Day 89: Long Desired

I am Fr. Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and this is the Rosary in

a Year podcast, where through prayer and meditation, the Rosary brings us deeper into relationship

with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world.

The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension.

This is day 89.

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And if you haven't already, please consider supporting us at ascensionpress.com forward slash support. Hello, everybody.
Welcome back to the Rosary in the Year podcast. Here we are continuing at phase three, meditating on the mysteries, but a new genre of episode under this ongoing phase.
So we're going to continue praying with and meditating on the different mysteries of the rosary, the different mysteries of our salvation, and having these meditations being enriched by a variety of writings from the saints. The flow of the episodes is that I'm going to begin with a very brief introduction to our author, then I'm going to read the writing from the author, and then offer a brief word for our reflection on how we can pray with what we have just read, and then we'll continue our episode by praying together one decade of the Most Holy Rosary.
All of the saint writings we'll be reflected on can be found in the Rosary in a Year prayer guide put out by Ascension. Generally speaking, for these episodes, I'm going to choose and read and then reflect on an excerpt from the broader reading included in the prayer guide, with a few major exceptions, where for a variety of reasons I might choose to read the entirety of the reading, such as in this first reading from St.
Bernard of Clairvaux, which I'm going to read the whole reading because it's one of my very favorite readings that we come across in the entire liturgical year when praying the office of the readings. I think the whole thing is worth reading.
Today we'll be praying with the first joyful mystery, the Annunciation, with a reading by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, often pronounced St.
Bernard of Clairvaux as well. From four homilies in praise of the Virgin Mother, quick introduction to St.
Bernard of Clairvaux. He was a Cistercian monk, so a type of monk known as a Cistercian monk who's born in the year 1090 and he died in 1153.
Many people, including Pope Benedict XVI, refers to St. Bernard as the last of the fathers of the

church. One of the things that's interesting about St.
Bernard is that he entered the monastery

at the age of 20 and when he did so he was able to convince and to take with him five of his brothers, two of his uncles, and 30 of his friends. We kind of cleared out wherever he was from, took a bunch of guys into the monastery.
And he's a doctor of the church, which is a title given to a saint in recognition of the impact, the importance of their contribution to theology and spirituality. Doctors of the church classically also received kind of a descriptive, a popular descriptive title that goes along with the nuances and expresses the type of doctor they are.

St. Bernard is known as the Dr.
Melifluus.

It's a Latin word, which I don't really know how to pronounce, which can be roughly translated

as honey sweet.

Pope Benedict XVI speaking on St. Bernard says, Jesus alone, Bernard insists in the face of

the complex dialectical reasoning of his time, Jesus alone is honey in the mouth, song to the ear, jubilation in the heart. He continues the title, Dr.
Meleflus, attributed to Bernard by tradition, stems precisely from this. Indeed, his praise of Jesus Christ flowed like honey.

Now, our reading today from St. Bernard on the Annunciation is a really, really prime example of why he is in fact called the Dr.
Melefluous. His words spoken or written really are sweet like honey.
So let us begin with our reading. It is time for him to return to the one who sent him.
We too are waiting for this merciful word, my lady, we who are miserably weighed down under a sentence of condemnation. The price of our salvation is being offered you.
If you consent, we shall immediately be set free. We all have been made in the eternal word of God, and look, we are dying.
In your brief reply, we shall be restored and so brought back to life. Doleful Adam and his unhappy offspring, exiled from paradise, implore you, kind virgin, to give this answer.
David asks it abraham asks it all the other holy patriarchs your very own fathers beg it of you as do those now dwelling in the region of the shadow of death for it the whole world is waiting bow down at your feet and rightly so because on your answer depends the comfort of the afflicted, the redemption of captives, the deliverance of the damned, the salvation of all the sons of Adam, your whole race. So answer the angel quickly, or rather, through the angel answer God.
Only say the word and receive the word. Give yours and conceive God's.
Breathe one fleeting word and embrace the everlasting word. Why do you delay? Why be afraid? Believe, give praise,

and receive. Let humility take courage and shyness confidence.
This is not the moment

for virginal simplicity to forget prudence. In this circumstance alone, O prudent virgin, do not fear presumptuousness.
For if you reserve pleas by its silence, so now much more must your goodness speak. Blessed virgin, open your heart to faith, your lips to consent, and your womb to your creator.
Behold, the long desired of all nations is standing at the door and knocking. Get up, run, open, get up by faith, run by prayer, open by consent.
behold she, she says, I am the handmaiden of the Lord.

Let it be to me according to your word.

I'll offer a brief reflection and encouragement of how we can pray.

What stands out to me particularly from this writing of St. Bernard of Clairvaux

on the Annunciation

and what is the way in which he communicates the tension and the stakes of the Annunciation.

I'm going to focus on this really beautiful image and point of ongoing prayer and meditation.

Behold, the long desired of all nations is standing at the door and knocking get up run open get up by faith run by prayer open by consent behold she says i am the handmaiden of the lord let it be to me according to your word the long desired of all the nations it's name for our Lord. It's a name for Jesus.
And he talks about this earlier in the writing. Like he points out that Adam and Eve and Abraham and all of the prophets and the judges and all people have been waiting for the Messiah to come to save them.
I think what I love so much about the writing of St. Bernard

is he makes palpable experiential detention,

the stakes of the Annunciation.

He uses these words,

the price of our salvation is being offered to you.

If you consent, we shall immediately be set free.

And the image that's presented is this.

It's like the world is a home with one particular door. And the long desired of all the nations, Jesus is there knocking at the door.
And the door is the heart of Mary. And there he is through the angel Gabriel.
God comes and he knocks at the door.

He knocks at the door of Mary's heart.

And all of the angels and the saints are there with the Lord waiting.

Inside the home, all of humanity, Adam, Eve, Abraham, Moses, the patriarchs, etc.

All the faithful who have lived or who will come were all waiting. As the Lord knocks, the long desire of all the nations knocks, he's here, but he knocks on the heart of Mary.
He waits for her consent. He waits for her yes, for her fiat.
Through the words of the Gabriel, the knock happens. And as Bernard beautifully communicates, before Mary answers, there's this tension.
There's this waiting. There's this hope, this building up of desire.
As we all wait, will she answer? Will she answer? And Mary says, behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.
Mary opens the door. Mary says yes and enters in our Savior and enters in the long desired of all the nations and he comes to save us.
And heaven and earth rejoice. They rejoice, they rejoice, they rejoice.
Now as we conclude today's episode, there's perhaps three points of meditation that you can sit with, reflect on, as we pray this decade. We can give our attention to all of humanity, longing for this moment, waiting for this moment, waiting for the Savior.
We can reflect on these words of St. Bernard to the Blessed Mother.
Don't let your humility keep you from saying yes to the Lord. May your humility now be manifest in confidence that the Lord wants to do this in you, O blessed mother.
He wants to look upon the lowest state of your handmaid. He wants to raise up you in your lowliness.
And thirdly, where I'm going to be focusing on is this, is the desire of all the nations. He knocks at the door of humanity.
He wants to enter.

He wants to come and save us, but he does not force his way. And it is Mary in her fiat, Mary in her yes, that opens the door and in enters the Savior of the world.
And we are set free. and now with the blessed mother Mother, let us pray.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death amen hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb jesus holy mary mother of god pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning,

is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the Son

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
All right. Thank you so much for joining me and praying with me today.

I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow.