The Message of the Angel

And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
—Luke 1:26-38

Rejoice, O greatly troubled,
uncertain and afraid:
Though mountains shake to rubble,
the Lord is on his way.

Rejoice through every sadness,
O highly favored one:
Though oceans rise in anguish,
yet you shall bear a son.

Now you both trust and tremble
and ask how this can be;
though David's throne stands empty,
his son shall set you free.

Recall the prophets' tellings:
Rejoice amid your fear,
for God comes to his dwelling
and even now draws near.

Rejoice in what was promised;
remember what was done.
The Lord has not forgotten,
and mercy still shall come.

Though now you sit in darkness,
for joy you shall yet sing:
This shadow now upon you
is God the Most High's wings.

Annunciation by Armenian manuscript illuminator Toros Roslin, 13th century By uploader Koperczak (talk) 08:52, 26 March 2009 (UTC), Toros Roslin – Miniatures Armeniennes, Ayastan, Erevan 1967, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6341938

Half-Light

The lightening sky before the dawn,

the gray that tells us morning comes,

the paling east whose stars are gone,

the flaming clouds that hold the sun:



So creeping, as the old earth turns,

reveals a new world to our eyes.

The stars fade out; a great light burns:

We see the sun of justice rise.



But first, the half-light heralding,

to run before the break of dawn.

Ere stars wink out to greet their king,

this prophesies, as sure as John,



of stars that fall before the sun

and dying embers lifted high,

rekindled by the burning one,

while brightest gutter out and die.



And all the mornings long foretold

shall rise as one and still be dim,

and all the prophecies of old

shall be fulfilled at last in Him.



O Mary, glimmer of Christ's light,

your shining was his shining first.

May he make us, as you, shine bright

when he fills all the waiting earth.

This picture shows the sunrise at its best and it was taken at 5am at dawn and you can see how the lighting rolls apart in this picture As you can see the house and the trees shown in the picture had the shadow to cover them in black too it was taken on 5-3-2019 By Morjana Jalal – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81516889

Rejoice, O Daughter Mary

One for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception:

Rejoice, O daughter Mary,
O Zion, full of grace,
for in yourself you carry
the dawn of endless day.
And he who dwells within you,
who makes your darkness bright,
is all your hope's fulfillment
and heals the serpent's bite.

The shadow of the Most High
will douse the sword of flame.
Your son will be called Holy
and end the years of shame.
Then what we learned in Eden
that struck us at our roots,
with that he will redeem us:
The seed puts forth new shoots.

Our very death is hallowed,
for he will share its stings,
and we, who dwell in shadow,
shall find it is his wings.
The little one you carry
is God who hears our voice.
Rejoice with us, O Mary,
O mother of our joy!

Berthold Furtmeyr , “Tree of Death and Life”, Salzburg Missal (15th century) By Berthold Furtmeyr, Miniaturmaler des 15. Jahrhunderts – http://www.rpi-virtuell.de/arbeitsbereiche/artothek/impulse/paradies/furtmayr/furtmayr.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11425618

Fear Not

For the Feast of the Immaculate Conception: the Annunciation in an Advent mode, sung to “Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel” (of course).

 Fear not, all you in shadows deep,
 for God his hand on you shall keep,
 and though you walk in death's dark shade
 the dawn breaks forth, as long you prayed.
He comes! He comes! Through doubt and gloom
 his light breaks open every tomb.
 
 Fear not, O Mary, trembling here,
 though immanence to you draw near.
 This shadow coming over you
 is Godhead making all things new.
 He comes! He comes! The dawn on high
 shall come, but with an infant's cry.
  
 Fear not, though kings and judges past
 too long their empty shadows cast.
 For David's throne shall fill with light
 to raise the poor to glory bright.
 He comes! He comes! The proud cast down,
 the lowly wear his shining crown.
  
 Fear not, though deserts overflow;
 this flood shall drown the ancient foe
 and death be conquered now by grace,
 by light that rises in God's face.
 He comes! He comes! Emmanuel
 shall bring you day, O Israel!