In the Bible we read how the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady, was entirely open to God’s love and action in her life. It has been said that the Word of God was conceived in the Virgin Mary’s heart even before Jesus Christ was conceived in her womb. As a woman who pondered the Word, Mary was able to bring the Messiah into the waiting world. In this beautiful set of reflections by Father Joseph Chalmers, O.Carm., Mary, as we encounter her in the Scriptures, is presented to all Christians as a model of faith, hope and love. As Prior General of the Carmelites (1995–2007), a religious order which enjoys a particularly deep relationship with Mary, Father Joseph has shared with people across the world his experience of how God speaks words of love today through the Bible. Drawing on the ancient traditions underlying the practice of Lectio Divina (holy reading), Father Joseph shares insights from the Christian contemplative tradition, particularly the teachings of Saint John of the Cross on the need to overcome the ‘false self’, and enter into the ‘dark night’ of sense and spirit, through which God’s transforming love takes hold.