Based upon textual evidence from scripture very little is known about the life of

the Virgin of Nazareth. The Synoptics and the Johannine text introduce us to the life of

Mary through a series of events which culminate with her appearance at the foot of the

Cross. It is also understood that Mary speaks only seven times throughout the entire four

gospels. Other than these instances the life of Mary remains hidden. Nevertheless, the

virtues which she embodies are of inestimable value for the Church’s own spirituality. In

the little evidence that is presented in the gospels there are many spiritual themes that one

may notice in the life of the Virgin. Moreover, although various contributions have been

made toward man’s wonderment at the great Mother of God through ceaseless

theological reflections by the Church’s theologians, there still remains a necessity to

delve further into the mystery of the Virgin Mary’s life. Though this analysis does not

intend to contribute a greater or even more intellectual truth about the Blessed Mother,

rather it will expound upon the richness and truth of the Church’s spirituality, which is

most deeply Marian. Furthermore, through this analysis one will better perceive how the

theological virtues of faith, hope, and love share a deeply intimate link with the

obedience, suffering, and humility of Mary, who accordingly serves as the exemplary

figure in man’s spiritual journey towards perfection.

“Obedience of Faith”: the Foundation for Mary’s Spiritual Perfection

In his encyclical on the Blessed Virgin Mary, Redemptoris Mater, the late Roman

Pontiff John Paul II takes up the theme of Mary’s “faith” in his section entitled Blessed is

she who believed; however, he does not focus simply on her faith alone, but her

“obedience of faith.”1 For it is through Mary’s great faith in the word of God and her

1 Pope John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater: Encyclical Letter on the Blessed Virgin Mary, para 13 (March 30, 1987).

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obedience to His will that we all have the privilege of rejoicing with the words of the

Exsultet: O felix culpa quae talem et tantum meruit habere redemptorem.2 Nevertheless,

in order to reach a clearer understanding of Mary’s “obedience of faith,” we must make

the initial distinction between faith and obedience, and then demonstrate how they are

interrelated, and finally how they relate to the life of Mary. In the Catechism of the

Catholic Church we are told that the theological virtue of faith is that “by which we

believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us.”3 Parallel to faith is the

virtue of obedience, which is a firm trust and openness to the entirety of God’s revelation,

and a willingness to cooperate with God in all that He wishes to accomplish in and

through us. Further, obedience does not merely imply a notion of servility; rather, in the

case of Mary it springs forth from a surge of love, which is at the root of her assent to the

message of the angel: “Be it to me according to your word.” Obedience is considered

servitude only by those who do not understand the “spontaneity of love.”4 Mary’s

obedience to God’s will becomes ancillary to her faith which she expresses in her

unreserved surrender. Obedience, as further stated by the Catechism, implicitly demands

an offering of one’s self as Christ made an offering of himself for the sins of all. It is

then through her “obedience of faith” that we will witness Mary’s offering not only of

herself, but of the Son to whom she has given birth, who is to then become the Savior of

humanity. It is through this offering that the Church discovers in Mary her model in faith

and obedience to Jesus Christ. With this understanding of the interrelation between her

faith and obedience we can begin our exploration into the role and efficacy of these two

virtues in the life of the Virgin Mary, as it is communicated to us through the scriptures.

2 “O [happy fault] which merited so great and good a redeemer.” 3 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1814. 4 Sheen, Fulton J., The World’s First Love (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1952), 99.

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In the Gospel of Luke we witness the beginning of a new dialogue between

heaven and earth through the event of the Annunciation. It is at the Annunciation that

Mary entrusts herself unreservedly to the will of God, with a “full submission of [her]

intellect and will,”5 thus manifesting her “obedience of faith” to the one who spoke to her

through the messenger. Mary’s “obedience of faith” evokes the great faith and obedience

with which Abraham in the Book of Genesis adheres to God’s call. Even amidst the

darkness and inscrutability of God’s ways both Abraham and Mary willingly hand

themselves over to the truth of God’s word. Like Abraham, Mary is called to hold fast to

a truth which has never before been expressed in the history of her people. Abraham

obeys the word and becomes the father of “a great nation” (Genesis 12:2); Mary as well

listens intently to God’s word and becomes the mother of his Son, and consequently

mother of the human race. To hold fast to God’s ways in the “luminous darkness,” says

Cardinal Ratzinger, “is thus a conformation to him,”6 which is a sign of Mary’s full

resignation to the Divine Author. In Mary’s fiat we clearly detect no guile whatsoever,

but rather the utmost innocence and humility of a soul pervaded through by grace and

overflowing with the intensity of God’s all-consuming love. For in Mary there is

“nothing…[that] masks or veils the peculiar power of God.”7 As one witnesses through

her fiat – “let it be to me according to your word” (Lk. 1:38) – Mary demonstrates that

faith is properly an act of submission. This act represents a “movement of offering and

consecration,” and at the same time, represents her total renunciation to the good will of

God. It is as though she is saying with all of her grace-filled being, “Here I am! Do with

5 Dei Verbum, 5. 6 Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal and Hans Urs von Balthasar, Mary: The Church at the Source, trans. Adrian Walker (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 2005), 49. 7 Thurian, Max, Mary: Mother of the Lord, Figure of the Church (London: The Faith Press, 1963), 57.

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me what you will.” This submission is surely one stemming from her anawim-poverty

and “marvelous purity.”8 Mary’s act of submission is most clearly seen in her humble

assent to the words of the angel: “I am the handmaid of the Lord” (Lk. 1:38). For it is

through her submission to God’s word that Mary enters the threshold of God’s plan of

salvation, and accepts her vocation in becoming the mother of the long-awaited Messiah.

She does not, however, accept this vocation for her own vain-glory, but as a task solely

for God, yet most importantly out of a profound love for all men. She also understands

that through her impoverished state her hands remain empty and that “it is God alone

who will fill them with Christ”9, who is the only acceptable offering to God and only

Intercessor between God and man. Explicating the words of her “Yes” to the birth of the

Son of God, Ratzinger states that, Mary “places her body, her entire self, at God’s

disposal as a place for his presence.”10 In her Yes, Mary’s will enters into perfect unison

with the will of her Son, which thus makes the Incarnation possible.

At the time of the Annunciation, Mary is living within the traditio of Israel; thus

she is conscious of the scriptures and all of God’s promises made through the prophets of

a Messiah that shall “save his people from their sins” (Mt. 1:21). Although Mary

possesses such knowledge she does not, however, possess a conscious knowledge of how

or in what way God intends to save His people, nor does she express any need or desire

to understand the details of His salvific intentions. Rather, she adheres to the words of

the angel with a simple yet daring spirit. In his encyclical, John Paul II suggests: “Could

she [have guessed], at the moment of the Annunciation, the vital significance of the

angel’s words? And how is one to understand that “kingdom” which “will have no

8 Ibid., 60. 9 Ibid., 102. 10 Ratzinger, op.cit., 49.

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end”?”11 In the virginal depth of her faithful assent to the message, Mary accepts the

vocation to become mother of the Redeemer, and thus through her explicit consent she

accepts, in faith, all of the divine possibilities and conditions that God may impose upon

her life, including the life of the Savior. Hence, Mary’s assent even suggests “her

implicit consent to the Crucifixion.”12 Mary would soon become aware of these

conditions throughout the course of the Child’s life; however, her positive response to the

message meant that she was ready to surrender herself, to remain obedient at all costs.

This surrender on Mary’s part, however, as expressed in the Greek optative genoïto,

signifies “a joyous desire to,” and “never a resignation or a constraining submission

before something burdensome or painful.”13 Moreover, this “joyous desire” means that

Mary is willing to “collaborate with what God foresees for her,”14 namely, her joy and

eternal beatitude. Mary’s joy then at this particular moment is a result of her total

abandonment to the good will of God.

Moreover, it is due to this total abandonment to the will of God that Mary does

not withhold her joy, but, as the Evangelist Luke tells us, sets off “with haste [for] a city

of Judah [in] the hill country” (Lk. 1:39). The reason for her visit, as John Paul II states,

can be found in the Angel Gabriel’s message that “had made special mention of

Elizabeth, who in her old age had conceived a son by her husband, Zechariah, through the

power of God.”15 As Mary enters the house Elizabeth is touched by her greeting and

feels the infant leap in her womb, and filled with the Holy Spirit she greets Mary with a

11 Ibid. 12 Schillebeeckx, Edward, O.P., Mary:Mother of the Redemption, trans. N. D. Smith (New York, NY: Sheed and Ward, 1964), 87. 13 Potterie, Ignace de la, S.J., Mary in the Mystery of the Covenant, trans. Bertrand Buby, SM (New York, NY: Alba House, 1992), 35. 14 Ibid. 15 RM, 12.

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loud cry: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Lk.

1:42). As is evident here through Elizabeth’s salutation, the Divine Infant in Mary’s

womb is already intervening in order to impart the Holy Spirit. Here already is the

prefiguring of Pentecost through Mary who is the instrument of that same Spirit.

Nevertheless, it is this Spirit that will serve as her pedagogue as the divine plan unravels

itself in, and through, and with her to the Crucifixion, Death, and Resurrection of her

Son. Further on, Elizabeth’s greeting continues the prominence of the angel’s words at

the Annunciation. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Elizabeth recognizes in the

presence of Mary someone greater as she humbly inquires, “and why is this granted me,

that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk. 1:43). Echoing the words of King

David in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant,16 Elizabeth further reveals the mystery

of Mary’s role as the new Ark of the Covenant and mother of the new springtime of

humanity. Although all of Elizabeth’s words to her cousin bear great significance it is,

however, her final words that possess a fundamental importance: “And blessed is she

who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord”

(Lk. 1:45). As the Holy Father states, these words run parallel with the title “full of

grace,” as pronounced by the mouth of the angel. Further on he stresses that Elizabeth’s

words reveal the truth about Mary “who has become really present in the mystery of

Christ precisely because she ‘has believed.’”17 This title “full of grace,” or

kécharitôménê in the Greek, as heralded by the angel signifies Mary’s perfect holiness18

and the gift of God himself. Mary’s “obedience of faith,” as honored by Elizabeth during

16 2 Samuel 6:9 – “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” 17 Ibid. 18 The Byzantine tradition in the East and the medieval tradition in the West have seen in “kécharitôménê,” the indication of Mary’s perfect holiness. “Kécharitôménê” literally means, in Mary’s case, that she has been transformed by the grace of God (cf. Poterrie, 17-18).

