Excerpts from Chapter XIX,
"The Nativity," from the book
While
Luisa was in her mystical state, she felt that she went outside of
herself, and saw the Blessed Mother in a cave in the act of giving
birth to the little Baby Jesus. It seemed that both Mother and Son
were transmuted into most pure light in a wonderful prodigy. In that
light she could clearly discern the human nature of Jesus as
containing the Divinity within itself. His Humanity served as a veil
to cover the Divinity, in such a way that in tearing the veil of His
human nature, He was God, while covered by that veil, He was Man.
This is the prodigy of prodigies – God and Man, Man and God! He
comes to dwell in our midst to take on human flesh, without leaving
the Father and the Holy Spirit, since true love never separates.
It seemed to Luisa
that both Mother and Son, in the happy instant of His birth, remained
as though spiritualized. Without the slightest difficulty Jesus came
out of the Maternal womb, while they both overflowed with an excess
of love. Their most pure bodies were transformed into light, and
Light Jesus came out of the Light of the Mother without the slightest
impediment. Both remained whole and intact, as they returned to
their natural state. Then, the Most Holy Virgin, as though stirred,
received her Son in her arms from the hands of an angel. In her
ardor of love she squeezed Him so tightly that it seemed as if she
wanted to draw Him into her womb again. Wanting to let her ardent
love pour out, she placed Him at her breast to suckle.
Who can tell the
beauty of the Little Baby who at the moment of His birth, transmitted
the rays of the Divinity? And who can tell the beauty of the Mother
who remained all absorbed in those divine rays? As for St. Joseph,
it seemed to Luisa that he was not present at the act of the birth,
but remained in another corner of the cave, while engrossed in that
profound Mystery. He was enraptured in sublime ecstasy, and if he
did not see with the eyes of the body, he saw very well with the eyes
of the soul.
As Luisa continued
to look at the Holy Baby, she saw the Queen Mother on one side with
St. Joseph on the other, both profoundly adoring the Divine Infant.
The were all intent on Him, and it seemed that the continuous
presence of the Little Baby kept them engrossed in a constant
ecstasy. If they could do some action, it was due to a prodigy that
the Lord worked in them; otherwise they would have remained
motionless and unable to attend to their external duties.
While Luisa was in
her usual mystical state, the Blessed Virgin appeared to her carrying
her Baby on her lap. He was wrapped in a little cloth and was
shivering. Placing Him in Luisa's arms, Mary asked her to warm Him
with her affections, because this her Son was born in extreme
poverty, with the highest mortification, and abandoned by men. Luisa
saw that He was so pretty, with a Celestial beauty. She took Him in
her arms, clasping Him to herself to warm Him, since He was almost
numb with cold, having only one little cloth to cover Him. When the
Queen Mother wanted her Baby back to nourish Him with her sweet milk,
Luisa complied. His Mother then uncovered her breast to place it in
the mouth of her Divine Baby.
Luisa
looked at this Little baby, of rare and enrapturing beauty. From all
of His little Humanity, from His eyes, from His mouth, from His hands
and feet, came most refulgent rays of light. These rays not only
enwrapped Him, but extended so much as to be able to wound the hearts
of all creatures. He gave hearts this first greeting of His coming
upon earth – the first knock to invite all hearts, to make them
open and to ask for a shelter within them. That sweet but penetrating
knock of light made no clamor, yet it made itself be heard strongly,
more than any noise. So, on that night, all felt something unusual
within their hearts, but very few were those who opened their hearts
to give Him a little shelter. And then the tender infant, in feeling
His greeting not being returned, and that no one opened at His
repeated knocking, began His crying. With His lips livid and
shivering with cold, He sobbed, wailed and sighed.
Thus He received
His first rejections as He came forth from His Mother's womb. But
while these things were happening with the light which came out from
Him, He threw Himself into the loving arms of His Mother, giving her
His first hugs and kisses. Although His little arms could not reach
to embrace her completely, the light which came out of His hands
surrounded her, in such a way that Mother and Son remained invested
with the same light. When the Queen Mother requited her Son with her
own embrace and kiss, they remained clasped to each other as if they
were fused within each other. With her love, she compensated for the
first rejection which Jesus received from the hearts of creatures.
