The Feast of the Visitation

One

The First Marian Doctrine

One of the distinctive features of Catholicism is how much we celebrate and venerate Mary. The fact that we’re praying the rosary right now, saying “Hail Mary” and “Holy Mary,” over and over, like a mantra, shows how important she is to us.

Many other Christians, and even non-Christians, say, “Why do you make such a big deal out of Mary? Why is she so central to the understanding and the practice of your faith?”

There are many ways to answer the question of what makes Mary so important to us. But the most fundamental answer to that question, and the answer the Church gave in the very beginnings of Christianity, is that Mary is our New Eve.

Two

Scripture

Scripture is very clear that we humans originally got into this mess of sin and suffering because of a man named Adam. Scripture is also very clear that we get out of this mess only through the New Adam, Jesus Christ. But of course, there wasn’t just an original Adam who led humanity to death. There was an original Eve. And there isn’t just a new Adam who brings us to life, there’s a new Eve.

Look at the parallels between Mary and Eve: A fallen angel comes to the first Eve and says, “If you want, you can make man to be like God.” The angel Gabriel comes to the New Eve and says, “If you want, you can make God to be like man.” The first Eve says yes to the fallen angel, and she gives the forbidden fruit, the instrument of damnation, to the first Adam. The New Eve says yes to the angel Gabriel and she gives human flesh, the instrument of salvation, to the New Adam.

Jesus at Cana and then again at Calvary, calls Mary, “Woman,” because God had said to the Serpent, in front of Eve, “I will put enmity between you and the woman.”

The first woman was the partner of the first man. The new woman, Mary, was the partner of the new man in salvation.

The first Eve miraculously came from the body of the first Adam without sexual intercourse. The new Adam miraculously came from the body of the first Eve without sexual intercourse.

If Adam and Eve are both in some way responsible for our fall, then Jesus and Mary, the New Adam and the New Eve, are together responsible for our salvation.

Three

Patristic Sources

As we can see, this connection between Mary and Eve is present in Scripture, and the Fathers of the Church recognized it very early on in the history of Christianity.

For example, St. Justin Martyr draws a parallel between Eve and Mary to highlight Mary’s role with Jesus in salvation. St. Iraneaus calls Mary, “the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.” He said that, “The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience,” and that, “As the human race was bound to death because of a virgin, so it was set free from death by a Virgin.”

St. Jerome summarized the New Eve theology by saying, “Death through Eve, life through Mary.” And St. Ephraim the Syrian, when he’s meditating on Symeon’s prophecy that Mary’s heart would be pierced, comments that by her pain at Calvary,  “Mary removed the sword that protected Paradise because of Eve.”

Again, if Mary is the New Eve, which she clearly is, then just as Eve was a cooperator with Adam in our downfall, Mary is a cooperator with Jesus in our restoration to God’s grace.

The logic is pretty straightforward, and the saints of the Church recognized it right away. 

Four

The Magisterium

The popes and the councils also see that Mary is the New Eve, and that she cooperated with and under Jesus in saving us.

The magisterial sources use different titles in describing Mary’s role as new Eve. Sometimes, they call her the “Associate” of Christ in the work of redemption. The popes also like “trix” titles: Sometimes they call her the “Reparatrix”  or the “Cooperatrix” or the “Coredemptrix.”

So, for instance, Pius XI and John Paul II used, “Coredemptrix” Pius XII called her, “Cooperatrix,” and St. Pius X called her, “Reparatrix.”

But it all means the same thing. It all means that, as Pope Benedict XV said, “She together with Christ redeemed the human race.” It all means, as Vatican II said, that Mary  is rightly seen as “freely cooperating in the work of man’s salvation through faith and obedience.”

It all means, if you want to blame someone for the fact that we’re born to suffering and brokenness and temptation, blame Adam and Eve. But if you want to thank someone for the chance we have at salvation, at divine sonship, at eternal life, then thank Jesus. And also thank Mary.

Five

All Our Lady’s Other Roles

There’s a sense in which the Church first clearly recognized Mary’s role as the New Eve and then clarified other truths about her.

For instance, as we’ve already said, one of the main ways she’s the New Eve is by giving birth to the New Adam, and so equipping Him for the work of Salvation. That’s why she’s the Mother of God.

And she is a perpetual virgin so that, not limiting herself to her natural family, she can become the spiritual mother to all Christians, as Eve was the natural mother to all humanity.

Mary is immaculately conceived. The first Eve started her life without the stain of sin, and the New Eve should begin the same way. If Mary’s job was to fight sin and Satan alongside her Son, then she should be free of any fallenness that might compromise her mission. No part of her, at any time, should be affected by Satan. 

Mary is assumed into Heaven. The First Eve was the first woman to taste death because of her sin. It is fitting that the New Eve be the first woman to taste the glories of resurrected bodily life as a reward for her faithfulness.

But most importantly, Mary as New Eve clarifies why Mary is so important to us now. Christ, the New Adam, won salvation for us during His life on earth, but He still works tirelessly in Heaven to bring us all to the fullness of salvation. Mary, His partner on Earth and in Heaven, works at His side.

Let’s consecrate ourselves to them both every day. Jesus and Mary, please save us, and bring us to be with you in joy forever. Amen.