I am your reed, sweet shepherd, glad to be.

Now, if you will, breathe out your joy in me

And make bright song.

As the shepherd plucks the reed and carves it into a flute, so God made our Lady, playing through her the most exquisite melodies of His love. Virginity is a sort of emptiness, a receptive emptiness, like the flute waiting to be filled with air, the chalice waiting to be filled with wine or the nest waiting to be filled with new life. Mary is the virgin par excellence and as a loving mother she wants to help each of us find-or recover-our own emptiness, to unclutter our inner life so that God can fill it entirely with His love. Caryll Houselander beautifully shows us Mary's love for us and how we can live like her, seeing and loving Christ in all things in our life and, more importantly, in all people.

'This book is extraordinary! Houselander has a unique way with words and a rare gift for treating the spiritual life.'Fr Sean Davidson