GOD STEPS INTO HISTORY ON HIS BIRTHDAY:
This fact cannot be overstated or emphasized enough — God The Son, The Second Person of The God-Community of The Triune God, in agreement with The Other Two Persons of The Most Holy Trinity: God The Father and God The Spirit, decided from all Eternity, that He would personally save His human creatures from the abyss into which they would fall, even though He was not responsible for their Fall.
In creating Adam and Eve, the first humans on earth, God The Son (and The Other Two Persons of The Most Blessed Trinity — wherever One Person acts outside The God-Community, The Other Two Persons act, as well) had created them to be perfect. But, since Adam and Eve had not done anything to deserve being created, and even less to be happy forever with God, in Heaven, He tested them, so that they could prove their loyalty to Him and gain life everlasting.
Adam and Eve had everything: they were perfectly happy; they were the rulers of the earth; they had perfect knowledge of the creatures on earth. But, when they, through pride, disobeyed God’s One Command to them, they basically threw everything, that our Lord had done for them, back in His Divine Face. As a result, they became enemies of God, and He threw them out into a world, which was marred by their sin — when they fell, all other earthly creatures were badly affected, as well.
From then on, every person, who was born of Adam and Eve, was marked with original sin — betrayal of God — thus, there was no sinless person to make up to God for Adam’s sin. Through the centuries, God made sure that man knew how many years it had been since Adam and Eve had been created. And The Lord told various prophets, that He would send a Messiah / a Christ / a Savior, Who would save men from the sin of Adam and from their own sins. This Savior would reconcile men with God, and Heaven would be reopened and accessible to them, once again. God did not directly tell them, that this Savior would be God The Son/The Son of God in Human Flesh — this was left to The Savior/Jesus to reveal to His followers.
The first prophecy or proto-evangelion is found in Genesis, after the Fall, wherein God said to the serpent/devil in disguise: “ ‘…Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. [15] I will put enmities between thee and the Woman [The Blessed Virgin Mary], and thy seed and Her Seed [Her Divine Son, Jesus]: She shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for Her heel.’ ” (Genesis 3:14–15) (taken from drbo.org).
How did The Blessed Virgin fulfill the protoevangelion from Genesis? First question: Is it possible for God and sin to mix? Sin is a betrayal of God — it is a cooperation with evil, which is the opposite of good; therefore, God and sin cannot mix. How could God, therefore, deign to take up residence, as a Baby Human, in a woman, who had been conceived with original sin — uncommitted mortal sin? He could not have done so and still have remained True to Himself, and He Is always True to Himself — He Is literally Immutable/Unchangeable. So, what did God do to make Mary worthy (as worthy as a human being can be) to become His Mother? He made sure that She did not have any sin, not even original sin, when She was conceived in Her holy mother, St. Anne’s womb.
Don’t all humans have to be redeemed? Yes. But, what about redeeming Mary in advance? How can that be done? (Let’s not imitate Holy Zechariah, in that way!) “With God, all things are possible.”
How was that done? We need to remember that in Heaven, there is no time — time is a created thing, for earth. In Heaven, God sees the past, present, and future, at the same time, from all eternity. He applied The Infinite Merits of His Most Sacred Death on The Cross to Mary, as She was conceived in St. Anne’s womb, thus redeeming Her in advance, preserving Her even from all stain of original sin, and also confirming Her in grace, so that She could not sin, could not betray our Lord, as Eve had done. She still had free will, but She could only, as they do in Heaven, choose from among the goods. This is the doctrine/dogma of The Immaculate Conception of The Blessed Virgin Mary, the only way, that She could have logically been worthy to conceive and carry Her Divine Son in Her Most Holy Womb for nine months. Also, every bit of DNA, which Jesus used to create His Body, with The Holy Spirit, came from The Blessed Virgin Mary and not from anyone else. The Holy Spirit Is Her Divine Spouse. If you think that God did not make His Own Mother, Special, you have another think coming! She is not called the “new Eve” for nothing, although, the correlation is not perfect, as it is Her Son, Who is called the “New Adam”.
The Blessed Virgin Mary went to the Temple in Jerusalem, at the age of 3, and She consecrated Her Most Holy Life and Virginity to our Lord, there. She remained in the Temple, as a Virgin, until, according to Ven. Mary of Agreda, the elders told Her, that She had to leave and marry to administer the estate left to Her by Her Holy Parents. St. Joseph was miraculously chosen to be Her Human Spouse, and they were espoused when She was 14 years old. According to Ven. Mary of Agreda, The Blessed Virgin Mary let St. Joseph know of Her Vow of Celibacy, and he, having taken temporary vows of celibacy as a Nazarite, decided to make these vows permanent.
Holy Archangel Gabriel appeared to The Blessed Virgin Mary on March 25th. When She agreed to become The Mother of God, Salvation entered the world, as “The Word Was Made Flesh, and dwelt among us.” Exactly 9 months later — that is how we know what the standard length of a pregnancy is — God The Son was born in a cold, stone stable in the outskirts of Bethlehem.
