MARY'S ANNUNCIATION
MARY'S ANNUNCIATION
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MARY'S ANNUNCIATION
On the day upon which the Church celebrates the feast, I had a vision of
Mary's Annunciation.
I saw the Blessed Virgin a short time after her marriage in the house of
Nazareth. Joseph was not there. He was at that moment journeying with
two beasts of burden on the road to Tiberias, whither he was going to get
his tools. But Anne was in the house with her maid and two of the virgins
who had been with Mary in the Temple. Everything in the house had been
newly arranged by Anne. Toward evening, they all prayed standing
around a circular stool from which they afterward ate vegetables that had
been served. Anne seemed to be very busy about the household affairs,
and for a time she moved around here and there, while the Blessed Virgin
ascended the steps to her room. There she put on a long, white, woollen
garment, such as it was customary to wear during prayer, a girdle around
her waist, and a yellowish-white veil over her head. The maid entered,
lighted the branched lamp, and retired. Mary drew out a little, low table,
which stood folded by the wall, and placed it in the center of the room. It
had a semicircular leaf, which could be raised on a movable support so
that when ready for use the little table stood on three legs. Mary spread
upon it a red and then a white, transparent cover, which hung down on
the side opposite the leaf. It was fringed at the end and embroidered in
the center. A white cover was spread on the rounded edge. When the
little table was prepared, Mary laid a small, round cushion before it and,
resting both hands on the leaf, she gently sank on her knees, her back
turned to her couch, the door of the chamber to her right. The floor was
carpeted. Mary lowered her veil over her face, and folded her hands, but
not the fingers, upon her breast. I saw her praying for a long time with
intense fervor. She prayed for Redemption, for the promised King, and
that her own supplications might have some influence upon His coming.
She knelt long, as if in ecstasy, her face raised to Heaven; then she
drooped her head upon her breast and thus continued her prayer. And
now she glanced to the. right and beheld a radiant youth with flowing,
yellow hair. It was the archangel Gabriel. His feet did not touch the
ground. In an oblique line and surrounded by an effulgence of light and
glory, he came floating down to Mary. The lamp grew dim, for the whole
room was lighted up by the glory.
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The angel, with hands gently raised before his breast, spoke to Mary. I
saw the words like letters of glittering light issuing from his lips. Mary
replied, but without looking up. Then the angel again spoke and Mary, as
if in obedience to his command, raised her veil a little, glanced at him,
and said, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done unto me
according to thy word!" I saw her now in deeper ecstasy. The ceiling of
the room vanished, and over the house appeared a luminous cloud with a
pathway of light leading up from it to the opened heavens. Far up in the
source of this light, I beheld a vision of the Most Holy Trinity. It was like a
triangle of glory, and I thought that I saw therein the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost.
As Mary uttered the words: "May it be done unto me according to thy
word!" I saw an apparition of the Holy Ghost. The countenance was
human and the whole apparition environed by dazzling splendor, as if
surrounded by wings. From the breast and hands, I saw issuing three
streams of light. They penetrated the right side of the Blessed Virgin and
united into one under her heart. At that instant Mary became perfectly
transparent and luminous. It was as if opacity disappeared like darkness
before that flood of light.
While the angel and with him the streams of glory vanished, I saw down
the path of light that led up to Heaven, showers of half-blown roses and
tiny green leaves falling upon Mary. She, entirely absorbed in self, saw in
herself the Incarnate Son of God, a tiny, human form of light with all the
members, even to the little fingers perfect. It was about midnight that I
saw this mystery.
Some time elapsed, and then Anne and the other women entered Marys
room, but when they beheld her in ecstasy they immediately withdrew.
The Blessed Virgin then arose, stepped to the little altar on the wall, let
down the picture of a swathed child that was rolled above it, and prayed
standing under the lamp before it. Only toward morning did she lie down.
Mary was at this time a little over fourteen years old.
An intuitive knowledge of what had taken place was conferred upon Anne.
Mary knew that she had conceived the Redeemer, yes, her interior lay
open before her, and so she already understood that her Sons kingdom
should be a supernatural one, and that the House of Jacob, the Church,
would be the reunion of regenerate mankind. She knew that the
Redeemer would be the King of His people, that He would purify them and
render them victorious; but that in order to redeem them He must suffer
and die.
It was explained to me likewise why the Redeemer remained nine months
in His mothers womb, why He was born a little child and not a perfect
man like Adam, and why also He did not take the beauty of Adam in
Paradise. The Incarnate Son of God willed to be conceived and born that
conception and birth, rendered so very unholy by the Fall, might again
become holy. Mary was His Mother, and He did not come sooner because
Mary was the first and the only woman conceived without sin. Jesus when
put to death was thirty4hree years, four months, and two weeks old.
I thought all the while: Here in Nazareth, things are different from what
they are in Jerusalem. There the women dare not set foot in the Temple,
but here in this church at Nazareth, a virgin is herself the Temple and the
Most Holy rests in her.
The Angelus Prayer (English)
V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with Thee;
Blessed art thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death. Amen
V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done unto me according to thy word.
Hail Mary. . .
V. And the Word was made flesh.
R. And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary. . .
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.
The Angelus Prayer (Latin)
V. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae.
R. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.
Ave Maria, gratia plena; Dominus tecum: benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
V. Ecce ancilla Domini,
R. Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.
Ave Maria. . .
V. Et Verbum caro factum est,
R. Et habitavit in nobis.
Ave Maria. . .
V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genetrix,
R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.
Oremus. Gratiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine, mentibus nostris infunde; ut qui, Angelo nuntiante, Christi Filii tui incarnationem cognovimus, per passionem eius et crucem ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
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