Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

The Month of March Devoted to Saint Joseph

Saint: Saint Dismas the “Good Thief” (see Lk 29:39-43)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 45 Mistakes in the Oratory

Mass: Is 7:10-14; 8:10; Resp Ps 40; Heb 10:4-10; Lk 1:26-38 

Your law is within my heart.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

SAINT GABRIEL, GOD IS MY STRENGTH,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

SAINT JOSEPH, GUARDIAN OF THE VIRGIN,

PRAY FOR US.

The Lord Himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,

and shall name Him Emmanuel, which means

"God is with us!"

(Is 8:10)

Welcome to the glorious Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. "Let's love God dearly ... love Mary dearly ... look to heaven ... sing ... go crazy"!* Amen.

Clearly that womb was blessed

even before it carried the Lord 

Day and night

with purest desire

and the longing of a holy and consecrated love

it prepared itself to bear its holy burden.

In the silence of her heart

Mary said to herself

Let Him kiss me with the kiss of His mouth.

There has never been another soul

or rather,

there has never been one of the blessed spirits

-not even from the most blissful

of the nine choirs-

that takes its name from the fire of charity

and refreshes the heat of its immense love

by the continual contemplation of eternity

and the ceaseless praise of the holy Trinity;

no, not even among the cherubim

has there been anyone

who made progress like her

in desiring and receiving this kiss.

To make her ready

for such great grace

from her mother's womb she was fashioned

by Him who establishes the heavens

and every single moment

during the successive stages

by which God established her

the fullness of grace was built up.

One day she would become

God's mother

and then an angel would call her

full of grace.

So her womb is blessed

in the very manner

 of its establishment

in blessedness

yet it is far more blessed when it

finally

in a divine and indescribable way

receives its most blessed burden.

Blessed indeed

yes, utterly blessed,

is that womb

 when it bore Him

when it formed Him

when it was in labor with Him

when it brought Him to birth.**

SAINT DISMAS the “GOOD THIEF”,

PRAY FOR US.

*Saint Rafael Arnaiz (1911-1938)

**John of Ford (1140-1214) in Mary Most Holy: Meditating With the Early Cistercians (Cistercian, 2003), pp. 275-277.

Today's image: Muttergottes im Kloster Melchtal. This sent by dear Sister M. Daniela, Prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Melchtal, Switzerland. The statue of the Mother of God is in their monastery at Melchtal, Benediktinerrinenkloster Nicklaus von Flue, where I have been numerous times. One time I walked from Kloster Maria Rickenbach to Kloster Melchtal, a 7 1/2 hour Spaziergang. Wunderbar! We remember in prayer, and ask the Patron of Switzerland, Saint Nicholaus of Flue, to intercede for the Benedictine Sisters of Maria Rickenbach, Melchtal, and Sarnen, and the monks of Engelberg too.

© Gertrude Feick 2023