Three Views on Mary from Pope John Paul 11

THREE VIEWS ON THE VIRGIN MARY

BY POPE JOHN PAUL II

MARY WAS UNITED TO JESUS ON THE CROSS

The Late Pope John Paul II General Audience, October 25, 1995

1 Saying that "the Virgin Mary ... is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and of the Redeemer" (*Lumen gentium*, n. 53), the Council draws attention to the link between Mary's motherhood and Redemption.

After becoming aware of the maternal role of Mary, who was venerated in the teaching and worship of the first centuries as the virginal Mother of Jesus Christ and therefore as the Mother of God, in the Middle Ages the Church's piety and theological reflection brought to light her cooperation in the Savior's work.

This delay is explained by the fact that the efforts of the Church Fathers and of the early Ecumenical Councils, focused as they were on Christ's identity, necessarily left other aspects of dogma aside. Only gradually could the revealed truth be unfolded in all its richness. Down the centuries, Mariology would always take its direction from Christology. The divine motherhood of Mary was itself proclaimed at the Council of Ephesus primarily to affirm the oneness of Christ's person. Similarly, there was a deeper understanding of Mary's presence in salvation history.

2. At the end of the second century, St. Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp, already pointed out Mary's contribution to the work of salvation. He understood the value of Mary's consent at the time of the Annunciation, recognizing in the Virgin of Nazareth's obedience to and faith in the angel's message the perfect antithesis of Eve's disobedience and disbelief, with a beneficial effect on humanity's destiny. In fact, just as Eve caused death, so Mary, with her "yes", became "a cause of salvation" for herself and for all mankind (cf. Adv. Haer., III, 22, 4; SC 211, 411). But this affirmation was not developed in a consistent and systematic way by the other Fathers of the Church.

Instead, this doctrine was systematically worked out for the first time at the end of the 10th century in the *Life of Mary* by a Byzantine monk, John the Geometer. Here Mary is united to Christ in the whole work of Redemption, sharing, according to God's plan, in the Cross and suffering for our salvation. She remained united to the Son "in every deed, attitude and wish" (cf. *Life of Mary*, Bol. 196, f. 122 v.). Mary's association with Jesus' saving work came about through her Mother's love, a love inspired by grace, which conferred a higher power on it: love freed of passion proves to be the most compassionate (cf. Ibid., Bol. 196, f. 123 v.).

3. In the West St. Bernard, who died in 1153, turns to Mary and comments on the presentation of Jesus in the temple: "Offer your Son, sacrosanct Virgin, and present the fruit of your womb to the Lord. For our reconciliation with all, offer the heavenly victim pleasing to God" (Serm. 3 in Purif., 2; PL 183, 370).

A disciple and friend of St. Bernard, Arnold of Chartres, shed light particularly on Mary's offering in the sacrifice of Calvary. He distinguished in the Cross "two altars: one in Mary's heart, the other in Christ's body. Christ sacrificed his flesh, Mary her soul". Mary sacrificed herself spiritually in deep communion with Christ, and implored the world's salvation: "What the mother asks, the Son approves and the Father grants" (cf. De septem verbis Domini in cruce, 3: PL 189, 1694).

From this age on other authors explain the doctrine of Mary's special cooperation in the redemptive sacrifice.

4. At the same time, in Christian worship and piety contemplative reflection on Mary's "compassion" developed, poignantly depicted in images of the Pieta. Mary's sharing in the drama of the Cross makes this event more deeply human and helps the faithful to enter into the mystery: the Mother's compassion more clearly reveals the Passion of the Son.

By sharing in Christ's redemptive work, Mary's spiritual and universal motherhood is also recognized. In the East, John the Geometer told Mary: "You are our mother". Giving Mary thanks "for the sorrow and suffering she bore for us", he sheds light on her maternal affection and motherly regard for all those who receive salvation (cf. *Farewell Discourse on the Dormition of Our Most Glorious Lady, Mother of God*, in A. Wenger, *L'Assomption de la Tres Sainte Vierge dans la tradition byzantine*, p. 407).

In the West too, the doctrine of the spiritual motherhood developed with St. Anselm, who asserted: "You are the mother ... of reconciliation and the reconciled, the mother of salvation and the saved" (cf. *Oratio* 52, 8: PL 158, 957 A).

Mary does not cease to be venerated as the Mother of God, but the fact that she is our Mother gives her divine motherhood a new aspect that opens within us the way to a more intimate communion with her.

5. Mary's motherhood in our regard does not only consist of an affective bond: because of her merits and her intercession she contributes effectively to our spiritual birth and to the development of the life of grace within us. This is why Mary is called "Mother of grace" and "Mother of life".

