La Parola 2024 edition: "Fiat"

La Parola

An Angelicum Student Publication

A LIFETIME OF “LET IT BE SO”

Dearest Brothers and Sisters,

The call of our Lord comes in many ways, in many stages of life, taking countless forms. One only needs to take one look around the Angelicum to see that the Lord’s call is as varied as the souls touched by it. What is important, in the end, is that the call is never simply a one-time event, but rather an invitation to respond to a lifetime of callings. Mary’s fiat began in the angelic splendor of Nazareth, but we mustn’t forget all the moments in which we see her responding to the call of the Lord, even when it leads us to the foot of the cross. I want to thank our editor Gina Pribaz for envisioning this year’s La Parola with this beautiful theme of “Fiat.” I hope these stories and poems of Our Lord’s calling can be an inspiration in your own faith journey.

May Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, continue to guide us to respond to the prompting of the Lord in our life!

Carissimi

Fratelli e Sorelle,

La chiamata del Signore ci viene in modo varie, in tante stagioni, in forme innumerevole. Si guarda solo una volta all’Angelicum comprenderlo nelle anime varie che ha toccato. Nella fine, la cosa importante è che questa chiamata non è isolata, ma in realtà è un invito a una vita di chiamate a cui dobbiamo rispondere. Nella fiat della Madonna, vediamo lo splendore angelico di Nazareth. Tuttavia, non dobbiamo dimenticare tutti i momenti in cui vediamo la sua risposta al Signore, anche se ci troviamo ai piedi della croce. Vorrei ringraziare la nostra editrice Gina Pribaz per la sua visione nel programma di questo numero di La Parola sul bellissimo tema di “Fiat.” Spero che queste storie della chiamata del nostro Signore potrebbero un’ispirazione nei vostri cammini di fede.

Che Maria Sede della Sapienza ci guidi continuamente a rispondere ai suggerimenti del Signore!

Ad Jesum per Mariam, Michael Olsta Presidente ASPUST

Cover art credits [detail]:

1. Fra Angelico, “The Annunciation” (1443) Convent of San Marco, Florence

2. Henry Ossawa Tanner, “The Annunciation” (1898) Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia

3. Antonello da Messina, “L’Annunciata di Palermo” (1475) Palazzo Abatellis, Palermo

4. Toros Taronetsi, “The Annunciation” (1323) University of Gladzor, Armenia

Layout & Graphic Design

Bénedicte Cedergren

IN THIS ISSUE

OUR LADY’S AVE

Aleksander Jørgen Roscins

MANGYARI NAWA

Father James Raymond Cortez

PREGANDO CON L’ICONA DELL’ANNUNCIAZIONE

Suor Monica Albornoz

BEYOND THE BEHOLDER

Father Joseph Hudson, OSB

QUAND L’ANGE VINT

LA VISITER

Juste Samson

ISAIAH COMMISSIONED

Gina Pribaz

THE ANGEL’S FAN

Father Joshua Joseph Moonjapilly, OP

FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE ANNUNCIATION

Reverend Mr. Matthew Pohlman

THE WORK OF THE FINGERTIPS OF GOD

Father Kgomotso Sebopela, mccj

FIAT

Reverend P. Christopher De Herrera, OS

FIAT VOLUNTAS TUA

Leonora Tanushaj-O’Connell

THE MYSTIC HUNT OF THE UNICORN

Peter El-Hitti

THE VINEYARD

Elizabeth Mazza

A

Erica Saveri

A word from the editor

Fiat is a word in the passive form in Latin, but we might think of it as the “action verb” par excellence. By His divine fiat, God created the universe. Mary’s fiat set in motion the salvation of humanity, and as a mother who teaches her children to speak, she models for us the way to pronounce our own fiat. From her we learn that the grammar of receptivity requires a complement: a courageous and creative response to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I thank all who contributed to this issue of La Parola, and may God bless all who have been called to the Angelicum.

Fiat è una parola nella forma passiva in latino, ma potremo considerarla come il “verbo d’azione” per eccellenza. Con il Suo fiat, Dio creò l’universo. Il fiat di Maria ha messo in moto la salvezza dell’umanità, e come una madre che insegna i suoi bambini a parlare, modella per noi come possiamo dire il nostro fiat. Da Lei impariamo che la grammatica della ricettività richiede un complemento: una risposta coraggiosa e creativa ai suggerimenti dello Spirito Santo. Ringrazio tutti coloro che hanno contribuito a questa edizione di La Parola, e che Dio benedica tutti coloro che sono stati chiamati all’ Angelicum.

Our Lady’s Ave

Aleksander Jørgen Roscins

As sky was getting cloudy

And as the nightly gloom was slowly falling

The wind became then rowdy

And by a voice enthralling

A virgin heard within her heart a calling

The voice as clear as thunder

And with the voice there also came a vision

The time was torn asunder

Removed was all division

The heavens were demanding a decision

“Rejoice! O highly favoured You lily of the vale, Lord gently serving

Sweetness of God you savoured

And ancient curse upturning Your prayer let arise as incense burning

For God has seen His people His visit to you is His pact upholding

Of Temple you are steeple

Within you you’ll be holding

The Child that is His blessed plan unfolding”

A frown upon her forehead

On lips as sweet as silk arose confusion

And praising blessed Godhead

In innermost seclusion

Of God and man there came miraculous fusion

“I am the maid of heaven

Be unto me, as God on high is willing

From empty womb will leaven

The bread of life fulfilling

Within my heart I feel a calling thrilling”

O Virgin, your consenting

That night made bright as day and full of gladness

Healing of men cementing

Removing every sadness

An act by which He wipes away our madness

Thrice every day rejoicing

Are people of the God about that meeting

By your approval voicing

That pure angelic greeting

Remembering that joys of world are fleeting

Aleksander Jørgen Roscins, a seminarian at the Venerable English College, is from Rennesøy, Norway. He is a first-cycle philosophy student.

