20 My Monologues with the Betrothed Virgin
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
The day of your Betrothal must have been one of the happiest days in your life, right?
According to your ancestral, religious, and cultural traditions girls were married off pretty early, around the age of twelve-thirteen.
As it was the Jewish custom to conduct the Betrothal Ceremony some six or so months before the Wedding.
So was it in your case, right?
Like every young girl who gets Betrothed, you too must have engaged yourself in delving deep into dreaming of a rosy, romantic married life, right, Oh, Betrothed Virgin?
You must have been weaving magnificent mantles made of many a wishes and waiting to wear them on everyday of your marital life, right?
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
The days and weeks between the Betrothal and the Wedding were and are rightly known for dreaming and day dreaming especially by the soon to be brides.
They engage themselves in daydreaming and building fanciful castles in the air and wishing to turn them into cosy homes.
Weren't, you too, doing the same?
Wherein, the fiancees like yourself would love and long to spend the rest of their lives with their caring companions and hoping to become a loving Moms to the pretty, cute kids to be born to them, so I guess!
These are dreams so natural and normal for every betrothed girl, Aren't they?
But Alas!
Just with one "Hail Mary!"
by Gabriel,
all those delightful dreams were dashed.
The initially shocking and eventually surprising revelation of the Message by Gabriel:
"you will conceive and you will bear a son......."
Did it!
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
As the narration goes, you were deeply disturbed by the greetings of the angel.
The "Hail" greetings set in motion a gale of panic which shattered your dreams and swept away your castles in the air, which you had been building in your Wonderland of Imagination, right, Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin?
After the initial shock, collecting your innate courage, you asked for clarifications with a straightforward confronting question:
"How will this be.. since I am a virgin?"
In those days, it was rather unheard of a Jewish village girl of your age to raise questions or to place objections or to seek explanations, especially in matters of importance.
It was almost unbecoming of a girl to do so.
You were expected just to be submissive and obey!
Yet, you had the courage to ask.
You did question.
You did seek for a clear answer.
After availing yourself of, not only an explanation but also an illustrative example involving the aged Elizabeth,
you opted to offer your consent, right?
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
And thus,
You said: Yes,
Your first, "Fiat!"
The subsequent events and experiences really made you realize: it is relatively much easier to make decisions, even decisions which are difficult to take.
Yet, it is real hard and heroic to live those decisions in everyday life, right?
You did realize this from the aftermath of the "Hail Mary" and "Fiat", Didn't You?
Your life was never ever the same ever since you heard the "Hail Mary" and said your "Fiat", right?
After the Angel Gabriel had disappeared from your sight, the seriousness of the situation and the severity of the aftershocks began to show up and appear in your life, right?
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
You must have agonizingly anguished over the thought of being seen as allegedly unfaithful.
For days and nights, you must have been groping in your fuzzed up mind trying to grapple with the gravity of your plight and predicament. The Sleepless Nights and Restless Days kept their company with you, right?
All the while, The Miracle of "The Most High" was deep Within You enjoying the cosy comfort, similar to an Embryonic Cocoon!
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
In the subsequent days and weeks,
you must have been haunted by frightening thoughts like:
"How could I ever tell it to my parents?"
"Will they ever believe me?"
"How could I ever face my Fiancé?
Leave alone, telling him!"
"Even if, I bring myself up to tell him,
Would he ever believe it?
Could he ever accept it ?"
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
Your mind must have been marred by thoughts like:
"if I were to tell my parents and to my Fiancé, that I am found pregnant by,
"the power of the Most High",
"Would they believe it?
Would they believe me?"
"Won't they tell me that I am crazy?"
"Won't they wonder that I am out of my mind? "
"Won't they taunt me, telling me:
Not to bluff them with
the 'Cock and Bull' story'!
"Won't they accuse me of hanging around hanky-panky?"
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
You must have been haunted by the thoughts like:
"Won't they corner me and confront me to come out with the 'truth' and demand me to name the man responsible for making me pregnant?"
