Mary, Virgin of Silence

27 February 2020

Mary’s silence

Virgo’s destiny is to be silent. It is his condition, his way, his life. His is a life of silence that worships the eternal Word. Seeing before her eyes, at her breast, in her arms, this same Word, the substantive Word of the Father, mute and reduced to silence because of the special condition of her childhood, the Virgin is enclosed in a new silence, where she is transformed on the example of the incarnate Word who is her Son, her only love. And his life thus goes from one silence to another, from a silence of adoration to a silence of transformation. Mary is silent, enveloped in the silence of her Son, Jesus. One of the sacred and divine effects of Jesus’ silence is to place his most holy Mother in a life of silence: a humble, profound silence that knows how to adore incarnate wisdom in a holier and more eloquent way than both the words of men and the words of angels can. The Virgin’s silence is not the effect of stuttering and helplessness; it is a silence of light and ecstasy, a silence more eloquent, in praises to Jesus, than eloquence itself…(Pierre de Bérulle, Opuscules de pieté, 39)

Mary, “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart”(Luke 2:19). Silence is one of the fundamental characteristics of the Mother of God, the first disciple of Jesus, who preserves in the treasure chest of her mother’s heart all the mysteries of the Son of God. Pope Francis says in one of his homilies, “I think of how many times the Virgin Mary kept silent, how many times she did not say what she felt in order to guard the mystery of her relationship with her Son.” Paul VI in 1964 in Nazareth was telling us all that we need to renew and reinforce, to harden silence, precisely because “silence guards the mystery.” Let us think of Our Lady’s silence at the foot of the cross, of what was passing through her mind.” Today’s society and world is sick of noise, so silence is the true “prophecy” and a way to listen to God within ourselves and others. The Virgin of Silence “tells” us with one hand to stop from the whirlwind of words and activism, and with the other she proposes an adoring, awe-filled silence. Mary is the cathedral of silence in which the eternal Word resounds. Our Lady of Silence is an antidote to the “dictatorship” of noise and the “chattering” of useless and malicious words. Thus the Holy Father after an audience addressed a group of pilgrims “But do you pray to Our Lady of Silence? But you know that Our Lady of Silence protects us all…not to become chatterers. Are any or any of you chatterers? No? When you get the urge to chatter bite your tongue and pray to Our Lady of Silence. You guys got scared huh? No chattering: when chattering goes out Our Lady goes out, either Our Lady or chattering, you have to choose.” Noise makes us deaf to the things that really matter in life. Silence makes us see truths about ourselves and others. It offers us the novelty of having a renewed view of reality and others. It makes us judge less and love more. Silence opens us to God’s mercy, forgiveness of others and the expectation of being better people. Pope Francis recalls that “silence is not reduced to the absence of words, but rather in disposing ourselves to other voices: that of our heart and, above all, the voice of the Holy Spirit.”

CHRONOLOGY OF THE ICON OF THE VIRGIN OF SILENCE

  • NOVEMBER 1, 2008: Friar Emiliano Antenucci writes out of the blue “The Book of Life” first small handout for Silence courses entitled, “Silence, Silence Speaks.”

  • FEBRUARY 26-28, 2010 in Foligno(Pg): the first Silence course, and then they continue in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the land where he lived, St. Peter Celestine V of Morrone, the holy hermit pope par excellence of silence.

  • The original of the icon of the Virgin of Silence, is commissioned by Friar Emiliano Antenucci, is “written” and made, after about 9 months of work, by the Benedictine nuns of the Island of St. Julius of Orta (NO).

  • JUNE 13, 2011: the day Our Lady of Silence arrived at the convent in Penne(Pe).

  • MARCH 17-18, 2012: the Silence courses begin in Guadalajara, Mexico, with a translation, both into Spanish and then into English for the various nations of the world, by Magda Nava Sandoval (responsible with her husband for the course in Mexico),

  • The Holy Father Pope Francis is given a copy of the original of the Virgin of Silence and is amazed by this image, so much so that he has it placed between the two elevators of the main entrance to the Apostolic Palace, in the courtyard of San Damaso, where everyone passes by to speak with him in his private study

  • MAY 18, 2015: Pope Francis blesses this copy with this intention, “May the Virgin Mary intercede with the Lord, so that all who enter the Apostolic Palace may always have the right words.”

  • JUNE 15, 2016: Fr. Emiliano meets Pope Francis who, after the Audience, blesses the original of the Virgin of Silence, autographing it with the inscription behind the icon, “Don’t speak ill of others!”

  • NOVEMBER 22, 2017: Fr. Emiliano with his Silence team met Pope Francis after the Audience, who received a copy of the book : “The Path of Silence” Effatà publisher (fruit of the Silence courses).

  • NOVEMBER 28, 2017: From the Vatican (secretariat of state) comes a personal Apostolic Blessing from the pope for Fr. Emiliano, the confreres and those entrusted to his pastoral care.

  • MARCH 22, 2019: Brother Emiliano has a PRIVATE AUDIENCE IN THE APOSTOLIC PALACE WITH PAPA FRANCIS ON THE VIRGIN OF SILENCE AND FUTURE PROJECTS.

  • ON MARCH 24, 2019 (the eve of the Annunciation and his visit to the Shrine of Loreto), PAPA FRANCIS WRITES A LETTER OF HIS OWN AUTOGRAPHY TO THE PROVINCIAL MINISTER OF THE CAPPUCCINI OF ABRUZZO PADRE NICOLA GALASSO WITH THIS REQUEST: “IT WOULD BE NICE TO FIND A PLACE, A CHURCH, WHERE PUBLIC WORSHIP CAN BE GIVEN TO THE SILENT MADONNA. THINK YOU, PLEASE, AND PROPOSE TO ME.”

  • FATHER EMILIANO TOGETHER WITH THE PROVINCIAL MINISTER, WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE GENERAL OF THE ORDER, SET OUT TO SEARCH VARIOUS PLACES AND LOCATE THE CHURCH OF SAN FRANCESCO D’ASSISI AND THE FRIARY OF THE CAPUCHINS OF AVEZZANO (AQ), ABANDONED FOR TEN YEARS AND OWNED BY THE PROVINCE OF THE FRIARS MINOR CAPUCHINS OF ABRUZZO.

  • THE HOLY FATHER AFTER NUMEROUS LETTERS, PHONE CALLS AND MEETINGS WITH FATHER EMILIANO, BECAUSE HE WAS CONCERNED THAT EVERYTHING WAS GOING WELL HE GAVE THE BLESSING FOR THIS PROJECT OF GOD. FINALLY, THE POPE TELEPHONES THE BISHOP OF AVEZZANO MONS. PIETRO SANTORO WHO WITH GREAT JOY WELCOMES THIS NEW SHRINE DESIRED BY THE HOLY FATHER IN HIS DIOCESE.

    Father Emiliano Antenucci