Salesian Literature

4.  The coming of the Divine Infant

Sermon for Christmas Eve, December 24, 1613, concerning vigils, the manna in the desert, the mystery of the Incarnation, Our Lady as Star of the Sea and Morning Star and how she produced Our Lord virginally as stars produce light, the three tastes of the manna—flour, honey and oil—and what they represent in the Divine Infant: His divine nature, His soul and His body; the shepherds and whom they represent. Our Lord's swaddling clothes—why He was wrapped in them and what they teach us, how we should visit and bring a gift to the Divine Infant, the special individual consolation each visitor will receive in return, how our senses and interior faculties are restless and dissipated until they have chosen Our Lord for their king, and how we should always remain near Our Lord.

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Today you will know that the Lord is coming, and in the morning you will see His glory (Ex. 16:6-7).

 

Holy Church usually prepares us for great solemnities with vigils to help us appreciate more the great benefits we have received from God in the events celebrated. In the primitive Church, the faithful Christians desired to render satisfaction to Our Lord in some way for the Blood He had shed for them in dying on the Cross. Therefore, they very carefully celebrated the time of feasts, solemnizing them to the best of their ability. Because of this desire, there was scarcely any feast without its vigil on which to prepare for the solemnity. This was done not only in the Church but also in the Old Law, where there were many preparations on the day before the Sabbath.

 

The Church wants us to prepare for the holy day of Christmas with a vigil. Not wanting us to be unprepared for so great a mystery, this loving Mother tells us: "You shall know today that Our Lord will come tomorrow," that is, "He will be born tomorrow, and you will see Him as an Infant laid in a manger." [Lk. 2:12]. These words are adapted from those used by Moses to alert the Israelites to the day that God had chosen to give them manna in the desert. He assembled them together and spoke thus to them: In the evening you will know that the Lord brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord. [Ex. 16:6-7]. It is as if he meant to say: "He will come tomorrow in the morning." He spoke of the Lord's "coming" in glory, although we all know that God does not "go" and "come" like one with a body. He is immutable, firm, solid and without any movement. Nevertheless, Moses spoke in this way to indicate how great a benefit the manna was, suggesting that God Himself had brought and distributed it to the Israelites. Because it was so great a gift, Moses had them carefully prepare themselves by reflecting on this great benefit in an effort to render themselves more worthy to receive it. In this same way the Church says to us: "You will know today that the Lord is coming tomorrow." By this vigil she wants us to ponder deeply on the grandeur of the mystery of the most holy Nativity of Our Lord.

 

To do this better let us first humble our understanding, realizing that we are totally incapable of exhausting the great depth of this uniquely Christian mystery. It is uniquely Christian inasmuch as only Christianity has ever fathomed how God is man and man is God. Actually, humanity has always had a certain inclination toward believing in something like the possibility of the Incarnation; but only Christianity has, in Jesus, ever come to know how it could be. I believe that certain Old Testament prophets and some privileged others knew of it, but the vast majority did not. Among the pagans this instinct for something like the Incarnation manifested itself in strange, often bizarre, ways. At least some of them believed that they could make themselves gods and be adored as such by others!- For they thought that even if there were a Supreme God who is the first principle of all things, there could nevertheless be many lesser gods, or that at least some men who shared in some way in divine qualities could be called gods. When Alexander the Great was near death, his mad, flattering and foolish courtiers asked him, "Sire, when do you want us to make you a god?" In his reply Alexander demonstrated clearly that he was not as foolish as they; "You are to make me a god when you are blessed." By this reply he meant: "It is not possible for unhappy, perishable and mortal men to make gods, who by definition are happy and immortal."

 

Christians have been more enlightened and have had the honour of knowing of the Incarnation, that man is God and God is man,[1] although even they are incapable of completely penetrating its mystery.

 

For this is a mystery hidden in the obscurity of night's darkness. Of course the mystery is not really dark at all, for God is only light. [Jn. 1:5,9; 1 Jn. 1:5J. Just as our unaided eyes cannot look directly into the sun's brilliant light without our having to close them immediately, being momentarily blinded, so, in a similar way, our understanding is blinded and darkened by the brilliant light and splendour of the mystery of the Incarnation. Our understanding, the eye of our soul, cannot consider this mystery for any length of time without becoming clouded, humbly confessing that it cannot penetrate it deeply enough to understand how God became incarnate in the virginal womb of the most holy Virgin and how He became one like us to make us like God.

