1. We shall start by
discussing the death of Joseph Most Holy, which occurred in Jerusalem on
Sunday the 19th of March of the year 29 of the Christian Era (5228 of
Creation). Due to the Passover, the Holy Family had journeyed to the
Temple to fulfil there the precept of the Law, and Saint Joseph died on
the first day of the Paschal celebration; that is, soon after the 14th day
of Nisan had begun, which that year, in accordance with the Jewish
Calendar, started after sunset on Sunday the 19th of March.
In the Palmarian Creed is found the following teaching:
"Joseph Most Holy, shortly before the public life of Christ began,
died of love in the arms of Jesus and Mary."
2. Let us now, listen
to the Mystic Cecilia Baij speaking of the death of Saint Joseph, and
whose teaching we adopt: "The ardour of love grew in the heart of
blessed Joseph. He seemed
wholly enkindled and aflame with celestial love, his eyes turned at one
moment towards Heaven, then towards the Redeemer, then towards his Most
Holy and Most Pure Spouse; at each breath he pronounced the most sweet
Names of God the Father, of Jesus and of Mary.
When the last moment of his life had come, the Redeemer requested
that blessed soul to leave the body and be received by Him in His
Venerable Hands. At this
gentle invitation, our happy Joseph expired, invoking the most sweet Names
of Jesus and Mary; he died in an intense act of love towards his beloved
God. The Saviour received
Joseph's soul in His Venerable Hands and laid it before His Most Holy
Mother for Her consolation, for She was sorely afflicted at the loss of so
holy and faithful a companion. The
great Virgin saw the holy soul so rich in merit and adorned by so much
grace and virtue, that She was truly consoled.
The body of Saint Joseph was so beautiful that he seemed an angel
from Paradise; he was surrounded by an admirable glow and sent forth an
exqui-site aroma." She
adds as well that Jesus directed the angels to accompany Saint Joseph's
soul to the Limbo of the Just, and we interpret that they were the twelve
who later took part in Saint Joseph's gentle transition to Heaven.
3. The virginal body
of the Glorious Patriarch was laid in a cave found in the valley of
Josaphat by the Garden of Olives, known today as the Tomb of Mary, since
for three days She was placed there in Gentle Dormition, years later.
This tomb belonged to the Virgin Mary's family, and when Saint
Joseph was buried there, it held the incorrupt bodies of Christ's maternal
grandparents, Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, and those of His paternal
grandparents, Saint Jacob and Saint Rachel; for the last two had been
transferred there because of the espousal of the Divine Mary and Most Holy
Joseph. The eminent Doctor Saint
Mary of Jesus of Agreda describes the funeral of Saint Joseph as follows:
"...accompanied by relatives and friends and many others - in
particular by the Redeemer of the world and His Most Blessed Mother - and
a great multitude of angels, the sacred body of Glorious Saint Joseph was
borne to common burial." Saint
Jerome says that Jesus was accustomed to pray in the Garden of Gethsemani
as He did the eve of His Passion, because the Tomb of Saint Joseph was
there - which confirms our teaching.
Soon after the death of Saint Joseph, a period began in the life of
Our Lord Jesus Christ which we term semi-public, and which ends with the
institution of the Sacrament of Baptism.
4. Let us examine some
aspects of the semi-public life of Christ: As the hour of the public
appearance of the Precursor had arrived, Jesus, accompanied by His Divine
Mother, set out for the desert of Juda in search of Saint John, who dwelt
in a cave close to an Essenian monastery at a place today called Qumran. Here he was taken as a child by his mother Saint Elizabeth in
order to shelter him from Herod's persecution, and where he lived as a
religious, alternating community life with life as a hermit; of this Saint
Luke (I, 80) duly interpreted, gives us confirmation: "And the child
grew, and was strengthened in spirit; and was in the deserts until the day
of his manifestation to Israel."
Jesus addressed Himself to John and told him of the Eternal
Father's command that he begin his precursory mission.
That is how this text of Saint Luke must be interpreted: "The
word of the Lord was made unto John, the son of Zachary, in the desert"
(Luke III, 2). Shortly
afterwards, Christ instituted the baptism of penance on the banks of the
Jordan, when He administered to the Precursor this imperfect sacrament -
also called baptism of John, he being its chief minister and preacher;
Saint John the Baptist in turn baptized the Divine Mary, Who thus gave
example of submission to the divine command.