MANGYARI NAWA

The title of this original painting translates to the Latin "Fiat mihi" and is a meditation on Luke 1: 38. It is painted by Father James Raymond Cortez who is a doctorate student at the Angelicum in the faculty of philosophy. He was among the artists selected to participate in the Milan Biennal, Sanremo Biennial, and Premio Internazionale Artista d'Europa. On two occasions, his paintings were given as gifts to Pope Francis by the Pontificio Collegio Filippino.

PREGANDO CON L’ICONA DELL’ ANNUNZIAZIONE

Suor Monica Albornoz, MD

Forse qualche volta può esserci capitato di domandarci: chi è la Madonna? Partendo da`una riflessione sulla figura della Madonna nell’icona di Rublev possiamo probabilmente trovare alcune risposte a questo interrogativo.

Come prima cosa notiamo il corpo della Vergine curvo in avanti, con il capo profondamente chino. L’atto di abbassare il capo traduce corporalmente la parola presente nel suo cuore: fiat. Questo inchino corrisponde a un atto di sottomissione totale e di affidamento totale. É il gesto dell’adorazione, dell’umiltà, ma soprattutto dell’obbedienza.

Un altro aspetto straordinario di questo flettersi, di questo abbassare il capo, é che sembra quasi aprire uno spazio in Lei: il suo corpo disegna un arco concavo, il quale simboleggia lo spazio che la Vergine apre al Verbo, alla venuta del Verbo dentro il Suo grembo. Quest’arco nella sua figura sembra, inoltre, essere scavato dal braccio dell’angelo, che la nomina, così, “capax Dei”. Il frutto proprio della sua fede, della sua capacità di chinarsi, della sua obbedienza, è l’aprirsi di questo spazio per ospitare Colui che neanche i cieli possono contenere.

Nonostante il turbamento dovuto all’annuncio dell’angelo, poiché supera la comprensione della ragione, Lei crede e dona il suo assenso, che si esprime anche attraverso la sua piccola mano aperta. Nell’icona di Rublev, la mano aperta che accompagna il capo chino esprime ulteriormente il fiat della Vergine. È una mano che si apre all’iniziativa imperiosa e maestosa dell’angelo: il movimento dell’accoglienza. Questo fiat, che sembra essere un nonnulla, in realtà apre al Verbo la porta d’ingresso nel mondo e diviene, così, causa del legame di sangue, del connubio tra cielo e terra. Questa unione è simboleggiata nell’icona dal drappo rosso, che collega la casa di Nazareth, la città terrena, alla Città Celeste, la

Gerusalemme celeste.

In secondo luogo, osserviamo la veste della Vergine: il colore è tra il rosso e il marrone, come a simboleggiare la “terra deserta, arida, senza acqua” (sal 62), che attende di essere bagnata dalla pioggia.

La terra assetata è simbolo dell’umiltà di Maria, ma anche della sua attesa della pioggia feconda, il Verbo. Maria, prima ancora di essere nuova Eva, è la nuova Terra Vergine, da cui viene generato il nuovo Adamo. É la terra fecondata dal Logos, dalla Parola di Dio. Il cielo e la terra creati in principio sono una prefigurazione di quel Cielo e quella Terra purissima che corrispondono all’anima e alla carne di Maria. I cieli creati in principio, sono a volte considerati una realtà invisibile; invece la Vergine essendo la sintesi tra cielo e terra, tra spirito e materia, tra realtà intelligibile e realtà sensibile, diventa il nuovo cielo e la nuova terra della nuova creazione. Così, come in principio Dio per dare forma al cosmo ha creato la materia e la terra informe e deserta, ricettacolo futuro della sua Parola, così in Maria Dio ha preparato una terra perfettamente deserta, vuota, disponibile, malleabile e docile alla sua Parola, per ricevere il Verbo. Questo ritorno alla verginità originaria non è esattamente un ritorno, bensì una novità, perché la terra all’inizio era una terra inconsapevole della propria attesa e materia senza spirito, ma in Maria questa attesa diventa consapevole, libera nel suo fiat. In Lei la memoria e il desiderio della promessa fatta ad Israele vibra con un’intensità senza precedenti. L’umiltà di Maria e la sua perfetta coscienza di essere terra, di essere nulla di per se stessa e nient’altro che pura attesa, fa sì che lei rimanga sorpresa davanti all’annuncio dell’angelo. Nonostante il suo sconcerto, Maria si abbandona incondizionatamente alla generosità e all’onnipotenza di Dio, dicendo fiat.

E, come all’inizio della creazione troviamo nella terra arida e senz’acqua - in attesa di essere fecondata dal Verbo di Dio - l’immagine di Maria, così alla fine della storia troviamo un’altra immagine della Vergine davanti al Trono di Dio in cielo. San Giovanni evangelista nella sua Apocalisse, quando gli viene mostrata la visione di queste realtà escatologiche, ci dice: “Davanti al trono vi era come un mare trasparente simile a cristallo. In mezzo al trono e attorno al trono vi erano quattro esseri viventi, pieni d’occhi davanti e dietro.” (Ap 4,6)

Edith Stein suggerisce che questo “mare di cristallo” davanti al trono dell’Altissimo sia la Vergine Maria, quando nella sua preghiera dice allo Spirito Santo:

“Sei tu Colui che creò il chiaro specchio, vicinissimo al Trono supremo, come un mare di cristallo, in cui la Divinità amando si guarda? Ti chini sulla più bella opera della tua creazione e raggiante ti illumina il tuo proprio splendore, e la pura bellezza di tutti gli esseri, unita nel

grazioso aspetto della Vergine, tua Immacolata Sposa: Spirito Santo - Creatore dell’universo!”1

Maria è la donna cattolica per eccellenza, l’Annunciazione è un evento universale e il fiat di Maria abbraccia tutta la storia. Maria si dona e in questa donazione fa risplendere la sua verità, cioè che è Madre del Verbo, Immacolata Concezione, Vergine senza macchia, Corredentrice e Madre della Chiesa. Tutti questi titoli si riassumono per Dante nella Bellezza che sorride2, perché nel suo volto si riflette la gioia eterna del compiacimento di Dio in lei. Maria è il gioiello più perfetto che Dio abbia fatto e la donna che meglio ha risposto a Lui.

