Our Lady’s Humility
After Jesus, Mary is the most marvelous example of humility. She always lived as the little handmaid of the Lord: “Ecce ancilla Domini.” She hardly spoke, did not call attention to herself in anything, and devoted herself to the tasks proper to a housewife in the humble home of Nazareth. She appeared in Calvary as the Mother of the One-who-Failed. She lived–unknown and in the background–under the care of St John after the Lord’s Ascension; there, she performed no spectacular miracle; we do not know exactly where she finished her life on earth.#1
* The most striking thing about Mary’s attitude at the Annunciation was her calm reserve, the preservation of her freedom of action. The glories of this and the other world were spread out before her; she was to be the Mother of the Son of the Most High, and Jesus, her Son, was to ascend David’s throne, and of his kingdom there was to be no end. Man is by nature receptive to praise and honors; and a woman especially is receptive to flattery. Furthermore, it was the highest dream of a Jewish maiden to be the mother of the Messiah, yes, even to be the handmaid of that chosen woman. And now the sparkling diadem of this greatest of honors is so near to Mary. Millions of hands would have reached out for it in an ecstasy of happiness. Mary did not move. All the splendor of this diadem did not overpower her. The highest dignity and the praise of heaven and earth could not make her lose her thoughtful calm reserve and humility. She had only the calm response to Gabriel’s unheard of greeting and message: “How shall this happen?”
One does not know what to marvel at more, the tremendous import of Gabriel’s message, or Mary’s unique composure. With deepest humility she held herself back from an honor which would raise her above all women. (O. Hophan, Mary, Our Most Blessed Lady)
* The purity, humility, and generosity of Mary are in sharp contrast to our wretchedness and selfishness. To the extent that we realize this, we should feel moved to imitate her. We, too, are creatures of God, and if we strive to imitate her fidelity, God will surely do great things in us. Our little worth is no obstacle, because God chooses what is of little value so that the power of his love may be more manifest. (J. Escrivá, Christ Is Passing By, 172)
* It made me think, that hard but true saying from a man of God, when he observed the haughtiness of a miserable creature: “He wears the same skin as the devil –pride.”
And there came to my mind, in contrast, a sincere desire to wrap myself in the virtue taught by Jesus Christ: Quia mitis sum et humilis corde –I am meek and humble of heart.
It was the virtue that attracted the gaze of the Most Holy Trinity to his Mother and our Mother: the humility of being aware and convinced of our nothingness. (J. Escrivá, Furrow, n. 726)
* “Behold,” she said, “the handmaid of the Lord.” Mary’s humility is neither overcome by honor, nor puffed up in her glory. Elected as Mother of God, she calls herself a slave-girl.
To be humble in destitution is not a great feat; to be humble in glory is rare and sublime. (St Bernard, Hom. On the Virgin Mother, 4, 9).
* Mary, who at the Annunciation called herself the “handmaid of the Lord,” remained throughout her earthly life faithful to what this name expresses. In this she confirmed that she was a true disciple of Christ; our Lord strongly emphasized that his mission was one of service: the Son of man “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28). Thus, Mary became the first of those who “serving Christ also in others with humility and patience lead their brothers and sisters to that King whom to serve is to reign,”#2 and she fully obtained that “state of royal freedom” proper to Christ’s disciples: to serve means to reign! (John Paul II, Enc. Redemptoris Mater, n. 41)
* A handmaid is without pretensions, without special distinction, without presumption. A handmaid knows no will of her own, only the will of the master. “As the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters,” so were Mary’s eyes “on the Lord” (Ps 123:2). In the Gospel passage of the Annunciation the name “handmaid” seems out of place. Gabriel had spoken of great, glorious things. In contrast to all the promised glory Mary set the plain, unadorned words: “Behold the handmaid!” St Ambrose exclaims: “What humility, what submissiveness! The one who has been chosen to be his Mother calls herself the handmaid of the Lord! She did not allow herself to be seduced to self-glorification by the wholly unexpected promises. By calling herself a handmaid she made no pretensions to pre-eminence on account of such a prerogative of grace; she simply wished to do what was asked of her.”#3
“Be it done to me!” In these words Mary expressed not only a readiness, but a longing to do the Will of the Most High. She opened wide all the chambers of her soul and with joyful expectation awaited the coming of the divine Guest. “Be it done to me according to thy word!” Thy word! Mary did not make her own word the measure of her surrender to God, but His word. She did not decide the measure of her giving, God himself was to do that. She preserved her profound sense of humility.
