December 20: A Virgin Shall Conceive
♫ Music:
WEEK FOUR INTRODUCTION
TITLE: PART 1D--CHRISTMAS: THE BIRTH OF CHRIST
December 20-26
The word “Christmas” comes from the phrase “Christ Mass,” the solemn liturgical rite developed to appropriately celebrate the incarnation of God in the flesh. The more ancient name is In natali Domini – On the birth of the Lord. The older name reminds us that what we are celebrating is not just the birth of Jesus Christ, the now human Son of God born to Mary; but that we are observing the birth of the Lord of the universe. That the immensity of the Godhead finds its way into the intimacy of the infant child is a mystery that is only understood in part as we gaze into “a mirror dimly.” What we are witnessing is the miracle of the Lord God himself condescending to take on the form of a mere human being so that mere human beings can become like God. We are seeing the redemptive plan of the Trinity begin to unfurl. “Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate deity!”
The Scriptures of Christmas week, carefully chosen for the Messiah by Charles Jennens are nothing less than ecstatic texts of “joy unspeakable and full of God’s matchless glory.” We are compelled to respond to God’s boundless love by echoing the words of Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold, thy King cometh unto thee.” Exceeding great JOY is what we celebrate as we meditate on this verse and others like “For unto us a child Is born” and “Hallelujah: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.” May Christ’s Spirit infuse each one of us with a profound sense of wonder and gratitude as we rejoice together at the great things God has done in sending his Son to earth.
Day 22 - Sunday, December 20
Title: A VIRGIN SHALL CONCEIVE
Scripture: Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23
Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
Poetry:
Ave Maria Gratia Plena
by Oscar Wilde
Was this His coming! I had hoped to see
A scene of wondrous glory, as was told
Of some great God who in a rain of gold
Broke open bars and fell on Danae:
Or a dread Vision as when Semele
Sickening for love and unappeased desire
prayed to see God's clear body, and the fire
Caught her brown limbs and slew her utterly:
With such glad dreams I sought this holy place,
And now with wondering eyes and heart I stand
Before this supreme mystery of Love:
Some kneeling girl with passionless pale face,
An angel with a lily in his hand,
And over both the white wings of a Dove.
A VIRGIN SHALL CONCEIVE
Today’s painting by Sandro Botticelli, an artist known for his outstanding biblical artwork, masterfully captures the moment when the Archangel Gabriel tells Mary that she has been chosen to carry and give birth to the Christ child. This painting was originally commissioned to adorn the Church of the Florentine Convent of Cestello in 1489 and is currently on display at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.
Though the Annunciation has been one of the most frequent subjects of Christian art, Botticelli’s rendition is considered to be particularly expressive. Gazing upon this impressive work, one is immediately drawn to the center of the painting, where we see Mary reaching toward the Angel Gabriel, while simultaneously appearing to move away from him. We can’t help but be captivated by the dynamic engagement of these two figures, revealing Mary’s conflicting emotions of fear, utter astonishment, humility, and awe.
After delivering this stunning birth announcement, the angel proclaims the beautiful name to bestow on this child: Emmanuel—God with us. I love the way that Henri Nouwen, renowned author and beloved pastor, expounds on this magnificent promise in You Are the Beloved:
“The truly good news is that God is not a distant God, a God to be feared and avoided, a God of revenge, but a God who is moved by our pains and participates in the fullness of the human struggle. God is a compassionate God. This means, first of all, that God is a God who has chosen to be God-with-us. As soon as we call God “God–with-us,” we enter into a new relationship of intimacy with him. By calling God Emmanuel, we recognize God’s commitment to live in solidarity with us, to share our joys andpains, to defend and protect us, and to suffer all of life with us. The God–with-us is a close God, a God whom we call our refuge, our stronghold, our wisdom, and even more intimately, our helper, our shepherd, our love. We will never really know God as a compassionate God if we do not understand with our heart and mind that ‘the Word become flesh and lived among us’ (John 1:14). Advent is the season when we make an intentional choice to focus, to ponder, to reflect, and to find comfort in the staggering truth that Emmanuel—God with us—means that we never face disappointment, discouragement, or pain alone. What a remarkable and earth-shattering truth is contained in this announcement to Mary from the Angel Gabriel! Oh how deeply we need this good news during this pandemic season filled with constant disorientation, when we can so easily forget that in the midst of each of our losses—God is with us.
Oscar Wilde’s poem “Ave Maria Gratia Plena,” (Latin for ‘Hail Mary Full of Grace’) is presumed to have been penned after Wilde saw Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Annunciation at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence in 1881. Wilde expresses his own sense of wonderment, referencing his “wondering eyes and heart” and “this supreme mystery of love.” However, the poem also hints at the perplexing realization that extraordinary events are not always accompanied by great fanfare. How often this is true in each of our lives, but never more strikingly true than in the Incarnation. I have always loved the way this idea is beautifully expressed in 19th century hymn, O Little Town of Bethlehem:
How silently, how silently,
the wondrous gift is given;
so God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming,
but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive him, still
the dear Christ enters in.
