ARTICLE
III
"
Who was Conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary "
Importance
of This Article
From
what has been said in the preceding Article, the faithful can understand that in
bringing us from the relentless tyranny of Satan into liberty, God has
conferred a singular and surpassing blessing on the human race. But if we place before our eyes also the
plan and means by which he deigned chiefly to accomplish this, then, indeed, we
shall see that there is nothing more glorious or magnificent than this divine
goodness and beneficence towards us.
First Part of this
Article:
"
WHO WAS CONCIEVED "
The
pastor, then, should enter on the exposition of this third Article by developing
in the grandeur of this mystery, which the Sacred Scriptures very frequently
propose for our consideration as the principal source of our eternal
salvation. Its meaning he should teach
to be that we believe and confess that the same Jesus Christ, our only Lord,
the Son of God, when He assumed human flesh for us in the womb of the Virgin,
was not conceived like other men, from the seed of man, but in a manner
transcending the order of nature, that is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; 1 so that the same Person, remaining God as He was from eternity,
became man, what He was not before.
That
such is the meaning of the above words is clear from the Creed of the Holy
Council of Constantinopole, which says: Who for us men, and for our
salvation, came down from heaven, and became incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the
Virgin Mary, and was made man. The
same truth we also find unfolded by St. John the Evangelist, who imbibed from
the bosom of the Lord and Savior Himself the knowledge of this most profound
mystery. For when he had declared the
nature of the Divine Word as follows: In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God, he concluded: And the Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us. 2
The
Word, which is a person of the Divine Nature, assumed human nature in such a
manner that there should be one and the same Person in both the divine and
human natures. Hence this admirable
union preserved the actions and properties of both natures; and as Pope St. Leo
the Great said: The lowliness of the inferior nature was not consumed in the
glory of the superior, nor did the assumption of the inferior lessen the glory
of the superior. 3
"BY
THE HOLY GHOST"
As
an explanation of the words in which this Article is expressed is not to be
omitted, the pastor should teach that when we say that the Son of God was
conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, we do not mean that this person alone
of the Holy Trinity accomplished the mystery of the Incarnation. Although the Son only assumed human nature,
yet all the Persons of the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,
were authors of this mystery.
It
is a principle of Christian faith that whatever God does outside Himself in
creation is common to the Three Persons, and that one neither does more than,
nor acts without another. But that one
emanates from another, this only cannot be common to all; for the Son is begotten of the Father only,
and the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son. Anything, however, which proceeds from them
extrinsically is the work of the Three Persons without difference of any sort,
and of this latter description is the Incarnation of the Son of God.
Of those things, nevertheless, that are common to all, the Sacred Scriptures often attribute some to one person, some to another. Thus, to the Father they attribute power over all things; to the Son, wisdom; to the Holy Ghost, love. Hence, as the mystery of the Incarnation manifests the singular and boundless love of God towards us, it is therefore in some sort peculiarly attributed to the Holy Ghost.
In
The Incarnation Some Things Were Natural, Others Supernatural
In
this mystery we perceive that some things were done which transcend the order
of nature, some by the power of nature.
Thus, in believing that the body of Christ was formed from the most pure
blood of his Virgin Mother we acknowledge the operation of human nature, this
being a law common to the formation of all human bodies, that they should be
formed from the blood of the mother.
But
what surpasses the order of nature and human comprehension is, that as soon as
the Blessed Virgin assented to the announcement of the Angel in these
words, Behold the handmade of the
Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word, 4 the
most sacred body of Christ was immediately formed, and to it was united a
rational soul enjoying the use of reason; and thus in the same instant of time
He was Perfect God and Perfect Man.
That this was the astonishing and admirable work of the Holy Ghost
cannot be doubted; for according to the order of nature the rational soul is united
to the body only after a certain lapse of time. {a}
Again - and this should overwhelm us with astonishment - as soon as the soul of Christ was united to His body, the Divinity became united to both; and thus at the same time His body was formed and animated, and the Divinity united to body and soul.
