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 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.
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