Thursday evening we gathered together in Church to sing, to worship, to give thanks to our God Who has come into the world through the Virgin. This day we honored Mary who gave her entire being in service to our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, our Savior. She never hesitated. She said yes to the call. This hymn we sang on Thursday evening speaks so eloquently of this.
And so many more beautiful hymns…
The Archangel Gabriel was sent from heaven,
Glory verse for Lord I have Cried for the Feast of Annunciation.
to announce to the Virgin the good news of her conceiving.
And coming to Nazareth, he was filled with wonder at the miracle,
and reasoned within himself:
“How is it that He Who dwells on high,
Whom none can comprehend, is to be born of a Virgin?
How is He, Whose throne is Heaven and Whose footstool is the earth,
to be contained in the womb of a woman?
He upon Whom the six-winged Seraphim and
the many-eyed Cherubim are not able to gaze
is well-pleased to be made flesh from her at a single word.
It is the Word of God Who is to come.
Why then do I hesitate, and not say to the Maiden:
‘Rejoice, O Lady, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!
Rejoice, pure Virgin!
Rejoice, Bride without Bridegroom!
Rejoice, Mother of the Life!
Blessed is the Fruit of thy womb!’”
And yet another beautiful hymn:
Today the good tidings of joy are proclaimed,
today is the festival of the Virgin;
things below are joined together with things on high.
Adam is made new;
Eve is freed from the primal grief;
and by the deification of the human nature that the Lord assumed,
the tabernacle of our substance has become a temple of God.
Oh, what a mystery!
The manner of His emptying cannot be known;
the manner of His conception is beyond speech.
An angel ministers at the miracle; a virginal womb receives the Son;
the Holy Spirit is sent down; the Father on high is well pleased,
and according to their common counsel, a reconciliation is brought to pass
in which and through which we are saved.
For this reason let us unite our song with Gabriel’s,
crying aloud to the Virgin:
“Rejoice, O Lady Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee!
From thee is our salvation, Christ our God,
Who, by assuming our nature, has led us back to Himself.
Humbly pray to Him for the salvation of our souls!”
“The good tidings of joy are proclaimed”!
This year, this feast comes just couple days before the third Sunday of Lent, the middle Sunday of Lent, the Sunday of the Cross. This Sunday of Lent is one of my favorites. This Sunday we commemorate the Life-giving, Precious Cross of our Lord. Such beautiful hymns combined with the “Festival of the Virgin”.
O Word, Who wast stretched out upon the Cross,
gathering together those who had departed from Thee,
raise up my thoughts from being poisoned by passion,
and enrich me now in all the virtues;
instill in my heart the purest fear of Thee,
and in my soul — perfect love for Thee.
By abstinence, prayer and petition, may I please Thee
and receive great mercy,
beholding in joy the day of Thy Resurrection.
A hymn and prayer that I feel in my soul. Lord, Jesus Christ, “instill in my heart the purest fear of Thee, and in my soul — perfect love for Thee”!
As we round the corner of the fast may you be strengthened to complete it and come out in the end to celebrate His glorious resurrection filled with joy!
Kindler of Joy! 