April 30 2008 Wednesday Sixth Week of Easter

About the sources used. The readings on this site are not official for the Mass of Roman Rite of the Catholic Church in the USA, but are from sources free from copyright. They are here to present the comparable readings alongside traditional Catholic commentary as published in the Haydock Bible for your own personal study. Readings vary depending on your local calendar.

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/043008.shtml – Note. The Official Liturgical readings may not match the current NAB you may have.

The Acts of the Apostles 17:15, 22—18:1
Haydock New Testament

And they that conducted Paul, brought him as far as Athens, and receiving a commandment from him to Silas and Timothy, that they should come to him with all speed, they departed. But Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said:

Ye men of Athens, I perceive that ye are in all things over-religious. For passing by, and seeing your idols, I found an altar also, on which was written:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

What, therefore, you worship without knowing it, that I preach to you. God, who made the world and all things therein, he being the Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Nor is he served by the hands of men, as thou he needed any thing, seeing it is he who giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one, all mankind, to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, determining appointed times, and the limits of their habitation. That they should seek God, if haply they may feel after him or find him: although he be not far from every one of us. For in him we live, and move, and have our being: as some also of your own poets said: For we are also his offspring. Being, therefore, the offspring of God, we must not suppose the Divinity to be like unto gold or silver, or stone, the grave of art, and device of man. And God, indeed, having overlooked the times of this ignorance, now declareth to me, that all should every where do penance, Because he hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in equity, by the man, whom he hath appointed, giving faith to all, by raising him up from the dead.

And when they had heard of the resurrection of the dead, some indeed mocked: but others said:

We will hear thee again concerning this matter.

So Paul went out from among them. But certain men adhered to him and believed: among whom was also Dionysius, the Areopagite, and a woman, named Damaris, and others with them. AFTER these things, departing from Athens, he came to Corinth.

Responsorial Psalm 148:1-2, 11-14
DR Challoner Text Only

Praise ye the Lord from the heavens:
praise ye him in the high places.
Praise ye him, all his angels,
praise ye him, all his hosts.
Kings of the earth and all people:
princes and all judges of the earth:
Young men and maidens:
let the old with the younger,
praise the name of the Lord:
For his name alone is exalted.
The praise of him is above heaven and earth:
and he hath exalted the horn of his people.
A hymn to all his saints to the children of Israel,
a people approaching to him. Alleluia.

The Gospel According to Saint John 16:12-15
Haydock NT

Jesus said:

I have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot bear them now. But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will teach you all truth: for he shall not speak of himself, but what things soever he shall hear, he shall speak: and the things that are to come, he will shew you. He shall glorify me: because he shall receive of mine, and will declare it to you. All things whatsoever the Father hath are mine. Therefore, I said, that he shall receive of mine, and will shew it to you.

