Until the last century, Church bells had framed the Christian day for most of the Western world’s history. Awakened in the morning by the peal from the local church, workers went off to their jobs, students to their schools and homemakers to their pantries and washrooms. At noon, the chimes again announced a break in the workday. Lunch pails were opened at work, children unwrapped their fare in the classroom, and kitchen chairs gave a bit of rest to those at home. Then at sunset, the community’s workday was completed as the parish bells reminded families once again to gather at the fireside to enjoy an evening meal. An idyllic schedule indeed! And one that the Church thought worthy of sanctifying through the prayerful recollection of three great events in salvation history.
Even in our own era, the beginning, the middle and the end of the Christian’s day might be celebrated and blessed by the recitation of a Bible-centered prayer which recalls three great events from salvation history. The Annunciation, truly the beginning of the New Testament, is first recalled as believers harken back to St. Luke’s touching narrative of the angel’s invitation from God the Father to Mary at Nazareth, “The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.” The requested pregnancy in Mary’s womb was a heaven-sent event: an angel announced it, and the Holy Spirit effected it. God the Father took the initiative in introducing his Son to the world. Redemption in this life and salvation in the next life are as well gifts from God, graces that he bestows in his kindness. Mary’s compliance with this plan is requested!
The Virgin Mary is next quoted with words that should be heard from the lips of every believer. Mary pledges full cooperation with God’s saving plan: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, Be it done unto me according to thy Word.” Mary acts out here what St. Paul would later call “the obedience of faith,” words found in this coming Sunday’s second reading. Mary accepts the proposal of God, certainly not because she comprehends its full significance, but rather because she understands that God’s Will is always for the best. And who was she to resist God’s Word!
The familiar thrice daily prayer next borrows some words from St. John’s Gospel account, shifting from the mystery of the Annunciation to the even deeper mystery of the Incarnation: ““And the Word was made flesh, And dwelt among us.” More literal translations from St. John make the reality of Christ entering history even more dramatic: “And the Word became flesh and pitched His tent among us.” Remember that the Hebraic God had up to this point dwelt in the Meeting Tent, the Jewish Tabernacle. Now the Divine Presence is to be encountered in the very human flesh of Jesus, son of Mary as well as Son of God! Jesus, and hence God’s Presence, will literally be available next door!
The Angelus prayer then shifts from the words of Scripture to the earnest prayer of the present day believing community: “Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.” Mary, who has been just seen as integral and even intimate in the plans of God, is asked to intercede with the Father so that all believers might take advantage of the promises revealed through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The treasures and mysteries of salvation have been announced and made available through Christ and his Church. Now Mary’s assistance is invoked as an aid for all believers to acknowledge and avail themselves of these saving truths.
The final collect of this thrice daily prayer happily unites the greatest mysteries of our faith found in the life of Christ: the Incarnation, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. The believer asks, “Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts: that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection.” Today, as the bells and chimes and carillons of the modern world celebrate, however remotely, however slightly, the birth of the Incarnate Christ at Christmas, believers are urged to renew their own faith in the great and saving mysteries celebrated in the Angelus prayer which was so familiar to our ancestors in the faith, encouraging them in their daily lives and promising them happiness in their future lives.
