<![if !vml]>
<![endif]>Perhaps that just as his death was not the end of Jesus, so his birth was not the beginning of him. Named or unnamed, known or unknown, there neither has been nor ever will be a real time without him. But whatever the story of Jesus may be to the high angels, to us it must like any other story involve a beginning. The place where his story begins is someplace. The time when it begins is sometime. The person it begins with is a girl:
<![endif]>Perhaps that just as his death was not the end of Jesus, so his birth was not the beginning of him. Named or unnamed, known or unknown, there neither has been nor ever will be a real time without him. But whatever the story of Jesus may be to the high angels, to us it must like any other story involve a beginning. The place where his story begins is someplace. The time when it begins is sometime. The person it begins with is a girl:
“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. “And the angel said unto her, ‘Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and of his kingdom there shall be no end.’”
The angel, the whole creation, even God himself, all hold their breath as they wait upon the answer of a girl.
“Be it unto me according to thy word,” she finally says. The announcement has been made and heard. The world is with child.
~ Frederick Beuchner, The Faces of Jesus (Ch. 2 passim)
Tomorrow is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe—read more at the end. And there’s also a FAQ about the “O Antiphons” that we sang as verses of a song last Sunday, and will sing again this coming Sunday in “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”
Good luck with exams, and safe travels over the break! ~ Karen
FAQ… Our Lady of Guadalupe
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>In 1531, Mary appeared to Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac outside of Mexico City. (This same hill had previously witnessed the appearances of the serpent woman, a symbol of wisdom and peace for the native peoples of Mexico.) She spoke to Juan Diego in his native language, Nahuatl.
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>Juan Diego’s bishop was something of a skeptic when Juan Diego told him about Mary’s appearance, and told him to go ask for a miracle as proof. Juan Diego returned with his cloak filled with Castilian roses—not native to the barren hillside, and certainly unusual in mid-December. Mary’s image as a mestiza, a woman of Native American and European heritage, remained on Juan Diego’s cloak. Juan Diego’s cloak is enshrined in the Basilica of Our lady of Guadalupe in Mexico city, the most visited Marian shrine in the world.
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>Mary’s appearance as La Morenita, “the little brown one,” gave great dignity and holiness to the native and mestizo peoples of America. Mary appears as a pregnant woman, wearing the blue sash traditionally worn by expectant Aztec women, and clothed in a cloak in the color reserved for Aztec divinities. The image also reflects the Book of Revelation, a woman "clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” (12:1).
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico. Her feast day has many traditions associated with it, like the singing of las mananitas, the birthday song.
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>Juan Diego was beatified in 1990 and made a saint in 2002. His feast day is December 9th and he is the patron of indigenous peoples.
Adapted from 2012 Sourcebook, LTP.
FAQ….What are the “O Antiphons” (as in “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”)?
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>Though we rarely get to sing them, there are quite a number of verses in “O Come, O come Emmanuel.” Similar verses are found in other songs too, like “My Soul in Stillness Waits” which we sang last week. Lack of creative imagination by songwriters? No, rather a lovely piece of our tradition.
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>There are 7 O antiphons (so-called because they are invocations that begin with “O Come”): O Sapientia (Wisdom), O Adonai (Lord), O Radix Jesse (Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (Key of David), O Oriens (Rising Sun), O Rex Gentium (King of the Nations), and O Emmanuel (God with us).
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>Each is a title for the Messiah, and each refers to a prophecy from Isaiah of the coming of the Messiah. For example, for the verse for Radiant Dawn (or Rising Sun) we can turn to Isaiah 9:1: “The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown.” Or in Isaiah 22:22 we read “I will place on his shoulder the key of the hosue of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open”—hence, Key of David.
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>The exact origins of the O antiphons are unknown, but they are mentioned in passing as early as the year 500 AD. By the 8th century they were being used in Rome, and were prevalent in monasteries.
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>The O antiphons are used during the Octave of Christmas (the eight days before Christmas, Dec 17-23), and they are sung before the Magnificat during the Vespers service of the Liturgy of the Hours, each one on a different day.
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>Fun fact: Remembering that the last antiphon is used on the evening of December 23rd, take the first letter of each antiphon in Latin, in reverse order [E R O C R A S], and you get the Latin words “ero cras” which means “tomorrow, I will come.” Ah, those clever monks…
___________________
Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423
