A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture/II. Annunciation of the Birth of Christ
Chapter II.
ANNUNCIATION OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.
[Luke 1, 26 — 38. Mat. 1, 18 — 25.]
SIX months later, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a virgin living in a city of Galilee, called Nazareth [1] (Fig. 61 , p. 386). The virgin’s name was Mary[2], and she was espoused to a man called Joseph, and they both belonged to the house of David. The angel being come in[3], said to her: “Hail, full of grace[4], the Lord is with thee[5]; blessed art thou among women.”[6]
Mary, hearing these words, was disturbed and troubled, wondering what this strange salutation meant[7]. But the angel spoke again: “Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God [8]. Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus [9]. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give Him the throne of David His father [10]; and He shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.”[11]
Mary asked how this could be, seeing that she was a virgin[12]. The angel answered: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High[13] shall overshadow thee[14]. And therefore [15] also, the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age, because no word shall be impossible with God.”[16]
Then Mary said: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word!”[17] The angel, having thus delivered his message, and having obtained the consent of Mary, departed from her[18].
Joseph knew not yet that Mary was the chosen Mother of the Saviour, but an angel of the Lord appeared to him also in his sleep, and said: “Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary, thy wife, for That which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost. And thou shalt call His name Jesus[19], for He shall save His people from their sins.”
COMMENTARY.
The Incarnation of the Son of God (the third article of the Creed). The Son of God, who is also called “the Word”, became incarnate, i. e. flesh or man by the power of the Holy Ghost, being “conceived of the Holy Ghost”, i. e. having no human father — St. Joseph being only his foster-father or legal father [in the eyes of the law] — , and “born of Mary the most pure Virgin”. St. John (i, 18) says: “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” When the Son of God became man, He did not cease to be God, for that would have been quite impossible, but He assumed the human nature unto His Divine Person. There are, therefore, two natures in Jesus Christ, the divine nature and the human nature, but there is only one person in Him, the person of God the Son. Jesus Christ is therefore God and Man, the Son of God and the Son of David, the true Emmanuel, i. e. God with us.
Proof of our Lord's Divinity taken from the angel’s words. Firstly, Gabriel said that Jesus was the “Son of the Most High” and the “Son of God”. Secondly, he said that Jesus should “save His people from their sins”. Now, God alone can redeem from sin; therefore Jesus must be God.
Fulfilment of the prophecies. This chapter relates how those prophecies were fulfilled which foretold, firstly, that the Redeemer would be born of a virgin; and secondly, that He would be a descendant of David.
Mary co-operated in our salvation by giving her consent to become the Mother of the Saviour. The angel of the Lord was sent to Mary in order to procure this consent. The time had arrived, and the Son of God was ready to descend from heaven and become Man. It only remained for her, whom God the Father had chosen to be the Mother of His Son, to give her consent to be so. The angel of God therefore explained this great mystery, and waited for her answer, on which depended the salvation of the world. While meditating upon that decisive moment, St. Bernard uttered this prayer to Mary: “Now, O Virgin, thou hast heard what is to be, and how it is to be. Both mysteries are exceeding joyous and wonderful. But the angel awaits thine answer, for it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too, O Mary, our Queen, we who are weighed down by the divine sentence, we wait for thy speech, thy words of mercy. For behold, the price of our redemption is offered to thee; and as soon as thou dost accept it, we shall be saved. We were all created by the eternal word of God, and yet, behold, we die! But if thou wilt speak one little word, we shall live! Speak then, Oh, speak that decisive word. Adam and his unhappy children, banished from Paradise, beseech this of thee! David and all our holy fathers — thy fathers too — -beseech thee! The whole world, prostrate before thee, looks to thee and beseeches! On thy words depend the comfort of the afflicted, the deliverance of the condemned, the salvation of the children of Adam! Hesitate not, O Virgin! Speak, O Mary, that sweet word of consent, which we who are on the earth, and under the earth, now wait for!” Mary, as you know, did utter that decisive word of compliance: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word!” By these glorious and precious words she pronounced the longed-for consent. Our Redemption began from the moment in which Mary acknowledged herself to be the handmaid of the Lord, and became the Mother of God! It is therefore reasonable, just, and right that all Christians should honour Mary as the “cause of our joy”, in the words of her Litany, and should venerate her as the “Mother most pure”, through whom our Redeemer was given to us. The Feast of her Annunciation is kept on March 25th.
The Angelical Salutation (the Hail Mary). A pious writer (Ludolphus) says about this salutation: “Mark well: God the Father entrusted the angel with this salutation, sending it by him to the Virgin. Therefore, never can she be addressed in words more honourable, more pleasing, or more agreeable to her.”
The Angelus. Besides the Hail Mary, thrice repeated, the Angelus contains: 1. the message of the angel; 2. the consent of Mary; 3. the result of her consent, namely, the Incarnation of the Son of God. It therefore reminds us of the beginning of our Redemption and of the part Mary had in it. The words which it contains and which are repeated by us three times every day, are more important, more significant and more precious than any other words that human lips can utter, with the exception of the “Our Father”.
The virtues of Mary. The story we have just heard shows forth especially Mary’s faith, chastity, and humility. Firstly, the angel announced to her something stupendous, namely, that God was about to become Man, and that she, without losing her virginity, was to be His Mother: and Mary confidently believed what was told her. Secondly, she had made a vow of virginity, in the full persuasion that the state of virginity was a far higher one and far more pleasing to God than that of maternity. This being perfectly true, God combined the two in her case and gave her the glory of both states. Lastly, her humility has been shown forth. She was troubled by the angel’s respectful manner of salutation, and, in spite of all he had said, she still called herself the handmaid of the Lord. “God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble.” (James 4, 6.) Mary, in real humility, abased herself; therefore God raised her to the highest dignity.
Comparison between Eve and Mary. Eve was the mother of all mankind, according to the flesh: Mary is the spiritual mother of all the faithful. Both entered life without the stain of sin, and in a state of grace; but Eve lost grace, while Mary, on the contrary, preserved it and increased it by corresponding with it. Eve thoughtlessly allowed herself to be deceived by the devil, without asking herself whether it were a good or an evil spirit who spoke through the serpent; but Mary pondered, and asked herself whether the salutation of the angel came from God or not. Eve conversed with the devil, for the ruin of man: Mary with Gabriel, for the salvation of man. Eve sinned by unbelief: while Mary believed the wonderful message which God sent. Eve sinned by pride, wishing to be as God: Mary was humble, calling herself the handmaid of the Lord. Eve was disobedient to God: Mary gave herself over entirely to His will. Eve consented to sin: Mary to God’s will. Eve, by her pride, degraded herself, and brought sin and death on all mankind: Mary, by her humility, was herself exalted, and through her Divine Son gave grace and life to the world. As far as she could, Mary paid the debt owed by Eve to the human race. Eve was the mother of the curse: Mary of the blessing. She is the true mother of the living, the new and better Eve. These striking contrasts are, of course, the result not of accident, but of the action of the mysterious wisdom and counsel of God, and they teach us to value God’s merciful Providence.
Application. Do you say the Angelus regularly three times a day? Do you uncover your head when you hear the Angelus-bell ring? Always repeat the Hail Mary very devoutly. Salute our Lady with as much reverence as did the holy angel. And while you are saying the Angelus, meditate on Mary’s humility, and on the love of the Son of God who became Man for love of us.
- ↑ Nazareth. See Map.
- ↑ Mary. She was the only child of St. Joachim and St. Anne, and, according to tradition, was presented in the Temple at the age of three years, to be one of the holy virgins who served God there. She, like St. Joseph, was of the family of David. She was brought up and instructed in the Temple, and spent her youth there in prayer, spiritual reading, and manual work; and, later, she was espoused to St. Joseph. Most likely Mary was rapt in devotion, when the angel came to her. That she often and earnestly prayed to God to send the promised Saviour cannot be doubted.
- ↑ Come in. Into her room.
- ↑ Grace. Full of sanctifying grace, and therefore so holy that there is no sin in thee. According to the holy Fathers Mary received as much grace as human nature is capable of receiving.
- ↑ With thee. Because thou art full of grace, the Lord is in a special manner with thee and in thee.
- ↑ Among women. Thou art the most blessed of all women. She was, indeed, the woman chosen to tread on and crush the head of the infernal serpent.
- ↑ Strange salutation meant. Mary was not only troubled at the appearance of the angel, as Zachary had been, but also at the manner of his salutation. This salutation must indeed have been startling, for never before and never since has a human being been thus greeted by an angel. The great angel of God saluted the simple virgin as a servant might salute his mistress, or a subject his sovereign. This homage troubled her, and she asked herself what it could mean, and whether the words were really a message from God, or a deception of the devil [as in the case of Eve].
- ↑ Found grace with God. Namely, the quite singular grace of being, while yet a virgin, the Mother of the Redeemer, for whose coming thou hast so often prayed. Mary had, therefore, sought and found grace not only for herself, but for all mankind.
- ↑ Jesus . i. e. Saviour or Redeemer.
- ↑ His father. His mother being descended from David, her Divine Son was also, as far as His human nature went, a descendant of David, or, in other words, king David was a forefather of our Lord.
- ↑ No end. His kingdom will not come to an end as earthly kingdoms do, but will be an eternal and supernatural kingdom.
- ↑ A virgin. Mary did not, like Zachary, doubt that what the angel announced would come to pass, but she wondered how it could be brought about, for she had vowed to remain ever a virgin. Now, however, the angel explained to this chaste Virgin that she would become a mother and bear a son in a supernatural manner, by the operation of the Holy Ghost.
- ↑ The Most High. i. e. the Holy Ghost.
- ↑ Overshadow thee. As once the Ark of the Covenant was overshadowed by the pillar of cloud, so will you now be overshadowed by the Holy Ghost.
- ↑ And therefore . Because by the overshadowing the Son of God descends into the virgin’s womb, therefore he, who is born of her, is the true Son of God, and must be called the Son of God as well as the Son of Mary.
- ↑ Impossible with God. In order to strengthen Mary’s faith in the great mystery which he had just revealed to her, the angel announced to her that her cousin Elizabeth was likewise miraculously bearing a son in her old age. Therefore all things are possible with God.
- ↑ According to thy word. Mary believed and, full of faithful obedience, said: “God is the Lord. I am His handmaid and will do His will in all things. If it is, therefore, God’s will that I should have a son, I submit myself to His will. Be it done unto me according to thy word, that I shall have a son by the operation of the Holy Ghost!” By these words Mary gave her consent to be the Mother of the Redeemer.
- ↑ Departed from her. He disappeared, full of joy, for he had received an answer well-pleasing to God.
- ↑ Jesus. The name of Jesus was to be given to the Child, because He was, in truth, the Saviour and Redeemer. Joseph obeyed the divine command, and full of reverence took to himself the pure Virgin who was chosen to be the Mother of the Redeemer.