Feast of St. Stephen, Protomartyr

This is from the Office of Readings from the Liturgy of the Hours for today:

From a sermon of St. Fulgentius of Ruspe:

"Yesterday our king, clothed in his robe of flesh, left his place in the virgin’s womb and graciously visited the world. Today his soldier leaves the tabernacle of his body and goes triumphantly to heaven."

When we think of just what happened yesterday, the virgin birth of the Savior, it almost seems odd to celebrate the feast of anyone during the Octave of Christmas. Yet, the Church proudly celebrates the feast of the Protomartry (first martyr), St. Stephen.

Moreso, when we look at St. Fulgentius's words, we can look at just how important the body really is.

Christ didn't spurn the Blessed Mother's virginity when He was born. In the sense of the physical virginity, this is amazing. When birth occurs, the actual physical characteristics of a woman can prove that this birth really did occur. However, when Christ was born, the Blessed Mother maintained ver virginity. She didn't have to suffer the pangs of childbirth, being that they were a result of original sin. Neither did her buffer alter do the birth of Christ. This is simply amazing. Unfathomable, but still real.

Similarly, we can see in the Protomartyrs birth into heaven, the virginal sense of his union with the Divine. His assent to heaven at his death, shows that his body, like the Blessed Mother's was a tabernacle. Similarly, when he was born into the Divine, he did not suffer, even though, martyrdom should bring about physical pain. We can see the joy in his face above, and there is no doubt that even if he felt pain, it was a completely sweet sensation (just like St. Catherine of Siena drinking puss).

So when we think of our own lives, let us not forget that our bodies are tabernacles, and that one day they will be reunited with our souls, and we shall have our glorified bodies in union with the Divine.

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." - 1 Cor. 6:19-20

Hodie Christus Natus Est

Today, Christ is born!

Through the birth of Christ, we can finally see salvation coming into the world.

At the Incarnation, Christ took on human flesh in the womb of Mary, and the path to salvation began. However, at the Nativity, we can finally see the physical form of the Christ child. This is simply amazing, Christ taking on human flesh. He didn't need to, but nonetheless, he chose to become like us in all things, excepting sin. This is part of the beauty of His love for us.

Through this feast, we can see that Christ too must've taken His human form from that of His mother. He took His divinity from the Spirit, and His humanity from His mother. This can do nothing less that elecit great fealings of devotion to the Most Blessed Mother of God. She gave Him her humanity. Rather, He prepared her humanity from before all time to be His dwelling place while He was growing in her womb. He prepared her humanity so that He might inherit it back from her. How amazing must've her humanity have been at that time. Just simply amazing!

So let us say with the Church: Hodie Christus natus est!

Bl. Marmion on the Eucharist

In continuing to read Bl. Columba Marmion for an Advent devotional, I came across these passages:

"If ordinary bread, which is without life, preserves the life of our bodies, with what a wonderful life shall we not live who eat a Living Bread, Life itself, at the table of the Living God?" (Christ, the Life of the Soul, conference viii, ch. i)

Furthermore, he explained this:

"This prayer of the Church leads us to understand that the Eucharistic action overflows from the soul upon the body itself. It is true that it is to the soul Christ immediately unites Himself; it is to the soul that He comes first of all, to assure and confirm its deification: Ut inter ejus membra numeremur cujus Corpori communicavimus et Sanguini. But the union of body and soul is so close that in increasing the life of the soul, in powerfully drawing it towards heavenly delights, the Eucharist tempers the heat of the passions, and brings peace to all our being." (Christ, the Life of the Soul, Conference viii, ch. iii)

This confirms what St. Teresa of Avila wrote: "Do you think, my daughters that this most holy nourishment does not also sustain the body, and is not a remedy for its ills. As for myself, I know it has this virtue." (The Way of Perfection, ch. xxxv)

More commentary on this will come soon.

St. Jane de Chantal on the Martyrdom of Love

This is a great TOB insight that I make sure to expound upon later, but for right now, here's the thought (a little late since her feast was two days ago).

