Today’s Meditations on Christian Dogma is called “The Purification.” It was submitted by Sister Mary Claire and her little sister Kathy from Camp Littlemore Farm, and comes from their very old book, Meditations on Christian Dogma by Father James Bellord, first published in the 19th century. Sister Mary Claire received the book as a gift from an elderly nun friend in County Kilkenny, Ireland, and she treasures it dearly.
The Purification
I. In consequence of Adam’s sin the origin of life was tainted; a curse had fallen on maternity. The child, the delight and hope of his parents, was a new addition to the ranks of sinners, and an heir to labour and sorrow. The mother’s pride was accompanied by deep humiliation. She was accounted unclean, and for forty or eighty days she remained in seclusion, forbidden to enter the temple of God or touch any holy thing. Then she came as a transgressor to offer sacrifice for sin, and to be readmitted to the privileges she had lost.
The Blessed Virgin was the first exception; in bearing her Divine Son, the Holy One of God, she had contracted no defilement actual or legal. She was the first one exempt from the law, but she submitted with wonderful humility to conceal her claims. Rather than contract defilement, she had been ready to forego the glory of the Divine Maternity, and now she resigns the credit of that which she valued so much, and places herself in the ranks of ordinary women.
How strange that she, the Immaculate, should be accounted unclean, and secluded from all that was holy, because infinite Holiness had taken up its abode with her! So, in this world, must holiness always be secret, and the presence of God pass unrecognized. Nay, God’s favours often become a reproach, fidelity is accounted a crime, good deeds bring more hostility on us than our sins. If this should happen to you for God’s sake, “rejoice and be exceeding glad” (Matt. v. 12).
II. A second ceremony was the offering of the first-born son to God, as a tithe of thanksgiving for the deliverance from the avenging angel in Egypt. The Presentation of Jesus was the first instalment of His Sacrifice. He was carried to the temple, and there, by the hands of His Mother, was offered to His heavenly Father as the ransom which was to save us all from captivity and death. He was not merely the first-born of one family, nor of the Jewish nation, but of all mankind; and He was offered as their substitute to sanctify them.
The Holy Virgin in this mystery represents the Church and all humanity, offering in their name the Son of Man. No such sacrifice of sweet savour had ever before taken place in the temple; no priestly hands had ever been raised to God so stainless as those of the Blessed Mother who came ostensibly to be purified. Praise her for this high ministry which she fulfilled in the development of the work of Redemption. Ask her to exercise it in your behalf, to offer her Son for you, to offer you to Him.
III. Under this obscurity and humiliation there was accomplished a prophecy long expected by the Jews. The prophets had said: “Presently the Lord whom you seek and the Angel of the Testament whom you desire shall come to His temple … and who shall stand to see Him?” (Mal. iii. 1–2); and again: “I will move all nations; and the Desired of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory: saith the Lord of hosts” (Agg. ii. 8).
Doubtless a grand manifestation had been designed by the Almighty. But the Jews had failed of their vocation, and hardened their hearts against their Messias. Necessarily, therefore, the great event was not carried out manifestly and magnificently, but in the measure required by their limited capacity. Only a few were able to look beneath the outward form, and see the hidden glory of the occasion; they were the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph, Simeon and Anna.
So it often happens that the accomplishment does not seem to correspond to the splendour of divine promise, and many take scandal thereat. But our acts have limited the manifestation of God, and curtailed its due effects. The judgment-day will show how different the course of history would have been, how bountiful the fulfilment of promise, and how successful all human life, if men had only been faithful to God, and guided themselves by His law.
Today’s Meditations on Christian Dogma is called “The Divine Maternity.” It was submitted by Sister Mary Claire and her little sister Kathy from Camp Littlemore Farm, and comes from their very old book, Meditations on Christian Dogma by Father James Bellord, first published in the 19th century. Sister Mary Claire received the book as a gift from an elderly nun friend in County Kilkenny, Ireland, and she treasures it dearly.
The Divine Maternity
I. The association of God with humanity takes place under several different forms. Its highest expression is the elevation of human nature to the divine in the unity of the Person of Jesus Christ. We are united to the Divinity individually by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in our souls, and by corporal union with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. This did not exhaust the resources of God’s power. He further raised one created person to union with Himself under the form of the Divine Maternity; this is the unique privilege of the Blessed Virgin. Her God was her Child. She gave human existence to Him who had created her. She gave to her Redeemer the blood which He shed to preserve her from sin. For a time He lived physically with her life; she lived spiritually with His divine life of grace. In a unique sense she could say with St. Paul, “I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. ii. 20). He was more her Son than in ordinary cases, for she alone gave of her substance to Him. And this Son was God. “The Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke i. 35). Isaias gives the name of her Child as “Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty” (Isa. ix. 6). How marvellous is this! Thank God for this new link that binds the human race to the Divinity. Adore the Divine Child who was God the Son. Reverence the blessed among women who was worthy to be the earthly Mother of God. Pray that you too may be closely united with Him in this life and the next.
II. Our Lady’s dignity as Mother of God is intimately associated with the Divinity of Jesus Christ. The truth that Jesus is God and Man in one Person involves the other truth that Mary is Mother of God. Because she is the Mother of Jesus, therefore, He is proved to be a real Man; because she is the Virgin-Mother, He is shown to be true God. In early times the heresies that assailed the divine character of Christ generally did so under cover of an attack on the prerogatives of His Mother. Christianity, in defending the truth, could not separate the two causes of the Son and Mother. The word “Theotokos,” “Mary is Mother of God,” summarized the faith of Christians in the integrity of Christ’s double nature and one personality. Now, again, the two causes are associated. Denial of Mary’s title leads soon to disbelief in Jesus as God; then follows the rejection successively of Christ’s miracles, of the Bible, and of God. In devotion, as in faith, the cause of Mary is the cause of Jesus. Veneration and love of the one are inseparable from veneration and love of the other. If we truly appreciate Our Lord we shall esteem all that belongs to Him, we shall love all that He loves. When we honour His Mother it is so much honour rendered to Him.
III. The fact that Mary is the Mother of Jesus makes her also the Mother of men. Her position in the supernatural order corresponds to that of Eve in the natural order. There is a continual parallelism between the first and the second Eve, as between the first and the second Adam. In consequence of the sin, Eve’s maternity was limited to our natural life. Her title of “Mother of the living” was transferred in its supernatural sense to her greater daughter, who introduced the higher life into the world when she gave birth to Our Redeemer. Thus she brought us to our second and spiritual birth, she was made the source of our life, and became our Mother in becoming the Mother of Jesus Christ. Our Blessed Lord is made “the first-born of many brethren” (Rom. viii. 29). We are His brothers; and thereby He takes our likeness, and communicates His likeness to us. With that likeness He gives us a share in His relationships. His Father becomes our Father, His Mother becomes our Mother. Therefore, as regards this Blessed Mother, “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. ii. 5). Treat her as a Mother, and she will regard you as a brother of her Son.
Cinematic
A rich, immersive experience that can unpack the complex ideas of The Divine Maternity through engaging visuals and storytelling. Use the tool (second from right) at the bottom of the video to Enlarge. Enjoy!
Today’s Meditations on Christian Dogma is called “The Birth of Our Lord.” It was submitted by Sister Mary Claireand her little sister Kathy from Camp Littlemore Farm, and comes from their very old book, Meditations on Christian Dogma by Father James Bellord, first published in the 19th century. Sister Mary Claire received the book as a gift from an elderly nun friend in County Kilkenny, Ireland, and she treasures it dearly.
The Birth of Our Lord
I. Hitherto we have had the manifestations of the Divinity of the unborn Messias. Now He appears, and we have the manifestation of His Humanity. First, He is shown to be Son of David. From pagan Rome went forth an order, and “the whole world” was put in motion for the general census. The Blessed Virgin was compelled to journey from the North to the South of Palestine to obey the heathen emperor. That command did not contemplate the birth of the Messias. The enrolment of the Holy Family seemed a most insignificant detail to the Roman rulers, yet now it stands forth as the one historical result of that census. This brought about the fulfilment of prophecy, by transferring the birth of Christ from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and proved Him to be the Son of David. Mary was summoned as heiress of David in the line of Nathan, Joseph as heir in the line of Solomon; and our Lord’s name was registered as inheriting His physical descent by Mary and His legal rights by Joseph, who was officially His father. How wonderfully does God turn the free actions of men to the fulfilment of His designs! How strangely do all things turn to the profit of the elect! Recognize the hand of God in all that happens to you. Observe further that the rights of Jesus are established under the cover of Mary’s name.
II. Secondly, Jesus is shown to be the Son of Man. “You shall find the Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger” (Luke ii. 12). The second Adam does not appear before us as the first Adam does in history, a full-grown man, as if proceeding directly and entirely from the hand of the Creator. He does not appear, like another of His types, Melchisedech, as an isolated figure “without mother, without genealogy” (Heb. vii. 3). But He is a new-born Child in the arms of His Virgin-Mother. The swaddling clothes accentuate His weakness, and represent His mortality by their resemblance to the swathing-bands in which when dead He will be enwrapped. So He is shown to be subject to the infirmities of our race. The manger signifies a still lower depth. The misery of humanity is in some cases alleviated by wealth, and disguised by the pomp and dignity that some acquire. But Our Lord will have none of these. He will be superior to none, so that all may recognize Him as their brother. So He inherits all the lowliness and privations of humanity. Here again the Blessed Virgin invests Him with the emblems of His lowliness as well as with the proof of His royalty. Let the humiliation of Jesus move you to confidence in His love, and to contentment with those privations that He shares with you.
III. The Nativity also exhibits the Son of God as Son of Mary. The “Child” and the “Mother” are correlative terms; each suggests the other; they cannot be separated in our thoughts. The Blessed Virgin is no extraneous alien figure; she holds a necessary place in the mystery. Consider, also, that in the first ecstatic moments the Child belonged solely to His Mother. All led up to this. The forced departure from Nazareth, the exclusion from every house and caravanserai, the asylum in the stable, all carried out God’s design that none should witness the miraculous birth, and that Mary should be the one depositary of the divine secret. She alone welcomed the King when He entered His realm. Our Lord was content with this. The greeting which He received from the faith and love of one immaculate soul was more adequate to His infinite holiness and greatness than the material grandeur of a palace, the homage of courtiers, and the acclamations of an unintelligent multitude. The Virgin-Mother represented the whole human race at that moment. Her homage compensated for the absence of all other. Our Lord could not have been welcomed more magnificently by all mankind and all the hosts of heaven. Join your worship with that of the Holy Virgin; ask her to supply for your deficiencies.
Today’s Meditations on Christian Dogma is called “The Doubt of St. Joseph.” It was submitted by Sister Mary Claire and her little sister Kathy from Camp Littlemore Farm, and comes from their very old book, Meditations on Christian Dogma by Father James Bellord, first published in the 19th century. Sister Mary Claire received the book as a gift from an elderly nun friend in County Kilkenny, Ireland, and she treasures it dearly.
The Doubt of St. Joseph
I. Besides the parents of the Baptist, there was one other person intimately concerned in the mystery of the Incarnation, to whom it was necessary that it should be revealed: viz., the spouse of Mary. The method of its manifestation was extraordinary; it showed how various are the ways of Divine Providence, and how they serve to elicit different forms of human virtue. The knowledge of the facts and the explanation of the mystery were for a while withheld from St. Joseph. This constituted a trial of the most painful kind, one of the most terrible that could befal a just man. He was drawn different ways by anxiety and doubt, by kindness and sense of justice. Yet, in spite of a turmoil in his mind enough to disturb the balance of judgment, there was no loss of self-control, no precipitate action afterwards to be regretted, no indulgence of the sense of wrong, no bitterness or malevolence. He pondered carefully, he besought the guidance of God, and so he merited the interposition of the angel. See in this how God tries the just as if by fire. See how easy it is to be deceived by appearances, and how even that which is holiest is open to misinterpretation. Beware of rashness in judgment or action, and always ask enlightenment from God before any serious step.
II. Consider the conduct of the Blessed Virgin in this trial. The Eternal Father had favoured her beyond all creatures and raised her to an inconceivable height of sanctity and honour. The Holy Ghost had overshadowed her, and the Word of God Incarnate dwelt with her. During three months her life had been an ecstasy of divine contemplation and love, in the company of Zachary and Elizabeth. With them she could discourse freely on the mysteries of God, as prophesied of old, and now being accomplished. She left this retirement for the outer world, and suddenly in her cup of sweetness she found a drop of extremest bitterness. The source of her joy became the source of her anguish. The very intensity of her sanctity made her sanctity suspected. She perceived a change in the demeanour of her spouse, and divined its cause. She found herself the subject of a doubt which chilled her spotless soul with deadly horror. But she was faithful to the secret of the Lord and would not betray it in her own interest. She knew that He who permitted the trial could deliver her from it, and she would not anticipate His time. Here was heroic faith and resignation. How can you expect to escape misapprehension and calumny? It is even a mark of the elect and a special blessedness (Matt. v. 11). In the worst trials never lose patience, or confidence in God the deliverer.
III. When God had tried these holy souls in the furnace of tribulation which always accompanies His highest gifts, and when they had profited sufficiently by this opportunity for exalted virtue, He sent them a heavenly consolation. They had not taken matters into the hands of their human prudence and out of the hands of infinite wisdom. They had not allowed the hastiness of human passion to destroy by premature interference the merciful plans of Divine Providence. They had cast their care on the Lord, and He had care for them. An angel appeared to St. Joseph, and with one word of explanation, cleared away the intricacies and brought him light and peace. Thus it often is with ordinary men. The mysteries of religion, or the conflict of duties and interests, or mistakes of action, involve them in most embarrassing problems. Their best endeavours only make things worse. But, in answer to the prayer of faith, God can send a sudden gleam of light that brings relief, and shows a way out of difficulties, when everything seems hopeless. “It is good to wait with silence for the salvation of God” (Lam. iii. 26).
Today’s Meditations on Christian Dogma is called “The Magnificat.” It was submitted by Sister Mary Claire and her little sister Kathy from Camp Littlemore Farm, and comes from their very old book, Meditations on Christian Dogma by Father James Bellord, first published in the 19th century. Sister Mary Claire received the book as a gift from an elderly nun friend in County Kilkenny, Ireland, and she treasures it dearly.
The Magnificat
I. The great events of the Old Testament were celebrated by canticles. Thus did Moses, Mary the sister of Moses, Anna, Deborah, Judith, Ezechias, the prophets, proclaim the glories of God and His people. In the New Testament we find three at the beginning of the Gospels. Zachary celebrated the birth of his son, St. John the Baptist; Holy Simeon celebrated the favour granted him of seeing the Messias in the temple; the Blessed Virgin chanted the special canticle of the new dispensation, the canticle of Our Lord’s Incarnation, in the Magnificat. St. Elizabeth had spoken of the exultation of her own infant, of the blessedness of Mary and her sublime dignity. To this Our Lady replies under the influence of the Holy Spirit. She first gives praise to God; she refers to Him and not to herself the favours that Elizabeth had celebrated. “My soul doth magnify the Lord.” God had indeed magnified her and made her greater than any creature, but she recognizes no greatness except in magnifying Him. She exults not in herself, her praises, her virtues, but in God her Saviour alone. In herself she sees only lowliness undeserving of His notice; she will not consider herself as Queen and Mother but only as “handmaid of the Lord.” So should it be with you. All that you have should give glory to God; the greatest glory consists in humbling yourself beneath His hand. “The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things, and thou shalt find grace before God: for great is the power of God alone and He is honoured by the humble” (Eccli. ii. 20–21).
II. Still the Blessed Virgin is not blind to the unexampled favours that she had received from God, or the position to which she had been raised. Gratitude requires that these be fully recognized; humility does not consist in ignoring facts that are honourable. “He that is mighty hath done great things to me and holy is His name.” Mary well knew that to no other had God done such great things. The deliverance of Israel by the hand of Moses, and of Jael, Esther and Judith, the glories of David and Solomon, the graces of patriarchs and prophets, all these were the preparation and figures of what God had wrought in her. Therefore she said, “Behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” The prophecy has been accomplished. All ages and all nations have confessed her exalted dignity, and rendered homage to the Mother of their Lord. Even as the false prophet blessed Israel when called upon to curse him, so have Mahomet and Luther and many others declared her praises, celebrated her purity and borne witness, despite themselves, to her influence. Only very few have confessed themselves to be of the seed of the serpent by lying in wait for her heel, and blaspheming their Redeemer through His Mother. Devotion to Our Lady is indeed a sign of true Christian instinct and a presage of predestination.
