The Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Moreover, it can be said that the birth of the divine Word is a feast of all ages, and that it is as ancient as the fall of the first man; for, scarcely had he fallen, when God said to the serpent in his presence: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; she will crush your head, and you will lie in wait for her heel"; and this word, spoken by the mouth of Him who is called the True and the Faithful, was the first assurance of our reconciliation. From that moment, the Patriarchs and the holy Fathers did nothing but wait, hope, ask for, and predict the coming of the Savior, who was to procure for us such a great benefit; this is what all the Scriptures of the Old Testament are filled with; it is for this reason that the Messiah is called sometimes the Desire of all nations, sometimes the Desire of the everlasting hills. It is for this reason that Our Lord said to his disciples, in Saint Luke, chap. II: "Blessed are the eyes which see what you see, for many kings and many prophets have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it." And elsewhere, he assured the Jews that Abraham had a holy eagerness to see the day of his advent, that he had seen it in spirit, and that he had felt extreme joy from it.

In this blessed expectation and this noble hope, Jacob, in giving his blessing to his children, predicted that the scepter would not depart from the lineage of Judah, nor the sovereignty from his family, until he who was to be sent should indeed come, and he then added: "I waited, O Lord, for your salvation." With the same view, when God wished to send Moses for the deliverance of the people of Israel and to give them the law, this humble legislator replied to Him: "I pray you, Lord, send whom you will send." The Prophet-King said in a similar eagerness: "Lord, show forth your power to save us, show your face and we shall be delivered. As the thirsty deer desires the fountains of water, so my soul longs for you, O my God!" Solomon, his son, speaking of the eternal Wisdom that was to give itself in this mystery, makes this prayer to the eternal Father regarding it: "Send her, Lord, I pray you, from your holy heavens and from the throne of your greatness, that she may remain and work with me." And Tobit the elder, being on his deathbed, where he gave prophetic instructions to his son and spoke only in oracles, cried out with admirable tenderness: "My soul, bless the Lord, because the Lord, our God, has delivered Jerusalem, his city, from all its tribulations. Oh! how happy I shall be if there remains someone of my offspring to see the glory of Jerusalem."

Those whom we call prophets in particular showed no less eagerness. "Send," says Isaiah, "send this lamb who is to rule over all the earth. O heavens, drop down your dew from above and let the clouds rain down the just one; let the earth open and let it bring forth a Savior! O God, why do you not rend the heavens and descend as soon as possible! Why do the mountains not melt in your presence!" Jeremiah is of the same sentiment. "A king," he says, "shall reign, he shall be filled with wisdom and shall execute judgment and justice on the earth; and the name that they shall call him shall be the Lord, our judge. He is my portion and my inheritance, therefore I will wait for him." All the other Prophets have similar ecstatic movements: especially the divine Daniel, who for this reason deser divin Daniel Biblical prophet described as a man of desires. ved to be called the man of desires: *Vir desideriorum*. After the Babylonian captivity, prophecy seemed to be extinguished among the Jews, but the good people did not cease to sigh continually for the Messiah. Witness the young Maccabees with their holy mother; the just Simeon, who was waiting for the redemption of Israel; Anna the prophetess, who never left the temple and spent days and nights there in almost continuous fasting and prayer; Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, father and mother of the glorious Virgin, and Zechariah with Elizabeth, the parents of Saint John the Baptist.

If all the Saints of the Old Testament desired with ardor and eagerness the birth of the Savior of the world, what were the wishes of her whom He ha d chosen to be His mother, who knew better celle qu'il avait choisie pour être sa mère Mother of Jesus, who appeared to Bertrand. than any other the need that the human race had of Him, the infinite excellence of His person, and the incomparable fruits He was to produce on earth, and whose faith and charity surpassed incomparably those of the Abrahams, the Moseses, the Davids, the Isaiahs, the Jeremiahs, and all the other Prophets. Certainly, her desire was so great that we have no words to express its merit; but one cannot conceive what her joy was when she saw that at last her wishes and those of all the angels and all men were fulfilled, and that they were fulfilled in her and through her, because she was about to bring into the world the hope of all nations and the one upon whom heaven and earth cast their eyes as their liberator.

These are the great things that are the object of today's feast. They will be found treated at greater length in Louis of Granada Louis de Grenade Spiritual author cited as a source for further study on the subject. , Louis du Pont, and other books of devotion. What we have said of them is sufficient to excite the fervor of Christians on this feast and to oblige them to enter into the designs of the Church, when she sings with such solemnity the antiphons of Vespers, which are so many burning arrows and inflamed desires that she sends toward heaven to draw down from it life and eternal light.

This article is by Father Giry.