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From The Memoirs by the secretary of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal:

"'My dear daughters, many of our holy fathers in the faith, men who were pillars of the Church, did not die martrys. Why do you think that was?' Each one present offered an answer; then their mother continued. 'Well, I myself think it was because their is another martyrdom: the martyrdom of love. Here God keeps his servants and handmaids in this present life so that they may labor for him, and he makes of them both martyrs and confessors.'...

One sister asked what form this martyrdom took. The saint answered: 'Yield yourself fully to God, and you will find out! Divine love takes its sword to the hidden recesses of our inmost soul and divides us from ourselves.'...

Finally ,the saint was asked whether this martyrdom of love could be put on the same level as martyrdom of the body. She answered: 'We should not worry about equality. I do think, however, that the martyrdom of love cannot be relegated to a second place, for love is as strong as death. For the martyrs of love suffer infinitely more in remaining in this life so as to serve God, than if they died a thousand times over in testimony to their faith and love and fidelity.'"

In Light of the Incarnation

Bl. Columba Marmion once wrote:

"It is as if he [Christ] said: 'You will never attain to the Divinity save in passing through my humanity.'" (Christ the Life of the Soul, Conference on Prayer, ch. 7)

In this, Bl. Marmion is going to show what the Body of Christ really means. To be one with Christ as a piece of His body is to gain eternal life. That is the path. That is what is meant by the idea, so often wrongly interpretted, that there is no salvation outside the Church. The Church is the Body of Christ after all. So through it, salvation comes because salvation was given as a gift by Christ Himself.

But, for the main thought here, we can look at the words "passing through my humanity." St. Ambrose made this comment in light of Christ saying, "No man cometh to the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). This is remarkable when we think about the body. Christ took on a body through His humanity. It is by passing through that humanity that we are brought to the Divinity.

In other words, by living as Christ lived, not just in a spiritual sense as is so often thought, but rather through a personal sense (personal meaning the whole person, body and soul), we can truly live our calling in life. It is by living as Christ lived, by passing through His humanity that we can be brought before the Beatific Vision.

This is extremely important for us all in our growth in holiness. The call to holiness extends to all facets of our life. It incorporates all that we do. It is who we should be. We should all be holy, and to achieve that, we need to look to what holiness is.

We can see that in Christ and His Blessed Mother, who was immaculately conceived. She was born free from original sin and suffered none of its effects. This was Christ's greatest sign of salvation. He chose His mother who participated in giving Him His humanity. For her, she was on the other end. Part of her DNA was inscribed in His. She passed on genes to Him. He fed off her milk and nourishment. She participated in giving Him His humanity so that we could likewise live our humanity to the fullest.

On this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we should look to the Immaculate Conception and seek her assistance to become more like her Son in all things, especially His humanity.

Advent and the Theology of the Body

So now that "Christmas" time is here, what do you see everywhere? ...


The image to the right is pretty much one that can be seen anywhere in any city (it's from DC though)...during Advent.

When we think about it, these decorations should be put up Christmas Eve to celebrate Christmas the next day as well as the Christmas Season proper. It's Advent now, which is a preparation for Christmas. And, when you think abotu it, as soon as New Year's Day is over, all the Christmas decorations will be taken down. But that's only the end of the Christmas Octave. Christmas really ends on Feb. 2, the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple.

So what does this have to do with the Theology of the Body?

Let's look at the sexual act. Premarital sex is becoming more and more a commonplace activity, which naturally strikes against the importance of it within the marital union. The more that the sexual act is engaged before a person is married, the less the person realizes just how important it is. All the physical, psychological, and emotional aspects that are built into the sexual act are there for a reason, and if you misuse that, then the results are bound to bring suffering.

Nowadays, the real meaning of Christmas has been taken out of the feast by so many people. It's about gift-giving (giving a gift is great by the way), but not in light of the greatest gift of all, the Lord's gift of Himself to humanity.

During this season, let's not get caught up in separating Christ from Christmas. Let's remember to celebrate Christmas at its proper time. And in all this, we'll truly see just how our actions affect our spirituality. Just like the boy and girl who wait for marriage before engaging in the conjugal union, so too should we make sure to wait for Christmas to celebrate. In that way, we'll be able to put the Christ back in Christmas.

Happy Advent!