The title "Mother of life", already employed by St. Gregory of Nyssa, was explained as follows by Bl. Guerric of Igny, who died in 1157: "She is the Mother of the Life from whom all men take life; in giving birth to this life herself, she has somehow given rebirth to all those who have lived it. Only one was begotten, but we have all been reborn" (*In Assumpt.* I, 2: PL 185, 188).

A 13th-century text, the *Mariale*, used a vivid image in attributing this rebirth to the "painful travail" of Calvary, by which "she became the spiritual mother of the whole human race". Indeed, "in her chaste womb she conceived by compassion the children of the Church" (Q. 29, par. 3).

6. The Second Vatican Council, after stating that Mary "in a wholly singular way cooperated in the work of the Savior", concludes: "for this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace" (*Lumen gentium*, n. 61), thus confirming the Church's perception that Mary is at the side of her Son as the spiritual Mother of all humanity.

Mary is our Mother: this consoling truth, offered to us ever more clearly and profoundly by the love and faith of the Church, has sustained and sustains the spiritual life of us all, and encourages us, even in suffering, to have faith and hope.

Mary Freely Cooperated in God's Plan

Pope John Paul II General Audience, July 3, 1996

In the Gospel account of the Visitation, Elizabeth, "filled with the Holy Spirit", welcomes Mary to her home and exclaims: "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord" (Lk 1:45). This beatitude, the first reported in Luke's Gospel, presents Mary as the one who, by her faith, precedes the Church in fulfilling the spirit of the beatitudes.

1 Elizabeth's praise of Mary's faith is reinforced by comparing it to the angel's announcement to Zechariah. A superficial reading of the two announcements might consider Zechariah and Mary as having given similar responses to the divine message: "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years", Zechariah says; and Mary: "How can this be since I have no husband?" (Lk 1:18, 34). But the profound difference between the interior attitudes of the principals in these two episodes can be seen from the very words of the angel, who rebukes Zechariah for his disbelief, while he gives an immediate reply to Mary's question. Unlike Elizabeth's husband, Mary fully submits to the divine plan and does not condition her consent on the granting of a visible sign.

The angel, who proposed that she become a mother, is reminded by Mary of her intention to remain a virgin. Believing that the announcement could be fulfilled, she questions the divine messenger only about the manner of its accomplishment, in order better to fulfil God's will, to which she intends to submit with total readiness. "She sought the manner; she did not doubt God's omnipotence", St Augustine remarks (Sermo 291).

Intense listening and pure faith is required of Mary

2 The context in which the two announcements are made also helps to exalt the excellence of Mary's faith. In Luke's account, we see the more favourable situation of Zechariah and the inadequacy of his response. He receives the angel's announcement in the temple of Jerusalem, at the altar before the "Holy of Holies" (cf. Ex 30:6-8); the angel addresses him as he is offering incense, thus, as he is carrying out his priestly duties, at a significant moment in his life, the divine decision is communicated to him in a vision. These particular circumstances favour an easier understanding of the divine authenticity of the message and offer an incentive to accept it promptly.

The announcement to Mary, however, takes place in a simpler, workaday context, without the external elements of sacredness which accompanied the one made to Zechariah. Luke does not indicate the precise place where the Annunciation of the Lord's birth occurred: he reports only that Mary was in Nazareth, a village of little importance which did not seem predestined for the event. In addition, the Evangelist does not ascribe unusual importance to the moment when the angel appears and does not describe the historical circumstances. In meeting the heavenly messenger, one's attention is focused on the meaning of his words, which demand of Mary intense listening and a pure faith.

This last consideration allows us to appreciate the greatness of Mary's faith especially in comparison with the tendency, then as now, to ask insistently for sensible signs in order to believe. In contrast, the Virgin's assent to the divine will is motivated only by her love of God.

3. Mary is asked to assent to a much loftier truth than that announced to Zechariah. The latter was invited to believe in a wondrous birth that would take place within a sterile marital union which God wished to make fruitful: a divine intervention similar to those benefiting several Old Testament women: Sarah (Gn 17:15-21; 18:10-14), Rachel (Gn 30:22), the mother of Samson (Jgs 13:1-7), Hanna, the mother of Samuel (1 Sm 1: 11-20). In these episodes the gratuitousness of God's gift is particularly emphasized.

Mary is called to believe in a virginal motherhood, for which the Old Testament mentions no precedent. In fact, the well-known prophecy of Isaiah: "Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel" (7:14), although not excluding such a view, was explicitly interpreted in this sense only after Christ's coming and in the light of the Gospel revelation.

Mary is asked to assent to a truth never expressed before. She accepts it with a simple yet daring heart. With the question: "How can this be?", she expresses her faith in the divine power to make virginity compatible with her exceptional and unique motherhood.

