SERMON IX
On The Annunciation of our Lady
How we must commune with God and commit ourselves
to Him; that we may conceive God and bear Him in our spirits, souls, and
bodies, after the example of the blessed Mother of God.
Ave, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, Benedicta tu in mulieribus.
"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among
women."[21]
This festival is one of great dignity, and shows
the eternal fervent love whereby the God of Gods and Lord of Lords, the Son of
God had compassion on us poor sinful and accursed brands of hell. When He was
in His Divine Glory, He "thought it not robbery," as St Paul says, "to be equal
with God; but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the
likeness of men, and in habit found as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming
obedient unto death, even to the death of the Cross."[22] None can speak enough of this love, nor praise God, nor
thank Him enough for it; for it is beyond the understanding of men and of
Angels that our Lord, our God and Supreme Judge, should become our Father, our
Brother, and our Husband. He has taken our guilt and condemnation upon Himself,
and has redeemed us by His bitter Death, and has made us the children of
everlasting life, and has brought us back to our first glory. Yea, and beyond,
for we have become like unto the Angels; and we now posses more righteousness
and are nearer akin unto God than the Archangels.
O, the goodness of God! Who can so withstand this
great love, that he does not love and praise Thee with all his powers? This
work of our redemption makes Thee dear to us above all things. It is a work
which has no like; humility unbounded, grace undeserved, a gift without return.
This work claims our love, draws our wills gently, and unites our desires
firmly and justly to Thee. But what can we give to Thee, dear Lord Jesus, in
return for all the great goodness that Thou hast shown to us? In return for my
destruction of the soul Thou gavest me by creation, Thou hast given it back to
me by redemption; so that I am doubly indebted to Thee, to give it wholly again
to Thee. But what can I return to Thee, dear Lord Jesus, for that Thou hast
given Thy Soul for mine? For, if I could give my soul again to Thee a thousand
times, how should I thereby be any the more like unto my Lord, Who gave Himself
even unto death for me?
Dear children, this great love can never be
repaid by us; but we must do our best, and give to Him again, on our own
account, all that we are, all that we have, and all that we can do; like His
dear Mother, the blessed Virgin, who did this most faithfully and most
perfectly. I will tell you something about this in a figure, that ye also may
become the mothers of our Lord in spirit, and that ye may commit yourselves
unto God, that he may be conceived and born in your souls.
Now, learn, how the blessed Virgin was prepared
when she should conceive the Son of God, though her holiness cannot be
perfectly comprehended even by the understanding of Angels. According to the
meaning of the letters of her name, Mary, she was raised up in the three
highest powers of her soul unto God, she became one spirit with God, and she
was taught by Him; for she resigned herself as a fitting instrument to His dear
Will, in fervent love for His glory. She was poor in spirit, and always bore
herself in God with deep humility and self-annihilation; for she had no
desires, no will, and was as passive, as though she were uncreated. And thus an
entrance was made for God into her spirit, soul and body. She was pure in
spirit, for she never clung with delight to the gifts of God, and did not use
them for her own pleasure. She was pure in soul, for she never delighted in any
creature, but her soul was adorned with all virtues. She was pure in heart and
body, for she was never moved to sin; and thus she was like unto the bright and
shining Angels. Although she was the most beautiful of all women, yet none
could look upon her with evil desires, because of her angelic purity. She was
fervent in spirit, for her sweet ecstasy and longing so moved the Divine
Godhead that the fervent love of the Holy Trinity welled forth and was poured
out upon her. She was fervent in soul, for all the powers of her soul were
always lifted up in the praise of God. She was fervent in heart, for her heart
was opened unto the Lord, and it penetrated with fervent longings the
incomprehensible depths of the Godhead; for she found there that which she most
loved; and, by her inner sweetness, she was well-pleasing unto the Almighty,
clinging to the Eternal Goodness by her love to fill her with all things and to
give her power over all that he had; for she lived not to herself but to Him
alone, Who is the Life of all living. From first to last all that she did was
done in God, and was full of a pure and godlike intention; for she was at all
times united with God, and never turned away for an instant from His Presence.
Therefore the likeness of no creature was ever found in her or had access to
her; for, with the Angels, she looked on all things simply in God; and found
God alone at all times in the depths and very being of her soul, in the
innermost parts of her spirit. Therefore she did not go forth with all her
powers to seek for greatness and variety, but at all times she abode simply
outside herself in God and God in her. Most perfectly and with all her powers
she meditated on the Source from Which she came. Poor, pure, fervent and
divine, she was more like a heavenly creature than an earthly one; in spirit
she was the Heaven of God; in her soul the Paradise of God; in her body the
Palace of God; and she was filled with the Divine Brightness, so that she
needed no mediator with God.
Now, ye shall know, further, that God desired to
be conceived and born of this Holy Virgin in three ways; that is in her spirit,
soul and body. She would not have been so blessed by the birth of the body
only, as St Augustine says, and as our Lord also implies in the Gospel, when He
answered: "Blessed are they who hear the Word of God and keep it."[23] Therefore she first conceived and bare God
in her spirit; for by her purity she was well-pleasing unto God; by her
lowliness she made a place for God; and by her love she constrained God, so
that He took up His abode in the depths of her spirit, in calm and absolute
freedom and silence. God united Himself with her spirit, and spake to her His
secret Word, and bare His only Son in her spirit with unspeakable love and joy.
This is the Eternal Birth in Mary; and the darkness of night in her spirit,
where the understanding is darkened. Where the uncreated light arises, no
created light can abide; for night is turned into day; that is, the created
light of the soul is transformed into the Light of Eternity. Thus Mary yielded
up her spirit to the uncreated Being of the Godhead, and her soul sank down in
deep humility.
