December
11

“He Has Exalted the Lowly”

And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord; and my spirit has leapt for joy in God my Saviour; for He has looked upon the lowliness of His maidservant; for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He who is powerful has done for me great things, and Holy is His name. And His mercy is to generations of generations, to those who fear Him. He has made might by His arm; He has scattered the proud in the thought of their heart. He has taken down the powerful from thrones, and has exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. (Luke 1:46‒53)

Man has been so created that he can look upward, or above himself; and can also look downward, or below himself. To look above oneself is to be uplifted by the Lord; for no one can look above himself, unless he is uplifted by Him who is above. But to look below himself is of man, because then he does not suffer himself to be uplifted. (Arcana Coelestia 7814, 7816)

True adoration, or humility of heart, carries with it prostration to the earth upon the face before the Lord, as a gesture naturally flowing from it. For in humility of heart there is the acknowledgment of self as being nothing but filthiness, and at the same time the acknowledgment of the Lord’s infinite mercy toward that which is such; and when the mind is kept in these two acknowledgments, the very mind droops in lowliness toward hell, and prostrates the body; nor does it uplift itself until it is uplifted by the Lord. This takes place in all true humility, with a perception of being uplifted by the Lord’s mercy. (Arcana Coelestia 1999)

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