The Virgin Mary, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ
By Elisa Delp
Our Lady of Perpetual Help - icon
Who is Mary? She fills the pages of scripture from beginning to end. She was a part of God’s plan from the beginning. We see the first mention of her in the creation story in Genesis 3:15 during the Protoevangelium (or first Gospel): “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” And in fact there are many paintings of Mary that depict her standing on the head of the serpent to indicate her importance in God's redemptive plan. Saint Augustine said that the New Testament is concealed in the Old and the Old is revealed in the New. So, how does Mary fit into the Old Testament?
Early Christians understood Mary and Jesus to be a reprise of God’s first creation. It literally echoes through scripture and the church fathers. Even the images are intrinsically connected, Adam and Eve partaking in the tree of good and evil…Jesus nailed to a tree pouring out his blood and Mary standing beside him partaking in his suffering. St. Paul spoke of Jesus as the “New Adam” in 1 Corinthians 15:20-49. Ok, let me pause. This will blow your mind if you have never heard this. Just as Jesus is the New Adam, Mary is the New Eve. Just as the first Eve said “No” to trusting God in the garden, the New Eve radically reversed that fatal decision that brought sin into the world with her “Yes.”
Justin Martyr, one of the earliest church fathers, wrote in AD 150: ”Christ became man by the Virgin in order that the disobedience that proceeded from the serpent might receive its destruction in the same manner in which it derived its origin. For Eve, who was a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the works of the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy when the angel Gabriel announced the good tidings to her. Gabriel told her that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her and the power of the Highest would overshadow her: wherefore also the Holy Thing begotten of her is the Son of God; and she replied, “Be it unto me according to Thy word” (Lk 1:38). And by her has He been born, to Whom we have proved so many Scriptures refer, and by Whom God destroys both the serpent and those angels and men who are like him.” (1)
Another Church Father, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, learned his faith from St. Polycarp of Smyrna who was taught by the Apostle John himself. He wrote in Against Heresies, “And thus also it was that the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the Virgin Mary set free through faith.” (2) Many other church fathers wrote of her in this way: Turtullian, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, the list goes on.
The most familiar mention of her in scripture is the angel Gabriel’s greeting “Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you.”(Lk 1:28) and Elizabeth’s greeting “Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.”(Lk 1:42) If you look at the Greek, a better translation is actually, “Rejoice, En-Graced One!”(3) He is greeting her as if that is her name, her identity. This greeting also harkens back to Zeph. 3:14-15 in reference to the daughter of Zion (Israel). There is something new and unique about her even before she is with child.
Mary is chosen and has been endowed with a special grace and purity to prepare her to carry, give birth, and raise the Holy God of the universe. Our Roman Catholic and Orthodox brothers and sisters in Christ have long believed and passed down the tradition that she was holy and call her Panagea (all holy) specially made and predestined to be the mother of God. She was a vessel to grow and hold the Holy Son of God (Jesus) but a holy vessel blessed by the grace of God, more akin to the Ark of the Covenant. And “Whatever made the ark holy made Mary even holier. If the first ark contained the Word of God in stone, Mary’s body contained the Word of God enfleshed. If the first ark contained miraculous bread from heaven, Mary’s body contained the very Bread of Life that conquers death forever. If the first ark contained the rod of the long-ago priest, Mary’s body contained the divine person of the eternal priest, Jesus Christ.” (4)
The next important piece of her story comes up in the prophecy of Simeon. She is first in a state of rejoicing. He prophesies of Jesus being the one they have been waiting for. It quickly turns to sorrow when he alludes to the passion of Christ. He also is inspired by the Holy Spirit to share with Mary the foreboding words “A sword will pierce your very soul” (Lk 2:35). That is all that is written. We don’t know if he shared more with her of what was to come. But it is obvious that she was aware of suffering that was to come. And yet she didn’t run from pain. She stood by Christ’s side as he was crucified and she suffered the deepest pain of motherhood as she watched him die. And, just as her wounded heart was united to Christ in his death and resurrection, so our sufferings in this life are not meaningless but are joined to His.