We affirm that this took place on the far bank of the Jordan where
Jesus was later baptized by the Precursor, in a place called, in the
Vulgate, Bethany (John I, 28), distinct from Lazarus' home town, and which
from other sources we know is also called Bethabara.
5. This Holy Council
affirms that the date of the institution ofthe bap-tism of penance - also
called baptism of John - was the 30th of March of the year 29 of the
Christian era, and that on that same day occurred the death of the Supreme
Pontiff of the Essenes called Eliud; he was automatically succeeded by
Saint John the Baptist, who heard of the event from Jesus.
On that day too the Precursor began his public manifestation, that
is, his preaching, baptizing the Essenian monks of Qumran as well as many
others who lived in the surrounding area.
Later he toured the different Carmelite monasteries, among then
that of the See of Mount Carmel, preaching the closeness of the Messias;
and he administered baptism wherever he went.
One must not confuse the public appearance of the Precursor and his
taking possession of office just mentioned, with the ceremony on the banks
of the Jordan in chapter XIX of this Treatise, in which in solemn manner was
celebrated that public appearance of the Precursor and taking office as
Elian High Priest, which was held on the 24th of June of the year 29 of
the Christian era, a day chosen by the Baptist because it was that of his
birth, and on which he reached the age of 29 years.
From that moment on, the Precursor preached and baptized
preferentially throughout the Jordan region (Matt. III, 5-6; Mark I, 5;
Luke III, 3), which river flows down the eastern portion of the Land of
Israel from north to south. The
Evangelists Saint Matthew (III, 1-12), Saint Mark (I, 8) and Saint Luke
(III, 1-18), refer in their respective texts to the first part of John's
precursory mission, that is, to the period from the 30th of March of the
year 29 - date on which John began his preaching - until the institution
of the Sacrament of Baptism by Christ in the Jordan.
6. From the
revelations of the Mystical Doctor Saint Mary of Jesus of Agreda, we have
adopted the following teaching on the semi-public life of Christ.
She says that Jesus frequently fasted and spent many nights in
prayer, and also that He visited towns and villages in order to converse
with men, because the time had arrived, in accord with the will of the
Eternal Father, for Jesus to begin to prepare some hearts for the
reception of the light of His doctrine; and that for this work, His Most
Blessed Mother made ready to follow and accompany Him.
Moreover, in His dealings with men He began to announce to them the
Coming of the Messias, assuring them that He was already in the world and
in the Kingdom of Israel; and that without performing public miracles, He
accompanied His teachings by interior inspirations and helps which He con-ferred
on the hearts of those with whom He conversed; that during this period
Christ did not reveal Himself as the Messias; neither did He preach openly,
nor did He instruct with manifest authority.
From the Mystical Doctor Saint Anne Catherine Emmerick speaking of
Christ's semi-public life, we take the oft-repeated exhortations of Christ
to go to the baptism of John, and His insistence that the Messias would
not come with outward show as was believed by the people, but in simple
humility.
7. However, when the
moment decreed by the Eternal Father had arrived, Our Lord Jesus Christ
began His public life with the most solemn event of the institution of the
Sacrament of Baptism, on being Himself baptized by John (Matt. III, 13-17;
Mark I, 9-11; Luke III, 21-23a); of this we spoke in chapter XIX of the
present Treatise, and we now affirm that it took place on the 25th of
December in the year 30 of the Christian era (5229 of Creation), when
Christ reached the age of thirty years.
The date just defined is inferred from the following text of Saint
Luke, duly interpreted: "And Jesus Himself was beginning about the
age of thirty years..." (Luke III, 23).
We assert that the Evangelist means that on the day of His baptism,
Christ reached the age of thirty. We
take the opportunity to teach the following: In the seventh chapter of
this Treatise, we said that when Jesus appeared before the Baptist in
order to be baptize, the latter gave testimony of Him, saying: "Behold
the Lamb of God."
We now assert that he then added: "Behold Him who taketh away
the sin of the world." These
expressions of the Precursor appear in the Gospel, but are not placed
before the Baptism of Christ; nevertheless, they too were said at that
moment. In addition, we
affirm that following these words the Precursor said: "This was He of
Whom I spoke: He that shall come after me, was made before me: because He
was before me ", related by Saint John (I, 15).
