In Mary the Word of God chose to be silent for the season measured by God. She, too, was silent; in her the light of the world shone in darkness. Today, in many souls, Christ asks that he may grow secretly, that he may be the light shining in the darkness. In the seasons of our Advent – waking, working, eating, sleeping, being – each breath is a breathing of Christ into the world.
-Caryll Houselander, “The Reed of God”