In his poem “Celebrating Advent Means Knowing How to Wait,” Dietrich Bonhoeffer describes Mary as one person who knew what it was like to feel both the excitement of preparation and the anxiety of waiting. He says, “For she knows better than anyone what it means to wait for Christ. She waits for him in a way unlike anyone else. She awaits him as his mother. She knows about the mystery of his coming, about the Spirit that is at play here, about the almighty God who works his wonders” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Celebrating Advent Means Knowing How to Wait,” The Mystery of Holy Night, ed. Manfred Weber, trans. Peter Heinegg [New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1996], 7).
