Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae.
Praised be Jesus and Mary.
Today we celebrate this Mass in honor of Our Lady.
Today, Saturday, Saturday of Our Lady, Our Lady on Saturday.
And we celebrate this Mass under Our Lady's title, The Handmaid of the Lord.
And we see in the Gospel, from the Gospel of St. Luke,
the Archangel Gabriel comes to Our Lady and says,
Hail, favored one.
At least that's the English translation in this lectionary.
And it's not really precise.
The official Latin version of the Church is Ave Grazia Plena,
which is Hail, full of grace, just like we say when we pray the Hail Mary.
So this favor, Hail, favored one, this favor that Our Lady has received,
is the fullness of grace that she possessed from the moment of her Immaculate Conception.
Now, notice Our Lady's humility after the Archangel Gabriel explains to her
that her vocation is to be the Mother of God.
And she responds, she doesn't respond,
Behold, I am the full of grace.
May it be done to me according to your word.
So the angel calls her full of grace,
but she refers to herself as the Handmaid of the Lord.
Behold, I am the Handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.
So she's praised by the angel and she humbles herself
and states that she is the Handmaid of the Lord,
ready to be of complete service to the Lord and to his holy will.
Now again, this Mass is under Our Lady's title,
the Handmaid of the Lord.
She uses that title.
She uses that title twice in the Gospel for herself.
Once, when the angel appears to her.
And then a second time shortly afterwards,
when she visits her cousin, St. Elizabeth.
And again, the angel praised Our Lady,
she humbles herself.
When she goes to visit St. Elizabeth,
she again receives praise from St. Elizabeth.
But who am I that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?
Says St. Elizabeth.
And now Our Lady proclaims her Magnificat,
all the joy of her soul.
And again, she calls herself the Handmaid of the Lord.
She doesn't say that he has looked upon the greatness
of she who is full of grace,
or that God has looked upon the Mother of the Lord.
But she says,
for he has looked upon,
his Handmaid's lowliness.
Again, humbling herself.
So receiving praise from the angel,
humbling herself as the Handmaid of the Lord.
Praise from St. Elizabeth,
humbling herself as the Handmaid of the Lord.
And so see how this is really,
for Our Lady,
her glory is to be of service to the Lord.
And so we should learn to imitate Our Lady,
and to be of service to the Lord. And so we should learn to imitate Our Lady,
and her humility
to humble ourselves
and desiring to serve the Lord
and if we do so
this humble service
that we render to the Lord
makes us her sons
her faithful sons
and this is what it says
in Psalm 16
Psalm 16
O Lord I am your servant
I am your servant
and the son of your handmaid
if we are servants of the Lord
then we are sons
of the Lord's handmaid
sons of our lady
that's Psalm 116
so every true servant of the Lord
becomes the son
of the Blessed Virgin Mary
and now God
seeing our lady
rendering humble service
in the end
exalts herself
our lady
we know that
everyone who humbles himself
before the Lord
will then be exalted by God
and that's what happens
in the case of our lady
she goes from being
the humble handmaid of the Lord
to being exalted
as the Queen of Heaven
this is what it says
in the preface of today's Mass
she who saw herself
as your lowly handmaid
was raised up
by you
to reign as Queen in Glory
alright so again
this should be the same path
that every one of us travels
alright
humble service of the Lord
so that we will be raised up
to participate
in his glory
may our lady grant us this grace
in the name of the Father
and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit
we make our daily worship
with the faith
from the heart
so that we can
flap hands
by giving every day
to this healing
we aroma
the glory that
may not bitterly
banish
from our souls
but to allow us
to admit
that we are
whole
and whole
our holy
let us listen��