O God, eternal majesty, Whose ineffable Word the immaculate Virgin received through the message of an Angel and so became the dwelling-place of divinity, filled with the light of the Holy Spirit, grant, we pray, that by her example we may in humility hold fast to Your will. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
O God, eternal majesty – The phrase “eternal majesty” focuses our attention on the transcendence of God. He is infinitely far above us, so far that our human minds cannot reach. We can know that He exists with our human reason, and we can discern a few of His qualities, but we run into limits quickly.
Whose ineffable Word – God, therefore, reveals Himself to us, first through the Law and the Prophets and the Wisdom books that make up the Old Testament and then, definitely, through His divine Son, the Word of God, Whose story is told in the New Testament. Yet this Word, this Son, is God, and is therefore ineffable, incapable of being fully expressed or described in words. We must get to know Him personally, experience His love, and immerse ourselves in His life.
the immaculate Virgin received through the message of an Angel – This part of the prayer invites us to meditate on the annunciation. Picture Mary rapt in prayer and the angel Gabriel appearing before her, calling her “you who have been filled with grace,” and telling her that she is to be the mother of the Son of the Most High, the Messiah, the Davidic King promised long ago. Mary is sinless and perfectly open to this message from God, yet she wonders and ponders. “How can this be?” she asks Gabriel. She does not doubt, but she wants to know more, and the angel honors her question. The Holy Spirit will overshadow Mary, just as He overshadowed the void during the creation, and a new creation will enter into her womb, God-made-Man, the Incarnate Word.
so became the dwelling-place of divinity – God did not force Mary; she freely chose to accept His message and to become the Mother of God. She welcomed the divine Son into her body. She became the tabernacle of God, the new Ark of the Covenant, the dwelling-place of God-made-Man. For nine months, she cherished Him, nourished Him, sheltered Him in her body. We, too, become tabernacles of the living God, for when we are baptized, His divine presence enters into our souls, and when we receive Him in the Eucharist, we accept Him into our very bodies as well as our souls and hold Him within us.
filled with the light of the Holy Spirit – The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary at the Incarnation, but paradoxically, His shadow is the brightest of lights. We must pray to be filled with the light of the Holy Spirit that He may enlighten our minds for truth and our wills for love.
by her example – We should look to Mary as the prime example of a human being perfectly in sync with God. She never once went against His will in anything she thought, said, or did. She remained completely in His grace at all times, preserved from original sin at her conception through the anticipated merits of her Son and upheld in grace by her cooperation with God's outpouring of love.
we may in humility hold fast to Your will – This is our goal, to embrace Mary's humility and to remain always in God's will. We are such fragile creatures. We fall so easily. And sometimes we don't realize this. We think we're strong and independent, a match for whatever life throws at us. But then we fall, following our own will instead of God's. Humility helps us recognize that God knows exactly what is best for us, even when we don't think so. In His will is our salvation and sanctification and more love than we can ever imagine.
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