Before these possessions you love
slip away, say what Mary said
when she was surprised by Gabriel.
I'll hide inside God.
Naked in her room
she saw a form of beauty
that could give her new life.
Like the sun coming up,
or a rose as it opens,
she leaped, as her habit was,
out of herself into the presence.
There was fire in the channel of her breath.
Light and majesty came.
I am smoke from that fire
and proof of its existence,
more than any external form.
1 comment:
A Biblical Interpretation
Mary's Hiding (Luke 1:26-55)
Interpretations:
Lines 1-3 = addressed to you the reader. “before these possessions slip away”= so many wonderful things we have in Christ which may slip away (see footnote). For instance, the forgiveness of sins, or,
“you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession.”
Line 4 - “I'll hide in God” = Mary had a hidden faith in God which longed for the Messiah. So many in her age had a superficial or routine faith (as today), but Mary's faith was Messiah-centered like St Therese (Little Flower). Pure childlike humility and trust.
Line 5 – Naked in her room = not physical nakedness but a deep spiritual nakedness that made her completely exposed, surrendered to God.
Line 6 - St. Augustine says: "'Angel' is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is 'spirit'; if you seek the name of their office, it is 'angel': from what they are, 'spirit', from what they do, 'angel.'" With their whole beings the angels are servants and messengers of God. Because they "always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven" they are the "mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word"
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