THE PROPHET, THE STAR,
THE VIRGIN AND CHILD

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ON  a vault in the catacomb of Priscilla at Rome one discovers with emotion the oldest representation of the Virgin suckling her Child that has come down to us. It is dated in the second century (according to le Monde de la Bible no 101, Nov-Dec 1996). On the right, a sketch (again taken from le Monde de la Bible no 85 Nov-Dec 1993) helps us to decipher this magnificent mural painting which has unfortunately become very defaced. Opposite the Virgin, a man points to a star, now barely visible. In his left hand he holds a book of which one can only make out indistinct traces. It is Balaam announcing «a star coming out of Jacob» (Nb 24.17). It is also Isaiah prophesying that a Virgin will be with child (Is 7.14). Even more, it is Saint Matthew showing the "conjunction" between the star, the Mother and the Child, the object that the Magi had come from the East to discover. The graceful delicacy of this work with its hazy contours proves its antiquity. It is similar to the rich mural paintings discovered under the ash at Pompeii after the eruption of Vesuvius (24 August 79). Later, from the end of the second century, this style degenerated, drawing became simplified, and figures relied more and more on coarse black outlines to make them stand out, to the detriment of the subject, which is so remarkable here.

THE SON OF THE STAR

REGARDING the star of the Magi, Father Benoît writes: «The Evangelist is clearly thinking of a miraculous star, for which it is idle to seek a natural explanation.» Father Lagrange did not himself believe in the miracle: «Seeing a comet, the Magi concluded that there must be some great event or perhaps great birth taking place.» What strange blindness! His rationalist and modernist prejudices prevented this exegete from reading the text. For the Magi were not led to believe in «some great event» nor even in «some great birth», but beyond doubt in the birth of the King of the Jews, literally: «He who has been born King of the Jews.» (Mt 2.2)

     Father Boismard has no belief in the miracle either. He quotes Father Benoît and adds: «The explanation is christological. Matthew wishes to signify that Jesus is realising in his person the prophecy made by Balaam: it is he who will deliver Israel from her enemies.»

     But who will believe him, since Matthew is merely "signifying" a fable without any historical foundation! Have we not seen, in the second century AD, a Jew inciting Judea against the Romans, a man by the name of Bar-Kokhba, the «son of the star»!

     Furthermore, if it is a fable, it becomes totally absurd, and therefore not "significant", when the Magi continue their journey in the direction pointed out to them by King Herod. From "the orient" the star had guided them to Jerusalem, in accordance with the apparent movement impressed on it by the earth's rotation, from the rising of the sun to its setting. But from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, from north to south? Not only is this stellar course inconceivable from an astronomical point of view, but it plays no "significant" role. The Magi no longer need a guide since the chief priests and scribes of the people  have already indicated that «Bethlehem in Judea» is the direction to take, in accordance with the oracle of Micah. There is nothing to do but follow the track – being duly astonished at having come upon it again! – and to walk less than ten kilometres directly south.

     Moreover, Saint Matthew lets it be understood that the Magi only caught sight of the star again after they had reached Bethlehem, at the moment when «it came to rest over the place where the child was» (Mt 2.9).  It was then and only then that «at the sight of the star, they rejoiced with a very great joy» (Mt 2.10).

     To the shepherds the «sign» given by the angels had been «a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger» (Lk 2.12). To the Magi a different "sign" was given, which fulfilled Isaiah's "prophetic oracle" regarding Emmanuel previously quoted by Matthew (Mt 1.23). What happened was that Yahweh had said to King Ahaz: «Ask Yahweh your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.» When Ahaz refused, Isaiah replied: «Listen therefore, house of David! Is it too little for you to try the patience of men without also trying the patience of my God? That is why the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the Virgin is with child, she will bring forth a son and she will give him the name Emmanuel.» (Is 7.13-14)

     The Magi from the "Orient" – that is the country of Moab – had learned from their prophet Balaam about the "sign" of the «star coming out of Jacob» (Nb 24.17), which was none other than the sign «coming from the heights above» despised by Ahaz five hundred years after Balaam, the sign of the Virgin. They had been waiting for it faithfully and they set out as soon as it appeared. At Jerusalem, the scribes, questioned by Herod, quoted the prophecy of Micah which in verse 3, let us not forget, repeats that of Isaiah!

     «And you Bethlehem, Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah, out of you will be born for me the one who is to reign over Israel; his origins go back to the distant past, to the days of old. That is why he will abandon them until the time when She who is to give birth gives birth.» (Mi 5.1-2)

     The proof that Saint Matthew made nothing up, is that this prophecy is quoted neither according to the Greek nor according to the Hebrew, but freely, as the Jews might have done as they replied before the Magi to the question put by Herod.

