The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1872-03-24

originally wrapped the frail creature of His
hand. 1914. ....- =.
Read that opening and its sequel, in the
What o scene! What o dialogue and what q
con clusion!" On one side the angel of God
announcing the intentions Of supernal mercy {;
on tho other, Mary. IN her Virgin shrinking:
incarnation and communicating, by one act of
obedient humility, the eternal destinies of the
world. She yields to the message with q
lowliness ofbearing, with sobriety of speech,
which leaves room for no other. feeling than
an overpo wering sense of the immensely of the
mystery, all in all sufficient for itself and for
the end for which it was mercifully devised.
Look ut the picture from the sacred limners
hand. "In the sixth month This is the
sixth month Of Elizabeth, her precursors
pregnancy: This sixth month, the divinely
Word, in Mary's womb. falling on the 25th of
March, marks 1.-THE fulness Of days." SO often
alluded to in the older Scriptures, as the ma
Patriarehs-of the predictions of the Prophets
and of the very starting points of the Supreme
law of redeeming Grace.
We have just alluded to the fore-speech of
look to the nt:erances of one of Gods seers.
The prophecies Of His word through the lips of
Daniel bear character of historic precision
and chronological certainty, They utter the
Empires-the coming, the death and the reign
of Christ. The prophets vision of the Z" Son
of Man., whom Incarnation, through the
strikingly peculiar. That foresh allowed mys-
terry was revealed to him through Gods mes
senger, the angel Gabriel.
And now, who is the messenger to the hum
BILE Virgin of Nazareth The same Gabriel,
the messenger of prophesy to Daniel, who is
commissioned as the messenger of fulflment to
Mary. He came to announce the coming and
Man," whose glorious vision he had explained,
fully five hundred years BEFORE to the prophet
Daniel while, by the continuance of his office,
be reveals to us the continu alton of the promise
human centuries.
His mission, however, goes far beyond the
duty, which might, naturally, be supposed to
be assigned to him. He proves, even against
the reluctance Of unbelief, out of what pre-
>yious and inscrutable counsels was directed
the message which he bore in accomplishment
of the>promise made to Daniel in his vision.
Follow t6e<anrel of the latter day and see
whittier the angel flight is winged. Is it to
Rome, the all-conquering and all-victoriousf
Is it to Athens, the ali-learned and all-wisei
Is it to Babylon, the all-haugbty and all-proudf
ple-crownedf Otherwise is that flight directed
directed to an obscure corner of Ga}ilee-
directed to an humble village, called Nazareth
Nazareth, whose name WAS at once q proverb
and scoff.
But in yon humble Nazareth, there is a
lowly roof, which shelters the boarded treas
ures of heaven, the joyful promise to earth,
aud under that lowly roof, you find o Virgin
with more grandeur, wisdom and power than
were in Athens and Rome and Babylon.
Virgin, whether among the races of men, or
the choirs of angels, from whom the eternal
light was to radiate over the world, and that
"Virgn's name was Nary! To her was the
angel Gabriel sent from God, and there, in
that lowly hovel. unknown to the pretended
wise, the mystery was announced, the Annun-
citation of which was, in a perishing world,
the my stery which was to renew the face of the
earth.
Six months before, the same messenger, sent
to Zachariah, the High Priest of God, in the
very act of offering incense and prayer, adj
dresses him in words of authority and COM
tween the cir ;umstances and the individuals
To Zachariah he says: +" am Gabriel, who
stand before God, and am sent to speak to thee
and to bring thee these tidings; and, behold.
beliered my cords, which shall be fulfilled in
their time"
This, certainly, is an authoritative language,
if any such ever was used-the language of
ambassador of God to man, even a man invest
ed with the dignity of the priesthood: The
same superiority-the same authority-is con-
veyed in the statement of the same angels in
terview with the prophet Daniels 4" Gabriel
came" says the prophet" and stood where
stood and when he was come, IJeH on my face
trembling"
Now We have the Identical messenger of
heaven, not to prophet-not to High Priest
in the holy livery of the Lord; but to q lowly
maiden, commended by no known attribute to
the regard of mountaineering her in the
words of that salutation, the imperishable
formula which pays to her merits the homage
of two worlds: 'Hail Mary, full of grace the
Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among
women" Now mark the contrast. Though
humble in spirit, there is no prostration of the
Virgin, before the angel such as marked his
meeting with the prophet of God. The hon.
age and inclination came, on the contrary:
of command, but of honor and all but adora-
ton. 1t is not easy to decide which is the
supernal essence--whether Mary or Gabriel
Aud this indeed, because if the angels is a
virgin nature, the Virgin Mary also is an
angel. But Mary is not only an angel in the
body; she is also the Queen Of angels as the
mother-elect of the Son Of God. Hence
Gabriels language is not that addressed to
subject and, not even to an equal but the lam
guage really due to one, made Queen by the
GROWING OF Gods hand.
He, therefore, meets her as an ambassador to
a Power, in which he sees the reflex of the
Power, which has sent him. So long as
human language carries positive meaning
and conveys an obvious sense; none other can
ever attach, or be made to attach, to the words