Part 6 (2/2)

too Myth and Ritual in Christianity For this reason, then, Advent gives a special emphasis to the mission of St. John the Baptist, the Forerunner of Christ

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our G.o.d.'

For immediately before the public appearance of Christ there came the desertprophet John, the son of a barren woman, Elizabeth, ”preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sin”. The imagery of Advent achieves a marvelous combination of spiritual and seasonal themes, the arid ground of the desert waiting for the winter rains corresponding to St. John's baptism in the wilderness, to the coming of the Dayispring from on high to ”those that sit in darkness”, and to the miracle of discontinuity-the blossoming rod-which is to liberate man from the arid past and revive him with the water of eternal life.

Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain justice; let the earth be opened and bud forth a Saviour.2

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be

glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing... .

For in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water.3 Isaiah 4a 3, quoted in John r: 19 et seq., which is the liturgical Gospel for the Third Sunday in Advent.

2 Introit for the Fourth Sunday in Advent, based on Isaiah 45: 8.

3 Lesson for Ember Sat.u.r.day in Advent, from Isaiah 35: 1-7.

Advent lot FIG. 4 GLORIFIED MADONNA.

A Spanish woodcut of the late 15th century, from the Biblioteca Universitaria,

Valencia. The Virgin is surrounded with roses; the Christ child holds a rose;

and the kneeling figures of the two imperia, spiritual and temporal, hold rosaries,

as do the two monks above. The symbolism is of the Virgin as Rosa Mundi,

Rose of the World--that is, of the created order, maya, which Rowers from its

divine Centre.

Yet the rain must have a way to enter into the dry ground. The earth must be opened. To ”make straight in the desert a high, way for our G.o.d in conformity with St. John's cry for repentance, the ground must no longer remain closed. The whole mystery of the opening of the earth, which, from the metaphysical standpoint, is the ”pa.s.sive admission that ”I can do nothing, is contained in the all important figure of the Virgin Mary, upon whom the mind of the Church fastens more and more as Advent draws to its close.

U Virgin of Virgins, how shall this be? For neither before thee was any seen like thee, nor shall there be after. Daughters of Jerusalem, why marvel ye at me? The thing which ye behold is a divine mystery.'

In Christian mythology the figure of the Mother of G.o.d is second only in importance to that of Christ himself, and at times popular devotion has seemed to want to raise her to an even higher eminence. From every standpoint-theological, historical, or metaphysical-her role in the Christian scheme is crucial, because she is that without which there would be no Christ. Her consent-Be it unto me according to thy word-was the necessary condition of the Incarnation, and thus she is the vital bridge between death and life, sin and holiness--the mediatrix of all graces, by whose openness to the Spirit the miracle of redemption could be achieved. Rather obviously, she takes the place of Isis, Astarte, Ceres, Aphrodite, Cybele, manna, MayaShakti, and all the great Mother G.o.ddesses of the Earth known to ancient history, for Catholic piety has endowed her with their t.i.tles-Mother of G.o.d and Queen of Heaven.

Ave, Regina caeloruni, Ave, Domina Angelorum: Salve radix, salve porta, Ex qua mundo lux est orta.

Hail, Queen of Heaven!

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