13. Wedding of the Virgin and Joseph.
5th September 1944.
How
beautiful Mary is dressed as a bride, among Her joyful friends and
teachers! There is also Elizabeth amongst them.
She
is dressed in snow-white linen, so soft and refined that it looks
like precious silk. She is wearing round Her slender waist a burin
wrought belt in gold and silver, made of medallions held together by
little chains - each medallion is an embroidery of gold threads on
heavy silver burnished by age. Probably because the belt is too long
for Her, still a gentle girl, the last three medallions hang down in
the front and fall amongst the folds of the very wide dress that is
so long as to form a sort of train. On Her feet She is wearing white
leather sandals with silver buckles.
Around
Her neck the dress is held by a chain of small gold roses and silver
filigree, reproducing on a smaller scale the design of the belt.
Running through large holes on the loosely cut neck, the chain
gathers the cloth and forms a kind of small frill. Mary's neck
emerges from the white pleated cloth with the grace of a stem wrapped
in a precious fabric and seems even more slender and whiter than
ever, the stem of a lily ending in a lily-like face, which is even
paler than usual for the excitement - and purer. The face of a most
pure victim.
Her
hair no longer hangs over Her shoulders. It is arranged in a knot of
plaits in a charming style, and precious burnished silver hairpins,
all made with embroidered filigree at the top, hold it in position.
Her mother's veil is placed over the plaits and it falls in beautiful
folds under the precious thin plate that encircles Her snow-white
forehead. The veil falls down Her sides and since Mary is not as tall
as Her mother, it falls lower than Her hips, whereas it reached
Anne's waist. She has nothing on Her hands, but is wearing bracelets
on Her wrists. Her wrists are so thin that the heavy bracelets of Her
mother cover the back of Her hands and would fall to the ground if
She tossed Her hands.
Her
friends gaze upon Her and admire Her. They twitter gaily like
sparrows asking questions and expressing their admiration.
«
Are they Your mother's? »
«
They are antique, are they not? »
«
How beautiful, Sarah, this belt is! »
«
And what about this veil, Susan? How refined it is. Just look at
those lilies woven in it! »
«
Let me see Your bracelets, Mary. Were they Your mother's? »
«
Yes, she wore them. But they are of My father's mother.»
«
Oh! Look. They have the seal of Solomon interwoven with thin little
branches of palm and olive-trees and amongst these there are lilies
and roses. Oh! Who did such perfect and refined work? »
«
They belong to the House of David » explains Mary. « The women of
the family have worn them for centuries, when they get married and
they are left in heritage to the heiress.» « Certainly! You are the
heiress... »
«
Did they bring You everything from Nazareth? »
«
No, they did not. When My mother died, My cousin took My trousseau to
her house to keep it safely. Now she has brought it back to Me.»
«
Where is it? Where is it? Show it to Your friends.»
Mary
does not know what to do... She would like to be kind, but she is not
anxious to pull out all the things which are nicely laid in three
heavy trunks.
Her
teachers come to Her help: « The groom is about to arrive » they
point out. « This is not the moment to cause confusion. Leave Mary
alone. You are tiring Her. Go and get ready.»
The
chattering group go away somewhat sulkily. Mary can now enjoy in
peace the company of Her teachers who say words of praise and
blessing to Her.
Also
Elizabeth has come near. And as Mary, deeply moved, is crying because
Anna of Phanuel has called Her « daughter » and has kissed Her with
true motherly love, Elizabeth says to Her: « Mary, Your mother is
not here, and yet she is present. Her soul is rejoicing with Yours.
