RADIOVATICANA REPORT: MESSAGE TO YOUTH IN
PLAZA
Below the full text of Pope Benedict’s discourse to young people in Plaza de la Paz, Guanajuato: Dear Young People,
I am happy to be able to meet with you and to see your smiling faces as you fill this beautiful square. You have a very special place in the Pope’s heart. And in these moments, I would like all the children of Mexico to know this, especially those who have to bear the burden of suffering, abandonment, violence or hunger, which in recent months, because of drought, has made itself strongly felt in some regions. I am grateful for this encounter of faith, and for the festive and joyful presence expressed in song. Today we are full of jubilation, and this is important. God wants us to be happy always. He knows us and he loves us. If we allow the love of Christ to change our heart, then we can change the world. This is the secret of authentic happiness.
This place where we stand today has a name which expresses the yearning present in the heart of each and every person: “la paz”, Peace. This is a gift which comes from on high. “Peace be with you” (Jn 20:21). These are the words of the Risen Lord. We hear them during each Mass, and today they resound anew in this place, with the hope that each one of you will be transformed, becoming a sower and messenger of that peace for which Christ offered his life.
The disciple of Jesus does not respond to evil with evil, but is always an instrument of good instead, a herald of pardon, a bearer of happiness, a servant of unity. He wishes to write in each of your lives a story of friendship. Hold on to him, then, as the best of friends. He will never tire of speaking to those who always love and who do good. This you will hear, if you strive in each moment to be with him who will help you in more difficult situations.
I have come that you may know my affection. Each one of you is a gift of God to Mexico and to the world. Your family, the Church, your school and those who have responsibility in society must work together to ensure that you receive a better world as your inheritance, without jealousies and divisions.
That is why I wish to lift up my voice, inviting everyone to protect and to care for children, so that nothing may extinguish their smile, but that they may live in peace and look to the future with confidence.
You, my dear young friends, are not alone. You can count on the help of Christ and his Church in order to live a Christian lifestyle. Participate in Sunday Mass, in catechesis, in apostolic works, looking for occasions of prayer, fraternity and charity. Blessed Cristóbal, Antonio and Juan, the child martyrs of Tlaxcala, lived this way, and knowing Jesus, during the time of the initial evangelization of Mexico, they discovered that there is no greater treasure than he. They were children like you, and from them we can learn that we are never too young to love and serve.
How I would like to spend more time with all of you, but the time has already come for me to go. We will remain close in prayer. So I invite you to pray continually, even in your homes; in this way, you will experience the happiness of speaking about God with your families. Pray for everyone, and also for me. I will pray for all of you, so that Mexico may be a place in which everyone can live in serenity and harmony. I bless all of you from my heart and I ask you to bring the affection and blessing of the Pope to your parents, brothers and sisters, and other loved ones. May the Virgin accompany you. Thank you very much, my dear young friends. ANGELUS FOR SUNDAY STAY WITH MARY
RADIOVATICANA REPORT:
“At this time, when so many families are separated or forced to emigrate, when so many are suffering due to poverty, corruption, domestic violence, drug trafficking, the crisis of values and increased crime, we come to Mary in search of consolation, strength and hope”. Said Pope Benedict XVI in his Angelus reflections from the raised altar of the Bicentennial Park in Guanajuato Mexico, before a crowd of half a million faithful. “She is the Mother of the true God, who invites us to stay with faith and charity beneath her mantle, so as to overcome in this way all evil and to establish a more just and fraternal society”.Below the full text of Pope Benedict XVI's Angelus address: Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of the grain of wheat that falls to the ground, dies and bears much fruit. This is his response to some Greeks who approached Philip asking: “we would like to see Jesus” (Jn 12:21). Today we invoke Mary Most Holy and we ask her: “show Jesus to us”.
As we now pray the Angelus and remember the Annunciation of the Lord, our eyes too turn spiritually towards the hill of Tepeyac, to the place where the Mother of God, under the title of “the Ever-Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe” has been fervently honoured for centuries as a sign of reconciliation and of God’s infinite goodness towards the world.
My predecessors on the Chair of Saint Peter honoured her with affectionate titles such as Our Lady of Mexico, Heavenly Patroness of Latin America, Mother and Empress of this continent. Her faithful children, in their turn, who experience her help, invoke her confidently with such affectionate and familiar names as the Rose of Mexico, Our Lady of Heaven, Virgin Morena, Mother of Tepeyac, Noble Indita.