     But what the composition by Saint Matthew manages wonderfully is this conjunction of the two "signs": that of the star «coming from the heights above», according to the words of Isaiah to King Ahaz (Is 7.11), shining «over the place where the child was» (Mt 2.9), on one hand; and the sign of «She who is to give birth» (Is 7.14; Mi 5.2), on the other hand: «Entering into the house, they saw the child with Mary his Mother.» (Mt 2.11)

     This "conjunction", to use the language of the astronomers, which is what the Magi were! transports them with joy. It reveals to them, through its perfect blending of God's oracles throughout the centuries, that the star was the figure of this Virgin, the Mother of the Son of the Star...

THE CHURCH’S YEARS OF TRIAL

(CONTINUED¹)

III.  FIRST APPARITION OF THE IMMACULATE
(68 AD)

BY BROTHER BRUNO BONNET-EYMARD

     On the graffiti deciphered by Margherita Guarducci on “wall G” of the marble loculus, where the bones of Saint Peter were deposited at the time of Constantine, we can see in several places the name of Mary interlaced with the monograms of Christ and of Peter (see below). It expresses the devotion of the first Christians, a devotion which Brother Henry represents in his oratorio¹.

    The action of the oratorio takes place in Rome, in the days following the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, bodily ascended into Heaven. In the third act, having decided to suffer martyrdom rather than accept Nero’s invitation, Lucilla refers to this event to strengthen her companions.

     We are able to date the Assumption of Mary: it was after the martyrdom of James the brother of John (Ac 12.2), in 44, since we read in the Transitus that the Apostles, having come to be present at Her "Dormition", are «eleven in number», including Paul². With John, who is already there, that makes twelve. So, there is one missing…

     The Acts, which were completed in 62, make no allusion to the Assumption. However, the book of the Apocalypse, which can be dated in 68, «reveals» it, according to the meaning of the Greek verb apokaluptein, as we shall show. Therefore, the Blessed Virgin ascended into Heaven between 62 and 68. To be more precise, before 64, since Peter was present. Between 62 and 64, therefore.

The ark of the covenant (Ap 11.19)

     «Then the temple of God in Heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple.» (Ap 11.19)

     In the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant was a rectangular wooden chest, carried with the aid of wooden poles. There dwelt the presence of Yahweh, as in a tabernacle, with a “Cloud” as a sign of this presence, as we read in the book of Exodus: «The Cloud covered the Tabernacle with its shadow and the glory of the Lord filled the Dwelling.» (Ex 40.34) The “Dwelling” is the Tent that contained the Ark; thus Yahweh dwelt in the midst of His people and followed them in their wanderings through the desert: «The camp stayed put as long as the Cloud remained over the Dwelling.» (Nb 9.18) That is, until the day when the Ark of the Covenant was transferred to Solomon’s Temple: «The priests brought in the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to its place, in the Debir of the Temple, that is in the Holy of Holies, beneath the wings of the cherubim… The sanctuary was filled with a Cloud… The priests could not continue to minister because of the Cloud, for the Glory of the Lord filled the House of God.» (2 Ch 5.7 and 13-15)

     When Saint John wrote his Apocalypse, the Ark of the Covenant had been missing since the sack of Jerusalem in 586 BC. It has never been found since nor refashioned. Besides, what would be the point? Through the oracle of Jeremiah, Yahweh had promised a restoration after the chastisement: «And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall no more speak of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed. It shall not be made again.» (Jr 3.16)

     Ever since «the Word fixed His tent amongst us and we have seen His glory», as Saint John wrote in his Gospel, recalling the Transfiguration, His “tent” has been His Body (Jn 2.21).

     The first “Tent” to shelter this Body was the womb of the Virgin Mary. The vision that Saint John had in the sky above Patmos “reveals” to us that the Ark of the Covenant was a figure of Mary. Saint Luke had already let it be understood in his Gospel that Mary was the Ark of the Covenant, when the Angel Gabriel said to Mary: «The Power of the Most High will cover You with its shadow; therefore, He that will be born (of You) will be called holy, the Son of God» (Lk 1.35). With these words, Heaven’s messenger likens Mary to the Ark of the Covenant. The “Power” of the Most High which “covers” Mary with its shadow corresponds to the Cloud above the Ark of the Covenant, the sign of the presence of the divine Glory. The mystery of the Incarnation, of the coming of the Son of God taking flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is, in all truth, the fulfilment of what was prefigured by the dwelling of the “Glory” of Yahweh in the Tabernacle in the desert and then later in the Temple of Jerusalem.