Haydock Commentary Acts 17:15, 22—18:1
Notes copied from Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 22. Over-religious.[4] Or very superstitious. To be superstitious, or given to superstition, is commonly taken for a vain and groundless religious worship, but it is also sometimes used in a good sense. And perhaps S. Paul, in the beginning of his speech to so many men of learning, does not so openly blame them for being vainly and foolishly superstitious, but by their inscription, to the unknown[5] God, he take notice how nice and exact they pretended to be, in not omitting to pay some kind of homage to any god, or gods of all other nations, whom they might not know. For some interpreters think, that by this altar they designed to worship every god of any nation, who was not come to their knowledge: or to worship that great God hinted at in the writings of Plato: or as others conjecture, that God of the Jews, of whom they might have heard such wonders, and whose name the Jews themselves said to be unknown and ineffable. However, from this inscription S. Paul takes an occasion, with wonderful dexterity, with sublime reflections, and with that solid eloquence, of which he was master, and which he employed, as often as it was necessary, to inform them, and instruct them, concerning the works of the one true God, of whom they had little knowledge, by their own fault: that this one true God made the world, and all things in it: that from one man he raised all mankind: that his presence is not confined to temples made by the hands of men, being every where, and in all creatures, preserving them every moment: that in him we live, move, and have our being, or subsist: that it is he, who hath determined the time, limits, or bounds of every empire, and kingdom, and of every man’s life: that this true God, who made, preserves, and governs all things in heaven and on earth, cannot be like to gold, silver, or any thing made by the art, or fancy of men. He puts them in mind that according even to one of their own heathen poets, Aratus, men themselves are the offspring of God, being blessed with a being and knowledge above all other creatures in this world: who by the light of reason ought to seek God, and by considering the visible effects of Providence over the world, and the creatures in it, might come to the knowledge of this one God, the author of all, at least to an imperfect knowledge of him, as men find out things by feeling, or as it were, groping in the dark. He then adds, (v. 30.) that having, as it were, overlooked, and permitted men for many ages to run on in this ignorance and blindness, in punishment of their sins, (this their ignorance of one true God, the author of all things, being wilful and inexcusable) now the same true God hath been pleased to announce to all men, that henceforward they acknowledge, and worship him, that they repent, and do penance for their sins. Wi.
• Ver. 23. It may be asked, why they had not implicit faith, worshipping the true, though unknown, God?[5] 1st. because the worship of the true God can never exist with the worship of idols; 2d. because an explicit faith in God is required of all; 3d. because it is repugnant to implicit faith, to admit any thing contrary to it, as comparing this unknown God with the pagan idols; for God to be at all, must be one. Lucan towards the end of his 2d book, hath these words:
• Et dedita sacris
• Incerti Judæa Dei.
• — What, therefore, you improperly worship, that I preach to you, and instruct you in the true worship, far different from what you pay to your strange gods.
• Ver. 24. God . . . dwelleth not in temples. He who is infinite cannot be confined to space; nor stand in need of what human hands can furnish. Temples are not for God, but for man. It is the latter who derives assistance from them. The same may be observed of all exterior acts of worship. They are serviceable, inasmuch as they proceed from, or powerfully assist, interior devotion, by the impressions which exterior objects leave upon the soul. The reciprocal action of one upon the other, in our present state of existence, is great and inevitable. A. See c. vii. sup. v. 48. — God, indeed, dwelleth in the temple, yes, and in the soul of the just man, but his is not confined there, as the idols were to their temples. Hence the prayer of Solomon at the consecration of the temple: if heaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thy immensity, how much less this house, which I have erected? God dwelleth there, then, to receive the prayers and sacrifices of the faithful, but not as though he needed any thing. See v. 25. — God is not contained in temples; so as to need them for his dwelling, or any other uses, as the heathens imagined. Yet by his omnipresence, he is bother there and every where. Ch.
• Ver. 27. Feel after him. Si forte attrectent eum, ei arage yhlafhseian. It signifies palpare quasi in tenebris. Wi.
• Ver. 28. S. Paul here cites Aratus, a Greek poet, and his own countryman, a native of Cilicia.
• Ver. 29. Cherubim, which extended wings, were ordered by God to be made, and placed over the propitiatory; (Exod. xxxvii. 7.) the brazen serpent is declared by Jesus Christ himself to have been a figure of him; therefore to blame the universally received practice of the Catholic Church, with regard to pictures and images, betrays either great prevention, or great ignorance. S. Gregory says: “What writing does for readers, that a picture does for the ignorant; for in it they see what they ought to follow, and in it they read, who know no letters.” And he sharply rebukes Serenus’s indiscreet zeal for removing pictures, instead of teaching the people what use may be made of them. l. ix. ep. 9.
• Ver. 30. Overlooked. Despiciens, uperidwn. It may either signify looking down on the ignorant world, and so taking pity of it; or rather that God having overlooked, and permitted mankind to go on so long in their sins, now invites them to repentance, by sending Jesus, their Saviour and Redeemer. See the Analysis, dissert. xxxiv. Wi.
• Ver. 31. Because he hath appointed a day for judging all men with equity, by the man, to wit, Christ Jesus, a man, and also his true Son, whom he has appointed to be their judge; and by raising him (Jesus) from the dead, he hath made it credible, and given sufficient proofs of this truth, that every one shall rise from death. Wi.
• Ver. 32. When they heard of the resurrection of the dead. This seemed so impossible, even to the philosophers among them, that some of them presently laughed, and made a jest of it. Others said, we will hear thee on this another time, and some believed. Wi.
• Ver. 34. Dionysius the Areopagite. This illustrious convert was made the first bishop of Athens. They martyrologies say, S. Paul raised him to that dignity. It is the same person, who, observing the convulsions of nature, which paid homage, as it were, to its God, expiring upon the cross, and not knowing the cause, is said to have exclaimed: Either the universe is falling to ruin, or the God of nature must be suffering. It appears from his writings, that he was, previous to his conversion, of the Platonic school. Ven. Bede was mistaken in supposing that he was afterwards the bishop of Corinth, of that name, who so successfully employed his pen for the good of the Church. This Dionysius lived a whole century after the Areopagite. Estius.

