'Mother of God, tell me your mystery;
Of how your earthly life was spent; the way -
Right from the time of 'Fiat' - how you'd be
Buried in adoration, Mary! Say
How - in a peace, a silence, you
(What mystery!) could enter in
To Deeps that none but you could do -
Bearing the gift of God within'
(St Elizabeth of the Trrinity : There Is This One Who Knows All Mysteries)
In this short extract from the poem -'There Is This One Who Know All Mysteries' - Elizabeth poses the question that many might want to ask around Mary's resilience and strength of character. At such a young and tender age Mary is thrust into a life of profound responsibility, of historical importance and self discovery but how does she cope.
The Magnificat of Luke's Gospel conveys her overwhelming sense of joy at being central to God's 'promise' (Luke 1:54-55) of mercy and of justice. Perhaps in the unfolding story of the 'Incarnation' Mary experiences a multitude of feelings and pressures.. Amidst Elizabeth's curiosity and poetic reflection, we can gauge an answer to that very question regarding the figure of Mary , namely'How'.
Alongside her 'adoration' - a deeper level of understanding and commitment to divine purpose and unity - there is 'a peace' and 'a silence' that Elizabeth identifies within Mary, a serenity that holds Mary on her own unique spiritual, emotional, social and practical journey. It is 'a peace' and 'a silence' intrinsic to the love of God which resides in the 'Deeps' of Mary's personality and where all inner strength and direction are harnessed.
Mary shines out to Elizabeth as a woman of resilience, attentiveness and certainty, knowing her own strong feminine energy and yet also her dependence on God and her pivotal role in the calm revelation of a most precious divine gift to the world.