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the Visitation, shows how the Virgin of Nazareth responds to this gift. Furthermore,

Elizabeth’s words serve as a reminder to Mary, as a reiteration of the angel’s message,

but this time it is as though these words resonate into eternity, for just as Christ is the

Lamb slain before the foundation of the world (cf. 1 Pet. 1:19-20; Rev. 13:8), so also

Mary, though not in a co-eternal way with her Son, is the Virgin ever-pure, the ever-

blessed, and ever-blissful one since the foundation of the world (cf. Eph. 1:3-4).

It is this blissful experience of Mary’s faith that carries over to the Nativity of the

Divine Child. As Catholics who believe in the Real Presence, one can imagine and

imitate the feelings of the Virgin in the presence of the Child. As an artist in the presence

of a piece of work born of his own thought, so Mary’s admiration of the Child is a tribute

to God’s creative nature. In her arms Mary now bears witness to the first fruits of her

faith and obedience to the divine will at the Annunciation. It is through the virgin birth

that God wishes to “make us understand that his members should be reborn according to

the Spirit, of the Virgin Church,”19 as St. Augustine so beautifully states. St. Maximus

the Confessor elucidates this theme in his Commentary on the Our Father by saying:

“Christ always anew and on his own initiative is born in a mystical manner in the soul.

He becomes flesh in [the soul in] which he is born, he transforms it into a virgin

mother.”20

In other words, the Incarnation is repeated in the life of every believing

individual, and the soul of each Christian in a way becomes both virgin and mother, as

Mary was. Mary is, indeed, the model of this transformation and archetype of the

Christian soul. Hence, the fundamental attitude of the soul is, as von Balthasar claims,

19 St. Augustine, De sancta virginitate, 6. 20 St. Maximus the Confessor, Commentaire sur le Notre Père. Note: As footnoted in the work of Ignace de la Poterrie, 140.

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completely “feminine.”21 He further claims that the soul in its relationship with God is at

one and the same time virgin, mother and spouse. This Marian mystery, as von Balthasar

suggests, is “fundamental in the perspective of salvation; it is much more important than

the mystery of man.”22 Mary’s virginity as affirmed by Luke is indeed her virginitas

carnis, but more importantly this “virginity of the flesh” serves as a symbol of a virginity

that is more interior, more spiritual, namely, the “virginity of the heart.” Essentially, all

believers in their spiritual life are to become “virgins” modeled after the purity and

humility of the Virgin of Nazareth. Even those who do no longer partake of the

“virginity of the flesh” may still attain to the “virginity of the heart,” for the body is

merely the expression of man’s interior life. As an anonymous sixteenth century mystic

once put it: “Virginity is useless if in its turn and with all its gifts it does not permit itself

to rest in God.”23 In this case, the “virginity of the heart,” or as also known as the

“virginity of faith,” if it does not place itself in the possession of the Divine Author it no

longer becomes useful and does not bear fruit. So then, like Mary, the Christian is called

to cultivate the “soil” of his interior life so that the Father may bring forth His only Son in

that soul and, as a result of this “birthing” process, the soul as faithful recipient of His

Son is then able to bring Him forth also. For Jesus is the fullness and brilliance of all that

the Father is, and thus when Jesus is united to the soul it then “radiates and gleams with

him as a unique and pure splendor in the heart of the Father.”24 It is with this “unique

and pure splendor” that Mary’s soul radiates as she gives birth to God’s only Son, the All

in the humbled emptiness of her being.

21 Ignace de la Poterrie, 141. 22 Ibid. 23 Ibid. 24 Ibid.

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Later, along her pilgrimage of faith, the words of the prophet Simeon confront

Mary, appearing at first as a threat to the words of the message of the Annunciation, but

rather serving as enlightenment to Mary’s faith, and posing an ever greater demand on

her assent to the mystery of the divine plan. These words of Simeon in the Temple –

“and a sword will pierce through your own soul” (Lk. 2:35) – ironically assume the form

of a second annunciation, and a further unveiling of the message as pronounced by the

angel. It is here where Mary’s pilgrimage of faith undergoes that interior illumination, in

which she learns that she will have to live her “obedience of faith in suffering at the side

of the suffering Savior,” and as a result of this “her motherhood will be mysterious and

sorrowful.”25 At the utterance of Simeon’s prophecy Mary experiences once again the

ecstasy that permeates her soul at the Annunciation, but this time the ecstasy is of the

pains of martyrdom reverberating through her soul, and then only into her flesh, which

“[echoes] to every scourge that [falls] on her Son’s back or pierced His Hands and

Feet.”26 Nevertheless, Mary’s faith, hope and love increase as she ponders the mystery

of the divine plan in her heart; for instead of attempting to seek greater clarity in

Simeon’s words, she accepts them as “sacred relics preserved and cherished for most

special veneration.”27 Surely Mary knows that any event in the Savior’s life cannot be

taken lightly, but she conceives in her mind and meditates day and night upon the

profundity of the eternal will of God and his will for man’s salvation, of which she is

most solicitous.

25 Ibid., 16. 26 Fulton J. Sheen, op. cit., 249. 27 Eudes, John, The Admirable Heart of Mary, trans. Charles di Targiani and Ruth Hauser (New York, NY: P.J. Kennedy & Sons, 1948), 186.

