There's Something About Mary

As Christmas draws near and we begin contemplating the holy family, the question of Mary must become predominant in our minds. Yes, we remember the schism which still separates the Catholic/Orthodox churches from the Protestant churches, a great divorce in which the Blessed Virgin was caught at the center. Nevertheless, we must come to understand Mary's proper place in the faith if we are to truly understand Christianity.

Whereas there was a time in the Medieval church when Mary was lifted up beyond mere veneration, worshiped as a goddess in the likeness of Isis or Cybele, there would be another time when Mary would be marred by iconoclasts, vandals of word and practice who would denigrate the Blessed Virgin, forgetting that she was the one who gave birth to our Lord. Thus, the Medieval sin of Mariolatry was only to be matched by the Protestant sin of denigration. In the aftermath of these chaotic extremes, the question remained, "What is the proper place of Mary in the Church today?"

Well Mary herself tells us in Luke 1:46-48, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For he has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed." It is this proclamation by the Holy Spirit through Mary that should cause us to wonder even more about the essential place of Mary with respect to our faith. Why? Because it isn't the spirit of Mary that glorifies God in the "Magnificat" but it is the Holy Spirit, through Mary, who glorifies God in this psalm of praise. So, regardless of what we call her, according to the dictates of the Holy Spirit we "must" call her "blessed."

And so she is, the "Blessed Virgin Mary" - but even more, she is the "bearer of God" ("Theotokos" being the title that the anti-Nestorians bestowed upon her at Chalcedon in 431 to protect the doctrine of the deity of Christ). And it is from the word "Theotokos" and the Elizabethan phrase "mother of my Lord" (Luke 1:42-43), that we get the title "Mother of God," as in "Bearer of God." Indeed, if Jesus Christ was the incarnate deity, then so it goes, Mary was the "Mother/Bearer of God." Does it follow that these titles are valid? I believe so. Moreover, we are certain from these verses that Mary is forever to be called "blessed."

Another title that was bestowed upon Mary, albeit in the second century was "the Second Eve" - a phrase used by the great theologian Irenaeus. Irenaeus's reasoning was simple: (1) Did Mary listen to the word of God brought to her by the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:26ff.), and through her obedience bring the incarnate deity, Savior, and Messiah into the world, thus permitting glory and eternal life to enter into the heart of man? Certainly. (2) Did Mary do this in contrast to the mother of mankind, Eve, who "did not" obey the word of God and, instead, brought death and desolation into the world. Once again - most certainly! So in the mind of Irenaeus, Mary would be called "the Second Eve," even as Jesus was called "the Second Adam" by Paul in Rom 5. Is such a parallel valid? I think so.

I believe that even as we are seeing leading Protestant scholars coming to terms with Mary (see, for example, There's Something About Mary ) that Mel Gibson's "Marian" view of "The Passion of the Christ," i.e. the arrest, trial, torture, and crucifixion of "her" son, through "her" eyes, will in some way serve as a bridge for Protestant and Catholic/Orthodox believers to view Mary as the important figure she is for Christianity. Gibson will recreate Michaelangelo's "Pieta" in film, and it will be in this moment that we will all come together in Mary, unified by our love for Jesus.