The Guidance of Mary
Fr. Donald Macdonald, SMM
THE GUIDANCE OF MARY
T he late John Main wrote that a friend, a Ramakrishna monk living in London England, once asked him how he proposed to teach people to meditate. “Sit down, sit erect, say the mantra, and that’s that,” he said. That approach with a group of westerners was a mistake said his friend. It’s too simple. They won’t believe you. Complicate it a little. Say that you have some esoteric teaching handed down over centuries from John Cassian—a nice name which will attract people —to be given over a ten week course . . .
As ever, the outsider sees most of the game. It is good to laugh at ourselves. The Ramakrishna monk had a point. Once we have a prayer-stool, the icon in place, the lighting adjusted and the breathing managed – and been on a course – we are in business. Now we can pray.
As a pastoral priest whose preferred form of ministry is the Sunday homily in the parish church, I too wonder if we complicate prayer unnecessarily. Undoubtedly, to have met John Main or his friend would have helped us to pray. But is there a more practically relevant way for all of us members of a mixed Sunday congregation? God present in the risen Christ in the wonder of Mass, cannot be so miserly with his grace, that for lack of contact with a prayer seminar or specialist guide, we are forever in the minor leagues. Experience proves otherwise.
SEARCHING …
This is not to suggest that a guide or teacher is not desirable in encouraging us to pray. It is, but logically, such help should be found FIRST in my own neighborhood. “When the disciple is ready the teacher will appear”. If first I use the bread immediately to hand, I can profit from a richer diet elsewhere should God choose to guide me there. Otherwise such food will prove indigestible to an undernourished system, even if I travel to India looking for a guru. I met Australian, American and European Catholics, when I lived in India, searching for God and authentic living. I used to wonder what they might find with the same energies channeled int0 THEIR real presence before the Blessed Sacrament in their parish churches at home.
… FOR GOD AND AUTHENTIC LIVING
Accepting that an authentic guide to prayer is a blessing, and realistically, in the providence of God, needs to be found in whatever circumstances I find myself, what is the main trait to hope for in such a person? Basically, their practical help will depend on the degree to which he or she is at one with the will of God. “I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him . . . bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing”. (Jn. 15:5).
The closer the teacher is to living that organic life, the easier it is to be a channel for whatever God wishes to communicate. The less of me in the way, the easier it 1s for God ln Christ to BE the way. The best teacher reflects the light he or she has been given, and attracts others to share the vision, in the hope that they will be drawn to see further still. “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples”. (Jn. 15:8).
MARY TRUE GUIDE
Against this background, Our Lady, it seems to me, is the ideal guide. First of all, she is with me now. Since through baptism I am one with her in Christ, Vine and branches, she is wherever I am. I do not need to travel or pay to find her. Just BE with her in Christ in faith working through love. She is as close to every man, woman and child in the Sunday congregation as we invite her to be. It is being practical, therefore, to open myself to her influence on the way to an authentic life with Christ in God. She can teach me to talk to her Son and just be with him.
As far as the authentic teacher’s oneness with the will of God is concerned, literally Mary has no equal. This is, of course, the source of her influence. It is inconceivable that she could trespass on my space, distract or mislead me. At one with her, I am taken into the wonder of what she now sees of God in Christ. It is a present relationship waiting to be fully realized. The beauty of it is that living a life hidden with Christ in God with her, it can invite me into unfathomable depths of love and giving. Stunted Christian lives never came from living that relationship in Christ – “these things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full”. (Jn. 15:11).
Madonna and Child: Hodegetria: Italian Painter: Berlinghiero of Lucca: 1230
This painting is amazing, more so than being almost 800 years old. It is also known as Hodegetria, or “She Who Points the Way” in Russian. There are a number of paintings with a similar style. On this website is a 1400’s version as well. Indeed, there are several versions on this site, including this link. The original Hodegetria, according to tradition, was painted by St. Luke. This version is a tempera on wood and resides at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This is captured so well in the Orthodox Church’s icons of the HODGITRIA—”She who shows us the way”. Our Lady holds her Child on her left arm as she points to him with her right hand. He, dressed in robes of divinity, holds the scroll of the Scriptures, and with his right hand blesses. Presence, dignity and wonder are there in an integrated picture. There is no tension. They are at one with each other. Mary’s eyes draw the viewer to her Son, at ease as she holds him. One wants to follow where she leads. This is real presence into which we are drawn. To this reality she gave birth, and as the icon suggests, now draws us still.
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SHE WHO . . .
