LOOK: Annunciation by Pablo Sanaguano
In this outdoor Andean Annunciation scene, the angel Gabriel arrives with a gust of wind before Mary, who has a satchel of freshly harvested corn slung over her shoulders. He wears llama or alpaca pants, part of the traditional male dress in the highlands of Ecuador. With his right hand he gestures toward the heavens, and with his left he gestures toward her, as if to say, “Heaven’s coming down to earth—God wants to be made human in you.”
He smiles. She smiles. Her face is illumined by beams of divine grace. She extends her arms to embrace her new vocation as Mother of God.
LISTEN: “Bendita seas, María” (Blessed Are You, Mary) by Ariel Glaser, on Tercer Milenio, 1997 | Performed by Jimena Muñoz with Brother Alex, 2020
En un silencio profundo tejías plegarias
a un Dios que escuchaba tus simples palabras,
pequeña María entregada a su amor.
Y en una tarde tranquila rompiendo el silencio,
las alas de un ángel, sonaban al tiempo
que te saludaba de parte de Dios.Estribillo 1:
¡Bendita seas, María, entre toda mujer!
¡Has encontrado gracia a los ojos de Dios!
María, Madre suplicante, ayúdame
también a escucharlo a Él.Fue la palabra más dulce que tocó la tierra,
la que te propuso cumplir la promesa
de que nacería nuestro Salvador.
«Hágase en mí como has dicho;» respondiste al ángel,
y el Santo Espíritu descendió al instante.
Te habías convertido en Madre de Dios.Estribillo 2:
Bendita seas María, hija del Padre,
Esposa del Espíritu, Madre del Emanuel.
María, Madre de Jesús, ayúdame,
también a decir amén.ENGLISH TRANSLATION (my own):
In profound silence you wove prayers
to a God who heard your simple words,
little Mary, surrendered as you were to his love.
And on a quiet afternoon, breaking the silence,
the wings of an angel sounded
as he greeted you on behalf of God.Refrain 1:
Blessed are you, Mary, among all women!
You have found favor in the eyes of God!
Mary, supplicating mother, help me
to listen to him too.It was the sweetest word that touched the earth,
the one that offered you the promise
of the birth of our Savior.
“Let it be done to me according to your word,” you replied to the angel,
and the Holy Spirit descended instantly.
You had become the Mother of God.Refrain 2:
Blessed are you, Mary, daughter of the Father,
wife of the Spirit, mother of Emmanuel.
Mary, mother of Jesus, help me
also to say amen.
This song marvels at Mary’s unique calling while recognizing that we, too, are called to say yes and amen (“let it be”) to God’s will in our lives, which includes being filled with Christ.
The first two lines of the first refrain combine Elizabeth’s exclamation to Mary in Luke 1:42 (“Blessed are you among women!”) with Gabriel’s declaration in Luke 1:30 (“You have found favor with God”).
The epithets in the second refrain highlight Mary’s relationship to the three persons of the Trinity. She is a child of God the Father, as we all are. But she was also wed to God’s Spirit, experiencing a unique and nonsexual union that resulted in the conception of Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus received his flesh from Mary, and she mothered him from his birth to his death. The title Theotokos—God-bearer, or Mother of God—was formally affirmed for Mary at the Council of Ephesus in 431 and is held true by all three branches of Christianity.
The songwriter, Ariel Glaser, is from Argentina. He describes himself as “a catechist who sings,” teaching Catholic doctrines in schools and churches through traditional methods and song. He and his wife are members of the Convivencia con Dios (CcD), a charismatic Catholic movement made up of both laypeople and religious, both men and women, responding to Jesus’s call in John 17: “Father, may they all be one as you and I are one!” Follow Glaser on Facebook.
The singer, Jimena Muñoz, has been singing and playing guitar since age twelve. In addition to making gospel-centered music, she is also a professor of sacred sciences (a field in Catholic institutions that includes theology, canon law, philosophy, biblical studies, church history, and liturgy), and a pastoral coordinator for CEF (Centro Educativo Franciscano) La Rioja.
Art & Theology 