Hence,
at the same instant He was perfect God and perfect man, and the most Holy
Virgin, having at the same moment conceived God and man, is truly and properly
called Mother of God and man. This the
Angel signified to her when he said: Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb,
and shalt bring forth a Son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the
Son of the Most High. 5 The event verified the prophecy of
Isaias: Behold a Virgin shall
conceive, and bear a son. 6 Elizabeth also declared the same truth
when, being filled with the Holy Ghost, she understood the conception of the
son of God, and said: Whence is this
to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 7
As
the body of Christ was formed of the pure blood of the Immaculate Virgin
without the aid of man, as we have already said, and by the sole operation of
the Holy Ghost, so also, at the moment of His Conception, His soul was enriched
with an overflowing fullness of the Spirit of God, and a superabundance of all
graces. For God gave not to him, as to
others adorned with holiness and grace, His Spirit by measure, as St. John
testifies, 8 but poured into His soul the plenitude of
all graces so abundantly that of his fullness we all have received. 9
Although
possessing that spirit by which holy men attain the adoption of sons of God, He
cannot, however be called the adopted son of God; for since He is the son of
God by nature, the grace, or name of adoption, can on no account be deemed
applicable to Him. {b}
How
To Profit By The Mystery Of The Incarnation
These
truths comprise the substance of what appears to demand explanation regarding
the admirable mystery of the Conception.
To reap from them abundant fruit for salvation the faithful should
particularly recall, and frequently reflect, that it is God who assumed human
flesh; that the manner in which He became man exceeds our comprehension, not to
say our powers of expression; and finally, that He vouchsafed to become man in
order that we men might be born again as children of God. When to these subjects they shall have given
mature consideration let them, in the humility of faith, believe and adore all
the mysteries contained in this Article, and not indulge a curious
inquisitiveness by investigating and scrutinizing them --an attempt scarcely
ever unattended which danger. {c}
Second Part of this
Article:
"
BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY "
These
words comprise another part of this Article.
In its exposition the pastor should exercise considerable diligence,
because the faithful are bound to believe that Jesus the Lord was not only
conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, but was also born of the Virgin
Mary. The words of the Angel who first
announced the happy tidings to the world declare with what joy and delight of
soul this mystery of our faith should be meditated upon. Behold, said the Angel, I bring
you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people. 10 Then same sentiments are clearly conveyed in the song chanted
by the heavenly host: Glory to God
in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will. 11 Then began the fulfillment of the splendid promise made by God
to Abraham, that in his seed all the nations of the earth should one day be
blessed; 12 for Mary, whom we truly proclaim and
venerate as Mother of God, because she brought forth Him who is at once God and
man, was descended from King David.
The Nativity Of Christ
Transcends The Order of Nature.
But as the Conception itself transcends the order of nature, so also the birth of our Lord presents to our contemplation nothing but what is divine.
Besides,
what is admirable beyond the power of thoughts or words to express, He is born
of His Mother without any diminution of her maternal virginity, just as He
afterwards went forth from the sepulchre while it was closed and sealed, and
entered the room in which His disciples were assembled, the doors being shut; 13 or, not to depart from everyday examples,
just as the rays of the sun penetrate without breaking or injuring in the least
the solid substance of glass, so after a like but more exalted manner did Jesus
Christ, come forth from His Mother's womb without injury to her maternal
virginity. This Immaculate and
perpetual virginity forms, therefore, the just theme of our eulogy. Such was the work of the Holy Ghost, who at
the Conception and birth of the Son so favored the Virgin Mother as to impart
to her fecundity while preserving inviolate her perpetual virginity. {d}
The
Apostle sometimes calls Jesus Christ the second Adam, and compares Him to the
first Adam; for as in the first all men die, so in the second all are made
alive: 14 and as in the natural order Adam was the
father of the human race, so in the supernatural order Christ is the author of
grace and of glory. 15
The
Virgin Mother we may also compare to Eve, making the second Eve, that is, Mary,
correspond to the first, as we have already shown that the second Adam, that
is, Christ, corresponds to the first Adam.
By believing the serpent, Eve brought malediction and death on mankind,
and Mary, by believing the Angel, became the instrument of the divine goodness
in bringing life and benediction to the human race. From Eve we are born children of wrath; 16 from Mary we have received Jesus Christ, and through Him are
regenerated children of grace. To Eve
it was said: In sorrow shalt thou
bring forth children. 17 Mary was exempt from this law, for
preserving her virginal integrity inviolate she brought forth Jesus the Son of
God without experiencing, as we have already said, any sense of pain.
Types and
Prophecies of the Conception and Nativity
The
mysteries of this admirable Conception and Nativity being, therefore, so great
and so numerous, it accorded with the plan of divine Providence to signify them
by many types and prophecies. Hence the
holy Fathers understood many things which we meet in the Sacred Scriptures to
refer to these mysteries, particularly that gate of the sanctuary which
Ezechiel saw closed; 18 the stone cut out of the mountain without
hands, which became a great mountain and filled the universe, of which we read
in Daniel; 19 the rod of Aaron, which alone budded of all
the rods of the princes of Israel; 20 and the Bush which Moses so burned without
being consumed. 21
The
holy Evangelist describes in detail the history of the birth of Christ; 22 but, as this pastor can easily recur to the Sacred Volume, it is
unnecessary for us to say more on the subject.