Dear brothers and sisters, do not forget that true devotion to the Virgin Mary always takes us to Jesus, and “consists neither in sterile nor transitory feelings, nor in an empty credulity, but proceeds from true faith, by which we are led to recognize the excellence of the Mother of God, and we are moved to filial love towards our Mother and to the imitation of her virtues” (Lumen Gentium, 67). To love her means being committed to listening to her Son, to venerate the Guadalupana means living in accordance with the words of the blessed fruit of her womb.
At this time, when so many families are separated or forced to emigrate, when so many are suffering due to poverty, corruption, domestic violence, drug trafficking, the crisis of values and increased crime, we come to Mary in search of consolation, strength and hope. She is the Mother of the true God, who invites us to stay with faith and charity beneath her mantle, so as to overcome in this way all evil and to establish a more just and fraternal society.
With these sentiments, I place once again this country, all Latin America and the Caribbean before the gentle gaze of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I entrust all their sons and daughters to the Star of both the original and the new evangelization; she has inspired with her maternal love their Christian history, has given particular expression to their national achievements, to their communal and social initiatives, to family life, to personal devotion and to the Continental Mission which is now taking place across these noble lands. In times of trial and sorrow she was invoked by many martyrs who, in crying out “Long live Christ the King and Mary of Guadalupe” bore unyielding witness of fidelity to the Gospel and devotion to the Church. I now ask that her presence in this nation may continue to serve as a summons to defence and respect for human life. May it promote fraternity, setting aside futile acts of revenge and banishing all divisive hatred. May Holy Mary of Guadalupe bless us and obtain for us the abundant graces that, through her intercession, we request from heaven.
Below the full text of Pope Benedict’s discourse to young people in Plaza de la Paz, Guanajuato: Dear Young People,
I am happy to be able to meet with you and to see your smiling faces as you fill this beautiful square. You have a very special place in the Pope’s heart. And in these moments, I would like all the children of Mexico to know this, especially those who have to bear the burden of suffering, abandonment, violence or hunger, which in recent months, because of drought, has made itself strongly felt in some regions. I am grateful for this encounter of faith, and for the festive and joyful presence expressed in song. Today we are full of jubilation, and this is important. God wants us to be happy always. He knows us and he loves us. If we allow the love of Christ to change our heart, then we can change the world. This is the secret of authentic happiness.
This place where we stand today has a name which expresses the yearning present in the heart of each and every person: “la paz”, Peace. This is a gift which comes from on high. “Peace be with you” (Jn 20:21). These are the words of the Risen Lord. We hear them during each Mass, and today they resound anew in this place, with the hope that each one of you will be transformed, becoming a sower and messenger of that peace for which Christ offered his life.
The disciple of Jesus does not respond to evil with evil, but is always an instrument of good instead, a herald of pardon, a bearer of happiness, a servant of unity. He wishes to write in each of your lives a story of friendship. Hold on to him, then, as the best of friends. He will never tire of speaking to those who always love and who do good. This you will hear, if you strive in each moment to be with him who will help you in more difficult situations.
I have come that you may know my affection. Each one of you is a gift of God to Mexico and to the world. Your family, the Church, your school and those who have responsibility in society must work together to ensure that you receive a better world as your inheritance, without jealousies and divisions.
That is why I wish to lift up my voice, inviting everyone to protect and to care for children, so that nothing may extinguish their smile, but that they may live in peace and look to the future with confidence.
You, my dear young friends, are not alone. You can count on the help of Christ and his Church in order to live a Christian lifestyle. Participate in Sunday Mass, in catechesis, in apostolic works, looking for occasions of prayer, fraternity and charity. Blessed Cristóbal, Antonio and Juan, the child martyrs of Tlaxcala, lived this way, and knowing Jesus, during the time of the initial evangelization of Mexico, they discovered that there is no greater treasure than he. They were children like you, and from them we can learn that we are never too young to love and serve.
