of Mother Anna Maria Cánopi
In the summer months, while many are looking for a holiday destination by the sea, the mountains, the lakes, the distant islands to relax and rest, the liturgical calendar is also dotted with delightful places, that is, celebrations for the joy and spiritual relief of the believers. Starting from the month of June, on the 24th we find the solemnity of the birth of John the Baptist, which awakens in the heart an ardent desire for the Christ shown by him; then comes the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29) which takes us to Rome, to the beginnings of the Church animated by great missionary impetus and by testimony up to martyrdom.
Furthermore, in these months, the feasts of three of the six co-patron saints of Europe are celebrated: Saint Benedict (11 July) who with his Rule and his monasteries has silently contributed to giving a Christian face to our continent, indeed, to giving it deep Christian roots. In August (9 and 23) the feasts of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross – Edith Stein – and Saint Bridget of Sweden, co-patron saint of Europe, are celebrated. These saints in different eras have made a highly significant contribution to the growth not only of the Church, but also of civil society. On August 6, the Transfiguration, "feast of contemplative beauty", takes us high and floods us with light. It is Jesus himself who invites three of his disciples - Peter, James and John - to climb a "high" mountain with him. He who used to retreat to the mountains at night and there, in solitude, gather in prayer, this time, however, also admits someone else - he also admits us - to his intimate conversation with the Father. Free gift and, at the same time, great responsibility! Climbing Mount Tabor means, in fact, not only entering into the mystery of the person of Jesus transfigured in prayer, but also being willing to participate in his sacrifice, because the prayer of Jesus - as well as every authentic Christian prayer - is first and foremost unconditional adherence to the will of the Father to the point of total self-giving for the salvation of his brothers.
On Tabor, therefore, Jesus manifests himself in the pure brilliance of his divine beauty: his face, his clothes are transfigured, that is, they allow his divine interior beauty to shine through. The three apostles present at the unusual spectacle are overwhelmed and ecstatic at the same time, so much so that they wish to remain there forever. And it is Pietro who launches the enthusiastic proposal: «Master, it is beautiful for us to be here! Let's make three tents: one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah!" (Luke 9,32:XNUMX).
Satisfying themselves with that beatific vision could truly be considered the pinnacle of joy: what they enjoyed was, in fact, a firstfruits of future glory, a foretaste of Paradise. But the “hour” had not yet come. There remained a very important, unavoidable step to complete: the passage of Calvary. It was necessary to first drink from the cup of passion to reap the ripe fruit.
Tabor is a gift of light to be able to see "beautiful" even Jesus nailed to the cross: beautiful in his self-giving love that pushes him to strip himself of his divine glory. True beauty, for us too, is desiring to be where the Lord Jesus is, that is, in the will of the Father.
From Mount Tabor the journey, therefore, resumes and continues on other steep paths, practicable only if you put your feet in the footsteps of Jesus, if you walk as he walked, in humility and obedience, making your life a gift to the Father, as he also made the immaculate his Mother throughout her existence. For this reason, like Jesus, she too "was exalted" by the Father, was assumed into heaven and crowned with glory together with her divine Son, after having traveled her journey of faith to the end and having shared the redemptive Passion from which she is the Church was born.
And it is precisely in the midst of summer that the Church, with the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, invites us all to ascend to the highest peaks of the spirit, to breathe the pure air of supernatural life and contemplate true and incorruptible beauty. , which is holiness. The aspiration for rest, serene relaxation and pure joy could not really find such full satisfaction elsewhere. With this solemnity - which is the most ancient and important Marian festival, established in the Eastern Church under the title of Dormition - the entry of the Virgin Mother of God, in body and soul, into the eternal kingdom is celebrated. The Assumption is therefore rightly also defined as Mary's "Easter", because it crowns the earthly pilgrimage of the Virgin in close following of Christ and marks her full "passage" from earth to heaven.
«Signum magnum… a great sign appeared in the sky: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars» (Rev 12,1), so it is sung at the entrance to the Holy Mass of solemnity. A truly luminous sign is Mary glorified as the firstfruits of the whole Church, of all redeemed humanity.
In the SS. Virgin Assumption, the Church contemplates, in fact, an anticipation of the definitive fulfillment of the history of salvation; in her he greets the new heavens and the new earth, and with her he considers himself already entered into the glory of the resurrection. While exalting the glorification of the Mother of God that has already taken place, the Church therefore also sings of its own blessed hope and regains momentum on the journey from earthly exile towards the heavenly homeland.