Thereby she drew down the sweet stream and light
of Eternal Wisdom into her soul; and the Father begat His only Son in her soul,
and fashioned her anew in Himself. The Father required of her that she should
consent thereto that His only Son should take His Human Nature upon Himself in
her, and should be born of her in body, by the working of the Holy Ghost. She
was afraid in true humility, and answered Him in spirit with fear: "I am not
worthy, for I would gladly be the handmaid of such a mother." But God willed
that she herself should be the Mother; then she sank down in utter
self-abasement, and it was made known unto her that she had been chosen
thereto; God required this of her and not anything else. Then the Holy Trinity
shone upon her with a supernatural light and transparent clearness, and with a
ray or dart of Divine Love she was transfixed in the inmost parts, so that she
humbly and lovingly consented to be the Mother of God.
At the same instant the angel Gabriel stood by
her and found her exalted in spirit. He greeted her reverently, saying: "Hail,
full of grace, the Lord is with thee."[24]
She was troubled by this lofty greeting, because of her deep humility, and also
because she was entirely absorbed in God. Then, when she spake: "Behold the
handmaid of the Lord,"[25] the Holy Ghost
took of the purest blood of her virgin heart, that had been set alight by the
powerful flame of love, and created therewith a pure and perfect little Body,
with all its members, and a pure and holy Soul, and united them together. This,
the Person of the Son of God, who is the Eternal Word, and the Brightness of
the Glory of the Father, took unto Himself and united it with Himself in Unity
of Persons, and out of true love and mercy for our salvation. Thus, "the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us."
This is the third birth that took place in the
virgin body of Mary, without hurt to her virginal purity; and thus she became
the Daughter of the Father; the Mother of the Son; the Bride of the Holy Ghost;
the Queen of Heaven; the Mistress of the world and of all creatures; the Mother
of all men who desire her help; the Temple of God, wherein God has rested as a
Bridegroom in His chamber in great bliss; for the Virgin's body was as a garden
full of sweet-smelling herbs and of all kinds of virtues and graces. With these
virtues she caused the Heaven of the Holy Trinity to flow with honey for us
poor sinners. She has brought forth the Sun of Righteousness, she has chased
away the curse of Eve, and bruised the head of the wicked serpent. This second
Eve, with her Child, has restored all that the first Eve had lost and
destroyed; she has, besides, brought much more grace and wealth. This is the
noble Star which arose out of Jacob, which was prophesied in a Book of Moses,
whose light shall lighten the whole world. "Therefore," says Bernard, "in all
thy need, fix thine eyes on this Star, call on Mary, and then thou wilt not
despair, follow Mary and thou canst not go astray. She will hold thee up, by
the power of her Child, so that thou will not fall; she will protect thee, so
that thou wilt not despond; she will lead thee to her Child, so that thou
mayest overcome." She has the power, indeed; for the Almighty God is her Child;
she is indeed willing to do this, for she is merciful. For who can doubt that a
child would honour his mother, or that she overflows with love, in whom God
Himself has dwelt.
He, therefore, who desires to commune more and
more with himself; and to find himself in his Source, in God, and to be
conscious of God in his heart (which is conformed to God and inclines to Him,
and cleaves to God, as a ray to the sun) he must copy the likeness and the
bright mirror of our Lady, and comport himself as she did, both outwardly and
inwardly; then he will become conscious in himself of great help from her, both
in spirit and in nature. First, he must turn away from all transitory things,
and gather up the powers of his mind, and commune with himself, and pass over
out of self into God, Who is present within him, in the innermost parts of his
spirit, wherein are the three highest powers of the soul, that there he may be
united with and become one spirit with God; and there God will work in him. His
memory will be made fruitful, his understanding will be transfigured, his will
inflamed and inebriated with Divine Love. God Himself becomes the Food of his
spirit, the Life of his soul, and the Preserver and Guardian of his body.
Therefore at all times we ought to commune with the image or the ground of our
souls, where the three powers of our souls are one with God, that we may be
united with God, poor in spirit, soul and body, fervent, and communing with God
with all our powers, so that we may begin and end all our works with a pure
intention to the glory of God; for thus it was written beforetimes of the
blessed Mother of God. Thus we must remain empty, bare and dead to all around
us, that all the powers of our souls may continue in the place appointed for
them, and our wills, desires and intentions may be obedient to God in all
things, that God may work with us according to His dear will. Then man will be
lifted up in himself by God above all powers into the wilderness of the
Godhead, his spirit will sink deep in the Divine Union, and his whole being
will be saturated with the Divine Being, so that the Divine Birth will take
place without let or hindrance in our spirits, in our souls, and also
spiritually in our bodies, from the gifts which break forth and overflow from
soul and spirit into the body.
That we may now and later, receive blessings
through the intercession of the dear Mother of God, let us call on her with St
Bernard, who says: "Through thee must we find an entrance to thy Son, O blessed
finder of grace, bearer of life, mother of holiness, that He may receive us
through thee, Who was given to us through thee. Thy purity must exonerate the
guilt of our uncleanness in His sight, and thy humility, so pleasing unto God,
must win pardon for our vanity, thy overflowing love must cover the multitude
of our sins. Thy honourable fruitfulness gains for us the fruitfulness of they
merits. O, elect Lady, our mediator and intercessor, commend us to thy Son,
intercede for us with thy Son. Do thou see to it, O blessed one, by the grace
that thou hast found, the election that thou hast earned, and the mercy that
thou hast borne, that He Who condescended through thee to take our sicknesses
and our misery upon Him, may also by His intercession enable us to participate
in His glory and blessedness," Jesus Christ, Who with Father and the Holy Ghost
is blessed for ever. Amen.
[21] Luke i. 28.
[22] Plil. ii. 7,8.
[23] Luke xi. 28.
[24] Luke i. 28.
[25] Luke i. 38.