Vigils Reading – Memorial of the BVM

THE VIRGIN AND THE HUMAN RACE

From the writing of Matthew the Poor7

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“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word”. These first recorded words of the Virgin reveal awesome depths of her character, but unfortunately because we tend to concentrate on her youth and simplicity, we pass over her words without pondering over them and so miss their depth.

The Virgin here is taking a firm and decisive stand with respect to herself, the world, and God. She believed the annunciation of the angel and perceived that it was a heavenly proclamation that she had indeed been chosen to bear in her womb a child begotten by God without human seed. God would be His father directly, so He would be called Holy, one of the most special and supreme attributes of God. He would also be called Son of the Most High, and Emmanuel (God is with us). When Mary believed this she gave herself to God as His handmaid, or slave, in the sense that she committed herself totally to Him, body, soul, and spirit.

By this commitment, which took the form almost of an oath or everlasting covenant, the Virgin consecrated her whole life to God after the mystery had taken place in her. According to this covenant that she took upon herself, she became, as far as she herself was concerned, committed to virginity, and as far as the world was concerned, she became the supreme example of purity, and as far as God was concerned, she became a slave, completely owned by Him and living for Him alone.

Her heart, which God made his possession through the Holy Spirit, beat now only for the sake of the holy Word of God that was born of her.

We cannot overlook the feelings and emotions that were shared by the Virgin Mother and the Holy One who was born her son. The Virgin gave all her love and affection as a mother to the Christ she bore, and Christ reciprocated as her son with the same emotions and affection, showing her obedience… It is true that she was a handmaid, but the handmaid of God became the mother of the Son of God, though by her vow of total submission and obedience, the mother remained a handmaid.

When the Virgin understood clearly through the annunciation that she was to become the mother of the Holy One, the Son of God, she vowed that she would be a handmaid of God all her life. How different from Adam and Eve, who refused the word of God and deliberately and willfully ate of the food that God had forbidden them, intending to become like God Himself. The Virgin, by her words of commitment –“Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy word” — took Adam and Eve back to their state before the fall. Adam and Eve rejected the living and life-giving word of God and so the sentence of death was passed on them. The Virgin accepted the Word of God, the Word of life, and He entered into her and removed from her the curse of death: “Blessed are you among women”. The Virgin’s words, “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord,” which come after God had elevated her to be the mother of His Son, the Holy One, reveal her determination to go back before the fall and openly repudiate the sin of Adam and Eve