Who is Mary?

“Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?” (Cant. 6:9).

This verse is taken from a book of the Old Testament known as the Canticle of Canticles. This book has been misunderstood in many ways. Its content is not explicitly religious, and some are even scandalized to think that such a book is considered part of Sacred Scripture. But I like the interpretation the Douay-Rheims Bible gives to this book. According to this interpretation, “this Book is called the Canticle of Canticles, that is to say, the most excellent of all canticles: because it is full of high mysteries, relating to the happy union of Christ and his spouse: which is here begun by love; and is to be eternal in heaven. The spouse of Christ is the church: more especially as to the happiest part of it, viz., perfect souls, every one of which is his beloved, but, above all others, the immaculate and ever blessed virgin mother.” Many Church Fathers interpret the bride to symbolise pure souls, and most especially the Blessed Virgin Mary.

With St. Alphonsus de Liguori who wrote a very beautiful book, The Glories of Mary, I like to imagine that while Blessed Virgin was being assumed into heaven and her glory was gradually being revealed to the angels, there were some who, awestruck by what they saw, began asking: “Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices, of myrrh, and frankincense, and of all the powders of the perfumer?” (Cant. 3:6); “Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?” (Cant. 6:9); “Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved?” (Cant. 8:5). In other words, the angels were wondering how it was possible that a creature so beautiful and awe-inspiring could come from that desert which is the earth, a place so full of thorns and tribulation? And the angels who were carrying our Lady responded: “This is the mother of our King, she is our queen, and the blessed one among women, full of grace, the saint of saints, the beloved of God, the Immaculate, the dove, the most beautiful of all creatures.”

Mary is so great that not even the angels could grasp the magnitude of her greatness. And there is a certain saying among theologians which goes like this: De Maria numquam satis (Of Mary, never enough). The mystery of Mary is so profound that at least in this life we will never be able to fully comprehend the depths of this mystery and hence, it will be impossible for us to speak exhaustively about the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Every single person who comes in contact with the Blessed Virgin Mary will always ask this question: “Who is she?” There are those who do not understand Marian devotion and ask: “What is so special about Mary?” And if you reply: “Well, she was chosen to be the Mother of God”, they will retort, “Yeah, right, God could have chosen any woman. That doesn’t make her any more special than my mother. Mary was just simply lucky.” Was she really lucky?

The Venerable Fulton Sheen relates the story of a Catholic boy from a parochial school who was talking about the Blessed Mother a University professor who lived next door. The professor scoffed at the boy, saying: “But there is no difference between her and my mother.” The boy answered: “That's what you say, but there's a heck of a lot of difference between the sons.” Fulton Sheen made this statement: “The key to understanding Mary is this: We do not start with Mary. We start with Christ, the Son of the Living God!” We will come to that later.

There is a second category of persons who accept Mary but do not understand the so-called obsession of other devout Catholics with Mary. They believe that there are limits to how much praise is given to Mary. They are quick to make the accusation of Mariolatry: which is to consider Mary as if she were a divine person. There may be persons who commit this error, but this will always be as a result of erroneous faith, never as a result of excessive devotion to Mary. It was St Pio of Pietrelciana, who, addressing himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, uttered these words: “If not for faith, men would think you were a goddess.”

Now don’t get me wrong. There are well-meaning devout Catholics, who are uncomfortable with Marian devotion. They are different. They obviously want to love Our Lady, but they just don’t understand the reasons why they should love her, or they are afraid of taking something away from Jesus. But St. Maximilian Kolbe observes that we can never match, no matter how much we try, the love and respect and obedience which her Son gave and continues to give her.

Then there are the devotees of Mary. The more they venerate and study the mystery of Mary, the more they become immersed in the depths of this mystery and the more they realise the truth of that statement De Maria, nunquam satis. A very good example of this is St. Maximilian M. Kolbe himself who made this affirmation: “By frequently and affectionately spending time with her in prayer, our soul will understand her ever more perfectly. It will be captivated by her divine immaculateness and will be set ablaze with love toward her until utter self-consumption”. These devotees of Mary lovingly consecrate themselves to her as her subjects, they are zealous in spreading devotion to her and they are not afraid of praying too much to her because they know that Christ is immensely pleased honoured by the devotion which is given to His Blessed Mother.

“Who is Mary?” To this first question is linked another fundamental question: “Why should I be devoted to Mary?” First of all, there is a need to make a few distinctions. Blessed John Duns Scotus says that there are two fundamental reasons why we venerate a person. The first motive, which Scotus calls the intrinsic motive of veneration, is the dignity of the person. The honour we give to a person is proportionate to the dignity of that person. The second motive, which for Scotus is not as important as the first yet still very fundamental, are the benefits that accrue to the devotee as a result of the veneration given.

In Christian worship, veneration is given to God and veneration is given to the saints. It is necessary to distinguish between the two. Because a lack of clarity in making distinctions between the two types of veneration is what has led non-Catholic Christians to accuse us of Mariolatry and idolatry. Theologians say that, “Every form of devotion entails admiration of the excellence of the object venerated”. And this is the determining factor in deciding the type of veneration given to a particular person. Catholic theology identifies adoration as the worship given to God alone by reason of His dignity and excellence as the Triune God. This worship is known as latria. We worship God because He created us (God the Father). We worship God because He saved and redeemed us (God the Son). We worship God because He sanctifies us (God the Holy Spirit). Any other being is venerated only in as much as they try to imitate and model that exemplar which is the Triune God.

