“Most blessed are you among woman…”
Why is Mary called blessed among women? Mary is called “blessed” or “exalted” for the same reason that Jesus is exalted. If we look at Philippians 2:6-11 we see a blueprint of how to be blessed and exalted by God. “Rather, he [Jesus] emptied himself and took the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men. He was known to be of human estate, and it was thus that he humbled himself, obediently accepting even death, death on a cross! Because of this, God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name above every other name.”
Can these same words be applied to Mary? Yes. How? If we break down the verses Mary emptied herself, she was obedient even unto death, and her name is highly exalted.
Did Mary empty herself and take the form of a slave? Yes, she said, “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord.”[i] “The slave, one can say, did not have a will of his own, nor could he have any desire independent of his master’s. Our Lady agrees with the greatest joy and with all her heart to have no other wish than that of her Master and Lord. She gives herself to him unreservedly, without condition.”[ii] She humbles herself, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness…”[iii] How was Mary obedient even unto death? Mary said, “May it be done to me according to your word.”[iv] Mary accepts all that God will ask of her, perfectly uniting herself even to the passion and death that her son accepts and endures. This complete obedience to the mission of her Son will cause her great suffering, and for this reason she is given the title Our Lady of Sorrows. During the presentation in the Temple, Simeon says to Mary, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted and you yourself a sword with pierce.”[v] Because of this [her openness, humility, obedience and sacrifice], God highly exalts her and bestowed on her a name above other names. What are some of the names that Mary is given that show her exalted status?
The Litany of Mary is an example of some of the names that shows Mary’s exalted status. Print, project or pray the Litany. What names show an exalted status? What does each title tell us about Mary and about what God did for her?
Mary, more than anyone else, can bring us to a perfect relationship with Christ, helping us to know and love him. Mary, more than anyone else, is the perfect example of how to follow Christ; she is the first and most perfect disciple of Christ. Can the template of Philippians 2:6-11 apply to us? Can we imitate Mary as she perfectly imitated Christ? Yes. Our goal in life should be to empty ourselves, become a slave (a servant) for Christ, humble ourselves, and to be obedient even unto death. We must be ready for martyrdom whether that is the red martyrdom, giving our physically life or white martyrdom, a spiritual death to the earthly temptations[vi]
Make a list of ways that we empty our self, practice the life of a servant, practice humility and practice obedience? The rite of the crowning of Mary gives us some of the goals of our service. In the rite we pray, “Give us the grace to follow them in serving you; to do what love demands for the sake of our brothers and sisters; to deny ourselves and spend ourselves, so as to win our neighbors for you; to be lowly on earth, so as to be exalted in heaven where you reward your faithful servants with a crown of life.”[vii]
How can we grow in these virtues? If we live out these virtues, practicing them to a heroic degree in our life, we too will be given names above other names. Names like Servant of God, Venerable, Blessed and maybe even Saint, and Doctor of the Church or The Great.
What are some others reasons why Mary is blessed among women? God is eternal and could pick any human past, present and future. He chose Mary, and thus she truly is blessed among women and among all mankind. She is blessed and chosen to be the one to give Jesus to us. She is exalted even higher than the angels, and her vocation is to give the light of her son, Jesus, to all of creation. She is blessed because she was full of Grace which she understood came from not her own accord, but God.
She is the perfection of our race. Judith in the Old Testament is a pre-figuring of Mary. Judith saved her people by striking and beheading Holofernes the commander of the Assyrians. God gave the promise in the book of Genesis, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.”[viii] In the story of Judith the people praise her after the great victory saying, “You are the glory of Jerusalem, the surpassing joy of Israel; You are the splendid boast of our people. With your own hand you have done all this; you have done good to Israel, and God is pleased with what you have wrought. May you be blessed by the Lord Almighty forever and ever.”[ix]
In the story of Judith, Israel was saved from a temporal enemy. Judith is part of the promise to Israel, but Mary, who Judith pre-figures, is the mother of The Promise, Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ, who will strike not at the head of a temporal power or enemy but at the head of Satan forever showing God’s victory of sin and darkness. Jesus Christ will strike the blow at Calvary, which is also called Golgotha, the place of the skull.[x] Mary is at the side of her Son, Jesus watching and praying and the Magnificat that she prayed during the Visitation is complete, “He has come to the help of his servant Israel, for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.”[xi]
At the Visitation, Jesus, is already beginning His mission and does so within the womb (not bad for an unborn baby). “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”[xii] At the Visitation there is a reference to the work of the Blessed Trinity. Elizabeth says, “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”[xiii] Lord is a reference to God, the first person of the Blessed Trinity. Jesus, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, is of course already at work within the womb of Mary. Saint Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Blessed Trinity.