God will ask the yes of his chosen maiden again and again, at the cost of ever greater pain and sorrow. And Mary will always give her yes again and again. At the Annunciation she surrendered herself to God for her entire life and for every moment of it. And she remained true to this complete surrender. (O. Hophan, Mary, Our Most Blessed Lady)
* When our friends praise us for our deeds, we thank them for their kindness. At the Visitation, when Elizabeth extols Mary, Mary glorifies God. Mary receives praise as a mirror receives light; she stores it not, nor even acknowledges it, but makes it pass from her to God, to whom is due all praise, all honor and thanksgiving. The shortened form of Mary’s song–the Magnificat–is: “Thank God.”
The love of God is reflected in the soul of the humble, as the light of the sun is reflected by a mirror. So Mary’s Son is the Sun; she is the moon. She is the nest; he is the Fledgling who–after his life on earth–will fly to a higher Tree, and then will call it home. She calls him her Lord and Savior, even though she is preserved free from the stain of original sin, for this is due entirely to the merits of the Passion and Death of her Divine Son.
In herself she is nothing, and she has nothing; he is everything. And “he has done great things for me,” she said, because “he who is Mighty, he whose name is Holy, has looked graciously upon the lowliness of his handmaid.”
The humble are necessarily the joyful; for where there is no pride, there is no self-centeredness, which makes joy impossible.
Mary’s song has these two notes: humility and joy. Her spirit rejoices because God has looked down on her humility. A box that is filled with sand cannot be filled with gold; a soul that is bursting with its own ego can never be filled with God.
There is no limit on God’s part to his possession of a soul; it is the soul alone that can limit God’s welcome, as a window curtain limits the light. The emptier the soul is of self, the greater room in it for God. There is an intrinsic relation between the humility of Mary and the incarnation of the Son of God within her. Mary’s self-emptying alone, would not have been enough, had not he who is her God, her Lord and Savior, “humbled himself.” Though the cup be empty, it cannot hold the ocean. And the Ocean became small.
After the honor is received, Mary, instead of standing in her privilege, becomes a servant of her aged cousin and, in the midst of that service, sings a song in which she calls herself the Lord’s handmaid–or better a slave who is simply God’s property and one who has no personal will except God’s own. (Cf. F. Sheen, The World’s First Love)
* When Mary learned of the miracle of Elizabeth’s conception, she went to visit her. The Virgin Mary greeted Elizabeth, and John the Baptist jumped for joy in his mother’s womb. After her initial surprise, Elizabeth exclaimed, “Blessed art thou among women!”
It is easy to understand Mary’s reaction to the testimony given to her mission by the Holy Spirit, through Elizabeth. Mary, without uttering a word, without in any way betraying the fact that she possessed a great secret, witnessed to Elizabeth’s greeting, which was like a confirmation of the words of the angel, a confirmation she neither asked for nor wished, but which she received with great joy. She rejoiced because it came from God, and also because it implied a recognition of the great message on the part of God’s creatures.
Up to that point, the revelation, as far as humanity was concerned, was known only to the Virgin herself, who was the principal person involved in the event, the protagonist, the subject in whom all the revelation was to be fulfilled. Now that limit was extended to Elizabeth; it is as if the Virgin had been the subject of a double revelation, as if God–in order that the two levels of existence might participate in it–wished to communicate his plans by means of creatures from both worlds: from the superior or supernatural world, the angel; and also from the lower or natural world, Elizabeth. Thus, God bestowed blessings on Mary from all sides: “For to everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall abound” (Mt 25:29).
Mary had sufficient faith, and she neither needed nor asked for proofs; but God, who never lets himself be surpassed in generosity, gave her a conclusive proof by using one of his creatures to confirm the miracle taking place in her.
Full of happiness, transported by joy, the Virgin burst into song. The Magnificat is a spontaneous and poetic manifestation of the interior feelings that filled her and also an expression of the innermost core of her being and her relations with God. It is really amazing to see the simplicity and the facility with which our Lady did and said these things, which, when we consider them more closely, we find are complex and difficult from our level of understanding; how quickly she penetrated to the very bottom of things.
She also was inspired by the Holy Spirit to give expression to her exaltation. Most of the verses of the Magnificat are taken from Scripture, mainly from the Psalms, and our Lady herself added very little. As Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, praised her cousin’s faith, Mary answered with a joyful song in praise of humility.
The Magnificat is above all a wonderful praise of Almighty God, an act of thanksgiving for the goodness of the Creator. To be sure, the Virgin Mary spoke of herself, and in terms that may at first surprise us: “for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed” (Lk 1:48).
On her own initiative, Mary would never have said such a thing, nor would such an outlandish thought ever have occurred to her. Who would think that a little, unknown country girl from Palestine, with no great future to look forward to, would solemnly proclaim that she was to be remembered by all future generations until the end of the world? How could she see into the future? But the Holy Spirit is God and God does see into the future, and it was He who gave her justifiable motives for making it.
