VIII — THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Presence of God. — O Mary, my Mother, teach me to live hidden with you in God’s shadow.

Meditation

1 — The liturgy celebrates Mary’s birth with enthusiasm and makes it one of the most beloved feasts of Marian devotion. “Your Nativity, O most blessed Mother of God,” sings today’s Office, “announced joy to the whole world; for from you has risen the Sun of justice, Christ our God.” Mary’s birth is the prelude to Jesus’ birth, because in it begins the realization of the great mystery of the Son of God made man for humanity’s salvation.

How could the birthday of the Redeemer’s Mother pass unnoticed by the heart of the redeemed? The Mother announces the Son; she says the Son is about to come, that the divine promises foretold for centuries are about to be fulfilled. Mary’s birth is the dawn of our Redemption. Her appearance projects a new light over all humanity: a light of innocence, purity, and grace, a splendid anticipation of the great light that will flood the earth when Christ appears, lux mundi.

Mary, preserved from sin by virtue of Christ’s merits, not only announces that Redemption is near, but bears in herself its first fruits: she, the first redeemed by her divine Son. And for her — all pure and full of grace — the Most Holy Trinity at last turns toward earth a gaze of delight, since at last it finds there a creature in whom its infinite beauty can be reflected.

After Jesus’ birth, no birth has been so honored and so important in God’s eyes, and so important for humanity’s good, as Mary’s. Yet this birth remains completely in the shadows. Sacred Scripture says nothing about it; and when in the Gospel we seek Jesus’ genealogy, we find only that referring to Joseph, while, apart from the mention of her Davidic descent, we find nothing explicit concerning Mary’s genealogy. Our Lady’s origins disappear into silence, just as her whole life disappeared into silence. Mary’s Nativity speaks to us of humility: the more we want to grow in God’s eyes, the more we must hide from creatures’ eyes; the more we want to do great things for God, the more we must work in silence and hiddenness.

2 — In the Gospel, Mary’s figure is almost completely hidden by that of her divine Son. The Evangelists tell us about her only what is necessary to present the Mother of the Redeemer; in fact, she enters the scene only when the account of the Incarnation begins. Mary’s life blends into and disappears within Jesus’ life. Mary truly lived hidden with Christ in God.

And note that she lived in the shadows not only in her childhood years, but also in the days of her divine motherhood, even in her Son’s moments of glory, even when a woman, filled with enthusiasm for Jesus’ marvelous works, raised her voice among the crowd crying out: “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts that You nursed!” (Lk. 11:27).

Let today’s Marian feast therefore be for us an invitation to hidden life: to hide ourselves with Mary in Christ and with Christ in God. Many times God Himself, through circumstances or superiors’ dispositions, takes care of making us live in the shadows. We should then be very grateful and use these occasions to progress ever more in humility and hiddenness.

At other times, the Lord may entrust us with tasks, offices, works of apostolate that place us somewhat in evidence. Well then, even in such circumstances we must seek to disappear as much as possible. We should certainly not refuse to act, but we must act in such a way that we know how to eclipse ourselves as soon as our word is no longer strictly necessary for the good success of the works entrusted to us. Everything else — praise, applause, recounting successes or defending failures — should not interest us; before these things our tactic must be to withdraw with holy freedom. A soul of interior life must have the anxiety to hide itself as much as possible under God’s shadow, because if it has been able to do any good, it is convinced everything was God’s work, and therefore with delicate care it seeks that everything redound solely to his glory.

May Mary’s humble and hidden life be the model of ours; and if, to imitate her, we must fight against pride’s ever-returning tendencies, let us confidently recur to her maternal help, and Mary will make us triumph over every vainglory.

Colloquy

“While in this world’s sea I feel myself tossed among storms and tempests, I keep my eyes fixed on you, O Mary, shining star, so as not to be swallowed by the waves.

“When the winds of temptation arise, when I strike the rocks of tribulation, I lift my eyes to you and invoke you, O Mary. When I am agitated by the waves of pride, ambition, detraction, jealousy, I lift my eyes to you and invoke you, O Mary. When anger, avarice, or the seductions of the flesh shake the frail little boat of my soul, I always look to you, O Mary. And if, troubled by the enormity of my sins, confounded by my conscience’s foulness, terrified by judgment’s severity, I felt myself dragged toward the chasm of sadness, toward the abyss of despair, still I would raise my eyes to you, always invoking you, O Mary!

“In dangers, in anguish, in perplexities, I shall always think of you, O Mary, always I shall invoke you. Do not depart, O Virgin, from my lips; do not depart from my heart. And to obtain support from your prayers, grant that I may never lose sight of the examples of your life. Following you, O Mary, I do not stray; thinking of you, I do not err; if you sustain me, I do not fall; if you protect me, I have nothing to fear; if you accompany me, I do not grow weary; if you are favorable to me, I shall reach the goal” (cf. St. Bernard).