Q&A: How can Saint Louis de Montfort state that Mary crushed the head of the serpent and give Genesis 3:15 as a reference? This is a distortion of scripture which says that the serpent shall strike at man’s heel, while man shall strike at the serpent’s heel and it is Jesus who did that. Isn’t that correct?
Father J. Patrick Gaffney, SMM
The contemporary reading of Gen 3: 15 is: “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.” Saint Louis de Montfort used the ancient Vulgate translation: “I will place enmities between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. She shall crush thy head and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.”
The word “seed”—i.e., progeny—is a masculine noun in Hebrew, and the masculine pronoun (he) refers to it. However, progeny is generally understood as a collective noun which is the reason why some English translations write: “they shall bruise your head . . . ” The text would, then, designate a struggle between the human race and the devil. However “seed” can also designate an individual which appears to be the case here. Therefore, within that collectivity, one person, Jesus, is the specific descendant who conquers the devil through His Incarnation, death and resurrection. It is in Him that all the children of Eve are victorious.
However, along with the Vulgate, the Church sees Mary as crushing the serpent’s head in an absolutely unique way, always of course, through Jesus and in Jesus. Especially her representative yes at the annunciation and also the Church’s conviction of her sinlessness, show that in Jesus our Redeemer, Mary participates as none other in this victory won by her Son.
Presuming that we understand this text “as read in the Church and understood in the light of further and full revelation,” we can say that Mary was “prophetically foreshadowed in that promise of victory over the serpent which was given to our first parents after their fall into sin (of. Gen 3:15)” (Vatican II, Constitution on the Church, 55). The woman of Genesis 3:15, the mother of the “seed” who will crush the devil and who shares eminently in that conquest, is the victorious Eve: Mary, the Mother of Jesus.
This statue of Mary resides in The Monfort Spiritual Center.
… the Church sees Mary as crushing the serpent’s head in an absolutely unique way, always of course, through Jesus and in Jesus.
Note from the Editor: Expansion of the Answer.
The Hebrew of this sentence can be translated in three ways. Each are equally accurate and equally good. That is why when one looks at the passage, depending upon the Bible version, it can read differently. But to understand it fully, to know what God is saying, one needs to be aware of the three translations: … in speaking to the snake, you will strike out and attack her heel…their heel or his heel.
Listen to this audio that helps in responding to this question. Also, there is a discussion about Genesis 3:15 which was known as the Gospel before there were Gospels. The fifteen minute audio is an excerpt from a larger conference on Devotion to Mary. The audio analyzes the passage in context of When did Mary become involved with your salvation? However, the discussion not only covers this passage in a unique manner, it explains the three translations.
We encourage you to listen to this audio as part of understanding the answer to this question.