How I would like to spend more time with all of you, but the time has already come for me to go. We will remain close in prayer. So I invite you to pray continually, even in your homes; in this way, you will experience the happiness of speaking about God with your families. Pray for everyone, and also for me. I will pray for all of you, so that Mexico may be a place in which everyone can live in serenity and harmony. I bless all of you from my heart and I ask you to bring the affection and blessing of the Pope to your parents, brothers and sisters, and other loved ones. May the Virgin accompany you. Thank you very much, my dear young friends. ANGELUS FOR SUNDAY STAY WITH MARY
RADIOVATICANA REPORT:
“At this time, when so many families are separated or forced to emigrate, when so many are suffering due to poverty, corruption, domestic violence, drug trafficking, the crisis of values and increased crime, we come to Mary in search of consolation, strength and hope”. Said Pope Benedict XVI in his Angelus reflections from the raised altar of the Bicentennial Park in Guanajuato Mexico, before a crowd of half a million faithful. “She is the Mother of the true God, who invites us to stay with faith and charity beneath her mantle, so as to overcome in this way all evil and to establish a more just and fraternal society”.Below the full text of Pope Benedict XVI's Angelus address: Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of the grain of wheat that falls to the ground, dies and bears much fruit. This is his response to some Greeks who approached Philip asking: “we would like to see Jesus” (Jn 12:21). Today we invoke Mary Most Holy and we ask her: “show Jesus to us”.
As we now pray the Angelus and remember the Annunciation of the Lord, our eyes too turn spiritually towards the hill of Tepeyac, to the place where the Mother of God, under the title of “the Ever-Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe” has been fervently honoured for centuries as a sign of reconciliation and of God’s infinite goodness towards the world.
My predecessors on the Chair of Saint Peter honoured her with affectionate titles such as Our Lady of Mexico, Heavenly Patroness of Latin America, Mother and Empress of this continent. Her faithful children, in their turn, who experience her help, invoke her confidently with such affectionate and familiar names as the Rose of Mexico, Our Lady of Heaven, Virgin Morena, Mother of Tepeyac, Noble Indita.
Dear brothers and sisters, do not forget that true devotion to the Virgin Mary always takes us to Jesus, and “consists neither in sterile nor transitory feelings, nor in an empty credulity, but proceeds from true faith, by which we are led to recognize the excellence of the Mother of God, and we are moved to filial love towards our Mother and to the imitation of her virtues” (Lumen Gentium, 67). To love her means being committed to listening to her Son, to venerate the Guadalupana means living in accordance with the words of the blessed fruit of her womb.
At this time, when so many families are separated or forced to emigrate, when so many are suffering due to poverty, corruption, domestic violence, drug trafficking, the crisis of values and increased crime, we come to Mary in search of consolation, strength and hope. She is the Mother of the true God, who invites us to stay with faith and charity beneath her mantle, so as to overcome in this way all evil and to establish a more just and fraternal society.
With these sentiments, I place once again this country, all Latin America and the Caribbean before the gentle gaze of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I entrust all their sons and daughters to the Star of both the original and the new evangelization; she has inspired with her maternal love their Christian history, has given particular expression to their national achievements, to their communal and social initiatives, to family life, to personal devotion and to the Continental Mission which is now taking place across these noble lands. In times of trial and sorrow she was invoked by many martyrs who, in crying out “Long live Christ the King and Mary of Guadalupe” bore unyielding witness of fidelity to the Gospel and devotion to the Church. I now ask that her presence in this nation may continue to serve as a summons to defence and respect for human life. May it promote fraternity, setting aside futile acts of revenge and banishing all divisive hatred. May Holy Mary of Guadalupe bless us and obtain for us the abundant graces that, through her intercession, we request from heaven.
EUROPE : LONDON : INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCEE ON MATERNAL RIGHTS
IND. CATH.
NEWS REPORT:
|
AFRICA : KENYA : CRISIS DUE TO FORCED EVICTIONS
Cisa News REPORT
NAIROBI, March 23, 2012
(CISA) -Forced evictions of people from urban slums across Africa is a
“widespread and pernicious problem,” rights group Amnesty International said on
Thursday March 22, warning of a “profound and deepening” crisis.
NAIROBI, March 23, 2012
(CISA) -Forced evictions of people from urban slums across Africa is a
“widespread and pernicious problem,” rights group Amnesty International said on
Thursday March 22, warning of a “profound and deepening” crisis.
“Three-quarters of people who live in cities
and towns south of the Sahara live in an informal settlement or slum,” said
Amnesty’s Kenya director, Justus Nyang’aya. “Governments in Africa have not got
to grips with this reality,” he added.