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Another event in which Mary’s faith undergoes illumination is at the finding of

the Child Jesus in the Temple at Jerusalem. After having left Jerusalem and becoming

aware of the Child’s mysterious disappearance, Mary and Joseph anxiously retrace their

steps in search for the divine Child. Mary and Joseph search frantically for the Child

only to find him three days later speaking with the elders of the Temple, as they gaze

upon the eternal Wisdom of God in this youthful Child. Not only was there a physical

loss of the Child during these three days, but also a spiritual trial which Mary’s faith

endures. This experience not only serves as a precursor to the three years in which Mary

retreats into the background during Jesus’ public ministry, but also to the Triduum of His

Passion, Death and Resurrection. As Mary and Joseph enter the Temple, finding the

Child seated amongst the elders, Mary exhaustedly asks the Child, “Son, why have you

treated us so?”, only to receive a further revelation of the Child’s intent to fulfill His

Father’s Will and redemptive mission: “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know

that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Lk. 2:49). As scripture relates in this scene, no

further words issue forth from Mary’s mouth, instead she keeps these words and ponders

them in her heart. For Mary it is something that can only be understood interiorly. Her

reason can grasp words, but she is unable to grasp the Word. For, indeed, “no one knows

the Son except the Father” (Mt. 11:27). Mary, then, as John Paul II explicitly states, to

whom the mystery of his divine sonship had been revealed, lives in intimacy with this

mystery [only] through faith. It is then by living under the same roof, and faithfully

persevering in her union with her Son, that she [advances] in her pilgrimage of faith.28

The Word, in His response to Mary in the Temple, elevates her from the abysmal depths

of human reason, and fixes her gaze upon the transcendent plane of the Divine Mind.

28 RM, 17.

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Hence, the Light of this unfathomable Reason becomes too great for her to comprehend;

nonetheless, her faith does not waver under the grief of this experience, but intensifies by

the grace of the one speaking to her: the Incarnate Word of God, Emmanuel – God with

us.

It is only a matter of years that Mary will again experience what she did at the

prophecy of Simeon in the Temple, but since that initial experience her soul has

undergone tremendous interior illumination. At the Wedding Feast of Cana Mary

approaches her Son and communicates in her one voice the need of those present at the

celebration by saying, “They have no wine” (Jn. 2:3). It is then that Jesus replies to his

mother with seeming abruptness, “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has

not yet come” (Jn. 2:4). Though these words appear to place a distance between Jesus

and his mother, in no way do they diminish Mary’s role as his mother, but rather they

serve as further revelation, in that, she recognizes that with whom she is placing this

request is not merely her Son, but also her Lord and Master. Furthermore, the use of the

word “woman” in this passage signifies the first official recognition by Jesus, the New

Adam, of Mary as the New Eve, which he will also emphasize later at the foot of the

Cross. Mary’s imperturbable faith, however, presses her onward as she relays to the

servants of the house, “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn. 2:5); thus bringing about a

“symbolic anticipation of her Son’s Eucharist, a foreshadowing of the…multiplication of

the loaves.”29 Further, in this event we also see Jesus fulfilling his mother’s request by

commanding the servants to fill the earthen pots with water. These water-filled vessels

serve as a symbol not only of Mary, but also the Church, who is transformed through the

miracle of the Incarnation into the Body of Christ. For the Incarnation serves as the

29 Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and Hans Urs von Balthasar, op. cit., 108.

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beginning of an already eternally fulfilled redemption. This miracle of Jesus points us

further to Calvary where we witness the gushing forth and mingling of water and blood

from his side, representing the union between humanity and divinity, as it has already

been revealed in the very being of the Virgin Mary.

Furthermore, it is not until the Wedding Feast at Cana where we observe Mary’s

retreat from the limelight, and experience the unveiling of Emmanuel – God with us –

marking thus the beginning of His public ministry. In the Gospel of Mark we witness

Jesus entering a home and preaching to a crowd that has formed about him. After a while

it is said that “his (Jesus) mother and his brethren came; and standing outside they sent to

him and called him” (Mk. 3:31). It is here where Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, in his work

entitled Mary: Mirror of the Church, notes a small, yet significant detail about this scene

by pointing out that, “Mary, his mother, had to beg even for the right to see him and talk

with him.”30 Mary remains thus outside with his “brethren” waiting for others to go in

and call to Jesus. As the servants go in calling to Jesus they say to him, “Your mother

and your brethren are outside, asking for you,” but Jesus starkly replies, “Who are my

mother and my brethren…whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and

mother” (Mk. 3:33, 35). Cantalamessa further suggests that one could easily sense the

humiliation and suffering that these words cause her; nevertheless, we understand that

although she may not have known it, these words were of praise rather than reproach, but

for Mary they represent the bitterness of rejection. It is at this point where Mary, in the

depths of her soul, expresses interiorly what her Son later cries out from the Cross saying:

“Eli, Eli, la’ma sabach-tha-ni.” For just as Jesus has no place to rest his head at the

30 Cantalamessa, Raniero, Mary: Mirror of the Church, trans. Frances Lonergan Villa (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1992), 83.

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beginning of his ministry, so also Mary has no place to rest her heart.31 Nonetheless,

Mary remains silent throughout the rest of her Son’s ministry. This silence, however, is

not one of sadness or withdrawal, but a silence that is found only in the inner self where

God alone can hear. The fact that Mary keeps silent does not signify that all things are at

all easy for her, but that she, too, has to overcome struggles, difficulties, and darkness.

