Mary’s Reflective Presence

Mary’s Reflective Presence

The Word Became Flesh

It may be, perhaps, a tribute to the practicality of an incarnational faith. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory …”.  (Jn. 1:14). For people in trouble whose first move is to Our Lady, this is so true. Part of the reflected grace and glory of the Word made flesh is the mother who brought him into the world. They see the loveliness of the mother having been first drawn to the Son.

Surely this is the point of the Christian faith. It is not for discussion or a book or a theory, but for a way of life. It ought to be earthed in the individual so as to interpret reality for him or her. “The student finds that there is so much to learn that learning must be thought out afresh by him from first principles and tested in actual experience, before it becomes really his own … He must live his opinions before they become knowledge”.  (Pauline and other studies, London, MCMVI p. 43).

Our Lady is Real and Present to So Many

This was a noted nineteenth century biblical student, W. M. Ramsay, and that insight is as valid now as then. It is precisely in attempting to live the faith and so belonging to the Church, that Our Lady is real and present to so many. Even those with tenuous connections with the faith tend to take what works for them. Others may have reservations, disapprove, but faith as lived becomes knowledge for many, who know from experience who to call on for a reflection of God’s presence in their lives. Even if the act is instinctive and the reasoning behind it not easily articulated, it suggests only that Our Lady evidently meets a felt need. As such it is a plus not a minus in life as lived.

In a world of global and individual mystery, where innocence and goodness may be crucified, to see within it the reassuring presence of a mother and child reflecting the concern of God, is not the least of the gifts given to some by the Catholic faith. The individual may know nothing of formal theology, nor may he or she be particularly Gospel-greedy, but the link between them and Our Lady may be enough for sanity here and salvation hereafter.

Contemplative Knowledge

The icons of the Orthodox Church which increasingly are becoming so valuable a part of Western devotional life, can help us further understand Our Lady and the way in which learning becomes knowledge as one’s thinking is tested by life. Quiet and still before an icon of the Mother of God and her Son, what does one see? Our Lady’s eyes invariably draw and hold the viewer. Generally they do not focus on any particular object, neither the viewer nor her Son.

Her Eyes Reflect the Light From Inside

Her eyes are not held by any horizon; and clearly reflect in wonder and contemplation the wealth of lived knowledge that Our Lady has made her own. The light comes from inside. Her eyes are so beautiful and attract because they reflect the loveliness of the heart. Mary’s reflective heart which the Gospel remarks on (Lk. 2:19, 51), is seen in her eyes. Viewed from within the community of faith, they draw the viewer to what she possesses and he or she shares. In so far as he warms to what she sees, he finds his faith living within him. Cor ad cor loquitur, heart speaks to heart, as she encourages him, without words, to make a lived reality of all that God is giving him in Christ.

The Artist Reflects What He Sees . . .

The gifted icon-painter produces a work of art, but more particularly a work of faith. What he tries to show through his brush is what he sees through his faith. Learning has become knowledge, part of himself, as he comes to know her presence in his life.  The icon has the power to illumine the whole of life.

The child held in Our Lady’s arms literally has an old head on young shoulders. She holds the incarnate Wisdom of God and clearly there is a two-way exchange as contemplating the Wisdom of God, her safe hands hold the child securely. Again, viewed from inside the community of faith, the viewer allows himself to be held by her, and from within that security, be drawn to taste the Wisdom of God that is his by faith. If, as Ramsay said, it is necessary to live our opinions before they become knowledge, faith viewed from within the arms of Our Lady as a pattern of everyday life, can offer encouragement and hope now and in the future.

. . . Through Faith

It is who she is in the providence of God that the viewer before the icon is drawn to consider. Her wealth is from within. He begins to see, perhaps, that it is inside himself that he can find her and the wealth of lived Christian experience that she offers. As Our Lady’s eyes are fixed on the truth within her, that she is all the time making her own, his eyes too no longer fix on an image, but are directed inside himself to the reality of faith that draws her.

