Totus Tuus - Totus 2us

1st Joyful Mystery of the Rosary

Scriptural Rosary       ♦

_{In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. He went in and said to her, "Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you." She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, "Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God's favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end." Mary said to the angel, "But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?" "The Holy Spirit will come upon you," the angel answered "and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God." "I am the handmaid of the Lord," said Mary "let what you have said be done to me." And the angel left her. Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. (Luke 1: v 26-39)}

_{Meditation: Our hearts are full of thanksgiving as we contemplate the great love of God in choosing Mary to be the Mother of His Son. Mary is entrusted with the mission of bearing our Saviour Jesus. She is the first to know Him, to love Him, to treasure His holy name. Today Mary comes to say to each of us "God loves you. Christ has come for you." She wishes to tell us that God is the truth. He exists. In Him is to be found true happiness. I thank you Jesus for the joy and hope with which you will fill my heart through Mary.}

_{Eternal Father by the merits of the incarnation,
may we follow Mary's example of humility and obedience which were so pleasing to you.
Mary my Mother, teach me to listen to God's word and speak this word to others.
Help me always to say "yes" to God.}

_{Our Father ... Hail Mary (x10) .. Glory be... O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven especially those who have most need of thy mercy.}

L'Annunciazione dell'Angelo a Maria Vergine

_{Primo Mistero Gaudioso del Santo Rosario       ♦}

La Anunciación del ángel Gabriel a María

_{Primer Misterio Gozoso del Santo Rosario       ♦}

L'Annonciation de l'Ange Gabriel à la Vierge Marie

_{Premier Mystère Joyeux du Saint Rosaire avec Sr Hyacinthe OP       ♦}

_{First Joyful Mystery of the Holy Rosary with Sr Hyacinthe OP       ♦}

3 2us by Father John Edwards SJ       ♦

_{"We should be so grateful that we have a mother like Mary. A mother is one who gives life. The life of Christ, which is meant to be in each one of us, comes as a condition through Mary. As St Augustine said: "From one woman, death (meaning Eve), from a woman, life (meaning Mary). On 25th March we should, among other things, be very grateful to our mother."
[Ave Maria sung by Anna Johnstone]}

3 2us by Father Anthony Doe       ♦

_{"We must always remember that Our Lady is the Lord's first disciple. And what she did we are called to do as well. To find a way, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, of responding more and more in our own life with that prayer that she first uttered to the angel Gabriel. "Let it be done to me according to your word." It's the prayer that sums up the attitude of faith; it's the prayer that Our Lady wants to encourage us to pray every day, with great openness of heart, because it's the prayer that allows Jesus to come and make his home deep within us, incarnate his presence in us, and so enable us then to share with him that great prayer for the mercy of the Father on the world."
[Music: Blessed Mother by Zealous]}

Blessed John Paul II - homily on the Solemnity of the Annunciation

_{Basilica of the Annunciation, the Holy Land - in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish}

_{“Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to your word” (Angelus Prayer).}

_{Your Beatitude, Brother Bishops, Father Custos,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,}

<sub>1. 25th March in the year 2000, the Solemnity of the Annunciation in the Year of the Great Jubilee: on this day the eyes of the whole Church turn to Nazareth. I have longed to come back to the town of Jesus, to feel once again, in contact with this place, the presence of the woman of whom Saint Augustine wrote: “He chose the mother he had created; he created the mother he had chosen.” Here it is especially easy to understand why all generations call Mary blessed.
...
2. We are gathered to celebrate the great mystery accomplished here two thousand years ago. The Evangelist Luke situates the event clearly in time and place: “In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph. . . The virgin’s name was Mary” (1:26-27). But in order to understand what took place in Nazareth 2000 years ago, we must return to the Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews. That text enables us, as it were, to listen to a conversation between the Father and the Son concerning God’s purpose from all eternity. “You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation prepared a body for me. You took no pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices for sin. Then I said. . . 'God, here I am! I am coming to obey your will’” (10:5-7). The Letter to the Hebrews is telling us that, in obedience to the Father’s will, the Eternal Word comes among us to offer the sacrifice which surpasses all the sacrifices offered under the former Covenant. His is the eternal and perfect sacrifice which redeems the world.</sub>

