A Reflection on Mary

Fr. Joachim Trytania

May is the month of Mary, the Mother of God. Cardinal Henry Newman has reminded us in one of his sermons that "the Glories of Mary are for the sake of her Son." So it is that when we come to consider the revealed truths which our religion teaches us concerning our Lady, we realize that she is never really the center of the picture. The artist may depict her alone, but whenever we turn our eyes to her, we think of Jesus whose Mother she is. She points people to her Son, before whom she, too, kneels in adoration as her Lord and Savior. Her blessedness is the direct consequence of her nearness to Him. Her whole life can only be viewed in relation to the life of her Son, because she was created for this one purpose: to be the human Mother of Godmade-Man, Jesus Christ. Mary is the link which brings God to man and joins man to God.

It has been the firm and constant belief of the Catholic Church from the beginning that the Blessed Virgin is the Mother of God. She is the Mother of Him whom before His birth she was commanded to call Jesus, as it was said to Joseph, her spouse, because He should save His people from their sins (Luke 1:26-38). She is the Mother of Christ the King; she is the Mother of the Good Shepherd, the Savior, the Redeemer, and as such she was most closely united with Him (so far as a creature may be) in His redemptive work. A man led to our loss of the sanctifying grace of God; a man gave us back the gift. Death was the punishment decreed for our first parents' sin. When the Redeemer died, death was found to be the one efficacious remedy for our loss. Mary played the principal role in the divine work of Redemption of the human race. The teaching of the earliest Christian antiquity proves that the undisputable role of Mary in the history of salvation belonged to the Apostolic Faith and was handed down by the Apostles to the Church.

In the New Testament we are shown the picture of Mary saluted by the angel, Mary in obedience unparalleled on earth, Mary in her deep humility, Mary giving utterance to her Fiat - "Be it done unto me according to Thy word" - Mary overshadowed by the Spirit of God, Mary the Mother of the Word, and then - after her years of union with her Son in the house of Nazareth - Mary beneath the Cross, the head of Satan crushed, man delivered. Looking at this scriptural and patristic (Fathers of the Church) teaching we realize the wonder of our Lady's function as the Mother of the Savior of mankind, and of her share in the reparation of the evil work of our first parents. Jesus alone is our Savior. He alone redeemed us, yet He deigned to associate His Mother with His work of Redemption.

Mary leads us to salvation. Jesus is the only Savior of mankind. Who shall dare to separate those whom God has joined together, the Mother and the Son? Her prayer is all powerful with her Lord, for He will refuse her nothing, who deigned to be called and to be her Son. So may it be for us all - we beseech thee, O loving, O kind, O sweet Virgin Mary.