Look, the things that You are wearing are giving You her caresses
once again. You can still find in them the flavour of her kisses. One
day, a long time ago, the day You came to the Temple, she said to me:
“I have prepared Her dresses and Her trousseau, because I wish to
be the one who weaves Her linens and makes Her bridal dresses, so
that I shall not be absent on the day of Her joy.” And listen. In
the last days, when I was assisting her, every evening she wanted to
caress Your first little dresses and the ones You are now wearing and
she would say: “I can smell the jasmine perfume of my little one
and I want Her to perceive here the kiss of Her mummy.” How many
kisses on this veil that is now shading Your forehead! There are more
kisses than threads!... And when You will wear the cloth woven by
her, just think that it was woven more by her motherly love than by
the shuttle. And these jewels... Also in hard circumstances they were
saved by Your father for You, that You might be beautiful in this
hour, as befits a princess of the House of David. Be happy and
cheerful, Mary. You are not an orphan, because Your parents are with
You and Your husband is a father and a mother to You, such is his
perfection... »
«
Yes, that is true! I certainly cannot complain. In two months he has
been here twice, and today he has come for the third time, facing the
rain and the windy weather, to take orders from Me... Fancy: orders
from Me who am a poor woman and much younger than he is! And he has
denied Me nothing. He does not even wait for Me to ask. I think an
angel must tell him what I want, because he tells Me before I can
speak. The last time he said: “Mary, I think that You prefer to
stay in Your father's house. Since You are a daughter heiress, You
can do so, if that is Your wish. I will come to Your house. However,
in order to accomplish the rite, You will go for one week to my
brother Alphaeus' house. Mary already loves You so much. And from
there the procession will start that will take You to Your house in
the evening of the wedding day.” Was that not very kind of him? It
did not even matter to him if the people should say that he has not a
house which I would like... I would have liked it, because he is
there and he is so good. Certainly... I prefer My own house...
because of memories... Oh! Joseph is so good! »
«
What did he say about Your vow? You haven't told me yet.»
«
He made no objection. On the contrary, when I told him the reasons,
he said: “I will join my sacrifice to Yours.”»
«
He is a holy young man » says Anna of Phanuel.
The
«holy young man » is coming in just now in the company of
Zacharias.
He
is really magnificent. All dressed in gold yellow he seems an eastern
sovereign. A splendid belt supports his bag and his dagger, the
former of morocco embroidered in gold, the latter with a morocco
sheath and gold decorations. On his head he is wearing a turban, that
is the usual piece of cloth worn like a hood, as is still customary
amongst certain people in Africa, such as the bedouins, and it is
held by a precious ring, a thin wire of gold, to which there are tied
some small bunches of myrtle. He has on a new mantle, with fringes,
and he wears it with great dignity. He is sparkling with joy. He has
in his hands small bunches of myrtle in bloom.
«
Peace to you, my spouse! » he greets Her. « Peace to everyone.»
When he has received a reply to his greetings, he says: « I saw Your
joy the day I gave You a branch from Your garden. I thought I should
bring You some myrtle which I picked near the grotto You love so
much. I wanted to bring You some of the roses that are already
beginning to bloom near Your house. But roses do not last long. After
a journey of several days I would have arrived here with only the
thorns. And I want to offer You, my dear, only roses and spread Your
way with soft scented flowers, so that Your feet may rest on them
without touching anything dirty or harsh.»
«
Oh! Thank you, you are so good! But what did you do to keep it so
fresh?»
«
I tied a vase to the saddle and I put in it the branches of the
flowers in bud. During the journey they have burst into flower. Here
they are, Mary. May Your forehead be garlanded with purity, the
symbol of a bride, which, however, is much inferior to the purity of
Your heart.»
Elizabeth
and the teachers adorn Mary with a little garland of flowers which
they form attaching to the precious ring the little white bunches of
myrtle and they insert small white roses which they take from a vase
placed on a small chest.
Mary
is on the point of taking Her large white mantle to put it on Her
shoulders, but Joseph precedes Her and helps Her to fasten it at the
top of Her shoulders with two silver buckles. The teachers then
arrange the folds with loving care.
