The Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord on this day, March 25. The account of the Annunciation is found in the Gospel of Saint Luke In the Bible (1:26-38)—in Nazareth, Archangel Gabriel visits a virgin, exalts her in salutation, and announces to her that she is to conceive Jesus, the Son of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Blessed Virgin Mary modestly and thoughtfully receives the words of the Angel, and says “Yes.”
Mary’s Fiat, which in Latin means “Let it be done,” was no ordinary reply of agreement. It expressed her humble, obedient and wholehearted acceptance of God’s will. Her assent forever changed the history of God’s creation. “Everything in the Church,” as Pope Benedict XVI said in his 2006 homily, “goes back to that mystery of Mary’s acceptance of the divine Word, by which through the action of the Holy Spirit, the Covenant between God and humanity was perfectly sealed.”
But given the simplicity and conciseness of the Annunciation passage in the Gospel of Luke, many Catholics do not fully realize that everything in that moment first depended on Mary’s own will. It is believed, according to some Saints, that even the angels in Heaven who knew that the Divine Plan of Incarnation would happen did not know exactly how it would come to fruition. Until came the day of the Annunciation when it was revealed that the fulfillment of God’s plan for the redemption of man rested on Mary—on her will to accept her role as the Mother of God.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot and Doctor of the Church, was very mindful of that fact. In his homily “In Praise of the Virgin Mother,” he dramatically and eloquently meditates on that particular moment in the Annunciation. The excerpt of this beautiful homily, which appears below, gives us an idea why this Saint is distinguished with the title of “Marian Doctor” for his special devotion and written works about the Blessed Virgin. In it, Saint Bernard writes that when the angel Gabriel spoke of God’s message to Mary, the angels in Heaven intently awaited her answer. And not only the angels, but our first parents, Adam and Eve, and the whole of mankind on earth, barred from Paradise, gazed upon Mary and waited for her most generous and benevolent response.
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On this Feast of the Annunciation, meditate upon Mary’s Fiat through these beautiful and evocative words of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. And offer a prayer of thanksgiving to the Almighty God for the Incarnation of Jesus—and to the Blessed Mother for her much-awaited answer, for her “Yes” that liberates and reverberates to eternity.
An Excerpt from the Homily of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, “In Praise of the Virgin Mother”
You have heard, O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a son; you have heard that it will not be by man but by the Holy Spirit. The angel awaits an answer; it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion; the sentence of condemnation weighs heavily upon us.
The price of our salvation is offered to you. We shall be set free at once if you consent. In the eternal Word of God we all came to be, and behold, we die. In your brief response we are to be remade in order to be recalled to life.
Tearful Adam with his sorrowing family begs this of you, O loving Virgin, in their exile from Paradise. Abraham begs it, David begs it. All the other holy patriarchs, your ancestors, ask it of you, as they dwell in the country of the shadow of death. This is what the whole earth waits for, prostrate at your feet. It is right in doing so, for on your word depends comfort for the wretched, ransom for the captive, freedom for the condemned, indeed, salvation for all the sons of Adam, the whole of your race.
Answer quickly, O Virgin. Reply in haste to the angel, or rather through the angel to the Lord. Answer with a word, receive the Word of God. Speak your own word, conceive the divine Word. Breathe a passing word, embrace the eternal Word.
Why do you delay, why are you afraid? Believe, give praise, and receive. Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident. This is no time for virginal simplicity to forget prudence. In this matter alone, O prudent Virgin, do not fear to be presumptuous. Though modest silence is pleasing, dutiful speech is now more necessary. Open your heart to faith, O blessed Virgin, your lips to praise, your womb to the Creator. See, the desired of all nations is at your door, knocking to enter. If he should pass by because of your delay, in sorrow you would begin to seek him afresh, the One whom your soul loves. Arise, hasten, open. Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving. “Behold the handmaid of the Lord,” she says, “be it done to me according to your word.”
Hom. 4, 8-9: Opera omnia, Edit. Cisterc. 4 [1966], 53-54
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us!
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