Later on in her Son’s ministry, it is recorded by Luke that a woman in the crowd

cries out to Jesus saying: “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you

sucked!”, but Jesus immediately exclaims, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word

of God and keep it!” (Lk. 11:27-28). Even if Mary were present to hear such words she

would not be able to dwell on them long enough to understand that both of these

exclamations point to her, for she is the pure vessel in whom the Word of God took flesh,

and it is she who heard the word and kept it, pondering it in her heart. Throughout the

ministry of Jesus, Mary does not hold on to her rights as the mother of the Messiah, but

rather she deprives herself and appears “before all as a woman just like any other

woman.”32 This spiritual poverty, as Mary undertakes, consists in accepting a total

deprivation of privileges, even in acknowledging her role as the mother of the Messiah.

This deprivation further includes “forgetting oneself – or better, in being unable to recall

the past, no matter how much one tries – and straining forward only toward God and

living in pure hope.”33 It is here where Mary enters, as St. John of the Cross calls it, “the

dark night of the memory,”34 and in speaking of this he explicitly mentions the Blessed

Virgin. This is precisely that radical spiritual poverty of which St. Paul speaks,

31 Ibid., 84. 32 Ibid. 33 Ibid., 85. 34 Ibid.

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“forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,” pressing onward

in our “upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). This is why one of the most

important things that Jesus teaches his mother during his ministry is self-denial. Mary,

nevertheless, willingly follows her Son with a similar urgency to fulfill the Father’s will.

Just as Jesus outstretches his arms on the Cross accomplishing what is most pleasing to

his Father, so also Mary stretches out her maternal arms to those who fall under the shade

of the “tree of life.” Nearing the pinnacle of her faith in following her Son, Mary is thus

able to say with greater conviction than St. Paul, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”

(1 Cor. 11:1).

Finally, it is not until her presence at the foot of the Cross that Mary’s faith and

obedience to God’s call achieves its supreme integrity. It is also at Calvary where Mary

witnesses in her suffering Son, Lord and Savior his suspension between heaven and earth,

healing the rift between humanity and divinity. This experience of suffering for Mary

penetrates her very being as a test of her faith in her Son’s messianic mission, and in His

nature as the Holy One of God. It is through this sword of bitterness and pain that the

Word of God will reveal to her the thoughts of her heart, which she ponders throughout

her life at Nazareth. Furthermore, as Mary arrives at the pinnacle of her physical and

spiritual suffering she will soon experience the victory of her faith, and understand the

significance of Simeon’s prophetic utterance at the Presentation. Hence, as a believer, it

will be necessary for Mary to accept the sacrifice of her Son in faith, and undergo the

temptation of doubt. Essentially, Mary is faced with the task of reconciling God’s

promise of a “kingdom without end,” and the necessity of suffering within the divine

plan. Here then is where one must journey with Mary, by searching into the mystery of

suffering in God’s plan of salvation and how the theological virtue of hope aids in

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increasing Mary’s faith and understanding. For as Christ “learned obedience through

what he suffered” (Heb. 5:8-9), so also does Mary’s “obedience of faith” acquire greater

strength through her solidarity with her Son on Calvary.

Hope in the Midst of Suffering: Mary’s Ascent towards Spiritual Maturity

Let us now consider Mary’s experience of suffering and the hope with which she

proceeds in her pilgrimage of faith and journey towards spiritual maturity. In order to

proceed in our understanding of the link between the theological virtue of hope and

human suffering we must discuss and expound upon their meanings and significance

before investigating them as they are found in the life of the Virgin Mary. As stated by

Josef Pieper in his book, appropriately entitled Faith, Hope, Love, we see that if one is to

consider hope as a virtue at all it must be radically a theological virtue. The virtue of

hope can only be as such by being theological in its nature35; that is to say, that it is

infused in man by God. Theological virtue in relation to man allows him to surpass all

that he can be of himself. Further, theological virtue is something that cannot be owed to

man’s own natural efforts; rather it is a “supernatural potentiality for being,”36 which God

alone can actuate in man.

First, the virtue of hope has its source in a “divine substance in man;” namely in

grace.37 Secondly, hope’s primary aim is directed towards “supernatural happiness in

God, who alone is known in a supernatural manner.”38 Finally, “only through divine

revelation” is the “existence, origin and object of this theological virtue known to us.”39

This virtue, however, by means of divine revelation is most greatly manifest in the person

35 Pieper, Josef, Faith, Hope, Love, trans. Sister Mary Frances McCarthy, S.N.D. (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 1986), 99. 36 Ibid. 37 Ibid., 99-100. 38 Ibid., 100. 39 Ibid.

16

of Mary, Mother of the Incarnate Word. Moreover, as the Catechism clearly states, “the

virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart

of every man.”40 Hope inspires men’s actions and purifies them in such a way that it

orders them to the Kingdom of heaven. It is through the hope of Mary that she aspires in

union with her Son that all men be saved, which is the purpose of her acceding to the

message of the angel during the Annunciation. As St. Alphonsus of Liguori states in his

work, The Glories of Mary, “[Mary] is the mother who gives birth to holy hope in our

hearts; not to the hope of the vain and transitory goods of this life, but of the immense

and eternal goods of heaven.”41 That “immense and eternal” good of heaven is the Word,

who takes flesh under the virgin heart of Mary, is crucified by the sins of men, and now

reigns at the right hand of the Father. St. Paul also exclaims in his letter to the Ephesians

in speaking on the goodness of God, “who has blessed us… with every spiritual blessing

in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3). Certainly he refers to Christ, born of Mary who

through hope believes and thus becomes the Mother of the Son of God, the Redeemer of

all men.

