The Annunciation is a moment in our Salvation History that always makes me pay a little more attention and focus on the ways I say yes (or miss the opportunity to say yes) to God. It's a time for us to be grateful for the courageous fiat of the Blessed Virgin Mary as she was greeted by the angel Gabriel's overwhelming news.
And I'm clearly not alone - here are a few quotes on the Annunciation from some of the Catholic Church's greatest minds.
St. Augustine:
"Him whom the heavens cannot contain, the womb of one woman bore. She ruled our Ruler; she carried Him in whom we are; she gave milk to our Bread."
- St. Augustine
St. Teresa of Calcutta
"Mary showed complete trust in God by agreeing to be used as an instrument in his plan of salvation. She trusted him in spite of her nothingness because she knew he who is mighty could do great things in her and through her."
-St. Teresa of Calcutta
Pope Benedict XVI
"Mary's yes to God was not just an act of submission, but an act of profound trust and love. She knew that God's plan for her was greater than anything she could have imagined for herself."
-Pope Benedict XVI
St. John Paul II
"Let us imitate Mary, who accepted the Word of God with faith, and allowed it to take root in her heart, so that it might bear fruit in her life."
-St. Pope John Paul II
St. Maximilian Kolbe
"Jesus honored her before all ages, and will honor her [Mary] for all ages. No one comes to Him, nor even near Him, no one is saved or sanctified, if he too will not honor her. This is the lot of Angels and of men."
-St. Maximilian Kolbe
St. Josemaria Escriva
"The Virgin did not merely pronounce her fiat; in every moment she fulfilled that firm and irrevocable decision. So should we."
St. Josemaria Escriva
Pope Francis
"How many times Jesus comes into our lives, and how many times he sends us an angel, and how many times we don’t notice because we are so taken, immersed in our own thoughts, in our own affairs ... so as not to notice Him who comes and knocks at the door of our hearts, asking for acceptance, asking for a “yes” like Mary’s."
-Pope Francis
