As we remember Our Lady on Saturday, we recall God’s unique intervention in Mary’s life. This radically changed the whole direction of her personal history and challenged her to give up every preconceived notion of virtue and righteousness. Nevertheless, Mary still had to live out the full course of her appointed time on earth in an (externally speaking) most ordinary manner. And yet within, in the interior chamber of her prayer and in her keen awareness of God’s intense presence in her being, she was one unceasing act of gratitude, praise, and joy; in her own words: "My spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked upon his servant in her nothingness. Henceforth all generations will call me blessed." These words of her Magnificat mark the most significant turning-point in the human race’s understanding of itself. Small, hidden, humble Mary turned the course of world history and man’s self-understanding on its head.
Reflection by Father Simeon.