In this world of violence, Mary retreated to her inner room and surrendered herself to the God of nonviolence. She practiced contemplative nonviolence. She was a woman of solitude, a woman of prayer, a woman of peace, a woman of nonviolence.
In the image of the Annunciation, Mary sits waiting for God and God's direction for her. . . . That means, like Mary, we need to sit in solitude and listen for God. It means giving God our violence, brokenness, anger, pain, bitterness, helplessness, and powerlessness. It means allowing God to disarm our hearts, give us the gift of peace, and send us forth into the war-making world on a peacekeeping mission.
— John Dear, Mary of Nazareth, Prophet of Peace