Mary, Holy Mother of God

INTRODUCTION

Try to think of a coin which has exactly one side. Such an object is clearly unintelligible. Also unintelligible is attempting to view the humanity of Christ apart from His blessed mother.

Whatever we say about the mystery of the Word made flesh is not intelligible without reference to Mary.
Whatever we say about Mary predicates from her unique relation to Christ.

To say that "Mary is the mother of God" is a rephrasing of "Jesus Christ is true God and true man".

The doctrine of the Trinity was codified by the church at two of its early ecumenical councils, called the "Trinitarian councils", which were convoked to combat heretical teachings regarding the triune God.

The doctrine of the incarnation of the Word of God was codified by two later councils, held at Ephesus and Chalcedon, called the "Christological councils". These councils declared and affirmed that the second person of the Blessed Trinity, divine from all eternity, had assumed human nature and was true God and true man, all the while remaining one person. This truth was expressed by declaring that Mary was the "Theotokos", or "God-bearer".

COUNCIL OF EPHESUS; THEOTOKOS

On 23 December 428, Proclus, a teacher in Constantinople (and later its Patriarch), gave a sermon in honor of Mary in the presence of the newly installed Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius. In his sermon, Proclus declared:

Emmanuel has, indeed, opened the gate of nature, because he was man;
But he did not break the seal of virginity, because He was God.
As he entered through the hearing, so he went out of the womb.
...
The prophet Ezekiel announced:
"The Lord God said to me,
'This door will be kept shut. No one will open it or go through it, since the Lord God of Israel has been through it. And so it must be kept shut'". (Ez. 44:1-3)

Proclus concluded his sermon with the words "Behold! this is an exact description of the holy Theotokos, Mary!"

But Nestorius considered this preaching heretical! Nestorius held that Mary was the "Christotokos", the mother of the human nature of Christ, but not the mother of the divine person united to that human nature.

Indeed, Nestorius' was the heretical teaching. In response, a council was convoked to gather in Ephesus in the summer of 431. The council unequivocally declared that Christ was of two natures, true God and true man, "hypostatically" (substantially) united in the one and unique divine Person of Jesus Christ. This declaration was reinforced by the additional declaration that Mary was truly the Theotokos, the mother of that unique person.
The Council clearly and triumphantly declared:

We confess and proclaim that our Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten of the Father, is real God and real man. He is composed of soul-reason and of body.
In regard to his humanity, he was born of the Virgin Mary...For us and for our salvation he was born.

He is consubstantial with the Father according to his divinity; consubstantial with us according to his humanity.

The union of divinity and humanity was a real unity in him. Therefore, we recognize but One only Christ, One only Son, One only Lord.

Because of this union without any confusion, we confess that the holy Virgin is Theotokos.

God the Word was made flesh, he was made man. And he united to himself, since his conception, the temple (our human nature) which he assumed from her.

Mary is his mother. Therefore, she is Theotokos.

Crowds of people roamed the streets of Ephesus that night with torches, wild with enthusiasm, shouting "Mary is Theotokos!". [cf. Raya, Theotokos, pp.5-8]

A subsequent council in Chalcedon in 451, reinforced and further clarified this teaching on the Theotokos.

MARY IS THE MOTHER OF JESUS

Jesus, mighty God, during his infancy, subjected himself to Mary's nurturing care. She picked him up, put him down, and carried him about as she pleased.

The intimate reality of the motherhood of Mary while Jesus was an infant was extolled by St. Cyril of Jerusalem in this wonderful lyric passage:

O Theotokos
you stretched out your right arm; you took him and made him lie on your left arm.
You bent your neck, and let your hair fall over him...
He stretched out his hand; and you fed him with the milk which was sweeter than manna.
And he at whom the Seraphim could not gaze, and into whose face the angels were never able to look, did the holy Virgin dandle in her hands, and she made bold without fear,
and called him "My Son," and he called her also "My Mother".

MARY IS MOTHER OF THE CHURCH

Jesus on the cross gave his mother to John, and through John, to all of us.

[John 19:25] Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.
[John 19:26] When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."
[John 19:27] Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

[That Jesus gave Mary into the care of John is a further adducement that He had no natural siblings, otherwise she would have been entrusted to their care.]

Mary gave birth to Jesus; Mary was present at the birth of the church on Pentecost.

[Acts 1:14] All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

[Acts 2:1] When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together.
[Acts 2:2] And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were.
[Acts 2:3] Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
[Acts 2:4] And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

1. Mary is Our Guide to Jesus

Mary is our sure guide to union with Jesus. As our guide, she never distracts us from Jesus; rather, she facilitates our union with Him.