Everything
is ready. While they are awaiting I do not know what, Joseph takes
Mary to one side and says to Her: « I have pondered a lot on Your
vow these last days. I told You that I will share it with You. But
the more I think of it, the more I realise that a temporary
Naziritism is not sufficient, even if renewed several times. I have
understood You, Mary. I do not yet deserve the word of Light, but a
murmur of it comes to me. And it causes me to read Your secret, at
least in its main lines. I am a poor ignorant man, Mary. A poor
workman. I know nothing of letters and I have no treasures. But I
place at Your feet my treasure: my absolute chastity, forever, to be
worthy of being beside You, Virgin of God, “my sister spouse,
enclosed garden, sealed fountain,” as our Ancestor says, who
perhaps wrote the Song of Songs seeing You... I shall be the guardian
of this garden of spices in which are the most precious fruits and
from which a spring of living water gushes out in a gentle surge:
Your kindness, o spouse, has conquered my soul with Your innocence, o
most beautiful one. You are more beautiful than dawn, You are a sun
that shines because Your heart shines, You are full of love for Your
God and for the world, to which You wish to give a Saviour with Your
sacrifice of a woman. Come, my beloved spouse » and he takes Her
gently by the hand and leads Her towards the door. All the others
follow them and outside the joyful companions, all dressed in white
and wearing veils, join them.
They
go through yards and porches, among the crowds that watch them, up to
a point that is not the Temple, but seems to be a hall used for
ceremonies, because there are lamps and rolls of parchment as in
synagogues. They go as far as a tall lectern, almost a desk, and they
wait. The others stand orderly behind them. Other priests and curious
people gather at the end.
The
High Priest enters solemnly.
There
is whispering amongst the curious crowd: « Is he going to marry
them? »
«
Yes, because She is of royal and sacerdotal rank. A flower of David
and Aaron, the bride is a virgin of the Temple. The groom is of the
tribe of David.»
The
Pontiff joins the right hand of the bride with the right hand of the
groom and he blesses them solemnly: « May the God of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob be with you. May He join you and fulfill His blessing in
you giving you His peace and numerous descendants with a long life
and a happy death in the bosom of Abraham.» He then withdraws as
solemn as when he entered.
The
promise has been exchanged. Mary is Joseph's spouse. (1)
They
all go out and they orderly move to a hall where they stipulate the
wedding contract in which it is stated that Mary, the daughter
heiress of Joachim of David and of Anne of Aaron gives Joseph, as Her
dowry, Her house and the estate attached to it, Her personal property
and what She has inherited from Her father.
It
is now all over.
The
betrothed go out into the yard and they move toward the exit near the
dwellings of the women assigned to the Temple. A comfortable heavy
waggon is waiting for them. A tent is laid over it as a shelter and
Mary's heavy trunks are already loaded on it.
After
farewell words, kisses and tears, blessings and advice, Mary gets
into the waggon with Elizabeth, while Joseph and Zachar ias sit in
the front. They have taken off their best mantles and are all wearing
dark ones. The waggon departs at the heavy trot of a big dark horse.
The Temple walls and then the city walls are receding and here is the
country, new, fresh, blooming in the early springtime sunshine, with
the corn a few inches off the ground, its little leaves, which look
like emeralds, waving at a gentle breeze, which carries the scent of
peach and apple flowers, of clover flowers and of wild mint.
Mary
is weeping silently, under Her veil, and now and again She removes
the tent and looks at the far away Temple and the city She has
left...
The
vision ends thus.
(1)
In Israel, also at the time of Our Lady, a marriage comprised two
phases: the engagement and the wedding. The rite of the engagement,
by which the marriage was essentially established, implied that the
young couple should be blessed by a priest while holding each other's
right hand; a legal contract was made in regard to property and
rights. During this first phase they did not live together. The
wedding was the solemn accomplishment of the contract and the couple
began to live together.
-------------
Jesus says:
Jesus says:
«
What does the Book of Wisdom say, singing her praises? “Within
wisdom is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle.”
