Meditation for December 5, The Mystery of the Incarnation

Striving to express what a wonder the mystery of the God Man is, Father Lallemant, an author of the seventeenth century, wrote:

"After the Incarnation, we can no longer admire anything. It is dangerous to give admiration to creatures. Only God Incarnate deserves our admiration. If we admire anything in the order of nature it is a sign that our faith is meager."

Combining his veneration of the mystery of the Crib with that of the Altar, he continued,

"We should wish neither to see, nor to admire another thing upon earth....If God were capable of manifesting admiration, He would direct it to the Sacramental Mystery and the Mystery of the Incarnation only."

The author of Spiritual Doctrine is too wise to forbid all admiration of the beauties of earth which, imperfect as they are, constitute reflections of the beauty of God, but he means to say that all those created splendors are nothing in comparison with the Uncreated become a creature, in comparison with the Word made Flesh and Christ's Presence under the appearance of a
little bread.

"O well-beloved Word of God, do I appreciate at its true value Your comlng upon this earth? Do I conceive in at least a faint way the miracles You had to accumulate to become incarnate in Mary's womb, and nt every consecration to become present upon the altar? I adore You, O Divine Greatness, Who delighted in lowering Yourself to the form of a child and then to a little host. I adore You. I remain silent before You. I love You."

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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)