Suor Monica Albornoz, dell’Istituto Mater Dei, è di San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina. Studia nel secondo ciclo di teologia, sezione tomistica.

1 Edith Stein, preghiera allo Spirito Santo “La mia ultima Pentecoste”, preghiera composta per la Novena di Pentecoste del 1937.

2 Dante, Divina Commedia. Paradiso, Canto XXXI.

COURT MÉTRAGE Shor

Andrei Rublev, The Annunciation, 1405.

BEYOND THE BEHOLDER:

Universal and Subjective Beauty in Fra Angelico’s Annunciation

Father Joseph Hudson, OSB

The modern media landscape is often dominated by images that prioritize instant appeal or the commodification of beauty to the detriment of depth. Great art, on the contrary, insists on a different prioritization. Real art challenges us, provokes thought, evokes emotion, and inspires reflection about what is true, good, and beautiful.

This year the “Let’s Paint Catholicism Again” initiative challenged young scholars to consider the nature of the beautiful through the lens of the Annunciation. While the quest for beauty is itself no small challenge, the task of unraveling the riddle of the essence of beauty in this sacred context is formidable. It forces one to go beyond aesthetic appreciation and engage deeply with theological significance.

Despite being a medieval philosopher, Aquinas presents ideas on beauty that continue to resonate today. While modern aesthetics often debates the objective versus subjective nature of beauty, Aquinas offers a nuanced perspective that integrates both. His principles suggest that while personal and cultural backgrounds influence perceptions of beauty, there are still universal principles—guided by our intellectual and sensory faculties—that allow for a shared understanding and appreciation of beauty.

Aquinas argues that “the beautiful is the same as the good, and they differ in aspect only... The notion of good is that which calms the desire, while the notion of the beautiful is that which calms the desire, by being seen or known” (ST I, q5, a4). This distinction suggests that beauty enhances goodness with its appeal to cognitive faculties; hence, good is what satisfies the appetite, whereas the beautiful is appealing to the understanding.

Regarding its cognitive relation, Aquinas characterizes the beautiful as “that

which pleases upon being seen” (id quod visum placet), explaining that “beauty consists in due proportion, for the senses delight in things duly proportioned... because the sense too is a sort of reason, as is every cognitive power” (ST I, q5, a4).

The enjoyment derived from experiencing beauty is more aligned with knowledge than with mere desire or action. This form of knowing, distinct from scientific understanding, pertains more to the perception of unique entities and occurs through intuition or reflection rather than analytic thought. Beauty thus embodies a unique mode of truth and a distinct form of goodness.

Aquinas identifies specific objective criteria or “conditions” of beauty: “Beauty includes three conditions: integrity or perfection, since those things which are impaired are by that very fact ugly; due proportion or harmony; and lastly, brightness or clarity, whence things are called beautiful which have a bright color” (ST I, q39, a8). These properties, independent of personal reactions, vary in their ability to appeal or repel an observer.

These considerations imply that personal responses to beauty, while influenced by objective qualities, are not always consistent with them. People vary in their perceptual acuity and evaluative judgments, just as objects vary in their qualitative beauty. This suggests a middle path in the debate over beauty’s objectivity or subjectivity, recognizing an intrinsic beauty in objects while acknowledging the impact of individual differences in perception.

Perhaps the piece of art that most perfectly embodies Aquinas’ principles is Fra Angelico’s Annunciation at the Dominican convent in Florence, San Marco.

The Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary are positioned within an arched portico that mirrors the convent’s own. The architectural details invite viewers to contemplate the scene as though it were happening that very moment within the walls of the cloister. Both figures are enveloped in a serene, ethereal light, symbolizing the divine grace that pervades the scene. Gabriel, with a gesture of reverence, and Mary, embodying humble acceptance, illustrate the profound humility and openness at the heart of this divine-human interchange. Behind them, a garden is meticulously rendered, evoking the purity and tranquility of Eden.

Fra Angelico’s masterpiece offers a unique window into the mystery of the Annunciation while also revealing how the artist sought to incarnate the scene in the present. The moment of the Incarnation comes to life within the quietude of the convent in which Fra Angelico lived. The artwork sends a silent signal that Mary and the angel are present here and now by means of the divine grace that gently guides the Dominican friars viewing it.

1. Integrity or Perfection: In Aquinas’ terms, Fra Angelico’s Annunciation achieves integrity by its comprehensive portrayal not only of the biblical scene but of the presence of the mystery in our own time.

2. Due Proportion or Harmony: Fra Angelico’s use of architectural elements, like the colonnade and the perspective of the tiles, guides the viewer’s eye towards the central figures, creating a visual harmony that directs focus and reflects the painting’s spiritual harmony. The figures are proportionate not only to each other but also within the space they occupy, symbolizing the order and measure of divine creation.

3. Brightness or Clarity: Clarity, for Aquinas, involves a radiance or brightness that makes an object beautiful to behold. Fra Angelico is renowned for his use of light and color, which imbue his works with a heavenly luminosity. In his Annunciation, the light that bathes the scene and the angel’s radiant garb bring a celestial clarity and emphasize the divine nature of the moment.

Fra Angelico, The Annunciation, 1440-1445.

In this context, Aquinas’ principles remind us that while beauty inherently possesses universal qualities, its full appreciation often requires a cultivated understanding. Aquinas’ principles allow us to view Fra Angelico’s Annunciation as something more than a mere visual representation; it is a theological narrative expressed through art. The painting’s adherence to the principles of integrity, proportion, and clarity invites a deeper contemplation that transcends initial aesthetic enjoyment. It beckons the viewer to a profound engagement with the divine mystery it portrays, suggesting

that beauty, in its highest form, is both a reflection of divine order and a bridge to higher intellectual and spiritual appreciation.Thus, while initial reactions to the painting might vary, its alignment with Aquinas’ criteria anchors it in objective beauty, ensuring its relevance and resonance across diverse perspectives and epochs. This approach underscores the enduring relevance of Aquinas’ thought in our understanding of art, urging us to seek a balance between personal experience and universal truths in our quest for the beautiful.