     In the New Testament as in the Old, the divine Glory is inseparable from the Tabernacle and the Temple in which it resides. In the New Testament, this is Mary! The Ark of the Covenant is Mary Herself! Saint Luke shows this not only in the account of the Annunciation, but even in that of the Visitation.

     Elizabeth's exclamation on welcoming her cousin is the same as David's when he receives the Ark of the Covenant:

     «How is it that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?» (Lk 1.43 / 2 S 6.9)

     In the Old Testament, the verb expressing Elizabeth's cry (anephônésen) is only used for liturgical exclamations, especially for those accompanying the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant (1 Ch 15.28; 2 Ch 5.13)

     One can even draw closer comparisons with the history of David in the Book of Samuel:

     «In those days, Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah.» (Lk 1.39 / 2 S 6.2) «Mary remained with her about three months, then She returned to her home.» (Lk 1.56 / 2 S 6.11)

     What Saint Luke made us understand through his allusions to the Book of Samuel, Saint John “unveils”, because he has seen it in Heaven: «Then the temple of God in Heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple.» (Ap 11.19)

     Thereafter, the “temple of God” is no longer a construction made by the hand of man, magnificently embellished by Herod. That was merely the figure of Heaven where God lives, as Saint Paul explains in his Letter to the Hebrews: «For Christ has entered, not into a sanctuary made by human hands, an image of the true one, but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.» (Hb 9.24)

The Immaculate Conception (Ap 12.1)

     However, when Heaven opens before the eyes of Saint John, it is not Christ who shows Himself to him, it is His Mother:

     «A great sign appeared in heaven: a Woman! clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.» (Ap 12.1)

     It is astonishing to see exegetes losing themselves in conjectures about «the meaning of these different symbols», even to the extent of admitting «that, whilst drawing his inspiration from Jewish tradition, Saint John had been influenced by the types of sculpture found in eastern religions, particularly that of Cybele»³! They failed to recognise the Immaculate, hailed by the angel Gabriel with the title «full of grace» and conceived by God before the creation of the sun, the moon and the stars, «before the oldest of his works» (Pr 8.22-23): the Immaculate Conception.

     «The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.» (Lk 1.26-27) Whereas Saint Luke takes care to specify Elizabeth's origins, a «descendant of Aaron» (Lk 1.5), he assigns no origin to Mary. The appearance of the Mother of God is as sudden and mysterious as that of Melchizedek in the history of the patriarchs (Gn 14.17-20), «one who is without father or mother or genealogy, who has neither beginning of days nor end of life, but who resembles the Son of God». (Hb 7.3)

     However, She has a name: «He entered and said: “Rejoice, O full of grace (kecharitôménè), the Lord is with thee”.» (Lk 1.28) We should not translate the Greek word kecharitôménè as gratiosa (Erasmus), nor as gratis delecta (Theodore Beza), nor as «full of charms», as suggested by the Protestant pastor who set forth before the Abbé Freppel his plans for an ecumenical translation of the Bible⁴.

     The best translation would be: Immaculate Conception. That is Her name. «An instant later, the angel will use her name Mary; but for the moment, the title full of grace holds our attention.⁵» That is why Pope Pius IX, in his bull Ineffabilis, which defined the Immaculate Conception in 1854, bases this privilege of the Mother of God on the plenitude of grace proclaimed by the Angel Gabriel.

     «The title kecharitôménè is a perfect passive, which indicates a permanent state that had already been realised when the angel uttered his words. This title therefore not only announces the glorious role to be played by Mary in salvation history, it also indicates what God has already done to prepare Her for this role.⁶» Since when? «Since eternity» (Pr 8.22).

     The most decisive argument for this “enforced” marian exegesis of Apocalypse 12 has been identified for us by the Abbé de Nantes: «Our century has been allowed to see this marvellous Sign again, he wrote in 1967, for the fiftieth anniversary of the apparitions at Fatima. This Lady who appeared in the sky at Fatima is indeed the same Woman seen in the vision at Patmos. To be thus involved, by the events of our human history, in the times of the Apocalypse, seizes us with emotion and dread. The chapter written by Our Lady of Fatima possesses a limpid simplicity, even in its very grandeur. It takes its place alongside the chapter of Saint John, making it truly topical and allowing Christians once again to understand it. The two cast light on each other, effectively leaving nothing in the shadows concerning the great tragedy of our twentieth century.⁷»