Many years ago, Cecile B. De Mille made a silent movie about the life of Jesus, entitled "The King of Kings". One scene in this movie depicts Jesus in a home, teaching to a sizeable crowd which is filling the home to overflow. A young boy tries to gain entrance, but the size of the crowd prevents him. He goes around to the back of the house, and looks through the kitchen window. Mary sees him, and comes outside and asks him to come into the kitchen. He explains to her that it is his great desire to see Jesus and speak with Him.

Mary then bids the boy to come with her as she moves into the front part of the house where Jesus is teaching. The crowd, in their respect for her, parts to let her and her companion through. She does not go before the boy; rather, she walks just behind him, gently guiding him toward Jesus. At no time during this scene do we see Mary coming between the boy and Jesus.

This scene symbolizes our relationship with Mary. She facilitates our union with Jesus. She does this in two ways: as guide and as example. As guide, she shows us a path to Jesus. As example, she shows forth her perfect union with Jesus.

2. Mary is Our Paradigm of Union with Jesus

At the last supper, Our Lord prayed to His Father as follows:

[John 17:20] "I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
[John 17:21] so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.

The profound unity that Our Lord earnestly prays for, the unity of Christians with each other and with the Blessed Trinity, is accomplished perfectly in Our Lady.

[Eph 5:25] ... Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her
[Eph 5:26] to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word,
[Eph 5:27] that he might present to Himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Mary was conceived without original sin; she is called "full of grace". She experiences that oneness with the Blessed Trinity now, that the whole Church is to experience at the end of time: His bride, the Church, without spot or wrinkle.

MARY AS MEDIATRIX

1. Mary and The Communion of Saints

We affirm the doctrine of the "communion of saints" each time we recite the Apostles' creed.

The Vatican document Lumen Gentium states that

The Church is a "communion of saints": this expression refers first to the "holy things", above all the Eucharist, by which "the unity of believers, who form one body in Christ, is both represented and brought about".

In this communion of saints, the body of Christ, the Church, the Holy Spirit courses through its members, sanctifying them by enlivening them, principally through the sacraments, with that grace which is the very life of the Blessed Trinity itself.

Each member of the body of Christ cooperates with the Holy Spirit in being both recipient and conduit of His grace. We read in the Gospel of John:

[John 7:37] On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and exclaimed, "Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.
[John 7:38] Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: 'Rivers of living water will flow from within him.'"
[John 7:39] He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive.

As recipient of God's grace, each of us is to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, the divine life given to us a precursor of our life in heaven. As conduit of God's grace, each of us is to mediate this grace to one another, in particular by intercessory prayer.

Next to Christ the head of the body, Our Lady is its pre-eminent member and model for the rest of us. She is pre-eminent as recipient of God's grace, and as our model for each of us as recipient.

She is pre-eminent as one who mediates this grace to others through her intercessory prayer, and as our model for mediating grace through our intercessory prayer.

When Mary and the rest of us experience the divine life of the Trinity; the divine life is not thereby multiplied; it is shared.

Likewise, when Mary and the rest of us mediate grace through intercessory prayer, mediatorship is not multiplied; rather, it is a sharing in the unique mediatorship of Jesus Christ.

2. Christ is the Unique Mediator

Among our separated Christian brethren, there has been a historical difficulty with regard to Mary's role as mediatrix. This difficulty is shared by some Catholics as well.
.
The difficulty can be expressed as follows. We read in Paul's first letter to Timothy, verses 5 and 6:

[1 Tim 2:5] For there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus:
[1 Tim 2:6] who gave himself as ransom for all.

Yet the church teaches that Our Lady has a mediating role with Christ, and indeed is called "mediatrix". A scriptural resolution of this difficulty is found, interestingly enough, in the verses of Paul's first letter to Timothy which immediately precede verses 5 and 6 just read. Verses 1 through 6 read as follows:

[1 Tim 2:1] First of all, then, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone,
[1 Tim 2:2] for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity.
[1 Tim 2:3] This is good and pleasing to God our savior,
[1 Tim 2:4] who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.
[1 Tim 2:5] For there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus:
[1 Tim 2:6] who gave himself as ransom for all.

Paul is requesting a mediating action by the faithful under Timothy's charge. This action is what we call intercessory prayer. By such prayer, each of us shares in the mission of Christ the mediator.

We ask saints for their prayers, since they share more deeply in that mission. Most of all, we ask Our Lady for her intercession, since she most efficaciously shares in Christ's mediation.

MARY IS PERPETUAL VIRGIN

Because Jesus has renewed all things, the destiny of each of us is a supernatural one: to love God and be loved by God, face to face, for all eternity. We are made to give and receive love.

Love can be thought of as the giving of self so that life can issue forth.

