And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord ... may come to you with pure hearts. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Yet today’s Gospel presents us with a young woman called Mary declaring herself “the handmaid of the Lord”. She gladly adopts this title with no indication that she feels subjugated in any way.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord R ... Let us pray, Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy grace into our hearts that, we to whom the incarnation of Christ, thy son, was made known by the ...