The Anunciation

(Luke 1:26-28,30-36)

A young girl is alone praying.

There is no MTV, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, FOX, Times, Daily News, AM, FM, Streaming Video, Downloaded Audio, Unlimited family plan cellular minutes.

A young girl is alone praying.

These quiet moments away from the mundane routine of her days are comforting; refreshing.

Listen to the stillness of this moment.

Her lips move gently across the memorized words, that spoken together, create her evening prayers anew. They are her prayers. They are the prayers of her people. In her mind she hears the songs of David the King caressing the texts. David, the prophetic King, of whose line Moshiach would come to Redeem the children of the Covenant.

Breathe in deeply and feel the cool of the coming evening. Don't worry, you won't disturb her.

How very simple her room is. A bed, a chair, a chest, some shelves. Her eyes flit to the shelves for a held moment and then they flutter shut and she resumes her muted converse with her God.

What was it that caught her eye? There on the top shelf is a candle, not yet lit and some brilliantly coloured wildflowers that she picked that afternoon as she walked through a grassy field on her way home from a brief visit to her cousin. She had to talk to someone about Joseph, her betrothed, or she would burst! Her mother, Ann, was so occupied with preparations for the wedding feast, poor as it might be, that she has had little time to chat recently.

There it was on the shelf below! A delicate comb of fine dark wood sat there. It's surface was covered with an intricate design that dared the eye to follow it. Here was a work of Love. Hour after hour of affection was inscribed into it's very essence. That talented carpenter surely knew how to make more than oxe yokes and rough tables. He is a sensible man. He will provide for her. Her young life is very full.

"Hello Mary"

Her eyes fly open and wide!

"You are filled with Grace!"

(I am filled with fear! Who is this man, and how did he get past mother and father?)

"Don't worry. Adonai is with you."

The mans voice is calm, gentle, warm. The sound of it reassures and soothes her.

"You are the one. You are blessed among women."

What IS he talking about?

"Blessed is the fruit of your womb, Yeshua."

WAIT! All of the rest of that is very nice, and thank you very much for your kind words but,
WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT A BABY? You may have me mixed up with someone else. You see, I'm engaged to be married, but it is absolutely impossible that I am having a baby!

The unflappable gentle-man from God-knows-where patiently explains to her the message that he has been given to relay to her.

In her humanity, she does not want to believe it.

But, God has chosen well. He has prepared her from the time that she was in her mothers womb, for this moment. She accepts the task laid out for her by the angel. She trusts and whispers her assent: "Let it be done to me as you say".

And then she is alone again, at prayer.

No, not alone. Her hand moves slowly to her belly and rests there a moment, daring it to happen again. A smile engulfs her beautiful face as the sudden realization of what has happened establishes itself.

There is the scene, or more succinctly one of my versions of the scene, the mystery, the moment to be pondered. Now in meditation on it, let your mind wander. You are invited in to partake of the moment. Let it breathe. Let the clay of the walls be cool and crumbly to the touch. Let the barking of a dog in the street outside her window catch you unawares and break your concentration from the "holy moment" and bring you to the realization that the people that we recall in these meditations were not made of stained glass. There is no "right" way to meditate on the mysteries. But may I suggest that you give yourself permission to take a chance or two as you attempt to revisit tales that may have gathered "dust" over the years due to lack of intellectual or spiritual curiosity?

Now comes the fun part. We have a moment that we are exploring and "holding" as it were. And now we add the music. The first decade of the Rosary is recited while exploring the Anunciation. Two thoughts at the same time? Walking AND chewing gum? Yes, it can be done.

One our Father, 10 Hail Marys, and 1 Glory Be.

We start with our reliance on the Father, Creator.

We repeat the words of the Hail Mary over a decade to give time to our contemplation of the essence of the prayer, the Incarnation of Christ and the loving intercession of his mother.

We finish the meditation by coming home to the trinity.

The words of the prayers are going to have different meanings and different parts will come to the forefront of your thoughts throughout the twenty mysteries. You may find different parts of the prayers becoming more or less important to dwell on during the 10 repetitions of the Hail Mary. All this is as it should be. The repeated prayers should not be an exercise in uniformity, but rather in discovery.

Our Father
In this mystery, the Fatherhood of God becomes a very human thing. He is not esoterically the "spiritual father of all mankind" in this moment. He is the creator, who in love spoke a word which is his son. This son becomes enfleshed as an expression of his love for mankind. The son takes on flesh through the power of the Holy Spirit in an expression of his love for and obedience to the Father.

Hail Mary
The first half of the prayer is the scene that we are contemplating. We hear the words that they spoke to each other. We experience the reality of the moment.

Glory Be
The essence of emotion in the Magnificat is present in this song of praise to the Triune God.