Father Joseph Hudson, OSB, is a monk from Clear Creek Abbey in Hulbert, Oklahoma, USA. He is studying in the third cycle of dogmatic theology. This article is abstracted from a presentation given at the Angelicum on April 12, 2024, as part of the second annual Theology, Art, & Beauty student seminar.

Fra Angelico, The Annunciation, 1440-1445 (detail).

QUAND L’ANGE

VINT LA VISITER

Juste Samson

Quand l’ange vint la visiter

Marie était en prière

Elle se tenait, comblée de Grâce

Aux pieds de son Seigneur

Le regard tourné vers les cieux

Hâtant la venue du Messie

Elle n’était pas distraite par

Ses tâches ménagères

Le pain qu’elle pétrissait

Était Eucharistie

Le vin dans sa fiole

Était pour la Noce…

Et dans une communion indicible

L’ange toucha pied sur la terre

Pour porter les desseins du Père

Eternel, qui révèlent à l’orante

Son identité de Femme

Temple édifié par l’Esprit

Bien avant Salomon, en Israël

Et joignant la joie au Mystère

L’ange lui dit la merveille

Il rentre au cœur du Sanctuaire

Et contemple la pureté virginale

Du saint des seins…

Quand l’ange vint la visiter

Marie était toute offrande

Qu’elle eût eu entre ses mains

Ou la quenouille ou le fuseau

Qu’elle eût été, à cette heure

Ou au champ où à l’étable

Qu’elle eût été en train

De puiser à la fontaine

Son oui était toujours là

Dans l’intime communion

A son Dieu…

L’abbé Stany Mapangou est prêtre diocésain originaire de Libreville au Gabon, en Afrique. Il exerce actuellement son ministère dans le diocèse de Rieti. Sous le pseudonyme de Juste Samson il a publié des poésies aussi bien en français qu’en italien.

ISAIAH COMMISSIONED

after Isaiah 6:1-8

Gina Pribaz

With tongs the angel clasps the live hot coal of Truth—the blood-red brand from lofty altar of the King— and rushes straight at me, my jaw slack with surprise at his six wings his brilliant ember blazing quick— a missile pinpointing my head.

Oh God, what can this vision mean? I try to hide but can’t unsee the Glory. Never, no! Unworthy I cry, not me! Yet still he comes with fire and word so undeserved. Beneath his hand I’m doomed to burn and melt like wax that seals my lips.

Yet when it comes, it’s like a kiss, the cauterizing cure, a true and gentle blotting all that bleeds impure and dark from black-inked heart. My mouth thus gloriously marked with royal monogram, with hope, his missive folded in me, here

I am his holy envelope.

Gina Pribaz, a laywoman from Chicago, Illinois, USA, earned the diploma in spiritual theology in 2023.

FIAT PATRIS, FIAT CHRISTI

Padre Alejandro Nuñez

“Entonces dije: He aquí que vengo, oh Dios, para hacer tu voluntad, Como en el rollo del libro está escrito de mí” (Heb 10,7). Es la expresión de la respuesta eterna del Hijo al Padre en el Seno de la Trinidad, que expresa la unión del querer del Hijo con el del Padre, que se realizará plenamente en la Encarnación hasta las últimas consecuencias. El Fiat de Cristo es la respuesta que nos deja ver, al mismo tiempo, el sacerdocio de Cristo sobre el cual queremos reflexionar. De hecho, no se puede comprender el Fiat de la Virgen sin comprender el mutuo Fiat intratrinitario. Solo a la luz del Misterio Trinitario vislumbramos el “hágase” de la Virgen, que une su querer al designio eterno de Dios. De hecho, si reflexionamos sobre la palabra “hágase,” remite necesariamente a la voluntad personal, que no queda encerrada en sí misma, sino que remite a otro en sentido reverencial; en cuanto que reconoce que aquello que está delante es digno de ser creído y obedecido. En otras palabras, el “Fiat” nos remite a una alteridad marcada por una profunda unidad y afinidad, reverencia y adoración, humildad y obediencia; realidades que manifiestan el día-logos Padre-Hijo, y la una unión de voluntades e identidad de ser. Estas cualidades no escapan a nuestra reflexión Trinitaria y Mariológica, porque, de hecho, el Verbo “aunque era Hijo de Dios, aprendió por medio de sus propios sufrimientos qué significa obedecer. De este modo, Él alcanzó la perfección y llegó a ser causa de salvación eterna para todos los que le obedecen, porque Dios lo proclamó Sumo Sacerdote según el orden de Melquisedec” (Heb 5, 8-10). Así, la Carta a los Hebreos nos presenta el Hágase de Cristo al Padre, su Sí eterno, de frente a su misión salvífica extra-trinitaria, que se concretiza en la Encarnación en orden a la Redención. De este modo, el sacerdocio del cual habla la Carta a los Hebreos, responde de modo eminente al adsum que resuena en el seno trinitario y que encuentra eco en la Virgen Santísima.

Siendo así, el sacerdocio de Cristo no se puede comprender sin el misterio de la Encarnación. De hecho, la consagración sacerdotal de Cristo es referida a la humanidad que es tomada de la Virgen Santa. He aquí que nos encontramos frente al misterio mismo de la Encarnación del Verbo Eterno de Dios, obra única en su especie, donde Dios mismo se comunica y entrega a la humanidad tomando él mismo una naturaleza humana. Es por ello que decimos que, no hubo sobre la faz de la tierra un acercamiento tan grande entre lo humano y lo divino como la hay en Cristo, Palabra pronunciada y eco resonante del Padre, en Quien se encuentra toda respuesta divino-humana.

