ECCE ANCILLA DOMINI…FIAT!

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From the Holy Father's Angelus Address, March 25, 2007:

Today's Angelus: “The Annunciation is a humble, hidden event that no one saw or knew,” the Pope said, “except for Mary. But at the same time it is a decisive moment in the history of humanity. When the Virgin said ‘Yes’ to the Angel’s Annunciation, Jesus was conceived and with Him began a new era in history, which was eventually sanctioned by the ‘new and eternal covenant.”

“In fact,” the Pontiff said, “Mary’s Yes was the perfect reflection of that by Christ when he came into the world as one can read in the way the Letter to the Hebrews interprets Psalm 39: “Then I said, 'As is written of me in the scroll, Behold, I come to do your will, O God' (Heb 10: 7).”

The Son’s obedience mirrors that of the Mother and thus, thanks to the meeting of these two “Yes”, God was able to take a human form. Since it celebrates a central mystery of Christ, His incarnation, the Annunciation is also a Christological event.” ”Mary’s response to the Angel continues in the Church, which has been called to make Christ present in history, making itself available so that God may continue to visit humanity with His Mercy.”

Finally, the Pope noted that “in this time of Lent, more frequently do we contemplate Our Lady who on Calvary seals the “Yes” she pronounced in Nazareth. United with Jesus, Witness of the Father’s love, Mary experienced the martyrdom of the soul. We invoke with confidence her intercession that the Church, faithful in its mission, may bear courageous witness to God’s love before the whole world.”

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ANNUNCIATION

by Susan Malley

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Ancient Judea, stony and dry,

witness to God’s ways,

waits in heat and dust

that the day might come

when Royal David’s lineage produces new wine.

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Centuries upon centuries,

a cold world waits.

Nomad Israel waits and hopes.

Buoyed by prophecies,

faithful holy men proclaim God’s promise

in restless temples weary

with exile, slavery, conquest.

Israel, God’s Chosen,

trods the path of atonement

longing for release.

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Nazareth sleeps.

A pregnant wind hums and dances,

silken in the night,

seeks and finds

Theotokos

prepared before Time

for this moment in time.

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Gabriel, messenger of God,

stands before the sleeping Virgin,

humbled by her humility.

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“Hail, Full of Grace.”

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Mary wakens. T

he drama quickens.

Here in the hinge of history

hangs the hope of the hopeless.

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“The Lord is with Thee.”

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Her Word-Bearing work is announced.

Her innocent questions answered.

All Heaven holds its breath.

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“Be it done unto me according to Thy Word.”

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Angels rejoice.

The court of Heaven sings.

Holy Mary, Handmaid of the Lord,

turns the fallen world upright,

crushes the rebellious serpent’s head.

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The Messiah has entered

Creation so quietly

only Heaven knows.

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Israel sleeps on.

Prophets, rabbis, holy men

stir in their dreams

as a new wind stirs

the ancient night

bringing with it

the promise of a new dawn

which only the humble will see.

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THE FIRST JOYFUL MYSTERY:

THE ANNUNCIATION OFTHE GOOD NEWS OF SALVATION

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"The Virgin shall be with child and give birth to a son, and they

shall call Him Emmanuel, a name which means 'God is with us.' "(Mt 1 :23)

 

Meditation: The Joy of Saying 'Yes' to God

"Be it done to me according to Thy word." (Lk 1 :38)

 

During this mystery we unite ourselves to Mary's obedience to God's word

and to her interior disposition of openness to His will. We pray in our life for Mary's complete openness to God's holy will whereby she totally cooperated with His grace every moment of her life even though she did not always understand how, why, or what God was doing with her life.

 

Each 'Hail Mary' we pray in this mystery expresses and increases our desire to say 'yes' to God in all He wants us to be and do. Each 'Hail Mary' that we pay is our 'fiat' whereby, like Mary, WE SAY 'YES' TO GOD.

