Ortus Christi Part 13

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 G.o.d.

_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 wors.h.i.+p. 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 pa.s.sing 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 G.o.d. 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d-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 G.o.d 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, G.o.d 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. "_Rub.u.m quem viderat Moyses incombustum conservatam agnovimus tuam laudabilem virginitatem_; _Dei genitrix intercede pro n.o.bis._" In the bush which Moses saw unconsumed, we acknowledge thy admirable virginity preserved: intercede for us, O Mother of G.o.d. (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 G.o.d? The Word is silent yet. Could He speak, we should hear the same words as Moses heard, for the Heart of G.o.d 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 Fort.i.tude, the Spirit of Knowledge and of G.o.dliness; 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d_" (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 G.o.d, 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 _G.o.d_" and could understand all mysteries. By the gift of _Understanding_ He knew and entered into all G.o.d'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 _Fort.i.tude_ 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 G.o.d He had created. The gift of _Piety_ established that tender relations.h.i.+p between Him and His Father which He wished us to have when He taught us to say: _Our Father_; it included also His perfect relations.h.i.+p with His Mother and St. Joseph. The gift of _Fear_ gave Him as Man a reverence and respect for the majesty of G.o.d. (_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).