In Medieval England the 25th March was called “Lady Day”. It was a special day when the people celebrated the happiness of Mary on saying ‘yes’ to becoming the Mother of God. It was kept as a special holiday, because, of course, this was the England that was called the Dowry of Mary. Her special place. Children brought nosegays of flowers and placed them before her statue on wayside shrines; there were special Masses and afterwards games and dancing in her honour.
It is no coincidence that today we keep Mother’s Day very close to what used to be called Lady Day. It too is a celebration of motherhood, a day of thanksgiving, fun and laughter. A day when we remember with a smile all that our mothers and grandmothers did for us. A day of happiness and a celebration of the gift of life.
The feast that we call the Annunciation is the greatest feast of the Poor Servants of the Mother of God. Mother Magdalen always celebrated it as the moment when the hearts of Jesus and Mary became one. From her earliest years she was captivated by the wonder of the moment when the young Mary of Nazareth was left alone after the visit of the Angel Gabriel. This was the moment which has changed our world for ever – the moment when our little planet received into its fold the God who had made the heavens and the earth and all they contained, as a tiny, pulsating embryo in the womb of a young teenage girl. The moment when time and eternity became one – “the still point of the turning world” as later theologians were to call it.
Mother Magdalen wanted us to reach out to that stillness of eternity as we contemplate this special moment, and try to think about what was happening – God himself breaking into our world to share our pain and loneliness and vulnerability, but also to be part of our joys and laughter. She wanted us to see it as the greatest act of love this world of ours has ever seen, or will see. The Incarnation is all about love. This stupendous act of love brought with it light and life and beauty to a world grown dark and despairing and sinful. She wanted us to experience the wrapping round of the Holy Spirit on Mary after her ‘yes’. In the Old Testament, if you remember, the Holy Spirit journeyed with those weary pilgrims of Moses and Aaron in the form of a cloud by day and a flame of fire by night. In the daytime, the Israelites wandering in the desert, were also enveloped or wrapped around by the presence of the Holy Spirit to comfort them and to give them new life and hope. This time, the enveloping literally brought new life as the unawakened womb of Mary received the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity into its depths.
Mary, at the age of fifteen or so, was the first woman ever to be totally overshadowed by the “power of the Most High” as the Angel Gabriel put it. She allowed the Holy Spirit to come close to her when she said “Be it done to me according to your word” – words that we say often in the Angelus. But we forget that they were uttered first by a young girl from a despised Jewish village, a girl who was to face the censure of the people of Nazareth for what they judged to be a scandalous happening – a well-brought up girl becoming pregnant when she was unmarried, and as a result, facing the public humiliation of being sent away in disgrace or worse.
Mother Magdalen always talked of the Incarnation in terms of love, and of course that is what it is. She loved to think of the hearts of Jesus and Mary joined together in the womb: “Let us ponder what it means” she would say.
So we ask the Holy Spirit at this special time to help us to understand this mystery and to experience its warming, comforting love for each of us. We pray that we will make a response to “that love which first loved us” in the way we treat one another.
Have a happy feast on Monday – Lady’s Day. We will pray for each of you on our special day.
