The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1869-09-05
NAtIsity o. the slsasea vl.aln. Z

and marked it, Hut what they we're ce1
has kept from us; and all we may safely
say is to repeat the solemn declaration ~
st, Anse1m, to which Benedict XIV. niyss
his full appreciation q conjecture that
the birth of Mary Was announced by mar.
mysterious forerunners were He alone
knows who had chosen Mary for His
Mother ere He brought her into existence.
1t suffices for us to know from the inspired
pages that "she came from the desert,
inundated with Delights" ascendit do de-
scrto deliciis afsuens. The meaning of these
words is she came either from q harraa
womb, or from a land barren and unfrnit-
full, desert-like, since it was condemned to
produce but thorns and briars.
Mary was born of mother hitherto
barren-nature, says St. John Demascene.
having had but feeble part in the forma.r
ton of being full of grace, and we'll
nigh absolutely the work of divine grace.
''Nnture preceded not divine grace but
Welded it, not daring to act first. but
timidly following This miracle was in
tended as q preparation for greater one.
viz: the fecundity of Mary's virginity.
The Church has celebrated the Nativity
of the Blessed Mother of God FOR nearly
twelve centuries. Some grave authors
relate that n pious solitary, hearing every
year on the 6th of September celestial
| hymns, finally suspected they meant some
hidden mystery. He prayed to God for an
explanation OF the same; and it was re-
vealed to him that it was the birthday Of
Mary the Mother of God; that, as the fes-
tival was kept i'll heaven, and that Mary was
J born mOrUfor men than angels, it ought to
be celebrated upon the earth. This fact was
brought to the know ledge of the Sovereign
Pontiff, and the feast was Immediately in.
| stituted.
Bossuet remarks, in one of his sermons
on the Nativity of Mary, that mems equal
! ity is absolute and perfect only in two
| points of their existence, ait the two ex-
treme ends-when they come into this
world, and when they leave it. Through
life industry may succeed in disturbing
that equality; vanity, ambition, will OBJ
tain misunderstanding, after all, death will
restore the equality with which life had
commenced All men are born of Adam,
and soon will return into the dust from
which they were made. Job spoke for all,
| when he said: NuduS cgressus sam deatere
nutris aefe ct nadns rerertar iitao.
In the death of saints, we find differ
ence. Death visits them alike with sim
ners; but the consequences are not the
same. Their death is not void of glory;
it is, in the language of the Church, their
real birthday: natatis dies. Their tomb Is
in fact the cradle of triumph.
But, however glorious their death may
be, we cannot honor their nativity upon
earth; for at that moment they were all
guilty and slaves of Satan. Three births
are to be excepted from this universal rule,
and each of them is honored by the Church
with particular feast; the first and most
holy Birth OF Jesus Christ, Which makes
the great solemnity of Christmas; that Of
John the Baptist, sanctified in his mothers
womb three months before his nativity; and
finally, that of the Holy Mother of Jesus.
Our readers will easily perceive how
much st. Johns nativity differs from that
of our Blessed Lady. The Church cele-
brates both the birth and death of the
Baptist; but his conception could never be
the object of feast; alone entirely among
the children Of Adam, and by privilege
which she shares with Jesus Himself, Mary
is holy in her precious death on the 18th of
August, in her joy-spreading nativity on
|, the 9Th of September, and In her immaea-
late Conception on the Sth OF December.
OF three solemnities that of her Nativity
is particularly ours.
Tho immaculate Conception may be
termed Mary's own festival; she enjoys 1t
alone, in her mothers womb, while she is
by it elevated above all saints. The AS
sumption is the feast of the angels IN
heaven, and in one sense brings tears to
our eyes; for on that day we lose the
sensible presence of "a most beloved
Mother. But her nativity il properly
speaking, the feast of the earth; for then
it is she was given us ,Sn sweet Daoe,
destined TO grow and live in our very
midst, to breathe the same air we breathe,
to walk on the same earth on which We
walk, to be enlightened and warmed by the
same rays of the sun which enlightens and
warns us all. Hence the sublime exclama-
ton of the Church "Thy Nativity, 9
Holy Mother of God, brings universal JOY
to mankind:" and Immediately the Church
'fGives the reason of that universal JOY
"for out of thee comes forth the Son O
. Justice, Christ our Lord, who, removing
r all maledictions and destroying death
gives us life everlasting"
Before the Virgin Mothers nativity, th'
world was literally buried in the daT , s;,
night of ignorance and infdeiity; God.
own people, the Jews themselves, walked
through the shades of figures and symbols
and types. Everywhere sin reigned an
l checked, and by it Satan held in ehain'
r men created after the image and likeness
. of God.
But the day of liberty and life is aP
: preaching. Look to the cast: behold tu'
G sweet and joyous aurora is already dawning
1T is the Ysrgin who comes forth as sol Sol,
light Quasi aurora cOnSaTgens. 10 yol
/. not 500 fha aarth thrilling with an unknOWt