. There is another "O" which is in the Vespers of the Feast of the Expectation together with the "O Adonai!" and that is "O Virgo virginum!" We appeal again then to Mary asking her to show us how to wait, how to desire, how to love, how to worship. Let us try to think what her feelings must have been during these last few days. She is preparing for her journey, putting together the few necessaries that they could take, packing up the little "swaddling clothes," and all the time thinking of nothing but her Son, Whose Face she is now so soon to see. The joy of the expectation is so great that it overshadows all else – she can talk of and think of nothing but His birth, now so near, and it is to Him that she talks. All her secrets, all her longings, all her hopes, all her words of love and joy are for Him. This is the interior life.

As the great day approaches is my interior life becoming more intense? Are all my desires centred on the little One Who is coming? Am I continually holding converse with Him, telling Him all that is in my heart? Is He the centre of all my preparations for Christmas? Is the real Christmas joy, that is, the joy caused by the thought of His Coming, so great that it puts into the shade all difficulties, sorrows, disappointments and inconveniences? Mary's troubles were all caused by Jesus. If it had not been for the prophecy which said He must be born in Bethlehem she would not have had to leave her home at such an inconvenient moment and at such an inclement season of the year.

When shall I learn that all my troubles come directly from Jesus too, and from my union with Him? When I do, I shall have peace, the peace which Mary had and which a really interior life cannot fail to produce. If I find that my peace is easily disturbed by passing events, let me examine my conscience as to my interior life and I shall probably find the reason.

Point II. O Adonai et Dux!

O Lord and Leader! "Give ear, O Thou that rulest Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep!" ("Introit" for Advent II and "Gradual" for Advent III). This is the idea in the Church's cry to-day, she is saluting her General. He it is Who though as yet hidden is nevertheless leading all. He it is Who slowly though surely has been leading the world through many phases till it is ready for its Creator to come and live upon it. He it is Who has led Joseph like a sheep – carefully watched over the chosen nation, because He Himself, when the time came, was to be born in it. He it is Who led the prophets, carefully guiding their hands to write of Him and making their prophecies more and more lucid as the day approached. He it is Who is now leading the whole world and placing everybody in his own city. He it is Who is leading Joseph away from Nazareth. He it is Who is leading His own Mother over every step of that difficult and tiring journey, letting the joy in His own Heart overflow into hers; and He is my Leader too. With such a General, nothing will be overlooked in my life; everything will be arranged in wisdom and love. I need have no fear, no anxiety on that account; but such a Leader expects a whole-hearted, unswerving allegiance from His followers. He expects not only their obedience, but their loyalty and their love. Does He demand these by force? No, for He is a Leader, not a driver. "He calleth His own sheep by name and leadeth them… He goeth before them and the sheep follow Him" (St. John x. 3, 4). What are His methods? The Incarnation with all its consequences. He made Himself a man, not an angel, because He wanted to attract man to Himself, to win his love. He identified Himself with man, because He wanted man to identify himself with Him. The church, the Holy Eucharist, the Tabernacle, Holy Communion, His Sacred Heart – all these are to attract men to follow Him. He is there in each of these going before and leading men on. He is appealing to them now from the womb of His Mother, suggesting to them that they should choose suffering and humiliation and the hidden life, because He chose them and loved them and submitted to them for us; they were His methods, and His object in becoming incarnate for us was to win our love to such an extent that we should take Him as our Leader and adopt His methods.

Oh! come, little Leader, come and redeem us. I for one am determined to follow wheresoever Thou dost lead, "in what place soever Thou shalt be, my Lord King, either in death or in life there will Thy servant be" (2 Kings xv. 21). "Behold I have given Him for a Leader" (Is. lv. 4).

