Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae.
Today, we honor that mystery of Our Lady, which is perhaps the greatest of the mysteries
relating to Our Lady, that is, her divine maternity, that the Blessed Virgin Mary truly
is the Mother of God, and it is crucial for us as members of the Church to have a proper
understanding of this most profound mystery and doctrine of the Church.
Indeed, when we reflect upon this mystery, the very fact that most families can still
come to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on this day is rooted in this mystery.
We may try to change the truth and call it the Winterfest, but winter is festive because
it is in the darkness that is the winter of our sin that the Blessed Virgin Mary became
the Mother of God.
We may try to call it the first night, and it is true.
It is the first night, not because of what it has become, but because it is the night
and the day of the Blessed Virgin Mary in which we honor this most extraordinary,
extraordinary prerogative of the Mother of God, her divine maternity.
And so, it is a truth that cannot be known by human reason alone because it is not in
the natural order, but it can only be revealed to us by divine revelation and the threefold
means by which God carries that revelation to the hearts of men, that is, either through
sacred scripture, tradition, or the Mass.
The Magistratum of the Church.
And it is this ladder that determines what the true scripture is, and what the true tradition
is.
And so, this mystery cannot ultimately be understood unless those who accept – unless
those who accept the authority of the Pope turn to him for a proper understanding.
For here we are dealing with something that is of the supernatural order and we are dealing
with a mystery that is beyond our comprehension.
. . . that is…..with human reality!
human reason unaided by the grace of God and without the full acceptance of this
doctrine of Our Lady's divine maternity that she truly is the mother of God the
whole Christian order crumbles if we do not understand this because as Cardinal
John Henry Newman so eloquently pointed out the Virgin Mary is the guardian of
the Incarnation and being the guardian of the Incarnation she is the guardian
of all the mysteries that the Incarnation reveals to us and so truly
we erect crescent crescent in order to honor this mystery because it is not a
mere child by way of human generation that is born in the cave of Bethlehem
but it is the Son of God true God and true man and so Holy Mother Church
declares of the divine maternity that in the second person of the Blessed Trinity
there is a union between the humanity and the divinity of
Christ that is the nature of God and the nature of man are united in one
person a divine person commonly known but as the hypostatic union it is
similar to that union of body and soul but it is truly more extraordinary
indeed one of the doctrines that is taught when we have a proper concept of
the human person that the human person is a person because he is a union of
body and soul that union of body and soul
on the natural order points out to that union that is most extraordinary that is
the union of the nature of God and the nature of man in one person and so
unlike us when we say I and my neighbor are unique persons in Christ the two
natures exist in a single person and he truly is the second person of the
Blessed Trinity and so this union is not as many errors declare a temporary
inhabitation of the divinity and the you you humanity in this understanding
Mary simply was the mother of a man who is destined to be the temporary dwelling
of God and so not the mother of God in the second error most common in trying to
explain this doctrine we are told a very close moral union not only of a
perpetual indwelling of the divinity in the humanity of Christ but also the
faithful cooperation
of this humanity with the divinity. Hence, in this understanding, the Blessed Virgin Mary
is the mother of Christ, but not the mother of God. And in order to understand why it is so
important that we have the Catholic understanding, we need to turn to those who have had most
profound insight in the matter. Father Dennis Fahey points out in explaining this doctrine
under the title of the social reign of Christ the King, he points out that the modern devolution
into pantheism began not with a secular movement, but began with the Protestant revolution in which
the sacramental order crumbled and the indissolubility of marriage was denied. And with
it, the supernatural order began to be eroded. And why? Because ultimately, the principle
of the sacramental order was to be eroded. And why? Because ultimately, the principle of the
sacramental order was to be eroded. And why? Because ultimately, the principle of the sacramental
doctrine that is ultimately denied is the divine maternity. And if we do not accept the divine
maternity, then the whole order of redemption begins to crumble and mankind is set on that path,
falling earnestly into that common error, that devolution into pantheism. And indeed, when we turn
to the vicar of Christ, we see very clearly that Pope Pius IX declared that by one and the same
decree, the origin of Mary and the incarnation of divine wisdom were decided. And so it is to
the vicar of Christ that we turn to truly understand that what we are speaking of here
is truly the divine maternity, that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the mother of God and hence our
mother in the supernatural order, or what is called the spiritual motherhood of the Blessed
Virgin Mary. And indeed, in this doctrine we see the very reason for the existence of the Blessed
Virgin Mary. She was called into existence in order to be the mother of God, and so as man,
Christ would reveal himself to us. And so in her spiritual maternity, the Blessed Virgin Mary
cooperates with the Blessed Trinity in the restoration of fallen humanity by way of being
mediatrix of all graces, and that is crucial for us.
