Part 12 - Life of Mary
Marida Ignacio
DISCLAIMER: This compilation was based on saints, blesseds,
visionaries (4 in all) accounts of the "Life of Mary" as
"revealed" to them. It is NOT officially approved by the
Church as essential to our faith and belief. It is up to
individual reader's discretion to believe it or not.
This is here for simple contemplation on what "Holy life of
Our Blessed Virgin Mother" was and what virtues we can derive
from it.
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>From the book:
The Life of Mary as Seen by Mystics
Compiled by Raphael Brown
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Summary:
Chap. 12. The Journey to Bethlehem
Ten thousand angels marched along with St. Joseph and Mary (visible only
to their Queen), on their journey to Bethlehem. It was at six o'clock
on a cold, wet, mid-winter morning, when they started the journey.
St. Joseph built a tent under a great old turpentine tree, on an uninhabited
valley, on the first evening of their journey. Mary was cold. God
miraculously warmed her and she placed her hands in her husband's to share
the warmth with him.
In an inn where they stayed on a Sabbath day, some women and their children
came to Mary and they were impressed by her wisdom and reserve. St. Joseph
spent time with his host, in his garden. St. Joseph greatly edified him
with his simple piety.
The next day they traveled 12 miles and spent the night with some hospitable
sheperds.
They detoured around the city of Jerusalem to the east even if this took them
much longer.
Along the way, they met a heartless man who refused to open the door for them
when they knocked. They spent the last night of the journey in a farmhouse
though the hostess treated them coldly because she was jealous of Mary's
beauty (30 years later, the Lord found her all bent over and blind and after
reproaching her for her vanity and heartlessness, He healed her.).
The trip was very trying to Mary but because she knew the secrets of those
they met, she prayed for them and assisted the sick and afflicted by her
special request from her Holy Son.
They arrived at 4 o'clock in Bethlehem. After St. Joseph finished
registration, he went about knocking at his friends and relatives' doors
but his efforts were in vain. He was refused and others were harsh with
insults. All the while, Mary waited for him at the end of the street.
All other efforts were unsuccessful even when Mary accompanied her husband.
Afterwards Mary followed her husband through the crowds and at one end of the
village, they found a big tree. Mary settled there patiently and humbly in
her long white dress and veil while St. Joseph tried again to look for a
lodging for that night.
Finally, around 9 o'clock, Joseph returned, crying and trembling with
heartbreaking sorrow and so Mary consoled him. He then informed her of a
shepherd's stable outside the town.
Mary obliged saying, "That will be perfectly satisfactory to me. Let us
lovingly embrace poverty, dear Joseph, and go gladly wherever the Lord
guides us."
(exact qoute follows)
Upon entering the bare grotto which the shepherds used as a stable, they
both knelt anad thanked the Lord, and Mary was filled with joy at being at
last in this holy place. She immediately set about cleaning the cave with
her own hands, out of humility and reverence. St. Joseph hastened to do
likewise, and angels helped them. Next, he started a fire, as it was very
cold, and they ate a frugal supper. Their souls overflowed with happiness
at the thought of the impending Incarnation. (end qoute)
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(__ \/ ) His Peace through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Marida
* )XxXx/
* | / "Human-kind: Where protection of valuable life starts and
* ) / takes off."
* \/ Jeremiah 1:5: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you..."
*