Zilveren dromen

St Martin and the Beggar by Alfred Rethel

Today the Magi come from the East, seeking the risen Sun of Justice, Him of whom we read: Behold a man, the Orient is His name [Vulgate of Zachariah 6:12]. Today the Magi adored the newborn Child of the Virgin, following the guidance of the newly risen star. And have we not here a great cause for consolation? God spoke. They answered, not by their words, but by the works. What are you doing, O Magi? Do you adore a little Babe, in a wretched hovel, wrapped in miserable rags? Can this Child truly be God? God is in His holy Temple. God's seat is in the highest heaven, and do you seek Him in a poor stable, in the lap of his maiden-mother? What are you doing? Do you offer Him gold? Is He, then, a King? If so, where is His palace? Where His throne? Where the retainers of His regal court? Is a stable His palace? A manger His throne? Are Mary and Joseph the sole occupants of His audience chamber? Are you become foolish, O Wise Men, that you can adore a Child, despicable alike for His age and for the poverty of His surroundings? Yes, these Wise Men have become fools that they may be wise. They are foretaught by the Holy Spirit, who afterwards breathed on the Apostle, when he said: If any man among you seem wise, . . . let him become a fool that he may be wise [1 Corinthians 3:18]. Because, since the world could not through wisdom know God in His wisdom, it pleases God through the foolishness of preaching, as Saint Paul calls it, to save those who believe. Was it not to be feared that these men, beholding such signs of poverty, would be scandalized and believed themselves deluded? They expect to find the King in the royal city, but they are directed to little Bethlehem, the least among the thousands of Judah [Micah 5:2]. They enter the stable, they find the Babe in swaddling clothes. The repulsiveness of the place deters them not, the swathing-bands offend them not, the Child at His mother's breast shocks not their faith; they fall down and worship Him as their King, they adore Him as their God. And immediately, we may believe it, He who led them thither Himself instructs them. He who had spoken outwardly by the star now teaches them secretly in their hearts. This day is therefore made doubly glorious and sacred by the new manifestation of Our Lord and by the devout adoration of the Magi.

San Francisco consolado por un angel

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Pisa 1563 - Londres 1639