     «Clothed in the sun». Which means «that She is herself a sun more brilliant than the day star»⁸. Something which She displayed at Fatima, on 13 September for example. At her arrival, clearly and distinctly visible to millions of witnesses by the movement of a luminous globe, gliding majestically in space, like the Cloud above the former Ark of the Covenant, «the brightness of the sun diminished and the atmosphere became golden yellow, as on previous occasions. The light became so dim that certain people reported having made out stars in the sky.⁹»

Coredemptrix (Ap 12.2)

     She is a Queen, as shown by the crown She is wearing, the symbol of victory. And yet She suffers: «She is with child and She cries out in the pangs of birth.» (Ap 12.2) Let us be very attentive here. In the eighth century BC, on a day of great danger for the kingdom of Juda as it faced the coalition of the kingdoms of Samaria and Syria, the prophet Isaiah had said to Ahaz, the king of Jerusalem, on behalf of God: «Ask Yahweh your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.» (Is 7.11)

     The proposed “sign” met with incredulity from the King: «No, I will not put the Lord to the test.» (Is 7.12) Isaiah replied: «Listen therefore, house of David! Is it too little for you to try the patience of men without also trying the patience of my God? That is why the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the Virgin is with child; she will give bring forth a son whom she will call Emmanuel.» (Is 7.13-14)

     Saint John was allowed to see the «sign in the heights above» that was announced to King Ahaz seven hundred years earlier: the promised «Virgin is with child and cries out in the pangs of birth».

     The verbs which express the pains of childbirth are in the present tense, indicating that this suffering is prolonged. So there is no question of the virginal birth of Jesus at Bethlehem which, despite its extreme destitution, was nothing but joyous, unlike the pains of childbirth imposed on Eve as a punishment for original sin (Gn 3.16). The messianic birth described here is not primarily that at Bethlehem, but that of Easter morning, and the birth pains are those of Calvary, announced by Jesus before He suffered: «When a woman is in travail, she is in sorrow because her hour has come.» (Jn 16.21). At the foot of the Cross, Mary undergoes a similar fate to that which was predicted for Jerusalem, the spouse of Yahweh, who had been told that she would give birth to a complete people in a single day: «Who has ever heard such a thing? Who has seen anything like it? Shall a land be born in a single day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For scarcely was Zion in labour than she brought forth her sons!» (Is 66.8)

     Zion was only the figure of Mary. Her chief sorrows were the joint suffering of her Heart pierced with a sword at the foot of the Cross, in accordance with Simeon's prophecy (Lk 2.35). At the very moment when Jesus suffers to win back a humanity sanctified by His precious Blood, it is then that She gives birth to a complete people, personified in John: «Woman, behold thy son.» (Jn 19.26)

     Thus, as our Father teaches us, Mary is not only the Mother of Jesus. She is more. She is His co-operator; along with Him, She is coredemptrix and mediatrix. She is a kind of spiritual spouse who shares with Him a total union of spirit. The same Spirit is in Her as in Him: it is the Holy Spirit. All this is contained in the word “Woman” used by Jesus to address His Mother from high up on the Cross: «Woman, behold thy son», He said to Her while pointing to Saint John. Like Adam seized with admiration, He exclaimed: «This will be called “Woman”!» (Gn 2.23) Mary is therefore the Spouse of this new Adam, the Father of all men, whom He saves on the Cross by shedding His precious Blood to give them birth in grace. Because She exercises with Him this indivisible function of paternity-maternity, it falls to Her to adopt all those whom Jesus is in the process of enlightening and saving.

     She is therefore in Heaven and on earth at one and the same time, when Saint John sees Her in her glory and suffering. What is this mystery?

     At Fatima also She was “sad”, Lucy tells us.  Can one therefore be sad in Heaven? Yes, in Heaven Jesus and Mary take their part in the combat being waged on earth against Satan.

An implacable hostility (Ap 12.3-4)

     «Then a second sign appeared in heaven: an enormous flame red Dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, each head surmounted by a diadem.» (Ap 12.3) It is the serpent, the tempter, of Genesis, bearing the emblems of the power suited to his rank as prince of demons.

     «His tail swept a third of the stars from heaven and cast them to the earth.» An allusion to the fall of the bad angels organised by Satan. At this primeval combat Mary was therefore already present!

