“May it be done to me according to your word.”
Mary’s Fiat, or yes, to the request of God shows her complete humility and obedience to God. “To obey (from the Latin ob-audire, to ‘hear or listen to’) in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself. Abraham is the model of such obedience offered us by Sacred Scripture. The Virgin Mary is its most perfect embodiment.” [1] “Mary's faith can also be compared to that of Abraham, whom St. Paul calls ‘our father in faith’ (cf. Rom. 4:12). In the salvific economy of God's revelation, Abraham's faith constitutes the beginning of the Old Covenant; Mary's faith at the Annunciation inaugurates the New Covenant. Just as Abraham ‘in hope believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations’ (cf. Rom. 4:18), so Mary, at the Annunciation, having professed her virginity (‘How shall this be, since I have no husband?’) believed that through the power of the Most High, by the power of the Holy Spirit, she would become the Mother of God's Son in accordance with the angel's revelation: ‘The child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God’ (Lk. 1:35).” [2]
What does Fiat mean? Fiat is a formal authorization or proposition; a decree. It stems from the Latin “let it be done”. This is exactly what Mary said to the angel, “Let it be done unto me according to thy word (Luke 1:38)”. Mary gave authorization to the Father to allow her to become pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
Why did Mary choose these words instead of simply just saying, “Yes, I will do it”? She was saying yes to many things, her vocation, God’s Will, and salvation history. “Mary’s reply fiat is more final than a simple ‘yes’. It is the complete surrender of her will to what God wanted of her at the moment, and for the whole of her life.” [3] The whole heavens, earth, and existence were waiting for her “yes”. It is because of her yes that we have redemption, we have salvation, and we have God made flesh because “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
“We should ask Our Lady for help with our own vocation. We should ask her to help us correspond with God’s calling and that like her, we would "not be afraid". Let us ask her to enable us to give a prompt and firm reply on each occasion. The only thing that can fill our lives and give them their full meaning is our vocation.” [4]
Why does Mary call herself “the handmaid of the Lord”? By saying this, she is freely giving of herself in accordance to God’s Will without a single sin to restrain her. In saying this she acknowledges that she understands what her role and vocation is in this world, to be a servant to the Lord. She is also showing us how to be lifted up, by allowing ourselves to be humble, lowly and in complete obedience to the Lord.
Why did God require Mary’s yes? Mary had a choice. God would never force himself on her as He never forces Himself on us. God, however, does give us chances to accept His invitations. We have the free will to choose to say yes or no. Mary, being born without original sin, and being as holy as she was, understood the weight of the situation, but was not scared by it. Because of her yes, Venerable Bede says, “that because of her consent God imparted to Mary all, even the greatest graces, greater than all creatures, angels as well as men, ever merited.” [5]
What if Mary said “no”? To say “no” to God would have been a sin and Mary cannot sin. “Some are puzzled by the idea that Mary could not sin. It sounds as though she did not truly have a free will. How are we to understand this? Like Jesus, Mary did have a free will. But a free will is not defined by the ability to choose to do evil. A will is more free when its choices are ‘good’ and ‘better’ or even ‘better’ or ‘best,’ than ‘good’ and ‘evil’.” [6] Mary, therefore was using her free will throughout her life, but being “full of Grace,” a special privilege given to her by God, she was so disposed to choose “good”, “better” and “best”. Evil was not an option. It is safe to say that due to the Grace given to a particular individual they are so disposed to choose “good”, “better” and “best” in certain areas and evil is not an option. For example, for a happily marriage grace filled couple, evils such as divorce and adultery are not options. We can compare these moral choices to the physical abilities of an athlete. One could argue that a basketball player is so good, so full of talent that they could not miss a simple layup. The skills of the athlete are perfect and therefore a flaw is not possible.
What happened to Mary after her yes? “Mary, a daughter of Adam, consenting to the divine Word, became the mother of Jesus, the one and only Mediator. Embracing God's salvific will with a full heart and impeded by no sin, she devoted herself totally as a handmaid of the Lord to the person and work of her Son, under Him and with Him, by the grace of almighty God, serving the mystery of redemption." [7] She was forever connected with Jesus in every way, including his sufferings, and especially at the foot of the cross. Mary is a model for all mothers, who give birth to their children and have a unique and profound connection with their children. Mother and child are forever connected.
Story of the importance of mothers
There was a poll in Japan where Japanese men were asked, “Who would you save if your mother, your wife, and your child were drowning, and you could only save one of them?” The majority of men said they would save their mothers. In our western culture that seems odd because we would probably save our children. The response from these men who said that they would save their mothers was, “Of course you would mourn any loss, but you can always remarry and have more children, but you only have one mother.”
This story shows us the importance of mothers, and just like Mary, there is only one of her in human history and because of her yes, we have salvation.
Part of American culture is the “your mama joke”. There are no "your daddy jokes" or "your brother jokes". Why? Because we all love our mothers and we care if someone talks bad about our mother. The existence of “your mama jokes” points to the reality in American culture that we do in fact love our mothers.
What was the impact of Mary’s yes? “The impact of Mary's yes is the single greatest act in human history. Without her yes, there would have been no Incarnation thus no Jesus Christ. Without Christ, life has no meaning. It is only through Christ that we will come to comprehend our inner self: the hidden values of pain and work, the authentic peace and joy that surpass natural feelings and the supernatural reward in our eternal homeland.” [8]
What is the impact of our yes? Mary was the first disciple, the first follower of Christ. We are all called to imitate her example of discipleship. We consecrate ourselves to Mary, so that we can have the same heart of Mary, a heart of a servant, a handmaid, a heart of complete surrender. There are many consecration prayers to Mary, one of the shortest and easiest to memorize is the Totus Tuus prayer, prayed by Saint John Paul II, “I belong to you entirely. And all that I possess is yours. I take you into everything that is mine. Give me your heart Mary.” Mary gives everything to her Son, Jesus, so anything we give or consecrate to her, is given even more perfectly to her son. Imagine if we were to have the heart of Mary. Imagine the power of our yes if we could belong to Jesus as Mary did, give all that we possess to Jesus, as Mary did, bring Jesus into our whole life, as Mary did.
[1] CCC 144
[2] Redemptoris Mater 14.1
[3] Fr. Francis Fernandez; In Conversation with God 6 29.3
[4] Fr. Francis Fernandez; In Conversation with God 6 29.3
[5] Fr. Leonard Goffine’s; The Church’s Year pg. 582
[6] Fr. John Hardon, Basic Catholic Catechism Course, Mary’s Incapacity to sin, pg.26
[7] LG 56
[8] Fr. Francis Fernandez; In Conversation with God 6 28.3