Posted on 12/12/2005 8:43:23 AM PST by Salvation
December 12, 2005
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Psalm: Monday 1
Reading I
Zec 2:14-17
Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion!
See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.
Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,
and they shall be his people,
and he will dwell among you,
and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,
and he will again choose Jerusalem.
Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD!
For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling.
or
Rev 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab
God’s temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.
Then another sign appeared in the sky;
it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns,
and on its heads were seven diadems.
Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky
and hurled them down to the earth.
Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth,
to devour her child when she gave birth.
She gave birth to a son, a male child,
destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.
Her child was caught up to God and his throne.
The woman herself fled into the desert
where she had a place prepared by God.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed.”
Responsorial Psalm
Judith 13:18bcde, 19
R. (15:9d) You are the highest honor of our race.
Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God,
above all the women on earth;
and blessed be the LORD God,
the creator of heaven and earth.
R. You are the highest honor of our race.
Your deed of hope will never be forgotten
by those who tell of the might of God.
R. You are the highest honor of our race.
Gospel
Lk 1:26-38
The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.
or
Lk 1:39-47
Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Most blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”
And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”
| Lk 1:26-47 | ||
|---|---|---|
| # | Douay-Rheims | Vulgate |
| 26 | And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, | in mense autem sexto missus est angelus Gabrihel a Deo in civitatem Galilaeae cui nomen Nazareth |
| 27 | To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David: and the virgin's name was Mary. | ad virginem desponsatam viro cui nomen erat Ioseph de domo David et nomen virginis Maria |
| 28 | And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. | et ingressus angelus ad eam dixit have gratia plena Dominus tecum benedicta tu in mulieribus |
| 29 | Who having heard, was troubled at his saying and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. | quae cum vidisset turbata est in sermone eius et cogitabat qualis esset ista salutatio |
| 30 | And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. | et ait angelus ei ne timeas Maria invenisti enim gratiam apud Deum |
| 31 | Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus. | ecce concipies in utero et paries filium et vocabis nomen eius Iesum |
| 32 | He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. | hic erit magnus et Filius Altissimi vocabitur et dabit illi Dominus Deus sedem David patris eius |
| 33 | And of his kingdom there shall be no end. | et regnabit in domo Iacob in aeternum et regni eius non erit finis |
| 34 | And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man? | dixit autem Maria ad angelum quomodo fiet istud quoniam virum non cognosco |
| 35 | And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. | et respondens angelus dixit ei Spiritus Sanctus superveniet in te et virtus Altissimi obumbrabit tibi ideoque et quod nascetur sanctum vocabitur Filius Dei |
| 36 | And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren. | et ecce Elisabeth cognata tua et ipsa concepit filium in senecta sua et hic mensis est sextus illi quae vocatur sterilis |
| 37 | Because no word shall be impossible with God. | quia non erit inpossibile apud Deum omne verbum |
| 38 | And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. | dixit autem Maria ecce ancilla Domini fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum et discessit ab illa angelus |
| 39 | And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda. | exsurgens autem Maria in diebus illis abiit in montana cum festinatione in civitatem Iuda |
| 40 | And she entered into the house of Zachary and saluted Elizabeth. | et intravit in domum Zacchariae et salutavit Elisabeth |
| 41 | And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. | et factum est ut audivit salutationem Mariae Elisabeth exultavit infans in utero eius et repleta est Spiritu Sancto Elisabeth |
| 42 | And she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. | et exclamavit voce magna et dixit benedicta tu inter mulieres et benedictus fructus ventris tui |
| 43 | And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? | et unde hoc mihi ut veniat mater Domini mei ad me |
| 44 | For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. | ecce enim ut facta est vox salutationis tuae in auribus meis exultavit in gaudio infans in utero meo |
| 45 | And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord. | et beata quae credidit quoniam perficientur ea quae dicta sunt ei a Domino |
| 46 | And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. | et ait Maria magnificat anima mea Dominum |
| 47 | And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. | et exultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo |
(*) vv 32-33 breakdown differs.
That is beautiful.
The two saints are Saint Ansano - patron of Siena - and Saint Giulitta. Their figures are attributed to Martini's brother-in-law Lippo Memmi.
Absolutely stunning artwork! I can see how it was part of an altar.
Monday December 12, 2005 Our Lady of Guadalupe
Reading (Revelation 12:1-6) Gospel (St. Luke 1:39-47)
In the first reading today, we hear about this woman who is seen in heaven, who is the Ark of the Covenant of God, the woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars, and she is with child. It is the same woman of whom we hear in the Gospel reading, where Saint Elizabeth says to our Blessed Lady, Who am I, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Today, as we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Queen of the Americas, we have to ask that same question.
We have Our Lady coming to us in a form that most closely resembles what we hear in the Book of Revelation. She is standing on the moon, she is blocking the sun, she is arrayed in the stars, and she is clearly in the picture with child. Unlike any other appearance of our Blessed Lady throughout history, she has left us in this case the most glorious sign of her presence, a picture from heaven itself, the only picture that we have of our Blessed Mother. Everything else is some artist’s rendition of a pretty woman that he finds and tries to paint to suggest that this looks like Our Lady, and none of them even comes close. In fact, most of them are pretty gross disappointments, if we really want to be honest. But this one is entirely different. The simplicity that is present within this picture, and yet at the same time, the utter majesty that is present there, it captures something of our Blessed Lady that is not able to be captured by a human artist. It demonstrates the utter beauty that is there in this incredible woman, a beauty that is not something beheld by the eye, but a beauty that can only be beheld by the heart.