Haydock Commentary John 16:12-15

• Ver. 13. When he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will teach you all truth; will direct you and the Church, in the ways of truth. For he shall not speak of himself, or of himself only, because, says S. Aug. he is not from himself, but proceedeth from the Father and the Son. Whatsoever he shall hear, he shall speak[3]; this his hearing, says S. Aug. is his knowledge, and his knowledge is his essence, or being, which from eternity is from the Father and the Son. The like expressions are applied to the Son, as proceeding from the Father. Jo. v. 30. and viii. 16. &c. Wi. — If he shall teach all truth, and that for ever, (c. xi. v. 26.) how is it possible, that the Church can err, or hath erred in matters of faith, at any time, or in any point of doctrine? In this supposition, would not the Holy Ghost have forfeited his title of Spirit of Truth?
• Ver. 15. All things whatsoever the Father hath, are mine. The obvious sense of these words, shews, that the Son hath the same nature, and the same substance with the Father, and that he is one, and the same God with him. And by Christ’s adding: therefore he (the Holy Ghost) shall receive of mine, we are taught, that the third person proceeds from both the Father, and the Son, and that he receives, and has the same perfections. Wi.

Please look here. Many people are coming via search engine. Google is sending people to last year’s readings. Please check the date. If you are on the wrong year please CLICK HERE and then check the calendar to the left. Sunday readings are usually posted on the previous Wednesday and then again on the proper Sunday. Thank you, and I apologize for the inconvenience.

December 8 2007 Saturday 1^st Week of Advent

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

About the sources used. The readings on this site are not official for the Mass of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, but are from sources free from copyright. They are here to present the comparable readings alongside traditional Catholic commentary as published in the Haydock Bible.

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/120807.shtml – Note. The Official Liturgical readings may not match the current NAB you may have.

Genesis 3:9-15, 20
Douay-Rheims Challoner

9 And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou?
10 And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.
11 And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?
12 And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And she answered: The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.
14 And the Lord God said to the serpent: 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, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.
20 And Adam called the name of his wife Eve: because she was the mother of all the living.

Psalm
Text only. Commentary Here

¹ A psalm for David himself. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: because he hath done wonderful things. His right hand hath wrought for him salvation, and his arm is holy.
² The Lord hath made known his salvation: he hath revealed his justice in the sight of the Gentiles.
³ He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
⁴ Sing joyfully to God, all the earth; make melody, rejoice and sing.
⁵ Sing praise to the Lord on the harp, on the harp, and with the voice of a psalm:
⁶ With long trumpets, and sound of cornet. Make a joyful noise before the Lord our king:
⁷ Let the sea be moved and the fullness thereof: the world and they that dwell therein.
⁸ The rivers shall clap their hands, the mountains shall rejoice together
⁹ At the presence of the Lord: because he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with justice, and the people with equity.

Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12
Haydock New Testament

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ: 4 As he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in his sight, in charity. 5 Who hath predestinated us unto the adoption of children, through Jesus Christ, unto himself: according to the purpose of his will, 6 To the praise and glory of his grace, by which he made us acceptable, in his beloved Son.

11 In whom we also are called by lot, being predestinated according to the purpose of him, who worketh all things according to the purpose of him, who worketh all things according to the counsel of his will: 12 That we may be to the praise of his glory, who have before hoped in Christ:

The Gospel According to Saint Luke 1:26-38
Haydock NT

26 And in the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary. 28 And the Angel being come in, said to her:

Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: Blessed art thou among women.

