Three words
“They don't care a hoot about what other people may think about their prayer life. Wherever they may be, when the time comes to pray, they will bow down in the direction of Mecca and invoke the name of Allah. And that's the end of it. If any passer-by doesn't like it, well, tough! That's why Islam is gaining momentum in the West.” He sipped on his tea, giving me a chance to suggest some reasons for Islam's fast growth.
“That's one of the reasons, and a pretty good one,” I said. “Islam is growing in the West for many reasons, the following three being among the most important in my assessment: One, they do not practice contraception or abortion; two, they lead a family-centered life; and three, their family lives are centered on religion, not on sports, television, weight-loss, or the stock market.”
These last words attracted the attention of the people around us. (Amazing how we people manage to hold a conversation in one group and keep one ear open to what is being discussed in another group, ready to jump ship and join them if their topic is more attractive!)
As more people came round, bringing along their tea and biscuits — necessary elements in any Catholic meeting in Australia — the well-dressed chap who had affirmed the importance of public prayer, interjected: “Don't you think there's more to it to explain the growth of Islam? Surely there's the lack of faith in the West for one.”
“You are quite right,” I said, a trifle annoyed with his habit of asking people a question and answering it before they have a chance to say anything. “Yes, the lack of faith is perhaps the most important of the lot. The once Christian West is morally and doctrinally rotten to the marrow of its social bones, and the crisis of Faith within the Catholic Church has assumed catastrophic proportions. Since Islam — like fundamentalism, Mormonism, and some other “isms” of the day — seems to provide an answer to anguished minds and hearts in this situation, growth is the end result.”
Our tea break came to an end, so we all returned to our seats and our apologetics seminar went on. Our well-dressed, fast-talking chap had made a good point about public prayer. Regrettably, we Catholics, all too many of us anyway, have forgotten that we also used to stop our work to pray: We used to pray the Angelus three times a day to honor the greatest intervention of God in history, the Incarnation.
Three gifts
Yes, we have forgotten how in times gone by we used to pause for a moment at noon and 6:00 P.M. from whatever work we were engaged in, recollect our thoughts, place ourselves in God's presence, and utter that beautiful prayer, the Angelus.
On December 25, 2000 A.D., Christians the world over celebrated the birthday of the God-Man, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a grand event that happened two thousand years ago. But the birth of the divine Child was a consequence of another event which precedes Christmas, both in idea and in fact, that is, the Incarnation.
Many centuries ago, after the Church had established that Christmas should be celebrated on December 25, She also appointed March 25 for the Annunciation and the Incarnation, exactly nine months prior to Our Lord's birth.
Between those dates was the time in which Our Blessed Mother carried the Word of God within her sacred womb, thus fulfilling the Old Testament figure of the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark carried the word of God in stone; she carried the Word of God made flesh.
It was at the Incarnation that “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Then the Archangel Gabriel brought to the Blessed Virgin Mary the great news that God would become Man and that she was called to be the mother of that God-Man. She was going to give birth to God in human flesh!
When the King of Kings and Lord of Lords was born in Bethlehem, three kings brought Him their special gifts: gold, in honor of His royalty; incense, for His priesthood; and myrrh, for His sacrifice to redeem mankind — three kings, three gifts, three marvels.
He is our King, Who shows us the way to salvation; He is our Prophet, Who teaches us the truth about Himself and His Father; He is our High Priest, Who offered the only sacrifice able to give us eternal life.
How do we respond to Him? By giving Him in return three gifts as well, the gifts He wants most from us: our minds, our hearts, our lives — our minds to God the Father, our hearts to God the Son, our lives to God the Holy Spirit.
That is why we are called by the Church to pray the Angelus three times a day: at dawn, midday, and twilight. We use the sun, the great star that gives light to the day, as a reminder of our prayers in honor of the Son of Our Lady, of she who is the Stella Matutina, the morning star.
Haven't you noticed how the morning star and the evening star, common names for the planet Venus, precede and follow the sun? These are symbols of Our Lady. Like the morning star, she shone in the darkness of human history before the birth of her Sun — her Divine Son. This is the dawn.
While He shone so brilliantly during His preaching mission, she disappeared. This is midday.
After He left the earth and ascended to the Father, she appeared again, gradually, as the last ray of hope to us, poor sinners, to the end of our lives. This is the twilight.
See how the Sun, such a great brightness in God's Creation, served as a reminder for our prayers?
Three times a day
Dawn — First, at 6:00 A.M., that is, around dawn, we give thanks to God as our Creator and praise the masterpiece of His Creation, Mary, the Beloved Daughter of God the Father, the First Person of the Blessed Trinity.
Mary was already in God's mind from the dawn of creation. Thus does the dawn remind us of God reflected in Mary. Then we ask Jesus to give us a faith like Mary's, whereby we shall believe in God as she believed: “Blessed is she who has believed” (Luke 1:44), as Saint Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said to her.
Midday — Secondly, at noon, when the sun reaches its zenith, we give thanks to God as our Redeemer, and praise the first one to be redeemed, Mary, the Admirable Mother of God the Son, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.
Mary was the chosen one who conceived the Word of God made flesh and gave birth to Him. Midday should remind us of God living in Mary. Then we ask Jesus to give us a hope like Mary's, whereby we will trust in God as she trusted: “Be it done unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38), as she said to the Archangel who brought the great news to her.
Twilight — At 6:00 P.M., when the sun is at its twilight, we give thanks to God as our Savior, and praise the greatest one to be saved, who is already body and soul in heaven: Mary, the Faithful Spouse of God the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Blessed Trinity.
Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit, Who overshadowed her to create the human body and soul of Jesus Christ, True God and True Man, in her virginal womb. Thus should the twilight remind us of God glorified in Mary. Then we ask Jesus to give us a charity like Mary's, whereby we shall love God and our neighbor as she did, actively doing His Will: “Whatsoever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5), as she said to the servants at the marriage feast of Cana.
Let all of us faithful Catholics pray the Angelus daily and benefit from the immense graces that Jesus bestows through His Immaculate Mother to all those who honor the Incarnation of the Word of God, the greatest intervention of God in history. Few prayers even come close to the grandeur, love, and fidelity to God reflected in the beautiful verses of the Angelus.
(This article courtesy of St. Gabriel Communications. You can download the article in e-Book form for permanent FREE usage and/or further distribution. This is one of the many projects of the Perth, West Australia-based apostolate in response to the Holy Father's call to Re-Evangelize the Baptized.)