Our Lady, then, has come to us and remains with us. She appeared in the spot that is the geographic center of the Americas, north and south, east and west. The spot where she appeared is exactly right in the center from North America to South America. She appeared in a place where people did not know God, where they were sacrificing human beings to the sun and to the moon and to demons. This is where Our Lady appeared to call people to herself and to her Son, to bring them to Jesus through her. In this miraculous image that we have of our Blessed Lady, we have right here in the Americas a piece of heaven. Unfortunately, she is almost unknown to many people. The shrine at Guadalupe is actually the largest Marian shrine in the world. There are more people who visit Guadalupe than any other Marian shrine. We all hear about Lourdes and Fatima, but very few people around here, for some odd reason, seem to know about Guadalupe. But this is where Our Lady has come to us, and this is where she remains with us in a very profound and special way.
She is called by the Church the Queen of the Americas. So in a very particular way, the Church gives her to us as our queen and as our mother. Because of the situation, coming to stop human sacrifice as she did with the Aztec Indians, now she is asked to intercede to stop abortion in America, to stop the slaughter of innocent human life, innocent human life that is being offered to demons. As she intervened to stop this five hundred years ago or so, so now she is being asked once again to do the same.
The picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe is responsible for the single largest mass conversion in history. Over nine million people converted because of that picture. Because the Indians in Mexico at that time did not have writing, they drew in pictures; and so they told their stories in pictures. When they saw the picture of Our Lady, they recognized immediately all the symbolism that was there. They immediately rejected their false gods and their human sacrifice, and they turned to the one true living God.
That is what we need to pray to Our Lady to once again do in the Americas. As people are walking away from God and embracing all kinds of paganism, here we have the Queen of the Universe, the Mother of God, who has come to us to call us to her Son. If we will simply make her known and let people know about her, bring people to this miraculous image, she will then bring them to her Son. That is what we have to pray for, that people’s hearts will be touched and they will be converted. If this image is responsible for the conversion of millions and for the end to human slaughter then there is no reason why this cannot be the case again. She is our mother and she is our queen. She has come to call us to conversion of heart to her Son and to the end of human sacrifice. In America today, these are the two most important things: to get the hearts of people turned to Jesus Christ, and to stop the slaughter of innocent human life. We have the means at our disposal because the Mother of God has come to us. Now, just as they did in Mexico years ago–they brought this image out into the streets, they brought her to the towns and villages, and when they saw her they changed their hearts and they stopped the evil that they were doing–perhaps that is what we need to do once again, to bring this miraculous image of Our Lady out into the workplace, out into our homes, out into the neighborhoods. Perhaps when people see the mercy of God that has been extended, they too will have a change of heart and they too will cooperate in ending the slaughter of innocent human life.
* This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.
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Monday, December 12, 2005 Meditation Zechariah 2:14-17 I am the ever-virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the true God, from whom one lives. With these words spoken in the language of the Aztecs, a lady surrounded by brilliant light addressed an Aztec peasant named Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill, Mexico. It was December 1531, and Tepeyac was the site of an ancient temple dedicated to the “mother goddess” of the Aztecs. Mary told Juan Diego, a recent convert to Catholicism, that she wanted him to tell the local bishop to build a chapel to her there, where she would hear the cries of the people and “help their many sorrows, necessities, and misfortunes.” At first skeptical, Bishop Juan de Zumárraga sent Juan Diego to get proof of the lady’s identity. He was convinced of the authenticity of Mary’s appearance when Juan returned with two signs: Castilian roses, which normally don’t grow in December in Mexico, and a beautiful image of Mary miraculously imprinted on his cloak. This extraordinary event was indeed a divine visitation for the people of Latin America. As word of it spread, thousands of Indians came to believe in Jesus and accepted baptism. There was also a profound renewal of faith among the Catholic Spaniards in Mexico. Through Mary’s appearance and her image on Juan Diego’s cloak, God made himself known to a pagan people and touched off a great revival in a nation that had been steeped in idolatry and darkness. In every age, God’s heart has yearned for men and women to come to know him. His desire to bring people to his Son, Jesus, and the light of his truth is just as strong today as it was when Mary spoke to Juan Diego five centuries ago. And today God is still using wondrous means. He is still working through the Holy Spirit, Mary, the saints, and the most ordinary members of the church to reveal himself to us. In this present age when nations, even those of longstanding Christian traditions, are threatened by new forms of idolatry, let us ask Our Lady of Guadalupe to pray for us. And may we too proclaim the gospel through our own lives and actions! “Lord Jesus, use me as a vessel of your love. Help me to be open to the inspirations of your Spirit so that I can lead others to know you.” (Psalm) Judith 13:18-19; Luke 1:26-38 |
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