Imagine Our Lady's Joy at the Annunciation

(March 25)

Imagine the joy in the Heart of Mother Mary, as She is told that She was chosen to be the Mother of the long-awaited Messiah, the Savior and Redeemer of the world! Imagine what bliss to know that the Lord of all things was dwelling in Her womb! Our Lady always wanted to be the 'Handmaid of the Lord' (Luke 1:35) in His holy house (temple), but now She is told that She will be that Temple, housing the Lord of lords, the King of kings!

Imagine the smile that came upon Our Lady's lips as She accepting this role and dignity of being the Mother of the Redeemer! We could look at numerous paintings and sculptures of this moment of joy, but let the Holy Spirit stir your imagination and contemplate that beautiful smile on the holy face of Mother Mary. We could do this by devoutly praying and meditating on the first decade of the Franciscan Crown: "The Immaculate Virgin Mary joyfully conceived Jesus by the Holy Ghost."

Imagine Our Lady, alone in that small, simple room at Nazareth. As Her usual custom, She was praying to God the Father to send the Promised One, who would save His chosen people; and that She would love to serve as a handmaid. the woman who would be chosen to be His Mother. With Her eyes closed, suddenly She feels a presence near Her. Startled, as She opens Her eyes, She sees an Angel, who is smiling at Her. But this is no ordinary Angel, it is the Archangel Gabriel, who has been sent by Almighty God with the most important message since the beginning of the world!

"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee." (Luke 1:28)

Imagine how sweet and full of respect those words of salutation were! Imagine what humble thoughts are racing through Our Lady's mind as She listens and questions this holy apparition! "How can this be, since I know not man," (Luke 1:34) She exclaims, Her Heart pounding with excitement.

"The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee." (Luke 1:35)

Imagine Our Lady's dignity as She responds like a Queen, full of joy, the joy of all ages. Mary gives Her Fiat: "Be it done unto me according to thy word." (Luke 1:38) Immediately Christ becomes present in her womb, as three drops of Her Immaculate blood leave Most Pure Heart, descending into Her womb, where instantly the Holy Spirit conceives the Body, Blood and Soul of Christ Jesus, and hypostatically joins the divinity; True God and True Man!

Imagine and contemplate that the God whom the universe cannot contain is housed in that tabernacle of flesh, Mother Mary's tiny womb! This is the chosen time, longed for by the Holy Angels; the chosen people Israel; and by the Blessed Trinity Itself! Now the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us! (John 1:14)

Imagine the bliss Mary experienced as She received this tremendous honor. She was now True Mother of God, and the Holy One beneath Her Heart is the Lord of heaven and earth, Son of God and Redeemer; True light of the world! Let us share in Our Lady's bliss, especially when we receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, exclaiming with Her: "Now He is here, right here within me. And He is my Jesus, to love and cherish. O God, what joy and bliss is mine!"

Deacon John

THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
[Transferred]

Every year this feast recalls anew Mary's reply to God's angelic messenger: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word." Mary knew from the Scriptures that the Redeemer would be "led as a sheep to the slaughter" (Isa. 53) for the salvation of mankind; because her will was in total union with God's, she accepted her role in His plan for our salvation. No sooner had she offered her perfect consent than the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took on a human nature, a human body, and took up His abode in Mary's womb, humbly dependent upon her care.

Every work of the Creator is called to perfection, and perfection consists in obedience. The heavens and the earth inevitably announce the glory of God, but to human beings alone God granted a free will to serve Him. At the Annunciation, the obedience of Mary brought Christ down on earth to save fallen humanity. We, too, are called upon to co-operate with the Creator. The glory of God awaits our human word of obedient consent. Like Mary, let us unite our human will with the divine Will, so that Christ will dwell in us too!

Saint Leo the Great

Early Church Father & Doctor of the Church

This excerpt from a letter by St. Leo the Great (Epist. 28 ad Flavianum, 3-4: PL 54, 763-767) is used in the Roman Office of Readings for the Feast (Solemnity) of the Anunciation which usually is celebrated on March 25. St. Leo I, one of the Early Church Fathers, was such an extraordinary teacher that he is one of only a handful of Popes throughout history to have been dubbed "the Great." Here, in his typically lyrical language and powerful imagry, he celebrates the unfathomable mystery of God becoming man in the womb of a Virgin who had the courage to say "I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be done unto me according to your word." Through the Father's love and Mary's faith, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Lowliness is assumed by majesty, weakness by power, mortality by eternity. To pay the debt of our sinful state, a nature that was incapable of suffering was joined to one that could suffer. Thus, in keeping with the healing that we needed, one and the same mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, was able to die in one nature, and unable to die in the other.

He who is true God was therefore born in the complete and perfect nature of a true man, whole in his own nature, whole in ours. By our nature we mean what the Creator had fashioned in us from the beginning, and took to himself in order to restore it.