With growing urbanisation – by 2025, more
Africans will live in a city or a town than a village – Amnesty said citizens
must have legal protection and security of tenure, a current major block to
development in slum areas.
Across Africa, large slum areas are often
demolished with little or no warning, Amnesty added, in a campaign launched on
the sidelines of a meeting of African housing ministers in Nairobi.
“Most people living in slums pay taxes, vote,
put their children through school and contribute to the city’s economy,” said
Erwin van der Borght, Amnesty’s Africa director.
“Yet most have little or no access to
sanitation, clean water, education and adequate healthcare,” he added.
Slum dwellers from across Africa gathered at
the same conference centre – but excluded from the ministerial meeting itself –
in the hope of adding pressure on ministers by describing the daily challenges
they face.
“We are labelled criminals and trespassers… a
typical case of giving a dog a bad name so as to kill it conveniently,” said
Alhassan Ibn Abdallah, who lives in the Old Fadama slum in the Ghanaian capital
Accra.
“Politicians only recognise us during their
electioneering campaign, we are forgotten after we have voted them into power,”
Abdallah said, adding fears of demolition meant people stayed in wooden huts at
high risk of fire, rather than investing in more permanent concrete
buildings.
“There is no dignity in begging, we want to be
able to support our own families,” said Moreblessing Gwavuya, a slum resident in
Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, whose home was destroyed in government mass
demolitions in 2005.
“All those dreams we had were shattered… no
adequate notice was given, we were not consulted about our removal, we were not
given any alternative, neither were we compensated for the destruction,” Gwavuya
addded.
In Kenya, slum dweller Minicah Otieno said
constitutional protections “remain paper rights” and are not applied in
practice.
“We’re not asking the governor for any favours
– we’re demanding that he respect the law,” said Marcus George Irimaka, a slum
resident in Nigeria’s city of Port Harcout, where Amnesty says 300 000 face
their homes being demolished.
SOURCE: CISANEWSAFRICA
AUSTRALIA : WORD ON FIRE FR. ROBERT BARRON WITNESS
ARCHDIOCESE
OF SYDNEY RELEASE
Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
16 Mar 2012
During his recent
visit to Australia, Chicago priest and founder of Word on Fire, Fr Robert Barron
spoke with Bishop Peter Comensoli of the Archdiocese. He said often Christ is
portrayed as a soft, friendly person expressing divine love which is how many
people see him. Again while that is true there is definitely another side to
Christ - the hard edge.
"There is anger and the tough side but people should not be afraid of that," Fr Barron said.
"It is not anger with us but with sin and Christ wants us to see that."
Fr Robert Barron is the Francis Cardinal George Professor of Faith and Culture at the Mundelein Seminary. He also writes numerous columns and blogs and is regularly called upon by the secular media for commentary on a range of church and social issues.
Over the
past four years he has been working on a major multi media project, the
Catholicism Project which is a 10-part documentary series on the Catholic Church
and now released on DVD.
Recently a guest in Australia of the Australian Catholic University Fr Barron travelled to Melbourne, Ballarat and Brisbane as well as Sydney talking to various groups, youth ,teachers and clergy.
It was a packed 13-day tour and although Fr Barron is well known on Youtube and his own site, this was the first time most people here at the opportunity to hear him speak and meet with him.
This second part of the three part interview with Bishop Comensoli is called "The Real Face of Christ".
Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
16 Mar 2012
Fr Robert Barron
"There is anger and the tough side but people should not be afraid of that," Fr Barron said.
"It is not anger with us but with sin and Christ wants us to see that."
Fr Robert Barron is the Francis Cardinal George Professor of Faith and Culture at the Mundelein Seminary. He also writes numerous columns and blogs and is regularly called upon by the secular media for commentary on a range of church and social issues.
Bishop Peter Comensoli
Recently a guest in Australia of the Australian Catholic University Fr Barron travelled to Melbourne, Ballarat and Brisbane as well as Sydney talking to various groups, youth ,teachers and clergy.
It was a packed 13-day tour and although Fr Barron is well known on Youtube and his own site, this was the first time most people here at the opportunity to hear him speak and meet with him.
This second part of the three part interview with Bishop Comensoli is called "The Real Face of Christ".