The writings regarding Mary's "transit" are particularly rich in theological content and poetic inspiration. Saint Germanus of Constantinople, for example, imagines the event as a second annunciation:
«When Christ our God decided in his council to transfer his Mother, parent of Life, once again, through an angel familiar to her, he foretold the time of her Dormition was near. The angel is sent to her to encourage her with these words from Christ himself: “The time has come to take you, my Mother, as a companion. As you have filled the earth and its inhabitants with joy, so now, O Full of Grace, bring joy also to the heavens. She adorns the Father's mansions with splendor and cheers the spirits of the saints. Therefore come with rejoicing! Death will not boast of you, for you have carried Life in your womb. Come with joy!”. Having heard this announcement, the Mother of God rejoiced with great joy and said: “May the will of my Son and God be done in me!”» (Mariological Homilies, Città Nuova, Rome 1985, p. 122).
The antiphons of Lauds and Vespers, as well as the songs of the Mass, with a symphonic interweaving of voices, introduce us to the heart of the celebration. Immediately we hear the singing of the angels who, welcoming the All Holy One into heaven, "full of joy, praise and bless the Lord". For men on earth the event is so great that it makes the heart overflow with emotion and inexpressible feelings.
The Assumption of the Mother of the Lord, a human creature like us, makes us look towards heaven and, in a certain sense, makes it closer to us. Aware of our incompleteness, we feel like pilgrims in this world and our hearts yearn for our homeland. Precisely because Mary has already achieved glory, but she also remained close to us to support us, the goal appears less difficult to reach. A new hope is born in the heart and, with hope, the song of gratitude and joy. Between earth and sky the dialogue becomes easier, because a heart of Mother and Queen acts as an intermediary.
She is a Mother who keeps our faces and our names in her heart, a Mother who listens, who welcomes and makes herself present in moments of trial... Through her hands, or rather through her heart, we make our prayer, our desires, the offering of our life, moment by moment. «Mary – says the antiphon to the Magnificat – reigns with Christ forever». With Christ, she therefore continues to be close to us; she as Mother continues to give birth to us under the cross; with his prompt presence, as at the wedding at Cana, he intercedes on our behalf and at the same time disposes us to welcome divine grace, to open ourselves to the Spirit, to let ourselves be guided on the paths of God, without retreating before the narrow passages of the path, when sacrifice and pain or the onslaught of temptations present themselves. In fact, on this day of great celebration, only the evil one is sad because in Mary he sees himself completely defeated; however, in his wickedness, he always tries to take revenge on us, weak and fragile creatures, trying to make us fall, to drag us into the abyss of sin. For this reason, Mary is even more necessary to us and she constitutes for us pilgrims over time a "sign of consolation and sure hope", as stated in the Preface of the Mass.
The scriptural passages and the different prayers that the Liturgy offers us on this feast represent the stages of the itinerary that Mary followed and that the pilgrim Church has been following over the centuries and millennia. Starting from the first pages of Genesis, they lead us to the glorious conclusion of the story envisaged in the book of the Apocalypse: from the announcement of the Woman who brings salvation we arrive, from light to light, up to the nuptial encounter of humanity with the Salvatore himself.
Mary is the new Eve, mother of the living: thanks to her we receive the gift of the Word of immortal life; it is the white wax tablet in which the new Law is engraved, it is the new Ark which today arrives, safely, at the port of eternity, at the celestial sanctuary. Yet, raised above the seraphim and cherubim, Mary still remains the humble handmaid of Nazareth, the creature all candor and beauty, because pure transparency of divine light, together with the Son placed at the service of God for our salvation . Her entire existence was enclosed between two words – “yes” and “thank you”; From her, therefore, we receive the reassuring message that holiness is possible for us too and that the way to achieve it is that of faith lived with humility, simplicity and love.
In her we see our vocation fulfilled. Where she has arrived, we too will arrive if, like her, we walk in faith and charity; indeed, already now, by believing and loving we can taste the first fruits of eternal life. Step by step, just like when you struggle along mountain paths, the landscape reveals itself, the horizon expands, until you arrive, at the summit, to be fully immersed in the light.
Not without a thrill of joyful and moved amazement, I recall the memory of the great Marian feast experienced in childhood.