29 But she having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the Angel said to her:

Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God: 31 Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name, Jesus. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David, his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever, 33 And of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 And Mary said to the Angel:

How shall this be done, because I know not man?

35 And the Angel answering, said to her:

The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God.

36 And behold thy cousin, Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: 37 Because no word shall be impossible with God.

38 And Mary said:

Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word.

And the Angel departed from her.

Haydock Commentary Genesis 3:9-15, 20

• Ver. 9. Where. In what state have thy sins placed thee, that thou shouldst flee from thy God? S. Ambrose C. 14. Some think it was the Son of God who appeared on this occasion, S. Augustine &c. or an Angel. C.
• Ver. 10. Afraid. The just man is the first to accuse himself: But Adam seeks for excuses in his sin: he throws the blame on his wife, and ultimately on God. M.—Thou gavest me. Heretics have since treated the Sovereign Good with the like insolence; saying plainly, that God is the author of sin, and that the crime of Judas is no less his work than the conversion of S. Paul. See Calvin’s works, and may of the first reformers, Luther, &c. cited. Ex. 8. 15. H.
• Ver. 13. The serpent, which thou hast made so cunning, and placed with us, deceived me. God deigns not to answer their frivolous excuses. M.
• Ver. 14. Cursed. This curse falls upon the natural serpent, as the instrument of the devil; who is also cursed at the same time by the Holy Ghost. What was natural to the serpent and to man in a state of innocence, (as to creep, &c. to submit to the dominion of the husband, &c.) becomes a punishment after the fall. S. Chrys.—There was no enmity, before, between man and any of God’s creatures; nor were they noxious to him. T.—The devil seems now to crawl, because he no longer aspires after God and heavenly things, but aims at wickedness and mean deceit. M.
• Ver. 15. She shall crush. Ipsa, the woman: so divers of the fathers read this place, conformably to the Latin: others read it ipsum, viz. the seed. The sense is the same: for it is by her seed, Jesus Christ, that the woman crushes the serpent’s head. Ch.—The Hebrew text, as Bellarmine observes, is ambiguous: He mentions one copy which had ipsa instead of ipsum; and so it is even printed in the Hebrew interlineary edition, 1572, by Plantin, under the inspection of Boderianus. Whether the Jewish editions ought to have more weight with Christians, or whether all the other MSS. Conspire against this reading, let others inquire. The fathers who have cited the old Italic version, taken from the Sept. agree with the Vulgate, which is followed by almost all the Latins; and hence we may argue with probability, that the Sept. and the Hebrew formerly acknowledge ipsa, which now moves the indignation of Protestants so much, as if we intended by it to give any divine honour to the blessed Virgin. We believe, however, with S. Epiphanius, that “it is no less criminal to vilify the holy Virgin, than to glorify her above measure.” We know that all the power of the mother of God is derived from the merits of her Son. We are no otherwise concerned about the retaining of ipsa, she, in this place, than in as much as we have yet no certain reason to suspect its being genuine. As some words have been corrected in the Vulgate since the Council of Trent, by Sixtus V. and others, by Clem. VIII. so, if, upon stricter search, it be found that it, and not she, is the true reading, we shall not hesitate to admit the correction: but we must wait in the mean time respectfully, till our superiors determine. H. Kemnitzius certainly advanced a step too far, when he said that all the ancient fathers read ipsum. Victor, Avitus, S. Aug. S. Greg. &c. mentioned in the Douay Bible, will convict him of falsehood. Christ crushed the serpent’s head by his death, suffering himself to be wounded in the heel. His blessed mother crushed him likewise, by her co-operation to the mystery of the Incarnation; and by rejecting, with horror, the very first suggestions of the enemy, to commit even the smallest sin. S. Bernard. Sermon 2. on Misses est. “We crush,” says S. Greg. Mor. l. 38. “the serpent’s head, when we extirpate from our heart the beginnings of temptation, and then he lays snares for our heel, because he opposes the end of a good action with greater creaft and power.” The serpent may hiss and threaten; he cannot hurt, if we resist him. H.
• Ver. 20. The living. Heb. chai, one who brings forth alive, (Symmachus) or one who imparts life, in which she was a figure of the blessed Virgin. C.—Adam gives his wife this new name, in gratitude for not being cut off by death on the very day of his transgression, as he had every reason to expect and fear he would have been. C. ii. 17. H.—The printed Hebrew reads here, and in many other places, Eva, he, instead of Eja, she; thus, He was the mother, v. 12. he gave, &c. an inaccuracy unknown to the Samaritans and the best MS. Copies. Kennicott.

