Meditation 21
THE ANNUNCIATION
THE MESSAGE OF THE ANGEL
THE ANNUNCIATION
THE MESSAGE OF THE ANGEL
1. The Angel Before Mary.
The Angel of the Incarnation was one of the greatest and most beautiful spirits which surround the throne of God. Watch him, a magnificent being, shining, sublime. We might be led into mistaking him for God Himself. Consider the dignity of his message, the importance of his embassy for Mary. God does not entrust it to a man as He was wont to do on other occasions, when Moses, Elias, Eliseus, the prophets and patriarchs were His messengers. No, this time to be dispatched to Our Blessed Lady He chose an angel and in fact one of the highest.
It was quite befitting that the woman who was more than an angel for Her purity should be visited by an angel of God. Let us picture that visit. The Angel enters Her dwelling and offers Her his most respectful greetings. He who would never bend except before the throne of God now falls at the feet of Mary. What did the Angel, used as he was to see the wonders of Heaven, see in Mary? What could he see on earth to strike him as wonderful? Yet when he saw Mary he was dumbfounded, struck with admiration and awe. After the beauty of the divine essence, he had never even in Heaven seen anything similar to the soul of that Virgin hidden in the retirement of Nazareth. And the world knew nothing about Her. In truth, in order to know Mary you must look at Her, not with the eyes of a man but the eyes of an angel.
The Angel of the Incarnation was one of the greatest and most beautiful spirits which surround the throne of God. Watch him, a magnificent being, shining, sublime. We might be led into mistaking him for God Himself. Consider the dignity of his message, the importance of his embassy for Mary. God does not entrust it to a man as He was wont to do on other occasions, when Moses, Elias, Eliseus, the prophets and patriarchs were His messengers. No, this time to be dispatched to Our Blessed Lady He chose an angel and in fact one of the highest.
It was quite befitting that the woman who was more than an angel for Her purity should be visited by an angel of God. Let us picture that visit. The Angel enters Her dwelling and offers Her his most respectful greetings. He who would never bend except before the throne of God now falls at the feet of Mary. What did the Angel, used as he was to see the wonders of Heaven, see in Mary? What could he see on earth to strike him as wonderful? Yet when he saw Mary he was dumbfounded, struck with admiration and awe. After the beauty of the divine essence, he had never even in Heaven seen anything similar to the soul of that Virgin hidden in the retirement of Nazareth. And the world knew nothing about Her. In truth, in order to know Mary you must look at Her, not with the eyes of a man but the eyes of an angel.
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