Message from Fr. Con

REFLECTION FOR 3RD SUNDAY OF EASTER ( YEAR A)

Week beginning 16TH APRIL 2023

The ‘Angelus’ is very much a foundational prayer. It is principally said at 6am, 12 noon and 6pm. It takes its name from the visit of the Angel Gabriel to young Mary of Nazareth, with the wondrous message that she had been specially chosen by God, for the birth of His Only Begotten Son as Saviour for the world. The prayer falls into 3 parts as follows:
“The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary and she conceived by the Holy Spirit.” (one ‘Hail, Mary … ‘)
“Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word.” (one ‘Hail, Mary …’)
“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.” (one ‘Hail, Mary …’)
Then it has its concluding prayer.
Throughout the 7 weeks of Eastertide, the ‘Angelus’ is replaced by the ‘Regina Caeli’ (meaning ‘Queen of Heaven’). Its wording is as follows:
‘Queen of Heaven, rejoice! Alleluia.
For He Whom thou didst merit to bear. Alleluia.
Has risen as He said. Alleluia.
Pray for us to God. Alleluia.’
We can see how it refers back to the content of the ‘Angelus’, with its reference to Mary meriting to bear the Son of God. The ‘Regina Caeli’ is very much an exhortation to Mary to ‘Rejoice’ at the sight of God’s Only Begotten Son, her Son, having risen from the dead. She was surely the most deserving to have been the first to meet and greet the Risen Jesus. Never could this have been recorded in the New Testament. For it would have been so private to each of them, with no witnesses to it, and it would have been in the very dark of night.