The Virgin Mary can say, He that made me rested in
my tabernacle, because the Creator of all that is chose her virginal womb to
rest in on his wedding night, there to become our Brother; and made of it a
royal throne, there to sit as our King; and put on a priestly robe in it, so to
make himself our Priest. Through the marriage-union the Virgin became God's
mother, the royal throne made her Queen of Heaven, the priestly robe the
advocate of the human race. It was appropriate that she should be all these
things, since she belonged to the human race herself and her ancestors had been
kings and priests. How that Virgin loved God, and how justifiably she can say:
He that made me rested in my tabernacle.
That God would consummate his marriage in her womb
David foresaw in the Spirit with prophetic certitude when he said, He hath set
his tabernacle in the sun. He added as a bridegroom because the Virgin's room
was the bridal room in which God was united to human nature, the place where he
kissed his bride as he made the contract that bound her to him in marriage.
In that womb also God set up his royal throne,
there to sit as our King. As the prophet says: Mercy and faithfulness return; a
throne set up in David's dwelling-place, for a judge that loves right and gives
redress speedily.
And from that womb God took the priestly vestment
which he would have to wear if he was to enter the holy of holies. Christ has
taken his place as our high priest, to win us blessings that still lie in the
future. He makes use of a greater, a more complete tabernacle, which human
hands never fashioned; it does not belong to this order of creation at all. It
is his own blood, nor the blood of goats and calves, that has enabled him to
enter, once for all, the sanctuary. On his way to the holy of holies, Christ
our high priest passed through the Virgin's womb, where he put on the priest's
robe, and from there proceeded to the cross, where he offered the holiest Of
all victims and so obtained for us God's friendship. The reason why the Lord
was bent on robing in the tabernacle of the Virgin's womb was this: he wanted
to make her our advocate as well as himself. There could be no resisting mother
and Son together; the two of them would bring firm confidence to us poor
wanderers, bidding us cling to the hope we have in view. I will set my
tabernacle in the midst of you, he said, and my soul shall no more cast you off
for the blessed Virgin, our advocate, can never ask in vain.
We can approach the Virgin, then, with every
confidence; whatever our need, we can go to her in all security. We shall do
well to honor this tabernacle and flee to it for refuge, since the Lord himself
took his ease there and the blessed Virgin could say with literal truth: He
that made me rested in my tabernacle.
No comments:
Post a Comment