The Solemnity of the Annunciation reflects the profound reality of the mystery of the Incarnation in its first moment as the Blessed Virgin gives her consent, “Let it be done (fiat in Latin) unto me as you have said.” In her Fiat, Mary says yes to the plan of the Incarnation and Redemption for all of us for all time, from the patriarchs that died before the coming of Christ to all persons who will ever live.
The gift of this salvation is open to all. As Saint Paul tells us, the gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe.[i] When we assent to this gift through faith, we make our own Fiat to the gift of salvation that Christ may begin to live in us. Consent and loving obedience to the will of God opens us to grace that we may do everything through Him, with Him, and in Him.
In her Fiat, Mary unties the knot of Eve’s disobedience
From Saint Justin Martyr:
…He became man by the Virgin, in order that the disobedience which proceeded from the serpent might receive its destruction in the same manner in which it derived its origin. For Eve, who was a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the word of the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy, when the angel Gabriel announced the good tidings to her that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her, and the power of the Highest would overshadow her: wherefore also the Holy Thing begotten of her is the Son of God; and she replied, ‘Be it unto me according to thy word.’ ” And by her has He been born, to whom we have proved so many Scriptures refer, and by whom God destroys both the serpent and those angels and men who are like him; but works deliverance from death to those who repent of their wickedness and believe upon Him.[ii]
He refused to remake creation by force, but first became the Son of Mary
Saint Anselm, in his Third Great Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, writes beautifully of the coming of the new creation through her consent:
All nature is created by God and God is born of Mary.
God created all things, and Mary gave birth to God. [185]
God who made all things made himself of Mary,
and thus he refashioned everything he had made.
He who was able to make all things out of nothing
refused to remake it by force,
but first became the Son of Mary. [190]
So God is the Father of all created things,
and Mary is the mother of all re-created things.
God is the Father of all that is established,
and Mary is the mother of all that is re-established.
For God gave birth to Him by whom all things were made [195]
and Mary brought forth Him by whom all are saved.
God brought forth Him without whom nothing is,
Mary bore Him without whom nothing is good.
O truly, ‘the Lord is with you,’
to whom the Lord gave himself, [200]
that all nature in you might be in him.
Mary, I beg you, by that grace
through which the Lord is with you
and you willed to be with him,
let your mercy be with me. [205]
Let love for you always be with me,
and the care of me be always with you.
Let the cry of my need, as long as it persists,
be with you,
and the care of your goodness, as long as I need it, [210]
be with me.[iii]
Learn about the Isenheim Altarpeice[iv]
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Grünewald, Mathias. “Isenheim Altarpiece, First Opening.” Wikimedia Commons, May 19, 2005.https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mathis_Gothart_Gr%C3%BCnewald_030.jpg.
[i] Roman 1:16
[ii] Saint Justin Martyr. Translated by Alexander Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Saint Justin Martyr: Dialogue with Trypho, 100. Logos Virtual Library. Accessed March 19, 2021. http://www.logoslibrary.org/justin/trypho/100.html.
[iii] Saint Anselm of Canterbury. “THE THIRD ‘GREAT’ PRAYER TO MARY.” Anselm of Canterbury : All About Mary. University of Dayton, Ohio. Accessed March 19, 2021. https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/a/anselm-of-canterbury.php.
[iv] Bagdanov, Kelly. “Matthias Grunewald – The Isenheim Altarpiece.” YouTube. YouTube, June 18, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4aAGZ6nqIw.
Posted for the Solemnity of the Annunciation | March 25, 2021
