The Gift of the Mother - “With MARY the Mother of Jesus”[1]

Scripture relates that there in the Upper Room, praying with the disciples, was Mary the Mother of Jesus.[2] How fitting it was that she who conceived and bore Christ with love beyond all telling was present there when Christ’s Mystical Body, his new ecclesial family, was formed and welcomed the gift of her Son’s Spirit. As she cooperated and consented in conceiving Christ at the Annunciation, overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, so too the same Holy Spirit came down upon her and the disciples in the Upper Room at Pentecost and the Church was publicly manifested. She was and is the associate of Christ, the new Eve who supported and aided the new Adam in the world’s redemption. She was the humble and loving servant of Yahweh, the Daughter of Zion who gave everything she was and had for God’s purpose: “the Blessed Virgin was on this earth the virgin Mother of the Redeemer, and above all others and in a singular way the generous associate and humble handmaid of the Lord.”[3] How blessed were those moments when the new ecclesial sisters and brothers of Christ — his disciples — were being consoled, encouraged, inspired and mothered as the bourgeoning early Church community. How wonderful it must have been to hear the stories of Christ from the lips and the heart of his own Mother. How incredible it must have felt to celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection in the breaking of the bread, participating in the sacred mysteries, in the very presence of she who had conceived and given birth to the Bread of Life himself Incarnate. What an experience it must have been for the disciples to be able to turn to her and ask her about him, for they realized that no one on earth knew and loved Jesus more than his own Mother. What spiritual insights and great hope were the apostles and other disciples able to receive as they honoured The Mother living in the midst of the community with them, in the Cenacle. While in the Upper Room, she “aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers.”[4] She was that palpable, living maternal presence, and memory of Jesus for the believers who sought her out and invited her into their homes and lives.

However, we must not regret that we were not there in the physical Upper Room when these singular events took place since, in the communion of saints and by divine providence and wisdom, she has become our mother, the universal mother, the mother of all believers, mother of  all “the faithful, in whose birth and education she cooperates with a maternal love.”[5] She stands by us, walks with us, prays with us and for us; she lifts us up when we are down, consoles us when we are troubled, smiles upon us when we need encouragement and always points us to her Son: “Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this salvific duty, but by her constant intercession continued to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into the happiness of their true home. Therefore, the Blessed Virgin is invoked by the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix.”^[6] She played a most unique role in Christ‘s mission of salvation for God so willed to send us his Only Begotten Son through Mary and to solicit her unique cooperation as the plan of redemption was unfolding: “For all the salvific influence of the Blessed Virgin on men originates, not from some inner necessity, but from the divine pleasure.”[7]

Mary of Nazareth is our sister insofar as she shares our common human nature and is with us daughter of Adam; she is our model since no one has followed Christ as his perfect disciple like Our Lady did; she is the pre-eminent and singular member of the Church community in the communion of saints. She is the excellent exemplar/type of the Church, as the faithful looks to her so as to understand how they are called to be united in faith and charity; she is our mother in the order of grace, given to us to “shine forth on earth, until the day of the Lord shall come, as a sign of sure hope and solace to the people of God during its sojourn on earth.”[8]

Sacred Scripture teaches us that Mary was a Woman of the Word who was familiar with God’s revealed Word which she meditated and lived;[9] she was docile to the Holy Spirit as the Lord’s Handmaid;[10] she is the Woman of the “Yes,” always accepting and fulfilling God’s plan for her life;[11] she was a woman of great spiritual depth pondering God’s words and actions;[12] she always turned to Jesus when a solution to a difficulty was to be found;[13] she adored and magnified the Lord with her words, her heart and her actions;[14] she was a loving, trusting, faithful disciple of her divine Son Jesus;[15] she consented to the sacrifice of her Son on Calvary and did not leave his side in the hour of need, the hour of mercy;[16] and today, she accompanies the Church community as that loving and wise maternal presence.[17] We can certainly learn a great deal from Our Lady in terms of our walk of faith and that of our family and community.

In conclusion, we understand that the Blessed Mother bears today (and till the end of time) the unique mission and ministry of bringing souls to Christ. By getting closer to the Mother, we will have greater access to the Son; by befriending the Mother we shall grow in our relationship with the Son. If we decide to obey Christ and entrust/consecrate ourselves to her, we shall live abundantly, authentically and passionately in him, through him and with him. In the inspiring and anointed words of Pope St. Paul VI: “Since Mary is rightly to be regarded as the way by which we are led to Christ, the person who encounters Mary cannot help but encounter Christ likewise. For what other reason do we continually turn to Mary except to seek the Christ in her arms, to seek our Savior in her, through her, and with her? To Him men are to turn amid the anxieties and perils of this world, urged on by duty and driven by the compelling needs of their heart, to find a haven of salvation, a transcendent fountain of life.”[18]

Anecdotal Illustration

Acclaimed by many as the most significant Catholic author of the twentieth century, Georges Bernanos (1888-1948), was a fervent Catholic who in 1936 published The Diary of a Country Priest, a classic novel that recounts, in a poignant fashion, the life and ministry of a young French country priest. The curate is assigned to Ambricourt, an isolated, provincial parish in a French village and, though sickly and filled with self-doubt, grows in self-awareness and learns to appreciate and serve his flock. Moreover, he grows to love them even though he does not immediately experience any appreciation on their part. He is melancholic at not being able to convince his parishioners of the need for a more serious life of faith and devotion which speaks to his own humility and zeal. Marked by inexperience and insecurity on a personal level, he is disillusioned at his apparent unsuccessful ministry to win over the souls of his rural parish. Tout est grace — all is grace — are his final words as he dies from stomach cancer.

The following quote is part of a larger conversation between the older and experienced curé of Torcy and the protagonist of the novel, the young curé of Ambricourt. The seasoned pastor understands his confrere’s struggles and offers some sound advice – and the Blessed Mother is part of the consoling words he imparts to the young country priest: “Do you pray to Our Lady?” he asks. “Why naturally!” is the surprised response. And then the older priest delivers a most moving and devout monologue, one of the finest tributes to the Mother of God.

“We all say that - but you pray to her as you should, as befits her? She is Our Mother–the mother of all flesh, a new Eve. But she is also our daughter. The ancient world of sorrow, the world before the access of grace, cradled her to its heavy heart for many centuries, dimly awaiting a virgo genetrix . For centuries and centuries those ancient hands, so full of sin, cherished the wondrous girl-child whose name even was unknown. A little girl, the queen of Angels! And she’s still a little girl, remember! The Middle Ages understood that well enough…. But remember this, lad, Our Lady knew neither triumph nor miracle. Her Son preserved her from the least tip-touch of the savage wing of human glory. No one has ever lived, suffered, died in such simplicity, in such deep ignorance of her own dignity, a dignity crowning her above angels. For she was born without sin–in what amazing isolation! A pool so clear, so pure, that even her own image–created only for the sacred joy of the Father–was not to be reflected. The Virgin was Innocence. Think what we must seem to her, we humans. Of course, she hates sin, but after all she has never known it, that experience which the holiest saints have never lacked, St. Francis himself, seraphic though he may be. The eyes of Our Lady are the only real child-eyes that have ever been raised to our shame and sorrow. Yes, lad, to pray to her as you should, you must feel those eyes of hers upon you: they are not indulgent–for there is no indulgence without something of bitter experience–they are eyes of gentle pity, wondering sadness, and with something more in them, never yet known or expressed, something which makes her younger than sin, younger than the race from which she sprang, and though a mother by grace, Mother of all grace, our little youngest sister.”

Questions to Ponder

Twice in his Gospel account (2:19 and 2:51) St. Luke reports that Mary pondered and treasured, in other words, she took to heart and meditated on the words she heard and the actions that were taking place in her and around. She possessed a pondering heart, a sensitive heart, one capable of learning and of being taught, of feeling and being compassionate; of reflecting and of treasuring, of forging and of deciding. Her heart is consequently the model of the heart of every disciple of Christ. Let us, therefore, take inspiration from the insightful Marian teachings by the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, and Pope St. John Paul II, allowing them to guide our questions as we ponder them with Mary’s heart.

How am I honouring Jesus’ Mother? “While the Mother is honoured, the Son, through whom all things have their being and in whom it has pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell, is rightly known, loved and glorified and that all His commands are observed.”[19]

What virtues of Mary can I list and try to imitate in my life? “The followers of Christ still strive to increase in holiness by conquering sin. And so they turn their eyes to Mary who shines forth to the whole community of the elect as the model of virtues.”^[20]

As we get involved in the life of the parish and other communities of faith seeking to spread and strengthen the Kingdom of Christ, are we truly animated by Mary’s maternal love? “The Virgin in her own life lived an example of that maternal love, by which it behooves that all should be animated who cooperate in the apostolic mission of the Church for the regeneration of men.”^[21]

Which teachings of our Catholic faith do we see exceptionally and beautifully embodied by the Virgin Mother? “For Mary, who since her entry into salvation history unites in herself and re-echoes the greatest teachings of the faith as she is proclaimed and venerated, calls the faithful to her Son and His sacrifice and to the love of the Father.”^[22]

Is my and our devotion to Mother Mary true and authentic? Am I willing to love her as Christ did and emulate her virtuous lifestyle? “Let the faithful remember moreover that true devotion consists neither in sterile or transitory affection, nor in a certain vain credulity, but proceeds from true faith, by which we are led to know the excellence of the Mother of God, and we are moved to a filial love toward our mother and to the imitation of her virtues.”[23]

Have you taken her home yet? “The Marian dimension of the life of a disciple of Christ is expressed in a special way precisely through this filial entrusting to the Mother of Christ, which began with the testament of the Redeemer on Golgotha. Entrusting himself to Mary in a filial manner, the Christian, like the Apostle John, "welcomes" the Mother of Christ "into his own home" and brings her into everything that makes up his inner life, that is to say into his human and Christian "I": he "took her to his own home." Thus, the Christian seeks to be taken into that "maternal charity" with which the Redeemer's Mother "cares for the brethren of her Son," "in whose birth and development she cooperates" in the measure of the gift proper to each one through the power of Christ's Spirit. Thus, also is exercised that motherhood in the Spirit which became Mary's role at the foot of the Cross and in the Upper Room.”[24]  

[1] For a more fulsome explanation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, see the CCC, 484-511; 963-975; also, Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, Pope St. Paul VI, Marialis Cultus; Pope St. John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater and his 70 Wednesday General Audiences/Catecheses

[2] Acts 1: 12-14

[3] Lumen Gentium, 61

[4] Lumen Gentium, 69

[5] Lumen Gentium, 63

[6] Lumen Gentium, 62

[7] Lumen Gentium, 60

[8] Lumen Gentium, 68

[9] Luke 1:54-55

[10] Luke 1:35

[11] Luke 1:38

[12] Luke 2; 19,51

[13] Luke 2:3-5

[14] Luke 1: 46-55

[15] Matthew 7:21

[16] John 19: 25

[17] Acts 1:12-14

[18] Pope Paul VI, Encyclical Mense Maio (“The Month of May”), 1965, no. 2

[19] Lumen Gentium, 66

[20] Lumen Gentium, 65

[21] Lumen Gentium, 65

[22] Lumen Gentium, 65

[23] Lumen Gentium, 67

[24] Pope St. John Paul II, encyclical Redemptoris Mater, Mother of the Redeemer, #45