In our present wayfaring state, our love of God is most frequently done through the intermediary of a spouse; the life ordinarily issuing forth from that love is the generation of future members of the kingdom. Where God grants a vocation of consecrated virginity, the love of God is direct, with God Himself becoming a mystical spouse. The life issuing forth from that love is the divine life itself poured out into the world.

Mary is privileged to be the paradigm of both consecrated virginity and of motherhood. Virginity for the sake of the kingdom is understood to be a radical opening to the love of God without the intermediary of an earthly spouse. In extolling virginity, nothing is taken away from the good that is marriage.

The life of consecrated virginity is discussed in paragraphs 1618 through 1620 from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1618 Christ is the center of all Christian life. The bond with him takes precedence over all other bonds, familial or social. From the very beginning of the Church there have been men and women who have renounced the great good of marriage to follow the Lamb wherever he goes, to be intent on the things of the Lord, to seek to please him, and to go out to meet the Bridegroom who is coming. Christ himself has invited certain persons to follow him in this way of life, of which he remains the model:

[Mat 19:12] Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it."

1619 Virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is an unfolding of baptismal grace, a powerful sign of the supremacy of the bond with Christ and of the ardent expectation of his return, a sign which also recalls that marriage is a reality of this present age which is passing away.

1620 Both the sacrament of Matrimony and virginity for the Kingdom of God come from the Lord himself. It is he who gives them meaning and grants them the grace which is indispensable for living them out in conformity with his will. Esteem of virginity for the sake of the kingdom and the Christian understanding of marriage are inseparable, and they reinforce each other:

Whoever denigrates marriage also diminishes the glory of virginity. Whoever praises it makes virginity more admirable and resplendent. What appears good only in comparison with evil would not be truly good. The most excellent good is something even better than what is admitted to be good. (St. John Chrysostom")

God granted to Mary the twofold dignity of virginity and motherhood. The Holy Spirit has spread this truth throughout the church and beyond the church throughout the world.

FEASTS OF MARY; THE ASSUMPTION

There are several feasts in honor of Our Lady during the liturgical year. The feast of Mary, Mother of God is celebrated on January 1, her nativity on September 8, and her immaculate conception on December 8. The latter is the patronal feast of the United States.

The feast of the triumph of her life in the Spirit is that of her assumption. Each year on August 15, the Church celebrates the feast of the assumption of Our Lady, body and soul, into heaven. This singular privilege was accorded to her by Our Lord because of her sinlessness from the time she was conceived until the time she ended her days here on earth.

We rejoice on this feast both for her and for ourselves, because God has shown us through her what He wills for each of us at the end of time: that we be in heaven with him, our souls reunited with our bodies, to enjoy for eternity the vision of Him as He is, face to face.

This feast is a shining jewel which possesses innumerable facets radiating the love of God for us, and His plan for each of us.

Our Lady is assumed body and soul into heaven. Our Lord rushes to greet her, perhaps with words such as these from the Song of Songs:

[Song 2:10] My lover speaks; he says to me, "Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!
[Song 2:11] "For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone.
[Song 2:12] The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, and the song of the dove is heard in our land.
[Song 2:13] ... Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!
[Song 2:14] ...Let me see you, let me hear your voice, For your voice is sweet, and you are lovely."

Meditating on the Assumption of Our Lady into heaven, we rejoice in faith and we rejoice in hope.

We rejoice in faith that Our Lord greets Our Lady with such words as she enters the wonderful place He has prepared for her in heaven.

We rejoice in hope, that we may so live that when each one of us sees Our Lord face to face, He will greet us with words such as these.

SOME SHORT MEDITATIONS ON MARY

1. Mary is the Mother of the Pantocrator

Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, the Pantocrator: the ruler of the universe. Of her it is sung in hymns:

More spacious than the universe is your womb, O blessed Virgin Mary! For it has carried Him who carries the universe.

2. A Special Veneration is Due Mary

We venerate the saints because they have been confirmed in salvation, and are thus temples of the Holy Spirit forever. This veneration is called dulia.

Because of Mary's pre-eminence, she receives an exalted veneration called hyperdulia. This is never to be confused with that worship due God alone, called latria.

The hyperdulia due Mary is finitely above the dulia due the other saints, but is infinitely below the latria due God alone. Imagine a wide plain on which the sun is brilliantly shining. The plain is populated with a large number of people dressed in resplendent jewels. Each of these figures, to a greater or less degree, reflects the sunlight in a dazzling array of points of sparkling light. Now imagine that one of the figures is wearing a seamless garment which acts as a spotless mirror, reflecting the sunlight without any diminution or variegation. Neither the shining garment of that figure, nor the bejeweled garments of the others, is generating light in and of itself. Without the sun, there is no light at all.

