Here are a few thoughts which I would like to offer you on the Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin. Mary spoke few words, as far as we can learn from the records, but it seems the quality of her silence is clearly present in the words of her son. It is not easy to hear this silence or to know its meaning. Too often it goes unregarded. Yet with it Christ carves truth.
Silence is the ground of the Word, silence is the essence of the articulate word.
To the slanders of his accusers Jesus answered with silence. Perhaps the universal language which could best make divergent groups or individuals understandable to one another is the language of silence. The garrulous scions of commerce do their utmost to prevent us from conversing in it. The unspeakable counsel of God is screened and hidden, not to say stolen away altogether by the pretensions of the rational mind. I greet you with heartfelt congratulations on this sparkling anniversary in the eloquence of silence.