…The comparison Eve-Mary constantly recurs in the course of reflection on the deposit of faith received from divine Revelation. It is one of the themes frequently taken up by the Fathers, ecclesiastical writers and theologians. As a rule, from this comparison there emerges at first sight a difference, a contrast. Eve, as “the mother of all the living” (Gen 3: 20), is the witness to the biblical “beginning”, which contains the truth about the creation of man made in the image and likeness of God and the truth about original sin. Mary is the witness to the new “beginning” and the “new creation” (cf. 2 Cor 5:17), since she herself, as the first of the redeemed in salvation history, is “a new creation”: she is “full of grace”. It is difficult to grasp why the words of the Protoevangelium place such strong emphasis on the “woman”, if it is not admitted that in her the new and definitive Covenant of God with humanity has its beginning, the Covenant in the redeeming blood of Christ. The Covenant begins with a woman, the “woman” of the Annunciation at Nazareth. Herein lies the absolute originality of the Gospel: many times in the Old Testament, in order to intervene in the history of his people, God addressed himself to women, as in the case of the mothers of Samuel and Samson. However, to make his Covenant with humanity, he addressed himself only to men: Noah, Abraham, and Moses. At the beginning of the New Covenant, which is to be eternal and irrevocable, there is a woman: the Virgin of Nazareth. It is a sign that points to the fact that “in Jesus Christ” “there is neither male nor female” (Gal 3:28). In Christ the mutual opposition between man and woman - which is the inheritance of original sin - is essentially overcome. “For you are all one in Jesus Christ”, Saint Paul will write.
