The
Spouse of God
As
I was mediating on the beginning of the Gospel according to St. Luke,
and wondering about what to write about in my weekly post this time,
my thoughts fell upon Saint Alphonsus Liguori’s wonderful work “The
Glories of Mary,” particularly one small statement within this book
that Protestants often misunderstand and take as a lie. There is a
passage from the second chapter of St. Luke that inspired me to turn
my thoughts to Saint Alphonsus Liguori, and contrary to the
misunderstandings, if you understand what the blessed Saint is
saying, it opens up a beautiful meditation on the relationship
between the Blessed Virgin, the Church, and the Triune God.
Here
is the passage from the Gospel according to St. Luke that prompted my
mediations:
“And
his (Christ’s) parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the solemn
day of the Pasch, And when he was twelve years old, they going up
into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast, And having
fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus remained in
Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not. And thinking that he was in
the company, they came a day's journey, and sought him among their
kinsfolks and acquaintance. And not finding him, they returned into
Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that, after three days,
they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors,
hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were
astonished at his wisdom and his answers. And seeing him, they
wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to
us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said
to them: How is it that you sought me? did you not know, that I must
be about my Father's business? And they understood not the word that
he spoke unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth,
and
was subject to them.
And his mother kept all these words in her Heart. And Jesus advanced
in wisdom, and age, and grace with God and men.”- St. Luke 2:41-52
This
is truly a remarkable passage! Here is the passage from “The
Glories of Mary” that it reminded me of:
“He
(Our Lord Jesus Christ) has supreme dominion over all and also over
Mary; nevertheless, it can always be said that for a time at least,
when He was living in this world, He was pleased to humble himself
and be subject (in obedience) to Mary. Says St. Ambrose, ‘Jesus
Christ having deigned to make Mary His Mother, inasmuch as He was her
Son, He was truly obliged to obey her.’ And for this reason, says
Richard of St. Laurence, ‘Of other Saints we say that they are with
God; but of Mary alone can it be said that she was so far favored as
to be not only herself submissive to the will of God, but even that
God was subject to her will.’
Therefore
we say that, even though Mary can no longer command her Son, since
they are not on earth any more, still her prayers are always the
prayers of a Mother and are therefore most powerful in obtaining
whatever she asks…
‘The
prayers of our Lady, being the prayers of a Mother, have in them
something of a command; so it is impossible for her not to be
heard.’- Saint Antonine”
These
two passages teach us truly the level of humility that God the Son
assumed to Himself in becoming man. As St. Paul says in his epistle
to the Philippians, ‘He humbled Himself, taking on the nature of a
slave,” and likewise says in his epistle to the Galatians, ‘In
the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, born of a Woman, born
under the Law.’ The One who is Almighty and who never ceased to be
the Almighty, deigned to assume human nature so fully and so
completely that He indeed was obedient to His Mother, and not only
his
Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Lest we forget the magnitude of the
glory of the great Saint, Joseph, let us remember that is says here –
wonder of wonders! – that God the Son incarnate truly was subject
in obedience to him as well, in addition to Mary His Mother. This is
an incredible point that is often overlooked, it seems, in the Church
Militant. I will continue this theme of Our Lord being subject to Our
Lady in my next post.