_{The divine plan is gradually revealed in the Old Testament, particularly in the words of the Prophet Isaiah which we have just heard: “The Lord himself will give you a sign. It is this: the virgin is with child and will soon give birth to a child whom she will call Emmanuel” (7:14). Emmanuel - God with us. In these words, the unique event that was to take place in Nazareth in the fullness of time is foretold, and it is this event that we are celebrating here with intense joy and happiness.}

_{3. Our Jubilee Pilgrimage has been a journey in spirit, which began in the footsteps of Abraham, “our father in faith”. That journey has brought us today to Nazareth, where we meet Mary, the truest daughter of Abraham. It is Mary above all others who can teach us what it means to live the faith of “our father”. In many ways, Mary is clearly different from Abraham; but in deeper ways “the friend of God” and the young woman of Nazareth are very alike.}

_{Both receive a wonderful promise from God. Abraham was to be the father of a son, from whom there would come a great nation. Mary is to be the Mother of a Son who would be the Messiah, the Anointed One. “Listen!”, Gabriel says, “ You are to conceive and bear a son. . . The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. . . and his reign will have no end” (Lk 1:31-33).}

_{For both Abraham and Mary, the divine promise comes as something completely unexpected. God disrupts the daily course of their lives, overturning its settled rhythms and conventional expectations. For both Abraham and Mary, the promise seems impossible. Abraham’s wife Sarah was barren, and Mary is not yet married: “How can this come about”, she asks, “since I am a virgin?” (Lk 1:34).}

_{4. Like Abraham, Mary is asked to say yes to something that has never happened before. Sarah is the first in the line of barren wives in the Bible who conceive by God’s power, just as Elizabeth will be the last. Gabriel speaks of Elizabeth to reassure Mary: “Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son” (Lk 1:36).}

_{Like Abraham, Mary must walk through darkness, in which she must simply trust the One who called her. Yet even her question, “How can this come about?”, suggests that Mary is ready to say yes, despite her fears and uncertainties. Mary asks not whether the promise is possible, but only how it will be fulfilled. It comes as no surprise, therefore, when finally she utters her fiat: “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let what you have said be done to me” (Lk 1:38). With these words, Mary shows herself the true daughter of Abraham, and she becomes the Mother of Christ and Mother of all believers.}

_{5. In order to penetrate further into the mystery, let us look back to the moment of Abraham’s journey when he received the promise. It was when he welcomed to his home three mysterious guests, and offered them the adoration due to God: tres vidit et unum adoravit. That mysterious encounter foreshadows the Annunciation, when Mary is powerfully drawn into communion with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Through the fiat that Mary uttered in Nazareth, the Incarnation became the wondrous fulfilment of Abraham’s encounter with God. So, following in the footsteps of Abraham, we have come to Nazareth to sing the praises of the woman “through whom the light rose over the earth” (Hymn Ave Regina Caelorum).}

_{6. But we have also come to plead with her. What do we, pilgrims on our way into the Third Christian Millennium, ask of the Mother of God? Here in the town which Pope Paul VI, when he visited Nazareth, called “the school of the Gospel”, where “we learn to look at and to listen to, to ponder and to penetrate the deep and mysterious meaning of the very simple, very humble and very beautiful appearing of the Son of God”, I pray, first, for a great renewal of faith in all the children of the Church. A deep renewal of faith: not just as a general attitude of life, but as a conscious and courageous profession of the Creed: “Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine, et homo factus est.”}

_{In Nazareth, where Jesus “grew in wisdom and age and grace before God and men” (Lk 2:52), I ask the Holy Family to inspire all Christians to defend the family against so many present-day threats to its nature, its stability and its mission. To the Holy Family I entrust the efforts of Christians and of all people of good will to defend life and to promote respect for the dignity of every human being.}

_{To Mary, the Theotókos, the great Mother of God, I consecrate the families of the Holy Land, the families of the world.}

_{In Nazareth where Jesus began his public ministry, I ask Mary to help the Church everywhere to preach the “good news” to the poor, as he did. In this “year of the Lord’s favour”, I ask her to teach us the way of humble and joyful obedience to the Gospel in the service of our brothers and sisters, without preferences and without prejudices.}

_{“O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy hear and answer me. Amen.” (Memorare).}