“I am the daughter of the Lord, the mother of the messiah, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, who hovered over the waters on the day of creation and made them fertile by the fire of his love. I am the woman promised to the world, greeted by the prophets, whose foot would crush the serpent’s head. I am the virgin foretold by Isaiah, the virgin who would conceive and bear a child, whose name would be wonderful, God of strength. (Is 9:5) I am that wisdom of which Solomon speaks. It is through me that kings reign; I rule the world and all created things.
The Lord possessed me from the beginning of his ways and has preserved me from the serpent’s sting. The true Assuerus said to me in the person of Esther that the law of death affecting my people would not touch me. I am the dove of the Song of Songs, forever beautiful, forever pure, without spot or stain. I am lifted up like a cedar of Lebanon or a cypress of Sion and I resemble the palm trees of Kadesh or the rose bushes of Jericho. I extend my branches like the vine and my flowers give out sweet fragrance and abundant fruit… I am that sister, that spouse of the Beloved.
And do you know what I am, what I shall be for you if you wish it? I will be your mother of fair love, of saving fear and of holy hope. In me you will find the grace of all truth and of all virtue. I am full of grace and the Lord is with me. Come then, my child, follow me and I will lead you on the way to eternal happiness.“
Servant of God Augustine-Mary of the Blessed Sacrament
(Hermann Cohen)
Sermon at the shrine of Our Lady of Peragude (excerpt)
Tierney, T 2017, A Life of Hermann Cohen: From Franz Liszt to John of the Cross, Balboa Press, Bloomington, IN
Featured image: Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. captures this beautiful stained glass window of the Annunciation by Christopher Webb at St. Alban’s Cathedral (Some rights reserved).
Carmelite Quotes 
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