Part of my daily prayer life includes a recitation of the Angelus prayer. Although I’ve recited the Angelus at various times for years, for the past few months, I’ve included it at the beginning of all four of my daily prayer offices (morning, noon, evening, and compline) and, in so doing, I have deepened my understanding of the mysteries of the Virgin Mary and her relationship to both Christ and the individual (that is, me). As this is a discussion of an ongoing mystical practice, these reflections and revelations will undoubtedly continue to unfold and reveal new things; nonetheless, I feel this is a good time to share some of these insights.
If you are unfamiliar with the Angelus, it is as follows:
The angel of the Lord announced unto Mary, and she conceived by the Holy Ghost.
Hail Mary, full of grace: the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Behold, the handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to thy word.
Hail Mary, full of grace…
The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.
Hail Mary, full of grace…
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
We bessech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts, that as we have known the incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel, so by his cross and passion may we be brought unto the glory of his resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
I have changed some of the wording for personal reasons, but this should provide a good idea of what this prayer is. In essence, it is a commemoration of the mystery of the Incarnation. But there is a deeper, more personal meaning subtly permeating this devotion; a powerful and joyful message about the nature of the soul and our relationship to God. This is what I wish to direct attention to, presently.
The first revelation that came to me involved the allegorical symbolism of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is easy to get caught up in the event, itself, and overlook the more perennial expressions of a mystery. If we recall the Gospel stories, there are several figures named “Mary;” this is a key name that identifies these people as a type of the soul at various stages in its journey towards God. Mary, the Blessed Virgin and Mother of God, is the soul which is pure and submissive to God’s will.
The requirement for the purity of the soul prefigures the importance of the work of John the Baptist — we will return to this in due course. Reading the Protevangelium may be helpful for understanding Mary’s condition that led to her suitability as the vessel by which the Incarnate Word (the Logos) would come into existence. In summary, due to her purity, her innocence, and her willingness to submit to and serve God, Mary becomes an inviting and desirable alembic by which the Logos may be brought forth.
This is expressed in the first versicle of the Angelus: The angel of the Lord announced unto Mary, and she conceived by the Holy Ghost. Due to her sanctity, Mary is chosen to bear the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit imbues her with the seed which is then Mary’s responsibility to nurture during gestation.
It is not enough simply to have a seed implanted in fertile ground; it must be nurtured, cultivated, and cared for to bring forth fruit. In the same way, the seed of the Holy Child must be nurtured through the gestational period if Mary is to successfully bring forth the Logos.
This nurturing begins with Mary submitting to God’s will, acknowledging that she alone is incapable of bringing forth the Logos. She can only do so by allowing herself to be guided by God. For this reason, upon receiving the seed of the Logos, Mary responds in turn: Behold, the handmaid of the Lord! Be it unto me according to thy word. In other words, Mary is submitting to the will of God, allowing herself to be guided by Divine Wisdom in the nurturing of the seed. This submission also reflects unshakable trust in God.
Unlike Zechariah, who doubts the message of the angel when he receives his vision predicting the conception of John the Baptist and is thus stricken dumb until the child is named and the prophecy fulfilled, Mary accepts the message of the angel without question. As St. Ambrose of Milan declares in his commentary on the Gospel according to St. Luke, Mary “does not doubt that the mystery will be accomplished” (Ambrose of Milan, Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, Book 2, chapter 15).
Mary is, of course, successful, and The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. As a result of her piety, her purity, her belief and submission, Mary brings forth the Incarnate Word — the Logos — and ultimately reveals God’s glory to the world. This is, of course, a phenomenal event unto itself, and the Angelus prayer is a regular reminder of this mystery. But it is also an exhortation for us.
The Incarnation is not a singular event in history, occurring once and only meant to be remembered. On the contrary, it is an ongoing process of God’s revelation, working through every human soul in existence — if we allow it — and meant to be experienced continuously. The Angelus, therefore, functions as a beautiful, succinct reminder of the work each of us must undertake to bring forth Christ in ourselves, that “out of the believer’s heart shell flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).
But what about the purity of the soul, that Mary so beautifully exemplifies? And where does this “seed” come from, once the soul is pure? The baptism offered by St. John is crucial for purification. John is to go before Jesus, “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17), that when Jesus would come, the people would be ready to receive from him the baptism of fire and the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16).
Just as the Incarnation is not simply meant to be a singular event in history, but a perennial and ongoing process, so too is John’s baptism. The sacrament of Baptism is given to all believers but once in their lives, but the repentance that baptism symbolizes is a continuous process that we must commit to when we are baptized (or confirmed, in the case of infant baptism). It may be more accurate to say that being baptized empowers the individual to participate in the continual process of metanoia (often translated as “repentance” but more literally “after thought”). This process allows us to realign our hearts and minds with God’s will, bringing us back to the purity of heart and soul that Mary so beautifully expresses.
Mary receives the proverbial seed from which she cultivates the Logos by the revelation of an angel — that is, angelus (“a messenger”) of God. We tend to hold a very narrow conception of angels in the present day, which is an unfortunate shortcoming of modern religion. Many things — people, animals, dreams and visions, experiences, etc. — can bring messages.
One result of metanoia is that the individual becomes more receptive to these messages from God, which we come to realize are all around us at all times, albeit often not “personalized” and “tailored” for the individual. God reaches out to us in a myriad of ways if we would only open our hearts to listen. These messages may come during the Eucharist — with the reception of a literal “seed” in the form of the host — or on a street corner during a moment of spontaneous ecstasy, as they did for Thomas Merton. But, however, we receive these messages, they can only be perceived if one is listening.
It should go without saying, but the nature of interpreting Scripture and its stories is not definitive and absolute. These interpretations are my own, and have brought me closer to experiencing God in my life, but you may find that your own interpretation differs. Neither is “right” or “wrong” — what matters is how that interpretation adds value to your understanding of and relationship with the Creator.
In a future exegesis of the Angelus, we will direct our attention to the closing words of the prayer: We beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts, that as we have known the Incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel, so by his cross and passion may we be brought unto the glory of his resurrection. Here is another mystery regarding how knowing the Logos by listening to God prefaces resurrection through sacrifice.
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