Let’s take a look at the very traditional “Proclamation of The Birth of Christ”, which used to be proclaimed every ChristMass Eve at Midnight Mass. Pope John Paul II had recommended this in his Directory of Popular Piety and the Liturgy: Principles and Guidelines, published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, A.D. December, 2001: “111. At Midnight Mass, an event of major liturgical significance and of strong resonance in popular piety, the following could be given prominence: at the beginning of Mass, the Proclamation of The Savior’s Birth according to the formula contained in the Roman Martyrology could be made in song;” (http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/
rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html) Pope Benedict XVI brought back this tradition at Midnight Mass in the Vatican in A.D. 2011:
“The twenty-fifth day of December, Alleluia!
Lift up your heads, for your redemption is at hand!
In the five thousand one hundred and ninety-ninth year, of the Creation of the world; from the time when God, in the Beginning, created the heavens and the earth.
Lift up your heads, for your redemption is at hand!
The two thousand nine hundred and fifty-seventh year after the Flood; the two thousand and fifteenth year from the birth of Abraham; the one thousand five hundred and tenth year from Moses and the going forth of the people of Israel from Egypt.
Lift up your heads, for your redemption is at hand!
The one thousand and thirty-second year from the Anointing of David, King; in the sixty-fifth week, according to the Prophecy of Daniel.
Lift up your heads, for your redemption is at hand!
In the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad; the seven hundred and fifty-second year from the foundation of the city of Rome, the forty-second year from the rule of Octavian Augustus.
Lift up your heads, for your redemption is at hand!
All the earth being at peace — Jesus Christ, The Eternal God and The Son of The Eternal Father,
The Word was made Flesh; Alleluia! Alleluia!
Willing to consecrate the world by His Most Merciful Coming,
The Word was made Flesh; Alleluia! Alleluia!
Being Conceived by The Holy Spirit, and nine months having passed since His Conception,
The Word was made Flesh; Alleluia! Alleluia!
Was born in Bethlehem of Judah — of The Virgin Mary, made Man.
The Word was made Flesh; Alleluia! Alleluia!
PAUSE BRIEFLY. ALL KNEEL.
THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, ACCORDING TO THE FLESH.
The Word was made Flesh; Alleluia! Alleluia!
(take from the Carmel of Chichester, England)
Why do we celebrate the first Holy Mass of ChristMass at Midnight? Jesus, God The Son, was born at midnight, which is often called the witching hour, to take it back, to show that no time or season belongs to the devil, but to God, Who created everything, including time. According to the infallible teaching of The Catholic Church: “The phrase, ‘Lex orendi, est lex credendi’ means, ‘The law of prayer is the law of belief”. As people pray so they believe.” (taken from: (http://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Mariology/Mariology_029.htm) The following is a popular prayer, which references the Hour, when our Lord was born:
“Hail, and Blessed be the Hour and Moment in which The Son of God was born of The Most Pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem in piercing cold. In that Hour vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires. (Mention your intentions here) Through The Merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ and of His Blessed Mother.” Amen.
Why did Jesus decide to be born on December 25th? This was probably the winter solstice, the shortest and darkest day of the year — what better day for The Messiah, The Light of the world, to be born? This was a pagan/satanic feast for a long time, but Jesus took it back and made it, through His Most Blessed Nativity, a Holy Hour and Day, rather than an evil hour and day. The Blessed Virgin Mary, Holy St. Joseph, and the Holy Shepherds were all witnesses to our Lord’s Most Blessed Nativity. They could not possibly have forgotten it and would have passed this knowledge on to others. Also, wouldn’t Jesus’ Most Sacred Birth have been recorded in the official Roman census in Bethlehem? If this date were not a historical fact, then, there would be no other event, from that point on, whose date could be possibly historically true. Some say that we cannot know with certainty any dates, because of the change in calendars from Julian to Gregorian. This is definitely not true: it was actually Pope Gregory XIII, who changed the calendar from the Julian calendar of 42 B.C. to the Gregorian calendar in A.D. 1582. This was long, long after God The Son’s Most Blessed Nativity.
(See: https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/ Julian_and_Gregorian_Calendars
Let us celebrate for 8 days the Feast of ChristMass — we even get to eat meat on ChristMass Friday — and then celebrate the ChristMass Season for 40 DAYS — through February 2nd/CandleMass!
Novena Prayers for the Feast of The Epiphany / Little ChristMass
“O Holy Magi, who were the first among the Gentiles called to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and who persevered in The Faith until Thy deaths, obtain for us from The Lord the grace of living always in conformity to the Baptismal Promises and especially in accordance with our religious vows/or ‘the duties of our state of life’, leading ever a life of faith, that like Thee we may attain to the Beatific Vision of that God, Who now is The Object of our faith. Amen. Glory be to The Father, and to The Son, and to The Holy Spirit. / As It Was in the beginning, Is now, and ever Shall Be, world without end. Amen.”
(taken from: http://www.catholicdoors.com/prayers/novenas/ p00073.htm, day 9 of a Novena for the Epiphany)
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