Advent at the School of St. Bernard (13)
Madonna with the Child Jesus, St. Catherine and St. Thomas - Lorenzo Lotto (circa 1527/1533)
The angels themselves are amazed at the newness of the wonder they have before their eyes and to see below them.
He whom they do not cease worshiping above them - and now they are “ascending and descending upon the Son of Man” (Jn. 1:51).
If I wonder why He is coming, I find myself faced with the invaluable extent of His charity which I embrace as best I can. If I consider how He comes, I am struck by how elevated the human condition is. Indeed, the One who comes to us is the Creator and Lord of all things; now it is for men that He comes, it is to men that He comes, it is Himself made man that He comes.
But, one may ask, how can you say that He has come, since He is constantly in all places at the same time? It is quite true that He was in the world and that the world was made by Him, but yet the world did not know Him (Jn 1:10). So He did not come into the world, since He was not outside the world, but He appeared the same place where He was hidden. This is why He took human form, it was to make Himself known, for He dwells in the bosom of God an inaccessible light (cf. I Tim. 6:16).
After all, it was not entirely unworthy of the majesty of God to show Himself in the guise of His own image, as He had made it from the beginning, nor unworthy of God to be seen under this image to those who could not recognize Him in His substance, and to become man Himself to manifest Himself to men, He who had created man in His image and likeness.
Madone avec l’Enfant-Jésus, sainte Catherine et saint Thomas - Lorenzo Lotto
Illustration :
Title : Madone avec l’Enfant-Jésus, sainte Catherine et saint Thomas
Artist : Lorenzo Lotto
Date : 1527/1533