In conclusion: Before baptizing Christ, the Precursor bore
testimony of Him to the multitude by saying, "Behold the Lamb of God,
behold Him who taketh away the sin of the world.
This was He of Whom I spoke: He that shall come after me, was made
before me: because He was before me."
We also make clear the following: In chapter XXIV of this Treatise,
we said <
8. Immediately after
instituting the Sacrament of Baptism and admini-stering it to Saint John,
Jesus withdrew to another spot on the bank of the Jordan away from the
multitude, where He baptized His Most Holy Mother in the presence of Her
sisters, Mary Cleophas and Mary Salome, and a few others such as Lazarus
and his sister Martha. Although the Mystic of Agreda confuses the place of the
Divine Mary's baptism, we nonetheless adopt as our own her most moving
narration of the event, which we now transcribe: <<...An innumerable
host of the angelic spirits came down from Heaven in visible form, and
with their assistance Christ Himself baptized His Purest Mother. Then was heard the voice of the Eternal Father, saying: `This
is My beloved Daughter, in Whom I take delight.' And the Word made Man
said: `this is My beloved Mother Whom I have chosen; and She shall assist
Me in all My works.' And another voice, of the Holy Ghost, said: `This is
My Spouse chosen among thousands.'>>
We com-plete this text by saying, on our part, that those present
at the baptism of Mary heard the utterances of the Three Divine Persons
and moreover saw the Holy Ghost in the form of a Dove descend from Heaven
and rest on the Immaculate Head of Mary.
After Jesus had baptized His Mother's sisters, Mary Cleophas and
Mary Salome, as well as Lazarus and Martha, He set out that same day for a
place of greater solitude in the desert of Juda, known today as the Mount
of Temptation or of the Quarantine. He
was accompanied as far as the city of Jericho by His Mother and the others
who, after taking their leave of Jesus, departed for Jerusalem.
The Divine Mary and Her sisters lodged at the home of Lazarus'
family at Bethany, and afterwards left for Nazareth.
9. The three
Evangelists who speak of the forty days and forty nights that Jesus spent
in the desert all state that He was led there by the Spirit (Matt. IV, 1;
Mark I, 12; Luke IV, 1), that is, by the Holy Ghost.
But let us consider the various
objects of Jesus' retreat: To teach us the great need for recollection -
accompanied by prayer and penance - to overcome Satan, to better dispose
us for a fruitful apostolate, and to perfect us in the Christian virtues.
Christ wished to acquire merit in a singular way for the future
hierarchy of the Church in her task of evangelization, and in general for
all of mankind, which is why He deprived Himself of the most sweet company
of His Divine Mother with Whom He had lived for thirty years, voluntarily
enduring the solitude and rigours of the desert, with hunger and thirst of
the body; and also, deep grief of soul; for He bore in mind the
ingratitude of His people, the sufferings of Calvary, and the contempt
which many would show for the shedding of His Most Precious Blood.
How-ever He joyfully offered all to His Eternal Father for the
benefit of mankind.
10. We now refer
briefly to the doctrine of the impeccability of the Word made Man: As God,
Christ is naturally, essentially, and absolutely impeccable, a quality
proper and exclusive to the Divinity, Who is Goodness in essence, to Whom
is naturally, essentially and absolutely repugnant any sin or imperfection.
As Man, Christ is absolutely impeccable, since in virtue of the
Hypostatic Union, His Most Sacred Humanity possesses the impeccability of
the Divine Word and is governed in a most per-fect way by the Divine
Person. This impeccability implies, as well, the absolute impossi-bility
of the least, even initial, disorder, such as fomes peccati.
In addition, the Humanity of Christ was not subject to any need or
restriction, being glorious by nature.
However, He wished to endure hunger, thirst, fatigue and other
sufferings for the benefit of man-kind, and this implied the desire to
satisfy those needs and restrictions; but everything was most perfectly
ordered by right reason. On
the other hand, Jesus allowed Satan to assail Him with disordered
propositions, in order to teach us the great malice and boldness of the
devil, and with what promptness we must reject his seductory insinuations.
Besides, with all this, Christ wished to frustrate the satanic
curiosity of the Enemy regarding His Person, and to show to him at the
same time that He was absolutely impregnable against every diabolical
assault.
11. Before examining
the three temptations of Jesus described by Saint Matthew (IV, 3-11) and
Saint Luke (IV, 3-13), we assert that during the period of forty days and
forty nights, the Divine Master allowed Satan to tempt Him repeatedly.
This teaching is inferred from the following text of Saint Mark:
"And He was in the desert forty days and forty nights, and was
tempted by Satan..." (Mark I, 13), and is sup-ported by that of Saint
Luke: "And He was there for the space of forty days; and was tempted
by the devil. And He ate
nothing in those days; and when they were ended, He was hungry" (Luke
IV, 2). We also teach that Christ exchanged words with Satan solely
during the three temptations indicated above.
Although the Evangelists only mention that Jesus was hungry at the
end of the forty days (Matt. IV, 2; Luke IV, 2), this does not rule out
His being so during that
period, as was in fact the case, since Jesus fasted.
What the sacred text wishes to show is that on this occasion Jesus
allowed Satan to become more aware of it, and this gave rise to the
dialogue between Christ and the devil.
12. In their account
of the three temptations, the two Evangelists do not give the same order,
but we affirm that Saint Matthew's is that in keeping with the reality,
since in it we can see how Satan each time displayed a higher degree of
malice in the temptation. In
each, the devil principally tried to ascertain whether Jesus was the Son
of God, since he had suspicions, among other reasons because he had heard
the repeated testimony of the Baptist concerning the Messias; but at the
same time he was disconcerted by the simplicity and the humility of Jesus,
devoid of outward glory, for example when by divine permission he
witnessed how Christ was baptized by John like any sinner,- for the Most
High did not permit Satan to contemplate at the Jordan the Eternal
Father's testimony of the Divinity of the Messias, when the Holy Ghost in
the form of a Dove rested on the Head of God the Son.
In the first temptation, when the devil told Jesus to convert the
stones into bread (Matt. IV, 3; Luke IV, 3), what he suggested to Him was
that He perform a miracle on account of hunger, and at the same time
endeavoured to seduce Him with gluttony. In the second, when the devil took Jesus up to the pinnacle
of the Temple - which we affirm to have been that of Jerusalem, (Matt. IV,
5-6; Luke IV, 9-1l) - Satan was more perverse, since here as well he asked
Jesus to perform a miracle, and at the same time suggested to Him an act
with the malice of suicide, and above all of vainglory.
And in the last, when the evil one offered Jesus all the kingdoms
of the world on condition that He adore him (Matt. IV, 8-9; Luke IV, 5-74)
devilry reached its highest peak, namely, suggesting to the One Whom he
suspected to be the Son of God to render worship to Satan.
From the above, we see how Satan first aimed at the sensitive part
of Christ's human nature, when he tempted Him through His senses; and once
the devil was vanquished and confounded, his pride impelled him to greater
boldness, this time tempting the Most Divine Soul of Jesus with vainglory,
for which he suffered greater defeat and perplexity.
Finally, the infernal serpent reached the highest peak of insolence
when he attacked the immutable Divinity of Jesus by demanding that He
adore him in exchange for the dominion of the world, for which Satan
suffered the greatest defeat he had until then experienced.
In the three temptations, the devil's curiosity about the Person of
Jesus was cleverly frustrated by the Latter when He responded to the evil
one with words from Holy Scripture, indirectly pointing to Himself as the
Son of God, but not telling him explicitly that He really was; and this
caused greater confusion to the devil.
13. When the
Evangelists say that the devil took Jesus up to a high moun-tain and
showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, it must be understood that he
carried Him to the crest of the Mount of the Quarantine, which looks out
over a beautiful panorama that Satan covered for some moments, through
his power of fallen angel, with osten-tatious wealth and worldly
glory, pointing out as well many of the men he had at his service, who
belonged to him for having voluntarily submitted themselves to him.
We teach however that Satan's dominion over them was not absolute,
and for that reason he was unable to do or dispose of anything that was
not permitted by the Most High. In
this temptation the devil appeared to Jesus as an angel of light,
pretending to be the Promised Messias, and said to Him: "To thee will
I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered,
and to whom I will, I give them" (Luke IV, 6).