This is captured so well in the Orthodox Church’s icons of the HODGITRIA—”She who shows us the way”. [Note: One version of the image is shown on this page]. Our Lady holds her Child on her left arm as she points to him with her right hand. He, dressed in robes of divinity, holds the scroll of the Scriptures, and with his right hand blesses. Presence, dignity and wonder are there in an integrated picture. There is no tension. They are at one with each other. Mary’s eyes draw the viewer to her Son, at ease as she holds him. One wants to follow where she leads. This is real presence into which we are drawn. To this reality she gave birth, and as the icon suggests, now draws us still. “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain”. (Jn. 15:16). Precisely so.
This is a glimpse of the present reality open to the Sunday congregation, if we are willing to live with Mary the implications of being one in Christ’s Vine and branches. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love” (Jn. 15:9). Here is the dynamic drawing Mary and myself together in Christ. It is a divine creation. The comparison which Christ finds to express his love for us is that of the Father for himself, which we believe is the Holy Spirit! That is unquantifiable. Here we are invited to ‘abide’ as a present relationship is being described.
. . . SHOWS US THE WAY
A guide to prayer might help us to explore this awesome wonder within which we live. Our Lady has lived this on earth and lives now in glory to a degree beyond our imagining. She, above all, could help this become a living reality for me. Words cannot be found to express this, but her experience could if I am alive to her presence. She must have so much to give like the best of teachers.
At one with her in her Son I can grow as the relationship develops. It offers all the intimacy of knowledge and love reflecting as it does a Gospel life. “I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (Jn. 15:15). This shared life is God’s gift, therefore, and if it is to flourish must intend constant interaction – or it cannot be described in terms of knowledge and love. My own insensitivity and lack of insight is self-evident, but on Our Lady’s part, her perception is such that she can be the one who shows the way.
DEDICATION
Perhaps a final illustration may sum up and put ln concrete terms something of the relationship between ourselves and Our Lady in Christ. The icon expressing the faith and insight of a gifted and graced painter can help us see a little. So too can the relationship between a man and a woman genuinely in love. Three dedications from books by three different men may make the point.
- “To . . . my dearest and affectionate wife, the author dedicates this work, which she has continually encouraged, fostered and looked forward to these last twenty five years”.
- “This book is dedicated to Mary, dearly beloved, who with a bright vision beyond the things of earth, has inspired and controlled it”.
- “Above all comes my debt to my mother, whose years of sacrifice on her family’s behalf is I hope rewarded in some small measure by this volume, and to . . . my wife and true yokefellow, whose love and patience have been a constant inspiration and support in all the hours spent on this book.”1
These are from books of genuine scholarship by men of international reputation for their specialist contributions to their field of study. Fellow scholars and students are indebted to them. They are well known. Their wives (and mother) are not. Yet these dedications give a glimpse of what they know to be their debt to these women. Years of study, reflection and hard work were supported by them at every stage. No one has heard of them, yet the authors (who should know) say that their influence is on every page. If the production of a book is in any way creative, clearly here it is jointly so.
HER PRESENCE . . .
What is hinted at here is the vitality of a relationship between husband and wife. There is no patronizing reference to ‘the little woman at home’ as the man goes abroad and wins an international reputation. It is a true partnership – cor ad cor loquitur. The women’s creative love is part of the joint achievement. They reach the authors at a level the regard of their peers or students never could. The wife is part of who her husband is and what he does. The light or insight offered by the scholarship in the books is, therefore, a shared gift.
. . . DRAWS ME TO WHERE SHE IS IN CHRIST
There is no need to labor the implications for Our Lady and myself in Christ. “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (Jn. 15:4). There Our Lady is. It is realized knowledge for her. This is what she reflects. Myself . . . ? Her graced inspirational presence, if only I open myself to her, must draw me to where she is in Christ. Indwelt by the creative Spirit through whom she gave birth in her Son to a new creation, she can do as much for me. Her love too is creative like that mentioned earlier. She personifies the command of Christ “that you love one another as I have loved you” (Jn. 15:12). She too is dedicated to this and always here.
It may be my immaturity in faith which has me at times trying to place Mary in some uneasy collage with God, my neighbor and myself. True insight is unitive and I may not have such enlightenment. Being who she is and seeing what she does in Christ, Mary is not like the enthusiastic, interfering ‘helper’ going about as a bee and proving to be an irritating nuisance. Rather, like the faith of the painter reflected in the icon, and so many who have lived open to her influence, we too can be blessed with the perspective to see her as ‘the God-bearer who shows us the way.’ P
FOOTNOTE
1) C.H. Dodd, The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel (C.U.P. 1953).
N. Turner, Christian Words (T. and T. Clark 1980).
J.D.C. Dunn, Baptism in the Holy Spirit (S.C.M. 1970).