De este modo, nos insertamos en el momento de la Encarnación. Es en ese preciso momento donde se realiza la consagración inaugural de Cristo sacerdote, en el momento en que la Persona divina del Verbo dice, “Hágase,” “Adsum”: asume la naturaleza humana. Y así esta naturaleza humana, queda divinizada y elevada a la unión hipostática sostenida por la Persona Divina del Verbo. Es ahora el cuerpo humano de Cristo el que permanece unido a la Persona del Hijo eterno del Padre en estrecha comunión con la naturaleza divina que es la fuente de donde dimana todo don y gracia. La consecratio Christi, operada por el Espíritu Santo, de la cual habla San Lucas (1, 26-38) es el momento cuando el Christós es ungido por obra del Espíritu Santo. “El Espíritu Santo descenderá sobre ti y el poder del Altísimo te cubrirá con su sombra”: el Pneuma que todo lo transforma y renueva, es el que unge la humanidad de Cristo, en el templo hermosísimo y puro del seno de la Virgen María. Allí el Padre Eterno consagra a su Hijo sacerdote mientras los ángeles contemplan ese misterio. Cristo es constituido así Sumo y Eterno Sacerdote. De este modo, es de la plenitud de la gracia y del sacerdocio de Cristo de donde brotan todas las gracias y el mismo sacerdocio participado a los ministros y bautizados—aunque en órdenes

claramente diferentes.

Por ello, el Fiat intra-trinitario, ahora no sólo encuentra eco, si no encuentra concreción, realidad, carne. Será este “Fiat Christi” que acompañará toda la vida pública y oculta de Cristo hasta la Ascensión y permanece en el “hoy” de la Iglesia. El Fiat encarnado, no queda solo en una respuesta pasada en Cristo, sino que es una permanente respuesta que eleva al Padre, incluso en los momentos más cruciales como en el huerto de los olivos (Mc 14, 32-52) hasta la muerte en Cruz. En todo este recorrido de suplicio, Cristo dice al Padre: “Hágase tu voluntad en el cielo como en la tierra”. Es esa obediencia de Cristo que restaura la desobediencia de Adán y conmueve a los infiernos que delante de Dios han dicho, non serviam. Por su lado, Cristo con su Fiat y como Cabeza de la humanidad, responde al Padre y restaura, por vía de redención,el rechazo de los hombres. Para ello, tengamos presente que la formalidad del pecado está en la aversio ad

Deo, mientras la materialidad en la conversio ad creaturam. Frente a esto, Cristo responde con la satisfacción a la formalidad del pecado, y con la expiación a la materialidad del mismo, realizando plenamente la obra de la redención, cuya causa fontal se encuentra en la caritas Christi, como respuesta y expresión de lo que con el Padre Él es.

Al mismo tiempo, es claro que el Fiat Christi, encuentra acogida, primero y sobre todo, en el Fiat de la Virgen, pues ella responde en el silencio de la oración a la palabra anunciada por el ángel. Su “hágase” se une así estrechamente, al Hágase divino, que mira con amor a la creatura que se encuentra perdida en medio de las tinieblas del pecado, para sacarlos a la luz admirable, y entonar con toda la creación: Hágase, amén

Padre Alejandro Nuñez es professore di filosofía e licenziato in educazione religiosa de Misiones, Argentina. Es secondo ciclo teologia dogmatica in specializzazione tomista.

Holy Trinity, fresco by Luca Rossetti da Orta, 1738–39 (St. Gaudenzio Church at Ivrea)

Mosaic of the chapel of the Immaculate Conception by Pietro Gaudenzi, 1953 (detail). Photo credit: Sandy Barba

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE ANNUNCIATION

Addressed to the priests, deacons, and seminarians of the Pontifical North American College in Rome on 8 April 2024

Reverend Mr. Matthew Pohlman

Mary said, “Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum” (Lk 1:38). What a blessing it was for me and for my brother deacons to hear those words sung so beautifully at our ordination. Not only that, but they followed the Offertory Chant, when we offer ourselves with the sacrifice of her Son. Mary’s simple expression of consent is an amazing summary of a life given to Christ.

The Solemnity of the Annunciation is not just about an announcement. What we celebrate is that Mary has opened wide the doors to Christ. Just as God placed an angel at that ancient portal to Eden, saving us from ourselves, so God sent His angel to the New Gate, and she threw open wide the doors to our salvation.

The Blessed Virgin Mary, in a way unique to her alone, could look at her Son and exclaim, “bone of my bones…flesh of my flesh!” (Gen 2:23) For this reason, we hail the true Body, singing Ave verum Corpus natum de Maria Virgine. St. John Paul II called this hymn at one and the same time Eucharistic and Marian.

In the Virgin Mary’s response, we even hear echoes of her Son’s words at the Last Supper: “This is my body, given up for you” (Lk 22:19).

So much is made of Mary’s fiat, and rightly so. As far as we know, this dialogue did not happen in Latin, though. In the biblical Greek of St. Luke the Evangelist, Mary’s fiat is rendered as γένοιτo (“~so be it”). We can only wonder about the original Nazorean Aramaic term. It is at least likely that to say “Let it be done” was simply to utter the faith-filled, affirmative word “Amen.” I love to think that even the first Hail Mary greeting ended with “Amen.” Notice the angel Gabriel does not wait around for questions. With bold faith and humility, Mary simply consents to the King of Glory entering, the One who magnifies her soul. In saying, “Amen,” Mary opens her whole being to Christ. What a privilege, then, for the Blessed Virgin Mary to carry within her

womb the Body and Blood of our salvation. For four years now, I have prayed before the beautiful mosaic of our Blessed Mother in our seminary chapel. What I never tire of considering is how priestly she appears. In my imagination at least, she is vested in an alb, cincture, and a blue cope, with her right hand raised in blessing. To be clear, the Tradition does not regard Mary as a priest, but there must be some good reason that directives from the Holy See on priestly formation often invoke the Virgin Mary as Mother of Priests. After all, the Ratio Fundamentalis which governs our own community was promulgated on another Marian solemnity, the Immaculate Conception. We could draw many profound connections between Mary and her Son’s priesthood. Perhaps one that is especially beautiful is that for the priest, Mary is a most dear mother. We can only imagine the sword that pierced her heart at the words, “Woman, behold your son” (John 19: 26-27). Yes, she beheld the beloved disciple, standing in our place, but at the same time, she also beheld her Son, our High Priest, on the Cross, whose Body and Blood came forth from her, thanks to her great “Amen.”

