About a week prior to the beginning of this past Advent, I was praying on what I was going to read to prepare my heart for the coming of Christ at Christmas. The Holy Spirit reminded me of a book I had picked up on the dusty shelves of a local Goodwill store a few months prior. It was entitled, "Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the wise Men's Journey to Bethlehem", and translated by a Phoenix native, Brent Landau.
The historical background of this manuscript which was originally written in Syriac in what is estimated to be the 5th century is fascinating and can be found at the following link in a recent article featured in Aleteia: https://aleteia.org/2019/01/03/who-were-the-magi-really/
What I want to focus upon is what transported my heart and soul throughout the Advent and Christmas season - the light which emitted from that star and its meaning, and how the Magi prepared for the coming of this star over the centuries. According to this account, the Magi were descended from Seth, the third son of Adam, who was taught by his father Adam that the light of a magnificent star that emitted the divine essence of God was present in the Garden of Eden where "it descended and came to rest over the Tree of Life; and it illuminated the entire garden before Adam transgressed against the Father" [6:1]. After the Fall, the sight of the star or the divine gaze was lost and taken away from Adam and Eve. Despite his grave offense against God the Father, Adam speaks of the Father's great mercy, and His promise. In the manuscript it is written that God the Father commands and reveals to Adam the following:
Wait for the light that shines forth to you from the exalted East of the majesty of the Father, the light that shines forth from on high in the form of a star over the Mountain of Victories and comes to rest upon a pillar of light within the Cave of Treasures of Hidden Mysteries...Command your sons, and your sons their sons, until the mystery of the star that shines forth from the exalted majesty appears to your generations, a light like a star, and giving light to the entire creation and obscuring the light of the sun, moon, and stars, and not one of them seen or is able to stand in the presence of its light. For it is the great mystery of the Son of the exalted majesty, who is the voice of the Father; the offspring of the hidden thought; the light of the ray of his glory; the will and image of his hiddenness; the all-engendering word of his thought; source of life never-failing from his spring; the all-governing word according to the will of the one who sent it; an image that has no form or likeness among any things that exist.
This one, by whose power and word all worlds were set in order and established, is the Son of perfect mercy, is the ray of light of the glory of the Father of ineffable majesty. Therefore, know that when this light from that majesty that has no end shines forth for you and will appear like a star to you so that you are able to see him: eagerly, with joy and love..taking with you his own pure gifts, go to where his light, the star, leads you. And you will see a great and amazing sign, God appearing in bodily form of a human being, unsightly, poor, imperfect, frail, lowly, even the sign of the cross appearing upon him..And you will offer him your gifts, and you shall receive from him the blessing of salvation and shall partake with him in the joy, which, when he comes with his hidden glory, with his perfect divinity, with his perfect riches that do not pass away, with his new world, with his light that with perfect salvation, which he will give to all... [4:3-4:9]
This beautiful prophesy and apocryphal writing really swept my heart away and struck me when encountering the Gospel of John so often this Advent and Christmas season and his frequent references to Jesus as the "light".
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
Jesus revealed himself as the "light of the world" [Jn 8:12, Jn 9:5], and exhorted His followers "While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light " [Jn 12:36].
The question might be some 2,000 years later - How does this directly pertain to me, and how do I rid the shadows of darkness from various corners of my heart, my mind, my soul, my attitudes? Another part of this manuscript sheds some beautiful light on the practicalities of how to prepare to see and recognize the Light, to follow the Light, and to receive and then give out this very same Light. It is akin to our Carmelite call and way of life.
The wise men, lived a semi-monastic familial life during which they gathered at regular intervals to purify themselves in a particular spring, which was followed by prayer and worship in silence in humble gestures of adoration for God Almighty, in anticipation of his star as promised. During this time, they would pray silently and then read and pray from a book given to Seth containing these secrets which would be shared and studied by the members and their sons. These mystics remained faithful to this gathering month after month, generation after generation awaiting the fulfillment of the promise, that the Son of the Father would reveal His star to them in order that they might bring the gifts He had entrusted to them and spread His coming to the entire world.
Furthermore, during prayer just prior to them being sent forth to find the star-child, each of the Magi saw different visions of the Christ child at different stages and times in his life as the God-man. Some encountered Him as a babe, others as a man, a child, or on the Cross at Calvary. As God always does, He revealed Himself to each soul that best fit the individual's personality and gifts.
The common thread is that they listened in prayer and silence, sought to be men of virtue and grace, and remained faithful, attentive and obedient to God's promptings and Divine Will. This enabled them to see the Star of Bethlehem, which they contend was none other than Christ Himself, who slowly descended from this bright pillar of light upon the earth as the Christ child. The 'woman clothed with the sun' gave birth without the pains of childbirth, bringing forth the Light who existed before the beginning of creation. And now we as descendents and adopted sons and daughters of the Father can encounter Jesus each and every day through the myriad, infinite gifts He has bestowed upon us by His Incarnation. By following the 6 M's of the order [Mass, Mary, Meetings, Morning/evening prayer, Meditation, and as Member of the Church], along with an adherence to the Constitution and its call for us to fulfill our Christian Carmelite call we encounter His Light in profound ways in the hidden recesses of our souls.
As a reminder, the Preface of our OCDS Constitution reads as follows:
All are called to share, in charity, the holiness which belongs to God alone: “You
must therefore be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).
Following Christ is the way to attain perfection, opened to all by baptism.
Through Baptism we take part in the triple mission of Jesus: kingly, priestly and
prophetic. The first is a commitment to transforming the world according to God’s
design. By the priestly mission, the baptized person offers self and the whole of creation
to the Father with Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit. And as prophet, the baptized person
announces God’s plan for human kind and denounces all that is contrary to it.
As Carmelites, we realize this through the grace of God which is opened to us when we meditate on the law of God day and night, and seek allegiance with Jesus Christ in a spirit of faith, hope and love and while fulfilling the evangelical promises of poverty, chastity and obedience. As the Magi gathered faithfully every month and lived a life permeated by prayer and hopeful expectation, so may we do the same and seek the Light that is Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior every moment of every day. We can access His light through our baptismal promises, the Sacraments, and our alone time with HIm in the silence of our hearts. We encounter Him in our families, communities, and the Mystical Body of Christ. He reveals Himself in all of Creation.
As John the Evangelist reminds us,
The command I now write you is new, because its truth is seen in Christ and also in you. For the darkness is passing away, and the real light is already shining.
If we say that we are in the light, yet hate others, we are in the darkness to this very hour. If we love others, we live in the light, and so there is nothing in us that will cause someone else to sin. (1 John 2:8-10)
Let us live every day of our lives in the Light of Christ. Amen.
