Filed under: Advent, Incarnation, Mother of the Lord, Prayer, Unborn Jesus
FIFTH STATION
Mary was living her life according to God’s Divine Timetable. It was soon time for her to return to Nazareth and begin a new chapter in her life as God’s “handmaid”. She travels the road alone, but with God. God has a Plan, Mary has a purpose. God leads and she follows.
A MORNING OFFERING
Lord I have proven so many times that my sense of timing and my plans are inept and shallow. I prefer Your Plan for my day God. Help me to travel the road, the hallway, each twist and turn with You unseen at my side Lord. For without You I can do nothing, but with You all things are possible.
Mary in the House of Elizabeth , Robert Anning Bell 1863-1933
FOURTH STATION
…We know nothing of what went on during those three months, but we may presume that things continued as they began. It is not likely that Elizabeth said her ‘Ave’ only once, and only once spoke of the honour she considered it to have the Mother of God in her house. It is not likely that the unborn Forerunner never again saluted His Master, in Whose presence he so continually was. It is impossible to conceive that Mary sang God’s praises and her own unworthiness no more during those three months. And what about Jesus ? These were the first three months of His life on earth, and grace was surely going out from Him to His Blessed Mother first, and then to all who knew the secret. ” From Mater Christi : meditations on Our Lady(1920). Mother St. Paul
A MORNING OFFERING
O My Jesus, the Season of Advent is a special time of preparation. Help me to prepare for Your birth today as Mary, Elizabeth, Zechariah and John prepared for Your birth. May I salute You often today with the joy of John the Baptist, may I recognize Your hidden presence as Elizabeth recognized Your presence, may I sing joyfully to You as Mary sang to You and may I offer my sufferings to You in reparation for my sins as Zechariah did during his time of penance.
Filed under: Advent, Incarnation, Mother of the Lord, Prayer, Unborn Jesus
Mary and Elisabeth Meet Zachariah
Lorenzo and Jacopo Salimbeni about 1416
FOURTH STATION
How can we fail to see that the hidden protagonist in the meeting between the young Mary and the by-then elderly Elizabeth is Jesus? Mary bears him in her womb as in a sacred tabernacle and offers him as the greatest gift to Zechariah, to Elizabeth, his wife, and also to the infant developing in her womb. BENEDICT XVI 31 May 2006
Truly the great works of God, the great mysteries of God come to pass in hiddenness, in the house of Zechariah. The whole Church will constantly recall them and will repeat with Elizabeth: “Blessed is she who believed”, and, together with Mary, the Church will sing the Magnificat. JOHN PAUL II 12 June 1999
A MORNING OFFERING
O My Jesus, show me how to follow your hidden example in the womb. You brought joy, love, light and reconciliation to Zechariah and Elizabeth’s house in the ordinary and unnoticed event of Mary’s visit. Help me as I go about my day today to find small hidden ways to bring you to others.
FOURTH STATION
God provided for the needs of Mary, Elizabeth, Zechariah and John during this three month visit. It was a time of prayer and meditation and religious reflection. They were all stronger afterwards and better prepared for the road ahead.
A MORNING OFFERING
Give me strength and courage to live my life well today Lord. I want to cooperate with other members of Your Mystical Body and do Your Will. Lord, remind me appropriately, to take three seconds to pray whenever I get a chance. Because I am so weak Lord, I ask You for times today for prayer and strengthening through Your Holy Spirit. I rely entirely upon You my God.
Aus dem Wonnentaler Graduale:
Jesus segnet Johannes
THIRD STATION
“It is not an accident, I think, that in the Scriptures the first person, after Mary, who adored Jesus when he came into the world was St. John the Baptist…The second person who ever worshipped Jesus after Mary was an unborn baby and I think God made it that way to tell us in our day and age the worth and importance of every individual right from the very beginning of life.” Bishop Vaughan “The Catholic Duty to be Pro-Life”
A MORNING OFFERING
O My Jesus, I offer you my day! Help me to listen to those around me and to greet them with love and respect. Help me to learn and pass on the lesson of the Visitation that each person no matter how insignificant they might seem is important to You.
STRUEB, Hans and/or Jakob
The Visitation c. 1505 Museo Thyssen – Spain
THIRD STATION
“John was “filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb” by Christ himself, whom the Virgin Mary had just conceived by the Holy Spirit. Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth thus became a visit from God to his people.” Catechism of the Catholic Church (717)
Heimsuchung; Papiermaché; Schwaben um 1440
Bayerisches Nationalmuseum München
THIRD STATION
When Mary met Elizabeth and the unborn Christ met the unborn prophet, there was Joy, Joy and more Joy! They praised God!
They enjoyed the Presence of the Lord and recounted the deeds of the Lord. They were optimistic about what God intended.
A MORNING OFFERING
Even though Your plans and Your deeds are often unseen or unnoticed, just like the unborn Christ was invisible to the human eye, yet God You are lovingly active. I believe Lord, help my unbelief. Help me to appreciate Your good works today and to be part of Your good plans for this day. Lord, please grant me the gift of Christian Joy each day.
Madonna del parto, Nardo di Cione, Florence, San Lorenzo: 1365
SECOND STATION
“The Word was in Mary’s womb. He inspired His Mother to visit Elizabeth; Mary carried to John his Master and King. John could not come, for his mother was too old to undertake that journey; Jesus Christ went to him. He did the same for us: we could not go to God; God came to us.”
St. Peter Julian Eymard
A MORNING OFFERING
Oh Holy Spirit, please fill with with Your love today. Help me to listen to Your inspirations as Mary did when she was inspired to go and visit Elizabeth. Show me how to bring the joy, love and presence of Jesus to those around me this Advent season.
SECOND STATION
In the Visitation episode, St Luke shows how the grace of the Incarnation, after filling Mary, brings salvation and joy to Elizabeth’s house. The Saviour of men, carried in his Mother’s womb, pours out the Holy Spirit, revealing himself from the very start of his coming into the world…. St Luke also seems to invite us to see Mary as the first “evangelist”, who spreads the “good news”, initiating the missionary journeys of her divine Son. Pope John Paul II, General Audience, , October 2, 1996
A MORNING OFFERING
O My Jesus, make me aware that everywhere I go today you are with me. Just as Mary went to visit Elizabeth to be of service. Help me to be of service to those around me. Mary brought You to John, Elizabeth and Zachariah, may I bring You to my family, neighbors, co-workers and everyone I meet today.
SECOND STATION
Mary set out at once to do the Will of God and to visit Elizabeth. In contrast to Eve, who offered a forbidden fruit to her neighbor, Mary will offer the fruit of her womb which is the fruit of God’s love to her neighbor.
A MORNING OFFERING
Dear Savior, Redeemer, Hope of humanity, thank You for coming into our world seeking us out so as to love us all the more. Help me today to follow the example of Mary the first Christian and to bring the fruit of Your Love and Truth to my neighbors. I desire only Your Will today Lord, nothing else.
FIRST STATION
St. Philip asked Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied,”
Jesus answered, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” ( Jn 14: 8-9).
The humanity of Jesus in all its aspects, even those that are apparently humblest and least important, is for us an immense space for communion with God. Every aspect of his humanity, each of his characteristics, even the smallest and most hidden, each of his words, deeds, and gestures, every stage of his life from his conception in Mary’s womb to his Ascension, brings us into communion with God the Father…
By exploring his humanity like a piece of land that belongs to us…we grow steadily in communion with the inaccessible, unfathomable mystery of God. (Excerpt from Time for God by Fr. Jacques Philippe )
A MORNING OFFERING
O Lord, I offer You this day. During this Advent, give me a love for the mystery of Your Incarnation. I praise You for your time in the womb and offer my day today in reparation for the sins against the unborn of our world. Amen
Umbert the Unborn – The Greatest Moment in Unborn History (Click on Picture to see full view)
FIRST STATION
“Creation is thus completed by the Incarnation and since that moment is permeated by the powers of the Redemption, powers which fill humanity and all creation.” (John Paul II # 52 The Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church and the World)
A MORNING OFFERING
O Lord, This new day of Advent I offer you my day. Renew my hope in your power to change the world. Help me to look for moments of grace throughout the day. The grace of your Incarnation that permeates Creation with the power to transform the world.
FIRST STATION
The Archangel Gabriel proclaimed God’s intention of renewing the face of the earth and the hearts of humankind by God Himself becoming Incarnate; one with humanity. Mary was in complete accord and said “Yes” to God. A new creation began as the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary.
A MORNING OFFERING
My Lord and My God, as this new day begins I wish to say “Yes” to You also. Help me Lord to live every day, all day in union with You; especially today! I offer my heart, body, mind and soul to You God entirely. May Your Will be done in my life today.
Our Lady of Bogenberg in Bavaria, Germany
There is a wonderful tradition in Christendom of beginning each day by offering oneself and one’s day to God. It has been called by some ‘morning devotions’ or more frequently in Catholicism a ‘morning offering’. One of the traditional morning offering prayers is that promoted by the Apostleship of Prayer.
The morning offering is a great way to start each day. I know when I make this offering as I begin my day I am often mindful of the offering Christ made to His Father, from Mary’s womb, as He entered the world:
“Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired;
but a body have you prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, Lo, I have come to do your will, O God.”
(Hebrews 10:5-7)
Pope Paul VI called this “…the fundamental offering that the Incarnate Word made to the Father when He entered the world (cf. Heb. 10:5-7).”Marialis Cultus, #20
For Advent 2011 we are featuring our 9 Day Stations of the Incarnation, designed as a rapid reflection and morning offering. Each day focuses on one event in the succession of events from the Annunciation/Incarnation to the Nativity.
Photo by Lennart Nilsson
“Behold, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle, or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice.” Song of Songs 2:8-9
In this final trimester of growth within His mother’s womb, Unborn Jesus is dramatically growing in size; a tripling in weight and a doubling in length. More sleeping and less leaping. This sanctuary of Mary’s womb is closing in on Him as He grows in size. He is content, but as the weeks and months go by He will become lovingly restless for the world awaiting Him.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, initially within His mother’s womb. Let’s consider for a moment the ‘face of God’; the face of Unborn Jesus. By 25 weeks gestation, the retinas of His eyes are developed, He has eyebrows and eyelashes and now His eyelids can open. He now has a mature face, with distinctive features, and recognizable expressions reflecting in part His experiences even here in the womb, even now before birth. Dark hair is growing on His head. Even here and now, like His ancestor David, He “was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome” (I Sam 16:12).