But let us consider the sure teaching of the Mystic of Agreda
regarding Satan's promise: <
14. The Evangelist
Saint Luke (IV, 2) says that our Divine Master ate nothing during the
forty days and forty nights, and we affirm that neither did He drink;
Saint Matthew (IV, 11) says that the angels ministered to Him after the
last temptation had come to an end, in respect of which we teach that the
angelic spirits brought Him food prepared by His Divine Mother in Nazareth,
where She had lived in spirit the events of the Mount of the Quarantine
and had observed, as well, the same fast as Her Divine Son.
Be it understood that here are not included the days of her journey,
in which She lived the events while travelling to Nazareth, and also kept
the fast; that is, Mary observed the rigour of the forty days and forty
nights.
15. It remains for us
to speak of the following text of the Evangelist Saint Mark, in which he
says, referring to Jesus when He was in the desert: "...and He was
with the beasts..." (Mark I, 13).
For this we adopt the beautiful teaching which Christ Him-self
revealed to Venerable Cecilia Baij: <
16. On the final day
of the forty days and forty nights, which was the 3rd of February of the
year 31, there took place on the banks of the Jordan, according to our
interpretation, the official enquiry sent by the Jewish authorities from
Jerusalem in order to interrogate the Precursor, as related by the
Evangelist Saint John (I, 19-28), and to try thus to find out about the
Messias, for the fame of the prodigies which had occurred at the Baptism
of Jesus had spread throughout the country. On the following day, that is, the 4th of February, Christ
returned to the Jordan, and then took place the testimony of John the
Baptist, when he said: "Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him Who taketh
away the sin of the world" (John I, 29).
The same Evangelist also relates that the following day, the
Precursor was with two of his disciples when he saw Jesus pass by, and
said of Him: "Behold the Lamb of God" (John I, 35-36).
One of those two dis-ciples was Andrew, and the other we affirm was
John the Evangelist; for although in the Gospel text through modesty, he
does not mention his name, nevertheless there are details in it which
indicate that he was present at that incident, for example the reference
to the exact time the two disciples spoke to Jesus.
Both were baptized that day by the Divine Master.
The sacred text goes on to say that Andrew brought his brother
Simon to Jesus, which we affirm took place the following day, that is the
6th of February, and that on this same day Christ baptized Simon, and to
him He said these words: "Thou art Simon the son of John: thou shalt
be called Cephas..." (John I, 42).
This shows that from then on the latter was called by the new name
imposed on him at his baptism, and which, according to the Gospel, means
Peter. Jesus then baptized
James the Greater, brother of John the Evangelist, who, being a disciple
of the Precursor, was also at the banks of the Jordan.
17. The Evangelist (John
I, 43) goes on to say that on the following day Jesus wished to go into
Galilee; and according to our interpretation on that same day, 7th of
February, He set out on the journey, passing first through Jerusalem,
where He stayed for three days, and preached in the Temple proclaiming the
Kingdom of God and made His first call to the whole Levitical hierarchy,
principally to the Pontiffs and members of the Sanhedrin, to follow Him as
disciples. He also visited
Lazarus and Martha in Beth-any, and they accompanied Him as far as
Nazareth, where they remained with the Most Holy Virgin Mary.
Jesus continued His journey, accompanied by His four disciples, to
the Sea of Galilee, also called the Lake of Genesareth or of Tiberias, and
on the 13th entered Bethsaida, situated two kilometers to the south of
Capharnaum, where Peter and Andrew dwelt; and on that same day He found
and baptized Philip, who was a native of that place, as Saint John says:
"Philip was of Bethsaida,
the town of Andrew and of Peter" (I, 44), much he later reaffirms
when noting that Philip was of Bethsaida of Galilee (John XII, 21). Though the Evangelist says that Bethsaida was the town of
Andrew and Peter, he does not indicate that it was the town of their birth,
but where they lived, since, as already defined in chapter XV of this
Treatise, Saint Peter was born in Capharnaum; and we now affirm likewise
of his brother Andrew. The
reason these two apostles lived in Bethsaida was that this was mainly a
fisherman's town, as its name "home of fishing" suggests, and
which facilitated their trade. In
Bethsaida Jesus also found Thomas who as a merchant often went to the Sea
of Galilee to buy fresh-water fish and sell it with the salt-water
varieties he purchased at the Mediterranean Sea.
