Mary, birthgiver of God
Categories: hymns
Date: 19 December 2004 20:15:11
| O Virgo virginum, quomodo fiet istud? Quia nec primam similem visa es nec habere sequentem. Filiae Ierusalem, quid me admiramini? Divinum est mysterium hoc quod cernitis. | O Virgin of virgins, how shall this be? For neither before was any like thee, nor shall there be after. Daughters of Jerusalem, why marvel ye at me? That which ye behold is a divine mystery. |
That which ye behold is a divine mystery.
What more can be said? That God would condescend to become man is mystery indeed; that a virgin could contain God Himself and not be consumed, as with the Burning Bush (Exodus 3), is yet another ineffable mystery. The Burning Bush has been seen by the Church as a prefiguration of the Virgin Mary in God's plan: she contained in her womb Jesus Christ, fully man and fully God -- who is a consuming fire -- and was not consumed herself.
Mary's faithfulness and obedience to God in all things causes me to examine how faithful and obedient I am. Her faith and obedience is made clear in her response to the Archangel Gabriel's message that she had found favour with God and would give birth to the Son of God: "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38). May that be my cry as well.
The time of our salvation is here! The promises made to those in the Old Testament have reached their fulfilment: Christ is born of the Virgin Mary and our redemption is at hand! And as Mary bore Christ in her womb physically, the door has been opened to us to have the great privilege of bearing God within us spiritually. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!
| Tempus ad est gratiae hoc quod optabamus Carmina laetitiae devote redamus! Gaudete, gaudete Christus est natus | The time of grace is here, that which we desire Let us recite with devotion a song of joy! Rejoice, rejoice, Christ is born |
| Anonymous, 16th Century | |