Point III. The Outstretched Arm

The outstretched arm is a sign (1) of power. The little One Whom we are expecting, though so winning and gentle and loving, is nevertheless the Almighty and All-powerful God. He it is Who said: "I made the earth and the men and the beasts that are upon the earth by My great power and by My stretched out arm" (Jer. xxvii. 5). He it is Who said of those who would not acknowledge Him as their King: "I will Myself fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm" (chap. xxi. 5). He it is Who "with a strong hand and a stretched-out arm" delivered His people of old out of the land of Egypt (Deut. xxvi. 8). He it is Who gave the law on Sinai, when "the thunders began to be heard and lightning to flash and a very thick cloud to cover the mount, and the noise of the trumpet sounded exceeding loud and the people … feared." Why? Because "the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai in the very top of the mount" (Ex. xix. 16, 20). He came then in power to give with His own outstretched arm His commandments to His people; but now He is coming in the silence of the night to win them by His love and no one will be afraid of a little Child.

Oh! come, and redeem us by Thy stretched out arm. Come in all Thy might to save us from our sins – our past sins and the evil habits they have left, our present attachment to venial sins which we are ashamed of, but are obliged to confess lingers still; come and deliver us from our countless imperfections: "Lord if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean" (St. Matt. viii. 2).

The outstretched arm is also a sign (2) of pity, of yearning, of longing. A mother stretches out her arms to receive her babe taking its first tottering steps, to welcome her prodigal, to protect those in danger, to help in every time of need.

When God was longing to deliver His people of old from the cruel bondage in Egypt, He attracted Moses' attention by a burning bush, so that He could tell him of His yearnings towards His people. Moses saw that the bush was on fire and was not burnt and he said: "I will go and see why the bush is not burnt" (Ex. iii. 2-3). That bush hid two mysteries which were beyond Moses' power of reason, but God revealed them later to His Saints. The fire that burned was the Divinity and the bush which was impregnated by the fire and yet not burnt was the Sacred Humanity. Again, the bush was a figure of Mary who though she received the God-Man into her sacred womb yet remained a virgin – the bush held the flame of fire which lighted the whole world and yet remained intact. Moses though he did not see the things which we see, nevertheless saw a "great sight" and "when the Lord saw that he went forward to see, He called to him out of the midst of the bush" and told him not to come too near and to take off his shoes for the ground was holy. He then told him Who He was and why He had come: "I have seen the afflictions of My people… I have heard their cry … and knowing their sorrow, I am come down to deliver them" (verses 7, 8). It was the Heart of God yearning for His children. His Hands were stretched out in pity and love, but His hour was not yet. He waited and "when the fulness of the time was come, God sent His Son" (Gal. iv. 4); and now we are kneeling before the Sanctuary wherein He has still a few days to wait; we have turned aside to see the "great sight," we know that we are treading on holy ground. "Rubum quem viderat Moyses incombustum conservatam agnovimus tuam laudabilem virginitatem; Dei genitrix intercede pro nobis." In the bush which Moses saw unconsumed, we acknowledge thy admirable virginity preserved: intercede for us, O Mother of God. (Little Office. B. V. M. – A Christmas antiphon).

As we keep near to the Burning Bush we wonder more and more at the mystery; we ask why, but we never receive a satisfying answer, for who can fathom the mystery of the love of God? The Word is silent yet. Could He speak, we should hear the same words as Moses heard, for the Heart of God changes not: "I have seen the afflictions of My people… I am come down to deliver them." How intense were His yearnings! How great was His expectation! Let me try to make Him some little return by my desires and my yearnings for Him! Oh! come, little Saviour, come and redeem us by Thy outstretched Arm!

Colloquy with Him Who is so soon to come.

Resolution. To wait with His Mother to-day asking her to give me some of her desire.

Spiritual Bouquet. "A little Child shall lead them" (Is. XI. 6).

O RADIX JESSE!

December 19th.

"O Root of Jesse! Who standest as the ensign of the people, before Whom Kings shall keep silence and unto Whom the nations shall make their supplication, come and set us free, tarry now no longer."

(Vide Is. xi. 10 and Apoc. xxii. 16).

1st. Prelude. The Tree of Jesse so often seen carved on cathedral porches and painted on windows, and in Missals.

2nd. Prelude. Grace to rally under the Standard of the Tree of Jesse.