Because of his trade he had dealings, among others with Simon Peter,
who owned a fishing business. Simon
Peter introduced him to Jesus, Who baptized him the day after His meeting
with Philip, that is, on the 14th. Thomas
was born in Ptolemais, today St. Joan of Acre, and was an Essene and
disciple of the Baptist.
18. After a thorough
investigation of the Gospels, as also of important mysti-cal and exegetic
texts, this Holy Council clarifies the controversial question concerning
the two Bethsaidas, with the following teaching: In Christ's time there
were two towns of this name situated on the Lake of Genesareth.
One was Bethsaida of Galilee, as Saint John testifies when he
speaks of Philip's home town in the verses given above (John XII, 21).
This city, found on the northwest shore of the Lake, was in the
territory of Galilee and under the authority of the tetrarch Herod Antipas.
The other was Bethsaida Julias, situated on the other side of the
Lake, on the north-east shore, and belonged to Gaulanitis, of the
tetrarchy of Philip; he rebuilt the city and gave it the additional name
of Julias in honour of Augustus Caesar's daughter, making it the capital
of the area. Close by took
place the first multiplications of loaves and fishes, as can be seen from
the following Gospel citations duly interpreted, in which we distinguish
two towns with the name of Bethsaida: the one called Bethsaida Julias is
that spoken of by Saint Luke (IX, 10), and is implicitly confirmed by
Saint Matthew (XIV, 13), Saint Mark (VI, 31-33) and Saint John (VI, 1-4).
The one called Bethsaida of Galilee is that referred to by Saint
Mark (VI, 45-53). As can be
deduced from the Gospel texts, the first one was on the east side of the
Lake of Tiberias, and the second on the west side.
19. Following this
clarification we continue saying that Jesus remained on the shores of the
Lake of Genesareth baptizing and teaching publicly, and there Philip told
Him of the first cousin he had in Cana of Galilee called Nathanael, who
was about to marry. Jesus
expressed His desire to speak to the bridegroom of Cana, and accompanied
by His first six disciples He set out for that town.
The Evangelist Saint John recounts the incident of how Philip found
Nathanael - that is, Saint Bartholomew - and brought him to Jesus (John I,
45-51). The reply, "Can
any thing of good come from Nazareth?" (John I, 46)
given by Nathanael to Philip when the latter told him that Jesus,
the Messias found, was the son of Joseph of Nazareth, was a manner of
expressing the common feeling of disparagement among the Jews for that
city, and as well because Nathanael was surprised that the Messias could
come from Nazareth, when the Scriptures indicated that He would be from
Bethlehem, the city of David. We
therefore teach that the meaning of the sacred text is as follows:
"Can something so great come from Nazareth?"
For the reasons just given, Nathanael did not believe in Philip's
testimony concerning Jesus until the Divine Master gave him proof that He
was the Messias by revealing something very personal to him, that only God
could know, and this is the meaning of Christ's words: "Before that
Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree.
I saw thee" (John I, 48).
Nathanael was baptized by Jesus on the same day of their meeting,
that is, on the 17th of February, and he invited the Divine Master, as
well as His disciples, to his forthcoming marriage.
In Cana Jesus also found Matthew, who was brother of the bride-to-be
on their father's side, that being why he was there for the wedding.
He was baptized by the Divine Master two days before it, that is,
on the 18th of February. We
mention that Christ remained in this town, teaching and baptizing, until
He left for Capharnaum, once everything had been concluded.
20. It is now the
moment to speak of the Marriage Feast at Cana, which the Evangelist Saint
John narrates and which we enrich with the following teaching: In Cana of
Galilee dwelt the Virgin Mary's sister called Mary Cleophas, whose
daughter Susanna was betrothed to Nathanael, and whose sons, borne also to
Alpheus, were the apostles Judas Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean (or Simon
Zelotes) and James the Less, bap-tized together with their sister on the
same day as the groom. The
Mother of Jesus and Her other sister, Mary Salome, were in Cana of Galilee
helping in the wedding preparations, when Christ arrived with His
disciples. The wedding
celebrations lasted four days, and Jesus blessed the nuptials of Nathanael
and Susanna when the festivities commenced, and they were married; this
took place on Wednesday the 20th of February of the year 31, and in this
ceremony Christ instituted the Sacrament of Matrimony.
