Prayer

by Hans Urs von Balthasar

Mary is our model for this kind of trinitarian contemplation; she was directly addressed by God in trinitarian terms (through the angel who brought God’s word to her: Lk 1:27-38). The decisive factor is that the angel’s three salutations (the first manifesting the Father, the second the Son and the third the Holy Spirit) are each followed by a reaction on Mary’s part, not empty speculation about God but her reflection as to the best possible response and course of action in view of what God has told her. Her reaction to the revelation of the Father is alarm (as, indeed every creature must be alarmed to be in the immediate presence of God) as she wonders “what sort of greeting this might be”, i.e., what it implies in terms of her response and her willingness to be of service. Her second reaction, in the wake of the revelation of the Son whom she is to bear, who will be both God’s Son and David’s