God did great things to the Virgin Mary because he saw the humility of his handmaid. He will hardly do great things in us if he does not find us also humble. (F. Suarez, Mary of Nazareth, 2)
* Since humility is allied with truth, it is possible to have the full perfection of humility and yet be perfectly aware of one’s gifts, whether in the order of grace or in the order of nature.
Our Lord did not ignore his own sanctity. “Which of you,” he said to his enemies, “shall convince [convict] me of sin?” (Jn 8:46).
Neither did the Blessed Virgin quarrel with the angel’s salutation when she was hailed “full of grace.” Our Lady was perfectly aware of the fullness of her perfection, but she would have considered it absurd to take for herself any credit for her marvelous gifts. Hence the Magnificat.#4
* What must Jesus’ cheerful gaze have been like? It must have been the same that shone from the eyes of his Mother who could not contain her joy –Magnificat anima mea Dominum!– and her soul glorified the Lord while she carried him within her and by her side.
Oh, Mother! May we, like you, rejoice to be with him and to hold him. (J. Escrivá, Furrow, n. 95)
* Mary’s humble song of joy, the Magnificat, recalls to our minds the infinite generosity of the Lord toward those who become like children, toward those who abase themselves and are sincerely aware that they are nothing. (J. Escrivá, The Forge, n. 608)
* Imitate the Blessed Virgin. Only by openly admitting that we are nothing can we become precious in the eyes of our Creator. (J. Escrivá, The Forge, n. 588)
* How great is the value of humility! “Quia respexit humilitatem....” –”Because he gazed upon my humility....” It is not of her faith, nor of her charity, nor of her immaculate purity that our Mother spoke of in the house of Zechariah. Her joyful hymn sings: “Because he gazed upon my humility, behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” (J. Escrivá, The Way, n. 598)
* Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae –because he has looked graciously upon the lowliness of his slave-girl....
Every day I am more convinced that authentic humility is the supernatural basis for all virtues!
Talk to Our Lady, so that she may train us to walk along that path. (J. Escrivá, Furrow, n. 289)
* Selflessness is shown as the true self in Bethlehem. “There was no room in the inn,” because the inn was filled; there was room in the stable, because there were no egos there–only an ox and a donkey.
God looked over the world for an empty heart–but not a lonely heart!–a heart that was empty like a flute, on which he might pipe a tune–not a lonely tune like an empty abyss, which is filled by death. And the emptiest heart he could find was the heart of a Lady. Since there was no self there, he filled it with his very Self. (Cf. F. Sheen, The World’s First Love)
[At the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple]
* Even though Mary deserved every privilege in heaven and on earth, she went to the Temple as any other woman would go. She could have laid claim to her extraordinary merits as Mother of the Messiah, or as the Virgin who conceived the Son of God. None of this; she fulfilled the slightest indications of God’s law. She hid her greatness beneath her ordinary actions and did what all the other women of Israel did; she let God’s power do the work.
Because we are instruments for doing wonderful, divine things, we are prey to the temptation of hidden pride. If we fall under its influence, we must react immediately. With Mary, we must learn to spurn the applause of men and every vain attempt to attract attention; we must be eager and attentive to preserve the treasure of humility.
We Christians must joyfully fulfill all the obligations proper to our state in life and our position in society, without trying to exempt ourselves from any obligations or seeking excuses to lessen them. Even though we may be tired, we must not excuse ourselves from contributing to family life or the atmosphere of friendship of our professional environment.
[At the finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple]
* “Why hast thou done so to us?” (Lk 2:48).
Helpless with grief and yet serene with motherly gentleness Mary asked this question. Mary did not ask for a justification, an excuse, she pleaded only for an explanation. She did not reproach or blame or threaten him, she begged only for one little word explaining his conduct.
Mary did not describe herself as a victim; she did not give a long drawn out account of the helpless anguish of the past three days. All the anguish and bitterness she had suffered she buried in the one little word: “so.” “Why hast thou done so to us?” There is a very touching humility in this question.
* Having deserved to be the Mother of the Son of God Almighty, Mary was humblest. She did not mention herself ahead of her husband, saying: “I and your father.” But she said: “Your father and I.” She did not mind her personal dignity but the conjugal hierarchy; justly so, Christ’s humility could not be a school of pride for his Mother. (St Augustine, Sermon 51)
* After the episode of the Child Jesus at the Temple, a long time –eighteen years– was given to Mary to ponder the words and events she had witnessed. “His mother treasured all these things in her heart” (Lk 2:51). St Luke makes it plain that Mary was ready and anxious to understand, to accept humbly and willingly the plans of God.
