CHAPTER NINE
The dedication of the Irish people to the Blessed Virgin has been
characterised for centuries by a unique form of devotion at a
local level. In many of the parishes around the country, the
people have displayed their own particular way of expressing
their veneration of Our Lady.
Even today, it is virtually impossible to travel very far in
Ireland without seeing evidence of the peoples' devotion to Mary.
Many roadside statues and Grottos bear testimony to the fact
that, at a local level, the worship of the Blessed Virgin has
played a significant part in community and parish life,
especially in rural Ireland. In some cemeteries, many of the
headstones have images of the Queen of Heaven engraved on them,
along with prayers requesting her intercession on behalf of the
departed souls.
An ancient prayer, called "The Prayer of an Old Irish
Woman", reveals something of the unique approach of many of
the older generation as they sought the help of the Lord through
the Intercession of Our Lady. The words are as follows:
" My Loving Lord! A Thousand Welcomes! O, Son of Mary, I
love you; indeed I do. Who am I at all, that You should come next
or near me? O, God of Heaven, make a little corner for me in Your
Heart, and never while there is life in me let me lose my place
there, and after death may I still hide there. Amen. Have pity on
me, O Blessed Mother! Talk to my God for me. Tell Him I'm a poor
ignorant creature, full of sin and misery, but that I love you,
His own dear Mother; that I am a poor servant, and for your sweet
sake to help and pity me. Amen."
My grandparents' dedication to the Blessed Virgin had a great
influence upon their children. My mother became a devout
worshipper of Mary while she was still very young. When she got
married, she ensured that her home would be one in which Our Lady
would be venerated. There was a holy picture of Jesus' mother in
each room in the house, and when mother led us in the recitation
of the Rosary we knelt before a picture of Mary, the Mother of
Perpetual Succour.
CHAPTER TEN
When we were growing up, there was always a lot of literature in
our home concerning the Blessed Virgin. Mother had a large supply
of Novena books, Legion of Mary literature, and publications
dealing with many of the reported apparitions of Mary. She
encouraged me to read these, and I did. Much of what I read
contained statements and testimonies of people like St. Simon
Stock, St. Alphonsus, St. Dominic, St. Louis de Montfort, Blessed
Alan, Richard of St. Laurant, and many others. The literature
which interested me most was that which told of the reported
apparitions of Our Lady at Lourdes, Fatima and Knock.
After many years, I finally realised that the only information
I had concerning the Blessed Virgin was, in fact, what I had read
in these books. I had been influenced by what these writers had
said, but I did not have any idea at all concerning what God said
about Mary. I had read many books about Our Lady while I was
growing up, but had never read God's book, the Bible. Though I
had always believed that the Scriptures were the Inspired word of
God, I had never taken time to discover what the Lord was saying
in His book.
Now, many years later, when I was married and rearing my own
family, I finally decided to examine the Scriptures, to see what
God actually said about the Blessed Virgin.
In the Old Testament, I discovered that the Prophet Isaiah
foretold the Virgin birth of the Messiah. He wrote;
"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: the virgin
will be with child and will give birth to a Son, and will call
Him Immanuel."
While reading the New Testament, I noticed that the writers of
the Gospels give a detailed account of the fulfilment of God's
promise to send His Son into the world to redeem sinners. Luke
writes:
"In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth,
a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man
named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
The angel went to her and said, `Greetings, you who are highly
favoured! the Lord is with you'. Mary was greatly troubled at his
words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the
angel said to her, `Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour
with God. You will be with child and give birth to a Son, and you
are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be
called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the
throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of
Jacob for ever; his kingdom will never end.' `How will this be,'
Mary asked the angel, `since I am a virgin?' The angel answered,
`The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most
High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be
called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to
have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is
in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.' `I am
the Lord's servant,'
Mary answered. `May it be to me as you have said.' Then the
angel left her."2
At the time the angel appeared to Mary, she was engaged to be
married to Joseph, the local village carpenter. God had a plan
for Mary's life, and the angel's message left her in no doubt as
to what this was. Gabriel informed her that she had been
especially chosen by God to give birth to the Messiah.
