Pondering the Angelus with Art

Annunciation Window by Cornelia Rota.

Prayer to Mary, "Cause of our Joy"

O Mary, who abandoned your soul to happiness by offering it to God,
grant that in our gift to God, our joy may be complete.

O Virgin radiant with joy, grant that we may believe in the happiness which God in his love wills to offer us.

Make joy bloom again in hearts given over to sadness;
Teach us to detach ourselves from worldly pleasures and to seek our happiness in God;
Help us to radiate the witness of Christian joy.

Through your presence in our lives, be for us the font of a joy which is ever new:
Jesus our Lord,

who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God,
forever and ever.
Amen.

Pondering the Angelus with Art

Many of the outdoor Marian shrines in Italy depict the Annunciation. This is an example from Assisi, where the spirit of joy matches well this prayer by Jean Galot: "O Mary, who received from God the deepest joy, help us to live in true joy, the joy of Christ."




Photo by Sr Irma Cipriani, FSP.

Pondering the Angelus with Art

There's something unexpectedly modern about Nicolas Poussin's 1657 rendition of the Annunciation. Mary is seated on an elevated surface, her feet crossed, one sole peeking out from under her robes. Gabriel joyfully gestures both to Mary and to the heavenly Dove even now covering her with its shadow. Mary's open hands tell us her response: "Be it done to me."

Pondering the Angelus with Art

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, The Annunciation (1660-1665)

As the New Year begins, a prayer to Our Lady that the mystery that began in her on the day of the Annunciation will reach its fullness:

Mary,
You who gave birth to the Word made Flesh,
be present among us:
assist, inspire and comfort the ministers of the Word.

Mary,
You who are Queen of the Apostles,
intervene with your protection
that the light of the Gospel
may reach all peoples.

Mary,
Mother of Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life,
intercede for us
that heaven may be filled
with souls who sing the hymn of glory
to the Most Holy Trinity.

(Blessed James Alberione)