Silence of Mary

Mary sits with her hands resting in her lap beside a wooden loom and unfinished linen, looking toward a sunlit window.
In stillness, make room for what God is doing.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, you who treasured all things and pondered them carefully in your heart, teach us that deep, interior silence which enfolded you throughout your lifetime --

  • the silence of the Annunciation, of faith, mission and obedience;
  • the silence of the Visitation, of humility, service and praise;
  • the silence of Bethlehem, of birth, incarnation and wonder;
  • the silence of the flight into Egypt, of perseverance, hope and trust;
  • the silence of Nazareth, of simplicity, intimacy and communion;
  • the silence of Mt. Calvary, of courage, death and abandonment;
  • the silence of Easter, of resurrection, jubilation and glory;
  • the silence of Ascension, of fulfillment, transformation and new creation;
  • the silence of Pentecost, of peace, power and love.

Mary, in your wisdom, teach us that silence which enables us to listen to the small, still voice of our God; which compels us to worship Him alone in spirit and in truth; which empowers us to acknowledge our nothingness and exult confidently in our Savior; which frees us to lose ourselves in unceasing adoration of the God who is Infinite Love.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now and always, that we may enter into that silence of yours which unites us to Jesus,your Son, in the mystery of His silence before the Father of mercies.

AMEN.

Submitted on March 19, 1996 by Alice Claire Mansfield, © May 1993

Further reading

Silence of Mary follows a listening heart through service, suffering and joy. Caryll Houselander’s The Reed of God reflects on Mary’s openness to God and on making space for Christ within an ordinary human life.

The Reed of God: A New Edition of a Spiritual Classic by Caryll Houselander (revised paperback) on Amazon (paid link)