ASIA : CHINA : UNDERGROUND CLERGY DETAINED FOR GOVERNMENT "LEARNING"
UCAN
REPORT:
Will be
released if they are 'intelligent enough in their learning,' officials say
Coadjutor Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin (right) and
Father Paul Jiang Sunian of Wenzhou
Coadjutor Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin of Wenzhou and
his chancellor Father Paul Jiang Sunian were spirited away this week to attend
“learning classes,” sources say.
Bishop Shao, 49, was appointed by the Holy See in to lead Wenzhou’s “underground” community in 2007 and is not recognized by the government.
He and Fr Jiang were taken on Monday.
If Bishop Shao and Father Jiang are “intelligent enough in their learning,” they will be allowed back soon; if not, they will be detained longer, local Church sources quoted government officials as saying.
“This implies their release depends on whether they accept the government’s religious policies,” one of the sources said.
Among 17 underground priests, a few of them have been summoned to meet with religious officials in the past two days, the sources said.
Some were told to remain behind while others were allowed to return home the same day, they added.
Though no official reasons have been given, the sources suspect the recent events may be linked to the secret episcopal ordination in Tianshui diocese in Gansu province last year.
Government officials are investigating who was involved in the ordination, they said.
Bishop John Wang Ruowang of Tianshui was taken away for “learning classes” at an undisclosed location in January.
A Church observer who asked not to be named said China’s religious policy is “moving backwards” and is reflected in the current situation with the Catholic Church and with the 30 Tibetan monks and nuns who have self-immolated in
the fight for religious freedom.
The spate of detentions of underground clergy since the fall of last year was a decision coming from the government, he noted.
On March 2, a bureau chief of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China told a joint meeting of leaders of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China that he hoped the two Church bodies could do a good job in “converting the underground community.”
http://www.ucanews.com/2012/03/22/bishop-priest-taken-for-learning-classes/
Bishop Shao, 49, was appointed by the Holy See in to lead Wenzhou’s “underground” community in 2007 and is not recognized by the government.
He and Fr Jiang were taken on Monday.
If Bishop Shao and Father Jiang are “intelligent enough in their learning,” they will be allowed back soon; if not, they will be detained longer, local Church sources quoted government officials as saying.
“This implies their release depends on whether they accept the government’s religious policies,” one of the sources said.
Among 17 underground priests, a few of them have been summoned to meet with religious officials in the past two days, the sources said.
Some were told to remain behind while others were allowed to return home the same day, they added.
Though no official reasons have been given, the sources suspect the recent events may be linked to the secret episcopal ordination in Tianshui diocese in Gansu province last year.
Government officials are investigating who was involved in the ordination, they said.
Bishop John Wang Ruowang of Tianshui was taken away for “learning classes” at an undisclosed location in January.
A Church observer who asked not to be named said China’s religious policy is “moving backwards” and is reflected in the current situation with the Catholic Church and with the 30 Tibetan monks and nuns who have self-immolated in
the fight for religious freedom.
The spate of detentions of underground clergy since the fall of last year was a decision coming from the government, he noted.
On March 2, a bureau chief of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China told a joint meeting of leaders of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China that he hoped the two Church bodies could do a good job in “converting the underground community.”
http://www.ucanews.com/2012/03/22/bishop-priest-taken-for-learning-classes/
AMERICA : MEXICO : POPE'S VISIT LIVE ON POM TV
Agenzia
Fides report - The Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) in Mexico, on the occasion
of Pope Benedict XVI’s first apostolic visit in Mexico, are technically prepared
to be able to follow step by step the Holy Father's visit and invite everyone to
share this joy through the official website of the PMS www.ompemexico.org.mx,
where the event is broadcast live.
