The Blessed Mother Archives

December 31, 2022 iacobusm Christmas and Advent

8th Day of Christmas – The Scandal of Mary, Mother of God and Marian Medley

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, 1 January 2023

**The Annunciation***, by Sandro Botticelli, c. 1485–1492*

Mother of God

You have probably heard the term “The Scandal of the Cross,” Christianity’s shocking claim that the Eternal God Himself was tortured to death in a manner usually reserved for the worst of criminals. That is only one, however, of a whole interconnected collection of Christian truth claims that are almost as shocking and scandalous.

We celebrate one of those other claims today, on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. The title might not sound quite as presumptuous in the original Greek formulation adopted at the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D., Θεοτόκος (theotokos), literally, “God-bearer”, but it’s still asking a lot of human credulity. That old rascal Napoleon supposedly claimed to find Islam preferable to Christianity because it was “less ridiculous.” That is to say, it relied less on miracles and difficult concepts like the Trinity . . . or Christ’s being, at the same time, a descendant of David and the Son of God. But of course, Napoleon really believed in little other than himself.

We Christians, on the other hand, know that our calling is to conform ourselves to the Truth, not to the impossible task of somehow conforming Divine Truth to ourselves. And so we find that the Divine Motherhood of Mary becomes a source, not of perplexity, but of profound awe and wonder. Along the way we also find ourselves pondering less profound but still compelling questions. For instance, “What is it like for a human mother, even one who is ‘full of Grace’, to bring forth and raise up the Second Person of the Trinity as her child?”

Mary, Did You Know?

That particular question is the focus of the first of the three songs that Hayley Westenra sings in the video below. “Mary Did You Know?”, written by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene, was first recorded in 1991. In the subsequent thirty years more than 30 different artists have recorded it over a wide variety of genres.

It has also become much beloved of homilists; I first heard of the song fifteen years ago in a Christmas morning homily delivered by our local bishop. The song has also become the object of quite a bit of derision in recent years. I’m not going to bog myself down in that particular debate here, except to point out the following. Mary certainly knew that Jesus was no ordinary son. She had it from an unimpeachable source. But did she really know what lay in store for her?

Luke’s Gospel

***Madonna of the Book***, *by Sandro Botticelli, 1480-1481*

Let’s take a look at what the Scriptures tell us. The Angel Gabriel himself had told her:

–

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end. (Luke, 1:30-33)

–

But how could she possibly know all that being “the Son of the Most High” entailed? Luke’s Gospel itself makes it clear that she did not, as we see in the very next chapter:

–

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.” And he said to them, “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. (Luke, 2:46-50)

The Awe and Wonder of the Incarnation

In any case, even when we do know intellectually that something will happen, our experience of the actual event can surprise us. And that, I think, is what the song means when it asks, “Mary, did you know?” Did you know what it would really be like? A large part of the song’s appeal is that it captures the awe and wonder of the Incarnation in such a personal way:

Mary, did you know

That your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Mary, did you know

Your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?

Did you know,

That your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

And when you kiss your little baby,

You’ve kissed the face of God.

What mere knowledge could possibly prepare us for that?

Angel Gabriel’s Message & O Holy Night

The second song in the medley is the old Basque carol “The Angel Gabriel’s Message.” This lovely Marian song brings us back to the Annunciation. We know that God gives us the freedom to say “no,” but the refrain “Most highly favored Lady” reminds us that he gives us all the Grace to do his will should we choose to say “yes.” Mary was given the Grace to do something that God had never asked of anyone before her, and would never ask again . . . and so all generations call her “Blessed.”

Finally, “O Holy Night,” one of my favorite Christmas songs. “Holy” means “set aside for God.” What night could be Holier than that on which “Christ was born,” the Night on which the Eternal Word became Flesh and came into our world through the agency of a human mother, a young woman who dared to say “yes” to God?