In accordance with Jewish custom, on the Saturday, 23rd of the
month, the wedding celebra-tions ended with the rite in the synagogue, in
this case now a mere formality. After
this took place the final banquet, during which Jesus performed the
miracle of the changing of water into wine, when, through a providential
oversight of the bridegroom's family, the supply of wine failed.
This occurred in the house of Mary Cleophas, where the celebrations
were held.
21. Examining in
greater depth the episode of the Marriage Feast at Cana, we centre our
attention on the three verses containing the sublime dialogue between
Jesus and Mary: "And the wine failing, the Mother of Jesus saith to
Him: They have no wine. And
Jesus saith to Her: Woman, what is that to Me or to Thee?
My hour is not yet come. His
Mother saith to the waiters:
whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye" (John II, 3-5).
Mary's words "they have no wine" mysteriously enclose a
petition full of absolute confidence in Her Divine Son, that He would
remedy the need, not pos-sible by other means, and furthermore, in this
way manifest His divine power. Jesus'
reply indicates that the shortage of wine was a detail to be resolved by
those in charge of the banquet and not by Them.
But at the same time He rejoiced at seeing how His Divine Mother
concerned Herself with even the smallest material problems such as the
shortage of wine; and from the moment He heard Her petition, He ardently
desired to gratify Her, though He had not intended at that time to work
any miracle; that is why He told Her His hour had not come; but He brought
it forward at Mary's request. By
His reply and subsequent miracle, Jesus wished to demonstrate to us the
power of His Mother's suppliant omnipotence in even the tiniest details.
And the desire to gratify Her, once the intercession was made, is
proved by the order She gave, after She heard Her Son's reply and without
further supplication, to those who were serving to carry out His
instructions; because Mary knew from the very first that Jesus, moved by
Her petition, would work the prodigy.
22. In the revelations
of Saint Anne Catherine Emmerich, we read that Jesus performed the miracle
on blessing the pitchers full of water; and that when the guests tasted
the miraculous wine, they became changed in their inner sentiments and
were spiritually comforted, as well as becoming convinced of the power and
of the super-natural mission of Jesus.
The Evangelist Saint John (II, 11) remarks that, with this first
miracle of His public life, Jesus manifested His glory and His disciples
believed in Him, this latter meaning that their faith grew firmer.
23. This Holy Council
also adopts the admirable teaching of Saint Anne Catherine Emmerich
concerning the newly- wedded spouses of Cana, as we now teach according to
our interpretation: when the final banquet of the wedding in which the
miracle occurred had come to an end, the husband approached Jesus alone
and spoke to Him full of humility, saying that he wished to live with his
wife in continence; and as his wife had come to Jesus saying the same, He
said to both that the life of perfect chastity for love of God was more
sublime than married life, and gave examples to them of prophets and
saints who had lived in perpetual chastity, and had offered their flesh to
God the Father; that these had acquired spiritual children, converting
wayward men and leading them to the truth, and that this posterity was
numerous and holy. The
Mystical Doctor goes on to say that the spouses then took a vow of
chastity, and on their knees asked for Jesus' blessing; afterwards they
were conducted to the bride-groom's home, according to custom.
We conclude by saying that once at her husband's home, Susanna,
left to live with her mother, Mary Cleophas.
This separation surprised nobody, since it was common among the
Essenes, to whom Nathanael and Susanne belonged, for husband and wife to
live in holy continence for a time after the wedding ceremony.
Both were faithful to
their resolution, since Nathanael remained celibate, following Jesus as a
disciple; and Susanne, remaining a virgin, joined the holy women who
accompanied Mary. We teach
that Nathanael's and Susanna's primary intention was to contract marriage
to fulfil its principal end of procreation, and that once married, moved
by the miracle of Jesus at the wedding, they decided to live apart in
perfect continence, without the marriage becoming dissolved on that
account.
24. We reflect further
upon the passage of the Marriage Feast at Cana.
Jesus chose this occasion to institute the Sacrament of Matrimony
and thus raise matri-mony as a natural contract to the rank of a
Sacrament; for Christian marriage, lived in holiness, is a fount of graces
and blessings for the spouses and for their offspring, with the consequent
flourishing of new children for the Church.