“Thou hast said, ‘Seek ye my face.’
My heart says to thee,
‘Thy face, Lord, do I seek.’
Hide not thy face from me.” Psalm 27.8-9
The physiological bonding between Mother and Unborn Son is marvelously supplemented by behavioral bonding (for example, as Mary rubs her abdomen or repeatedly sings her favorite Psalms to God and her unborn child). But there is also a spiritual, redemptive bonding between Savior and Mother – which both would ponder in their hearts.
This pregnancy – like all pregnancies – gives glory to God and hope to humanity! But this pregnancy – unlike all others – will bring forth the only begotten Son of God!
Madonna and Child with two Votaries by Paolo Veneziano
“Behold, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle, or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice.” Song of Songs 2:8-9
We consider Unborn Jesus in the Virgin Mary’s womb during the second trimester of this Redemptive Pregnancy.
By the 14th week (of gestation) He has significant cerebellar control which is reflected in a variety of coordinated physical movements and facial expressions. Unborn Jesus clenches His fists, somersaults, rolls over and kicks. For he is like us in all things, but sin (cf. Heb 4:15). 4 1/3 to 4 2/3 inches in length and about 2 ¾ ounces in weight.
His wrinkled skin is still somewhat transparent and noticeably we see His heart vibrant and beating 120 – 160 beats per minute (around twice the adult heart rate). Thirty years hence Jesus will say: “Come to me…for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Mt 11:28-29). This miniscule heart, is even now pumping the Savior’s blood, which will wash away the sins of humanity. A tiny red tide of mercy.
By the 20th week of gestation, Unborn Jesus can hear conversations between Mary and Joseph (and others) – Joseph’s deeper voice is easier for Him to hear. He recognizes their voices. When Mary visits with Joseph while he is working at his carpenter’s trade, Unborn Jesus exhibits a ‘startle reflex’ when He hears loud hammer blows and other noises. (After birth He will grow accustomed to these familiar sounds.) And when Mary sings Psalms, He is comforted. “Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day” (Psalm 96:2). By the 22nd week of gestation, He is about 8 ½ inches in length and weighs about 1 ¼ pounds.
Straßburg, Frauenhaus-Museum, Zweifel-Joseph (Detail) Mary and Joseph before the Birth of Jesus.
Painting from Gemaldegalerie Berlin
As we approach Christmas – keeping in mind the pregnant Virgin Mary and her growing unborn baby – this is a good time to ask, “What does our little Savior look like?”
The Zygote Christ Child is a mere one cell and you can’t even see Him. This cornerstone cell of the Christ Child’s Body is a male human living cell with 46 chromosomes. Jesus at this one cell stage is literally bursting with Grace! This is “the grace of union”, when the Son of God assumed a human nature from His very conception, which St. Thomas Aquinas taught was the source of every other grace. He is One Cell and one with us.
The Blastocyst Christ Child at about one week development now consists of more than 100 cells; a one hundredfold blessing for humanity. He is implanted into the lining of Mary’s womb and is clearly focused on His Incarnation Mission.
The Embryonic Christ Child is between 1/12 to 1/6 of an inch in length (around 4 weeks gestation). He is “the least among us” but has the most to give! His primitive Sacred Heart is beating for love, a tempo that this world has never heard before, with a meaning that will take a life time to comprehend. (Memo to Mary: Your little baby has taken charge of this redemptive pregnancy already, sending chemical-hormonal messages from His body to yours – thank you Mary for passing on essential nutrients to your Embryonic Christ Child, you are building up His tiny body and preparing Him for His Redemptive Mission.)
The Fetus Christ Child (around 8 weeks gestation) is 1 ¼ to 1 2/3 inches in length and weighs about 1/3 ounce. He is not heavy, He is our brother, in solidarity with all unborn children, embracing our humanity in His body and Soul. In proportion to the rest of His rapidly growing body, Christ’s head and heart are very big; He knows us and loves us. His Sacred Heart beats at about 140 beats per minute.
As His First Trimester ends, Unborn Jesus shows extraordinary signs of typical growth for an unborn baby. All vital organs are fully formed, His hair is growing, you can count the fingers on His hand and His finger nails are growing too! See each ear taking on its final shape and the iris forming in His eye. “Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear; open thy eyes, O Lord, and see….”(Isaiah 37:17) In the buoyant liquid environment in which He grows, Unborn Jesus is showing not just a ‘walking reflex’ but vigorously stretches His limbs and can even be seen leaping.
“Behold, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle, or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands behind our wall,
gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice.” Song of Songs 2:8-9
Maestro Francesco, XIII century
Madonna Platytera fra tre santi , Venezia, Scuola di S.
UNBORN WORD of the day 