PRIMA VISIO, cap. XVII
A Sleeping Land Chosen from Abraham
God selects Abraham's innocent, guileless lineage as the untouched land from which the Virgin would come.
For God knew that Abraham's soul was without the serpent's guile, because everything he did harmed no one; and so from his lineage God chose a sleeping land—one that was completely untouched by the taste the ancient serpent had used to deceive the first woman.
Mary's Humility Before the Closed Chamber
The Virgin Mary, prefigured by Aaron's rod, receives the angelic message in deep humility — unlike Eve, who grasped at what was not hers.
This land, prefigured through the rod of Aaron, was the Virgin Mary, who stood before the king's closed chamber in deep humility—because when she received this message from the throne, that the highest King wished to dwell within her enclosure, she looked upon the land from which she was created and said she was God's handmaid. What the first deceived woman did not do — when she desired to have what she had no right to have.
Abraham's Obedience Prefigures Mary's
Abraham's obedient faith at the ram among thorns foreshadows Mary's believing consent, in which the Son of God takes flesh.
The obedience of Abraham—the obedience through which God proved his faith when He showed him a ram hanging among thorns—prefigured the obedience of the blessed Virgin. She, believing the word of God's messenger, desired that it might be done to her according to that messenger's word; and so the Son of God took on flesh in her—the one the ram hanging among thorns had prefigured.✦✦
Stars of Promise and the Father of the Faithful
God's promise to multiply Abraham's descendants like the stars finds its fulfillment in the heavenly fellowship, and Abraham is named father of all who inherit the kingdom.
And what God said about multiplying Abraham's descendants like the stars of heaven — in this lineage He foresaw that which would be counted into the full number of heavenly fellowship.✦ And because he believed God faithfully in every way, he is therefore also called the father of those who will be heirs of the kingdom of heaven.✦
An Invitation to Open the Heart
The reader is called to open heartfelt devotion to these mysteries, knowing they lead to the salvation of body and soul.
So then, everyone who fears and loves God should open their heart's devotion in these words, and know that these things lead to the salvation of human bodies and souls—not from any human source, but through me, who am set before you.
Read the original Latin
Nam et Deus animum Abrahae absque dolo serpentis esse cognovit, quoniam ea quae operabatur ad nullius laesionem faciebat; unde et de genere ipsius dormientem terram Deus elegit, quae ex toto ignara gustus illius fuit in quo idem antiquus serpens primam mulierem decepit. Terra autem ista, per virgam Aaron praesignata, Virgo Maria erat, quae clausum cubiculum regis in magna humilitate exstitit, quia cum ipsa nuntium hoc a throno acciperet, quod summus Rex in clausura ipsius habitare vellet, terram, de qua creata fuit, inspexit, et se ancillam Dei esse dixit. Quod prima decepta mulier non fecit, cum illud habere desideraret quod habere non debuit. Obedientia quoque Abrahae, in qua Deus fidem illius probavit, cum ei arietem in spinis pendentem ostendit, obedientiam beatae Virginis praesignavit, quae verbo nuntii Dei credens, ut sibi secundum verbum ejusdem nuntii fieret optavit, ideoque et Filius Dei in ipsa carnem induit, quem aries in vepribus pendens praefiguraverat. Sed et quod Deus secundum stellas coeli genus ejusdem Abrahae multiplicandum dixit, in hoc genus illud praevidebat, quod in plenum numerum coelestis consortii computandum erat. Et quoniam ille Deo fideliter in omnibus credidit, idcirco etiam pater illorum qui haeredes regni coelorum erunt appellatus est. Omnis itaque homo qui Deum timet et diligit, verbis istis devotionem cordis sui aperiat, ac ea et ad salutem corporum et animarum hominum, non quidem ab homine, sed per me qui sum praelata sciat.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Gen.22.13 — And Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, a ram, afterward, caught in the thicket by its horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
- ↩Luke.1.38 — And Mary said, 'Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her.
- ↩Gen.15.5;Gen.22.17 — And he brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Gen.22.17 — because I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore, and your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies;
- ↩Rom.4.16;Gal.3.29 — That is why it depends on faith, so that the promise might rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. Gal.3.29 — And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.
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