     «Halting before the Woman in labour, the Dragon prepared to devour her child as soon as it was born.» (Ap 12.4)

     This is the fulfilment of the very first prophecy, which is called the “Protoevangelium”. As our Father wrote in his Letter to my friends on the fiftieth anniversary of Fatima: «The twelfth chapter of the Apocalypse corresponds to the first chapters of Genesis. It represents the painful restoration of the divine order, the redemption of mankind by the New Eve and the New Adam. Here both the good and the bad fortunes of the Church are intertwined; the anxiety of the Mother of Christians alternates with her joys.»

     So what do we read in the third chapter of the Book of Genesis?

«I will put enmity between you and the woman,
between your seed and hers.
She shall crush your head
and you shall strike her heel.» (Gn 3.15)

     This prophecy, in announcing an enmity between the race of the serpent and the race of the woman, does not therefore oppose “man” to the Devil and his «seed», as a note in the Jerusalem Bible claims. Nor does it promise «man's final victory», but rather the victory of «the woman». This is certainly how the Vulgate understood it: Ipsa conteret caput tuum, «She herself will crush your head.»

     Before sentence is passed, before Adam and Eve are condemned and punishment is pronounced in the next few verses, there shines forth the announcement of the virginal maternity of Mary, contained in this expression «and your seed», in Greek sperma autès, the “seed” of the woman. We will only come across this expression once in the whole Bible: at the end of salvation history, during the final confrontation between the Dragon and «the remainder» of Mary's children, «her seed» (Ap 12.17)!

     Despite the obstinate denials of Protestant exegetes, supplemented by those of Catholics concerned to find a common understanding with them, this Marian interpretation of the “Protoevangelium” proves quite unmistakable in the light of subsequent history: the prophecies and events of sacred history right up to the times of the Apocalypse are continually making this clear. “The woman”, designated by the Hebrew article, a person supposed to be known from the beginning, ever since the Book of Genesis, can be none other than Mary, the Immaculate who is already mysteriously conceived at the beginning of God's works (Pr 8.22-31). Before Eve, there is Mary, to whom was promised the virginal birth of Him through whom She will crush the head of the serpent.

Mother and Spouse of Christ (Ap 12.5-6)

     «Now the Woman brought into the world a male child, he who is to govern all the nations with a sceptre of iron; and the child was taken up to God and to his throne...» (Ap 12.5)

     The reference is to Psalm 2, «You will pasture them with a sceptre of iron» (Ps 2.9), clearly shows that the “birth” referred to is that of Christ's resurrection, often recalled by Saint Paul with reference to verse 7 of the same psalm: «You are my Son, today I have begotten you.» (cf. Ac 13.33; Rm 1.4; Hb 1.5; 5.5) This birth is that of the «Firstborn of the dead.» (Ap 1.5; Col 1.18). That is why it is immediately followed by the Ascension, and Christ taken up to heaven is presented as a “child” (teknon). A child not only of God the Father, but also of “the Woman”, of the Blessed Virgin, to whom He is united by a filial relationship similar to that which He enjoys with His Father.

     «... Whilst the Woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.» (Ap 12.6)

     Here, Father Feuillet abandons the Blessed Virgin: «It is certain that the Woman who flees into the desert where she is nourished by God is none other than the Christian Church, sustained by the Eucharist during her earthly pilgrimage in the same way as the Hebrews in the desert benefited from the manna.¹⁰» Does he expect us to believe that the one word “Woman” changes its meaning between the beginning and the end of the sentence, and represents two distinct realities: the Virgin Mary in verse 5, a real flesh and blood woman, and a metaphorical “woman” in verse 6 who is «none other than the Christian Church»?

     The truth is that we should not draw distinctions between “the Christian Church” and Mary, as Saint Joan of Arc said of Jesus Christ and His Church. It is all one.

     At the beginning of the Acts, Saint Luke shows the apostolic community gathered in the «upper room», that is, in the Cenacle, on the hill of Zion, around Mary: «All of these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.» (Ac 1.14)

     This account of the birth of the Church is parallel to that of the birth of Jesus in the third Gospel. Both one and the other saw fulfilled, through the hand of Herod, what was said of the serpent in Gn 3.15: he lies in wait for (térèseis in the Septuagint) the seed of the woman to attack it. What is said of the Dragon in Apocalypse 12.4 refers to this menace: «Halting before the Woman in labour, the Dragon prepared to devour her child as soon as it was born.» The Child and His Mother escaped from Herod the Great by their flight into Egypt. Likewise, the nascent Church escaped the destruction intended by Herod Agrippa I, the former's grandson, by fleeing «into the desert» (Ap 12.6).

     What more need one say?