For in the Savior there was no trace of what the deceiver introduced and man, being misled, allowed to enter. It does not follow that because he submitted to sharing in our human weakness he therefore shared in our sins.

He took the nature of a servant without stain of sin, enlarging our humanity without diminishing his divinity. He emptied himself; though invisible he made himself visible, though Creator and Lord of all things he chose to be one of us mortal men. Yet this was the condescension of compassion, not the loss of omnipotence. So he who in the nature of God had created man, became in the nature of a servant, man himself.

Thus the Son of God enters this lowly world. He comes down from the throne of heaven, yet does not separate himself from the Father’s glory. He is born in a new condition, by a new birth.

He was born in a new condition, for, invisible in his own nature, he became visible in ours. Beyond our grasp, he chose to come within our grasp. Existing before time began, he began to exist at a moment in time. Lord of the universe, he hid his infinite glory and took the nature of a servant. Incapable of suffering as God, he did not refuse to be a man, capable of suffering. Immortal, he chose to be subject to the laws of death.

He who is true God is also true man. There is no falsehood in this unity as long as the lowliness of man and the pre-eminence of God coexist in mutual relationship.

As God does not change by his condescension, so man is not swallowed up by being exalted. Each nature exercises its own activity, in communion with the other. The Word does what is proper to the Word, the flesh fulfills what is proper to the flesh.

One nature is resplendent with miracles, the other falls victim to injuries. As the Word does not lose equality with the Father’s glory, so the flesh does not leave behind the nature of our race.

One and the same person - this must be said over and over again - is truly the Son of God and truly the son of man. He is God in virtue of the fact that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He is man in virtue of the fact that the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

St. Leo the Great was one of the Fathers of the Church. For an overview of these Early Church Fathers by Marcellino D'Ambrosio, click here.

To download and Print "The Mystery of the Incarnation" PDF, Click here.

Imagine Our Lady's Joy at the Annunciation

(March 25)

Imagine the joy in the Heart of Mother Mary, as She is told that She was chosen to be the Mother of the long-awaited Messiah, the Savior and Redeemer of the world! Imagine what bliss to know that the Lord of all things was dwelling in Her womb! Our Lady always wanted to be the 'Handmaid of the Lord' (Luke 1:35) in His holy house (temple), but now She is told that She will be that Temple, housing the Lord of lords, the King of kings!

Imagine the smile that came upon Our Lady's lips as She accepting this role and dignity of being the Mother of the Redeemer! We could look at numerous paintings and sculptures of this moment of joy, but let the Holy Spirit stir your imagination and contemplate that beautiful smile on the holy face of Mother Mary. We could do this by devoutly praying and meditating on the first decade of the Franciscan Crown: "The Immaculate Virgin Mary joyfully conceived Jesus by the Holy Ghost."

Imagine Our Lady, alone in that small, simple room at Nazareth. As Her usual custom, She was praying to God the Father to send the Promised One, who would save His chosen people; and that She would love to serve as a handmaid. the woman who would be chosen to be His Mother. With Her eyes closed, suddenly She feels a presence near Her. Startled, as She opens Her eyes, She sees an Angel, who is smiling at Her. But this is no ordinary Angel, it is the Archangel Gabriel, who has been sent by Almighty God with the most important message since the beginning of the world!

"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee." (Luke 1:28)

Imagine how sweet and full of respect those words of salutation were! Imagine what humble thoughts are racing through Our Lady's mind as She listens and questions this holy apparition! "How can this be, since I know not man," (Luke 1:34) She exclaims, Her Heart pounding with excitement.

"The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee." (Luke 1:35)

Imagine Our Lady's dignity as She responds like a Queen, full of joy, the joy of all ages. Mary gives Her Fiat: "Be it done unto me according to thy word." (Luke 1:38) Immediately Christ becomes present in her womb, as three drops of Her Immaculate blood leave Most Pure Heart, descending into Her womb, where instantly the Holy Spirit conceives the Body, Blood and Soul of Christ Jesus, and hypostatically joins the divinity; True God and True Man!

Imagine and contemplate that the God whom the universe cannot contain is housed in that tabernacle of flesh, Mother Mary's tiny womb! This is the chosen time, longed for by the Holy Angels; the chosen people Israel; and by the Blessed Trinity Itself! Now the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us! (John 1:14)

Imagine the bliss Mary experienced as She received this tremendous honor. She was now True Mother of God, and the Holy One beneath Her Heart is the Lord of heaven and earth, Son of God and Redeemer; True light of the world! Let us share in Our Lady's bliss, especially when we receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, exclaiming with Her: "Now He is here, right here within me. And He is my Jesus, to love and cherish. O God, what joy and bliss is mine!"

Deacon John