Point I. The Root of Jesse

"There shall come forth a Rod out of the Root of Jesse, and a Flower shall rise up out of his Root; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him: the Spirit of Wisdom and of Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and of Fortitude, the Spirit of Knowledge and of Godliness; and He shall be filled with the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord" (Is. xi. 1-3). St. Jerome says that the Branch is Our Lady and the Flower her Son, Who says of Himself: "I am the Flower of the field and the Lily of the valleys" (Cant. ii. 1); and a responsory dating from the middle ages says: "R. The Root of Jesse gave out a Branch: and the Branch a Flower; and on the Flower resteth the Holy Spirit. V. The Virgin Mother of God is the Branch, her Son is the Flower, and on the Flower resteth the Holy Spirit."

So once again, if we would find the Flower we must first find the Branch which bears it. The Flower is still in bud but presently it will open, and its beauty and fragrance will fill the whole earth and attract all men to it: "What manner of one is thy Beloved of the beloved, O thou most beautiful among women?" "My Beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands" (Cant. v. 9, 10). I can understand that thy beautiful Lily is white, for I know that such is His purity that even the heavens are not pure in His sight, but why is His apparel red? (Is. lxiii. 2). Because He is "clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood: and His name is called: The Word of God" (Apoc. xix. 13). Even now, before His delicate petals are unfolded, they are marked with the Cross.

O Root of Jesse, can ever tree compare with thine – one of whose branches was found worthy to bear a Flower so fair! There are further beauties as we gaze – a heavenly Dew is resting on the Flower, it is the Holy Spirit Himself, Who at that blest moment when He overshadowed the Branch poured out all His choicest gifts upon the Flower. As God, the seven-fold gifts were His from all eternity, and directly the Humanity was united to the Eternal Word, the divine perfections belonged to it, so that as man "He was made unto us the Wisdom of God" and could understand all mysteries. By the gift of Understanding He knew and entered into all God's plans for the Redemption of the world. The gift of Counsel showed Him exactly what was the Will of His Father which He had come to do. The gift of Fortitude gave Him the strength to carry out His Father's Will and to say ever: Not My Will but Thine be done. His Knowledge was so profound that He preferred poverty to riches, and to be despised rather than to be honoured; He knew as Man the true worth of the thing which as God He had created. The gift of Piety established that tender relationship between Him and His Father which He wished us to have when He taught us to say: Our Father; it included also His perfect relationship with His Mother and St. Joseph. The gift of Fear gave Him as Man a reverence and respect for the majesty of God. (Vide Heb. v. 7).

It was thus that the heavenly Dew rested on the heavenly Flower.

O my Jesus, come and tarry no longer! I know that Thou hadst no need of any of these gifts; they rested on Thee because Thou art my Model and Thou wouldst show me how to use them.

Point II. The Ensign of the people

It is the Tree of Jesse which stands as an ensign, about which Our Lord says: "I am the Root and Stock of David" (Apoc. xxii. 16). He then is the Standard-bearer and the Standard is His Cross. "Bearing His own Cross He went forth" (St. John xix. 17). He is the "sign which shall be contradicted" by His enemies (St. Luke ii. 34), but when the sign of the Son of Man shall appear in the Heavens (St. Matt. xxiv. 30) it will bring joy and hope to the hearts of all those who love His Coming (2 Tim. iv. 8). "My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands," or according to another translation: "My beloved is white and ruddy a Standard bearer" (Cant. v. 10 A. V. Margin), chosen for His strength as well as for His beauty. To Him shall the nations make supplication, for He said: "I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all things to Myself" (St. John xii. 32).

There are only two standards in the world – that of Jesus Christ and that of the devil. Both leaders want me to enlist; both are trying to win me; but by what different means! The devil strives to entrap me with the silken threads of sin which seem so insignificant and harmless, but which if I allow myself to be trapped by them, he will twine into a thick rope and hold me fast; while Jesus draws me to Himself with the cords of love. Both are infinitely more powerful than I am, and yet all depends on me, that is, on my will. The cords of love are far stronger than the cords of hate, so I need not be afraid of the devil's capturing me against my will; but on the other hand Jesus will not draw me with the cords of love against my will. "If thou wilt, … come," is His method. There are chains, there is a cross, but all is love. A little Child holds the Standard, a little Child leads, and all He asks is that we should follow Him and do as He does.