     According to the scroll of The War of the sons of light against the sons of darkness, found in cave 1 at Qumrân, the Essenes called their quarter on the south-west of the Holy City «the Jerusalem desert»¹¹. They considered themselves as «encamped» in this «desert», while they waited for the Messiah to restore all things. The «desert» where the Woman, who is Mary at the heart of the Church, found refuge, is this place which is clearly situated outside of the Davidic Zion, a place prepared by God «in which she might be nourished» during «one thousand two hundred and sixty days», the approximate historical duration of the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes (cf. Dn 7.25; 12.7), which became the symbol of the time of trial to be undergone before the end of the world (cf. Lk 4.25; Jm 5.17).

The Assumption of Mary (Ap 12.7-14)

     «Then a great battle arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the Dragon. And the Dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated and driven out of heaven.» This combat, distinct from the primeval one, was announced by Jesus as the result of His elevation on the Cross: «Now, the Prince of this world is to be cast down.» (Jn 12.31)

     «And the great Dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him [...]. And when the Dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the Woman who had borne the male Child. But the Woman was given the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly from the serpent into the desert, to the place where she is to be nourished for a times and times and half a time.» (Ap 12.7-14)

     Father Feuillet writes: «The Woman received the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly into the desert: this image is borrowed from Ex 19.4 and Dt 32.11 where Yahweh is supposed to carry his people through the desert towards the Promised Land as an eagle carries it young.» According to Father Feuillet, this reference to Exodus proves that these verses apply «exclusively to the Church», which God protects as He once protected Israel. «The reference to the Assumption of the Virgin formerly thought to exist in Ap 12.6 is not strictly tenable», he says.

     We have in fact come to see that verse 6 does not refer to the Assumption. But verse 14 is not a simple doublet of verse 6: «The two wings of the great eagle», which is something new, are given to Mary, «that she might fly into the desert». What does this mean? «In the Bible, a stay in the desert is normally seen as a trial, states Father Feuillet; in any case, it is never a symbol of heavenly beatitude.¹²» However, we read in the Gospel that, when the disciples returned from their apostolic errands, Jesus said to them: «Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while.» (Mk 6.31) And there He fed them with «five loaves and two fish», they themselves and the crowd that had come to join them in this «lonely place».

     That is why Father Braun writes with more truth: «The Woman is transported into the desert to be nourished until the end of the world, and yet she already seems to be in possession of the place destined for her: one has the impression that she would not be perfectly safe if she had not, in some way, already arrived at her definitive place along with the male Child.¹³»

     This “impression” became a dogma of our faith when the Assumption was defined by Pius XII in 1950. To explain why the place of sojourn, heaven, is represented as a “desert”, Father Braun quotes the psalm: «Who will give me wings like a dove, so that I might fly away and be at rest? Yea, I would wander afar, I would lodge in the wilderness.» (Ps 55.7-8)

     «I am going away to prepare a place for you», Jesus had said in the farewell discourse reported by Saint John, as He was getting ready to return to heaven (Jn 14.2). The expression is deliberately repeated twice in our text, in verses 6 and 14, to signify that Mary was the first to enter this «place prepared» for Her, on the day of her Assumption.

     She receives the wings of the great eagle, She, a dove «hidden in the clefts of the rocks» (Sg 2.14). The «desert» where she «flies» is at all times Jerusalem, both in verse 14 and in verse 6. But in her person and in the person of Jesus, the holy city has begun its transhumance, being carried up into “Heaven”, from where it will descend at the end of the times, the «new Jerusalem» (Ap 21.2).

     Saint John wrote in 68, shortly after the death of Nero, in the time of Galba who reigned from April 68 to January 69 (cf. Ap 17.10). He was therefore able to calculate the number of days involved in the “pursuit” launched by Nero at the height of his power, on 13 October 64¹⁴, and he was able to observe that their number corresponded exactly to the three and a half years of the ancient prophecy, as Galba was proclaimed emperor in April 68, that is three and a half years after Saint Peter was martyred.

The ultimate combat (Ap 12.15-17)

     If Saint John can contemplate Mary in Heaven, while at the same time She is suffering the pains of childbirth on earth, it is because the diabolical assaults take place on earth and because She nevertheless escapes from these assaults through the mystery of her Assumption. She is victorious, as proved by the crown She wears, invariably a symbol of victory in the Apocalypse (2.10; 3.11; 4.4 and 10; 6.2; 14.14). And She is «nourished» on «the tree of life placed in God's Paradise» and by the «hidden manna» reserved for the «victorious» (Ap 2.7 and 17). But She descends to intervene in the combat which will continue until the «time» allocated to the persecutions has run its course (Dn 7.25).