"The Pope is the representative of Christ on earth and comes to bring a message of hope. Let us all listen carefully to the Successor of St. Peter, from our website, to the whole world", is what is said in the statement sent to Fides. The broadcasting will take place from Friday, March 23 live on the internet (Broadcasting) on www.ompemexico.org.mx/tv
The POM in Mexico have done extensive work in the field of multimedia: since 2005 the program "Abriendo Horizontes" is broadcast on channels TV ESNE (El Sembrador Nueva Evangelización), 441 de Cablevision and 145 on SKY. Until now, the PMS have prepared more than 80 different programs and in almost all there is room for an interview, a section for dialogue and questions (Hablemos todos) and one for formation and testimony (Desde la Mision)
(CE) (Agenzia Fides 24/3/2012)
"The Pope is the representative of Christ on earth and comes to bring a message of hope. Let us all listen carefully to the Successor of St. Peter, from our website, to the whole world", is what is said in the statement sent to Fides. The broadcasting will take place from Friday, March 23 live on the internet (Broadcasting) on www.ompemexico.org.mx/tv
The POM in Mexico have done extensive work in the field of multimedia: since 2005 the program "Abriendo Horizontes" is broadcast on channels TV ESNE (El Sembrador Nueva Evangelización), 441 de Cablevision and 145 on SKY. Until now, the PMS have prepared more than 80 different programs and in almost all there is room for an interview, a section for dialogue and questions (Hablemos todos) and one for formation and testimony (Desde la Mision)
(CE) (Agenzia Fides 24/3/2012)
Link correlati
TODAY'S MASS ONLINE : SUN. MARCH 25, 2012 : 5TH SUN. LENT
| Jeremiah
31: 31 - 34
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| 31 | "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 32 | not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 33 | But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 34 | And no
longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, `Know the
LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says
the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no
more."
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TODAY'S FEAST : MARCH 25 : THE ANNUNCIATION TO MARY
The Annunciation
Feast: March 25
 Information:
|
|
This great festival takes its name from the happy tidings
brought by the angel Gabriel to the
Blessed Virgin Mary, concerning the incarnation of the Son of God. It
commemorates the most important embassy that was ever known: an embassy sent by
the King of kings, performed by one of the chief princes of his heavenly court;
directed, not to the kings or emperors of the earth, but to a poor, unknown,
retired virgin, who, being endowed with the most angelic purity of soul and
body, being withal perfectly humble and devoted to God, was greater in his eyes
than all the sceptres in the world could make a universal monarch. Indeed God,
by the choice which he is pleased to make of a poor virgin, for the
accomplishment of the greatest of all mysteries and graces, clearly demonstrates
that earthly diadems, dignities, and treasures are of no consideration with him;
and that perfect humility and sanctity alone constitute true greatness. God, who
is almighty, can do all things by himself, without making use of the concurrence
of creatures. Nevertheless he vouchsafes. in his exterior works, most frequently
to use their co-operation. If he reveals his will and speaks to men, it is by
the intervention of his prophets, and these he often enlightens by the ministry
of angels. Many of the ancient patriarchs were honored by him with the most
sublime commissions. By Moses he delivered his people from the Egyptian slavery,
by him he gave them his law, and he appointed him mediator in his alliance with
them. When the Son of God became man, he could have taken upon him our nature
without the co-operation of any creature; but was pleased to be born of a woman.
In the choice of her whom he raised to this most sublime of all dignities to
which any pure creature could be exalted, he pitched upon her who, by the riches
of his grace and virtues, was of all others the most holy and the most perfect.
The design of this embassy of the archangel is as extraordinary as the persons
concerned in it. It is to give a Saviour to the world, a victim of propitiation
to the sinner, a model to the just, a son to this Virgin, remaining still a
virgin, and a new nature to the Son of God, the nature of man, capable of
suffering pain and anguish in order to the satisfaction of God's justice for our
transgressions. And the Son of God being to take a human body formed of her
substance, the Holy Ghost, who, by a power all-divine, was to her in place of a
spouse, was not content to render her body capable of giving life to a Man-God,
but likewise enriched her soul with a fulness of grace, that there might be a
sort of proportion between the cause and the effect, and she the better
qualified to co-operate towards this mystery of sanctity.
The angel begins his address to her with
The angel concludes his address with these words: <
Blessed art thou among women>.
Though we are obliged to consider the eminent quality of
Mother of God as the source of all other graces bestowed on the Blessed Virgin,
it must yet be owned it is not the greatest, and that she was happier in loving
Jesus Christ than in having conceived him and brought him forth. She is <
blessed among women> and above the rest of creatures, not precisely on
account of her maternity, but because she received a fulness of grace
proportioned to the dignity to which she was chosen. So the" according to the
remark of the holy fathers, she was happier for her sanctity than for her
dignity: for her virtues than for her privileges. Among her virtues, that of
purity seems particularly deserving of notice on this solemnity, as the epistle
for this festival records that memorable prophecy of Isaias,
Moreover, had not Mary been deep-rooted in humility, what
impression must not these great promises have made in her heart, at a time
especially when the first transports are so apt to overflow the soul on the
sudden news of an unexpected glory. The world knows, from too frequent
experience, how strongly the promise and expectation of new dignities raise the
spirits, and alter the words, the looks, and the whole carriage of proud men.
