God's Promise to Israel BY FRA GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE, COMMONLY CALLED "Thy throne shall be established forever."-II. Sam., 7, 16 E VERYWHERE through the Scriptures is spread God's promise to Israel of the coming of the Mes siah. It was the hope of having this glorious son for her own, that made each woman of Israel so eager for children. This promise adds a solemn depth to many a scene in sacred history. It was because of this that Jephthah's daughter "bewailed her virginity upon the mountains," (Jud., 11, 38), because of this that Hannah prayed for the birth of Samuel "in bitterness of soul," (I. Sam., 1, 10). The hope of divine motherhood has perhaps never been more tenderly expressed than in this famous symbolical picture by Fra Angelico. In the background, in the garden of Eden, walk Adam and Eve, while the first mother listens to the promise made to her and to her seed. In the foreground, with the divine beam from the holy spirit bridging all the years, Mary the mother of the Messiah receives the fulfilment of the ancient prophecy. |