She did not cast aside, as the apostles did, the hard words of Jesus as something beyond comprehension, she received them into her heart. A thousand times she must have said to herself: “He must be about his Father’s business.” Not about her business. Jesus’ words were like the seed that she willingly, gladly let sink into her heart, there to take root and sprout.
* Do you want to be daring in a holy way, so that God may act through you? Have recourse to Mary, and she will accompany you along the path of humility. Thus, facing what seems impossible to the human mind, you shall answer with a fiat! –be it done!–which unites the earth to Heaven. (J. Escrivá, Furrow, n. 124)
* Your modesty and decorum will be a living lesson and appealing example to lead souls to sanctity. But you must live these virtues with Mary’s humility. An expert teacher in all virtues, Mary listened to all like a disciple and apprentice. (St Ambrose, On Virgins, 2, 9)
* Mary, teacher of the hidden and silent sacrifice!
See her, nearly always in the background, cooperating with her Son; she knows and remains silent. (J. Escrivá, The Way, n. 509)
* “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). Mary knows how to speak not only to angels; she has thoughts and words for human beings. She has concern for the embarrassments and little troubles of their everyday life. Nothing is too small for her, nothing so insignificant that she would brush it aside unconcerned.
At Cana, Mary noticed with a womanly delicacy that the young couple were facing a very humiliating predicament. She herself, otherwise so reserved, took the initiative and spoke up fearlessly. Yet she spoke humbly, without that attitude of self-importance which so often creeps into works of charity and spoils them. Her simple statement is a plea without a plea; it is only a tactful statement of a fact. There is no rashness, no vanity, no importunity, no presumption in Mary’s words.
Mary’s words at Cana revealed her humility, her simple trust and submission to God.
“Dear woman, why turn to me?” Jesus replied, “My time has not yet come” (Jn 2:4). Jesus’ reaction indicated that although in principle it was not part of God’s plan for him to use his power to solve the problem, our Lady’s request would move him to do precisely that. It was part of God’s plan that Jesus should work his first miracle at his Mother’s request.
Like a good mother, the Virgin Mary knew perfectly well what her Son’s reply meant. Hearing his answer she knew that he would perform the suggested miracle, that she would get his help. She humbly accepted the apparent rebuff but still was confident that Jesus would come to the rescue. She had pleaded, not for herself, but for others; her plea was justified. She said to the waiters: “Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5).
To Mary’s complete submission to the Father’s Will she thus united her humble trust in God. In her solicitude for human beings, she brings their needs within the radius of Christ. In her humility as an instrument of God, she places herself between her Son and mankind in the reality of their wants and sufferings. “She put herself `in the middle,’ that is to say acts as a mediatrix not as an outsider, but in her position as a mother. She knows that as such she can point out to her Son the needs of mankind, and in fact she `has the right’ to do so. Her mediation is thus in the nature of intercession: Mary `intercedes’ for mankind.”#5
* Before Cana Mary had spoken but little; now, as soon as her Son began his preaching of the kingdom of God, she sank into humble silence. Her modest way of living can be deduced from the sneering remark of the Nazarenes when Jesus preached for the first time in their synagogue: “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary?” (Mt 13:55). One feels that these words were intended to humiliate him on account of the poverty and modest social standing of his parents.
Mary’s actions, words, and silence sum up the only concern of her heart: not her own glory, but that of her Son; the glorification of Jesus by obedience and faith.
* What humility, that of my holy Mother Mary! She’s not to be seen amidst the palms of Jerusalem, nor–except that first one at Cana–at the hour of great miracles.
But she doesn’t flee from the scorn of Golgotha; there his Mother stands, juxta crucem Iesu–”by the Cross of Jesus.” (J. Escrivá, The Way, n. 507)
* Mary did not speak a single word in Calvary; she was all silence. Not the silence of stubbornness or of stone-like insensitivity, but of calm consent which is a profession of faith. Her lips were sealed by the immensity of her suffering so that she could not utter her fiat audibly as in that happy Nazareth hour. All that was left to her was the speech of her soul: “she stood by the Cross.” This meant more than words; with this, Mary said everything she had to say.
Many women would have stood by the son, but not by the cross. But Mary did not only stand by her Son, she also stood by the Cross of her Son.
