"Who is she..."

[MariaChristi]

Who is she: Here is a beautiful metaphor describing the church from the beginning. As, the morning rising, signifying the church before the written law; fair as the moon, showing her under the light of the gospel: and terrible as an army, the power of Christ’s church against its enemies.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The above quote is taken from a website commentary on the Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible, on the Song of Solomon 6:10. We can also hear these words in terms of Mary as icon of the Church – words prayed daily by Legion of Mary members as an antiphon before praying the Magnificat:

Who is she that comes forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array

Perhaps because I was baptized with the name Deborah Mary, I have been aware of the “Warrior/Mother” in both the Old and the New Testament for some years now. Warrior is one who fights, and in terms of Mary our Mother we know she is ever interceding for us in our war against evil. God has put enmity between her and satan as He told satan:

I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel. Gen 3:15

The same commentary explains:

She shall crush: Ipsa, the woman; so divers of the fathers read this place, conformably to the Latin: others read it ipsum, viz., the seed. The sense is the same: for it is by her seed, Jesus Christ, that the woman crushes the serpent’s head.

Yes, ultimately it is the Lord Who is the Warrior, and yet it is by God’s Design that Jesus came to us through the woman Mary Immaculate.

Today’s Mass Readings include these words from Exodus for the Responsorial:

…The LORD is a warrior,
LORD is his name!

By God’s design, Mary comes like the dawn before every rising of her SON in our hearts. As the moon reflects the sun, she perfectly reflects her Son’s Light. We see her “by faith” shining with His Light as we too are called to shine with His Light, and we need to be as “terrible” – that is “mighty and strong” as an army set in battle array against our enemy satan. The evil one continues to war against us (Rev. 12: 17). Today, perhaps more than ever before, he prowls like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. By God’s Grace, through and with Mary, we need to fight the good fight, resisting evil, steadfast in our faith, with our brothers and sisters all over the world. (cf 1 Pet 5: 8-11)

Deborah, prophetess in the Old Testament (Judges 4: 4 - 31), told Barak: “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, 'Go, gather your men…” but Barak answered: “If you go with me, I will go; but if you do not go with me, I will not go.” That has always been significant to me as an indication that God wants us to go with Mary into battle. Sung after the battle, is a beautiful phrase, “…you arose, Deborah, as a mother in Israel.” Deborah is a pre-figure of the Mother of all the Faithful who never abandons her children but goes with them to battle the enemies of God.

Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us. Hold us always in the crossing of your arms, close to your Immaculate Heart, one with Jesus.

 

[pianistclare]

You should really post this in the NUMEROUS threads that begin :
“I don’t understand why you Catholics love Mary so much”.

 

[MariaChristi]

You should really post this in the NUMEROUS threads that begin :
“I don’t understand why you Catholics love Mary so much”.

Dear pianistclare,

Thanks so much for your reply and the suggestion. I used to “enjoy” debate as a young person, but it has become really painful and almost impossible for me to debate on a Catholic Forum anymore. So many who say “I don’t understand” seem not even to try listening. More often they simply repeat what they do accept - as it agrees with their own opinions.

On the other hand when persons really “want to understand” they will post in a non-debate area and God gives me patience in trying to help them understand according to God’s Holy Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church.

St. Therese of Lisieux’s poem, “Why I love You, O Mary” is a favorite poem of mine. She stays with the Gospel and draws from the Scripture the beautiful truth about our Mother Mary. If you are engaged in some of those threads with people who don’t understand why we Catholics love Mary so much, maybe St. Therese can help them. Maybe they can hear in her poetry, what is difficult for them to hear in other ways.

 

[pianistclare]

Dear pianistclare,

Thanks so much for your reply and the suggestion. I used to “enjoy” debate as a young person, but it has become really painful and almost impossible for me to debate on a Catholic Forum anymore. So many who say “I don’t understand” seem not even to try listening. More often they simply repeat what they do accept - as it agrees with their own opinions.

On the other hand when persons really “want to understand” they will post in a non-debate area and God gives me patience in trying to help them understand according to God’s Holy Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church.

St. Therese of Lisieux’s poem, “Why I love You, O Mary” is a favorite poem of mine. She stays with the Gospel and draws from the Scripture the beautiful truth about our Mother Mary. If you are engaged in some of those threads with people who don’t understand why we Catholics love Mary so much, maybe St. Therese can help them. Maybe they can hear in her poetry, what is difficult for them to hear in other ways.

Thanks, I needed that.
I’m almost to the point of quitting CAF…I can’t handle all the Mary nay-sayers…I know they’re not Catholic and don’t “get” it, but it’s still really tiresome and sad.

