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.
Filed under: Biblical Reflections, Evangelium Vitae, Incarnation, The Incarnation, Unborn Jesus
Meister des Marienlebens Annunciation
Sometimes words such as ‘gift’ and ‘giving’ – like the word ‘love’ – seem over-used, employed too often and too superficially, thus inclined to have their true meaning and intent eroded. But to call the Incarnation a ‘gift from God’ is not only appropriate, it is almost understatement. Consider this observation by John Paul II:
“The conception and birth of Jesus Christ are in fact the greatest work accomplished by the Holy Spirit in the history of creation and salvation: the supreme grace – “the grace of union,” source of every other grace, as St. Thomas explains.” (# 50 The Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church and the World)
Here is a very rough paraphrase: The Incarnation of Jesus Christ is the supreme gift – given by God to humanity.
John Paul goes on to say of the Incarnation that it is the “source of every other grace” – and every other Divine gift. Later in the same document, John Paul elaborates on this concept further:
“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.” #52
As we approach Thanksgiving Day, we know that it is a day to thank God for His plenteous and overflowing gifts. What better place to begin our thanksgiving recollection than in Nazareth?
In the time of Christ there was a rather dismissive popular expression: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (Jn 1:46)
“Yes” we might respond, “All Good – ‘the supreme grace’ of God, the true ‘powers of the Redemption’ filling humanity to overflowing, ‘grace upon grace’, and enduring hope!”
Meister des Marienlebens Annunciation (Detail with Unborn Jesus)
Fragment of an altarpiece. Pregnant Mary in a blue dress with white cape in front of a red background. In Mary's womb the unborn baby Jesus is visible. Anonymous painter. c.1505 Swiss National Museum, Zurich
“From the Incarnation and birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the whole of history was transformed and humanity received the total answer to all its questions and aspirations. In the Child-God, Icon of the Father, all has been given to us. In him is revealed to us the totality of the mystery and the key to our own greatness and our sublime dignity as image of God.”
Johann Michael Rottmayr, Virgin Sewing, 1712, Mattsee, Stiftsmuseum – From the Mary Expectant with Child Exhibit, Dommuseum Zu Salzburg
“Yes, it certainly seemed that God wanted to give the world the impression that it is ordinary for Him to be born of a human creature. Well, that is a fact. God did mean it to be the ordinary thing, for it is His will that Christ shall be born in every human being’s life and not, as a rule, through extraordinary things, but through the ordinary daily life and the human love that people give to one another.”
The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander
Birth of Christ: St. Denis Basilica, Paris
“I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!” Luke 12:49
The Church celebrates three New Testament era pregnancies in her ancient Church calendar:
Mary: Her Conception – December 8th (The Immaculate Conception of Mary) Her Nativity – September 8th (nine months later)
John the Baptist: (His Gestation – May 31st; The Visitation) His Birth – June 24th
Jesus: His Conception – March 25th (The Annunciation) (His Gestation – May 31st; The Visitation) His Nativity – December 25th (Christmas; nine months later)
The dates are in large part symbolic, though marking actual historical events. We include here the feast day of the Visitation (twice) inasmuch as this feast day encapsulates many profound aspects of these two pregnancies; the two mothers and the two unborn/preborn babies. The Church even has two seasons honoring the pregnancy and birth of Jesus; Advent and Christmastide. Then, to top the whole pregnancy perspective off, there is even a feast day to celebrate ‘Mary Mother of God’ (January 1st). Taken together, these are Culture of Life days of celebration! (Note: Joseph’s fatherhood is also celebrated March 19th and Feast of the Holy Family; Sunday after Christmas.)
Capturing the sentiment in his Encyclical Letter on the Holy Spirit, Pope John Paul the Great says: “The conception and birth of Jesus Christ are in fact the greatest work accomplished by the Holy Spirit in the history of creation and salvation: the supreme grace – ‘the grace of union,’ source of every other grace, as St. Thomas explains.”
And yet, amidst all of this wondrous celebration and joy, there is the little matter of December 28th – the feast of The Holy Innocents….during which, in our modern time of Herodian vices run amok, we sadly recall the Gospel story of infant male massacre along with our present day horror of unborn male and female massacre.
In the spirit of the hidden (unborn) Infancy Gospel, in harmony with the above teaching of John Paul the Great, in the legacy of the Gospel of Life Encyclical, and in solidarity with all unborn children who have died or are at risk, we propose one more feast day relating to the pregnancy of Mary: a feast day of The Unborn Christ Child!
A Feast Day acknowledging boldly that Jesus Christ was a beautiful unborn baby – like other unborn babies – that the Unborn Christ Child is in complete solidarity with all unborn children as He fulfills the Will of God within the womb of His Mother, and that God loves all unborn children. A feast day of Hope and Expectation, honoring pregnant Mothers who, like Mary, strive to follow the Will of God with heroic virtue.
Let us know if you agree, and please share this idea with others!
An exciting piece of news is coming out of England. An advertising group called Church Ads is starting a campaign that will lead up to Christmas called Baby Scan Jesus. It is an ultra-sound picture of Unborn Jesus with the words, ‘He’s on His way: Christmas starts with Christ’.
Here are some links about this ad campaign:
Protestant Churches risk abortion row with ‘Jesus scan’ advert
Jesus Ultrasound Poster Fuels U.K. Abortion Uproar
This baby from England gives a thumbs up to this ad:
Unborn Baby Gives British Mom a Thumbs Up in Rare Ultrasound Picture
UNBORN WORD of the day 