With her fiat in Nazareth she had given the fullest disposition of her life to God, carte blanche, so to say. She had undersigned whatever God willed to write on the white pages of her life. And when the hand of God began to write with letters of blood, Mary did not cry or complain: “Now it is enough. It is too much!” Silently she waited, not for her Son’s death, but for the salvation of mankind. (Cf. O. Hophan, Mary, Our Most Blessed Lady)
FOOTNOTES:
1. Cf. A. Royo Marin, Teologia de la Perfeccion Cristiana, no. 468
2. Second Vatican Council, Dogm. Const. Lumen Gentium, n. 36.
3. In Lucam, 2.
4. Cf. E. Leen, In the Likeness of Christ, 2, 2.
5. John Paul II, Enc. Redemptoris Mater, 21.
* The most striking thing about Mary’s attitude at the Annunciation was her calm reserve, the preservation of her freedom of action. The glories of this and the other world were spread out before her; she was to be the Mother of the Son of the Most High, and Jesus, her Son, was to ascend David’s throne, and of his kingdom there was to be no end. Man is by nature receptive to praise and honors; and a woman especially is receptive to flattery. Furthermore, it was the highest dream of a Jewish maiden to be the mother of the Messiah, yes, even to be the handmaid of that chosen woman. And now the sparkling diadem of this greatest of honors is so near to Mary. Millions of hands would have reached out for it in an ecstasy of happiness. Mary did not move. All the splendor of this diadem did not overpower her. The highest dignity and the praise of heaven and earth could not make her lose her thoughtful calm reserve and humility. She had only the calm response to Gabriel’s unheard of greeting and message: “How shall this happen?”
One does not know what to marvel at more, the tremendous import of Gabriel’s message, or Mary’s unique composure. With deepest humility she held herself back from an honor which would raise her above all women. (O. Hophan, Mary, Our Most Blessed Lady)
* The purity, humility, and generosity of Mary are in sharp contrast to our wretchedness and selfishness. To the extent that we realize this, we should feel moved to imitate her. We, too, are creatures of God, and if we strive to imitate her fidelity, God will surely do great things in us. Our little worth is no obstacle, because God chooses what is of little value so that the power of his love may be more manifest. (J. Escrivá, Christ Is Passing By, 172)
* It made me think, that hard but true saying from a man of God, when he observed the haughtiness of a miserable creature: “He wears the same skin as the devil –pride.”
And there came to my mind, in contrast, a sincere desire to wrap myself in the virtue taught by Jesus Christ: Quia mitis sum et humilis corde –I am meek and humble of heart.
It was the virtue that attracted the gaze of the Most Holy Trinity to his Mother and our Mother: the humility of being aware and convinced of our nothingness. (J. Escrivá, Furrow, n. 726)
* “Behold,” she said, “the handmaid of the Lord.” Mary’s humility is neither overcome by honor, nor puffed up in her glory. Elected as Mother of God, she calls herself a slave-girl.
To be humble in destitution is not a great feat; to be humble in glory is rare and sublime. (St Bernard, Hom. On the Virgin Mother, 4, 9).
* Mary, who at the Annunciation called herself the “handmaid of the Lord,” remained throughout her earthly life faithful to what this name expresses. In this she confirmed that she was a true disciple of Christ; our Lord strongly emphasized that his mission was one of service: the Son of man “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28). Thus, Mary became the first of those who “serving Christ also in others with humility and patience lead their brothers and sisters to that King whom to serve is to reign,”#2 and she fully obtained that “state of royal freedom” proper to Christ’s disciples: to serve means to reign! (John Paul II, Enc. Redemptoris Mater, n. 41)
* A handmaid is without pretensions, without special distinction, without presumption. A handmaid knows no will of her own, only the will of the master. “As the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters,” so were Mary’s eyes “on the Lord” (Ps 123:2). In the Gospel passage of the Annunciation the name “handmaid” seems out of place. Gabriel had spoken of great, glorious things. In contrast to all the promised glory Mary set the plain, unadorned words: “Behold the handmaid!” St Ambrose exclaims: “What humility, what submissiveness! The one who has been chosen to be his Mother calls herself the handmaid of the Lord! She did not allow herself to be seduced to self-glorification by the wholly unexpected promises. By calling herself a handmaid she made no pretensions to pre-eminence on account of such a prerogative of grace; she simply wished to do what was asked of her.”#3
“Be it done to me!” In these words Mary expressed not only a readiness, but a longing to do the Will of the Most High. She opened wide all the chambers of her soul and with joyful expectation awaited the coming of the divine Guest. “Be it done to me according to thy word!” Thy word! Mary did not make her own word the measure of her surrender to God, but His word. She did not decide the measure of her giving, God himself was to do that. She preserved her profound sense of humility.
God will ask the yes of his chosen maiden again and again, at the cost of ever greater pain and sorrow. And Mary will always give her yes again and again. At the Annunciation she surrendered herself to God for her entire life and for every moment of it. And she remained true to this complete surrender. (O. Hophan, Mary, Our Most Blessed Lady)
* When our friends praise us for our deeds, we thank them for their kindness. At the Visitation, when Elizabeth extols Mary, Mary glorifies God. Mary receives praise as a mirror receives light; she stores it not, nor even acknowledges it, but makes it pass from her to God, to whom is due all praise, all honor and thanksgiving. The shortened form of Mary’s song–the Magnificat–is: “Thank God.”
