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| Sr. Maria Chiara Scarabelli (1912-1994) |
The Supernatural Virgin Birth of Jesus as described by a mystic, and also another account by an exorcist
The webmaster would like to gratefully thank Mrs. Angelica Avcikurt for translating from the original Italian the inspiring and informative passages below. May God reward her for her efforts.
It is a dogma of faith that the Virgin Mary remained a virgin after giving birth to the child Jesus. Some believe she gave birth like any other woman. However, if she conceived in a supernatural way by the power of the Holy Spirit, and if she was preserved from sin from the moment of conception, then the birth of Jesus, true God and true man, must have been entirely unique.
The supernatural nature of Jesus’ birth has been confirmed by several mystics throughout the centuries, such as Venerable Mary of Agreda whose account of the supernatural birth of Jesus can be read here, Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich whose account can be read here, and also in the visions of Maria Valtorta whose account can be read here, just to name but a few.
In addition to these, more recently the supernatural Virgin birth of Jesus is confirmed by the mystic Sister Maria Chiara Scarabelli, an Italian mystic who died in 1994, and also by some recent exorcisms performed by Fr. Francesco Bamonte, the current president of the International Association of Exorcists, both of which we will investigate a bit below.
A Vision of the Birth of Jesus
This is the vision that the mystic Sister Chiara Scarabelli (1912-1994) had of the birth of Jesus, taken from the book, "I Tesori della Trinita nel Cuori della Madre" (The Treasures of the Trinity in the Heart of the Mother):
"It was Christmas Eve, in the evening, I was in the choir praying, when I found myself in Bethlehem (I don’t know if I was there with my body or not).
I found myself in front of Mary and Joseph who were looking for a place to spend the night, but everyone refused them, there was no place for them. Having exhausted all possibilities, Mary turned to Joseph saying, “What should we do? I feel that the moment to give birth to Jesus is approaching.”
Her husband responded sweetly, “Don’t be afraid, Mary. God knows everything and sees everything. I am sure He will provide.”
The headed towards the fields and found a shepherd. Joseph stopped him and asked him if he knew where they could spend the night. The shepherd, looking at Mary asked, “Is she you wife?” Joseph answered yes and the shepherd said, “What an angel she is. Follow me. I think we will find an empty cave.”
After a long way, he sees a cave. He said, “I am going to see. I hope it is empty.” He ran ahead, then he turned saying, “It is empty,” and he took them inside asking, “Do you need anything? I would willingly stay but I have to take care of the sheep.”
There was a small entrance and then a small cave, I think it was where animals took shelter. St. Joseph prepared a stack of hay, a type of bed, and he put his cloak over it. Then he told his wife, “Mary, you are tired, rest. It will do you good.”
-“Thank, you Joseph, for your tenderness. What about you?”
-“I will be at the door to guard it.” He then lit a small fire to warm the air and sat down. After a while, he came to see if his wife was resting but he found her kneeling, and asked her, “Aren’t you sleeping?”
She answered, “No, Joseph, I have to pray.”
He left her alone and went to pray. After a while, I don’t know exactly how long, a bright light came through the ceiling which illuminated everything, and then there appeared a white cloud that enveloped the Immaculate Virgin, it was so beautiful that I don’t have words to describe it. Her eyes were fixed ahead and a ray of light was shining on her face, I don’t know how to explain.
She looked and smiled. It seemed like a conversation with an invisible being from whom the light was coming.
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| Sr. Maria Chiara Scarabelli |
St. Joseph, upon seeing this splendor and his wife who appeared to be in Heaven, prostrated himself with his face on the ground, feeling confused. I don’t know how long the conversation with the invisible being lasted, when I saw Mary extending her arms and receiving the small child Jesus….What happiness!…What joy!….I can’t explain, not even the expression of the Celestial Mother towards the Son of God…human words are not enough…I let those who are more intelligent than me try to explain it. The light that was shining on her face disappeared. Now her gaze was fixed upon her Son. It seemed like and ecstasy of love.”
Thus we can see how the vision of Sr Maria Chiara Scarabelli is very similar to the visions of the birth of Jesus by Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, Venerable Mary of Agreda and also Maria Valtorta.
