“The Word had to be written here on earth in flesh and blood”

Among all the words spoken by the Father in His Creation, one was quite singular. It was not so much an object of intelligence as of intuition. Not the splendor of the divine sun, but a soft, gentle shadow. A light white cloud that softens the sunlight, which is too bright for our eyes. 

It was in the plans of Providence that the Word became flesh. A word, the Word, was to be written here on earth in flesh and blood, and this Word needed a backdrop. Out of love for us, the celestial harmonies longed to bring their unique concert to our tents. They needed a silence on which to resound. The One who would lead mankind, give meaning to past centuries, enlighten and draw centuries to follow in His wake, had to appear on the world stage. But He needed an immaculate screen on which to shine.

The greatest projects that God-Love could imagine had to be traced out in majestic, divine lines.

The full range of virtues was to be found in a human heart ready to serve Him. This admirable shadow, which carries the sun within it, gives way to it and finds itself in Him; this immaculate canvas, this unfathomable depth, which contains the Word, Christ, and is lost in Him, light within the Light; this sublime silence which is no longer silent as the divine harmonies of the Word sing within it; and which becomes, in Him, the note among all notes, the “A” note of the eternal song rising from Paradise; this majestic and splendid setting, like nature itself, where the Creator concentrates the beauty He has poured into the universe; this universe reserved for the Son of God, who forgets Himself, having no other part and no other interest than Him who was to come and who came, in Him who was to accomplish His work and accomplished it; this rainbow of virtues which says “peace” to the whole world, having given the world Peace; this creature, which the Trinity, in its unfathomable mystery, invented and gave us…is Mary.

Chiara Lubich,

Founder of the Focolare Movement