On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, cycle B, the Church presents us with the powerful stories of both the Annunciation and Mary’s Visitation to Elizabeth. The Annunciation was a favorite of Catholic artists, especially the great Fra Angelico. The Madrid Annunciation (tempera on panel, c. 1435, Madrid: Museo del Prado) is one of the classic depictions of the event by this great master.

In this image, one may read from upper left to lower right. The image of the shining sun contains within it two hands, the hands of the Father, sending forth the ray of light streaming through the garden and into the porch where Mary sits. A dove is pictured just to the left of the center support of the portico. In the structure above the dove is the face of God the Father, the architect of salvation. In the garden scene, below the sun, is seen an angel who banishes Adam and Eve from the garden. The fruit of the Tree of Knowledge is strewn upon the ground as they are ushered from this place of goodness and joy.

On the viewer’s right is the depiction of the encounter between the Angel Gabriel and Mary. The angel appears to mirror both the look and the posture of Mary, attempting to make her feel more comfortable with the news to be delivered. Fra Angelico has painted the ray, mentioned above, as passing directly over the head of the angel, giving the image a dynamic, interactive quality between Mary and Gabriel. Mary is depicted with a prayer book resting on her leg, actively praying. The brilliant blue, noting her special qualities before God, is repeated both on the star-covered ceiling and in the sky above the garden. The red in her dress tells of the sorrow of the blood that Christ will shed. Below the main image, other scenes from the life of Mary are shown. Moving from left to right, these images depict the wedding of Mary and Joseph, the Visitation, the Adoration of the Magi, the Presentation of the Christ-child in the Temple, and the end of Mary’s earthly life (the Dormition of Mary).

The painting presents the great truth that the disobedience of Adam and Eve is corrected through the obedience of Mary. Humanity, once cast away from access to both the beauty of the Garden and the life of God, is restored to that beauty and given a share in God’s life through Mary’s ‘yes’ and the Son she bears: Jesus Christ. In this manner, the image offers us a broad brushstroke of Salvation History. When contemplating the work of God and Christ’s coming among us, we don’t see just the interactions between Mary and the angel; we are called to observe the totality of God’s action in history and how it reaches its culmination in the Incarnation of God.

As we approach Christmas Day, the reading and the image call each person to hear the invitation of the angel Gabriel. A clear question is offered: “Will you follow the path of Adam and Eve, seeking the way of the world, or will you, with Mary, respond in faith and full of grace, saying ‘be it done to me according to your word’?” A response with Mary demands an additional response. The follower must then bear Christ in the world, as Mary did, offering Him through the whole of life.

This Christmas, may each of us, as Mary did, say yes to God, and thus bring forth, through our lives, Christ in the world.

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