The First Saturday: The First Joyful Mystery – The Annunciation of the Lord

Gospel Reading: Luke 1:26-55

MEDITATION

1. At last the heavens open and He whom the Prophets call the just one, the desired of the Patriarchs, the expectation of the nations, the one sent from God, descends into the world. The weeks of Daniel are accomplished, the prophecies of Jacob are fulfilled, for the scepter of Judah has already passed into the hands of Herod, a foreign king. A maiden, remaining a virgin, is to bring forth to the world a Man, who is the Son of the Most High.

My soul, do you understand what this means: the Word is made man?… O the endless goodness and mercy of the Lord! This God thus loved you so much as to wish his only begotten Son to humble himself taking the form of a servant (Phil 2:7)?

And this, in order that He might suffer and die on a cross, to redeem you from hell and open the gates of heaven to you! To offer himself in sacrifice every day on the altars and be with you always, giving himself as food in the holy Eucharist!

Holy Trinity, I humbly adore you, and thank you for such great love. The Father gives his Son to humanity: the Word consents to be made Man, and the Holy Spirit offers to bring about this great mystery. What is my answer in return for such great love?

My soul, consider on one hand the highest dignity and the sublime favors of the Blessed Virgin, and on the other, her perfect humility. God creates her Immaculate, who was to be his Mother; and from the first moment of her conception He raises her holiness beyond the highest peak. Hear the Lord’s words in the Song of Solomon: “There are… maidens without number. My love, my perfect one, is only one…” (Song 6:8-9).

And this was the Mother of God, chosen for the highest humility which shined forth in Her.

In the Song Mary is likened to a fragrant spikenard: for, as St. Antoninus comments, the small and fragrant spikenard plant represents Mary’s humility, the smell of which ascended to heaven, and drew the divine Word into her virginal womb. Because, adds the same holy Dominican Archbishop, the humility of the Virgin was the most perfect and the closest disposition for becoming the Mother of God. St. Bernard concludes: “If Mary pleased God through her virginity, it was through humility that she conceived the Son of God.” The Virgin herself, appearing one day to St. Bridget, said: How is it that I deserved such grace as to be made my Lord’s Mother, unless because I recognized my nothingness, and humbled myself? And to attest it to all nations she had expressed it in her most humble Canticle: For he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden,… he who is mighty has done great things for me… (Lk 1:48-49). The most humble eyes of Mary, as of a simple and humble dove, with which she forever admired the divine greatness, never lost sight of her own nothingness. And such violence did they do to God himself that the Almighty was drawn into her womb: “Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves” (Song 4:1).

And the Lord for his part, for a greater merit of this mother, does not wish to become her Son without first obtaining her consent. So He sends a heavenly messenger to her, the Archangel Gabriel, the strength of God, to reveal to her the great event of the Incarnation of the Word in her womb.

O great, O holy humility of Mary! You made this mother small unto herself but great before God! Unworthy in her own eyes, yet worthy in the eyes of that great Lord who is not understood by the world! How, my Lady, how, I shall exclaim with St. Bernard, were you able to unite in your heart such a humble opinion of yourself with so much purity, with so much innocence, with such fullness of grace as you possess?

O most humble Queen, God save you; through you and from you the work of our redemption began. I pray, make me a part of your humility, and grant me perfect love of you and of your Son.

2. Behold, O my soul: the Angel has not been sent to the great cities, to the palaces of princes, to the king’s daughters covered in gold, but to Nazareth, a small town, to a Virgin, the wife of Joseph the worker. It is not one’s birth, therefore, nor the gifts of nature which attract the eyes of God; before him true merit is humility, modesty, innocence of habit, love of purity.

Mary was living alone in her poor home, as was revealed to St. Elizabeth, a Benedictine; and was sighing and praying to God more intensely than ever that He might send the promised Redeemer to the world, when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her.

He bestowed upon her three titles of incomprehensible greatness.

The first regards Mary herself: Hail, full of grace: that is, You are the holiest of all, You are a treasure of all God’s graces and favours. The second regards God: the Lord is with you: that is, You have been protected, accompanied and governed by Him. The third concerns humanity: blessed are you among women: that is, You are privileged, raised above all others… With what respect do we address these same words to Mary when we recite her Rosary?

Mary is disturbed by the words of an Angel who speaks to her about God. The praises upset and frighten her: She refers nothing to herself but all to God. She was troubled, as she revealed to St. Bridget, because, being full of humility, she abhorred his every praise and desired that her Creator and Bestower of all good things alone be praised and blessed.

What a difference between Mary and Lucifer! Lucifer, seeing himself gifted with great beauty, aspired, as Isaiah says, to ascend above the stars and become like God himself. And what would the proud creature have said and pretended had he seen himself adorned with Mary’s virtues? The humble modest Virgin did not do so: the more she was exalted, the more she humbled herself, and this humility was the beauty that inspired the King of kings with love, “and she considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be” (Lk 1:29).

And you, my soul, how do you imitate Mary in the dangerous praises bestowed upon you by others? Alas!, full of pride you believe you deserve them, you take pleasure in them, and if you appear to reject them, it is only to obtain even greater ones! How many shameful falls are caused by flattery!…

O Mary, O divine repairer of all our ills, O worthy Mother of God, how greatly am I confounded by your humility! Behold, for this… “all generations will call you blessed” (Lk 1:48). How I suffer to have so often offended my God, by my pride, and afflicted your sweet and humble Heart. Yet if you look upon me with the merciful eyes of a Mother, I shall soon be reconciled with Him. If I learn to love you, I shall cease being unhappy. All the graces are in your hands: you can save whom you will. O full of grace, save this soul of mine.

3. Finally, assured that she is not to lose her virginity, Mary gives her consent with two words: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38).

O blessed words, which accomplished the mystery of the Incarnation, fulfilled the prophecies and repaired the disobedience of our first parents, and the painful consequences of the sad conversation between Eve and the Angel of darkness! Wonderful words, in which the quickest faith, the deepest humility, the most subdued obedience, the tenderest love and the most perfect abandon to divine will, shine. Words which the Church, out of gratitude, places upon the lips of her children three times a day. My soul, you too must repeat them continuously, and with Mary’s same feelings.

Learn to be humble and resign yourself to what God has planned for you. Be disturbed: you are so wicked and so unlike Mary, and what is worse, you know neither how to cry nor how to pray. Begin at least from this moment to amend your deplorable condition, to detest your disorderly life, to begin devoting yourself to prayer. And, if you feel a heart of stone within you, turn to Mary and ask that she, through love of her Annunciation, exchange your heart with her Heart, so humble and so pure.

O great Mother of God, immense sea of graces and of blessings, I too shall be blessed if I live beneath your protection. Yes, from this day till the day of death I shall never cease greeting you, loving you, invoking you through your favorite prayer, which You yourself have taught to me with the holy Rosary. Every day it reminds me of your great humility, your purity and fullness of grace, your divine maternity, and my redemption and salvation. To us today you have offered a source of grace in the midst of the ruins of the famous Pompeii, in the vicinity of the city of death, to show to sinners who enclose death within their souls how, from you, life will come to all those who invoke you, O Queen of the Rosary of Pompeii; and to reveal to the world having driven Jesus from its bosom, how You, O Queen of the New Pompeii, will restore Jesus to the troubled human family, through a new life of grace and faith. O Mother of mercy, let Jesus reign in my heart; let Him reign in it as king, as its absolute master, as the Lord of my strength and power, so that I may draw life from his life and be consummated in Him, to live of Him and with Him unto eternity!

May you be blessed and loved by all the nations, O Lady of the Valley of Pompeii, O our remedy, our consolation, our glory. Amen.

VIRTUE – Humility

REFLECTION – Humble yourself inwardly at the sight of your miserable condition. Humble yourself externally as well by occupying the last place, giving preference to others. Today bear reproof, whether just or unjust, without seeking excuses for yourself. Stifle pride by always speaking humbly, and never about yourself, either well or badly.

EJACULATION – O Mary, beautiful and immaculate Virgin, make my heart pure and humble like yours.