Sr. Maria Chiara Scarabelli wrote this vision because her spiritual director ordered her to do so and also she asked the Virgin Mary to explain what was unclear to her director and expressed her feelings of inadequacy for such a task. The following is part of her dialogue with the Virgin Mary:
“How is it possible, O Mamma, to speak about your celestial face when you were speaking to the Father? The light coming forth from that Divine Being was transfiguring you.
-"My daughter, you are too small; you cannot understand or support the joy that your Mamma experienced in giving birth to the Son of God. He came out of my womb like a ray of sun that pierces a glass, and immediately He was taken to heaven to be adored by the Celestial Court, which was fair. Then, He was given to me, who am His Mother. You saw a ray of my joy, but you could not understand everything."
"But tell me, Mamma, you already know it, but tell it to this poor little one. Is it true that when you gave birth to Jesus you experienced pain like all the other creatures, like that priest told us?
- "No, my little one. You don’t believe that and you do well. Let certain priests say whatever they want. I am telling you that I was in an ecstasy of love, I have experienced the joy of Paradise. Believe me, whom am the all pure Immaculate Conception.” (Notebook #68)
An account by an Exorcist
The following is from the book "La Vergine Maria e il diavolo negli esorcismi" (The Virgin Mary and the Devil in the Exorcisms) by Fr. Francesco Bamonte (2014):
The following is from the book "La Vergine Maria e il diavolo negli esorcismi" (The Virgin Mary and the Devil in the Exorcisms) by Fr. Francesco Bamonte (2014):
"It was a few days before Christmas 2006 and there was a lot of discussion about the attitude of some theologians that disagreed with the teaching of the Church by denying the virginity of Mary. Besides, even though this has not been defined, they affirmed that the Virgin Mary suffered during childbirth. Right around those days when [during an exorcism] we were praying the third joyous mystery of the Rosary, meditating upon the mystery of the Birth of Jesus the devil suddenly said,
“When that One (Jesus) was born of that one (the Virgin), there was a light like when He was resurrected.”
“When that One (Jesus) was born of that one (the Virgin), there was a light like when He was resurrected.”
A few days later, during the Octave of Christmas, “To the marvel of all creation, in a light that illumined and enveloped all inside that cave, a Child was born who did not damage the holy body of His Mother. It was a unique birth in the world and there will never be another like it again. And that Mother with a stupid gaze and tears of joy received Him with an indescribable love.”
A few days before Christmas 2007:
“You cannot imagine the amazement in those eyes with those tears falling from them, because She could not understand how it was possible that She had the Child in her arms. How did She do it? What amazement!…What love!…(Here the evil one started to cry out of pain because of the harm the memory of the coming of God on Earth caused him.) And She covered Him because it was cold, and She kissed Him.”
“You cannot imagine the amazement in those eyes with those tears falling from them, because She could not understand how it was possible that She had the Child in her arms. How did She do it? What amazement!…What love!…(Here the evil one started to cry out of pain because of the harm the memory of the coming of God on Earth caused him.) And She covered Him because it was cold, and She kissed Him.”
Then he added to our great surprise, this extraordinary declaration about the love of God for us by becoming man, and choosing to suffer and die for us:
“If only you understood how much love has moved everything, if you only understood, I would be destroyed! If only one man, a single man understood 1% of the love that moved That One to come to Earth, I would be destroyed, because it is so great, so great that you cannot imagine it.”
“If only you understood how much love has moved everything, if you only understood, I would be destroyed! If only one man, a single man understood 1% of the love that moved That One to come to Earth, I would be destroyed, because it is so great, so great that you cannot imagine it.”
References:
Bamonte, Francesco. La Vergine Maria e il diavolo negli esorcismi. Milano: Paoline, 2014
Comitato Sr. Maria Chiara Scarabelli. Il Tesori della Trinita nel Cuore della Madre. Conegliano, Italy: Editrice Ancilla, 2009____________________________________________________________________
Check out the lockets, rosaries and books in the Mystics of the Church Gift Store!
17 comments:
As an addendum to this article, I will add quotes from the visions of a few mystics concerning the supernatural birth of Jesus.