The little baby Jesus placed His first act of being born, His graces,
His first sorrow, into the heart of His Celestial Mother, so that
what appeared in the Son could appear in the Mother.
While in the Divine
Will, Luisa saw the charming little Baby, after He came forth from
the Maternal womb, fling Himself into the arms of His Celestial
Mother. Feeling the need to make His first outpouring of love, He
surrounded the neck of His Mother with His tiny arms, kissing her.
His Virgin Mother also felt the need to pour out her love toward the
Divine Infant. She returned to Him the Maternal kiss, with such
affection as to feel her Heart come out of her chest. As Luisa
contemplated this first outpouring of love between Mother and Son,
Jesus told her about the great need He had to make this display of
love with His Mother. Everything that has been done by the Supreme
Being has been nothing other than a wellspring of love. In the
Virgin Queen was centralized all the outpouring of love which the
Divinity had in Creation. Since the Divine Will was in her, she was
capable of receiving, with the kisses of the Baby Jesus, this great
outpouring, and of returning it to Him. One who lives in the Divine
Will centralizes within herself the continuous act of all Creation,
and the attitude of pouring it back to God.
As soon as He came
out of the womb of His Mother, He could not do without gazing at her,
because in her was the enrapturing force of the Divine Will. The
sweet enchantment of the beauty and most refulgent light of the
Divine Fiat made Him remain fixed on His Mother, who possessed His
very life by virtue of the Fiat. Seeing His life bilocated in her
enraptured Him, and He could not remove His gaze from her, because
the divine force compelled Him to fix it on the Celestial Queen. She
often took Him with her most pure hands, covering Him with ardent
kisses in order to warm Him and calm His crying. She nourished Him
with her most sweet milk.
The birth of the
Baby Jesus was the most solemn act of the whole Creation. Both
heaven and earth plunged into a most profound adoration at the sight
of His little Humanity, which kept His Divinity as though enclosed
within walls. The time of His birth was a time of silence and of
profound adoration and prayer. His Mother prayed while enraptured by
the power of the prodigy which was coming out of her. St. Joseph and
the angels prayed, and the Creation experienced the strength and love
of the creative power being renewed in them. All Created things felt
honored with true honor, because the One Who had created them would
make use of them for what was needed for His Humanity. The sun
recognized the One who had created it, and felt honored in having to
give its light and heat to its true Lord. The earth felt honored and
exulted with joy and prodigious signs, sensing Him lying in the
manger with such tender limbs. Seeing their true King and Lord in
their midst and feeling honored, all wanted to perform their office
for Him: water wanted to quench His thirst; the warbling and trilling
birds wanted to cheer Him; the wind wished to caress Him and the air
to kiss Him. All desired to pay Him their innocent tribute.
Only ungrateful men were reluctant. Experiencing an unusual joy and strength within themselves, they suffocated everything and were unwilling to move, although the Baby called them with tears, moans and sobs. The only exceptions were some few shepherds. Yet it was precisely for man that the Baby Jesus had come on earth! He came to give Himself to him, to save him, and to bring him back to the Celestial Fatherland. He was all eyes to see whether any would come before Him in order to receive the great gift of His Divine and Human life.
Only ungrateful men were reluctant. Experiencing an unusual joy and strength within themselves, they suffocated everything and were unwilling to move, although the Baby called them with tears, moans and sobs. The only exceptions were some few shepherds. Yet it was precisely for man that the Baby Jesus had come on earth! He came to give Himself to him, to save him, and to bring him back to the Celestial Fatherland. He was all eyes to see whether any would come before Him in order to receive the great gift of His Divine and Human life.
He experienced cold
in the Cave of Bethlehem, but it was not the cold of the air that
chilled Him. No, it was the cold of the human hearts that made Him
grow numb, and it was their ingratitude that made Him cry bitterly at
His very first coming out to the light. Although the Blessed Mother
also cried, she calmed the crying of her Son. Their tears blended
together. As they exchanged their first kisses they poured
themselves out in love. But their lives were to be sorrow and
crying. The Baby had His Mother place Him in the manger, to go back
to crying in order to call His children with sobs and tears. He
wanted to move all to pity with His moans, so as to be listened to.