III. The Holy Virgin then announces in summary the results of the Incarnation. “His mercy is from generation to generation. . . . He hath showed might in His arm. . . . He hath put down the mighty. . . . He hath filled the hungry with good things.” All this was done by God in operating the mystery of the Divine Maternity. Such too was the life of Our Lord, and such the work He accomplished by His labours, preaching, and miracles. Similar also is the operation of Our Lord in His Church at all times, and in every individual soul. In you too God shows the might of His arm and the multitude of His mercies, whether you be elect or reprobate. All through, the Blessed Virgin dwells upon the distinction between the proud and the humble, the rich and the poor, and shows you the conditions on which you will obtain a share in the benefits of the Incarnation. Be not high-minded but lowly, not worldly but spiritual, as was Mary herself.
Today’s Meditations on Christian Dogma is called “The Visitation.” It was submitted by Sister Mary Claire and her little sister Kathy from Camp Littlemore Farm, and comes from their very old book, Meditations on Christian Dogmaby Father James Bellord, first published in the 19th century. Sister Mary Claire received the book as a gift from an elderly nun friend in County Kilkenny, Ireland, and she treasures it dearly.
The Visitation
I. The Gospel gives us the history of the Visitation as an important episode in the development of the divine action. Heaven, in the person of the archangel, had paid homage to Our Lady; now, the earth, in the person of St. Elizabeth, recognizes her as “the Mother of my Lord” and God. The venerable and holy woman, wife of the priest of God, humbles herself before her girl-relative, the spouse of the working-man. It is more than a queen who has condescended to come to her: “Whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should visit me?” (Luke i. 43). Again the benediction of the angel is renewed: “Blessed art thou amongst women,” and again, as in Genesis and the Apocalypse, the woman is associated inseparably with the Child: “and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (Luke i. 42). It was from the revelation of the Holy Ghost that St. Elizabeth understood the mystery; under His inspiration she spoke the words of God. These words form the salutation which all those who recognize the Divinity of Jesus have addressed to His Mother ever since. Make frequent use of the words which the Holy Spirit Himself puts into your mouth. Imitate the inspired woman in the veneration which she, in the name of all generations to come, offered to the Mother of God. It is one of the most efficient ways of honouring Our Lord’s Incarnation.
II. The Visitation is not merely an act of charity on the part of the Blessed Virgin towards her aged kinswoman, but it is an exhibition of redeeming power shown by Our Lord while as yet unborn. No sooner had He assumed human nature than He moved His Blessed Mother to convey Him with all haste into the mountains of Judea, that He might, without delay, inaugurate His work in souls by sanctifying His Precursor, John the Baptist. That infant, also unborn, recognized the presence of his Saviour; he was delivered from original sin, and his mother was filled with the Holy Ghost. “Behold, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped with joy” (Luke i. 44). Of St. John, as well as of Abraham, Our Lord could say: “He rejoiced that he might see My day: he saw it and was glad” (John viii. 56). It is significant that the first sanctifying action of the Redeemer was wrought by means of the Blessed Virgin. Her charity and humility, under divine inspiration, moved her to visit St. Elizabeth; and this afforded Our Lord the opportunity of redeeming a soul from sin. The events of the Gospels are official actions, and not merely personal and private. The Visitation shows us the permanent function of the Blessed Virgin in the economy of Redemption. She is the instrument of Jesus and a channel of grace. Do not forget this office of hers. Ask her to intercede for you, to bring Jesus to your heart, and to help you to recognize Him and rejoice in your new spiritual birth.