How is Mary, similar to the Moon? “Mary is full of Grace, exceeding the Angels in this fullness and very fittingly is she called ‘Mary’ which means ‘in herself enlightened’…she will illumine others throughout the world, for which reason she is compared to the sun and to the moon.”[xiv] The moon has no light without the sun. The moon reflects the light of the sun. Without the sun, we are unable to see the moon. The moon would just be a big rock. Without Jesus, Mary is nothing. Mary reflects the light of her Son and thus illumines the world. The moon can be so bright at times it can outshine other stars in the sky. The stars can represent the millions of Saints who are in Heaven, but the moon is the brightest thing in the sky just like Mary is the brightest among all people and Saints; she is called the Queen of the Angels and the Queen of the Saints.
“Mary always points us to the son and Mary was the only one in Scripture who was present at three great events of salvation history; the Incarnation and the Crucifixion and the beginning of Christ's public ministry. In the first two events, depicted by great Catholic art of the centuries, Mary is always pointing us to her son as she is looking at her son in the manger and on the cross. At Cana, the beginning of her Son's public ministry, she also points us to Christ with the last words we hear her say in Scripture, "do as He tells you." She is the perfect model of these words. These words are the last words she speaks in Scripture at the beginning of Christ's public life are a prophesy of John the Baptist's words, ‘I must decrease so that He can increase.’[xv]”
She is able to illumine us because she is full of light, full of Grace. She was without sin, and, so too, she is free from the penalties of sin. What better person to lead us to Christ than one that does not sin and one that does not suffer the penalties of sin? Who leads us to Christ? Most likely the people that led us to Christ are those that avoid sin, those that we see living a good life and those that are not pressed down by the penalties, the effects of sin. We trust the people who have not been punished, they are deemed as trustworthy. This is why, on a job application, employers ask if you have committed a crime. In making a judgment upon a person, a judge, teacher, principal, employee, parent, etc. will look at the person’s record. Have they been punished and how often? We also look at a person’s record in politics, when someone is running for office. “Because the Blessed Virgin was immune from these punishments [the punishments of sin], she is ‘blessed among woman.’ Moreover, she alone escaped the curse of sin, brought forth the Source of blessing, and opened the gate of heaven. It is surely fitting that her name is ‘Mary’, which is akin to the Star of the Sea (Maria – maris stella), for just as sailors are directed to port by the star of the sea, so also Christians are by Mary guided to glory.”[xvi]
We can remember the role of Mary by remembering MP3. “M” is for Mary. “P3” is for the three virtues she models for us. She perseveres in her vocation. Just as the moon is consistent, reliable and constant, so to Mary perseveres in her vocation of shining the light of Christ. Mary is pure and perfect. In the lesson “fruit of thy womb,” her purity and perfection will be explained. Mary is the Help of Christians. She helps us to persevere, practice purity and to perfection present our self to God.
[i] Luke 1:38
[ii] Fr. Francis Frenandez; In Conversation with God; Vol. 1; 25.3 (Link to Liturgy; Cycle A; OT1)
[iii] Luke 1:46-47
[iv] Luke 1:38
[v] Luke 2:34
[vi] For more information go to linktoliturgy.com and search “Feast Days – St. Sebastian”
[vii] Spiritual Reading in this Link to Liturgy pack
[viii] Genesis 3:15
[ix] Judith 15:9-10
[x] Matthew 27:33
[xi] In the Popular Devotion section of this Link to Liturgy packet
[xii] Luke 1:41-42
[xiii] Luke 1:43
[xiv] The Catechetical Instructions of St. Thomas Aquinas; The Angelic Salutation
[xv] John 3:30
[xvi] The Catechetical Instructions of St. Thomas Aquinas; “Blessed art thou among women”