Suffering, on the other hand, is an experience that all men are called to endure due

to the result of man’s sin. More importantly, however, because of the Redemption,

suffering now possesses salvific value precisely because it unites one with the Passion of

Christ. Jesus, in his sinless human nature, experiences suffering on the Cross revealing

the horrendous rupture in the relationship between God and man. Mary’s soul, like a

mirror, perfectly reflects the sufferings of Christ. Her suffering is clearly not a result of

her own personal sinfulness, since she is preserved by God from the stain of original sin

40 CCC, 1818. 41 Liguori, Alphonsus di, The Glories of Mary, ed. Eugene Grimm (Brooklyn, NY: Redemptorist Fathers, 1931), 110.

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at her conception, but precisely because “the object of her martyrdom [is] the martyrdom

of the Redeemer himself.”42 As the mother of the Savior and the source from whom the

Word takes flesh, Mary’s suffering is indeed a sharing in Christ’s suffering. By way of

her graced condition, she alone is directly, humanly involved in Christ’s redemptive act.

This suffering can only be comprehended in an interiorly supernatural and eternal way.

Due to Mary’s purity, solidarity and supernatural union with her Son, we are obliged to

say that when Christ cries out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, la’ma sabach-tha-ni,” that Mary,

at that moment, shares the great pain of his suffering in addition to the infinite separation

between God and the human family, which Christ himself reveals through His Cross.

This is why in order to understand how far grief for sin can go one must necessarily turn

one’s inward gaze to the immaculate heart of Mary, for her suffering is “heroic in the

highest degree.”43 The greatness of Mary’s suffering, however, lay in the intensity of her

love for God and all men.

Moreover, by her sufferings Mary experiences a growth in the virtues of charity

as well as in faith, and hope; in fact, she grows in all of the virtues, but none so far as

necessary as humility. “Humility,” as proclaimed by the Abbot of Clairvaux, “is the

foundation and guardian of virtues.”44 It is true, for without the virtue of humility no

other virtue can exist in the human soul. St. Francis de Sales writes to St. Frances de

Chantal, “God so loves humility, that whenever he sees it, he is immediately drawn

thither.”45 Such is the reason for God’s condescension and search for a home in the

womb of a humble and tender virgin at Nazareth. It is certain, that with humility Mary is

42 Thurian, op. cit., 88. 43 Garrigou-Lagrange, Reginald, O.P., The Mother of the Saviour and Our Interior Life, trans. Bernard J. Kelly (Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1993), 116. 44 Alphonsus di Liguori, op.cit., 547. 45 Ibid.

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able to engage the mystery of the divine plan with a love that completely surrenders itself

for the instrumentation of the divine will. Any love, therefore, if it be not like that of

Mary – humble – cannot ascend to or partake in genuine love, which most properly is a

supernatural act.

Love & Humility: Mary’s Participation in the Divine

According to St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and other theologians the love

with which we are to love God and our neighbor is but one and the same virtue, namely,

the theological virtue of love – or agape/caritas. The reason why love is not simply any

virtue, but a theological virtue, is precisely because “to love” is a supernatural act that

God graciously shares with his creatures. The only love that is worthy of being called

“genuine” is that with which God loves his own Being and with which he also loves his

creation. Hence, human love is only rightly to be called love as a participation in the

divine act itself. Therefore, in order that we may adhere to the Lord’s commandment to

love, we are then called to love God with His own love for himself. To explain, one must

understand that in God is found all of the perfections of every being that he has created

and even those which he has willed not to create. These perfections, however, as we

understand them are the Divine Images, or blueprints, which are found within the Divine

Mind itself and are God’s very essence and those things that God both fully knows and

loves in one eternal pure act. Hence, our love of neighbor is merely a created

participation in this single act of God’s love for himself, which consequently includes his

love for us and our neighbor. Ultimately, in God’s act of love there is but one subject and

one object both loving and being loved, namely, He himself. It is only this love,

therefore, that can satisfy and is genuinely worthy of the Divine Being, for no human

love is capable of adoring God as He is to be adored, since all forms of human love fall

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short of love’s truest meaning. We must keep in mind that to love God does not append

anything to his glory, but rather elevates and serves for man’s own sanctification.

Moreover, as St. John Eudes points out, “to love God in this way is to love Him in our

neighbor, and to love our neighbor with love similar to our love for God.”46 This then

leads us to the second component of the Lord’s commandment: if man then desires to

love his neighbor he must love him with God’s own love for him. In other words, we

must love our neighbor “in God and [towards] God,”47 who is the Supreme and most

desirable Good, and the only good that is capable of satisfying every human longing.

Since in God is found all of the perfections of being – including that of us and our

neighbor – man, by his love for the perfections that are found in his neighbor (i.e.,

virtues, beauty, goodness, eye color, etc.), must love the Source of those perfections, and

as a result man must love his neighbor towards that Source, which is the goal or telos for

the fulfillment of his being. This, in fact, is the true meaning of Christian charity. This

love then for our neighbor, as explained, must stem from our love for God since he is the

Source from which we love and for whose sake we love. The love (agape/caritas) of

God with which we are to love our neighbor is thus the same love with which Mary

expresses her concern for all men. This love then serves as the motivating force behind

Mary’s sincere desire that all men attain salvation and eternal union with God, who “is

love” (1 Jn. 4:8). More importantly, as St. Alphonsus professes, “Mary is our Mother,

not as we have already observed, according to the flesh, but by love.”48 Mary, who

genuinely loves all men with such great intensity, presents Christ to all “a thousand and a

thousand times,” and if only, says St. Anselm, the “executioners had been wanting, she

46 Ibid. 47 John Eudes, op. cit., 227. 48 Alphonsus di Liguori, op. cit., 56.

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herself would have crucified him, in order to obey the Eternal Father who willed his

death for our salvation.”49 It is, therefore, Mary’s love for God as the Source of the

perfection of her being that she, in turn, is able to love all men to that same Source of

perfection and to the attainment of that eternal bliss. Consequently then, because all men

are redeemed by the Crucifixion of Christ, Mary therefore loves and protects them all.

Certainly, this love with which Mary loves all men is merely her participation in

the supernatural love of agape, or caritas. This agape/caritas form of love poses a

demand on the individual, and it is left to that individual to respond to the Lord’s

command: “love one another…as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (Jn.

13:34). Love as agape, however, does not demand in a coercive way, much less does it

call for an immediate reciprocated gesture, but rather it seeks more than just feeling, for

“feeling is instinctive but agape is chosen.”50 It is a full expression and act of the will.

For instance, as Jesus undergoes his Passion, although there is no relationship between

him, Pilate or his executioners he still loves them, and indeed, dies for them. In some

way, it is the nature of agape to choose and prefer, in a constant manner, the good of

another as opposed to the good of oneself; however, paradoxically, this means to indeed

choose one’s own good. For in choosing the good of one’s neighbor one is seeking for

him that Source and eternal wellspring of Goodness, which is one’s own source of

beatitude as well. This is truly what the Lord means when he says that, “He who loses

his life for my sake will find it” (Mt. 10:39). Man’s sole purpose is not self-preservation,

but rather self-donation – as one receives one’s existence as gift, man, in turn, is to be gift

to others. Agape, therefore, allows man to love his neighbor with almost a contempt for

49 Ibid., 60. 50 Kreeft, Peter, The God Who Loves You: Knowing the Height, Depth, and Breadth of God’s Love for You (Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Books, 1988), 38.

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himself. Man then is responsible for his agape or lack thereof, because the choice to love

comes not from without, but from the very center of his being, yet always with God as

the Source from which he loves. It is in the Virgin Mary’s response to the angel that we

encounter the greatest expression and free act of volition given by any of God’s creatures:

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Lk.

1:38). “True love,” as Mary genuinely demonstrates, “demands that the will to love

should precede the act of possession.”51 This means that one must love without seeking

or desiring that immediate response from the beloved, and that there be no ulterior

motives other than to love for Love’s own sake. After the celebration of the “Divine

Nuptials” at the Annunciation we witness that truly two are found in one flesh; the

reciprocal response then to Mary’s free act of love and submission of intellect and will is

God’s free and pure act of love incarnate. Truly, in Mary does one observe the unity

between God and man; for she conceives Him first in mind, but now she is one with Him

in Body. Surely no one in the history of humanity, except Christ, has loved God to the

degree to which Mary expresses in her fiat. This love, however, could only have been

what it was through the guardianship of humility, which we will now explore.

To begin our exploration of the virtue we must first understand that the word

humility derives from the Latin humus, which literally means “dirt” or “dust.” Surely of

all creatures Mary is the perfect reflection of God’s own humility, for she indeed is the

poorest and lowliest of people in her society: the anawim. Mary herself humbly admits

of her lowly status in the words of her Magnificat by saying that the Lord “has regarded

the low estate of his handmaiden” (Lk. 1:48). Although through the message of the angel

God addresses Mary as “full of grace,” this does not diminish her humility, but continues

51 Fulton J. Sheen, op. cit., 161.

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to define Mary’s stance before the all-loving God. In her assent to the divine will Mary

partakes in the “humilitas Dei in fullest measure,”52 meaning that, as God’s lowly

handmaid, she “reflects more brilliantly than anyone else”53 the greatness and glory of

God. As many may see through the scriptures “God’s glory often times appears as

lowliness,” for “His glory is his humility.”54 Indeed, it is through the Cross that the

blessedness and humility of both Mary and God are most clearly revealed. Mary

experiences the humility of God through the suffering of her Son on the Cross, which is

not in any way a loss of his kingly right, but a further revelation of the profundity of his

love. It is precisely Mary’s purity and sinless nature that allows her to singularly share in

the humilitas Dei, who empties himself in order to fill all men with His glory. Moreover,

it is this humility that allows Mary to deepen her love for the divine with a kenosis

similar yet not equal to that of her Son. This kenosis of Mary, who calls herself the

handmaid and servant of the Lord, is to be understood as her “offer to be used in service

to the divine kenosis…for her assent already stands within the saving economy of the

biblical God.”55 In other words, Mary’s kenosis is not identical with God’s kenosis, since

the beings of God and Mary are infinitely distanced; nonetheless, Mary’s is a temporal

participation in the eternal kenosis of the Word. The source of both forms of “self-

emptying” love, however, are rooted in the same Love, for Mary’s desire to offer herself

as a vessel for God’s salvific act stems from her own love for God, which most deeply is

His own love for His own Being, which includes His love for Mary, and most of all His

52 Hickey, James Cardinal, Mary at the Foot of the Cross: Teacher and Example of Holiness (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 1988), 63. 53 Ibid. 54 Ibid. 55 Balthasar, Hans Urs von, Explorations in Theology: Spirit and Institution, trans. Edward T. Oakes, S.J. (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 1995), 134.