To understand, for the sacramental order is a grace and hence it was acquired by the Blessed
Virgin Mary. As mother, she requested it. She requested the whole sacramental dispensation
and indeed the existence of the church. And so truly, all things come to us from the mediation
of the mother of God, because in being the mother of Christ, she becomes the mother of all of
humanity. And so she seeks one thing in one thing. And so she seeks one thing in one thing. And so
she seeks one thing only. And this has very practical ramifications if we deny it. For if we
deny it, then our whole culture begins to express that inveterate error of mankind, that is, that
fall into that form of pantheism by which we declare that we are God. Indeed, is this not the
most ancient of all errors? By denying the divine maternity, we fall for the trap of Satan. As he
said to our first parents,
And so pantheism was the most ancient of errors that Satan began to sow into mankind, that we are all in some way a spark of God. And indeed, we see very clearly this has crept into our very culture and what we may call
techno-pantheism,
That is, pantheism for the Western mind, for it is an error of the Orient, it's an Sirian ancient error, it is an old error, because it is the error that Satan caused our first-parents
to fall to. And so in techno-pantheism we see this brought to us by many of the modern
icons of our cultural expression. In most recent one entitled Revenge of the fallen, we
learn that the fallen are simply
a spark of colonization.
Naturopathy was đó.la
from God, and in this movie, God becomes a jealous tyrant because the
fallen have realized their divinity, and so they come to earth in order to teach
mankind that they too are God, and so we see very clearly that when we disguise
it in technology, it is simply to cover an ancient error, an error that is always
about, always ancient, and always new, just like the truths of our faith are always
ancient and always new, and so let us be on God, because if we understand the
divine maternity, then we understand our mission and our call not to cooperate in
a culture that has denied this divine maternity at its very core, and so we can
be like God, but only if we try to reconcile ourselves through the
mediation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. If we do not turn to her, then we inevitably
fall into the trap of the devil.
That ancient error that Satan is always trying to get us to bite on, that in some
way we recognize that we too are God. We are not God, we are his creatures, and in
dealing with his most holy mother, we're dealing with that which is, after God, the
most holy thing in the created order. Indeed, it is not conceivable, as both St.
Bonaventure, St. Thomas, and others point out, it is not conceivable that in the
created order, God could not be the one who would be the one who would be the one who
could work a better work than he did in constituting Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception, her
preparation to be the mother of God, and so we are dealing after God with the most holy
of all things, and so let us turn to her who has reconciled us to God the Father and continues
to reconcile us and will continue until the end of time, for it is entrusted to her to
crush the head of the ancient serpent.
As a good mother does, because the Blessed Virgin Mary is not guided by sentimental thoughts,
but she is guided by true maternity, in which she seeks to protect her children, always
and everywhere, from the errors that are about, and so she truly does crush the head
of the serpent, always striving to reconcile those who have fallen for his errors, always
striving to reconcile them with God, because she is a true mother.
Not counting the cost to herself, but always, especially when she dwelt in this world, always
suffering in union with her Son, in order that mankind may be elevated from his fallen
state and be claimed through baptism as a son of God, and so let us truly understand
that if we cooperate with our modern culture, we do so ultimately because, in practice,
we are denying the divine maternity of the mother of God, because we have not understood
the mystery.
And so, we must always ponder this mystery of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her divine
Son, so that we can see what true, authentic human life is, and try to imitate that life.
Imitate that life at Bethlehem, imitate that life at Nazareth, imitate that life in Egypt,
imitate that life in Jerusalem, and ultimately, to imitate that life on Calvary, in which
the Blessed Virgin Mary truly becomes the mother of all humanity.
Of the highest of all orders, because it is greater to be the spiritual mother of humanity
than to be the natural mother, and so, while mothers of the human order truly share in
a great dignity in cooperating with God and bringing about another human soul, it is a
dignity that is far surpassed by the spiritual maternity of the mother of God, and so, let
us not fall for the techno-pantheism of our modern age, but let us truly enter into that
life of the Divine Mother.
The Divine Mother and her most holy child, striving to imitate that life, living a simple
and a holy life, always united with God, because in this doctrine, Our Lady, who is always
perfectly holy, increases in her holiness in a way and in a manner that is unspeakable
in this life, for it is not possible for us to truly comprehend it, but at each and every
moment of her life, she enters more and more into the mystery of her union with the Blessed
Trinity, so that there can be no moment in her life in which it can be said of her she
in some way is defective in her perfection.
She is always the most perfect of all creatures, because she is always and everywhere growing
in the love of God, and indeed, she does so for all eternity, and so, she becomes the
model and exemplar of every Christian who truly strives to seek union with God, and
so, let us not unite ourselves with the modern errors of this world, but let us always and
everywhere remain united to her, who truly is the Mother of God, not by way of sentimentality
or any other way, but truly, she gave birth and she conceived in her womb the Son of God,
true God and true man, who has come to reveal to us the way back to God, and that way is
not by way of the revenge of the falling.
But that is the way of those who humble themselves in the cave at Bethlehem, and humble themselves
at every moment of their life, recognizing what the Mother has done for us, and so, let
us turn to her, who truly is our Mother, and let us ask her to intercede for us in our
day and age, so that all error disappears, so that only the love of Mary remains in this
world, because it is only her love that is truly life-giving, and it was that human life
that she gave to the Savior, that human life that he would sacrifice for our sakes, and
so, let us strive always to sacrifice ourselves for their sake.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.