 

God rained manna in the desert night for the children of Israel. [Num. 11:9]. To increase their gratitude to Him, He Himself arranged the feast and set the table. For Moses said: "You will know that the Lord brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see His glory." He first made a sweet dew descend from Heaven to serve as a tablecloth upon the desert. Then the manna fell like little coriander seeds. Finally, to show that He honoured them as one now serves princes with covered plates, He made a little dew rain down to preserve the manna until the morning when the Israelites gathered it up before the sunrise. [Ex. 16:1344,21,31; Num. 11:7, 9; Wis. 16:27-28].

 

But God desired an even greater and more loving gift for us who live on earth as in a desert, and who long for the joy of the Promised Land, our heavenly country. He came Himself to bring us this gift, and He came in the middle of the night. [Wis. 18:14-15]. This special gift is the grace which helps us to attain what would otherwise be impossible for us: the joy and happiness of glory. Thus, in the darkness of the night Our Lord was born and appeared to us as an infant lying in a manger, as we shall see tomorrow.

 

Reflect a bit on how this happened. The most holy Virgin produced her Son virginally, as the stars produce their light. Now, one of Our Lady's titles is that of "Star of the Sea" or "Morning Star." The star of the sea is the polar star toward which the mariner's needle always points. By it captains navigate on the sea and can discern their direction and course. Everyone knows that the ancient Fathers of the Church, as well as the Patriarchs and Prophets, kept their sights on this polar star, sailing by its favour. Ship captains have always looked to the North Star to avoid the shipwrecks which are so usual in sailing the waters of this miserable world.

 

The most sacred Virgin is also that morning star [Cf. Num. 24:17] which brings us the gracious news of the coming of the true Sun. [Lk. 1:78]. All the prophets knew that the Virgin would conceive and bring forth a child [Is. 7:14] who would be at once both God and man. She conceived, but by virtue of the Holy Spirit. [Lk. 1:35]. She conceived and delivered her Son virginally. Having chosen her for His Mother because of her virginity, is it likely that He would have violated her virginity at His birth? Could Purity Itself in any way diminish His most holy Mother's purity?

 

Our Lord is begotten virginally from all eternity in the bosom of His Heavenly Father. He shares in the one divinity of His Eternal Father, without dividing it or fracturing the divine simplicity. He remains one same God with Him. The most holy Virgin produced her Son Our Lord on earth as He is produced by His Father eternally in Heaven, that is, virginally. There is one important difference, however; she brought Him forth from her womb and not in her womb, for once He left it He will no more return there, but His Heavenly Father begets Him from His bosom and in His bosom, and He shall remain there eternally.[2]

 

All this ought not be sifted and examined overly curiously, nor ought we to overtax our understanding in the examination of this divine birth. It is a little too lofty for us. It is good, however, to use it as a foundation for our meditations on the mystery of Our Lord's Nativity.

 

With this in mind, it is with good reason that the most holy Virgin has a name which signifies star. Stars produce their light virginally and without any detriment to themselves. Quite the contrary, for the light makes them even more beautiful to us. In the same manner Our Lady produced the inaccessible Light [1 Tim. 6:16] of her most blessed Son, without receiving any injury from it nor staining in any way her virginal purity. There was, however, this difference. She produced Him without any effort, nor shock, nor any violence whatsoever. This is not the case with the stars, for it is clear that they produce their light by shocks and, it seems, with violence and force.

 

Let us return to the manna for our second consideration. The manna had three kinds of tastes which were proper and particular to it, besides having every taste [Wis. 16:20, 25] that one could desire it to have. If the Israelites wanted to eat bread, the manna had the taste of bread; if they wanted to eat partridge and other such things, the manna had that taste. The majority of the Fathers doubt whether both bad good Israelites enjoyed this favour. Be that as it may, the manna had the particular taste or flavor of flour, honey and oil. [Ex. 16:31; Num. 11:8]. These symbolize the three substances which are found in the most blessed Infant, whom we shall see tomorrow lying in the manger. Just as these three tastes were found in one single food, manna, so in the person of Our Lord there are three "substances" which constitute but one same Person who is at once both God and man.

