Saturday, December 22, 2007

"Hail Mary full of grace . . ."



Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries sings Ave Maria. Anybody who wants to be critical is not possessed of the requisite Celtic spirit. Besides, Advent in general and the fourth Sunday of Advent in particular are focused on Mary, just as the second Sunday of Advent is focused on the John the Baptist.

In his Sunday Angelus address, the Holy Father, speaking on evangelization in light of the Christmas message said of our Blessed Mother:

"Mary is the incomparable model of evangelization, she who did not communicate an idea to the world but rather Jesus, the incarnate Word. Let us invoke her with confidence so that also the Church in our time proclaims Christ the Savior. Every Christian and every community feels the joy of sharing with others the good news that God so loved the world to give his only begotten Son so that the world might be saved through him [Jn 3,16]. This is the authentic meaning of Christmas, that we must always rediscover and live intensely."

AVE MARIA, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.



I am happy that this is the 600th post on this blog.

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