Mary's Motherhood

Nearly a year ago, I made the biggest move of my life…….from Northern Virginia to Dallas, Texas. Sure I had moved further away from home when I went on study abroad semesters to Gaming, Austria and Rome, Italy. But, this time, I was moving out on my own.

Numerous thoughts crossed my mind as I prepared to make the 1500 mile trek: “How will the cost of rent impact my livelihood? Will I like my new job? Will I mesh with my roommates?” One question, more like concern was……snakes. I kid you not. Call me a wimp but I was thinking about snakes while moving down to Texas.

Luckily, I have not run into one of these sly little serpents yet (knock on wood) but the prospect of that happening nudged me to look up video instructions on what to do should I cross paths with a slithering reptilian foe. I viewed one video of a hiker who came across a rattler. He seized the opportunity to demonstrate proper killing technique.

“This looks fun!” I thought so I continued watching. Though, in truth, if I saw one of those in real life I would be off to the races like Road Runner.

He picked the rattler up by its tail, whipped it against a rock and broke its neck saying, “You whip it like a towel. It breaks its neck. There is no way this thing can bite me. People chop off rattlesnake’s heads and the head can still bite people. But this neck is completely broken.”[i]

Why do I bring this up? On my desk, I have a small statue of Our Lady, arms outstretched with her feet on the body of the serpent, Satan. Many of us have seen this portrayal of the Blessed Mother. Too many give it a passing glance, thinking nothing of it. But there is a beautiful message Our Lady is sharing with us through this image: her compassionate and Immaculate Motherhood.

Mary’s Mediation, Mary’s Motherhood

Mary is given many titles in the Catholic Church. We refer to her as Co-Redemptrix meaning she uniquely and intimately participated in Christ’s redemption of all humanity.[ii] She is invoked as Advocate, interceding for us before the throne of God.[iii] One title we do not use often enough is Mary as Mother. Yes we call her “The Blessed Mother”, “Mary, Mother of Son” but oftentimes, we do not take ownership of that fact that she is also our mother in heaven.

When Our Lady appeared to Saint Juan Diego, who revealed The Virgin of Guadalupe on his tilma, she told him, “My little son, am I not your mother?”[iv] Saint Maximilian Kolbe, the hero and martyr of Auschwitz, who is known as “Our Lady’s Knight” wrote, “Would you like to know what the weekly schedule of a Child of the Immaculate is like? Then ask a small and helpless child what the weekly schedule of his relationship with his mother is like.”[v]

Her motherhood serves many purposes, but I wish to focus on two of them: mediation and protection.

Bridging The Divide

Aside from being given the titles of Co-Redemptrix and Advocate, Our Lady is also known as the Mediatrix, meaning she serves the purpose of bridging the divide between two parties.[vi] Think about it, when you and I fought with our siblings or anyone else for that matter, who was the first person to intervene and rectify the situation? Our mothers. Mary is no different.

Satan, when he tempted Adam and Eve robbed them of many gifts, but the greatest gift he deprived them of was the intimacy they shared with God the Father. When sin entered, man, instead of being obedient to God and choosing union and communion, chose disobedience, chaos and isolation. A great chasm separated God and man and we have inherited the same situation ever since.

The beautiful news is Our Lady, who acted with and through Christ, unites us back to the Father through her perfect act of obedience. Her arms are outstretched towards us in so many images for this reason: she welcomes us back with nothing less than undefiled love and tenderness. Where sin sowed disunity, Mary offers flawless union, where hatred, anger and resentment reign, Our Lady offers us her Immaculate Heart, whole and free from any corruption with a purity and love which heals and makes new.

As with any mother, her mediation would be nothing without her protective motherhood.

Mamma Bear

I once read the story of a man who was mauled by a bear. Turns out he came across her cubs and in a fit of rage to protect her little ones, she attacked, leaving the victim alive, but his face permanently disfigured.

Mothers, aside from embodying tenderness and mercy, possess a fierce passion to protect their children. But when we think of Mary as our mother, we think only of the gentle side of her motherhood, not her fierce, passionate and courageous heart which pursues, protects and nourishes us from death, destruction and evil.

Genesis 3:15 reads, “I will put enmity between you and the woman. Between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, you shall bruise his heal.” Enmity means Our Lady has complete and total opposition to Satan, his will and all sin.[vii] Our Lady not only opposes him, she engages him, bringing about his demise through the grace given by Christ’s Cross. The serpent seeks to lure us, to take us away from her protection and then when the timing is right he strikes, injecting his venom of evil and darkness into our hearts.

Mary, protecting us with her passionate and Immaculate Motherhood, crushes his influence in our lives, even if we are dwelling in the dregs of perpetual vice, mortal sin, despair and feeling isolated and helpless. Kolbe writes, “What an echo the mere invocation of “Mary,” when our heart is submerged in darkness, in aridity and in the disgrace of sin, produces in her Heart, which loves us so much! And the unhappier the soul immersed in guilt feels, the more this Refuge of us poor sinners surrounds it with loving and solicitous protection.”[viii]

The next time you gaze on this image of Our Lady, arms outstretched, crushing the serpent, allow Her to speak to your heart with words similar to these: “You have nothing to fear little one. Hatred, anger, anxiety, fear, rejection, regret, the past have been crushed under the weight of my Immaculate Heart, which trumps even the greatest of evil. Past sin is gone. His plans for ruin are no more. He can no longer harm you as long as you dwell in my Immaculate Embrace. Come to me and experience my love which absorbs your sins of scarlet and through my heart, united to my Son’s makes them whiter than the driven snow.”

Mary , Our Mother, Pray for us who have recourse to thee!

[i] Hazard TV. “How To Kill a Rattlesnake Properly.” Online Youtube Video Clip Youtube. May 26, 2016. Web. May 28, 2017.

[ii] Miravalle, Mark. Introduction To Mary. The Heart of Marian Doctrine and Devotion Goleta, CA. Queenship Publishing. 2006. p. 72

[iii] Miravalle, Mark. Introduction To Mary. The Heart of Marian Doctrine and Devotion. Goleta, CA. Queenship Publishing. 2006. p. 90

[iv] Catholic Online. December 12, 2016. Our Lady of Guadalupe. Patronness of the Americas. http://www.catholic.org/about/guadalupe.php

[v] Kolbe, Saint Maximilian. Stronger Than Hatred. A Collection of Spiritual Writings. Brooklyn, NY. New York City Press. 1988. p. 57

[vi] Miravalle, Mark. Introduction To Mary. The Heart of Marian Doctrine and Devotion. Goletta, CA. Queenship Publishing. 2006.

[vii] Miravalle, Mark. Introduction To Mary. The Heart of Marian Doctrine and Devotion. Goletta, CA. Queenship Publishing, 2006. p. 16

[viii] Kolbe, Saint Maximilian. Stronger Than Hatred. A Collection of Spiritual Writings. Brooklyn, NY. New York City Press. 1988. p. 56