On Dec. 12, we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared to St. Juan Diego, a poor Aztec Christian, in 1531. Mary appeared to Juan Diego as an unmarried Aztec maiden, while also wearing Aztec symbols of being an expectant mother, showing to both Juan and the world that she was, in fact, the Virgin Mother of Our Lord. Advent is the perfect time of year for us to celebrate the appearance of Our Lady in her joyful expectance of the coming of our Savior, who is both her Son and the only Son of God.

Advent is a season of waiting and preparation, but perhaps above all a season of silence. Think of Our Lady during her time of waiting and preparation for the birth of our Savior. Amidst the noise and hub-bub of the world and amidst the daily grind of life, she remained with Him in silent contemplation, doing everything in joyful, hope-filled expectation of the coming of the One living in her womb and in her heart through grace.

If we are honest with ourselves, we realize that silence is something that is sorely lacking in our society today as we are constantly bombarded with noise and images. And silence in the fullest sense is not a mere absence of words or of noise. I have personally noticed that even when I am exteriorly keeping the monastic silence of my religious life by not speaking, I am often still interiorly “scattered,” lacking recollection of spirit or a true focus on Christ. Instead of completing my duties joyfully with Christ, as Our Lady did, my mind wanders from one thing to another, while attention turns more to everything I need to do than to the One who is the reason I am doing any of it in the first place.

It can be easy for us to get caught up in all we need to do in preparation for our Christmas celebrations, sometimes to the point that we forget the real reason we set out to celebrate. The season of Advent is here to help us re-focus on Christ who lives within our own hearts through grace and who continually comes into our lives.

May we spend time in recollected interior silence this Advent so as to await, with Our Lady, the arrival of her Son, not only in His first coming but also at the end of time and at each moment of our own daily lives. Let us keep in mind the words of the first reading for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, “Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the Lord, for He stirs forth from His holy dwelling” (Zechariah 2:17).

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Sr. Mary Martha Becnel is a member of the Ann Arbor-based Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist.