Day 14:
Opening Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created and You shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, Grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations.
Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Mary, the Attentive Virgin
Mary is the Attentive Virgin, who received the word of God in her heart, kept it and let the word transform her in the image of her Son.
Mary accepted the word of the angel. She let obedience to the Father’s will, which was revealed to her daily in her relationship with Jesus, be the nourishment of her life, as Jesus says of Himself: “My food is to do the will of the Father” (Jn 4:34).
Mary walked the stages of her pilgrimage of faith in the light of the word, the word that was gradually revealed to her. It is no coincidence that St. Luke writes twice that “Mary treasured all these things in her heart” (Lk 2:19, 51). While the angel had announced to Mary that she would be the Mother of the Son of God, Simeon revealed to her how this motherhood would be realized: not in the mode of triumph or glory, according to the mentality of the world. Rather, that child would be “a sign of contradiction” and she also would experience a piercing sword (cf. Lk 2:34-35). Along the way, Mary found the connections, put the pieces together, received the word that manifested itself even when she did not understand it, as in the incident of the child Jesus found in the Temple of Jerusalem (Lk 2:50).
Mary accepted that God would manifest Himself to her in a way which differed from her expectations. She accepted to walk in His inscrutable ways, with trust and abandonment. And on this path she found herself at the foot of the Cross, totally dedicated to the Gospel announced by her Son. She could only be there because she believed in the word of God, and even when all abandoned Him, she kept in her heart the words: “On the third day He shall rise again” (Lk 18:33 and parallel passages).
The word was really the lamp that enlightened her steps (cf. Ps 119). And she obeyed God with joy, surrendered to His will, which she recognised as a will of love. She knew that she was in the hands of the One who “cares for His humble servant” (Lk 1:48), that is, the One who takes care of His children and of humanity, who helps the poor, overthrows the mighty and extends His mercy from generation to generation.
Closing Prayer
Hail Mary…
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you, and for all those who do not have recourse to you, especially the enemies of Holy Church and all those recommended to you.
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