 

In this most blessed Baby are found the divine nature, the nature of the soul and that of the body.[3] In the manna was the taste of honey, which is actually a heavenly liquid; for although bees gather honey from among flowers, they do not take it from flowers. Rather, they imbibe with their little mouth the honey which falls upon the flowers from Heaven along with the dew, and this only at a certain time of the year.[4] Likewise, at the very moment of His Incarnation, Our Lord's divine nature descended from Heaven onto this blessed flower, the most holy Virgin our Lady, where human nature gathered It and preserved It in the hive of the Virgin's glorious womb for nine months. After that It was placed in the crib, where we shall see It tomorrow.

 

The taste of oil found in the manna represents the nature of Our Lord's most holy soul. What else is His most blessed soul but an oil, a balm, a spreading perfume [Cant. 1:2(3)] whose excellent fragrance infinitely satisfies those who smell it? What fragrance did it not spread forth in the presence of the Divine Majesty, seeing itself in union with It without having done anything to merit it! What acts of perfect charity and profound humility did it not make at this very moment of Incarnation when it entered into a sacred and incomparable union with the Eternal Word! And what incomparably sweet fragrance has it not poured forth so as to move us to follow and imitate its perfections! [Cant. 1:3(4)].

 

Finally, the taste of flour, also found in manna, represents the other aspect of Our Lord's most holy humanity, His adorable body, which, when crushed on the tree of the Cross, was made into a very precious Bread to nourish us unto life eternal. [Jn. 6:55(54)]. O savoury Bread, anyone who eat You worthily shall live forever and can never die the eternal death. [Jn. 6:50, 52(51), 55, 59J. What an incomparably delightful taste 'this Bread has for souls who eat It worthily! How wonderful to be nourished on the Bread come down from Heaven, the Bread of angels! [Ps. 77(78):23-25; Wis. 16:20; Jn. 6:33, 41, 50-51, 59(58)]. It is even more wonderful by the love with which It is given to us by Him who is at once both Gift and Giver.

But lest I stay too long on these first two points which feed our understanding, I shall now pass on to the third to inflame our will. It contains something of great spiritual benefit for us. I remark in passing that of all the people then in great numbers in Bethlehem it was only the simple shepherds who came to visit Our Lord. Afterward the Magi came from afar to adore and render homage to our new King lying in the manger.

 

When they announced the news of this happy birth, the angels gave wonderful signs to the shepherds. Go, they said, and you will find the Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. [Lk. 2:8-12J. 0 God, what signs are these to make known Our Lord, and what simplicity the shepherds showed in believing what was announced to them in these words. They would have had some good reason for their belief if the angels had said: "Go, and you will find the Infant seated on an ivory throne, surrounded by heavenly courtiers." But they said: "Your Saviour is born under these signs: you will find Him in a manger among animals, and wrapped in swaddling clothes."

 

Why do you think the angels addressed the shepherds rather than anyone else in Bethlehem? Our Lord had come as a shepherd and as King of Shepherds. [1 Pet. 5:4]. He desired to favour those like Himself. Whom do the shepherds symbolize? Some say that they represent the shepherds of the Church, such as bishops, superiors of religious, priests and all those who are charged with souls. Some of the holy Fathers insist that Our Lord reveals His mysteries more particularly to them inasmuch as they are commissioned by God to celebrate them and make them understood by their flock, the souls committed to their care.

 

Others say that the shepherds represent religious and all those who make profession of tending to perfection. But if each one of us is a shepherd and pastor, who are our flock, our sheep? They are our passions, inclinations, affections and spiritual faculties. Note that only the shepherds who were keeping night watch over their flock [Lk. 2:8] had the honour and the grace of hearing this gracious news of Our Lord's birth. This is meant to show us that if we do not keep watch over the flock that God has put in our charge, that is, our passions, inclinations and spiritual faculties, feeding them in some holy pastureland, keeping them in order and at their duty, then we will not merit to hear this very lovable news of the Saviours birth, nor will we be capable of going to visit Him in the manger where His most blessed Mother will place Him tomorrow.