And it goes on listing her endowments, ending the period with the
words... “almighty, all-surveying, penetrating all intelligent,
pure and most subtle spirits. She is so pure she pervades and
permeates all things. She is a breath of the power of God, hence
nothing impure can find a way into her... image of His goodness.
Although alone she can do all, herself unchanging, she makes all
things new, she passes into holy souls, she makes them friends of God
and Prophets.”
You
have seen how Joseph, not by human culture, but by supernatural
education can read in the sealed book of the Immaculate Virgin and
how he borders upon prophetic truths by his “seeing” a superhuman
mystery where others could only see a great virtue. Since he is
imbued with this wisdom, which is a breath of the power of God and a
definite emanation of the Almighty, he sails with a secure spirit the
sea of this mystery of grace which is Mary. He penetr ates with Her
spiritual contacts, in which, rather than the lips, the two spirits
speak to each other in the sacred silence of their souls, where God
only can hear voices and those who are well liked by God, because
they are His faithful servants and are full of Him.
The
wisdom of the Just man, which increases by his union and closeness to
Mary, Full of Grace, prepares him to penetrate the deepest secrets of
God and enables him to protect and defend them from the snares of man
and demon. And in the meantime it invigorates him. It makes the just
man a saint, and the saint the guardian of the Spouse and of the Son
of God.
Without
removing the seal of God, he, a chaste man, now elevating his
chastity to angelical heroism, can read the word of fire written by
God on the virginal diamond, and he reads what his wisdom does not
repeat, but is greater than what Moses read on the stone tablets. And
to prevent profane eyes from prying into the mystery, he places
himself, seal upon the seal, as an archangel of fire on the threshold
of Paradise, within which the Eternal Father takes His delight,
“walking in the cool of the evening” and talking to Her Who is
His love, Garden of lilies in bloom, Air scented with perfumes, fresh
morning Breeze, lovely Star, Delight of God. The new Eve is there, in
front of him, not bone from his bones, nor flesh from his flesh, but
companion of his life, living Ark of God, Whom he receives in
guardianship and Whom he must return to God as pure as he received
Her.
“Spouse
to God” was written in the immaculate pages of that mystical
book... And when in the hour of trial suspicion hissed its torture,
he suffered as a man and as a servant of God, as no man suffered,
because of the suspected sacrilege. But this was to be the future
trial. Now, in this time of grace, he sees and he puts himself at the
most true service of God. Then the storm of the trial will come, as
for all saints, to be tested and made coadjutors of God.
What
do you read in Leviticus? “Tell Aaron, your brother, that he must
not enter the sanctuary beyond the Veil in front of the Throne of
mercy that is over the Ark, whenever he chooses. He may die; for I
appear in a cloud on the Throne of mercy, unless he has done these
things first: he will offer a young bull for a sacrifice for sin and
a ram for holocaust, he is to wear a linen tunic and cover his
nakedness with a linen girdle.”
And
Joseph really enters the sanctuary of God, when and as far as God
wants, beyond the veil that conceals the Ark on which the Spirit of
God hovers and he offers himself and will offer the Lamb, a holocaust
for the sin of the world and in expiation of such sin. And he does
that dressed in linen, and mortifying his virile limbs to abolish
their faculty of sensation, which once, at the beginning of times,
did triumph, impairing the rights of God on man and which will now be
crushed in the Son, in the Mother and in the putative father, to lead
men back to Grace and restore the right of God on man. He does that
with his perpetual chastity.
Was
Joseph not on Golgotha? Do you think he is not amongst the
co-redeemers? I tell you solemnly that he was the first and therefore
he is great in the eyes of God. Great for his sacrifice, his
patience, his perseverance, his faith. Which faith is greater than
this one that believed without seeing the miracles of the Messiah?
Praise
be to My putative father, an example to you of what you lack most:
purity, faithfulness and perfect love. Praise be to the magnificent
reader of the sealed Book, imbued with Wisdom to be able to
understand the mysteries of Grace and chosen to protect the Salvation
of the world from the snares of all enemies.»
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