"How will this be," she asked the angel, "since
I am a virgin?" The question she asked shows that Mary
wanted to know how what the angel had spoken of could possibly
come to pass for, as far as she was concerned, it was an
impossible situation. The angel responded by telling her that the
conception of the child in her womb would be as a result of the
intervention of the Holy Spirit.
Then, in order to reassure Mary that God works miracles in the
fulfilment of His purposes, the angel told her that her cousin,
Elizabeth, had conceived a child, and was now six months
pregnant. Mary knew that Elizabeth had always been barren, and
was also now well past the child - bearing age, so this pregnancy
had to be a miracle.
I couldn't help but notice the remarkable change that came
over Mary at this point. At the beginning of her conversation
with the angel, she was troubled, afraid and doubtful. But now,
she surrendered herself to God's will. She submitted herself, as
a handmaiden, or servant, to God. She humbly placed herself in
God's hands, regardless of personal cost, trusting Him for the
future. She didn't fully understand everything involved, but she
did know that God had a personal interest in her as an
individual, and so was prepared to trust Him concerning what was
to come. Her submission to the Lord's plan for her life
demonstrated both her faith in God's ability to perform this
great miracle, and her obedience to His command. She was prepared
to surrender all her plans for the future entirely to God. Mary's
own words ,"May it be to me as you have said,"3 sum up
her unconditional surrender to the Lord.
Having read this, I was really challenged concerning my own
willingness to place my life in God's hands, trusting Him for the
future.
Here was Mary, a young woman, engaged to be married. She must
have had so many plans made. Now she was faced with a very
difficult situation. How could she tell Joseph, the man she loved
and planned to marry, that she had conceived a child? How would
he respond? What would he think? Would he cancel all the wedding
plans? What about her own parents? What would they say? Would
they consider her actions as bringing disgrace upon them, and
upon the whole family? What about Joseph's parents and family?
How would they respond? What about all her friends? What would
they think of her now? What about all the neighbours? Wouldn't
some people just love to spread gossip and scandal? And what
about the Jewish Priests? Would they put her out of the
synagogue? Would they classify her as an immoral woman? What
about her reputation? Would anybody at all believe her when she
told them that she had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit?
Joseph's response to the news greatly interested me. Matthew
records it as follows;
"This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His
mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they
came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy
Spirit.
Because her husband Joseph was a righteous man and did not want
to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her
quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream and said, `Joseph, son of David, do
not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to
a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will
save His people from their sins.' All this took place to fulfil
what the Lord had said through the prophet: `The virgin will be
with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him
Immanuel,' - which means `God with us.' When Joseph woke up, he
did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary
home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave
birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus."4
Joseph must have come to the conclusion that Mary had been
unfaithful to him and, consequently, could not see his way clear
to take her home with him, and live with her in the usual
marriage relationship. But while he was thinking these things
over, an angel appeared to him in a dream.
He must have been greatly relieved when the angel informed him
that it was by the power of the Holy Spirit, and not in the
natural way, that Mary had conceived. Any doubts he might have
had concerning Mary's faithfulness to him disappeared when he
realised that the child who was to be born to Mary was not the
son of a human father, but was God's own Son. In fact, He was
Immanuel, God the Son. The angel had told Mary that the child
whom she would conceive was the Holy One. He, having a Divine
nature, was about to assume, or take upon Himself, a human
nature. But this human nature was different from everybody
else's, for it was untainted by sin. According to the Scriptures,
Jesus was the only one ever born of a woman who could be called
the Holy One for, unlike everybody else, He had not inherited the
sinful nature which Adam passed on to all his descendants.
The angel actually told Joseph why God's Son took upon Himself
a human nature; "Because he will save his people from their
sins."5 This was the very purpose of His Incarnation. How
Joseph must have marvelled when he realised that the child to
whom Mary would give birth would be the long - awaited Messiah,
the Saviour. When he awoke from his sleep, Joseph did as the
angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took Mary to his home as
his wife.