     «The serpent then poured water like a river out of his mouth after the Woman, to sweep her away with the flood.» (Ap 12.15) In the times of King Ahaz, Yahweh had used Isaiah to announce a similar cataclysm as a punishment for His people's infidelities: «Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and have trembled before Rezin and the son of Remaliah, therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many (the king of Assyria and all his glory); and it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks; and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to people's necks.» (Is 8.6-8). This prophecy foretold the Assyrian invasion, represented as a flood caused by the Euphrates bursting its banks, a kind of new deluge. The image is taken up again here by Saint John to describe the sudden persecution which once again threatened to put an end to the Church in 64, when Peter was put to death.

     «But the earth came to the help of the Woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the Dragon had poured from his mouth.» (Ap 12.16)

     At the height of the Jewish war, which devastated the Holy Land like a deluge from hell, Saint John prophesied that Rome would be engulfed¹⁵, as happened to Dathan and Abiram at the time of Korah's rebellion (Nb 16.30-34).

     «Then the Dragon was angry with the Woman, and went off to make war on the remainder of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus.» (Ap 12.17)

     After the death of James in 62, the Assumption of Mary in 63, and the death of Peter in 64 and of Paul in 67, the Church is reduced to a «remainder», against which the Dragon launches his third attack. Given as «a son» to Mary by Jesus from high on the Cross, John personifies in himself the «remainder» of the Woman's «offspring».

     «The commandments» boil down to one thing: «Love one another» (Jn 13.34). It is no longer a case of the severe commandments issued amidst lightning from the heights of Sinai, but rather the commandments learned from the Heart of Jesus. They come from the Father, and in their turn Mary's children learn them from the divine lips of Jesus because they possess His «testimony», in accordance with His promise: «When the Paraclete comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, He will bear witness to Me.» (Jn 15.26) Indwelt by this “advocate” who takes up the defence of Jesus deep within their hearts, making their convictions unshakeable, the children of Mary, Herself the Temple of the Holy Spirit, find in Her Immaculate Heart an assured refuge.

     «The victory of the archangel Saint Michael in heaven threw Satan and his armies down to the earth, where they wage their final combat against poor humanity and persecute the saints. But Jesus has already evaded His enemies and Mary, the personification of the Church, gives birth, free from Satan's attacks, to generations of the elect. Beware! The hardest confrontations are reserved for the end of the times!¹⁶»

     Therefore She has appeared on several occasions and in various ways, glorious and militant, to privileged witnesses chosen by Her to support Her final combat against Her eternal Adversary in these last days. «I gave you six days», She said at La Salette on 19 September 1846, revealing Her pre-existence at the time of Creation. She is Immaculate because She came not only before original sin, but before any creature capable of one day witnessing to it, according to Saint Louise de Marillac¹⁷. «I am from Heaven», She said at Fatima on 13 May 1917, acquiescing in the way that the Church applies the words of Wisdom to Her pre-existence: «At his side, I am, a beloved child, and I am, making his delight, day after day.» (Pr 8.30)

     That is why, from Pope Saint Leo, who invoked the divine Maternity of Mary proclaimed at Ephesus (431) against Eutyches, up to Pius IX, who proclaimed the Immaculate Conception in 1854, and Pius XII, the Assumption of Mary in 1950, the Church sings:

Gaude Maria Virgo, cunctas hæreses
Sola interemisti in universo mundo!

     «Rejoice, O Virgin Mary. Thou alone hast struck a mortal blow against all the heresies throughout the world.»

