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Today's Devotional

On the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem lies Jerusalem, and we may be quite sure that a happy event for Mary and Joseph on their long and tiring journey [to register for the census, Luke 2] would be their visit to the temple. We may think, then, of Mary today taking her [unborn] Son into his own temple. We may think of the joy of the angels as they lifted high the gates to let the hidden king come in.

In the holy of holies of Solomon’s temple was the ark of the covenant, inside which were the tables of God’s law and upon which was manifested the presence of the All-Holy. But here kneeling in the temple, in the women’s court afar off, was the real ark of the covenant of which the other was only a type, hiding within her chaste womb the new lawgiver whose presence was known only to the angels who were worshiping round his shrine. Mary and Joseph were the only earthly worshipers in the temple that day who understood.

Here was the virgin with her Son. The prophecy was fulfilled—God with us. “His name shall be called Emmanuel” [Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23]. O Emmanuel! God with us! I feel that I must also go to your sacred courts today and make one more worshiper before that holy shrine.

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Contemplate the story of the Incarnation day-by-day throughout the season of Advent in our latest publication, The Grand Miracle. Based on the writings of C. S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, George MacDonald, Dorothy Sayers, and others, each day’s reading offers a fresh look at the birth of Christ through the eyes of a modern author. Scripture, prayer, and full-page contemplative images complete each entry. 28 days, 64 pages. Preview the Devotional here.

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About the author and the source

Mother St. Paul (1861–1940) of the Sacred Heart House, Birmingham, was author of several books of meditations focused on seasons in the life and Christ and on his mother, Mary. This devotional is condensed from a much longer original.