In that land there lived a maiden
to us it has been often said—
this woman’s ancestry
was of faultless lineage:
she was born from Jesse’s stem.
...
When he had been put in prison,
then God came along
and taught all alike,
poor and rich,
in the towns and in the wilderness,
and brought comfort to very many.
When John learned
that God himself had begun to teach
in the same land,
...
Now shall we with the powers of our mind
tell what things took place
as that age was beginning
when the old covenant was expiring.
It happened in terra promissionis
which then was Herod’s kingdom.
...
Then the woman got up and left
and came to another town,
into a house in which was
the wife of Zachary.
There the good women lived,
...
Now the child grew, it is true,
until he came to his eighth year.
Then he left and went into the desert
and put his trust in God.
That was a great miracle
...
We read of John,
that holy man,
that God’s Son came to him
and began to talk with him,
that he should go and baptize
and receive penitents.
...
Two princes then there were
who wielded sovereignty.
Books give their names
as Herod and Philip.
One of them was married
and had a beautiful wife.
...
In those times there occurred
Herod’s birthday.
The tyrant went
into the palace of Herod
to the feast,
which he celebrated with zest,
with dancing and with singing,
dressed in finest silk.
...
The poet Ava (c. 1060 – 7 February 1127), also known as Frau Ava, Ava of Göttweig or Ava of Melk, was the first named female writer in any genre in the German language. Life Ava was married and had two sons (Hartmann and Heinrich), who were probably clerics and helped their mother with her Middle High German religious poems, written in rhyming couplets; she refers to them at the end of her poem Das Jüngste Gericht ("The Last Judgment"), when one had already died. In her poetry Ava used the Commentaries of Bede, Rabanus Maurus and Alcuin, Adso's Libellus de Antichristo (or his Latin source) and other works. The poems all centre on the theme of the growth, work and end of the Christian church. Like most composers of medieval biblical epics, she incorporates many ideas and motifs belonging to the so-called Medieval popular Bible, motifs which were popular in her time, and remain popular into ours - such as the ox and the ass at the crib - which are in fact not to be found in the Bible itself. She also adds content from the Apocrypha. Ava the poet is usually identified as a certain Ava who after the death of her husband lived as an anchorite on the estate of Göttweig Abbey in Lower Austria, near Krems, or perhaps in Melk Abbey. Her death is listed in several necrologies, including that of Melk. In Klein-Wien near Göttweig there is still today a tower called "Ava's Tower" (Avaturm), possibly the remains of the earlier nunnery. It seems fairly certain that the church of Saint Blaise in Klein-Wien stands on the site of the little chapel that was there at the time of Ava. Until recently, Ava was usually referred to as "Frau Ava". The convention at least in English-speaking scholarship has changed since the appearance of the Rushing edition, which pointed out that the title "Frau" sounds patronising when male poets of the period are not called "Herr Wolfram" etc. Frau Ava Literature Prize A biennial literary prize known as the Frau Ava Literaturpreis was instituted by local endeavour in 2001 and first awarded in 2003, open to works by already published female writers in German on spiritual, religious or political topics aimed at, or appealing to, a youth readership.)
The Annunciation To Mary
In that land there lived a maiden
—to us it has been often said—
this woman’s ancestry
was of faultless lineage:
she was born from Jesse’s stem.
Thereafter she became God’s nursing mother
in maiden purity,
something that no woman had ever been.
Truly after these events,
in the sixth month,
the angel was sent,
Gabriel the warrior,
to the town of Nazareth,
as it is written here,
to the queen
who is the glory of all women.
When the angel went in,
this is how he began;
he said: “Ave gratia plena,
Greetings to you, Mary!
God wishes to dwell with you.
May you be blessed among other women!”
The maiden was seized with wonder
about what this message might be.
Without doubt she thought the message
that the angel brought her
extremely strange.
She pondered very quietly
with such humility
as befit the good woman.
When the angel saw that,
he spoke to her thus:
“Do not be afraid!
This is what I say to you:
You alone
have found favor with God.
Ecce concipies et paries filium.
He will be called God’s Son
and named Jesus.
At him the whole world will rejoice.
In truth he will be
a mighty savior.
God will honor him by giving him
David’s throne.
In Jacob’s house,
there will Jesus reign
in eternum et ultra.
Believe what I have said, Mary!”
“How can that be,” said the maiden,
what you have announced to me,
that I will bear a child?
I do not know a man.
That is why I am amazed
that I am nonetheless to become a mother.”
Then the angel said:
“Spiritus sanctus will come over you.
He will overshadow your womb,
and you will have conceived a child.
I have more to tell you:
Elizabeth, your kinswoman,
who is in old age,
is to bear a child.
This is now the sixth month
since God’s will commanded it.
From this you can know
that nothing is impossible for God.”
Then Saint Mary said:
“About God I am free of doubt.
I believe his power
over young and over old.”
She said: “Ecce ancilla domini.”
According to your words may it happen to me.”
I wish they would add a picture. She has some cool poems though.
Umm... So have a Mele Kalikimaka it means have a good Christmas😇😁