Haydock Commentary Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12

• Ver. 3. Blessed be the God, who, through his Son Jesus Christ, made man, hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings and gifts; and by his grace, infused into our souls, has given us a title to a happy eternity in heaven. Wi.—In heavenly things; (in cœlestibus) i.e. all spiritual blessings for heaven, or for eternity. This is the object of all the blessings we receive from God; and we ought, according to the first intention of them, to refer them all to eternal or heavenly beatitude. S. Paul distinguishes the blessings which we receive in Jesus Christ. From those bestowed upon the Jews, which were temporal and limited to this earth. Calmet. Ch.
• Ver. 4-8. As by his eternal decree, according to the purpose of his good will and pleasure, he hath made choice of us to be his adoptive sons, and predestinated us to be saved and glorified by the merits and grace of his beloved Son, our Redeemer, without any merits of ours to the glorious praise and riches of his grace, by which he hath made us abound in all wisdom and true prudence. Wi.
• Ver. 11. In Christ we also are called by lot; i.e. to this happy lot, this share and state of eternal happiness, (he seems to speak with an allusion to the manner by which the lands of a temporal inheritance was distributed to the Israelites, in Palestine) that we (v. 12) who are saved, may be to the praise of his glory; might praise God for ever in the kingdom of his glory; particularly we Jews, who before hoped in the Messiah to come, and also you Gentiles, who now having heard the gospel, have believed in Christ, and who, together with all Christians, have been now sealed as it were with the holy Spirit of promise; i.e. by the Spirit promised, and all those spiritual graces which are an earnest and pledge, which give us an assurance of our future glory and happiness. For our redemption from our sins, and in order to the acquired possession, to the possession of that glorious happiness which Christ, by his incarnation and death, hath acquired for us. Wi.

Haydock Commentary Luke 1:26-38

• Ver. 27. The word Miriam, or Mary, is expounded by S. Jerome from different etymologies, to signify in Hebrew, star of the sea, and in Chaldaic, lady. Both interpretations admirably well agree with her, who is the glorious Queen of heaven, our patroness and star, to direct us in the stormy ocean of this world.—“O you,” cries out S. Bernard, “who find yourselves tossed to and fro in the tempestuous life, turn not your eyes away from the brightness of this star, if you would not be overwhelmed in these storms. If the winds of temptations arise; If you fall among the rocks of tribulation; look up to the star, call upon Mary. If you are agitate, and hard driven with the surges of pride, ambition, detraction, jealousy, or envy; look up to the star, call upon Mary. If anger, covetousness, or lust, beat furiously on the vessel of your soul; look up to the star, call upon Mary. If you are beginning to founder, and are just sinking into the gulph of melancholy and despair; think on Mary. In dangers, in distresses, in your mouth; from your mouth let it constantly descend into your heart; and, that you may obtain the suffrage of her prayers, both in life and death, never depart from the example of her pious conversations.” S. Bernard of Clairvaux, hom. ii. super Missus est.
• Ver. 28. Hail, full of grace: by the greatest share of divine graces granted to any creature. This translation, approved by the ancient Fathers, agrees with the ancient Syriac and Arabic versions. There was no need therefore to change it into gracious, with Erasmus; into freely beloved, with Beza; into highly favoured, with the Prot translators. For is the seven deacons (Acts 6:3) are said to be full of the Holy Ghost, as it is again said of S. Stephen, (Acts 7:55) and also of the same S. Stephen, (Acts 6:8) that he was full of grace, (as the learned Dr. Wells translates it in his amendments made to the Prot. translations) why should any one be offended at this salutation given to the blessed mother of God; who would not have been raised to this highest dignity, had not her soul bee first prepared for it by the greatest share of divine graces?—The Lord is with thee, by his interior graces; and now, at this moment, is about to offer upon thee the highest of all dignities, by making thee truly the mother of God. Wi.—The Catholic Church makes frequent use of these words which were brought by the archangel from heaven, as well to honour Jesus Christ, and his virgin Mother, as because they were the first glad tidings of Christ’s incarnation, and man’s salvation; and are the very abridgment and sum of the whole gospel. In the Greek Church, these are used daily in the Mass. See the Liturgy of S. James, and that of S. Chrys.
• Ver. 29. When she had heard. In the Greek text, when she had seen; as if she also saw the angel, as S. Ambrose observed. Wi.
• Ver. 31. It may perhaps in the first instance of reflection, appear shocking to our ideas, that a God should dwell in a human body; but does not the sun emit its rays into all kinds of places, without any detriment to its purity; How much more would the Sun of justice, assuming a most pure body, formed of the purest blood of the spotless Virgin, not only remain free from every the least stain himself, but even impart additional sanctity to his virgin Mother. S. Thos. Aquinas.
• Ver. 32. He… shall be called; i.e. according to the style of the Scriptures, he shall truly be the Son of God. Wi.
• Ver. 33. Those are here called of the house of Jacob, who out of the multitude of the Jews believed in Christ. This is conformable to that text of S. Paul: All are not Israelites that are of Israel, but the children of the promise are accounted for the seed. Rom 9:6, 8. S. Chrysostom homily vii on S. Matt.—And of his kingdom there shall be no end: which clearly shews it was not to be a temporal, but a spiritual and an eternal kingdom. Wi.
• Ver. 34. How shall this be done? She only asks about the manner.—Because I know not man. This answer, as S. Aug. takes notice, would have been to no purpose, had she not made a vow to God to live always a virgin. Wi.00Listen to the words of this pure Virgin. The angel tells her she shall conceive; but she insists upon her virginity, holding her purity in higher estimation than the promised dignity. S. Greg. of Nyssa-She did not doubt the truth of what the angel said, (as Calvin impiously maintained) but she wished it might not happen to the prejudice of her vowed virginity. Ambrose, Austin, Bede, Theophylactus, &c. &c.
• Ver. 35. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, &c. By the divine power thou shalt bring forth, and yet remain always a pure virgin.—And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee, shall be called (shall be) the Son of God. The second person of the ever blessed Trinity, being united to our human nature, remaining unchangeably the same God, and being born of the Virgin Mary; it must needs be true to say that God was born, that God suffered and died for us; and consequently that the blessed Virgin Mary was truly the mother of God, or of him that is truly God; though not the mother of the Godhead: as the Catholic Church declared in the council of Ephesus, (431) against the heretic Nestorius. Wi.—Seek not for natural order in things that transcend nature. You ask, how shall this be done, since you know not man? This, your ignorance of man, is the very reason why this will take place within you. For had you not bee pure, you never would have been deemed worthy of so great a mystery. Not because marriage is bad, but because virginity is far more excellent. The common Lord of all ought in his birth to have something common with all mankind, and still something different. He was conceived and born in the womb like the rest of mankind, but he differed from them in being born of a virgin. S. Chry. xlix. in Genes.
• Ver. 36. We find that Aaron, who was of the tribe of Levi, took a wife of the tribe of Juda, viz. Elizabeth, the sister of Naasson. In the successors of David we find that Joiada, the chief priest, took a wife of the family of David, viz. the daughter of Joram; from which it appears that both the royal and sacerdotal tribes were united, and that Mary and Elizabeth were relatives. It was certainly proper that Christ should be born of both these tribes, because he was in himself both king and priest. Ven. Bede.
• Ver. 38. Behold the handmaid. With all modesty and humility of heart and mind, the blessed Virgin consented to the divine will: and from that moment in her was conceived the Saviour and Redeemer of the world. Wi.—Thus ought the virgin, who brought forth meekness and humility itself, to shew forth an example of the most profound humility. S. Amb.