 

Oh, but the most holy Nativity of Our Lord is a truly great mystery. Each and every one can find in it much consolation, but especially those who are better prepared and have, in imitation of the shepherds, watched carefully over their flocks. At one time we were all unworthy of knowing how to watch over our flocks. As a good shepherd [Jn. 10:11, 14] and very lovable pastor of our souls, His sheep for whom He has done so much. Our Lord came Himself to teach us what we ought to do. How happy we will be if we imitate Him faithfully and follow His example. But what does this very sweet Infant do? Look at Him in the manger: "You will find Him," said the angels, "wrapped in swaddling clothes." He certainly does not need to be bound thus. Infants are wrapped in swaddling clothes because, being still tender, if they were not thus bound they might make a false turn and so become maimed. They are also bound so as to prevent injury to their eyes or face. Were their hands free they might strike and harm themselves. After all, they do not yet know any better. Why fear that this might happen to Our Lord, since He had the use of reason from the moment of His Conception? He could not make a false turn, being Uprightness itself.[5] O God! what goodness in this lovable Saviour! He submitted to doing as other children in order that He might appear as any other poor little baby subject to the necessities and laws of infancy. He truly weeps, but it is not from tenderness over Himself, nor from bitterness of heart, but quite simply to conform Himself to other children.[6] [Wis. 7:3].

 

There was still another reason why Our Lord wanted to be bound and wrapped and subject to His most holy Mother, letting Himself be handled, carried and wrapped just as it pleased her without showing any annoyance whatever. He wanted to teach us how to govern and rule over our spiritual flock, that is, our passions, affections and spiritual faculties.

 

There are two principal faculties on which all the others depend, namely concupiscence and irascibility. All other powers, faculties and passions seem to be subject to these two faculties and act only through their commands. By concupiscence we love and desire what seems good and profitable to us. By it we rejoice in prosperity and are saddened in adversity, in mortification, and in all things repugnant to our self-will. Irascibility produces sadness, repugnances, anger, despair and so on. Our Lord wants us to learn from Him how to order these things according to reason. We see Him wrapped and fastened in bands and clothes by His most blessed Mother. He intends thereby to motivate us to bind and fasten with the swaddling clothes of obedience all our passions, affections, inclinations; all our powers, both interior and exterior; our senses, humours and all that we are. Lest we mismanage ourselves He wants us to give up such self-management except insofar as obedience permits it.[7]

 

See this sweetest of infants who lets Himself be so governed and led by His most blessed Mother that truly it seems that He cannot do otherwise. His sole purpose in this, my dear souls, is to show us what we ought to do, especially religious who have vowed their obedience. Our Lord could never misuse His will or His liberty. Yet He desired that all should be hidden under these swaddling clothes: His eternal knowledge and wisdom [Col. 2:3], all that He was as God, equal to His Father, as well as the use of reason, the power of speaking—in short, all that He was to be when He had attained the age of thirty years. Everything without reserve was enclosed and hidden under the veil of the holy obedience that He bore His Father, who obliged Him to be like all other infants in everything. As St. Paul says. He had to become like His brothers in every way [Heb. 2:17]. What else have we to say except that the mystery of Our Lord's Nativity is also the mystery of the Visitation. Just as the most holy Virgin was to visit her cousin St. Elizabeth, we too must go very often during this octave to visit the Divine Babe lying in the manger. There we shall learn from the sovereign Pastor of shepherds to direct, to govern and to put our flocks in order in such a way that they will be pleasing to His Goodness. But as the shepherds doubtless did not go to see Him without bringing Him some little lambs, we must not go there empty-handed, either. We must bring Him something. What can we bring to this Divine Shepherd more pleasing than the little lamb which is our love and which is the principal part of our spiritual flock, for love is the first passion of the soul. Oh, how very grateful He will be to us for this present, my dear Sisters, and with what great consolation will the most holy Virgin receive it, through her great desire for our good. This Divine Infant will doubtless look upon us with His benign and gracious eyes as reward for our gift and a sign of His pleasure in receiving it.

