Reflection on the Feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos

Today, an angel stands in fear and awe in the presence of woman, she who is “more honorable than the cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim.” This is not Byzantine hyperbole: the Mother of God contained within herself the one before whom the angels merely tremble, immeasurably surpassing every other creature by her total self-abnegation and humility: “Let it be unto me according to thy word.” Totally emptying herself, she made room, space, in her heart and in her womb, for God Almighty to dwell. If we wish to be saved and achieve eternal union with the God of our hearts, then, unworthy sinners though we be, we must strive to imitate her path of utter humility and undistracted prayer.