The divine light shines forth from the saints, more or less depending on the merit acquired by each on their earthly pilgrimage. Of all the saints, the divine light reflected from Mary blazes forth in its pristine purity.

The honor of dulia is given to the saints, and that of hyperdulia is given to Mary. But that honor in no way interferes with the latria given to God, the source of light. Rather, latria is catalyzed because it is directed toward the source of the reflected light from Mary and the other saints.

3. Mary as the Reed of God

Another metaphor for Mary, one characterized by Caryll Houselander (an English author of the early twentieth century), is that she is the reed of God. This reed is so pure and devoid of self-interest that the Holy Spirit can course through it, producing eternally sublime melodies.

4. Mary as Ark of the New Covenant

The ark of the old covenant, contained the tablets of the law. Mary, the ark of the new covenant, contained not the law, but the lawgiver.

5. Mary as Burning Bush

Moses gazed on a bush that was on fire but was not consumed. Mary is likened to this bush, since she was imbued with the fire of divinity, but not consumed.

TRIUMPH OVER THE EVIL ONE

Satan, in the form of a serpent, tempted our first parents to eat the fruit forbidden to them by God. They subsequently fell from grace after succumbing to Satan's temptation to disobey God by eating the forbidden fruit. God in his infinite love then promised a redeemer to the human race. He did this by prophesying to Satan that he would be overcome by the offspring of a woman, a new Eve, who would be his mortal enemy, as we read in Genesis:

[Gen 3:15] I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel."

This prophecy of Genesis was satisfied when Gabriel was sent to Mary, who submitted herself wholly to the will of God, so that Jesus would come into the world, He who was to crush the head of the ancient serpent.

[Luke 1:26] ... the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
[Luke 1:27] to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.
[Luke 1:28] And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you."
[Luke 1:29] But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
[Luke 1:30] Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
[Luke 1:31] Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.
[Luke 1:32] He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
[Luke 1:33] and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
[Luke 1:34] But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?"
[Luke 1:35] And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
...
[Luke 1:38] Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Fiat! "May it be done to me according to your word." Mary's fiat opened the way for God to come into the world by assuming our very nature. With his coming, the usurper Satan was to be utterly vanquished.

Satan tricked the first Eve into sin, so sin entered the world and Satan became the world's usurper. In return, Mary, the second Eve, tricked Satan and sin was overcome. How did Mary do this? She did it by wrapping the infinite one with her own flesh, to make visible him who had been invisible.

As a result, after Jesus died and descended into Hades, Satan reached out to snatch a finite man, and grasped the infinite God, whereupon Satan's kingdom was obliterated.

Mary gave to the world Jesus, triumphant victor over Satan, over sin, and over death. Our Lord's victory would not have been accomplished without Mary's fiat. This victory which Mary made possible has been celebrated in hymns and sermons repeatedly throughout the nearly two-thousand year history of the Church.

In his resurrection homily (circa 400), St. John Chrysostom extols our Lord's victory over all the devil's might, over sin, and over death. Apart from Peter's homily on the first Pentecost, this homily might well be the single most famous homily in the entire history of Christianity. Let us attend to this excerpt from that homily, in which is regaled the triumph of Mary's gift to the salvation of the world:

Is there anyone who is a devout lover of God? Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival! Is there anyone who is a grateful servant? Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord! Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!
...Let no one grieve at his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again; for forgiveness has risen from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free. He has destroyed it by enduring it. He destroyed Hell when He descended into it. He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh. Isaiah foretold this when he said,"You, O Hell, have been angered by encountering Him below."

Hell is angered because it was done away with.

It is angered because it is mocked.

It is angered, for it is destroyed.

It is angered, for it is annihilated.

It is angered, for it is now made captive.

Hell took a body, and discovered God. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see. O death, where is thy sting? O Hell, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, O death, are annihilated!

Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!

Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!

Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!

Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead; for Christ having risen from the dead, has become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. To her who bore Him, be everlasting honor and gratitude.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

CODA

The Son of God is the linchpin of the creation: all things were created in him, through him, and for him as we read in Colossians 1:

[Col 1:16] For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him.
[Col 1:17] He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

The Son of Mary is the linchpin of the new creation, because she has bestowed on us its divine author. That Jesus is indeed the author of the new creation we read in Revelation 21:

[Rev 21:5] The one who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Then he said, "Write these words down, for they are trustworthy and true."
[Rev 21:6] He said to me, "They are accomplished. I (am) the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

WITHOUT THE SON OF GOD, THERE IS NO CREATION.

WITHOUT THE SON OF MARY, THERE IS NO RE-CREATION.