The love of God is reflected in the soul of the humble, as the light of the sun is reflected by a mirror. So Mary’s Son is the Sun; she is the moon. She is the nest; he is the Fledgling who–after his life on earth–will fly to a higher Tree, and then will call it home. She calls him her Lord and Savior, even though she is preserved free from the stain of original sin, for this is due entirely to the merits of the Passion and Death of her Divine Son.
In herself she is nothing, and she has nothing; he is everything. And “he has done great things for me,” she said, because “he who is Mighty, he whose name is Holy, has looked graciously upon the lowliness of his handmaid.”
The humble are necessarily the joyful; for where there is no pride, there is no self-centeredness, which makes joy impossible.
Mary’s song has these two notes: humility and joy. Her spirit rejoices because God has looked down on her humility. A box that is filled with sand cannot be filled with gold; a soul that is bursting with its own ego can never be filled with God.
There is no limit on God’s part to his possession of a soul; it is the soul alone that can limit God’s welcome, as a window curtain limits the light. The emptier the soul is of self, the greater room in it for God. There is an intrinsic relation between the humility of Mary and the incarnation of the Son of God within her. Mary’s self-emptying alone, would not have been enough, had not he who is her God, her Lord and Savior, “humbled himself.” Though the cup be empty, it cannot hold the ocean. And the Ocean became small.
After the honor is received, Mary, instead of standing in her privilege, becomes a servant of her aged cousin and, in the midst of that service, sings a song in which she calls herself the Lord’s handmaid–or better a slave who is simply God’s property and one who has no personal will except God’s own. (Cf. F. Sheen, The World’s First Love)
* When Mary learned of the miracle of Elizabeth’s conception, she went to visit her. The Virgin Mary greeted Elizabeth, and John the Baptist jumped for joy in his mother’s womb. After her initial surprise, Elizabeth exclaimed, “Blessed art thou among women!”
It is easy to understand Mary’s reaction to the testimony given to her mission by the Holy Spirit, through Elizabeth. Mary, without uttering a word, without in any way betraying the fact that she possessed a great secret, witnessed to Elizabeth’s greeting, which was like a confirmation of the words of the angel, a confirmation she neither asked for nor wished, but which she received with great joy. She rejoiced because it came from God, and also because it implied a recognition of the great message on the part of God’s creatures.
Up to that point, the revelation, as far as humanity was concerned, was known only to the Virgin herself, who was the principal person involved in the event, the protagonist, the subject in whom all the revelation was to be fulfilled. Now that limit was extended to Elizabeth; it is as if the Virgin had been the subject of a double revelation, as if God–in order that the two levels of existence might participate in it–wished to communicate his plans by means of creatures from both worlds: from the superior or supernatural world, the angel; and also from the lower or natural world, Elizabeth. Thus, God bestowed blessings on Mary from all sides: “For to everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall abound” (Mt 25:29).
Mary had sufficient faith, and she neither needed nor asked for proofs; but God, who never lets himself be surpassed in generosity, gave her a conclusive proof by using one of his creatures to confirm the miracle taking place in her.
Full of happiness, transported by joy, the Virgin burst into song. The Magnificat is a spontaneous and poetic manifestation of the interior feelings that filled her and also an expression of the innermost core of her being and her relations with God. It is really amazing to see the simplicity and the facility with which our Lady did and said these things, which, when we consider them more closely, we find are complex and difficult from our level of understanding; how quickly she penetrated to the very bottom of things.
She also was inspired by the Holy Spirit to give expression to her exaltation. Most of the verses of the Magnificat are taken from Scripture, mainly from the Psalms, and our Lady herself added very little. As Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, praised her cousin’s faith, Mary answered with a joyful song in praise of humility.
The Magnificat is above all a wonderful praise of Almighty God, an act of thanksgiving for the goodness of the Creator. To be sure, the Virgin Mary spoke of herself, and in terms that may at first surprise us: “for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed” (Lk 1:48).
On her own initiative, Mary would never have said such a thing, nor would such an outlandish thought ever have occurred to her. Who would think that a little, unknown country girl from Palestine, with no great future to look forward to, would solemnly proclaim that she was to be remembered by all future generations until the end of the world? How could she see into the future? But the Holy Spirit is God and God does see into the future, and it was He who gave her justifiable motives for making it.
God did great things to the Virgin Mary because he saw the humility of his handmaid. He will hardly do great things in us if he does not find us also humble. (F. Suarez, Mary of Nazareth, 2)
* Since humility is allied with truth, it is possible to have the full perfection of humility and yet be perfectly aware of one’s gifts, whether in the order of grace or in the order of nature.
