Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word.”
Luke 1, 38
God decreed that our salvation should require free human collaboration with him, since Adam and Eve freely chose to disobey God and incur mankind’s fall from grace. God could have redeemed us by some path other than the Incarnation, but it’s clear God willed otherwise. God did not depend on Mary’s free consent, but he chose Mary to be the mother of his Only-begotten Son because he knew Mary would say “Yes” to his will just as we should if we hope to be saved. God’s gift of salvation hasn’t been super-imposed on us for God doesn’t necessarily have to save us. But in his love and wisdom God desires that everyone be saved. And the only way we can be saved is to freely return his love by observing his word. Thus Elizabeth joyfully exclaims:
“And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the ‘sound of your greeting’ reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."
Luke 1, 43-45
Mary is praised for her faith, which in order to be genuine must be based on a free love of God. Through Mary’s faith our Saviour came into the world. Her mediatory role in God’s plan of salvation is depicted in the imagery of the sound of Mary’s greeting which connects the child in her womb with the child in her cousin’s womb. Mary is our most powerful advocate among the saints in the order of grace, for she has given us the Source of All Grace himself through the divine gift of her Divine Maternity.