 

Oh, how happy we will be if we visit this dear Saviour of our souls. We will receive from Him an unparalleled consolation. Just as the manna had the taste which each one desired, each one of us will find a special consolation in visiting this most lovable Baby. The shepherds visited Him and were blessed by Him with very great joy. Returning, they sang God's praises and announced what they had seen to all they met. [Lk. 2:20]. But St. Joseph and the most glorious Virgin received indescribably greater consolations because they assisted Him and remained in His presence, serving Him according to their ability, Both those who went away and those who remained were consoled, but not equally. For each received according to his capacity.

 

Anna, mother of Samuel, was childless for a very long time. This caused her to be restless and inconstant in her moods. [1 Kgs.(l Sam.) 1:18]. When she saw women rejoicing with their children, she lamented and grew sad because she had none; and when she heard others complain of their children, she rejoiced that God had not given her any. But from the moment she had little Samuel she was never in a bad mood. Doubtless we have had some excuse for our moments of sadness and moodiness while we were without this lovable Infant who was just born for us, or will be born tomorrow. But henceforth it will no longer be right for us to be sad, for in Him we have every reason for joy and happiness.

 

Bees[8] are restless while they are without a queen. They incessantly flutter hither and yon. There is scarcely any rest in their hive. But as soon as their queen is born, they all gather round her, leaving only for gathering their spoils and, it seems, by her command or permission. In the same way our senses, interior powers and spiritual faculties are like mystical bees. Until they have a ruler, that is, until they have chosen our newly born Lord for their king, they are restless. Our senses ceaselessly wander about, drawing our interior faculties after them, dissipated now on one object they encounter and then on another. There is nothing but a constant waste of time, restlessness and disquietude, all of which shatter the peace and tranquillity which are so necessary for our souls. But as soon as they have chosen Our Lord for their king they ought, like chaste and mystical bees, to place themselves near Him, never leaving their hive except for the exercises of charity which He commands them to practice toward their neighbour. Immediately after each charitable exercise they should retire and gather round this most lovable King to distil store up the honey of the holy and loving thoughts that they draw from the sacred presence of our Sovereign Lord. His simple look into our souls causes unparalleled affections in them, as well as the zeal to serve Him and love Him more and more perfectly.

 

This is the grace I desire for you, my dear souls: that you remain very near to this sacred Saviour who is about to gather us all around Himself in order to keep us always under the standard of His most holy protection, just like the shepherd who has care of his sheep and of his flock, or like the queen bee who cares so much for her swarm that she never leaves her hive without being surrounded by all her little people. May His goodness grant us the grace to hear His voice, as sheep hear that of their shepherd [Jn. 10:27], so that in recognizing Him as our sovereign Shepherd we will not stray away nor listen to the voice of the stranger who remains near us like an infernal wolf, always ready to ruin and to devour us. [1 Pet. 5:8]. May we have the fidelity to keep ourselves submissive, obedient and subject to His wishes and commands, as the bees do with their queen, in order that we might begin in this life what, with the help of God's grace, we shall do eternally in Heaven, where may the Father, Son and Holy Spirit lead us. Amen.

 

 

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[1] Sermons on Our Lady, "The Visitation," July 2, 1621; "The Purification," February 2, 1622.

[2] It seems that St. Francis de Sales is here distinguishing between the Son's eternal generation as God within the Blessed Trinity and His generation as man on earth. Although as God, the Son is continually and eternally proceeding from the Father, as man He "proceeded" or came forth from the womb of Mary at one particular moment in time.

[3] "The nature of the soul" and "that of the body" simply indicate for St. Francis a genuine and integral human nature. He speaks in this manner because he wants three aspects to correspond to the three tastes of the manna for the spiritual reflection he is making at this point in his sermon.

[4] It is doubtful that St. Francis believed literally in this accounting of how bees derive honey from flowers. It is based on readings from Virgil, Aristotle and Pliny. He does find it useful for the spiritual teaching he is giving.

[5] In the French this is a play on words.

[6] St. Francis teaches here and elsewhere that Our Lord conformed to the exigencies of what it means to be human so as to teach us and give us the pre-eminent example of truly human behaviour before God and others. Our Lord fully reveals not only who God is, He also fully reveals who we are and how we ought to act.

[7] St. Francis is addressing religious, for whom the vow and virtue of obedience are so central.

[8] Cf. Spiritual Conferences, IX, "Religious Modesty."

 

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