Mary and Joseph’s first great trial was during the time of Advent

During the period before the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph had to undergo a very painful trial. This was the first of the great trials that the newlyweds would experience together.

Between the moment of the Annunciation and the Incarnation of the Word of God in Mary’s womb, by the operation of the Holy Spirit who covered her with his shadow, and the moment of Christ’s birth, Mary, engaged to Joseph, was given to him as a wife. When she came to live in his home, at the end of the engagement period, she was already pregnant. Joseph noticed Mary’s condition without knowing how it had happened. As for Mary, she was not allowed to reveal the marvelous wonder conceived in her by the Lord God. Yet Joseph, like Mary, remained faithful to the divine will and kept Mary in his home.

This first great trial between Mary and Joseph, in the early days of their common life in their home, even before the birth of Jesus, was a major test for their mutual love, but also for their faith, just as it had been for Abraham when he was called to sacrifice his son Isaac: foolishness in the eyes of men, wisdom in the eyes of God, that which could break the family from the beginning, on the contrary welded it forever, by faith. It is also at the price of this test for the holy spouses, reported in the Scripture, that the virgin birth of Jesus is highlighted without any ambiguity.

The Marie de Nazareth Team