{"id":3825,"date":"2015-08-01T03:30:30","date_gmt":"2015-08-01T08:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicbookblogger\/?p=3825"},"modified":"2015-07-18T13:40:28","modified_gmt":"2015-07-18T18:40:28","slug":"mary-the-ark-of-god-mary-day-011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicbookblogger\/2015\/08\/01\/mary-the-ark-of-god-mary-day-011\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary, the Ark of God, Mary: Day 011"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"year_with_mary_john_of_damascus_1\"<\/a>Mary, the Ark of God<\/strong>
\nIn the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant was the place of God\u2019s special presence, carried up to Jerusalem. With other Church Fathers, St. John of Damascus saw the Ark as a foreshadowing of Mary, carried up to the heav- enly Jerusalem in her assumption.<\/em><\/p>\n

People of Christ, let\u2019s acclaim Mary today in sacred song, acknowledge our own good fortune, and proclaim it! Let\u2019s honor her in an evening vigil; let\u2019s delight in her purity of soul and body, for she, after God, surpasses all in purity. It\u2019s natural for similar things to glory in each other. Let\u2019s show our love for her by compassion and kindness towards the poor. For if mercy is the best worship of God, who will refuse to show his mother devotion in the same way?
\nShe opened to us the unspeakable abyss of God\u2019s love for us. Through her the old enmity against the Creator is destroyed. Through her our reconciliation with him is strengthened, peace and grace are given to us, men are made the companions of angels, and we, who lived in dishonor, are made the children of God. From her we\u2019ve plucked the fruit of life. From her we\u2019ve received the seed of immortality. She\u2019s the channel of all our goods. In her, God was Man, and Man was God. What could be more marvelous or more blessed than that?
\nYouthful souls! With Miriam, the prophetess of old, let\u2019s sound our musical instruments\u2014that is, let\u2019s put to death the passions of the flesh here on earth, for that\u2019s the true spiritual music. Let our souls rejoice in the Ark of God, and the walls of Jericho will fall\u2014I mean the fortresses of the Enemy. Let\u2019s dance in spirit with David; today the Ark of God is at rest in heaven.
\nWith Gabriel, the great archangel, let\u2019s exclaim, \u201cHail, full of grace! The Lord is with you. Hail, inexhaustible ocean of grace! Hail, sole refuge in grief ! Hail, cure of hearts! Hail, you who through whom death is cast out and replaced by life!\u201d
\n\u2014St. John of Damascus, Second Homily on the Dormition<\/p>\n

IN GOD\u2019S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .<\/strong>
\nThe Ark of the Old Covenant carried the stone tablets of the Ten Command- ments. It also carried some of the manna, the bread that God had sent down from heaven, and the staff of Aaron, the high priest. How do each of these three objects serve as a foreshadowing of Christ in Mary\u2019s womb?
\nCLOSING PRAYER<\/strong>
\nFrom a prayer of St. Athanasius: O Virgin, Ark of the Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna,that is, the Flesh in which God resides.<\/em><\/p>\n

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