rough draft
Birth of Yeshua the Christ
As Christmas approaches I thought it would be good to hear the story of the birth
of our Savior, condensed from (150 pages) the journals of Clemens Brentano who
recorded what was shown to Sr. Anne Catherine Emmerick the greatest visionary .
It is in volume #1 of; "The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations", which you can
find at this link; Books worth reading. I will eventually write more about the
genealogy and birth and early life of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
A couple of things about her background which I'll fill in with more details in the
coming days. Mary was from a sacred line within the Essenian community, which was
a very orthodox sect. They were descended from the priests who had carried the
Arc of the Covenant in the beginning. Advice on a marriage was sought from a prophet
who was the leader of the group. He always prophesied about the female line and
St Ann (Mary's mother) and her family always had daughters. The prophet had the rod
of Aaron which was used to show the line to Mary. He would pray about a marriage
with the rod in his hands and if the union would lead to the Messiah the rod would
bloom. The Virgin Mary was from this line. The parents of St. Anne had both had a
vision of the letter M and when St. Anne was born she had the letter M on her stomach.
Because of the nearness of the coming of the Messiah, instead of marrying a Levite
St. Anne married St. Joachim from the house of David because of the council of the
Prophet. Making Mary from the house of David.
Mary is betrothed to Joseph
Joseph was about 18 and a very pious young man and prayed much for the coming of
the Messiah. Joseph had a vision from an Angel concerning the Messiah and was told
that as God had placed the Patriarch Joseph over the granaries in Egypt, so now to him
was the granary of Redemption to be wedded. He didn't understand this, so he prayed.
There were 7 other virgins with Mary at the Temple in Jerusalem waiting to be married.
A group of young men from the house of David were brought to the Temple and given
branches but none of them blossomed. So the priests went in search of another man
from the line of David where upon they found Joseph living a few miles from Jerusalem.
He was given a branch and as he was bringing it to lay on the altar, a white flower
sprouted from the end. So he was taken to Mary's chamber and she accepted him.
The Annunciation
Mary was deep in prayer, praying for redemption, for her intentions, for the coming
King and that her prayers may help His arrival. After a long period of time she looked
to her right and noticed a youth glowing with long blond hair. The Archangel Gabriel
was bathed in the light of his glory, as he came close to her. His message came forth
from his lips like glowing letters;
1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, [thou that art] highly favored, the Lord
[is] with thee: blessed [art] thou among women.
1:29 And when she saw [him], she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what
manner of salutation this should be.
1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast
found favor with God.
1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his
name Yeshua.
1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall
give unto him the throne of his father David:
1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of
his kingdom there shall be no end.
1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
1:36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age:
and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Mary was in a deeper ecstasy and the roof of her room was gone and over
the house appeared a luminous cloud with a pathway of light leading up to
the Most Holy Trinity in a triangle of Glory.
1:38 As Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto
me according to thy word.
The Holy Spirit appeared in human form surrounded by glorious splendor.
From the breast and hands came forth 3 streams of light which entered the
right side of Mary and united as one under her heart. She was at that moment
transparent and luminous glowing from the glory of God that was in her. It
should be remembered that Jesus was later to be pierced by a spear in this
location and Mary was told by Simeon that a sword will pierce your heart.
Mary saw the Incarnate Son of God within her, a tiny Human form perfect
in every detail even down to His fingers. It was about midnight when this
occurred. Her mother and some others entered the room but seeing Mary
in ecstasy they left, but St. Anne was given to know what had happened.
Mary was a just over 14 years old.
Mary knew she had conceived the Messiah, and also what His mission
was. She knew the reason for the passion and death of her Son to redeem
Israel. It was explained to Sr. Emmerick that the incarnate Son of God
willed to be conceived and born that conception and birth might again
become Holy. Procreation had been brought down by the Fall of Adam.
The Visitation
1:39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill
country with haste, into a city of Judah;
1:40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.
1:41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of
Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the
Holy Ghost:
1:42 And she spoke out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed
[art] thou among women, and blessed [is] the fruit of thy womb.
1:43 And whence [is] this to me, that the mother of my Lord
should come to me?
1:44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in
mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
1:45 And blessed [is] she that believed: for there shall be a
performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
Mary filled with the Holy Spirit recites her prayer the Magnificat;
1:46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
1:47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.
1:48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for,
behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
1:49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and
holy [is] his name.
1:50 And his mercy [is] on them that fear him from generation to generation.
1:51 He hath showed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the
proud in the imagination of their hearts.
1:52 He hath put down the mighty from [their] seats, and exalted
them of low degree.
1:53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he
hath sent empty away.
1:54 He hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of [his] mercy;
1:55 As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever.
1:56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to
her own house.
The Birth of Yeshua the Christ
There is much speculation on the actual day Yeshua was born. What Sister
tells us is that Jesus died when He was 33 years, 4 months and 2 weeks old.
Then working backwards from the actual day of his death March 30th, this
story is recounted in the short bio I wrote; Sr. Anne Catherine Emmerick.
So that puts the day at about the 16th of November.
