Mary and the Light of the First Day
Light like a Nebula
The creation of light on the first day, three days before the creation of the sun, exerts a certain fascination upon the Christian imagination.
Today’s Marian O Antiphon interprets the primordial light as a dispersed light that was gathered together to form the body of the sun.
September 4, O Lux Splendidissima
| ANT. O Lux splendidissima, figurata per illam primariam lucem, de quâ creditur factum corpus solis, ex te enim formabitur Sol justitiæ! Lux pulcherrima et serenissima, veni et accelera ortum tuum: ostende te nobis, tuaque solare facie: tenebras, quibus involvimur, expelle, nostramque sepulchralem noctem in perpetuum dissipa. | ANT. O Most Brilliant Light, prefigured through that primordial light from which the body of the sun is believed to have been formed, for out of thee shall be formed the Sun of Justice! O Light most lovely and serene, come and hasten thy rising. Show thyself to us, and console us with the countenance. Dispel the darkness in which we are enwrapped, and disperse our sepulchral night forever. |
| ℣. Veni, Domina, noli tardare. ℟. Ostende lumen tuum super nos. |
℣. O Lady, Come, and tarry not. ℟. Show thy light upon us. |
| Oremus. Dignare, Domine, corda nostra benedictionibus gratiæ tuæ prævenire ; ut cujus Nativitatem expectamus, Sanctissimæ Genitrici tuæ digne placere possimus. Qui vivis et regnas in sæcula sæculorum. Amen. |
Let us pray. Deign, O Lord, to precede our hearts with the blessings of Thy grace that we may be able to please worthily Thy most holy Mother, whose nativity we are awaiting. Thou Who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen. |
Formed from the Immaculate Flesh of the Virgin
If the sun was formed out of the primordial light, it is easy to see how is this an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. By a singular privilege, she was luminous with grace from the first moment of her conception, and not only in soul, but also in body. Grace is poured out upon her lips (Ps 44:2), under her tongue is the milk and honey of her fiat (Canticle 4:11). She who was filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb is rightly termed light, not, indeed, by nature, but as we have already said, by participation, for her union with the Holy Spirit is so close that, as St. Maximillian Kolbe says, it is (by analogy) as if she were to the Holy Spirit what the Incarnate Flesh of Jesus is the to Word of God. She shines with the Light of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, in His Divine Nature, is called in the Creed Light from Light, and it is as if, in His Human Nature, He is born of the Light of the Holy Spirit shining in His Mother.
Her faith is luminous, and it is the faith the conceived the Word. Her Heart is luminous, and it is was there first that the Word was conceived in love, before her word, her fiat, called down the Divine Word. Her flesh too is luminous, exceeding the light that clothed our first parents before the fall plunged them into darkness, and it is from her immaculate flesh that the Flesh of the Son of God was drawn.
Rightly, then, is Our Lady called the primordial light. Her Sun, the Son of God, was formed in His Human Nature when the light of the plenitude of grace that the Holy Spirit had poured out upon her was gathered together, as the waters were gathered together on the second day (Gen 1:9). It is as if all the love and all the light that the Holy Spirit had filled her with, love and light exceeding that of all the angels and saints combined, were concentrated within her womb, and from this point the Holy Spirit formed the created body of the Uncreated Light That enlightens every man coming into the world (John 1:9).
