This new work by Fr. Paul Murray is a Meditation on the Hail Mary. In his introduction, the author writes: "My hope in writing this tiny book is that, by giving space to some of the most moving and most profound reflections ever written on the Hail Mary, a door will open for the reader into a world in which the strenuous task of thinking and the easeful grace of feeling can both be considered sacred, and where wisdom and enchantment, theology and devotion, are found, at core, to be one and the same thing. For almost an entire millennium the most commonly repeated prayer in the Church, apart from the Our Father, has been the Hail Mary. It’s a prayer that, with great simplicity and ease, brings us at once into the mystery of God incarnate, the mystery of Jesus, son of Mary. For countless numbers of people over the centuries it has proved to be a threshold of grace, a real opening into the mystery and meaning of God’s love, a ‘holy door’."
For myself, I find this latter to be so true. How often on entering an old Church in Italy or France, I have observed the Angel Gabriel carved on one side of the main door and the Virgin Mary on the other side. It made me feel that I was being ushered in to the wonderland of the sacred and secret mystery of God. I hope to have this precious work of Fr. Paul available for our Rosary Retreat in the Retreat Centre, in Tallaght
August 14th--20. If you cannot make the full five days it i possible to drop in for a single day or more.
No comments:
Post a Comment