The Virgin, the Victory
ONE
We celebrate today the Feast of St. John Paul II. His greatness was rooted in his love for the Blessed Virgin Mary, as witnessed in his Papal Motto Totus Tuus – Totally yours, a phrase dedicated to Mary. The Catechism tells us that God in His saving plan wanted His son to be born of a Virgin (#502, CCC.) Mary’s virginity is an unprecedented miracle in the plan of salvation. It reveals that Jesus has only one Father who is Divine and heavenly. As an Immaculate virgin Mary’s role is also very significant. Since sin diminishes our humanity, Mary’s sinlessness reveals the fullness of her humanity, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, she offers this full and flawless humanity to Jesus, who becomes God Incarnate. Jesus came as man not just to save us all from Satan, but even more to enable us to participate in Him as God. “I am the vine you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.” (Jn 15:5.) Or as St. Paul puts it, “It is no longer I but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:20.) So it is that every baptized human person participates in the life and mission of Christ intimately. As St. Athanasius taught, “God became man in Christ so that in Christ, man could become God.” Thus, through the Virgin, Christ the Victor comes, defeats Satan, and draws us into His life, into His victory! Do I remember the victory of Christ, or do I view myself as surrounded by enemies who are about to defeat me?
TWO
Mary’s perpetual virginity reveals her deep and abiding intimacy with God. It is the sign of her faith so different from that of Eve’s, as Mary’s is untainted or negatively affected by any doubt. Further, her virginity shows her “undivided gift of herself to God’s will. It is her faith that enables her to become the mother of the Savior.” (#506.) Mary’s virginity does not mean that natural motherhood or human sexual relations are evil or ungodly, however. In fact, it means quite the opposite. The Church teaches marital intercourse renews the sacramental marital covenant and IS holy! The Marriage covenant is a sacrament, and as such unites each spouse to the other, and through this union to Christ, who is the very glue or bond of this marriage. Sex then is one way that spouses reflect Christ to each other. With the Blessed Virgin Mary, however, there is no sexual reflection of God through St. Joseph. Her relationship to God is direct and unmediated. A mediated relationship to God through her spouse would not only be superfluous, but a lesser degree of holiness than what she possessed uniquely in her soul. Therefore, she remained a perpetual virgin because she remains purely and completely united to the Father’s will. She is the Ark of the New Covenant because she is the permanent dwelling place of the Holy Spirit among men. And in her blessed person is found the perfection of the maternal instinct to protect and nurture her children. Mary, my Virgin Mother, hold my hand as I travel my road to Jesus! Let me be the donkey that bears you and Jesus to others!
THREE
Mary is totally God’s own chosen one, so much so that she can truly call him, “Son.” Jesus in turn calls her, “Mother.” This everlasting relationship is the fruit of Mary’s faith and union with God, who created her so perfectly that she is saturated in and resonates with the work of the Holy Spirit. This is why St. Maximillian Kolbe called her the icon of the Holy Spirit.
Since she is the Mother of Christ in his physical body, and since we are all attached to His physical body through the Eucharist, she is our Mother, too, the Mother of His Mystical Body, the Church. As our Mother, our Ark of the New Covenant, our Queen, and our human source for Christ, we can totally entrust ourselves to her and ask for her motherly care and heavenly protection, the way Christ did. This is what we mean when we talk about consecrating ourselves to Her. In our search to love and become like Christ, we imitate the special trust He had with his Mother. If we consecrate ourselves to her, as so many saints urge us, we will more perfectly have His heart, His desires, His loves, His relationships: God as Father, each other as brother and sister, and Mary as our own dear Mother. In our times, God is now calling us to embrace her as such for our protection and growth, but also for the spiritual battle we now face. St. John Paul reminds us, when the victory comes, it will come through Mary!
FOUR
St. Louis DeMontfort, that great Marian saint, offered this prophecy perhaps for our times.
“....towards the end of the world, ....Almighty God and His holy Mother are to raise up saints who will surpass in holiness most other saints as much as the cedars of Lebanon tower above little shrubs… these great souls filled with grace and zeal will be chosen to oppose the enemies of God who are raging on all sides. They will be exceptionally devoted to the Blessed Virgin. Illumined by her light, strengthened by her spirit, supported by her arms, sheltered under her protection, they will fight with one hand and build with the other. With one hand they will give battle, overthrowing and crushing heretics and their heresies, schismatics and their schisms, idolaters and their idolatries, sinners and their wickedness. With the other hand they will build the temple of the true Solomon and the mystical city of God, namely, the Blessed Virgin... "
FIVE
DeMontfort continues, “They will be true apostles of the latter times to whom the Lord of Hosts will give eloquence and strength to work wonders and carry off glorious spoils from His enemies. They will sleep without gold or silver and, more important still, without concern in the midst of other priests, ecclesiastics and clerics. Yet they will have the silver wings of the dove enabling them to go wherever the Holy Spirit calls them, filled as they are, with the resolve to seek the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Wherever they preach, they will leave behind them nothing but the gold of love, which is the fulfillment of the whole law. They will have the two-edged sword of the Word of God in their mouths and the bloodstained standard of the Cross on their shoulders. They will carry the Crucifix in their right hand and the rosary in their left, and the holy names of Jesus and Mary on their heart. Mary scarcely appeared in the first coming of Christ... But in the second coming of Jesus Christ, Mary must be known and openly revealed by the Holy Spirit so that Jesus may be known, loved and served through her."
This prophecy stirs my heart and makes me, in whatever degree it is possible for me, to be like one of these great saints de Montfort describes. Virgin Mother, don’t let me go deaf to your call. Help me to take action, make me an instrument of the Triumph of your Immaculate Heart, even if it means being a donkey for Jesus and Mary.