Principal Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord to the Blessed Virgin
Mary
Psalm40.5-11│Isaiah 7.10-14│Hebrews 10.4-10│Luke 1.26-38
Psaumes 40.5-11|Ésaïe 7:10-14|Hébreux 10.4-10|Luc 1.26-38
The opening words of today's reading — “In the
sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named
Nazaret” — transport me back to school nativity plays. It shares a space in my
memories with mince pies and Christmas crackers. Jovial and comfortable.
'The Annunciation' by Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Nazareth is more familiar to me now than it was
when I was still in short trousers. I have since led many pilgrims through its
labyrinthine souk to the Basilica of the Annunciation, towering like a
lighthouse above the sea of roofs that rise in a wave up the hillside behind it.
The sheer scale of it, the mosaics, the details in brass and glass: it is an
awe-inspiring church. Often, we would pause awhile outside and read a poem by
Denise Levertov, which begins:
We
know the scene: the room, variously furnished,
almost
always a lectern, a book; always the tall lily.
Arrived
on solemn grandeur of great wings,
the
angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,
whom
she acknowledges, a guest.
Her words paint a rather orderly and measured
scene, familiar from a thousand Christmas cards, a scene Levertov wants to
disrupt. She goes on:
But
we are told of meek obedience. No one mentions courage.
The
engendering Spirit
did
not enter her without consent.
Levertov reminds us that it is too tempting to
domesticate the Annunciation. The Basilica itself covers the cave where Gabriel
is said to have spoken to Mary, covering the raw hewn-out rock with a
decorative wrapping. Even my memory tries to corral the story into a cosy
corner.
In a backwater village, a no-where kind of a
place, eternity is entrusted to a girl of no note nor prospects. God chose the
unlikeliest candidate, in the unlikeliest place, for the unlikeliest of task.
“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord", she says. That must have taken
some courage.
Hector Patmore
We beseech you, O Lord,
pour your grace into our hearts,
that as we have known the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ
by the message of an angel,
so by his cross and passion
we may be brought to the glory of his resurrection;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Editor’s
note: For the whole poem, beautifully illustrated, see
-
http://abidinginhope.blogspot.com/2014/12/poem-denise-levertovs-annunciation.html.
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