The Throne

(I know I promised to write about the beauty of the bad music at daily Mass, but that will have to wait until another day.  I’ll get to it, but this seemed like a better topic for today.)

Today is the Solemnity of the Annunciation, the day we celebrate the moment of the Incarnation.  It’s the day we remember an angel coming to a simple peasant girl and asking her to be the Mother of God. 

Earlier this week, I ran across a new title for the Blessed Mother and it has been an image of much thought and prayer for me as I have gone through the week.  I saw her referred to as the Throne of God, the Throne of Grace, the Throne of Wisdom.

She carried God in her womb.  She gave birth to Him.  She held her little boy on her lap.  She was his throne.

My own youngest child is moving quickly from baby to boy, yet he still happily claims my lap as his own place of honor.  My sitting down is always an obvious invitation for him to join me.  I’m enchanted by the mental image that it was the same for her.

I love the idea of her sitting to fold laundry and her little boy snuggling into the familiar place on her lap with her chin resting on his downy head.  I can see her inhaling that familiar tangy smell of young boys exhausted from play.  I know the beloved weight of my own little guy and imagine that it was the same for her.  There is so much of majesty in the stories of Christ which inspire awe and wonder, and yet I find such peace in thoughts of the ordinary days of his childhood.

God could have chosen for His Son any of the great kingdoms and thrones of the Earth.  He did not.  He gave to Him the most humble and simple seat of all, that of his loving mother’s lap.