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Handmaid of the Lord
In this profound book on the mystery of Mary, Adrienne von Speyr reflects on the life, attitude, and prayer of the Mother of God. She shows how Mary's assent to God's will--her Fiat -Let it be done to me according to thy word---is what defines and sanctifies every aspect of her life. She gives new insights into Mary's holiness, suffering, prayer, and role of spiritual motherhood for all mankind.
Handmaid of the Lord is not a biography detailing the daily life of the Mother of Jesus, filled with the sights and the sounds found in the holy imagination of a saintly visionary. Rather, it responds to our desire to know Mary in a penetrating and personal way, opening us to the mystery of her inner life, which can be revealed only by the Word himself and pondered in the heart, just as Our Lady herself did.
Humility, obedience, availability, joy, suffering, and transparency before God are some of the key spiritual attributes of Our Lady found in this timeless work. As with her other books, von Speyr helps us to savor and to appreciate each word of Sacred Scripture as self-revelation from the Father through the heart of the Church, the Bride of the Son, in a loving exchange of the Spirit. In this way, the Word may be absorbed into the very core of our being, as it was for Mary, the Mother of God.
Handmaid of the Lord is not a biography detailing the daily life of the Mother of Jesus, filled with the sights and the sounds found in the holy imagination of a saintly visionary. Rather, it responds to our desire to know Mary in a penetrating and personal way, opening us to the mystery of her inner life, which can be revealed only by the Word himself and pondered in the heart, just as Our Lady herself did.
Humility, obedience, availability, joy, suffering, and transparency before God are some of the key spiritual attributes of Our Lady found in this timeless work. As with her other books, von Speyr helps us to savor and to appreciate each word of Sacred Scripture as self-revelation from the Father through the heart of the Church, the Bride of the Son, in a loving exchange of the Spirit. In this way, the Word may be absorbed into the very core of our being, as it was for Mary, the Mother of God.
203 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1985
31 people are currently reading
199 people want to read
About the author
Adrienne von Speyr
139 books42 followersAdrienne von Speyr was a Swiss medical doctor and the author of over 60 books on spirituality and theology.
Von Speyr was born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Her father, Theodor von Speyr, was an ophthalmologist. Her mother, Laure Girard, was the descendant of a family of noted watchmakers and jewelers from Geneva and Neuenburg. Speyr was her parents' second child.
Speyr's mother scolded her daily and this led her to form a strong trust and devotion to God, as well as a recognition of the meaning of sacrifice and renunciation. She formed a deep relationship with her grandmother, a holy and pious woman. She also had a devotion to her father, who treated her with mutual respect and understanding, often taking her with him to the hospital to visit sick children. In her primary school years she began working with the poor and even formed a society with her friends for those living in poverty.
Speyr became a Roman Catholic on 1 November 1940, the Feast of All Saints, when she was 38, under the spiritual direction of the prominent priest and theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar.
She is considered by many to have been a mystic and is reputed to have had mystical experiences of the Trinity and the saints.
While in a state of contemplative, mystical prayer, she dictated to Balthasar over 60 books, including commentaries on the Bible and various theological topics. With Balthasar she co-founded a secular institute, the Johannesgemeinschaft (Community of St. John). Her reputed mystical experiences grew in frequency until her death in Basel, Switzerland, on 17 September 1967.
Von Speyr was born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Her father, Theodor von Speyr, was an ophthalmologist. Her mother, Laure Girard, was the descendant of a family of noted watchmakers and jewelers from Geneva and Neuenburg. Speyr was her parents' second child.
Speyr's mother scolded her daily and this led her to form a strong trust and devotion to God, as well as a recognition of the meaning of sacrifice and renunciation. She formed a deep relationship with her grandmother, a holy and pious woman. She also had a devotion to her father, who treated her with mutual respect and understanding, often taking her with him to the hospital to visit sick children. In her primary school years she began working with the poor and even formed a society with her friends for those living in poverty.
Speyr became a Roman Catholic on 1 November 1940, the Feast of All Saints, when she was 38, under the spiritual direction of the prominent priest and theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar.
She is considered by many to have been a mystic and is reputed to have had mystical experiences of the Trinity and the saints.
While in a state of contemplative, mystical prayer, she dictated to Balthasar over 60 books, including commentaries on the Bible and various theological topics. With Balthasar she co-founded a secular institute, the Johannesgemeinschaft (Community of St. John). Her reputed mystical experiences grew in frequency until her death in Basel, Switzerland, on 17 September 1967.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 5, 2022
Gifted to me by one of my favorite people & read alongside another one of my favorite people (for the past year!), this will remain a treasure. I think the reason it reached 5 stars for me is not just because of the book itself but because of the prolonged and communal experience of reading it.
This is at times heady, but in reading it slowly (and sometimes re-reading a chapter) & then discussing with another, there is space to ponder a lot of beauty. I think I read each chapter at the perfect time, and some of the chapters I have already returned to multiple times.
Another joy of reading this is that when someone shares a book they like, it’s like a little window into their heart. Very thankful for this window :)
This is at times heady, but in reading it slowly (and sometimes re-reading a chapter) & then discussing with another, there is space to ponder a lot of beauty. I think I read each chapter at the perfect time, and some of the chapters I have already returned to multiple times.
Another joy of reading this is that when someone shares a book they like, it’s like a little window into their heart. Very thankful for this window :)
July 3, 2022
I think it is hard to not make mariology sound self-effacing rather than self-giving, and Von Speyr is no exception
March 24, 2017
I found it very repetitive and lacking in any biblical references
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews