Mary is the most comforting of all the Advent figures. Advent’s holiest consolation is that the angel’s annunciation met with a ready heart in Mary.

While in a Nazi prison, Jesuit priest Alfred Delp meditates on the Lord's Prayer. This extract is his meditation on the words, "Hallowed be thy name."

There always are angels of annunciation, speaking their message of good news into the midst of anguish, scattering their seed of blessing that will spring up one day in the midst of the night.