19th December

Mary Nurtures A Life In The Womb

This was how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married, she found out that she was going to have a baby by the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1: 18

Mary nurtures the Son of tenderness,
God, supreme ruler of every nation:
Her father, her strengthener, her brother.

Mary nurtures a Son on whom dignity rests:
None can violate his boundaries
Whose words are beauty, who is neither young
nor grows old.

The unwise can never perceive
How Mary is related to God:
Her Son, her Father, her Lord.

But I know, though I be but frail and earthly,
How Mary is bonded in the Spirit to the Trinity:
Her Son and brother in the flesh,
Her father, her Lord, blessed almighty.
Early or Middle Welsh. Trans. Paul Quinn

Medical experts tell us that getting fit to have a baby takes time. If a mother’s body is full of addictive substances from smoking, alcohol or drugs, or if it is lacking in vitamins, three to six months are needed for it to provide a healthy womb. Research now also confirms that stress, or lack of harmony, harms the unborn baby. Parents who pray for the child in their womb, who sing to it, feel it, and love it, are following in the path of Mary. Celtic Christians often imagined that they were present when Mary gave birth to Jesus, and they made beautiful prayers for the children they themselves gave birth to.

Help me to nurture your life in myself
Help me to nurture your life in others