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
In the subsequent days following the appearance of Gabriel, you must have had a terribly worried mind within a tired and tensed body, Didn't you?
For a moment, at least, you must have felt frozen with the fear of the probability of the impending punishment for allegedly being unfaithful to your Fiancé right?
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
You must have known, for certain, as per the Jewish Traditions, that an unfaithful Fiancee, who is found pregnant without the knowledge of her Fiancé, could face a series of severe punishments like:
You could either be disowned,
Or you could be abandoned,
You could either be sold as a slave,
Or you could be driven to prostitution,
You could either be dragged to the Court,
Or you could be stoned, even stoned to death!
Oh, No! No! Never!
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
"The Most High" saw to it that none of the above dreadful events ever happened to you and to the Holy Embryonic Life Within You!
Because, You had found favor with the Lord!
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
Later in life you did know,
this was only your First "Fiat!"
It was your most important Fiat of your life.
It was the First in the seemingly unending series of many, many Big and small "fiats"
which you kept on saying all through your life!
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
Because you were and are found highly favoured by The Most High,
The Most High saw to it that:
Your Fiancé, your Fiat, and your Faith were fervently favoured for ever!
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
We, humans, have to say many a"fiats"
as we journey along in life, we need to say
many a mini as well as major "fiats", right?
When I glance at my itty-bitty little life,
there were many a "fiats" I had said
for the last near seventy years of my life!
Some of them were minor ones,
While some others were of Major type.
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
Unlike Your "Fiat"
Which was always intact and well tendered
Most of my "fiats" had been tampered with
and tattered by my selfish and sinful ways.
As I journeyed along, my "fiats" were often badly bandied and bruised and at times buried
in my wayward and wanton ways of sinful life!
With a contrite heart I want to keep renewing,
refreshing and keep on repeating my "fiats"!
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
Do continue to keep on reviving,
refreshing, and renewing my drooping spirit!
so that I am fit to keep repeating my fiats."
Oh, dear Betrothed Virgin,
Along with the Angel Gabriel,
I love to keep repeating for the rest of my life:
"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee!
Blessed are you among women and blessed is the the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus!"
May this Salutation keep on giving me
the strength and perseverance
to keep repeating and renewing
my own 'fiats'
in everyday of my life!
Amen
Oh, My Lord and My God,
I join the entire Human Race to thank you
For coming into our midst through
Fiat of the Betrothed Virgin!
Oh, My Lord and My God,
As I wish and want to keep repeating
the many 'fiats' of my everyday life,
I wish very much to experience your
Incarnate Presence in my daily life.
Oh, My Lord and My God,
Please continue to send me your Gabriel as and when I am in need of him. Keep on sending him to me in form of my loved ones, through my significant ones, through my friends as well as through my foes! Keep helping me to recognize and accept him/her as the "the Gabriels" of life!!
Oh, My Lord and My God,
I am intrigued, as at times the question that keeps cropping in my mind:
How come that Gabriel never turned up again to visit the Betrothed, Pregnant Virgin by way of comforting or congratulating or even just to find out as how things are?
Remember, had she not said her "Fiat",
You would have had to be born of some other Virgin, other than Mary of Nazareth, right?
Sure, Gabriel did keep visiting her Fiancé and made sure she is well taken care of!
Oh, My Lord and My God,
I want to spend some time in silence in Your Presence.
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening!
Amen
JoAchen
Sunday, December 7,2014
PS
These Reflections are neither pure scientific exegesis nor are they any highly theological speculations.
They are my devotional meditations mainly meant for my personal renewal and spiritual growth.
They are a part of my journaling....
Dear Reader, I keep holding you in my prayers and I request you to include me in yours.
Thank you!
For Previous Reflections:
www.my-monologoues.blogspot.in
Facebook link
My Monologues
If you do not want get these Reflections via email, please send a note and your email id will be deleted from the mailing list.
No comments:
Post a Comment