Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

PATER NOSTER, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, Giotto, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, ARSH 1305

This is the explanatory preamble from my missal for today’s feast, the Nativity (birth) of the Blessed Virgin Mary (nine months to the day after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, naturally).  I thought it quite beautiful and timely, for those of us feeling the weight of the darkness of these days:

At the time of Mary’s birth the whole world was plunged in darkness.  The heathen nations were steeped in vice and pride.  The Jews, beloved of God, had strayed from Him.  Everywhere there was sin and gloom, no bright spot on the face of the earth.  But when Mary was born a light arose amidst the darkness:  the dawn of the glorious day that was to usher in the Redeemer.

Remember, The Blessed Virgin was born with the egg that would be fertilized by the Holy Ghost and thus incarnate Our Lord already in her ovary, fully-formed with half of Our Lord’s DNA, just waiting.  Who knows what foundations and groundworks He has laid on the earth and in our lives, already extant or partially so, just waiting to be completed and realized in the fullness of time according to His will?