No longer is an icon on a wall and a viewer in a chair. The heart of Our Lady leads him to reflect on what his own [heart] holds, and perhaps to realize that it cannot hold all that is given to God in Christ in response to her fiat. Open to her influence, intuitively, he invites her to open his heart too. Learning is becoming knowledge and not a word is said.

Gospel . . .

If what has been said so far is not unfettered speculation, it must be based on the Gospel. To be authentic, no experience  however personal, or painting however gifted. is valid if its underlying reality is not rooted in the Gospel. In moving  from learning to knowledge in the light of experience, the Gospel base is crucial.

Perhaps we can underline the Gospel base of what has been said by a glance at the episode of the visitation (Lk. 1:39-56). “In those days Mary arose and went with haste … she entered the house … and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb” (Lk. 1:39-40). Even read as an ‘objective account,’ written in the third person, one asks who is this Mary? She hurried to Elizabeth (an older woman who is with child) and as soon as she enters the house and greets (twice mentioned) Elizabeth, “the babe leaped in her womb”. Mary’s presence was electric, not least because she herself, overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, was carrying an unborn child who “will be called holy, the Son of God”. (Lk. 1:35).

Mary’s being, therefore, reflected the loveliness of the presence of God within her, when even her first polite greeting had such an effect. The Child leaped in Mary’s womb, and her heart registered the wonder and meaning. It is lovely as a domestic scene, but viewed through the eyes of faith, shows the potential loveliness of any situation graced by the presence of Our Lady.

. . . Based

The evangelist then repeats the story in the first person singular. Clearly, it is magical for him too. “For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy”.  (Lk. 1:44). The sound of Mary’s voice probably calling Elizabeth’s name – Elizabeth believes, causes her unborn child to leap for joy. We know what she felt. What did she hear? It is made plain that what Elizabeth had to say after she had heard Mary’s voice, came from a full heart – “and she exclaimed with a loud cry” (Lk. 1:42) – enlightened by the Holy Spirit. It is delightful at the level of a shared humanity, but ecstatic when experienced in that richer light.

Elizabeth guided by the Spirit exclaims in reflective wonder.  “Why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me”? (Lk. 1:43).  This is the note that succeeding generations will take up –  wonder in the company of ‘the Mother of my Lord.’ Elizabeth’s young friend has a unique God-given identity, which means that, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb”! (Lk. 1:42).

Finally, the enlightened Elizabeth sees that, “Blessed is she who believed …”. (Lk. 1:45). The prospect and promise held out to Mary in the providence of God has been wholly accepted by “the Lord’s slave”. (Lk. 1:38). At one with the will of God, therefore, she is entirely genuine, both in humanity and grace. Her voice does not deceive.

To Know What We See

That the mother of my Lord should come to me with all that she brings with her in humanity and grace is something to thank God for now, not just admire as a possible event caught in the time- warp two thousand years ago.

Contemplating that Gospel picture with something of the reflective eye of the icon-painter, we may come to see that it mirrors something of the reality of faith within us.

One in Christ with Mary through Baptism is to believe that she has come “with haste” to be with us – and has never left. The law of the body of Christ is to, “Owe no one anything, except to love one another”.  (Roms. 13:8). Always indebted to each other therefore in Christ, Mary for her part comes as she came to Elizabeth, and we may believe that the effects are the same now as then.

So the frightened passenger on the plane, even the “collapsed Catholic” who no longer formally practices his faith, can maintain a positive link with the divine, as they call her to come. The committed Christian, and the gifted icon- painter too, never can quite absorb the wonder and joy that “the Mother of my Lord should come to me”.

The sound of her name, as her voice then, can cause faith to leap within us, as reflecting on her presence, increasingly we see more of the wealth we have been given. In the contemplation of Mary in this Gospel story, learning can become knowledge through lived experience. All that is needed is to welcome her into our hearts.