One of these mysteries is the role of a very special human being who played a key role in the divine plan of salvation. Some Protestants and secular humanists assert that we Catholics and Orthodox worship the Blessed Virgin Mary. Of course anyone who would take 10 minutes out of their day to study this claim would discover that is is completely false. We honor, venerate and pray to her but don't worship her..... we only worship God. We believe in her intercessory powers with her Son. As a matter of fact these same dismissive people dishonor her...and her Son....by trying the best they can to push her presence from the Christian message entirely.
Mary, the Theotokos (God bearer) was a central figure in every event of Christ's earthly life from the Incarnation to the Crucifixion. The woman who bore the Savior, who pondered wondrous things in her heart and was present at Pentecost was the indispensable human being who played the key role in the salvation history by saying, "Behold, I am the Handmaid of the Lord; be it done according to your word" (Luke1:38)..
We recently celebrated Christmas in all its beauty and mystery. The Nativity is narrated in the Gospels from a first hand source. Who? Mary of course. If you think of the events of Christ's early life, the flight to Egypt, Simeon's prayer (Nunc Dimitis), visit to Elizabeth, etc......these were all conveyed by Mary to those writing the Sacred Scriptures. The gospel authors (Matthew and Luke) only wrote down the events told to them by the Blessed Mother with regard to events in which she was the only surviving witness. When a newspaper reporter is writing a story and is quoting the original source, should we not recognize that the real source is the person being quoted. The same is true for the gospel of Mark which is regarded by most scholars as being the words of St. Peter transcribed by his companion and disciple Mark.
To dishonor the Blessed Mother is to dishonor Our Lord her Son. She was the perfect disciple, no matter the belittling over the centuries of her significance by Christians with figurative and literal iconoclastic intentions. During the horrendous 24 hours between the Agony in the Garden to her Son's death on the cross, she never wavered and stood beneath the cross and while dying, Our Lord gave her to us....."Son, behold your mother."
Even the prophet Mohammed, certainly not a friend of Christianity, when naming the best woman who ever lived named Mary (Maryam in Arabic), the mother of Jesus, as the best woman to ever live. Shame on those pastors of any Christian denomination who do not hold the Theotokos as a subject of many sermons as the perfect disciple. Christianity, without the central figure of Mary as a focus of human interaction with the divine, is a mere shadow of its potential.
Mary is also known as the Sorrowful Mother. Her life was filled with heartbreak and for that reason many mothers throughout the ages believe that they have a person in heaven who is closer to Our Lord Jesus than any other human being and to whom they can confide and trust their own sorrows and pain. Her power is evident in the story of the Wedding Feast at Cana. Even though it was not time for His public ministry to begin, he acted upon her request and turned water into wine..
The following ancient hymn is one of my favorite and you can find my excellent recordings on YouTube with orchestra. It is also very beautiful when sung in Latin chant which I did several times in my youth in choirs.
Holy Theotokos, pray for us.
Stabat Mater Dolorosa (Sorrowful Mother)
Stabat mater dolorosa juxta Crucem lacrimosa, dum pendebat Filius. Cuius animam gementem, contristatam et dolentem pertransivit gladius. O quam tristis et afflicta fuit illa benedicta, mater Unigeniti! Quae moerebat et dolebat, pia Mater, dum videbat nati poenas inclyti. Quis est homo qui non fleret, matrem Christi si videret in tanto supplicio? Quis non posset contristari Christi Matrem contemplari dolentem cum Filio? Pro peccatis suae gentis vidit Iesum in tormentis, et flagellis subditum. Vidit suum dulcem Natum moriendo desolatum, dum emisit spiritum. Eia, Mater, fons amoris me sentire vim doloris fac, ut tecum lugeam. Fac, ut ardeat cor meum in amando Christum Deum ut sibi complaceam. Sancta Mater, istud agas, crucifixi fige plagas cordi meo valide. Tui Nati vulnerati, tam dignati pro me pati, poenas mecum divide. Fac me tecum pie flere, crucifixo condolere, donec ego vixero. Juxta Crucem tecum stare, et me tibi sociare in planctu desidero. Virgo virginum praeclara, mihi iam non sis amara, fac me tecum plangere. Fac, ut portem Christi mortem, passionis fac consortem, et plagas recolere. Fac me plagis vulnerari, fac me Cruce inebriari, et cruore Filii. Flammis ne urar succensus, per te, Virgo, sim defensus in die iudicii. Christe, cum sit hinc exire, da per Matrem me venire ad palmam victoriae. Quando corpus morietur, fac, ut animae donetur paradisi gloria. Amen. | At the Cross her station keeping, stood the mournful Mother weeping, close to her Son to the last. Through her heart, His sorrow sharing, all His bitter anguish bearing, now at length the sword has passed. O how sad and sore distressed was that Mother, highly blest, of the sole-begotten One. Christ above in torment hangs, she beneath beholds the pangs of her dying glorious Son. Is there one who would not weep, whelmed in miseries so deep, Christ's dear Mother to behold? Can the human heart refrain from partaking in her pain, in that Mother's pain untold? For the sins of His own nation, She saw Jesus wracked with torment, All with scourges rent: She beheld her tender Child, Saw Him hang in desolation, Till His spirit forth He sent. O thou Mother! fount of love! Touch my spirit from above, make my heart with thine accord: Make me feel as thou hast felt; make my soul to glow and melt with the love of Christ my Lord. Holy Mother! pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified: Let me share with thee His pain, who for all my sins was slain, who for me in torments died. Let me mingle tears with thee, mourning Him who mourned for me, all the days that I may live: By the Cross with thee to stay, there with thee to weep and pray, is all I ask of thee to give. Virgin of all virgins blest!, Listen to my fond request: let me share thy grief divine; Let me, to my latest breath, in my body bear the death of that dying Son of thine. Wounded with His every wound, steep my soul till it hath swooned, in His very Blood away; Be to me, O Virgin, nigh, lest in flames I burn and die, in His awful Judgment Day. Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence, by Thy Mother my defense, by Thy Cross my victory; While my body here decays, may my soul Thy goodness praise, Safe in Paradise with Thee. Translation by Edward Caswall Lyra Catholica (1849) |
0 comments:
Post a Comment