But Mary is still the same, or rather much more lowly and meek in spirit upon
the accession of this unparalleled dignity. She sees no cause to pride herself
in her virtues, graces, and privileges, knowing that the glory of all these are
due only to the divine Author and Bestower of them. In submission, therefore, to
God's will, without any further inquiries, she expresses her assent in these
humble but powerful words:
But what tongue can express the inward feelings and
affections which; then filled the glowing heart of the most pure Mother of God?
What light shone in her understanding to penetrate the mysteries and the excess
of the unfathomed goodness of God! what ardours of holy love inflamed her will!
what jubilee filled her soul! Let men redeemed exult and praise, returning to
God their best homages of adoration, thanksgiving, and love. It is for this duty
that the church has appointed this present festival, which we ought chiefly to
consecrate to the contemplation of this adorable mystery with hymns of love,
praise, and thanksgiving. It was the hope and comfort of all the ancient saints,
and the great object of all their earnest prayers, tears, and sighs. The
prophets had a view to it in all their predictions, this being the principal
point in all the wonderful revelations of God made to his church since the fall
of Adam in Paradise, whom he immediately comforted with a promise and glimpse of
this glorious mercy. Every ordinance in the law which he gave the Jews was
typical, and had either an immediate or at least an indirect relation to Christ
and our redemption by him. Among the numberless religious rites and sacrifices
which were prescribed them, there was not one which did not in some manner
represent or allude to this mystery. How high an idea ought this circumstance to
give us of its incomprehensible greatness, which its nature and wonderful
effects and fruits must enhance beyond the power of words! We are lost in
astonishment when we contemplate this prodigy of omnipotence and infinite wisdom
and mercy, and adore it in raptures and silence.
Gerson cries out on this mystery: "What ought every heart to
say or think! every religious, every loving and faithful heart? It ought to
rejoice exceedingly in this singular comfort, and to salute you with Gabriel,
< O blessed among women.> On this day is the Saviour of mankind, true God
and man, conceived in the womb of Mary. This day our Lady received a name more
sublime than can be understood, and the most noble of all names possible after
that of her Son, by which she is called the Mother of God. On this day the
greatest of miracles is wrought. Hear the wonders of love and mercy on this
festival: God is made man; and man, in the divine person, God: he that is
immortal is become mortal, and the Eternal is born in time. A virgin is a mother
a woman the mother of God; a creature has conceived her Creator!" St. Peter
Chrysologus expresses the truth of this mystery as follows: "One virgin so
receives and contains God in the lodging of her breast as to procure peace for
the earth, glory for heaven, salvation for the lost, life for the dead, an
alliance of those on earth with the blessed in heaven, and the commerce of God
with the flesh."
From the example of the Virgin Mary in this mystery, how
ardent a love ought we to conceive of purity and humility! According to St.
Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Jerome, she
would rather be the spouse of God in spirit, by spotless virginity, than his
mother in the flesh; and so acceptable was this her disposition to God, that she
deserved immediately to hear, that she should bring forth the Son of the Most
High, still remaining a most pure virgin: nor would God have otherwise raised
her to this astonishing honor. The Holy Ghost is invited by purity to dwell in
souls, but is chased away by the filth of the contrary vice. The dreadful havoc
which it now-a-days makes among Christian souls, calls for torrents of tears,
and is the source of the infidelity and universal desolation which spreads on
every side. Humility is the foundation of a spiritual life. By it Mary was
prepared for the extraordinary graces. and all virtues with which she was
enriched, and for the eminent dignity of Mother of God. St. Austin says that,
according to an ancient tradition, this mystery was completed on the 25th of
March. Both eastern and western churches celebrate it on this day, and have done
so at least ever since the fifth century. This festival is mentioned by Pope Gelasius
I, in 492. The council of Constantinople, in 692, orders the
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source: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/A/theannunciation.asp#ixzz1q9DgXQsj
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