By replying: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you" (Lk 1:35), the angel offers God's ineffable solution to the question Mary asked. Virginity, which seemed an obstacle, becomes the concrete context in which the Holy Spirit will accomplish in her the conception of the incarnate Son of God. The angel's response opens the way to the Virgin's co-operation with the Holy Spirit in the begetting of Jesus.

4. The free co-operation of the human person is realized in carrying out the divine plan. By believing in the Lord's word, Mary co-operates in fulfilling the motherhood announced to her.

Mary's Act of Faith Recalls the Faith of Abraham

The Fathers of the Church often stress this aspect of Jesus' virginal conception. In commenting on the Gospel of the Annunciation, St Augustine in particular states: "The angel announces the Virgin listens, believes and conceives" (Sermo 13 in Nat. Dom.). And again: "Christ is believed and conceived through faith. The coming of faith first occurs in the Virgin's heart and then fruitfulness comes to the Mother's womb (Sermo 293).

Mary's act of faith recalls the faith of Abraham, who at the dawn of the Old Covenant, believed in God and thus became the father of a great posterity (cf. Gn 15:6; Redemptoris Mater, n. 14). At the start of the New Covenant, Mary also exerts a decisive influence with her faith on the fulfillment of the mystery of the Incarnation, the beginning and the synthesis of Jesus' entire redeeming mission.

The close relationship between faith and salvation, stressed by Jesus in his public life (cf. Mt 5:34; 10:52; etc.), helps us also to understand the fundamental role which Mary's faith exercised and continues to exercise in the salvation of the human race.

Mary has Role in Jesus' Saving Mission

Pope John Paul II General Audience, December 18, 1996

After recognizing in Jesus "a light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Lk 2:32), Simeon announces to Mary the great trial to which the Messiah is called and reveals her participation in that sorrowful destiny.

His reference to the redeeming sacrifice, absent at the Annunciation, has shown in Simeon's prophecy almost a "second Annunciation" (Redemptoris Mater, n. 16), which will lead the Virgin to a deeper understanding of her Son's mystery.

Simeon, who up to that moment had addressed all those present, blessing Joseph and Mary in particular, now prophesies to the Virgin alone that she will share in her Son's destiny. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, he announces to her: "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed" (Lk 2:34-35).

Mary's Maternal Suffering Would Reach Culmination in the Passion

2. These words foretell a future of suffering for the Messiah. He is, in fact, "the sign of contradiction", destined to meet harsh opposition on the part of his contemporaries. But alongside Christ's suffering Simeon sets the vision of Mary's heart pierced by the sword, thus uniting the Mother with the sorrowful destiny of her Son.

In this way, while the venerable old man foresees the growing hostility the Messiah will face, he stresses its repercussion on the Mother's heart. This maternal suffering will culminate in the Passion, when she will unite with her Son in his redemptive sacrifice.

Following an allusion to the first songs of the Servant of the Lord (cf. Is 42:6; 49:6), cited in Luke 2:32, Simeon's words remind us of the prophecy of the Suffering Servant (Is 52:13; 53:12), who, "wounded for our transgressions" (Is 53:5), "makes himself an offering for sin" (Is 53:10) through a personal and spiritual sacrifice which far exceeds the ancient ritual sacrifices.

Here we can note how Simeon's prophecy allows us to glimpse in Mary's future suffering a unique likeness to the sorrowful future of the "Servant".

3. Mary and Joseph are astounded when Simeon proclaims Jesus as a "light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Lk 2:32). Mary, instead, with reference to the prophecy of the sword that would pierce her heart, says nothing. Together with Joseph, she accepts in silence those mysterious words which predict a deeply sorrowful trial and situate the Presentation of Jesus in the temple in its most authentic meaning.

Indeed, according to the divine plan the sacrifice offered then "according to what is said in the law of the Lord, 'a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons'" (Lk 2:24), prefigured the sacrifice of Jesus, "for I am gentle and lowly in heart" (Mt 11:29); in it the true "presentation" would be made (cf. Lk 2:22), which would see the Mother associated with her Son in the work of Redemption.

Mary was to Share in her Son's Saving Mission

"She gave thanks to God, and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem" (Lk 2:38). The faith and prophetic wisdom of the old woman who nurtures the expectation of the Messiah by "worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day" (Lk 2:37), offer the Holy Family a further incentive to put their hope in the God of Israel. At this particular moment, Anna's behaviour would have appeared to Mary and Joseph as a sign from the Lord, a message of enlightened faith and persevering service.

Beginning with Simeon's prophecy, Mary intensely and mysteriously unites her life with Christ's sorrowful mission: she was to become her Son's faithful co-worker for the salvation of the human race.

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