Today is the Feast of the Annunciation, transferred from Holy Week. To mark the day, here is a reflection on one of my favorite icons: the Ustyug Annunciation.
“The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you’.” — Luke 1:26–28
Gabriel comes as the messenger of the one who says, “Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst” (Zech. 2:10). Gabriel greets her within whose womb his Creator (and hers) comes to take on flesh. In the icon, Gabriel’s hand is raised in blessing because he comes in “the fullness of time” to “a woman” (Gal. 4:4) who has “found favor with God” (Lk. 1:30), to the one who will become Mater mundi Salvatoris, Mother of the world’s Savior.* Gabriel rejoices with all creation† in the one chosen in God’s “good pleasure” (Eph. 1:5, 9) to be the mother of the Son of God.
“Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word’.” — Luke 1:38
Like Abraham (Gen. 22:1), like David (Ps. 40:7), like her Son (Heb. 10:5–7), Mary’s response to the Lord is: “Here I am.” She gives herself totally to the Lord. In delighting to do the good pleasure of God’s will (Ps. 40:8; Eph. 1:5), she is made the mother of Christ, bearing him in her heart whom she will conceive in the flesh.‡ Thus, in the icon, she touches her heart, wherein dwells Christ, the King of Glory, who also makes her womb a throne.
In the icon, the Virgin Mary also holds scarlet thread in her hands. The imagery comes from an apocryphal story in which Mary is chosen to spin scarlet and purple thread for the veil for the Temple.§ Apocryphal or not, it seems an appropriate symbol in the hands of her from whom “the Word became flesh and lived, tabernacled, among us” (Jn. 1:14). Her flesh becomes “the temple of his body” (Jn. 2:21), and, in his face, shines forth with the glory of God (2 Cor 4:6).
* From Henryk Gorecki, Totus tuus Op. 60.
† From the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great: “In you, O full of grace, all creation rejoices, the ranks of Angels and the human race: hallowed temple and spiritual Paradise, pride of virgins, from whom God was made flesh; and he, who is our God before the ages, became a little Child; for he made your womb a throne; and made it wider than the heavens. In you, O full of grace, all creation rejoices. Glory to you!”
‡ Augustine, De sancta virginitate 3.3
§ Protoevangelium of James 10.
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| "Annunciation Ustyuzhskoe," Novgorod icon (12th c.), Tretyakov Gallery |
Gabriel comes as the messenger of the one who says, “Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst” (Zech. 2:10). Gabriel greets her within whose womb his Creator (and hers) comes to take on flesh. In the icon, Gabriel’s hand is raised in blessing because he comes in “the fullness of time” to “a woman” (Gal. 4:4) who has “found favor with God” (Lk. 1:30), to the one who will become Mater mundi Salvatoris, Mother of the world’s Savior.* Gabriel rejoices with all creation† in the one chosen in God’s “good pleasure” (Eph. 1:5, 9) to be the mother of the Son of God.
“Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word’.” — Luke 1:38
Like Abraham (Gen. 22:1), like David (Ps. 40:7), like her Son (Heb. 10:5–7), Mary’s response to the Lord is: “Here I am.” She gives herself totally to the Lord. In delighting to do the good pleasure of God’s will (Ps. 40:8; Eph. 1:5), she is made the mother of Christ, bearing him in her heart whom she will conceive in the flesh.‡ Thus, in the icon, she touches her heart, wherein dwells Christ, the King of Glory, who also makes her womb a throne.
In the icon, the Virgin Mary also holds scarlet thread in her hands. The imagery comes from an apocryphal story in which Mary is chosen to spin scarlet and purple thread for the veil for the Temple.§ Apocryphal or not, it seems an appropriate symbol in the hands of her from whom “the Word became flesh and lived, tabernacled, among us” (Jn. 1:14). Her flesh becomes “the temple of his body” (Jn. 2:21), and, in his face, shines forth with the glory of God (2 Cor 4:6).
Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, Alleluia. For the Lord has truly risen, Alleluia. — Regina Coeli antiphon
* From Henryk Gorecki, Totus tuus Op. 60.
† From the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great: “In you, O full of grace, all creation rejoices, the ranks of Angels and the human race: hallowed temple and spiritual Paradise, pride of virgins, from whom God was made flesh; and he, who is our God before the ages, became a little Child; for he made your womb a throne; and made it wider than the heavens. In you, O full of grace, all creation rejoices. Glory to you!”
‡ Augustine, De sancta virginitate 3.3
§ Protoevangelium of James 10.