Daily Talks Introducing Herbert Schwartz Introducing Laura Jones Current Updates

 

Writings of Herbert Thomas Schwartz, T.O.P.

Our Lady of Guadalupe
The Maternity of Mary

The Little Flower's Theologian

On Living Therese's Little Way

Daily Talks of an American Staretz

The Meaning of the Cross:
To Overcome the Misgiving about God's Love for us
Which is the Effect of
The Sin of our First Parents

The Message of Lazarus:
Only as Dead and Stinking in our Sins Are we Able to Rise with Jesus

Dead to Our Sins in Christ,
We Can Rise in Him to New Life

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Magnificat anima mea Dominum. "My soul doth magnify the Lord." Lk 1:46 How, then, can a creature make God Himself great? Notice that Mary says this of her soul, in contradistinction to her spirit (which rejoices in the Lord.) She does not say that her soul rejoices, but that her soul magnifies the Lord, while her spirit rejoices. As Jesus says "My soul is sorrowful unto death" Mk 14:34, even as His Spirit was rejoicing. For it is in pain that she brings forth, as it was predicted. Gen 3:16 For notice too that Mary says this to Gabriel when the Lord says that she was "full of grace." Lk 1:28 And notice, too, that he does not say, merely, that she is full of grace: he calls her "full of grace" as by a proper name. For he says: "Hail, full of grace," as though one were to say "Hello, Mary." Only he does not say "Hail, Mary" but "Hail, full of grace." So that this "full of grace", gratia plena, is Mary's proper name, and a name, therefore, that distinguishes Mary from all others. Since, then, God alone knows what each thing is, what He made it to be, He along knows the name of each one of us, and those to whom He reveals it. And this name of Mary is revealed to us by the angel, Gabriel, and it is "Full of Grace"!

Editor: This is precisely the teaching of the eastern tradition, as we see in this Theotokion from Matins of the Sunday of the Paralytic:
"Awed by the beauty of thy virginity and the exceeding radiance of thy purity, Gabriel called out unto thee, O Theotokos: What worthy hymn of praise can I offer thee? And what shall I name thee? I am in doubt and stand in awe. Wherefore, as commanded, I cry to thee: Rejoice, O Full of Grace."
She alone, then, has this fulness, as Gabriel hastens to assure her: "Thou hast found grace with God." For "the Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there be any that understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together; there is none that doth good, no not one." Ps 13:2f But Mary has found grace with God. Notice too then, she did not have it of herself. Of herself she would have been without it as all the rest, but Mary, alone, found grace with God. "As the lily among the thorns, so is my love among the daughters." Cant 2:2 But why "among women"? For Mary is blessed among all souls. It seems to me that "women" signifies all souls, not only because of the fact that Mary is blessed among all souls, but because as a woman is to her husband, so is the soul to Christ, His spouse, so that the meaning would be that Mary is blessed among all the spouses of Christ, as she indeed is: "There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and young maidens without number. One is my dove, my perfect one is but one, she is the only one of her mother, the chosen of her that bore her. The daughters saw her, and declared her most blessed: the queens and concubines, and they praised her." Cant 6:7-8

This is Mary's name, then, "Full of grace", belonging to her alone as she was from all eternity in God's purpose, and as she is now in her own being. She is full of grace, then, as God made her to be filled with grace, to be filled with Him Who is Grace, to be the Mother of God. And thus it is no wonder that the name of Mary who was created to be the mother of God should be "full of grace" - for, being herself full of grace, she was to be filled with Grace.

And now consider that just as Mary alone was full of grace, so Mary alone magnifies the Lord, makes Him great. For God cannot be made greater than He is in Himself, or He would not be God. But He is made great only insofar as His Greatness is communicated to the creature as He comes to be known by a creature. For this is the essential communication of God to His creature, not by a remote participation in His Being, as He creates creatures. No, not even the creation of men, not even the creation of angels magnifies God in this way. No, for God is magnified as He is known, known as He knows Himself. For this is eternal life, to know God. (Jn 17:3) And it is Mary alone who knows Him by such perfect conformity that she is His very Mother. For notice how this is mysteriously insinuated by Mary's reply to the Angel, "How shall this be done, for I know not man?" And this "to know", thus, takes us to the beginning where we read that Adam "Knew Eve, who conceived and brought forth Cain." Gen 4:1 Thus Eve knew man and conceived a man.

But Mary "knew not man" because she was to conceive God. If, therefore, Eve, knowing man, conceives man, Mary conceives God because she knows God. And her knowing is so perfect that, like the knowing of the heavenly Father, it brings forth, not the accident of created wisdom, but the very Person of Uncreated Wisdom Who is the Son of the Father, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. And with Him, all the Elect! And in her, not only does Mary herself magnify God in a knowledge which is mystically one with the very knowledge of the Father, but she becomes the Mother of all those who are to know the Father even as He is known by the Son.