It seems fitting on this day, in a house of priestly formation, to praise Mary particularly for offering her own body and blood for Christ. Rather than engage the angel Gabriel in a litany of questions, she believed that what was spoken to her would be fulfilled. In this too, her soul magnifies the Lord. In a way unique to the priest alone, God asks: will you let my Body and Blood be magnified in yours? And we respond: “Amen.”

Reverend Mr. Matthew Pohlman is a seminarian of the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska, USA. He is working toward diplomas through the Dicastery for Clergy on Pastoral Practices and the Institute of Spirituality at the Angelicum.

The work of the fingertips of God after Psalm 19

Father Kgomotso Sebopela, mccj

Ah, where is the heat soul of Mercury

Ah, where is the soul of Venus of the morning

Ah, where is the sea soul my Earth

Ah, where is the red soul of Mars

Ah, where is the Magi soul of Jupiter

Ah, where is the soul ring of Saturn

Ah, where is the blue soul of Uranus

Ah, where is the sea blue soul of Neptune

Ah, where is the soul of the outer Pluto?

O my Lord, when I see the galaxy, the work of your fingertips, I’m left with wonder.

The moon, the stars which you arranged, let me see the sound of their souls praising You. They praise You in silence from afar.

O Lord my God,

Let me see the soul of each one of them. You made them to show the Magi where Messiah is. They could not keep quiet in their silence. They could not remain still in their motionlessness. They all cry, “Abba, Father!”

Let me feel their joyous soul, O Lord.

Let me hear them praising your silent order.

Let me hear the silent sound of their soul. O God of Love. I love you!

Father Kgomotso Sebopela,mccj, is from Pretoria, South Africa. He is studying for the diploma in spiritual theology.

Fiat

Reverend P. Christopher De Herrera, OS

Fiat: a word seldom spoken and even less fulfilled. For saying “Let it be as you have willed”

cannot but cause for most a certain unrest, for who wants to be put to the test?

“I meant it when I said it,” says he or she, “But how was I to know how hard it would be?”

“Whatever you want,” I said. “I am game.” But if asked again, would I do the same?

I have my own desires, things I’d rather do. But now I cannot do them. I gave my will to You.

I know your grace sustains me, yet I am very weak. Because of this at times the future looks so bleak.

Can I carry this cross come what may? Will I make it all the way? After all, I am only clay,

Yet clay though I be, He breathed life into me, and his image and likeness I share. Being more than just clay, I must walk everyday, a cross on my shoulders to bear.

Had I known how it would be, would I have said this word to Thee?

Would I have said it?

Do I regret it?

Could we just forget it?

If ever such thoughts should come into your mind, you must always reject them, leave them behind. They are at best a waste of your time.

Nor let those who surround you confuse and confound you.

Keep your eyes fixed on Him, through thick and through thin.

Fight the good fight. Do what is right. And in due time that word said sincerely, which has cost you ever so dearly, will bring you to his perfect Light.

Originally

from Corrales, New Mexico, USA, Reverend P. Christopher De Herrera, OS, is a priest from the Diocese of Ponce in Puerto Rico. He is in the third cycle of canon law at the Angelicum.

FIAT VOLUNTAS TUA

Leonora Tanushaj-O’Connell

Mary’s entire life was an accomplishment of God’s will. She never departed, not even for a second, from that divine will, which she perfectly performed day after day, to the point of leading her to stand at the foot of the cross seeing her Son die. Indeed, doing the will of God was her daily nourishment, her breathing in and out.

Mary did not only do the will of God, but more than that, she incarnated it in the depths of her very being. She gave God free hands to fulfill His plan of salvation in and through her, to the point that God incarnated His very Being within her, coming into existence through her consent and her yes.

A creature enters into perfect union with God the Creator, and in turn God the Creator gives Himself completely to His creature, who never even for the slightest moment turns away from his will, even when that means having to take a totally new road and abandon her own plans. How can we comprehend the depths of this profound mystery?

In Mary we see this perfect union of the creature to its Creator, the living summit of love, where heaven and earth are joined in perfect harmony. A perfect union and intimacy become transformation. So was Mary’s life. So perfectly did she embody the will of God that the Holy Spirit could not resist taking entire possession of her being. As St. Louis-Marie de Montfort says in his True Devotion to Mary: “When the Holy Spirit finds Mary in a soul, He flies to it.”

This is what Mary longs to teach us, her children. She gently enters on the path of

each one of us, desiring, interceding, so that we too live in perfect union with the divine will. It is a complete peace and an unconditional joy. She knows that our happiness and complete freedom lies entirely upon that—self-surrender. Saying yes fiat voluntas Tua—is not selfemptying, as we might be tempted to think, but rather it is a fulfillment of our entire being. Her self-surrender to God’s divine will made her the perfect woman, the perfect mother whom all generations call blessed. From her and only from her we can learn to walk in the path that the Lord is calling us to be. She is the perfect model to whom to look up in fulfilling our own vocation, whatever that might be. She traces the path for us and does not deny us the joy of savoring the fruits of our labor. She walks beside us, teaching how best we can serve the Lord in our own unique vocation, which is first and foremost living in the freedom of the sons and daughters of God the Father.

As St. Teresa of Calcutta explained to her Sisters in a letter on 31 July, 1996, “If we stand with Our Lady, she will give us her spirit of loving trust, total surrender, and cheerfulness.” We can take her hand without fear, trust in God’s plan for our lives, and submit ourselves to Him, even when it may be challenging or unclear. With Mary as a guiding star, we can walk steadfastly through the night and uncertainty, as she did through her unwavering faith and trust in God, for she knew that the Almighty would do great things in her who did not spare herself but gave herself to Him completely by saying each moment: Fiat voluntas Tua.