The
pastor should labor to impress deeply on the minds and hearts of the faithful
these mysteries, which were written for our learning; 23 first, that by the commemoration of so great a benefit they may
make some return of gratitude to God, its author, and next, in order to place
before their eyes, as a model for imitation, this striking and singular example
of humility.
Humility and Poverty
of Christ
What
can be more useful, what better calculated to subdue the pride and haughtiness
of the human heart, than to reflect frequently that God humbles Himself in such
a manner as to assume our frailty and weakness, in order to communicate to us
His glory; that God becomes man, and
that He at who's nod, to use the words of Scripture, the pillars of
heaven tremble and are affrighted, 24 bows
His Supreme and infinite majesty to minister to man; that he whom the Angels
adore in heaven is born on earth !
When such is the goodness of God towards us, what I ask, should we not
do to testify our obedience to His will?
With what willingness and alacrity should we not love, embrace, and
perform all the duties of humility?
The
faithful should also consider the salutary lessons which Christ at His birth
teaches before He begins to speak. He
is born in poverty; He is born a
stranger under a roof not His own; He
is born in a lonely crib; He is born in
the depth of winter ! For St. Luke
writes as follows: And it came to
pass, that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be
delivered. And she brought forth her
first-born, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger;
because there was no room for them in the inn. 25 Could the Evangelist have described under
more humble terms the majesty and glory that filled the heavens and the
earth? He does not say, there was no
room in the inn, but there was no room for him who says, the world is
mine, and the fullness of thereof. 26 As
another Evangelist has expressed it: He
came unto his own, and his own receive him not. 27
Elevation And Dignity
of Man
When
the faithful have placed these things before their eyes, let them also reflect
that God condescended to assume the lowliness and frailty of our flesh in order
to exalt man to the highest degree of dignity.
This single reflection, that He who is true and perfect God became man,
supplies sufficient proof of the exalted dignity conferred on the human race by
the divine bounty; since we may now glory that the Son of God is bone of our
bone, and flesh of our flesh, a privilege not given to the Angels, for
nowhere, says the Apostle, doth he take hold of the Angels: but of the
seed of Abraham he taketh hold. 28
Duty
of Spiritual Nativity
We
must also take care lest to our great injury it should happen that just as
there was no room for Him in the inn at Bethlehem, in which to be born, so
likewise now, after He has been born in the flesh, He should find no room in
our hearts in which to be born spiritually.
For since he is most desirous of our salvation, this spiritual birth is
the object of His most earnest solicitude.
As,
then, by the power of the Holy Ghost, and in a manner superior to the order of
nature, He was made man and was born, was Holy and even Holiness itself, so
does it become our duty to be born, not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, but of God; 29 to walk as new creatures in newness of
spirit, 30 and to preserve that holiness and purity
of soul which so much becomes men regenerated by the Spirit of God. Thus shall we reflect some faint image of
the Holy Conception and Nativity of the Son of God, which are objects of our firm faith, and believing which we
revere and adore the wisdom of God in a mystery which is hidden. 31
Endnotes Article III
1.> Matt. i. 20; Luke i. 35. 17.> Gen. iii. 16.
2.> John i. 1, 14. 18.> Ezech. xliv. 2.
3.> Serm. i. de Nat. c. 2. 19.> Dan. ii. 35.
4.> Luke i. 38. 20.> Num. xvii. 8.
5.> Luke i. 31, 32. 21.> Exod. iii. 2.
6.> Is. vii. 14. 22.> Luke ii.
7.> Luke i. 43. 23.> Rom. xv. 4.
8.> John iii. 34. 24.> job xxvi. 11.
9.> John i. 16. 25.> Luke ii. 6. 7.
10.> Luke ii. 10. 26.> Ps. xlix. 12.
11.> Luke ii. 14. 27.> John i. 11.
12.> Gen. xxii. 18. 28.> Heb. ii. 16.
13.> John xx. 19. 29.> John i. 13.
14.> 1 Cor. xv. 21, 22. 30.> Rom. vi. 4, 5; vii. 6.
15.> Rom. v. 14. 31.> 1 Cor. ii. 7.
16.> Eph. ii. 3.
{a} See Summa Theol. 1a. cxviii. 2.
{b} On this subject see Summa Theol. 3a. xxiii. 4.
{c} On the conception of Christ see Summa Theol. 3a. xxxi-xxxiv.
{d} On the Nativity of Christ see Summa Theol. 3a. xxxv, xxxvi.