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| Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
*SERMONS OF ST. BERNARD ON ADVENT & CHRISTMAS
Compiled and translated at St. Mary s Convent. R. & T. WASHBOURNE, LTD., LONDON MANCHESTER, GLASGOW, NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO 1909
Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt. Tecum tutus semper sum.
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
“But Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?”
At first she kept a prudent silence, for she was in doubt what this salutation might be, and she preferred in humility to give no answer rather than risk speaking of what she did not understand. Now, however, she was strengthened and prepared, for while the angel spoke externally God disposed her heart, for the Lord was present with her when the angel said, “The Lord is with thee.” Thus animated to cast out fear by a spirit of faith, she said to the angel: “How shall this be done, for I know not man?” She doubts not the fact, but only inquires about the manner of its accomplishment. She says not “Will it be done?” but “How will this be done?” As if she would say: “Since my Lord knows, and my conscience bears me witness, that His handmaid has made a vow to know no man, by what law shall it please Him to work this wonder? If I must break my vow that I may bring forth such a Son, I rejoice on account of the Son, but I grieve because of my vow. Nevertheless, His will be done.
If, however, as a Virgin I may bring forth this Son—and it is not impossible if He so will it—then I shall know that He hath had regard to the humility of His handmaid. How, then, shall this be done, for I know not man?” “And the angel, answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee.” It had been said before that she was full of grace; how is it now said: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee”?
“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee”
Could she be filled with grace and not possess the Holy Spirit, the giver of all grace? And if He is already in her, how is it promised that He shall come upon her in some new way? Was it not to explain this to us that the angel said not merely “in thee,” but also “upon thee”? For the Holy Spirit was in her before His coming by an abundant grace; now it is declared that He will come upon her by the fullness of the more abundant grace which He will pour out upon her. But how will she be able to receive a fresh infusion of Divine grace when she is already full of grace? And if she can receive more, how are we to understand that she is already full of grace? Was it that hitherto grace had only filled her mind and soul, and that the new infusion of it was to penetrate her body, so that the plenitude of the Divinity which had hitherto dwelt in her spiritually—as He dwells in many of the saints—might begin to abide in her corporally as He has never dwelt in any other saint? Yes, this is what the angel reveals to us. “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee.”
“And therefore also the Holy One which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” That is to say, “Since it is not of man, but of the Holy Ghost, that you conceive, and since you conceive by the Power of the Most High, therefore what is born of thee is holy, and shall be called the Son of God.” In like manner, “He Who was born of the Father before all ages will also be called your Son. What was born of the Father shall be thine; what shall be born of thee shall be His; yet there will not be two Sons, but one Son,” and “therefore the Holy One that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”
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