Leonora Tanushaj-O’Connell, a laywoman from Gjakovë, Kosovo, is the Rome representative to the Mother Teresa Institute in Washington, DC. She received a diploma in spiritual theology at the Angelicum in 2023.

The mystic hunt of the unicorn

Peter El-Hitti

Of all art depicting the Annunciation throughout the ages, the most shocking to modern eyes is the portrayal of the Virgin Mary with a unicorn in her lap, common imagery to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. What place could the unicorn have in the Annunciation? To the modern mind the unicorn lives nowhere but in the stable of imagination, a charming mythical animal that, as Rilke puts it, “never was, but because they loved it, it came to be…They fed it not with grain, but only with the possibility that it might be.”1

The non-existence of the unicorn was not as indisputable to the ancients, owing to its mention not merely in myths but even by men of science such as Ctesias, Aristotle, Aelian and Pliny the Elder. Even more, the unicorn (monoceros in Greek) appears in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible, which as is known was considered to be as inspired by God as the original Hebrew. It survives also in the Vulgate and in the early English Bibles: Wycliffe, Douay-Rheims and King James2. Now, an ancient tale tells of the unicorn being among the fiercest beasts of the wild, impossible to hunt down and capture. Pliny the Elder (79 †) describes it as follows: “The monoceros, with a body like a horse, head like a stag, feet like an elephant, and tail like a boar; it makes a deep roar, and one black horn two cubits long projects from the middle of its forehead. This animal cannot be taken alive.”3

Though impossible to be taken alive, the unicorn was nevertheless much desired for parts of its body, especially its horn, which were believed to bear healing powers able to cure any sort of illness. St. Hildegard of Bingen suggests that an unguent made of a

1 Sonnets to Orpheus, II, 4

2. Variably in: Num. 23:22 and 24:8, Deut. 33:17, Job 39:9 and 39:10, Ps. 22:21, 29:6 and 78:69, Is. 34:7, Daniel 8:5.

3 Natural History, trans. H. Rackham, Cambridge, 1937, III, p. 37

unicorn’s powdered liver mixed with egg yolk can heal leprosy, and that a belt made of a unicorn’s hide worn on the waist’s skin protects one from pestilences and fevers4. A unicorn’s horn is a double-edged sword. With it, the unicorn is capable of causing either death or life. It was said that its horn was so strong that it could pierce through the belly of an elephant. It was also said that after a snake once poisoned the waters of a forest, the unicorn purified them again for all animal and plant life by lowering its horn into the river.

Unicorns, then, were desired for their power of healing, but to pursue them was to chase the unattainable. Now, the story goes that it was only by a virgin that a unicorn would not be threatened. Perceiving her presence, the unicorn searches for her, comes to her, kisses her, and falls asleep in her lap.

4. Physica, in PL, CXCVII, col. 1318, quoted in M. Freeman, The Unicorn Tapestries (New York: EP Dutton, 1976), 26.

Altar from the St. Elisabeth Church in Wrocław. Detail with the Virgin Mary holding the Unicorn. Anonymous, ca. 1480.

Hunters, then, would send a virgin before them, and when the unicorn was finally asleep in her lap, the virgin would hold its horn to signal for the hunters that it was now time to capture and kill it.

By a feat of allegory, the virgin is Mary, the unicorn is Jesus Christ, and the hunters are those who capture and kill Him so that they may eat of His Body and Blood and be saved from sin by the power of His horn. In icons of the mystic hunt as allegory for the Annunciation, the angel Gabriel is depicted as huntsman blowing the horn of his “Hail…”, calling four hounds, peace, truth, justice, and mercy, to charge at the quarry: Christ-the-unicorn in the lap of the Virgin. Such allegory was prepared for by early theologians seeing in the unicorn of Scripture a figure of Christ. St. Ambrose, commenting on Psalms, writes: “Who then is this unicorn but the only begotten Son of God?”1 And explaining how in Scripture “horn” denotes reign, power, and glory St. Basil writes: “Christ is the power of God, therefore He is called the unicorn on the ground that He has one horn, that is, one common power with the Father.”2

1 Enarrationes in XII psalmos Davidicos, PL, XIV, col 1099, quoted in Freeman, 17.

2 Homily on Psalm 28, in Exegetic Homilies, trans. Sister Agnes Clare Way, Washington D.C., 1963, pp 204-205

Now, in light of the Annunciation we can resolve a dilemma that the tale raises: How can a true virgin seduce a unicorn that loves her to fall prey in the hands of its hunters? What kind of a virgin is that? A virgin in body maybe, but not in heart. The Annunciation does not tell of a unicorn who, utterly refusing death at the hands of the hunters, is undone by the seduction of a virgin serving the hunters and telling them: “Fiat, let it be, according to your wills.” Instead, the Annunciation tells the tale of a Unicorn who, yes, refuses that His life be taken by the hands of the hunters according to the intent of their will, but accepts to lay His life in their hands according to His own will: “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (Jn 10:18). The Unicorn and the hunters will the same thing, the difference being that they will to take it by force while He wills that they receive it as gift. For that, He requires a true a virgin, a virgin heart, who is not out in the forest seeking gain, but says instead: “Fiat, let it be, according to Your will” (Lk 1:38), and by those words becomes to Him a receptacle for the gift of Himself.

Peter El Hitti, a layman from Der El Amar, Lebanon, is a second-cycle philosophy student.

The lore of the unicorn

The unicorn is noble; He [God] keeps him safe and high Upon a narrow path and steep Climbing to the sky;

And there no man can take him, He scorns the hunter’s dart, And only a virgin’s magic power Shall tame his haughty heart.

What would be now the state of us

But for this Unicorn, And what would be the fate of us, Poor sinners, lost, forlorn?

Oh, may He lead us on and up, Unworthy though we be, Into His Father’s kingdom, To dwell eternally!

