Holy Night Three applied to Pisces

Holy Night 3

December 26-27 – Pisces

Now follow the 3 nights of the white lily. The soul recognizes that it cannot stay above but must come down again because in it, it possesses too much earthly weight.

The conscious mind begins to purify the earthly body and assumes that each food is as a viaticum (provision for a journey). I am the bread (words of Christ Jesus). We come from the bread, we live in the path of development of the bread and return to the bread.

The Mystery: Never forget the accomplishment of the distant objectives of leaving the earthly realm.

Rudolf Steiner’s indications for the Holy Nights given to Herbert Hahn

Translation from German by Laura Zanutto 2015 adjusted by Mark Willan 2016

3. Heilige Nacht

26./27. Die drei Nächte der weissen Lilie. – Fische

Die Seele erkennt, dass sie sich nicht oben zu halten vermag, dass sie wieder hinunter gezogen wird, weil noch soviel Erdenhaftes in ihr ist. Die Seele schickt sich bewusst an, den irdischen Körper zu reinigen, indem sie jede Speise gleichsam als “Heilige Wegzehrung” ansieht:

“Ich bin das Brot ..”

“Wir kommen aus dem Brot, leben auf dem Entwickungweg aus dem Brot und kehren zurück in das Brot.”

Mysterium: Nie das Ziel der Ziele vergessen bei den weiten Wanderungen im Erdriech.

R. Steiner

Third Contemplation: by Kristina Kaine

2017

What does bread mean to us? Whenever we eat bread do we say to ourselves, “This is Christ’s body?” If we don’t quite understand this concept we could begin a conversation with Christ by asking him to reveal the significance of bread being his body. We could imagine we are sitting at the Last Supper table and with an inquisitive and open mind search for meaning about the offering of bread.

In his lectures about the Gospel of St John Rudolf Steiner said this about the Last Supper.

“What was Christ able to say to those who would learn to understand Him? As He broke the bread made of the grain of the earth He could say, “This is my body.”

And what could He say to them as he gave them the juice of the grape — the sap of a plant? “This is my blood.”

Because He had become the soul of the earth He could say of the solid substance, “This is my body,” and of the plant’s fluid, “This is my blood” — just as you say of your body, This is my body, and of your blood, This is my blood. And those who are able to grasp the true meaning of these words of Christ create for themselves thought images that attract the body and the blood of Christ in the bread and the wine, and they unite with the Christ Spirit.” Rudolf Steiner July 07, 1909

Our task is to unite with the Christ Spirit whether we like it or not. If we find it hard to understand, it is our task to make sense of it. These are so many aspects to understanding “I am the bread”, as well as understanding that ‘every meal as “Holy Viaticum (communion)”: “I am the bread”’

In my first series of Reflections which were about the I Am Sayings in St John’s Gospel I had this to say about I Am the bread.

“Bread inherently has a self-raising force; yeast that can rise above the simple material elements. Jesus says that the I AM is this bread; the grain, rooted in the earth, growing in the air warmed by the sun, then mixed with water and a raising ingredient. The I AM is this bread of life. He is referring to the highest expression of the I AM, which is Christ as John points out in John 20.

So John is emphasizing that Christ is food and we must feed on him. If we take this bread into us we receive life from it. Unless we give our I AM its rightful place in our being we will always remain hungry. This is the yearning we see all around us. People know that there is manna to be eaten, but they think it will come from heaven, from outside, as a gift. They don’t realize that the manna is within them and only through their own effort can they unwrap it and eat it.” I Am The Soul’s Heartbeat Vol 1 by Kristina Kaine [This book is always free on Smashwords or on Amazon as a price match]

During the third Holy Night let us talk to Christ showing him that we are serious about developing our relationship with him.

Painting: Salvador Dali – The Sacrament of the Last Supper