Brother Bruno of Jesus      

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1. See English CRC no 324, November 1999, p. 7-28. – 2. Bruno Bonnet-Eymard, Bible, Archéologie, Histoire, 1997, CRC publications, vol. I, p. 68.) – 3. Father Braun, La mère des fidèles, Casterman, 1953, p. 171. – 4. Brother Pascal, Mgr Freppel, vol. I, p. 309. Essential reading! Subsequently, the project led to the ecumenical translation of the Bible, in which the disputed term is translated as «you who have the favour of God». Father Feuillet justly remarks that «this express suffers from the double problem of understanding the word charis in an exclusively subjective sense (the divine favour), while at the same time designating a gift from God (cf. Lk 2.40 and 52; Ep 1.6), and of neglecting the nuance of abundance suggested by the Greek verb (charitoô = fill with graces). This nuance is clearly expressed in the current formula “full of grace”» (Jésus et sa Mère, Gabalda, 1974, p. 116). We see our own Catholic exegetes, even the better ones, muzzled by this ecumenical dialogue which has ousted the fruitful debates of yesteryear. As Father Feuillet says, in his concern to show that «the Woman crowned with stars in Apocalypse 12 is a personification of the people of God», – after the Council, this was important! – «the reference to the Virgin Mary cannot be avoided» (ibid., p. 32)! Despite any desire we may have not to give offence to protestants... – 5. Bonnetain, DBS, IV, 256. – 6. A. Feuillet, op. cit., p. 45. – 7. Lettre à mes amis no 247, 5 June 1967. – 8. Braun, op. cit., p. 170. – 9. Soeur Françoise de la Sainte Colombe, Francisco et Jacinta, CRC publications 1998, p. 230. – 10. Feuillet, op. cit., p. 37. – 11. BAH, vol. I, p. 87. – 12. Feuillet, op. cit., p. 39. – 13. Braun, op. cot., p. 183. – 14. Cf. CRC, November 1999, p. 11-12. – 15. «As it turned out, it was Jerusalem that fell in the autumn of 70 ,writes Robinson, and Babylon that survived» (op. cit., p. 334). Not for ever... – 16. Lettre à mes amis no 247, 5 June 1967. – 17. CRC, February 1999, p. 31 (English edition) and p.33 (French edition).

THE LEAGUE

THE YEAR 2000 ECLIPSES CHRISTMAS

         WHEN THE WORLD MISTAKES PIG BLADDERS
FOR SILVER LANTERNS

     Commenced with joy on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, this CRC has filled us with such a deep and unalloyed satisfaction that these last few blessed days have erased the thoughts of despair and disgust inspired in us by the daily news of the last few months. Until very recently we have been shocked, indeed scandalised, by the news report (one amongst so many others!) that would have us believe that the whole of the truth, sanctity and splendour of our holy religion, despite its millenary nature, have sunk into the mud of this carnival of fools. One particular thought sprung to mind, contemptuous perhaps but invigorating and powerfully reactionary: How can these people succumb to the truly coarse attractions of today's celebrations and “mistake pig bladders for lanterns of silver and gold”? [a reference to the old French custom of  making cheap lanterns by placing candles within animal bladders, the light given off being a silvery gold colour]. 

     At least this expressive image is able to express my revulsion for what others disparagingly refer to as a “complete shambles” [chienlit in French] – and don’t take the trouble of looking up the original meaning of the word in your dictionary. So I relieve my distress with this amusing idea of pig bladders being mistaken for lanterns by those of an unsavoury turn of mind.

     Whereupon our files were enriched by a further example that would have quite crushed our spirits if the hilarity it excited had not alleviated its true horror. The event concerns us so closely and is so undeniably grave that I thought it necessary to inform you of it and also to provide the documentation which proves its ridiculous and odious character. Here is the whole affair:

AN INTERRELIGIOUS CEREMONY AT SAINT JOSEPH'S ORATORY
TO HIGHLIGHT THE “TURN OF THE CENTURY”

BEFORE      

AFTER     

ARE WE STILL ABLE TO PRAY TO
SAINT JOSEPH AND BROTHER ANDRÉ?

OUR CHRISTMAS LAMPS WILL BE «LAMPS OF FIRE»

     When will we see the “lamps of fire” mentioned by Saint John of the Cross replace the “bladders” of our world in its delirium, like bouquets of stars in the sky? On this I also have my own modest idea. Already, this great text by our Brother Bruno has illuminated our Christmas night and may justly take its place with these “lamps of fire”. Already, this unpublished and until now unrivalled text is a light that has escaped from the secret Gospel of the Immaculate, which on that blessed night will rise in the sky above Judaea to rival in sweetness and charm the hymns of the angels in the plains of David, sown with marvellous stars.

     We will read, we will study this new version of the true circumstances and wonderful beauty of Christmas night to make it our joy and our celebration. No doubt we will have some difficulty in raising our hearts on high; but perhaps some heart on fire will know how to re-read the exclamations of the Castilian mystic: “O lámparas de fuego!” O lamps of fire whose splendour pervades the deepest recesses of my heart which before was dark and blind, throwing warmth and light upon my Beloved, the Infant Jesus in the Crib, and upon His divine Mother!

     Yes indeed, everything will be much more beautiful when these odious and foul-smelling burning pig bladders will cease to shine more brilliantly than the ardent lamps of our hearts! But we will shortly write more on this, if it pleases Jesus and Mary, in a forthcoming Letter to the Phalange which will help us prepare for 25 December... in the year 2000, the first day of Year 1 of the Lord, far removed from the follies which must eclipse this sad Christmas of 1999.

G.N.