Message of the
Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
17. On the feast of the Annunciation in this
Holy Year of the Redemption, I place the present exhortation in the heart of
the immaculate Virgin. Among all persons consecrated unreservedly to God, she
is the first. She-the Virgin of Nazareth-is also the one most fully consecrated
to God, consecrated in the most perfect way. Her spousal love reached its
height in the divine Motherhood through the power of the Holy Spirit. She, who
as Mother carries Christ in her arms, at the same time fulfills in the most
perfect way His call: "Follow me." And she follows Him-she, the
Mother-as her Teacher of chastity, poverty and obedience.
How poor she was on Bethlehem night and how
poor on Calvary! How obedient she was at the moment of the Annunciation, and
then-at the foot of the cross-obedient even to the point of assenting to the
death of her Son, who became obedient "unto death"! How dedicated she
was in all her earthly life to the cause of the kingdom of heaven through most
chaste love.
If the entire Church finds in Mary her first
model, all the more reason do you find her so-you as consecrated individuals
and communities within the Church! On the day that calls to mind the
inauguration of the Jubilee of the Redemption, which took place last year, I
address myself to you with this present message, to invite you to renew your
religious consecration according to the model of the consecration of the very
Mother of God.
Beloved brothers and sisters! "God is
faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ
our Lord."(111) Persevering in fidelity to Him who is faithful,
strive to find a very special support in Mary! For she was called by God to the
most perfect communion with His Son. May she, the faithful Virgin, also be the
Mother of your evangelical way: may she help you to experience and to show to
the world how infinitely faithful is God Himself!
With these hopes I bless you with all my
heart.
From the Vatican, on March 25, in the
Jubilee Year of the Redemption, 1984, the sixth of my Pontificate.
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