Prayer:
Lord, this Advent season feels so different than that of previous years … the entire world feels poised on the edge of uncertainty and unpredictability as we navigate a global pandemic. We endure the disruption of our routines and forced isolation from family and friends and are easily disheartened by feelings of loneliness and the weight of our accumulated losses. Comfort us, Lord Jesus, with the gentle, yet dazzling reminder that you are Emmanuel, God-with-us. Restore our souls and refresh our lagging spirits as we lean into Your reassuring and compassionate presence.
Amen.
Dr. Deborah Taylor
Provost and Senior Vice President
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork:
The Cestello Annunciation
Sandro Botticelli
1489-1490 (restored in 1986)
Tempera on panel
150 x 156 cm
The Uffizi Gallery
Florence, Italy
In the Cestello Annunciation by Early Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli, the artist depicts the moment of Archangel Gabriel's arrival when he announces to the Virgin Mary the news that she will bear the son of God. The beauty of Botticelli's Annunciation is in the expressive and dramatic interaction between the two figures who are dynamically moving within the picture plane. As Gabriel kneels before Mary, Botticelli depicts him with an open mouth indicating that he is actively speaking the words from Luke 1:35, which are inscribed on the original painting’s frame in Latin: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee." The angel holds out a white lily, a symbol of Mary’s purity. The artist has concentrated particular attention on the hands of the characters in the paintings. Mary is dressed with restraint and simplicity, symbolizing a concern for the spiritual and not for the worldly. Botticelli's use of perspective in the Cestello Annunciation takes the viewer through the room, along the lines of the floor tiles, and to a point in a far distant landscape that is heavily inspired by Flemish landscape painting from that period.
http://www.finearttouch.com/The_Cestello_Annunciation_by_Botticelli.html
https://www.virtualuffizi.com/the-cestello-annunciation-by-sandro-botticelli.html
About the Artist:
Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510) was an Early Renaissance Italian painter who belonged to the Florentine School, which was under the patronage of statesman and ruler of the Florentine Republic, Lorenzo de’ Medici. Botticelli painted a wide range of religious subjects and a number of portraits. He and his workshop were especially known for their Madonna and Child works, many in the round “tondo” shape. His most well-known works are The Birth of Venus and Primavera, both housed in the Uffizi Museum in Florence, Italy. The Medici's influence greatly increased Botticelli's notoriety and he was asked by the Papacy to paint parts of the Sistine Chapel, an honor only extended to some of the Renaissance's greatest artists, such as Perugino and Michelangelo. Despite his success as an altarpiece painter, Botticelli struggled to keep pace with the revolutionary changes taking place in art during this time and, with the arrival of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo on the artistic landscape, Botticelli's work became less relevant and popular.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandro_Botticelli
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/sandro-botticelli
Music #1:
“Be/Hold” from the album Messiah Remix
Composer/Performer:
Eve Beglarian (b.1958) is a contemporary American composer, performer, and audio producer of Armenian descent. Her music is often characterized as postminimalist. Her chamber, choral, and orchestral music has been commissioned and widely performed by The Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The Orchestra of St. Luke's, The Paul Dresher Ensemble, and The American Composers Orchestra, among many others. She received a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Robert Rauschenberg Award in 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_Beglarian
https://evbvd.com/blog/bio/
Music #2:
Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 1: 8. Behold, A Virgin Shall Conceive
Lyrics:
Behold, a virgin shall conceive,
and bear a Son,
and shall call His name Emmanuel,
God with us.
Messiah Performers/Musicians/Lyricists/Composer:
Unless otherwise noted, all Messiah performances are by Margaret Marshall, Catherine Robbin, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Robert Hale, Charles Brett, Saul Quirke, the English Baroque Soloists, and the Monteverdi Choir conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Biographical information for the performers and musicians can be found by clicking here.
About the Poet:
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet. After writing in a variety of forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. He is remembered for his epigrams, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and for his plays. “Ave Maria, Gratia Plena'' (Latin for ‘Hail Mary Full of Grace’) was possibly written by Wilde after he saw Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece painting of the Annunciation at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. As Philip Cohen noted in The Moral Vision of Oscar Wilde, Wilde’s moral and spiritual journey is paradoxically woven throughout the fabric of Wilde's work, despite his seemingly definitive statements to the contrary.
https://www.biography.com/writer/oscar-wilde
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/oscar-wilde
About the Devotion Author:
Dr. Deborah Taylor
Provost and Senior Vice President
Biola University
Dr. Deborah Taylor is Provost and Senior Vice President at Biola and holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from Biola University and a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University. Prior to coming to Biola, she was the principal of a K-8 private school. She has had the joy of being a faculty member, as well as serving in a variety of administrative roles, since coming to Biola in 2001. She has a lifelong love for beautifully written and illustrated children’s literature and currently finds great pleasure sharing her vast collection with her seven adorable grandchildren.