I know Our Lady doesn’t need me to defend her, I know Jesus understands. All these things I know I shouldn’t even care about. I decided to try my hardest not to respond to any threads about Mary.
I’m trying. Thanks for the poem.
Peace.

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks, I needed that.
I’m almost to the point of quitting CAF…I can’t handle all the Mary nay-sayers…I know they’re not Catholic and don’t “get” it, but it’s still really tiresome and sad.

I know Our Lady doesn’t need me to defend her, I know Jesus understands. All these things I know I shouldn’t even care about. I decided to try my hardest not to respond to any threads about Mary.
I’m trying. Thanks for the poem.
Peace.

Dearest sister in Jesus and Mary,

I think it is still good to defend Our Lady, but we need to pray to the Holy Spirit before we say anything, it seems to me. We really need to discern if the person wants to argue or if the person is really seeking Truth. Consider the fact that Jesus did not always answer the questions put to Him by the Pharisees. Even speaking to His disciples, sometimes we are surprised by the way He answers them. Of course, Jesus is God and He always knows the Truth each one needs to hear.

It is still good to care about those who don’t really know Mary (or Jesus). When we discern a person really doesn’t want to listen, we can always pray that God speak in ways we cannot. I remember starting to respond to someone on another Forum with the words: “I do not want to reply as a debater but rather as a sister.” (I had checked his profile page to determine if he were Catholic or not; I found he described himself as being in full communion with the Catholic Church). I spent a long time on my reply and trusted the Lord to use my words to help this person. He didn’t answer for a long time. When he finally did reply, he didn’t seem to have heard much of what I said.

The next time he posted, to a different thread, I replied again by God’s grace as lovingly and sisterly as I could, but I also sent a PM to the moderator and asked her if she wanted to move the thread on Mary which I had started, to a debate forum. She decided to rempve his post and told me this particular person is always in “debate mode”. She put a Moderator’s note under my reply and explained she had removed the post but left my reply since it might help others.

Just recently, and this is before I read your reply to this tread, I had thought of starting a thread entitled: “I can’t understand why people don’t love Mary?” but then I decided against it because only God can really understand any human heart, including mine. It seems better for me to keep praying and speaking the Truth I hear from Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium, as lovingly as I can, especially about Mary because God chose to send Jesus to us through Mary and that is His Design for us to follow. We return to the Father in the same way: through Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we receive Jesus and He takes us to the Father. He also enables us like Mary, by His Grace, to carry Jesus to others. Some saints were especially gifted in apologetics and defending the Truths of the Catholic Church, including Mary. They can defend the faith well in debates. I don’t think I have that kind of gift.

Well, this is a rather long reply, but it is always a joy to speak with any child of Mary – especially the ones who love her as you do!

 

[liturgy96]

I love your posts, MariaChristi! They are an excellent blend of Scripture and other Catholic works that are timeless indeed This particular post caught my attention because of the blend of the Old and New Testament in it (I do not often see those verses juxtaposed with one another); I also like the way it was applied to Holy Mother Church

Mother of the Word, pray for us!

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear liturgy96,

Thanks for your reply and the encouragement to me personally to continue writing and defending Mary. When I write, I see the number of views and hope some are really hearing something from the Holy Spirit. Whatever the replies may be, I believe God is working good in ALL things, (cf Romans 8:28). If I’ve written anything worthwhile, I am sure it is due to God’s Mercy, as Mary herself sings in Luke 1:46 - 55:

…“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For He has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him…

How grateful I am for the gift Mary has been and continues to be in my life and in the life of all who hear God’s Word and like Mary continually ponder and keep Him in their hearts! The testimony of so many saints throughout history proclaim: all ages have indeed called her blessed. Their lives, like hers, reveal God’s great Love for humble sons and daughters who recognize His greatness and their own lowliness before Him. Mary is the fairest honor of our race and each saint learned as Mary did from the power of the Holy Spirit and the revelation of Her Son, Jesus. God continues to do great things today through Mary.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church makes clear:

CCC - 487 What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.

**CCC - 488 **“God sent forth his Son”, but to prepare a body for him, he wanted the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose for the mother of his Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, “a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary”:

“The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a share in the coming of death, so also should a woman contribute to the coming of life.”

God has given Mary to be our Mother and Model, as a human person who was the perfect disciple of Jesus. As Mary gave her total “Yes” to God, so by His Grace , we are called to do the same. The more we learn of Mary, the closer we come to Christ, Whom she knew as no other human person ever, has or will know Him, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

St. John Paul II said it well during a 1982 address to the Legion of Mary. He said that if one moves away from the Mother, it is not long before that one moves away from the Son as well. Let us stay close to Mary, learning from her to be like Jesus, and one with Him and Her let us offer ourselves totally to the Father, by the power of His Spirit.