Come, then, little Jesus, set up Thy Royal Standard, come, tarry no longer. I am longing to show Thee that I am not going to be a soldier in name only; longing to show Thee that I understand that a soldier who has pledged himself to fight under Thy Standard must adopt Thy methods, that if I would be a soldier on whom Thou canst count, I must be really mortified, really poor, really ready to give up my own will and my own methods, really anxious to have humiliations because I know that there is no other way of attaining the beautiful virtue of humility. I am longing to show Thee that I understand that those who march under Thy Standard must be marked by the Cross. Oh! come, and set me free from all that keeps me from offering myself whole-heartedly for Thy service. Come and cut all the many little cords that still bind me to the service of self. Thy Mother wants Thee, the Angels are longing to look upon Thy Face, the world wants Thee though it knows it not, and I am longing to want Thee too. Oh! teach me to want Thee more.

Colloquy with the Branch and the Flower.

Resolution. To examine myself to-day as to my attachments.

Spiritual Bouquet. "Come and set us free, tarry now no longer."

O CLAVIS DAVID!

December 20th.

"O Key of David and Sceptre of the House of Israel! Who openest and no man shutteth; Who shuttest and no man openeth; come and bring forth from his prison-house the captive sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death."

(Isaias xxii. 22, Apoc. iii. 7, Gen. xlix. 10, Heb. i. 8).

1st. Prelude. The little King with the Key and the Sceptre.

2nd. Prelude. Grace to respond to the Key and the Sceptre.

Point I. The Key of David

"I will lay the Key of the House of David upon His shoulder" (Is. xxii. 22). "To the Angel of the Church of Philadelphia write: These things saith the Holy One and the True One, He that hath the Key of David, He that openeth and no man shutteth, shutteth and no man openeth: I know thy works. Behold I have given before thee a door opened which no man can shut, because thou hast a little strength." (Apoc. iii. 7-8).

The Babe unborn has already had the Key laid upon His Shoulder. He already has authority. Soon, very soon now, He will come to use it. How will He use this Key and what is it? It is the Key of authority but it is also the Key of love. (1) He is coming to unlock the gates which hold the human race fast in ignorance and sin, to be its Redeemer, to give it "a door opened which no man can shut," to give it a chance if it will of walking out of its prison-house into the liberty wherewith Christ alone can make it free (Gal. iv. 31). (2) He is coming to put His golden Key of love into the hearts of men, to open those doors which are shut against Him and which none but He can open, for none but He can give grace. Each little child whose heart is filled with grace at its Baptism is only able to receive it because the little Child with the golden Key has opened its heart. "Thou hast opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers." Come, then, O Key of David, come and begin Thy blessed work on earth. Thou hast already put Thy magic Key into the heart of St. John the Baptist and doubtless of many another; come and tarry not, come and found Thy Church and pass on the wondrous power of the keys to those with whom Thou wilt leave Thy authority. (3) He is coming to open with His Key of love His own most Sacred Heart. None but He can open that vast treasure-house of love, and none but He can shut it. It will be there for a refuge for all His children in all time – a standing memorial of His love. What does He ask in return? Only that when we hear Him put His golden Key into our hearts, there may be a response: "My Beloved put His Hand through the key-hole and my heart was moved at His touch. I arose up to open to my Beloved" (Cant. v. 4-5). The rising up to let Him in is our part, He puts in His Key and unlocks, that is, He removes all obstacles by His grace, but we must respond to that grace for though He has unlocked the door He will not force an entrance. "Behold I stand at the door and knock," and then He waits, waits for our correspondence and for our love. "My son, give Me thy heart," He wants it, He has used His Key of love to obtain it, but He will not take it, it must be a free gift of love.