From the vision of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich:
"The light which surrounded the Blessed Virgin became more and more brilliant: the light of the lamp prepared by Joseph could not be seen. When the hour of midnight arrived Mary was transported in an ecstasy. I saw her raised a certain height from the ground; she had her hands crossed upon her breast. The light kept increasing around her; everything seemed to feel a joyful emotion, even things inanimate. The rock which formed the floor and the wall of the grotto were, as it were, alive with light. But soon I saw no more of the roof; a luminous path, whose brightness continually increased, went from Mary to the highest heaven. Then was there a marvelous movement of the celestial glories, which, approaching nearer and nearer, appeared distinctly under the form of the angelic choirs. The Blessed Virgin, raised from the earth in her ecstasy, prayed and turned her eyes to her God, of whom she had become the mother, and who, a feeble new-born infant, was lying on the ground before her."
From the vision of Venerable Mary of Agreda:
"The most holy Mary remained in the presence of the Divinity of God for over an hour immediately preceding Her divine delivery. At the moment when She left the presence of the Divinity, She regained the use of Her bodily senses and She realized that the Body of the infant God began to move in Her virginal womb. The infant Jesus freed Himself from the place which He had occupied for nine months, and He now prepared to issue forth from Holy Mary. This movement did not cause any pain or hardship, as happens with the other
daughters of Adam and Eve in their childbirths. Mary was filled with incomparable joy and delight, causing in Her soul and in Her virginal body such exalted and divine effects that they exceed all thoughts of men. Her body became so spiritualized with the beauty of heaven that She seemed no more a human and earthly creature. Her face emitted rays of light, like the sun and shone in great majesty, all inflamed with the highest love. She was kneeling in the manger, Her eyes raised to heaven, Her hands joined and folded at Her breast, Her soul wrapped in the Divinity and She Herself was entirely God like. In this position, the most exalted Lady gave to the world the only Son of the Father, and at the same time Her own Son."
From the vision of Maria Valtorta:
And the light increases more and more. It is now unbearable to the eye. And the Virgin disappears in so much light, as if She had been absorbed by an incandescent curtain…and the Mother emerges. Yes. When the light becomes endurable once again to my eyes, I see Mary with the new-born Son in Her arms....And He moves His little head that is so blond that it seems without any hair, a little round head that His Mummy holds in the hollow of Her hand, while She looks at Her Baby and adores Him weeping and smiling at the same time, and She bends down to kiss Him not on His innocent head, but on the centre of His chest, where underneath there is His little heart beating for us… where one day there will be the Wound. And His Mother is doctoring that wound in advance, with Her immaculate kiss.
Beautiful!! To add another voice, the revelations given to Luisa Piccarreta:
December 25, 1900
The birth of Jesus.
Luisa speaking:
As I was in my usual state, I felt I was outside of myself; after wandering around, I found myself inside a cave, and I saw the Queen Mother in the act of giving birth to Little Baby Jesus. What a wonderful prodigy! It seemed that both Mother and Son were transmuted into most pure light. But in that light one could see very well the human nature of Jesus containing the Divinity within Itself and serving as a veil to cover the Divinity; in such a way that, in removing the veil of human nature, He was God, while covered by that veil, He was Man.
Here is the prodigy of prodigies: God and Man, Man and God! Without leaving the Father and the Holy Spirit - because true love never separates - He comes to dwell in our midst, taking on human flesh. Now, it seemed to me that Mother and Son, in that most happy instant, remained as though spiritualized, and without the slightest difficulty Jesus came out of the Maternal womb while both of them overflowed with excesses of Love. In other words, those Most Pure Bodies were transformed into Light, and without the slightest impediment, Light Jesus came out of Light the Mother, while both One and the Other remained whole and intact, returning then to their natural state.
Who can tell the beauty of the Little Baby, Who at the moment of His birth, transfused, also externally, the rays of the Divinity? Who can tell the beauty of the Mother, who remained all absorbed in those Divine rays?
And Saint Joseph? It seemed to me that he was not present at the act of the birth, but remained in another corner of the cave, all engrossed in that profound Mystery. And if he did not see with the eyes of the body, he saw very well with the eyes of the soul, because he remained enraptured in sublime ecstasy.
Now, in the act in which the Little Baby was born, I would have wanted to fly and take Him in my arms, but the Angels prevented me, saying that the honor of holding Him first belonged to the Mother. Then, the Most Holy Virgin, as though shaken, returned into Herself, and from the hands of an Angel received Her Son in Her arms. In Her ardor of love, She squeezed Him so tightly that it seemed that She wanted to draw Him into Her womb again. Then, wanting to let Her ardent love pour out, She placed Him at Her breast to suckle. In the meantime, I was completely annihilated, waiting to be called so as not to be scolded again by the Angels. Then the Queen said to me:
“Come, come and take your Beloved, and you too enjoy Him - pour out your love into Him.” As She was saying this, I drew near her, and She gave Him to me, into my arms. Who can say my contentment, the kisses, the squeezes, the tenderness? ...
Thanks Daniel!
I think St. Faustina also had a vision of the birth of Christ. Don't recall the section of the Diary though.
MARY, THE MYSTICAL CITY
Mary, Mystical City
where Jesus, our Savior, resides
look down on us with pity
who are carried with the tides
Will we ever fathom
the greatness of Your being
satan spitting his venom
to prevent our souls from healing
But You, God’s living Tabernacle
are constantly pointing to Your Son
to prevent us from sudden debacle
to bring us the Victory already won
We cry out to You, Oh Mystical City
to pull us out of the dangerous sinkholes
we are willing to be gritty
to save our eternal souls
Mary, our Mother spread Your Mantle over us to keep us safe in Your City.
Rita Biesemans written 11-29-2013
When I arrived at Midnight Mass, from the very beginning I steeped myself in deep recollection, during which time I saw the stable of Bethlehem filled with great radiance. The Blessed Virgin, all lost in the deepest of love, was wrapping Jesus in swaddling clothes, but Saint Joseph was still asleep. Only after the Mother of God put Jesus in the manger did the light of God awaken Joseph, who also prayed. But after a while, I was left alone with the Infant Jesus who stretched out His little hands to me, and I understood that I was to take Him in my arms. Jesus pressed His head against my heart and gave me to know, by His profound gaze, how good He found it to be next to my heart (Diary of St. Faustina, 1442).
Yes, thank you for sharing these testimonies. It is good teaching to share when the theme conversation comes up, or we can open a window...
Truly this opens a broader view of Heavenly Belongings, to which, if we don't have this information but are still faithful, we still receive special graces... but now that we have this information, we must in turn share it because in the words of Jesus, "freely you receive, then freely give..."
Again, thank you and God's graces to all!
Thank you all for your comments thusfar. I will share my opinion on the birth of Jesus, for whatever it is worth:
For sure there are two opposing opinions on whether Mary gave birth with pain and in a natural way, or not. As for myself, I am definitely of the opinion that the Virgin Mary did NOT have any pain in childbirth, because God in Genesis Chapter 3 tells us that painful childbirth was a direct punishment given to Eve for their sin of eating from the tree in the center of the Garden, and that painful childbirth was NOT the original intention of God for humanity prior to the fall of Adam and Eve, but was a consequence of our parents original sin. And since Mary was without sin, it stands to reason to me that Her childbirth should not have included pain, especially since She was giving birth to the Son of God Himself.
Secondly, I do not think that Jesus was born vaginally (naturally) because to do so would have broken them hymen (the "seal" of ones virginity) and so this leads me to believe that the Virgin Mary remained completely intact in that regards, and that Jesus--through a very special grace--miraculously came out directly without passing through vaginally, and this is why a number of mystics described a "great light" bursting forth, and Mary finding the Child either in Her arms, or at Her feet.
Just my .02 cents, for whatever it is worth.
The concept of an intact hymen being an accurate indicator of virginity is a myth. The hymen is a vestige of embryological development wherein its function is to protect the developing vagina from foreign bodies and this is thought to continue in childhood. It can be broken in numerous ways in women/girls who have never engaged n intercourse. This includes medical examinations and most notably exercise and other vigorous activities such as horseback or donkey back riding, or walking long distances such as to Bethlehem. Even if her hymen is broken, a girl/woman who has never had intercourse is still a virgin. Using an intact hymen as "proof" of virginity is a cultural and human thing and grossly inaccurate. Not one God needs to use for sure. God sees and is interested in purity of heart, mind and soul not an intact piece of tissue. Moreover equating sinfulness with painful childbirth seems illogical. It means that all baptised women who have been freed from sin should have pain free births yet this clearly does not happen. Also if sinfulness means painful birth are all women who have more painful births than most more sinful? Obviously not. From this perspective a vaginal birth for Jesus is perfectly feasible.
I could not agree more with Glenn’s comment written on December 26, 2015.
I do also agree with anonymous who posted on December 27 in that you are still a virgin even if the hymen is broken.
However, Glenn is correct that pain during childbirth is a direct consequence of original sin. Since our Blessed Mother was not conceived in original sin, she is not subject to the punishment due to original sin such as giving birth in pain. Baptism does not undue the punishments we have to face due to the sin of Adam and Eve. One of the those punishments, for example, was that man has to work with the sweat of his brow for food which he still has to do even if he is baptized. So even if a man or a woman is baptized, each still suffers the punishments due to original sin.
In addition to the mystics noted above by our fantastic webmaster Glenn Dallaire, I would like to add the sensational St. Bridget of Sweden. In her writings the Blessed Mother herself explains how she gave birth. I do not have the book with me at the moment so I cannot give an exact quote, but she basically said something similar to what has been quoted above by the other mystics (that she gave birth without any pain and not in the natural way). She said despite what some people may say, I did not deliver Jesus in the usual way.
Considering how Mary is a complete and total superstar, there is no problem in realizing she gave birth without pain and that Jesus passed through her body and was not delivered vaginally. Venerable Mary of Agreda said that Mary did not even sweat while she lived on earth and that the only reason she changed her clothes was so that she would not draw attention to herself. I can’t picture Mary sweating, panting, and yelling in pain while delivering Jesus. She is just too celestial for all that nonsense.
Mary was anything but ordinary. She was so exceptionally holy that our puny little human brains can’t even conceive or grasp even a portion of the graces God bestowed upon her. Giving birth in a miraculous way is just one of the many many many special things about our Queen.
God created sweat and vaginal births, "and saw that they were good," before the fall. Why then would would they not be good for Jesus' mother even without pain? Moreover if her Son could bleed, pant and cry out when being crucified as he did according to the gospels why are similar actions beneath his mother?
There are things in this world that were not supposed to exist before the Fall. They are here now because of sin. As to why Mary could not have just given birth to Jesus vaginally without pain, I would say it is because God wanted her to deliver Jesus miraculously because she is supposed to be unique from all other women. Mary’s life was full of exceptions. She could speak as soon as she was born but maintained silence for the first year and a half of her life as ordinary babies because she was so humble. Anyway, every mystic that I have read of (whether describing how Jesus was born as they saw it or giving us Mary’s own words as to how she delivered Him) never mention Mary delivering Jesus vaginally. They all saw Him pass through her body miraculously in a great light.
I don’t think it’s a matter of some actions being beneath Mary but not Jesus. I think God decided to make Mary singular in certain ways. Jesus was crucified and He was naked at some point but I have never read of Mary being naked. I remember reading in one of the mystics books, God told the Apostles not to uncover her body when they went to bury her. So in this case I don’t think it’s a matter of nakedness being beneath Mary and not Jesus, it’s more that God didn’t want it that way for Mary.
But many bodily functions or human like actions were not applicable to the saints at certain points of their lives. Some of them survived on the Eucharist alone and did not need to eat, drink, (and therefore not urinate or poop) or even sleep. Their accounts can be found on this website. It seems feasible that Mary would be exempt from some things like sweating since she was and will always be Queen of saints, holier than all of them combined.
Jesus issued forth as the sunlight through a glass
Who ever said that ""God created sweat and vaginal births, "and saw that they were good," before the fall""?
Yes. Beautiful. I also always believed it to be so: the Blessed Virgin who conceived miraculously also gave birth miraculously. Veja em: https://filhasdemariarosamistica.blogspot.com/2018/12/o-nascimento-milagroso-do-menino-jesus.html
None of the mystics have seen the exact birth, so we can't fully be sure whether she gave birth vaginally or not.
From the various mystical accounts, it seems like certain things are consistent, like she was enveloped in light, she experienced an ecstasy, and the birth was painless. But the exact mechanics of the birth is unknown. The "light passing through a crystal" analogy can go either way.
I've always thought that the fact that no mystic has ever seen it means this is a secret that God does not wish to reveal to us at this time. And in fact, recently I came across this message from Our Lady to Fr. Gobbi describing the birth of Jesus and her virginity:
"A virgin during the birth, because that which was achieved in that moment was the operation of the Most Holy Trinity. Wrapped around by the Light of God and by His secret, the miraculous birth of my divine Son occurred only before Him."
Until the time God chooses to reveal the process to us, we just will never know.
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