ZE09053105 – 2009-05-31 Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-26043l=english “In Her Humility, She Found Grace in God’s Eyes” VATICAN CITY, MAY 31, 2009 ().- Here is a translation
of the address Benedict XVI gave Saturday evening in the Vatican Gardens at a traditional Marian celebration to conclude the month of May. Venerable Brothers, Dear Brothers and Sisters, I greet all of you with affection at the end of the traditional Marian vigil that concludes the month of May in the Vatican. This year it has acquired a very special value since it falls on the eve of Pentecost. Gathering together, spiritually recollected before the Virgin Mary, contemplating the mysteries of the Holy Rosary, you have relived the experience of the first disciples, gathered together in the room of the Last Supper with “the Mother of Jesus,” “persevering and united in prayer” awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14). We too, in this penultimate evening of May, from the Vatican hill, ask for the pouring out of the Spirit Paraclete upon us, upon the Church that is in Rome and upon the whole Christian people.
The great Feast of Pentecost invites us to meditate upon the relationship between the Holy Spirit and Mary, a very close, privileged, indissoluble relationship. The Virgin of Nazareth was chosen beforehand to become the Mother of the Redeemer by the working of the Holy Spirit: in her humility, she found grace in God’s eyes (cf. Luke 1:30). In effect, in the New Testament we see that Mary’s faith “draws,” so to speak, the Holy Spirit. First of all in the conception of the Son of God, which the archangel Gabriel explains in this way: “The Holy Spirit will descend upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35). Immediately afterward Mary went to help Elizabeth, and when her greeting reached Elizabeth’s ears, the Holy Spirit made the child jump in the womb of her elderly cousin (cf. Luke 1:44) and the whole dialogue between the two mothers is inspired by the Spirit of God, above all the “Magnificat,” the canticle of praise with which Mary expresses her sentiments. The whole event of Jesus’ birth and his early childhood is guided in an almost palpable manner by the Holy Spirit, even if he is not always mentioned. Mary’s heart, in perfect consonance with the divine Son, is the temple of the Spirit of truth, where every word and every event are kept in faith, hope and charity (cf. Luke 2:19, 51).