Furthermore, matrimony symbolizes the union of Christ, the Divine
Spouse, with His Church. In
Saint Matthew's Gospel, Jesus Himself speaks to us of this sublime union
in these words: "...Can the child-ren of the bridegroom mourn, as
long as the bridegroom is with them?" (Matt. IX, 15).
Here Jesus calls Himself the Spouse of Mother Church on speaking of
His children, who are they that belong to Her.
In addition, He compares the years of His public life with the
marriage festivities, and in which His disciples share the joy of those
mystical cele-brations. On
the other hand, it was the Divine Mary, most perfect model of Spouse and
Virgin, Who enlightened the spouses of Cana with knowledge of the
excellence of a more sublime union, the spiritual espousal of perfect
chastity consecrated to God, and whose fruitfulness is immeasurably more
abundant and beneficial for the Church than the union of marriage. With this first public miracle, Jesus also wished to
prefigure the Sacra-ment of the Holy Eucharist, since in Holy Mass takes
place in a more sublime way the conversion of one substance into another:
that of bread into His Body and that of wine into His Most Precious Blood.
Finally, in this first miracle we see as it were a symbolical
synthesis of His whole Messianic mission, since Christ came to change and
dignify all things. For
instance: raise man from son of wrath to son of grace; turn sinners into
saints; perfect the Old Law; replace the old sacrifices by the Infinite
Sacrifice of His bloody Immolation on the Cross and its unbloody
perpetuation in the Mass. In
summary, raise the Old Church to the fullness of the New Testament.
25. The day after the
Marriage Feast at Cana had come to an end, that is on the 24th of
February, Jesus left for Capharnaum, accompanied by His Mother, His
cousins, - called brothers by the Evangelist, - and His disciples; and
they remained there not many days (John II, 12).
26. This Holy Council,
inflamed by the Holy Ghost, now proclaims in a more concrete way the
active and essential participation of the Divine Mary in the public life
of the Messias, and thus brings into relief the indispensable Marianism
mysteriously contained in the Holy Gospels, for the first time manifested
to the Church in an explicit way at the Marriage Feast at Cana; since the
compenetration between Christ and Mary revealed there was prolonged
throughout Christ's public life, so that the Divine Mary was never remote
from Her Son's labour, even in those moments when She did not accompany
Him, because, as we also teach, Mary followed and lived the activity of
Jesus in mysterious fashion as far as Golgotha itself.
Therefore, although we know that Mary is essentially part of the
Work of Reparation and Redemption, it is neverthe-less necessary to make
still clearer that Her participation in Her Divine Son's untiring labour
was not hidden from the sight of many who followed the Divine Master.
This leads us to say that in Mary's co-operation in the work of the
Messias, there is also a period which quite properly we term `public
life', and which commenced with Her baptism on the banks of the Jordan.
During the period of Jesus' evangelization, Mary openly manifested
Herself as Disciple and also as Mistress, being model of docility to the
teachings of Her Divine Son; and at the same time, as Divine Doctor, since
with magisterial wisdom She instructed and enlightened many, principally
Christ's disciples and the holy women who accompanied Her.
Furthermore, the Divine Mary many times acted personally and
visibly as intercessor before Jesus in order to relieve very many needs;
for Her Son, in order to demonstrate the power of His Divine Mother's
Universal Mediation, at times showed Himself apparently deaf to the
petitions of those who came to Him, so that they should do so through
Mary. At other times, Christ
left His disciples alone with His Divine Mother in order for Her to
encourage, and as well correct them with motherly love and tenderness,
since She had a special influence over the disciples. Mary's activity was centered many on direct dealings with
many of those who came to hear Her Divine Son's teaching, disposing their
souls to a better acceptance and understanding of His doctrine. And due to the confidence that the Mother of Jesus instilled,
and the delicacy of Her manner, many sinners, moved by Mary's counsels,
asked the Divine Master for the remission of their sins.
The Divine Mary's supreme partici-pation in Her Divine Son's
Messianic work took place during the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and
particularly on Calvary, at the foot of the Cross, where the two Divine
Victims were jointly immolated for the Church.
We conclude by saying that the main reason the Evangelists make but
little mention of the life of Most Holy Mary, is that it was by Her own
wish, for it was necessary first to speak of Her Divine Son, the central
figure of Christianity, and to leave the exaltation of the glories of Mary
to future ages.