Shortly afterwards, Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, who was
now six months pregnant. Elizabeth expressed her joy concerning
how much God had highly favoured Mary, in the following words;
"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you
will bear!" Commending Mary for her faith in God, Elizabeth
said, "Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord
has said to her will be accomplished!" Responding to her
cousin's greeting, Mary describes the joy that is in her own
heart as a result of her faith in God; "My soul glorifies
the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour."6
I couldn't help but notice that Mary was not just speaking
here of the fact that she had believed the angel's message
concerning the miraculous conception of the baby in her womb. But
she was here acknowledging God as her personal Saviour. Mary had
not said, "God THE Saviour", but rather, "God MY
Saviour." Like so many of the Jews, Mary could have been
depending upon the observance of the Law, including the
Sacrificial system, and obedience to the Ten Commandments, for
her Salvation. These things were certainly very much part of her
life, but when it came to the salvation of her soul, Mary looked
to the Lord, who had said, "Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none
else."7
Mary's words, "God MY Saviour", greatly interested
me, for she was here acknowledging two things. Firstly, she was
acknowledging God as being her personal Saviour, in other words,
as the One who had saved her from the penalty for her sins.
Secondly, she was identifying herself with the rest of Adam's
descendants, all of whom inherited his sinful nature, and all of
whom need the Saviour, "For all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God."8 She certainly did not see herself as
being any different than anybody else, and did not exclude
herself from those who stood in need of a Saviour.
I was amazed to read the words of Mary here, for I had always
believed that she was sinless. I had been taught in school that,
(a)"Mary was preserved from all stain of original sin from
the first instant of her conception", and (b) "Mary,
the 'All - Holy', lived a perfectly sinless life."
But if this was, in fact, the case, then Mary would not have
needed a Saviour. Yet, in her own words, she acknowledges God as
her Saviour. Nowhere in the Scriptures could I find any reference
to the fact that the Blessed Virgin was sinless. None of the
Prophets or the Apostles, or none of the writers of the Old or
New Testaments, ever suggested that Mary had been preserved from
the stain of Original sin, or that she was 'All - Holy', and led
a perfectly sinless life. I thought it remarkable that Jesus
never even once suggested that His mother possessed such amazing
attributes. Surely He would have referred to it at some stage if
it were true.
Interestingly, Mary herself never claimed that she had been
preserved free from the stain of original sin, or that she had
led a sinless life. She never claimed to be the Immaculate
Conception. This claim was not made until many hundreds of years
after Mary's death, when the Roman Catholic Church exalted her to
this position. According to Bernadette of Lourdes, the Blessed
Virgin appeared to her, and said: "I am the Immaculate
Conception." Pope Pius IX declared the Immaculate Conception
of Mary to be Church Dogma in 1854.
I found it quite amazing that something that was never even
mentioned once in God's Inspired Word, could be declared to be
Church Dogma.
But the fact that Jesus was the Immaculate Conception was made
very clear in the Scriptures. According to God's Word, the ONLY
one who at conception was Immaculate, Holy, Spotless, free from
the stain of Original sin, was Jesus. When the angel Gabriel
spoke to Mary concerning the conception of Jesus in her womb, he
said, "So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of
God."9 According to the Scriptures, God alone is Holy. The
Apostle John wrote, "Who will not fear you, O Lord, and
bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy."10 The One
whom the Apostle Paul describes as, " - Our great God and
Saviour Jesus Christ",11 is the 'Holy One' whose conception
the angel Gabriel announced to Mary.
Jesus ALONE lived a perfectly sinless life. "Such a high
priest meets our need - one who is holy, blameless, pure, set
apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens."12 ; " -
Who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was
without sin."13 ; " - But with the precious blood of
Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."14
To be specifically chosen by God to give birth to the 'Holy
One', was a tremendous privilege. Mary was indeed 'Blessed among
women'.
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