 

The 'yes' of Mary gave us the Holy Eucharist, as the body of Jesus was formed from the Immaculate Heart of His Mother, from whose flesh Jesus took the flesh He gives us in the Blessed Sacrament.

 

The joy of the Annunciation continues to sound in our ears today, because the good news of the Gospel is God's love for us, "The Virgin shall conceive and give birth to a Son and they shall call Him Emmanuel, a name which means

'GOD IS WITH US' ".

 

This is our joy today! Jesus chose the name 'Emmanuel' BECAUSE OF HIS INFINITE DESIRE TO DWELL WITH US ALWAYS IN THIS MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT, as absolute proof of HIS EVERLASTING LOVE and CONSTANT AFFECTION for each of us.

 

Blessed Sacrament Prayer

Aware of Your loving Presence, Jesus, we unite ourselves to the obedience of Mary

and offer You her perfect 'yes' to repair for our lack of responding wholeheartedly to Your will in all things. With each 'Hail Mary' of this mystery WE SAY 'YES' TO ALL YOU WANT US TO BE AND DO.

 

(Fr. Martin Lucia:  Come to Me in the Blessed Sacrament)

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Let us try, through the inspired narrative of St. Luke to enter into the dispositions of· Mary's soul at the time of the Annunciation. The Angel sent by God finds the Virgin recollected in solitude and  says to her : "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women  

Mother of His Son, and she, humble handmaid that she is, is ready to adhere to the divine plan. However, she does not yet understand how she can be at the same time a mother and a virgin, and she questions the Angel on this point : “How shall this be done?"

The Angel explains : "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee." Her maternity will be the direct work of the Holy Spirit and will respect her virginity. The will of God is then entirely clear to Mary, and she, who during her whole life has always been moved by the divine will alone, accepts it immediately, with an entire adherence and a most intense pure love : " Behold the hand­maid of the Lord, be it done to me according to Thy word. "  

The total acceptance is accompanied by a total donation: Mary accepts by offering herself, and she offers herself by giving herse1f. She offers herself as a servant, or rather, as a slave, if we take the word in the full sense of the Greek text; she gives herself by abandoning herself as a prey to the divine will, accepting by anticipation everything that God may ask of her. Her adherence to Him both active and passive : Mary wills all that God wills, and she accepts all that He does. Thus Mary appears as the model of a soul completely united to God, fully given to His divine will.  

Oh, if every soul would respond to the divine appeal by as complete an acceptance as Mary's Fiat! Be it done! Many times in the course of our life we have received invitations from the Lord-and we shall certainly continue to receive them-invitations to suffering, to sacrifice, to the gift of self. How have we corresponded?

Colloquy:

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee! Not only is God the Son with you, to whom you gave your blood, but also God the Holy Spirit, by means of whose operation you conceived, and also God the Father, who generated from all eternity Him whom you conceived. The Father, who gives you His Son, is with you; the Son is with you, who, wishing to accomplish a prodigious mystery, conceals Himself in. your maternal bosom without violating your virginal integrity; the Holy Spirit is with you, who, together with the Father and the Son, sanctifies you. God is truly with you" (St. Bernard).  

"0 Mary, my sweet love, you opened to the eternal Divinity the door of your will, and the Word immediately became incarnate within you. BY THIS YOU TEACH ME THAT GOD,  WHO CREATED ME WITHOUT MY HELP, WILL NOT SAVE ME WITHOUT IT…but knocks at the door of my will and waits for me to open it to Him.  (St. Catherine of Siena) 

O Mother Mary, I beg you to teach me and help me always to open wide the door of my soul to every divine appeal, to every solicitation of grace. At each manifestation of the divine will, may I repeat with you a humble, prompt, " Ecce, fiat!"  

Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen OCD (Divine Intimacy)

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Didn't all heaven hold its breath as the Angel asked THE question of the Virgin? Oh, answer quickly dear maiden. Answer for all creation awaits the Savior!

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