The honor paid
to Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus Christ our Lord and God, goes back to the
earliest days of the Church. Indeed, it goes back further, for even before the
birth of her Son, Mary prophesied, "From this time forth, all generations
shall call me blessed."
The New
Testament records several incidents from the life of the Virgin: her betrothal
to Joseph, the Annunciation by the angel Gabriel that she was to bear the
Messiah, her Visitation to Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist, the
Nativity of our Lord, the visits of the shepherds and the magi, the Presentation
of the infant Jesus in the Temple at the age of forty days, the flight into
Egypt, the Passover visit to the Temple when Jesus was twelve, [Matthew
1:16,18-25; 2; Luke 1:26-56; 2]; the wedding at Cana in Galilee and the
performance of her Son's first miracle at her intercession [John 2:1-11], the
occasions when observers said, "How can this man be special? We know his
family!" [Matthew 13:54-56 = Mark 6:1-3 = Luke 4:22; also John 6:42], an
occasion when she came with others to see him while he was preaching [Matthew
12:46-50 = Mark 3:31-35 = Luke 8:19-21], her presence at the foot of the Cross,
where Jesus commends her to the care of the Beloved Disciple [John 19:25-27],
and her presence with the apostles in the upper room after the Ascension, waiting
for the promised Spirit [Acts 1:14]. She is thus seen to be present at most of
the chief events of her Son's life.
Besides Jesus
himself, only two humans are mentioned by name in the Creeds. One is Pontius
Pilate, Roman procurator of Judea from 26 to 36 AD. That Jesus was crucified by
order of Pontius Pilate pins down the date of his death within a few years, and
certifies that we are not talking, like the worshippers of Tammuz or Adonis,
about a personification or symbol of the annual death and resurrection of the
crops. His death is an event in history, something that really happened. The
other name is that of Mary. The Creeds say that Christ was "born of the
virgin Mary." That is to say, they assert on the one hand that he was
truly and fully human, born of a woman and not descended from the skies like an
angel. On the other hand, by telling us that his mother was a virgin they
exclude the theory that he was simply an ordinary man who was so virtuous that
he eventually, at his baptism, became filled with the Spirit of God. His virgin
birth attests to the fact that he was always more than merely human, always one
whose presence among us was in itself a miracle, from the first moment of his
earthly existence. In Mary, Virgin and Mother, God gives us a sign that Jesus
is both truly God and truly Man.
It sometimes
happens that someone will report an appearance of the Virgin Mary, bearing a
message, usually encouraging faithfulness in prayer. A reader has asked,
"How far back do such reports go?" According to Donald Attwater
(Penguin Dictionary of Saints), Gregory of Nyssa (335-395) says that the
earliest known report of a supernatural appearance of the Blessed Virgin to
anyone was of one to Gregory Thaumaturgos (213-270). At the request of a Roman
Catholic listmember, I point out that the genuineness of these appearances is
not official Roman Catholic doctrine. It is perfectly possible to reject all
such appearances as delusions, and still be a Roman Catholic in good standing.
Little is known
of the life of the Virgin Mary except insofar as it intersects with the life of
her Son, and there is an appropriateness in this. The Scriptures record her
words to the angel Gabriel, to her kinswoman Elizabeth, to her Son on two
occasions. But the only recorded saying of hers to what may be called ordinary,
run-of-the-mill hearers is her instruction to the servants at the wedding
feast, to whom she says simply, indicating her Son, "Whatever he says to
you, do it."
This we may
take to be the summation of her message to the world. If we listen to her, she
will tell us, "Listen to Him. Listen to my Son. Do what He tells
you." When we see her, we see her pointing to her Son. If our regard for
the Blessed Virgin does not have the immediate effect of turning our attention
from her to the One whom she carried in her womb for nine months and suckled at
her breast, to the Incarnate God, the Word made flesh, then we may be sure that
it is not the kind of regard that she seeks. A right regard for her will always
direct us to Him Who found in her His first earthly dwelling-place.
