441 part ii: meditations for more solemn feasts father (cf. Gen 22:1-19). Each of them was an image of the allgood Savior. Abraham, obeying the divine will, went out of Haran in order to go to the land of Canaan; Jesus, following the same will of the eternal Father, descended from Heaven to this sublunary sphere,210 in order to assume a human body from the Virgin. Already totally resigned, Isaac put his head under his father’s sword on the summit of Moriah; Jesus with a better effect gave Himself over entirely to be tormented and crucified on Mount Golgotha for the salvation of humankind. As for you, embracing the cross and renouncing your will, you will imitate at the same time, Abraham with Isaac, and also Jesus. 2. “Isaac the father of Jacob” (Mt 1:2). Consider that in the same way that Jacob, son of Isaac, was fleeing before Esau, his brother (cf. Gen 27:41-43), so you should convince yourself that you must flee before the tempter, whom you would not be able to vanquish. Just as Jacob’s mother, Rebecca, helped him greatly in receiving his father’s blessing (cf. Gen 27:1-29), so you should beseech and seek God’s blessing through nobody else, but the Rebecca of the NewTestament, who is the Mother of God, the most Holy Virgin. Follow the example of that man, who gave us somewhere this prayer: “Through you, (O Mary!), may we have access to your Son, O blessed you that have found Life, Mother of salvation! That through you He may receive us, [W]ho through you was given to us.”211 [f.141v] 3. “Of whom Jesus was born” (Mt 1:16). Rejoice with the Most Blessed Virgin about this privilege; that is, of becoming the Mother of God, the Savior, with the flower of her virginity completely unspoiled. In a perfect disposition of submission and trust commit to her all your needs, not doubting that they will turn out in the best way. Learn also to take refuge in her in case of doubts, anxieties, and 210 The notion that the universe is composed of harmonized spheres (the earth being under the moon) was taken from Aristotle. Cf. G. Reale, Historia filozofii starożytnej, Trans. E.I. Zieliński, vol. II, RW KUL, Lublin 1996, pp. 449-451. 211 The author of this prayer is unknown.
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