It is said by much of the patristic church that Mary is Mother of the Church and also a symbol of the Church.(5.) In John 19:26-27 he writes “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” The phrase “Woman” echoes back to Genesis when the first Adam called Eve “Woman” (6.). Just as Eve was the Mother of all the Living (7.), the New Eve is the Mother of all those brought to life in Christ. St Augustine of Hippo says “…She is clearly the Mother of his members; that is, of ourselves, because she cooperated by her charity, so that faithful Christians, members of the Head, might be born in the Church. As for the body, she is the Mother of its Head…Mary gave birth to our Head; the Church gave birth to you. Indeed, the Church also is both virgin and mother, mother because of her womb of charity, virgin because of the integrity of her faith and piety.” (8.). Mary then, through grace in Christ, becomes the “Mother of all the living.” Not in the order of nature but our Spiritual mother. Some say this symbol can be seen in Revelation 12.(9.)
My own story has been changed by Our Lady. I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for her. If it weren’t for Mary’s intercession and the merciful heart of her Son, I would still be an angry, bitter agnostic. During the advent of 2020 I was deeply impacted by Mary’s motherhood as I was a new mother. For the first time, I realized how much she loved her son. The first thing that I experienced after giving birth and seeing my son for the first time was a fiery love and the thought “I would die for you!” That’s the kind of love she had for her son! A totally encompassing, passionate, self-sacrificing love only a mother can give. And He would have loved her in the same way! She was the nursing breasts that sustained Him, His comfort when He was afraid or sad, His support as He grew, His primary attachment figure. The connection between a mother and child is ineffable. He derives all his humanness from her: His DNA, His hair, His eyes, all hers. This understanding came to me at a time of deep grief and aloneness. With no mother to speak of and no family of my own, I felt lost. I knelt down in desperation and asked the Holy Mother of our Lord to help me to love her Son. I felt her arms wrap around me and had a vision of her wrapping me in her mantle. My heart of stone melted and for the first time in 6 years, I could trust and love Jesus. I had a new faith and I had a new true Mother. A Catholic friend later told me that through that exact image, she has revealed herself to many people. Through this and through praying the Rosary, my faith has been renewed.
Because of her role as our Mother, she has a special place as intercessor for believers. She is known by many names: Mary Undoer of Knots, Star of the Sea, Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady Perpetual Help, and more. As the most beloved one, close to her Son, she brings our petitions to Him with a merciful heart. Are you hurting? Are you healing from trauma? Are you motherless? Run to her. Let your suffering in this life be joined together with the wounds of Christ like hers were. Let Jesus share this great gift of His mother with us. She will only bring us closer to her Son. And maybe, just as she did with me, she will wrap you in her mantle and you can experience her care and the love of Jesus in a new way.
Collect
O God, Father of mercies, whose Only Begotten Son, as he hung upon the Cross, chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, his Mother, to be our Mother also, grant, we pray, that with her loving help your Church may be more fruitful day by day and, exulting in the holiness of her children, may draw to her embrace all the families of the peoples. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.(10.)
Songs
Hail O Queen - Damascus Worship
Sub Tuum Preasidium
Salve Regina
Ave Maria Stella
Paintings
Questions for Reflection
How does Mary’s example of fully trusting God with her “yes” impact you as you think about your own faith?
Can you see places in your own life that you could unite your suffering to Christ’s death and resurrection like Our Lady of Sorrows?
How do you think viewing the Blessed Virgin Mary as your divine Mother would impact your sense of love from God?
How would it impact your view of the Body of the Church, to see it as covered with the protection of Our Lady?
Do you think your prayer life could become more full and rich by asking for the Blessed Mother's intercession?
Sources
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/01287.htm
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103322.htm
https://christianscholars.com/gabriels-hello/
Scott Hahn, Hail Holy Queen, pg 61
https://marian.org/mary/in-the-catechism
Genesis 2:23 ESV
Genesis 3:20 ESV
https://tomperna.org/2016/08/29/the-marian-writings-of-st-augustine-of-hippo/
https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/is-mary-the-woman-in-revelation-12
https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year-and-calendar/mother-of-the-church