The Annunciation of the Lord

Everything is contained in a single word: obedience

Not that of the enslaved and heavy soul

The bovine effort, dead set, the eye swarming with flies

The yoke,

But the dazzling face-to-face

Of the one and same Yes.

Everything is contained in this woman's look upon Him

Who knows her.

Face open to ages upon ages

Magnificat for ages upon ages

Yes to everything.

The young woman

Dared to do this.

To be the mold, the crucible

In which the eternal misery of humans

In which the eternal misery that humans are

Becomes God.

~P. Emmanuel, quoted in Days of the Lord, Vol. 7

Dear Mary, Handmaid of the Lord, when you consented to give birth to Our Lord in the mystery of the Annunciation, you said yes to the salvation of the world. Today the flowers appear on the earth and the time of singing has come! Today is the first day of the rest of our lives! Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you! And blessed forever is the fruit of your womb, Jesus! Amen!