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

Today, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, is a good time to listen to some lovely music and to try to put ourselves in Mary’s place. What did it mean for the Eternal Word to become flesh as a little baby, born of a human mother named Mary? What does it mean to be the Mother of God?

Music for the Christmas Season

In the video below I combined Hayley Westenra’s live recording with images from three magnificent painting by Sandro Botticelli: Madonna of the Book, 1480-1481, The Annunciation, c. 1485–1492, The Mystical Nativity, 1500-1501.

Holy Mother of God, Pray For Us!

Today’s Mass Readings: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

December 20, 2022 iacobusm Advent and Christmas, Faith and Sin, The Liturgical Year

A Loving Mother: Alma Redemptoris Mater

Loving Mother of Our Redeemer

Who doesn’t want a loving mother? Or, if we need to win the favor of a powerful person (a King, for instance), how could we pass up the opportunity of having his Mother put in a good word for us? That’s the dual promise of the Alma Redemptoris Mater.

The first few words tell us that Mary is the Alma Mater of our Redeemer, Jesus. The American English translation of the prayer that we see in the Liturgy of the Hours translates the word alma as “loving.” It does mean that, but that’s not it’s first meaning. The literal meaning is “nurturing” or “nourishing.” That’s why the mouth, throat, etc. is called the “alimentary tract.” It’s the passageway for nourishment to come into our body.

Our Adopted Mother

For that reason, the term alma mater itself used to mean a nursemaid, or wet nurse. This is why we often call a school we attended our alma mater. Just as a wet nurse nurses a little baby on behalf of the natural mother, our school nurtured us in loco parentis. Mary likewise is a nurturing mother to us, beyond our biological mothers. As Pope St. John Paul II explains in his Encyclical Redemptoris Mater:

In accordance with the eternal plan of Providence, Mary’s divine motherhood is to be poured out upon the Church, as indicated by statements of Tradition, according to which Mary’s “motherhood” of the Church is the reflection and extension of her motherhood of the Son of God. (Redemptoris Mater, I.24)

What that means for us is that we can call on our adopted, spiritual mother to intercede for us with her son by birth, Jesus Christ.

Falling and Struggling to Rise

Because of her intercessory role she is the “accessible gate of Heaven” (pervia caeli Porta). Sadly, the American English translation lacks the word “accessible,” pervia. Next, we address Mary with a title familiar from another prayer, Stella Maris, “star of the sea,” our guiding star.

The image that follows is one for which I’ve always felt a strong affinity, the “falling people who struggle to rise again” (cadenti,/ Surgere qui curat populo). The Latin also nicely evokes the falling and rising of the sea (a fitting complement to Stella Maris). Cadenti, “falling,” ends one line on a solemn note, immediately followed by surgere, “to rise,” the word that begins the next.

We complete the first half of the prayer with our first plea for our Blessed Mother’s aid. The Latin verb, succurrere, literally means “run up” to help.

“You who bore, to the wonderment of nature, your own Holy Creator.”

Nativity scene with the newborn Christ mural Franciscan Church Shepherd`s Fields near Bethlehem. Image shot 1990. Exact date unknown.

To the Wonderment of Nature

The second half of the prayer again reminds us that Mary’s importance comes through her connection to her son Jesus, again with some wonderful imagery:

tu quae genuisti,
Natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem

“You who bore, to the wonderment of nature, your own holy Creator.” The incarnation is so astounding that all of creation looks on in amazement. I always picture the animals that are traditionally pictured around Jesus in the manger. Now we know what they were thinking.

Nature might well wonder at the next point as well. Mary remained a “virgin before and after” (Virgo prius ac posterius), because Jesus wasn’t conceived in the usual way. Rather, The Holy Spirit came upon her, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her (see Luke 1:35) at the time of the Annunciation. The time, as the prayer puts it, “When she received that “Hail” from the mouth of Gabriel” (Gabrielis ab ore / Sumens illud Ave).

