Today is the feast day of the Annunciation.
What happened today literally split history in two.

The Angel Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her she will bear the Son of God. The entire fate of the human race hinged on the absolute submission of a young, unmarried girl in Nazareth.

To understand the profound theology of the Annunciation, you have to understand the Fall.

In the Garden of Eden, a virgin (Eve) listened to a fallen angel, asserted her own prideful will, and brought death into the world. In Nazareth, a Virgin (Mary) listened to a faithful Archangel, submitted her will entirely to God, and brought Life Himself into the world.

As Saint Irenaeus wrote in the 2nd century: "The knot of Eve's disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary." She is the New Eve.

She gave her "Fiat" (Let it be done unto me according to your word). No hesitation, no thought about herself. Absolutely and holy obedient unto her Lord.

In that single moment of perfect obedience, the gates of hell were shattered, and the infinite Creator of the universe took on human flesh. The spiritual war for our souls officially turned the tide.

The Blessed Virgin Mary's fiat, her yes, opened the way to our salvation.

When she said her Fiat ("Let it be done to me"), the Holy Spirit overshadowed her. Mary officially became the living Ark of the New Covenant. The God who cannot be contained by the cosmos physically confined Himself to a mother's womb to wage war on sin and death.

The modern world screams, "My will be done." The Mother of God whispered, "Thy will be done."

And that whisper crushed the head of the serpent.