Joseph was returning from a journey to Jerusalem and it was about midnight
when an Angel appeared to him and told him to take Mary to Bethlehem as soon
as he returned to Nazareth. For it was there that the Child was to be born. He was
told what to bring and that he should not bring any embroidered covers, also that
along with the donkey that Mary would ride that he should bring a female yearling
that had not yet foaled (this parallels what Jesus rides into Jerusalem later). They
were to let the yearling run free and follow it. Joseph informed Mary and Anne of
the news upon his return and they prepared to leave. Mary had had premonitions
that her child was to be born in Bethlehem, but had kept quiet. She also had the
prophecies that had been given her while she was staying at the Temple and had
also been taught by her teachers about them. She had prayed for the coming of
the Messiah and had hoped to be the mother's lowest handmaid, never realizing
that she was to be that woman. With what they were told to bring they set out for
Bethlehem following the yearling, Anne and Mary Cleophas went a short way and
then said good by.
While making their way through a very cold valley with frost and snow on the ground
Mary became very weak and asked to stop for awhile. Joseph made her a spot
under a small pine tree. She prayed very hard and she was filled with an inner
warmth that was so strong that she reached out her hands to Joseph to warm him.
They spent several nights at different locations along the way, once in an Inn they
stayed 2 nights because the next day was the Sabbath. Sometimes they stayed in
sheds if that was all they could find, after being turned away from an Inn. Thirty
years later Yeshua would heal a woman who had been sick for 30 years, He told
her it was because of her treatment of His relatives, His parents. Once on the
journey Joseph turned and went a short distance to a little place for travelers he
had been to before with a fig tree and some seats for travelers to rest upon. But
there were no figs, so they moved on. Later Yeshua would visit this same place
with the same results and curse the fig tree and it withered.
Just outside of Bethlehem was a large estate that had been the paternal
home of Joseph's family that was now being used by the Romans as a
customs house for taxation and to sign in before you could enter the city
gate. Long ago the house had been lived in by David.
When they entered Bethlehem Joseph thought they would be able to find
lodging since he had grown up in Bethlehem and still had a step brother there.
But this was not the case and as it grew dark and Joseph could not find a place
that would take them in he decided to take Mary to a cave that he had used as a
child to hide from his brothers as they used to pick on him. He also used to go
there to pray. When they arrived at the cave the yearling greeted them, for she
had left them when they entered Bethlehem. She was very happy and playful and
Mary said: "Behold it is surely God's will that we should be here." Joseph
cleaned up the inner cave and made a place for Mary. It was the Sabbath when
they arrived and the birth was not until the following evening. Mary and Joseph
were about to become the Holy Family with the birth of the Messiah. During
the day Joseph continued to prepare the crib cave and told Mary that he knew
some devote women from Bethlehem who might come to assist her. But Mary
told him the birth would come tonight and that she didn't need any help. Joseph
had hung several lamps in the crib cave for Her as they waited.
When she said it was time, he went to his area and began to pray. When he
looked back at Mary, she was kneeling in prayer facing east, with her back to
him. The cave was filling with light which was emanating from Mary and was like
he was looking at the burning bush of Moses. He then laid prostrate on the
ground in prayer and did not look back again. The glory that was consuming
Mary made it so you could no longer see the lamps. Mary knelt with her flowing
white robe laying before her. In the 12th hour her prayer became ecstatic and
she levitated off the ground. Her hands were crossed upon her breast and the
light grew even more vivid. Over Mary a stairway of light reached up to Heaven.
Upon the stairway one light came from another and different spheres of light
and heavenly figures issued. Mary continued in prayer with her head bowed
down to the ground. Then she gave birth to the infant, Yeshua, Emmanuel, for
God was with us. He was lying on the rug at Mary's knees and was more
radiant than all that had preceded him. Even the stones on the floor and the
rocky wall were radiating the glory of the Messiah. Mary finally came out
of ecstasy and placed a cover over her Baby. But she did not pick Him up
or even touch Him for a long time. Finally He began to cry and she finally
recovered and brought the Child up into her arms. There were Angels
around her prostrate on the floor. It may have been an hour after the birth
when Mary called to Joseph who was still in prayer. When he approach he
fell to his knees with his face to the ground and she encouraged him again
to look upon our Lord, he then raised his eyes upon the Savior and took
him in his arms. Mary then wrapped the baby in swaddling cloths.
On the night of the Birth, a spring gushed forth from the adjacent cave
which Joseph tended to the next day. In other parts of the world the good
people were filled with joy and the bad with dread. John the Baptist was
filled with joy and several others had visions of the birth including Anna
and Simeon who were at the Temple. The 3 old shepherds were gazing at
the light that shone over the crib cave when the Angels appeared to them.
Also in the Temple the writings of the Sadducees were thrown several
times from where they were kept, this was attributed to sorcery and a
substantial amount of hush money was paid to keep the matter quiet. In
Rome a well of oil gushed forth where some Jews lived. A great statue of
Jupiter came crashing down which caused a fright and when they sacrificed
to another idol, possibly Venus, the devil was forced to speak and say that
a virgin had conceived given birth to a son and also about the oil well. Where
this took place now stands a Church in honor of the Mother of God. The
pagan priests looked in there writings and found that a woman about 70
years before had prophesied the event, she was mocked at the time. Also
the Emperor Augustus had a vision of a rainbow with the Virgin and Son
sitting upon it. When he asked the oracle for an answer it was;
"A Child is born and before Him we must all flee."
He at once erected an altar and offered a sacrifice to the Son of the Virgin,
the Firstborn of God. There were many other events also.