And that brings us to the veneration given to the saints and angels. This veneration is known as dulia. The saints are models of Christian life. They are venerated and honoured because they excel in loving union with God. Let me just point out here that Christian life, which is all about loving God above all things, has one fundamental element. And this is the eradication of sin. The saints are in heaven because they purified themselves of sin. No one can get to heaven unless he or she be completely without sin. And what is sin? The wilful disobedience of God’s law in thought, word and deed. Lucifer and the angels disobeyed God’s law and they were banished from heaven. Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s law and they were banished from the garden of Eden. But they were lucky because they and all their descendants were given a second chance to merit heaven. The saints and angels in heaven are venerated because we recognise them as models and exemplars of loving union with God. The dignity a saint has in heaven depends on the level of charity he or she acquired while on earth. We will not all have equal glory in heaven.

Among the saints in heaven, Mary holds a special place. Her dignity and excellence are far above that of the angels and saints yet inferior to the worship given to God. Theologians, to indicate this special veneration given to Mary use the term hyperdulia. The Second Vatican Council explains: “This cult [veneration of Mary], as it has always existed in the Church, for all its uniqueness, differs essentially from the cult of adoration, which is offered equally to the Incarnate Word and to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and it is most favourable to it. The various forms of piety towards the Mother of God, which the Church has approved within the limits of sound and orthodox doctrine, according to the dispositions and understanding of the faithful, ensure that while the mother is honoured, the Son through whom all things have their being (cf. Col 1:15-16) and in whom it has pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell (cf. Col 1:19) is rightly known, loved and glorified and his commandments are observed” (Lumen Gentium, No. 66).

To help us understand why the veneration due to Mary is higher than that due to all the saints in general, two things need to be kept in mind. First, and this has already been mentioned, the veneration given to a saint depends on the dignity of that saint. But how is the dignity of a saint determined? And this is the second consideration: the dignity of any person depends on the amount of grace the person possesses. One cannot obtain glory without grace. Mind you, the dignity of a saint is not absolute: it is relative. In other words, it is a participation in the dignity of God. And it through grace that we are made partakers of the divine life. So, the more grace a saint possessed in his lifetime, the more powerful will the intercession of that saint be in heaven, and therefore, the more perfect the veneration given to that saint.

What is the level of Mary’s dignity? What makes us affirm that Mary is higher than all the saints and angels in heaven and inferior only to Christ? Mary’s Immaculate Conception places her above all the sons of Adam. But this only brings her to the level of the angels because the angels are also without sin. There is another privilege which raises Mary far above all the other angels in dignity. This privilege is the divine maternity. Among all the children of Eve, Mary is the only one without the stain of sin right from the very first moment of conception. Among all those without the stain of sin (Mary and the angels), Mary is the one chosen to be the Mother of God. The divine maternity, according to Blessed John Duns Scotus, is the privilege that elevates Mary far above the angels. Because in the divine maternity Mary becomes the close associate of Christ in the work of redemption.

And this takes us back to the objection of our non-Catholic brothers and sisters who say that God could have chosen anyone to be his mother. Remember I said: the dignity of a person in heaven, depends directly on the amount of grace the person possesses. The Immaculate Conception and the Divine Maternity cannot be separated in Mary. One presupposes the other. Mary's fullness of grace encompasses both privileges. Mary is full of grace precisely because she is Mother of God. And the Divine Maternity demands the fullness of grace. Theologians say that “Mary’s Motherhood, taken by itself in isolation from grace is nothing more than a physical cooperation in God’s birth in time.” And this is perfectly possible as God could have very well chosen any woman to become his mother. But that fact alone, by itself, could not have given that woman the right to be venerated by all men and angels. And as we said grace is what gives a person the right to veneration. St. Augustine says: “Maternal proximity to Christ in the flesh would have been of no benefit to Mary personally, had she not already carried Christ more happily in her heart.”

Mary was not chosen to be God’s mother only there and then at the moment of the Annunciation. It is not as if God was roaming the world and he suddenly happened to stumble on Mary and finding her to be a very likeable person, chose her to be his mother. He chose her right from eternity and prepared her for that role. We recall the affirmation of Fulton Sheen who said: “The key to understanding Mary is this: We do not start with Mary. We start with Christ, the Son of the Living God!” We say Mary is full of grace by reason of her Immaculate Conception. But absolutely speaking, Christ is the fullness of grace. And fullness of grace presupposes the complete, total and absolute absence of sin. So, Mary can only be full of grace in as much as she possesses in her the fullness of Christ, in as much as she is exempt from every stain of sin. Because she was to become the Mother of Christ, she was exempted from all stain of sin, she conceived spiritually in her heart, Christ the fullness of grace, long before she conceived him physically in her womb.

“Who is Mary?” She is the Immaculate, the Mother of God. That summarises it all.