We Are Not Unstained

Our second petition comes after this reminder that the Blessed Mother remains unstained by sin. Here we acknowledge that we need her help, because we are not equally unstained: peccatorum miserere, “have pity on us sinners.”

The Alma Redemptoris Mater is specifically associated with the seasons of Advent and Christmas, most likely because of the references to the Incarnation and the Annunciation in the final lines. We sing or recite it at the end of Compline, the closing liturgical prayer of the day, from the first Sunday of Advent through the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on February 2nd.

Blessed Hermann

Tradition holds that it was composed by Blessed Hermann of Reichenau, a Benedictine monk who lived in the eleventh century. Blessed Hermann, also known as Hermann the Cripple, was well acquainted with suffering and difficulty. From the beginning of his life he suffered from what seems to have been amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or spinal muscular atrophy. Hermann had great difficulty walking and talking. He also lost his sight before his early death at the age of 41.

He rose above his disabilities, however, to become an outstanding scholar in theology, mathematics, astronomy, and history. After the loss of his vision he dedicated himself to composing prayers and hymns (the Alma Redemptoris Mater being a fine example). Most importantly, like his fellow disability sufferer St. Servulus, he never let his sufferings dampen his joy in sharing Christ’s Gospel.

Please find the Latin and English Text of the Alma Redemptoris Mater below the video clip.

Alma Redemptoris Mater

Alma Redemptoris Mater, quae pervia caeli
Porta manes, et stella maris, sucurre cadenti,
Surgere qui curat populo: tu quae genuisti,
Natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem,
Virgo prius ac posterius, Gabrielis ab ore
Sumens illud Ave, peccatorum miserere.

Loving Mother of the Redeemer

Loving mother of the Redeemer,
gate of heaven, star of the sea,
assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again,
To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator,
yet remained a virgin after as before,
You who received Gabriel’s joyful greeting,
have pity on us poor sinners.

January 1, 2022 iacobusm Christmas and Advent

8th Day of Christmas: The Scandal of Mary, Mother of God and Marian Medley

**The Mystical Nativity**, *by Sandro Botticelli. 1500-1501*

We celebrate one of those other claims today, on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. The title might not sound quite as presumptuous in the original Greek formulation adopted at the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D., Θεοτόκος (theotokos), literally, “God-bearer”, but it’s still asking a lot of human credulity. That old rascal Napoleon supposedly claimed to find Islam preferable to Christianity because it was “less ridiculous”, that is to say, less reliant on miracles and difficult concepts like the Trinity . . . or Christ’s being, at the same time, a descendant of David and the Son of God. But of course, Napoleon really believed in little other than himself.

As Christians, on the other hand, we know that we are called to conform ourselves to the Truth, not to the impossible task of somehow conforming Divine Truth to ourselves. And so we find that the Divine Motherhood of Mary becomes a source, not of perplexity, but of profound awe and wonder. Along the way we also find ourselves pondering less profound but still compelling questions such as, “What is it like for a human mother, even one who is ‘full of Grace’, to bring forth and raise up the Second Person of the Trinity as her child?”

That particular question is explored in the first of the three songs performed by Hayley Westenra in the video below. “Mary Did You Know?”, written by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene, was first recorded in 1991. In the subsequent thirty years it has been recorded by more than 30 different artists over a wide variety of genres. It has also become much beloved of homilists; I first heard of the song fifteen years ago in a Christmas morning homily delivered by the bishop of Portland, Maine. A large part of the song’s appeal, I think, is that it captures the awe and wonder of the Incarnation in such a personal way:

Mary, did you know

That your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Mary, did you know

Your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?

Did you know,

That your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

And when you kiss your little baby,

You’ve kissed the face of God.

Today, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, is a good time to listen to some lovely music and think about what it means for the Eternal Word to become flesh as a little baby, born of a human mother named Mary.

Featured image, top of page: Madonna of the Book, by Sandro Botticelli, 1480-1481