Our Lord did not ignore his own sanctity. “Which of you,” he said to his enemies, “shall convince [convict] me of sin?” (Jn 8:46).
Neither did the Blessed Virgin quarrel with the angel’s salutation when she was hailed “full of grace.” Our Lady was perfectly aware of the fullness of her perfection, but she would have considered it absurd to take for herself any credit for her marvelous gifts. Hence the Magnificat.#4
* What must Jesus’ cheerful gaze have been like? It must have been the same that shone from the eyes of his Mother who could not contain her joy –Magnificat anima mea Dominum!– and her soul glorified the Lord while she carried him within her and by her side.
Oh, Mother! May we, like you, rejoice to be with him and to hold him. (J. Escrivá, Furrow, n. 95)
* Mary’s humble song of joy, the Magnificat, recalls to our minds the infinite generosity of the Lord toward those who become like children, toward those who abase themselves and are sincerely aware that they are nothing. (J. Escrivá, The Forge, n. 608)
* Imitate the Blessed Virgin. Only by openly admitting that we are nothing can we become precious in the eyes of our Creator. (J. Escrivá, The Forge, n. 588)
* How great is the value of humility! “Quia respexit humilitatem....” –”Because he gazed upon my humility....” It is not of her faith, nor of her charity, nor of her immaculate purity that our Mother spoke of in the house of Zechariah. Her joyful hymn sings: “Because he gazed upon my humility, behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” (J. Escrivá, The Way, n. 598)
* Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae –because he has looked graciously upon the lowliness of his slave-girl....
Every day I am more convinced that authentic humility is the supernatural basis for all virtues!
Talk to Our Lady, so that she may train us to walk along that path. (J. Escrivá, Furrow, n. 289)
* Selflessness is shown as the true self in Bethlehem. “There was no room in the inn,” because the inn was filled; there was room in the stable, because there were no egos there–only an ox and a donkey.
God looked over the world for an empty heart–but not a lonely heart!–a heart that was empty like a flute, on which he might pipe a tune–not a lonely tune like an empty abyss, which is filled by death. And the emptiest heart he could find was the heart of a Lady. Since there was no self there, he filled it with his very Self. (Cf. F. Sheen, The World’s First Love)
[At the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple]
* Even though Mary deserved every privilege in heaven and on earth, she went to the Temple as any other woman would go. She could have laid claim to her extraordinary merits as Mother of the Messiah, or as the Virgin who conceived the Son of God. None of this; she fulfilled the slightest indications of God’s law. She hid her greatness beneath her ordinary actions and did what all the other women of Israel did; she let God’s power do the work.
Because we are instruments for doing wonderful, divine things, we are prey to the temptation of hidden pride. If we fall under its influence, we must react immediately. With Mary, we must learn to spurn the applause of men and every vain attempt to attract attention; we must be eager and attentive to preserve the treasure of humility.
We Christians must joyfully fulfill all the obligations proper to our state in life and our position in society, without trying to exempt ourselves from any obligations or seeking excuses to lessen them. Even though we may be tired, we must not excuse ourselves from contributing to family life or the atmosphere of friendship of our professional environment.
[At the finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple]
* “Why hast thou done so to us?” (Lk 2:48).
Helpless with grief and yet serene with motherly gentleness Mary asked this question. Mary did not ask for a justification, an excuse, she pleaded only for an explanation. She did not reproach or blame or threaten him, she begged only for one little word explaining his conduct.
Mary did not describe herself as a victim; she did not give a long drawn out account of the helpless anguish of the past three days. All the anguish and bitterness she had suffered she buried in the one little word: “so.” “Why hast thou done so to us?” There is a very touching humility in this question.
* Having deserved to be the Mother of the Son of God Almighty, Mary was humblest. She did not mention herself ahead of her husband, saying: “I and your father.” But she said: “Your father and I.” She did not mind her personal dignity but the conjugal hierarchy; justly so, Christ’s humility could not be a school of pride for his Mother. (St Augustine, Sermon 51)
* After the episode of the Child Jesus at the Temple, a long time –eighteen years– was given to Mary to ponder the words and events she had witnessed. “His mother treasured all these things in her heart” (Lk 2:51). St Luke makes it plain that Mary was ready and anxious to understand, to accept humbly and willingly the plans of God.
She did not cast aside, as the apostles did, the hard words of Jesus as something beyond comprehension, she received them into her heart. A thousand times she must have said to herself: “He must be about his Father’s business.” Not about her business. Jesus’ words were like the seed that she willingly, gladly let sink into her heart, there to take root and sprout.
