The angel, after speaking, waited. I had the perception of an infinite moment of silence in the world. As if the stars had stopped to wait, to watch. The cicadas fell silent. The birds in the sky became quiet in the branches of the trees. It seemed to me that all the generations of the past and those of the future were waiting. I heard the prayer of Adam and Eve, of Noah and his wife, of Melchizedek, of Abraham our father and Sarah... The sun had stood still in the sky. But the decision had already been made to do what God wanted for me. A thousand times I had repeated it to him, since I was a child, in my prayer of praise for having created me: I always told him of my desire to serve him as he wished. So I told the angel that I was saying yes to God with the freedom he had given me: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."
It seemed to me that Gabriel was bowing, that he was smiling with a smile that he could not contain, with an ineffable joy. And the cicadas began to sing again, and the birds began to fly in the sky. My heart was touched by the light that enveloped the room. The light and the smile gave a love and a peace to my body and soul that I had never felt before. Gabriel left me. Around me everything was as before and everything was different. The cloth, the bucket, the water, the floor. My mother called me: "Maria, did you get the water, is everything all right, I couldn't hear you singing! How long did the angel's visit last? An instant, an eternity. I will tell mother that I want to go and see Elizabeth. I will be able to understand her and help her. She will be able to understand me and maybe help me. What should I do now? One step after another.
When I recounted to my Son's disciples my response to the angel Gabriel: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord," my heart warned me that these words, inspired by God and entirely mine, guided me throughout my life. I repeated them within myself whenever I realized that there was a new call from the Lord and in every new situation. They helped me to get out of the doubt: to go, or not to go? to be, or not to be? It came out of my heart with certainty: to be there! To go there. I will always be there. At your side and at the side of those who need me. Of all my daughters and sons. I go wherever you call me. I will be present wherever you want me. When one of my children suffers, I am by his side, I suffer with him. I will take him to heaven when I die. My life has been like this and continues to be like this. Going towards Isabel's mountains, I repeated: "Here I am", and I seemed to notice that I was no longer alone. And I imagined myself saying to Isabel: "Here I am, here I am! I stayed with her. How good it is to be there when someone needs it and where the Holy Spirit wants it.
