The Nativity

by FR KONRAD ZU LÖWENSTEIN

In the story of the Nativity, the Blessed Virgin “meditated all these things in her heart”. The Latin word “conferens”1 suggests a drawing of comparisons between the human and the Divine: the human in the birth of a child of a mother in the poorest and meanest of conditions, and the Divine in the Nativity of God, as announced by an Archangel, surrounded by a multitude of angels and heralded by the star, preceded by the conception of St John the Baptist, who leapt for joy in the womb of St Elizabeth as foretold for St Elizabeth and Zachariah. The signs of Divine intervention include the nature of the birth and the presence of ministering angels.

The conception and birth did not affect the virginal integrity of the Mother of God, who was perpetually a virgin, before, during, and after the birth; nor did the birth cause pain because no pains were inherited by Our Holy Mother, exempt as she was from all stain of original sin. However, Eve, the mother of death, gave birth in pain as punishment for her sin; no pain afflicted the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of Life, who gave birth in joy, free from all sin.

AT THE MOMENT OF BIRTH Our Lady revealed to St Bridget:

“He went forth from my closed virginal womb with unspeakable joy and exaltation... I brought him forth... kneeling alone in prayer in the stable.

For with such exaltation and gladness of soul did

I bear Him, that I felt no trouble nor any pain, but straightaway I wrapped Him in the clean clothing which I had long before prepared.” In the Angelic Discourse we read:

“Moreover when the Son of God was conceived, He entered, with His Divinity, into the whole body of the Virgin, so when He was born, with

His humanity and His Godhead, He was poured forth from her body, just as the fullest sweetness emerges from the heart of a rose, while the glory of virginity stayed in His Mother.” Where did Our Blessed Lord lie at His birth? Barradius asserts that, in His Divine humility, He lay on the ground. According to a tradition related by Ribadaneira, upon seeing Christ, the Blessed Virgin was struck with wonder at God made man and prostrated herself on the ground before Him, greeting Him with the deepest reverence and joy of heart with the words:

“Thou art come to me, who has longed for Thee, my God! my Lord! my Son!” – not doubting at all that she was understood by Him, Infant as He was, and thus she adored Him, kissing His feet as her God, His hands as Her lord, His face as her Son. Others are of the opinion that He was placed by angels in the arms of His Blessed Mother; others still, including St Bridget and Fr Cornelius a Lapide, hold that the Divine Infant raised Himself up through His own power into the arms of His most sweet Virgin Mother.

THE PRESENCE OF ANGELS On the presence of ministering angels, Fr Cornelius a Lapide properly remarks:

“If the stars of the morning praised God and all the heavenly beings (that is the Angels) rejoiced at the creation of the world as Job says (38:7), how much greater joy did they express at the moment of the Incarnation and Nativity of the

Word? Indeed, St Paul states (Heb.1:6): ‘When [the Father] brings forth His firstborn into the world, He says: And let all the angels of God worship Him.’” And we may readily imagine that, not only in the sky above the shepherds, permeated by a new and majestic divine light, but also in the very stable of Bethlehem, hosts of angels were in adoration.

As also commented by Fr Cornelius a Lapide: “All the angels accompanied Christ their Lord and God to earth, as all royal households accompany a King wherever he travels.” They were filled with wonder at the God who could not be measured, because reduced to conceivable dimensions in an immense light, and venerated Him and adored Him... And so it came to pass that the stable in Bethlehem had become the highest Heaven, replete with angels, cherubim and seraphim, who, leaving Heaven, had come down to adore their God made man, achieved through the Incarnation and Nativity of the Word, until that time unimaginable and entirely beyond the belief of angels. This was the supreme and gracious work of the Divine Power, Wisdom, Justice and Clemency, beyond all the understanding of men and angels. And so Our Lady, in her maidenly silence and modesty, her heavenly prudence, her strong Faith and Hope, contemplated all these things, both human and Divine, drawing comparisons between the signs of deepest lowliness which she saw, with what she knew of God's Supreme Majesty: the stable, with heaven; the wondrous swaddling clothes in which He Himself was covered, who was “wrapped in light as with a garment” (Psalm 104); the crib, with the throne of the Most High; the beasts, with the seraphim: seeing in them all a wondrous harmony such as to confirm her faith that it was the only begotten Son of God Himself Who was born of her, Who would, in the course of time, unfold and bring to consummation the mysteries in the Redemption of the world.

THE HEART OF HUMANITY And just as the Revelation of God as an Infant Child arouses wonder in the angels at this sublime novelty, so it raises the hearts of mankind, and above all of Our Blessed Lady, to adore the Godhead, as the Church sings in the Preface of the Nativity:

“Because by the mystery of the Incarnate Word, a new effulgence of Thy glory shone upon the eyes of our soul so that, when we came to know

God visibly, we were enraptured by a yearning for things invisible.” And so Our Blessed Lady, all the angels and mankind rejoice together, and so we too rejoice together and thank God for coming to earth, out of love for us, so that we too might love Him as an Infant Child, as our God, our Redeemer, and our Infinite Good.

1. “Maria autem conservabat omnia verba haec conferens in corde suo.” - “But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)

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