* Do you want to be daring in a holy way, so that God may act through you? Have recourse to Mary, and she will accompany you along the path of humility. Thus, facing what seems impossible to the human mind, you shall answer with a fiat! –be it done!–which unites the earth to Heaven. (J. Escrivá, Furrow, n. 124)
* Your modesty and decorum will be a living lesson and appealing example to lead souls to sanctity. But you must live these virtues with Mary’s humility. An expert teacher in all virtues, Mary listened to all like a disciple and apprentice. (St Ambrose, On Virgins, 2, 9)
* Mary, teacher of the hidden and silent sacrifice!
See her, nearly always in the background, cooperating with her Son; she knows and remains silent. (J. Escrivá, The Way, n. 509)
* “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). Mary knows how to speak not only to angels; she has thoughts and words for human beings. She has concern for the embarrassments and little troubles of their everyday life. Nothing is too small for her, nothing so insignificant that she would brush it aside unconcerned.
At Cana, Mary noticed with a womanly delicacy that the young couple were facing a very humiliating predicament. She herself, otherwise so reserved, took the initiative and spoke up fearlessly. Yet she spoke humbly, without that attitude of self-importance which so often creeps into works of charity and spoils them. Her simple statement is a plea without a plea; it is only a tactful statement of a fact. There is no rashness, no vanity, no importunity, no presumption in Mary’s words.
Mary’s words at Cana revealed her humility, her simple trust and submission to God.
“Dear woman, why turn to me?” Jesus replied, “My time has not yet come” (Jn 2:4). Jesus’ reaction indicated that although in principle it was not part of God’s plan for him to use his power to solve the problem, our Lady’s request would move him to do precisely that. It was part of God’s plan that Jesus should work his first miracle at his Mother’s request.
Like a good mother, the Virgin Mary knew perfectly well what her Son’s reply meant. Hearing his answer she knew that he would perform the suggested miracle, that she would get his help. She humbly accepted the apparent rebuff but still was confident that Jesus would come to the rescue. She had pleaded, not for herself, but for others; her plea was justified. She said to the waiters: “Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5).
To Mary’s complete submission to the Father’s Will she thus united her humble trust in God. In her solicitude for human beings, she brings their needs within the radius of Christ. In her humility as an instrument of God, she places herself between her Son and mankind in the reality of their wants and sufferings. “She put herself `in the middle,’ that is to say acts as a mediatrix not as an outsider, but in her position as a mother. She knows that as such she can point out to her Son the needs of mankind, and in fact she `has the right’ to do so. Her mediation is thus in the nature of intercession: Mary `intercedes’ for mankind.”#5
* Before Cana Mary had spoken but little; now, as soon as her Son began his preaching of the kingdom of God, she sank into humble silence. Her modest way of living can be deduced from the sneering remark of the Nazarenes when Jesus preached for the first time in their synagogue: “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary?” (Mt 13:55). One feels that these words were intended to humiliate him on account of the poverty and modest social standing of his parents.
Mary’s actions, words, and silence sum up the only concern of her heart: not her own glory, but that of her Son; the glorification of Jesus by obedience and faith.
* What humility, that of my holy Mother Mary! She’s not to be seen amidst the palms of Jerusalem, nor–except that first one at Cana–at the hour of great miracles.
But she doesn’t flee from the scorn of Golgotha; there his Mother stands, juxta crucem Iesu–”by the Cross of Jesus.” (J. Escrivá, The Way, n. 507)
* Mary did not speak a single word in Calvary; she was all silence. Not the silence of stubbornness or of stone-like insensitivity, but of calm consent which is a profession of faith. Her lips were sealed by the immensity of her suffering so that she could not utter her fiat audibly as in that happy Nazareth hour. All that was left to her was the speech of her soul: “she stood by the Cross.” This meant more than words; with this, Mary said everything she had to say.
Many women would have stood by the son, but not by the cross. But Mary did not only stand by her Son, she also stood by the Cross of her Son.
With her fiat in Nazareth she had given the fullest disposition of her life to God, carte blanche, so to say. She had undersigned whatever God willed to write on the white pages of her life. And when the hand of God began to write with letters of blood, Mary did not cry or complain: “Now it is enough. It is too much!” Silently she waited, not for her Son’s death, but for the salvation of mankind. (Cf. O. Hophan, Mary, Our Most Blessed Lady)
FOOTNOTES:
1. Cf. A. Royo Marin, Teologia de la Perfeccion Cristiana, no. 468
2. Second Vatican Council, Dogm. Const. Lumen Gentium, n. 36.
3. In Lucam, 2.
4. Cf. E. Leen, In the Likeness of Christ, 2, 2.
5. John Paul II, Enc. Redemptoris Mater, 21.