III. The Visitation was indicated prophetically of old, when the Ark of God was brought from Gabaa of Benjamin to the house of Obededom. It abode there for “three months, and the Lord blessed Obededom and all his household” (2 Kings vi. 11). So the Blessed Virgin remained three months in the house of Zachary. She was the true Ark of the Covenant, containing the Word of God, not graven on stones, but enshrined in the flesh of His Sacred Humanity. What treasures of blessing, light and grace, this visit must have brought to Zachary and Elizabeth; what continual increase of sanctification to the Precursor, preparing him for his life of austerity and his preaching of the Redeemer! The presence of Mary was the communication of Jesus; He was manifested in her action and virtues. So will it be with you. Belief in Jesus Christ involves devotion and love towards His Blessed Mother. Fervent recognition of her greatness is homage to Our Lord, and will bring you nearer to Him. Let Jesus and His Mother dwell in your heart, and they will fill it with benediction.
Today’s Meditations on Christian Dogma is called “The Annunciation.” It was submitted by Sister Mary Claire and her little sister Kathy from Camp Littlemore Farm, and comes from their very old book, Meditations on Christian Dogma by Father James Bellord, first published in the 19th century. Sister Mary Claire received the book as a gift from an elderly nun friend in County Kilkenny, Ireland, and she treasures it dearly.
The Annunciation
I. “The angel Gabriel was sent from God . . . to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph . . . and the name of the Virgin was Mary” (Luke ii. 26, 27). Five hundred years before, the same archangel had foretold this event to the prophet Daniel, and that holy man fell prostrate before him. A few weeks before, he had appeared to Zachary in the temple, and struck him deaf and dumb in punishment of his incredulity. Now, for the first time, an angel of God bows before one of the fallen race, and speaks to her as the servant of a king might salute a powerful princess. The angel’s message was to ask the consent and co-operation of the lowly Virgin in the great mystery of divine power and mercy. In her case, as in all others, God took account of human liberty, and made the divine operations dependent on her free consent. She had full power of choice; she deliberated, and at length acceded to that which God proposed to her. No scene so momentous had occurred since Eve consented to the tempter in Eden. And, until Our Lord first spoke, no word so meritorious, so full of promise of joy to men was pronounced by any human being: “Be it done to me according to Thy word” (Luke i. 38). God asks your consent to some designs of His grace. He wishes to do much in you. Strive to be faithful, obedient, generous in your consent, as was the Holy Virgin.
II. Consider the details of that sublime scene. The messenger of God approaches Mary in the Eden of her sinlessness and union with God. He proposes to her the greatest honour ever conferred on a child of Adam, to be the Mother of the divine Messias. It was a higher dignity than that which the tempter proposed to Eve, “You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. iii. 5). Mary, with the true intuition of faith, believes the word of God, but she asks assurance as to the mode of its accomplishment. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, she had renounced the lower and natural order of life, and had adopted a preternatural idea as her rule. She, first of all the children of Eve, originated the state of perpetual virginity, a germ which, in the kingdom of her Son, was to bear such beautiful fruit, which was to be one of the most fertile, beneficial, divine details of the Church. The Incarnation of the Son of God had to wait for its accomplishment until a virgin should fit herself to be its instrument, by renouncing the natural order, which seemed necessary for that mystery, and embracing the supernatural order in the spirit of sacrifice and faith. She was ready to forego the glory that every Jewish maiden aspired to, rather than be unfaithful to the divine inspiration which had dictated her vow. She chose the tree of supernatural life, and therefore she merited its fruit, the motherhood of Jesus Christ. The ways of the world often seem more profitable than the ways of God. Have faith, and make the sacrifice, and God will turn all things to your advantage. Natural methods, if discordant with God’s will, must end in failure.
III. The Angel assured Mary of God’s power to do what is naturally impossible; and at once she gives herself up to do His will: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord” (Luke i. 38). How different she is from Eve in her undoubting faith, her prompt obedience, her preference for the higher course, the absence of self-consciousness, the depreciation of herself in spite of her great dignity. Therefore the Holy Ghost speaks words of benediction to her by the angel and St. Elizabeth, and reverses the malediction pronounced on Eve. The tree of life was now substituted for the tree of knowledge, the supernatural was introduced into the current natural life, the angel with the flaming sword was withdrawn from the entrance of the Eden of grace. Eve had led up to the fall; the second Eve now opened the way to Redemption, and accomplished the prophecy of crushing the serpent’s head. Always hold to the supernatural. As reason transcends mere physical power, so does the supernatural surpass the efficiency of the natural.