Shephard, The Lore of the Unicorn (German folksong) (London: Allen & Unwin, 1930), 82-83.

Mystical Unicorn Hunting in Hortus Conclusus (Annunciation) at the winged altar of the pilgrimage church Maria Gail, Carinthia, Austria. Anonymous master of the Villach Workshop, ca. 1515.

THE VINEYARD

Elizabeth Mazza

The vineyard lies East, far off and away; Dreaming a hope, I woke up there one day. Looking around, I saw many a face: Friends and companions united by grace.

Tilling the earth, and caring the vine— Hymns rising now both human and divine— Rows full of servants, joyful and true. My friend, as I searched, I then found you.

You were bent over double, pruning a tree. I called out your name and you turned to face me. Lit up in joy were those eyes I so miss; Laughing in wonder, we greet and we kiss.

Joyful in presence, we walked all the while; hearts reunited we wandered many a mile. As I begged for your story of toil and love, You stretched out your hand and looked far above, crying:

“I know not how and I know not when, However I met these long lasting friends— Friends from afar and friends from near, carried in heart now, lasting and dear.

Meeting from cities and towns and the plain— What would I give to see them again. One Body, eternal, where we are all blessed— called to one feast, where we are the guests.”

Then looking at me, you smiled in tears“My friend, I won’t see you for many long years. For the King is now calling and He needs us to be this Vineyard of Love, His hands and His feet.”

I smiled too, in the tears and the pain, saying “Friend, now I see this path that is lain. For all goodness and glory and love are the King’s; although hearts are broken, the soul rises and sings.”

We stood at the crossroads, hands held in grace. Overlooking the vineyard, I saw light, and a trace— A trace of a Glory far off like the dawn; I heard the hymns of the workers now rising in song.

They all sang of the King Who died in the war, Who rose from the grave—for death is no more— Who went into the vineyard to save us from woe; His footsteps we follow; where He goes, we go.

And we turned to each other, broken hearts now restored. Crying, I embraced you, “I go for my Lord.” You smiled and gave me one last touch of the hand. “Farewell till eternity,” and you disappeared into the land.

I stayed for awhile, watching the light traceThe beauty and peace won by a Cross for our grace. The dawn of coming Glory -at the end of all timeWhen eternity meets heaven—new hearts and new wine.

Overlooking the vineyard, my heart knew now the Call. “We go for His Glory,” and I went down to join all. Elizabeth Mazza is a laywoman from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. She graduated with her baccalaureate in theology in 2022.

Siegfried Schieweck-Mauk, St. Vigil in Altenburg (Kaltern), 2005

A Maria

Erica Saveri

Maria, Fiat che oltrepassa il tempo… Bianco candore che nel suo esserci pervade l’anima di quell’uomo che non vuole sentire… Quel fiat al suo Signore in cui Lei ha riposto la sua Fede amando infinitamente…

Anima che diafana attraversa quanto esiste, brilla e illumina d’un soffio la nostra vita. Maria, infinita dolcezza e splendore che la vita manifesta estesamente a chi sa e può contemplare… Con amore…

Erica Saveri, una laica di Udine, Italia, é iscritta al terzo ciclo di scienze sociali.

MARY’S HOUSE

Bénédicte Cedergren

Perched on top of a hill town in the central Italian region known as the Marches, the Holy House of Loreto has been an important pilgrimage destination for more than seven centuries. Enclosed within ornate Renaissance marble within a large basilica, it is believed that this is the place where the Virgin Mary was born, raised, and greeted by the angel Gabriel. It is also, according to tradition, the place where Mary gave her fiat to the Lord and where the Word became flesh. For many centuries, it was believed that angels miraculously carried the Holy House from Nazareth to Loreto in 1294, as is attested by numerous artistic depictions. This tradition is celebrated on the feast of the “Translation of the Holy House” on December 10th. Others however, hold that the Holy House was brought to Italy at the end of the Crusades, like many other relics from the Holy Land. In fact, in 1900, a priest found records in the Vatican archive indicating that a Byzantine Greek family named Angelos—which translates to “Angels” in English—rescued Mary’s home during the Muslim conquest of 1291. Some sources claim that the family wanted to save the Holy House from Muslim invaders, others that the merchant father had paid the crusaders to move the Holy House back to Italy as part a wedding dowry for his daughter. The House was supposedly first brought to a village in Illyria—where the Shrine of Our Lady of Trsat was later built in memory of this appearance—before being brought to the Recanati region where it still stands today, on December 10, 1294.

Regardless of how the House arrived to Italy, there is little doubt that the walls are from the grotto of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. In fact, according to archaeological excavations, the three walls of the Holy House (a fourth wall was built in Loreto where we can see the sacred image of the Virgin of Loreto) fit perfectly with the perimeter of the Grotto of Nazareth, which is the remaining part of the house of Mary (see picture on page 27). Furthermore, the stones with which the house is built do not come from the Recanatese territory on which it stands today, but are typical of the Palestinian building tradition at the time of Christ. Studies have also shown that the stones making up the walls were not cut according to local Italian methods. Finally, and perhaps most convincingly, there are numerous graffiti on the Loreto walls that are similar to those found in early Judeo-Christian churches in Palestine before the 5th century.

To enter the Holy House of Loreto once described by Pope John Paul II as “the true Marian heart of Christianity” is to enter the first temple of the living God on earth. Within these bare and naked walls which heard Mary’s fiat, the course of humanity was changed forever: Her sweet and simple fiat allowed Jesus to carry out God’s plan to bring forth the salvation and redemption of humanity. As we step in the footsteps of Mary, we can find inspiration and ask for the grace to say “Yes” to the Lord and what He asks of us, so that we, just as Mary, can learn to place our faith and trust in God’s providence, to change the course of history.

Bénédicte Cedergren, a laywoman from Stockholm, Sweden, is a first cycle philosophy and theology alumna

Photos: Elizabeth Langan

Grotto of the Annunciation, Nazareth.

Photo credit: Alessandro A.G.