Advent, Day 17

"This Mary is the woman of the land. She is sister to the poor and the mother of compassion and healing for all those who live on the edges of life, walking the roads on the outskirts of the cities, living in slums, favelas, tenements, and the neighborhoods [where] no one ever wants to get caught having to raise their children. . . . She is barefoot upon the earth; her presence causes roses to bloom in December and the birds to sing wildly and the land to bring forth its seed and bread for those desperate for daily sustenance (still more than 85 percent of the earth) and freedom. She can be a spider, as in the Native American tradition, who follows a trail home bringing light to the people, silent, unnoticed, so small and so able to steal the light from those who will not share it with others. She is the symbol of the small earth, inconsequential except to God, found with all those who live faithfully in situations of darkness, despair, lack and need, yet powerful in their very weakness and numbers."

Words: Megan McKenna in "Spiritual Writings on Mary" by Mary Ford Grabowsky

Image: Secrets of Czestochowa's Madonna by Gerard Di Falco