Beauty in Advent

In the amazing season of Advent when we prepare for the coming feast of the Nativity of Our Lord, we often look for many things that remind us of wonderful memories of past Christmases. We often search for the perfect gift, the tree that is just right, the gathering of family and friends that will be the best. As we look for all these things, we should not forget the greatest beauty of Advent.
            
This greatest beauty cannot be found in a decorated tree, in the most exquisite ornament, or in the perfect table setting. The greatest beauty can only be found in her who is “our tainted nature's solitary boast.” (Wordsworth, “The Virgin”) She is the Most Holy Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is the woman chosen by God from all time to be the way by which God the Son would enter into our world to save us from sin and darkness. She is not simply a creature who is used by God. Our Lady is the chosen woman who is untouched by original sin and every taint of sin, who with her whole being embraces the Will of the Father to conceive in her virginal womb the Savior. She unites her entire will with God’s Will and, as a burning furnace of charity, lends her flesh to make the Eternal Word Incarnate. 
            
During the weeks of Advent, the Sacred Liturgy of the Church is filled with the person of the Virgin Mary. The readings and antiphons of the Liturgy of the Hours make constant reference to her. The readings and the responsorial psalms at Holy Mass speak of her role as the exultant Virgin, the image of the Church who rejoices at the coming of the great Bridegroom, the Redeemer of all. “Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the Lord” (Zech 2:14).
            
Advent is strewn with feasts of the Virgin Mother. First among all of these is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin. The Gospel passage for this feast is that of the Annunciation. It speaks of the revelation to Our Lady by the Archangel Gabriel of God’s plan that she should become the Mother of God, bearing Christ into the world. She is hailed as “full of grace,” and accepts her sacred vocation with her “Fiat”—“Let it be done unto me according to your word.” Her vocation forever unites her with her Son Jesus and with His Mystical Body the Church, and, thereby, with every one of us. The preface of the Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conceptions proclaims, “For you preserved the Most Blessed Virgin Mary from all stain of original sin, so that in her, endowed with the rich fullness of your grace, you might prepare a worthy Mother for your Son, and signify the beginning of the Church, His beautiful Bride without spot or wrinkle. She, the most pure Virgin, was to bring forth a Son, the innocent Lamb who would wipe away our offenses; you placed her above all others to be for your people an advocate of grace and a model of holiness.”
            
Our Lady is for us the most pure, the most beautiful woman, she who is our Mother and our advocate before God. It is through her that Jesus comes to us, and it is through her that we go to Jesus. The beauty of Mary is the reflection of the holiness of God Himself. Just as the moon reflects the brilliance of the sun, so, too, Our Lady mirrors the love of God. Her beauty comes forth from the union of her Heart with the Divine Heart of her Son.
            
On another Advent feast of Mary, that of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we celebrate the Virgin Mother coming to visit us with a message of hope and love. When she came to Juan Diego, she was with child, bringing to him, to all the people of Mexico, and to people of all time, the ultimate hope and love in the Divine Child she carried in her womb. She is the beautiful Mystical Rose from whose tender, fair stem comes forth the Savior of the world. 
            
As we continue to prepare our hearts by prayer and penance for the Birth of Christ, we must open our eyes to gaze upon her who is the Lily among thorns. We should seek the great sign of the Woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and crowned with twelve stars (cf. Rev 12). We look for her, knowing that where she is, so also is her Divine Son. 
            
In a world of darkness, division, violence, war and sin, we look for the Virgin Mother who is blessed among women and the fairest of our race. We search for the Virgin Mother who radiates the light and the holiness of her Son. As we gaze upon her, let us sing with all our heart the hymn of the Church in her honor.

Thou art all fair, O Mary.
And the original stain is not in thee.
Thou art the glory of Jerusalem.
Thou art the joy of Israel.
Thou art the highest honor of our race.
Thou art the advocate of sinners
O Mary!
 
Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh