Advent IV

Among the many many titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary that we recount in the Litany of Loreto, there is one that is a bit puzzling: “House of Gold”. There is also a corresponding, rather obscure Votive Mass that only exists in special supplements to the current Missal, namely that of “The Blessed Virgin Mary, Temple of the Lord”, published by the Congregation for Divine Worship in 1986.

The Preface for that Mass of Mary, Temple of the Lord, is rather rich in theology, and strikingly beautiful:

[B]y the grace of the Holy Spirit you purify our hearts by your light and sanctify them with your presence, so that they become the dwelling-place of your glory. But because of her obedience of faith and the mystery of the Incarnation you made the Blessed Virgin your temple without compare: a house of gold adorned by the Spirit with every kind of virtue, a royal palace resplendent with the presence of the One who is the Truth, the holy city, rejoicing in its streams of grace, the ark of the New Covenant enshrining the author of the New Law, Jesus Christ our Lord.

The temple that David wanted to build but only Solomon could, is therefore a prefiguration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Old Temple was the place where God and Man came together; the dwelling-place of the Divine; where the Word of God was made manifest through the Law; where God’s Glory was made manifest.

Thus the Lord speaks: Are you the man to build me a house to dwell in? … The Lord will make you great; the Lord will make you a House.

From the human side what King David could add was the construction. The physical building. He could erect walls, raise a roof, pick ornaments. But he could not add anything to the all-encompassing glory of God; he could not cause God’s presence to dwell there by putting bricks and mortar together; he could not make Him manifest his mercy there simply by covering the sanctuary in gold as directed. That was God’s choice and free action: because He wishes to be close to us, for “He is good and loves mankind” as the Eastern Liturgy frequently reminds us.

And then we hear the Virgin Mary say in response to God’s message through the Angel:

‘I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you have said be done to me.’

She offers her own body to be that new temple. Like David, she can only offer what is available to her as a human being: the physical side; she offers the Lord her very self to become His dwelling-place.

But what David could also do and what was also true of the Virgin Mary is to make sure that the dwelling place is fit for God. We can read of the various decorations that God commands to be put into the temple: the amazing amount of gold, the vessels, the vestments. And similarly the Virgin Mary, preserved from original sin, is also adorned inwardly with every kind of virtue through the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit, so much so that the Church has recognised in her the “mediatrix of all graces” and the “mother of all virtues”.

As we await the Lord’s Coming we are also making our final preparations inwardly. We hasten to make our confession, we make more room for prayer in our lives, we fast (well, not today: the vigil of Christmas should be a fasting day, but today is a Sunday when fasting is forbidden, so we are let off the hook), we put up a little Nativity next to our Christmas Tree, we light Advent Candles - all this to keep us focussed on Jesus Christ. We prepare our own souls and bodies so that we may also become a holy and fitting dwelling place for Christ, who comes to be born in the manger of our hearts.

In our preparation all we can do is make sure that the dwelling place for God is ready. It is up to Him to come and fill the space prepared for Him. This is the point of Advent expectation: we trust His promise, we can rely on His word, that he will come to us. David and Solomon prepared the Temple: and God held up his end of the promise. The Virgin Mary said her “fiat” and the Holy Spirit overshadowed her, and conceived the Eternal Word in her womb. When we make fitting preparations for Christ in ourselves through confession and penance, then we can also rely on God’s Grace to come to us, we can expect Him full of hope as Advent draws to a close today; that He will come.

Let us say with the Blessed Virgin: *“I am the handmaid of the Lord: let what you have said be done to me.” * Let us surrender ourselves in loving expectation, do what is required of us, do what we are capable of doing, to give the Lord a meet and fitting place in our hearts, in our lives. Let us consecrate our hearts to Him, setting it aside for His use, as His dwelling, let us decorate it with all virtue and goodness, let the inmost parts be covered in the gold of obedience, let the incense of humility constantly pray on its altars, let sacrifices be offered there unceasingly; and let God’s Eternal Glory make Himself manifest in us.