Saturday, July 22 : Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem

“Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you.” (Lk 1:28) Could anything transcend the joy that is yours, O Virgin Mary? Could anything surpass this grace?… Truly, you are “blessed among women” (Lk 1:42), for you have changed the condemnation of Eve into a blessing. Because of you, and through you, Adam, who was hitherto cast down and condemned, received a blessing. Truly, “you are blessed among women”, for through you the blessing of the Father came to mankind and reprieved them from the age-old sentence. Truly, “you are blessed among women”, because through you your ancestors found salvation. You were to give birth to the Savior who would win for them God’s salvation. Truly, “you are blessed among women”, for without the seed of man you bore the fruit that gives a blessing to the whole earth and frees it from being condemned to produce only thorns. Truly, “you are blessed among women”, for though you are a woman like any other woman you will in actual fact become the mother of God. If the one to be born of you is in truth God incarnate, you rightly deserve to be called ‘she who gave birth to God’, inasmuch as you truly do give birth to God.

maronite readings – rosary,team