351 part ii: meditations for more solemn feasts follow an internal command, minding the countless examples of those who were thus deceived. [f.109r] 4. “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to [Y]our word” (Lk 1:38). O sublime lowliness! O profound disdain of self! O inexplicable humility of the Most Blessed Virgin! The Angel addresses her as the Mother of God, and she declares that she wants to be God’s handmaid, or even a handmaid of God’s Mother.163 She is called “full of grace” (cf. Lk 1:28), and she proclaims herself to be most despicable. She is declared to be the abode of the Holy Spirit (cf. Lk 1:35), and she lowers herself beneath everything. Since at least with respect to creation, any man can call himself a son of God, yet, this most humble Virgin asserts that she is only a handmaid of the Lord: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.” How then will you deal with proud or presumptuous thoughts about yourself hereafter, when you hear that the most noble of virgins, indeed the most excellent of all creatures, was thinking so humbly about herself? O my soul! I implore you: do not ever boast that you are a friend of God nor call yourself even His handmaid, but only the dust to be trodden upon by everybody’s feet. Unless God would perhaps want you to do something, for then you will be allowed to say: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.” Nothing, in fact, impedes you from using these words in the present Holy Communion. However, when you see yourself unworthy in every respect to receive such a great Lord, when He really wants, or rather urges you to hasten to receive Him, then say from your innermost heart: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; be it be to me according to [Y]our word.” Do you want me, O Lord, to give you a dwelling in my heart? Yet it is impure and full of different filth; nevertheless, you urge and call: “give me your heart” (Prov 23:26). “Behold, I am the 163 Evidently, by referring to this supposed declaration of Mary, St. Stanislaus wanted to stress Mary’s great humility in that she was ready to serve not only God, but also to be “a handmaid of God’s Mother,” as she thought herself not worthy to be God’s Mother.
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