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love for all humanity. Essentially, in this one act it is God who does all of the loving

even through the participatory act of his handmaiden.

Here, one immediately discovers through the life of Mary the intricate link

between love and humility, and that without humility love is unable to touch the heart of

a humble God. Mary, in her humility understands that she can do nothing on her own,

unless she receive inspiration from a supernatural source; namely again, the humilitas

Dei. The humility of Mary helps her to further acknowledge that, of herself, she

possesses nothing, but that in her humble consent and love for the word of God she

possesses all.

Mary: the Archetype for Man’s Spiritual Perfection

In his encounter with the theological virtues of faith, hope and love, man

discovers in Mary a model for his spiritual journey towards perfection; however, not

without solidarity with Mary’s obedience, suffering, and humility. It is in man’s

“obedience of faith,” like that of Mary, which allows him to enter into deeper union with

the Word of God. So also as Mary conceives the Word in her womb, so too must man

conceive Christ and give birth to him through his actions as Mary did during the

Visitation. As we have witnessed she does not keep the Word for herself, but shares it

with her cousin Elizabeth and Zechariah for three months. For it is through faith and

obedience that man allows the Divine Teacher to work through him, since already one’s

spiritual disposition has become one of submission and resignation. How essential it is

for man to imitate the Virgin Mary in his spiritual journey, for in doing so his love

remains undivided and unperturbed by the scoffing and mockery of the world’s

temptations, as Mary experiences at the foot of the Cross. Just as Mary’s faith attains its

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great integrity at Calvary, so also does man discover his very dignity and significance

underneath its shade.

To possess faith and be obedient like Mary means to become a slave – that is, a

slave of charity – agape/caritas. And to be a slave of charity, according to the divine

paradox, means to be free, for as St. Paul says to the Corinthians: “For he who was called

in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord….he who was free when called is a slave

of Christ” (1 Cor. 7:22). In Mary is where man encounters that freedom of which St.

Paul speaks, for Mary was rightly the first to assent to the word of God without

reservation, thus becoming the first disciple of Christ. It is she who places herself at the

disposal of the divine will, so that, as a result, all may be made holy as she has already

been made holy and prepared beforehand as a pure vessel for God’s presence. Slavery,

then, only becomes servitude when the motive of the individual is not driven by love for

the sake of Love Itself. It is because of her “reckless” act of abandonment to God’s will

that has inspired many to become saints, and thus followers of Mary in the journey

towards perfection, and ultimately the attainment of the Beatific Vision.

Further on in man’s journey he must reconcile himself with the fact that, like

Mary at the presentation in the Temple, God’s plan of salvation for each individual

entails some sort of suffering. Every Christian sees in Mary the realities of faith, the

promises of hope and signs of the love of God jostling with the realities of life, the test of

suffering and the signs of men’s hate.56 All forms of suffering are instances in which

man’s faith is tested, but there is a need and a call for “heroic perseverance.”57 In her

struggle with the trials of the world that bring her Son closer to death on the Cross, Mary

56 Max Thurian, op.cit., 107. 57 Ibid.

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becomes a figure not only for man, but for the Church; nevertheless, her suffering is far

greater than anyone else has experienced precisely because the object of her faith is the

very one to whom she has given birth and whom she loves as a human mother. Mary’s

faith, however, cannot arise victorious unless she accepts in faith that her Son is at one

and the same time Messiah King and Suffering Servant, the Son of God and the

Crucified.58 In and with Mary, each Christian experiences what St. Paul expresses to the

Colossians, as each finds joy in his sufferings and thus completes in his flesh that which

is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for His Body, which is the Church. It is also with

Mary that we place our hope in the Redemption of Christ, for through Christ our

suffering assumes a salvific value. In order, therefore, that we may discover the meaning

of our suffering we must turn our gaze to Mary’s hands so that, as St. Bonaventure says,

“through them we may receive the graces that we desire”59 and so attain to perfection

even amidst our sorrow.

As the great beacon of light that she is, Mary leads us always to her Son who is

the goal of every man and woman seeking perfection. In his spiritual journey man must

face, as Mary did, the trials of daily life and experience the bitter pain of the sword with

an upright faith and obedience to God’s will so that his soul may be transparent and

receptive to God’s splendor and glory. Moreover, man is to view his suffering as a path

towards greater intimacy with Christ, as Mary shares with him at the foot of the Cross.

By imitating the virtue of humility, as manifested in the person of Mary, that virtue which

serves as the guardian of all virtues, man is indeed capable of soaring to the spiritual

heights and superior degrees of love to which God calls all men. It is only then with

58 Ibid., 108. 59 Alphonsus di Liguori, op. cit., 114.

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great love and simplicity of life that man in the end, through his imitation of Mary, can

share in the mystery of the Divine Life even on this ephemeral mortal coil, and be

transformed into the true imago Dei.