The Holy Spirit and Mary, Part 1

As we approach the end of the Octave of Pentecost, on this Saturday, a day traditionally devoted in the life of the Church to honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is good to reflect on the relationship between the Holy Spirit and Mary.  Much rich thought to this has been given by Saints, and even contemporary theologians, on this topic.  This short three part series will just scratch the surface. 

In this first part, we will discuss the Spirit at work in the beginning of Mary's life.  In the second part, we will discuss the Spirit at work in the latter part of Mary's life.  In the third part, we will discuss the Spirit at work through Mary in the life of the Church today.

Before we get into that, what is the significance of Saturday that it is chosen as a special day to honor
Mary?  There are a few reasons:

1) It is the last day of creation (7th day), and Mary is the pinnacle of creation.

2) God rested on the 7th day, and Jesus rested in the arms of his mother after his death.

3) Sunday is the Lord's Day, so, it makes sense to have the day immediately before be Mary's day, as without her, the new day would not have happened.

The Spirit was involved when Mary received the honor and gift of being conceived immaculately; in other words, she was born without the stain or effects of original sin on her soul   She received her salvation right then and there, through the grace of Christ like all of us, but in a different way. The angel, recognizing there was something special about her, addressed her this way: “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." (Luke 1:28)   While Mary's conception is not recorded in the Bible, the idea of the Immaculate Conception is not contrary to anything in Scripture, and it has been unpacked by the Church as part of the mystery of Divine Revelation (which remember is both Scripture and Tradition).  If all the grace in our life to live supernaturally occurs through the power of the Holy Spirit, then there is no reason to believe the Spirit was active in the Immaculate Conception.   Saint Maximillian Kolbe, whom we will reference a few times in this series, believes that the Immaculate Conception was the result of God the Father, and God the Son wanting her to be so united to their Spirit of Love so she could be the Mother of God and be the dispenser of the graces of salvation. We read in the Catechism (p.722) why it makes sense that Mary would need to be free from sin in order to carry Our Lord in her body. The Holy Spirit prepared Mary by his grace. It was fitting that the mother of him in whom "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" should herself be "full of grace." She was, by sheer grace, conceived without sin as the most humble of creatures, the most capable of welcoming the inexpressible gift of the Almighty.  It was the love between the Father and the Son, which is the Holy Spirit, which appropriated this great grace upon Mary.

Mary was troubled by the angel's greeting.  We read "she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be "(Luke 1:29).   Here, and elsewhere as we shall see, she was exhibiting the gift of the Holy Spirit that we discussed recently, the fear of the Lord.

The angel responds to Mary like this:  “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.  He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”  Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God."  So, here we see the foreshadowing of the second big event of the Holy Spirit in the life of Mary, his intervention to have her become the Mother of God.   We read in paragraph 723 of the Catechism: In Mary, the Holy Spirit fulfills the plan of the Father's loving goodness. Through the Holy Spirit, the Virgin conceives and gives birth to the Son of God. By the Holy Spirit's power and her faith, her virginity became uniquely fruitful.   Mary's response to the angel is “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  (Luke 1:38)   This humility, some have noted, is another sign of the gift of the fear of the Lord.

However, even before the birth of Our Lord, we should take note of the Spirit being active in the Visitation.  In her visit to Elizabeth, spiritual writers note that Mary exhibits the gift of the Holy Spirit, piety.    When she prays the Magnificat, she expresses the correct reverent, yet familial relationship to God that this gift gives, plus, as we noted previously, this gift overflows to love, honor, and respect for neighbor, which Mary showed by visiting Elizabeth and helping in her old age to bear her child, John the Baptist.   Here are the telling words from the Magnificat that reflect both fear of the Lord and piety.  My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.  His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. (Luke 1:46-50)

Elizabeth and her infant John clearly saw the work of the Spirit in Mary:  When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb (Luke 1:41-42).  One could say Elizabeth recognized the gifts of piety and fear of the Lord in Mary, plus also the special, unique graces that she had been given.   The Catechism in paragraph 724 confirms the presence of the Spirit in this event.  In Mary, the Holy Spirit manifests the Son of the Father, now become the Son of the Virgin. She is the burning bush of the definitive theophany. Filled with the Holy Spirit she makes the Word visible in the humility of his flesh. It is to the poor and the first representatives of the gentiles that she makes him known.

Now that Mary has manifested the Son through the Spirit, it is time to bring men into communion with them.  We read in the Catechism in paragraph 725: Finally, through Mary, the Holy Spirit begins to bring men, the objects of God's merciful love into communion with Christ. And the humble are always the first to accept him: shepherds, magi, Simeon and Anna, the bride and groom at Cana, and the first disciples.   We see several Scriptural events referenced here, the Birth of Our Lord being the first, but there are a few more noted.   One of them is the Presentation of Jesus by Mary and Joseph at the Temple.

At the Presentation, the gift of knowledge is evident in the man Simeon.  He receives a special insight into Jesus, and then gives special insight of knowledge to Mary, so she receives the gift, as well.  We read:   Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him.  It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.  Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law.  Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles  and for glory to your people Israel. And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.   Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”  Human wisdom could not have given him or her this information, it had to be a divine gift.

The next event referenced, the Wedding Feast of Cana (John 2), we see the gift of counsel manifested when Mary tells the waiters "Do whatever he tells you." (John 2:5), and the waiters obey.  They listen to Our Lord who tells them to fill jars with water, which he proceeds to turn into fine wine.   When we give or are given an instruction under the influence of this gift, we know it is right to obey, even if we cannot understand the why or how of it.   I am sure the waiters, nor Mary, understood how Jesus was going to solve the problem of there being no wine, both before and after the direction was given, but they obeyed nonetheless through and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

There was another event, not referenced in the Catechism, in the life of Mary that demonstrates a gift of the Holy Spirit, and that is the gift of fortitude exemplified when in the caravan, Mary and Joseph lost Jesus, and found him in the Temple (Luke 2:21-51).   I said in my post that among other things, the gift of fortitude gives us the ability to face things that cause us stress.  Mary reveals this was the case when she tells Our Lord upon finding him “Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety" (Luke 2:48).  It is noted it must have been this gift that allowed them to, despite this fear, search for Our Lord patiently and persistently for the three days that it took to find him.  This gift also allows her to endure the Passion, which we will touch on in a bit more detail in the next post.

Joseph, Chaste guardian of the Virgin, pray for us.