Mary’s Wonder

In Mary’s troubled wonder, a virgin’s humble “yes” welcomed the eternal Son into our world.

Gospel

Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man? And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

From Puzzlement to Prayer

Mary, the virgin Jewess destined for divine motherhood and magnification, received her vocation in obscurity and wonder. Troubled by the angel Gabriel’s salutation hailing her as “favored” and full of “grace,” she braced herself for God’s incredible proposal to make her the mother of his Son. “Fear not,” Gabriel assured Mary, “for you have found favor with God.” Twice, the angel honored the humble handmaid with divine favor as the chosen vessel of divine grace (charis) from eternity, fulfilling God’s plan of cosmic salvation. 

Overwhelmed with her salvific role as the mother of God’s only-begotten Son, heir to the throne of David, Mary puzzled over the human impossibility of the plan. “For I know not man,” the virgin avowed. What is impossible for man is possible for God: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you,” the angel declared. As the new Eve, the Ever-Virgin Mother of God will bear in her womb the new Adam, who will unite into one the sons and daughters of God. The Virgin Mother and her Virgin Son, uniting the divided human race, will become the gateway and portal for personal communion in the Virgin Trinity.

“For just as [Eve] was led astray by the word of an angel, so that she fled from God when she had transgressed his word; so also did Mary, by an angel’s word, receive the glad tidings that she should bear God, being obedient to his word. And whereas the former had been disobedient to God, the latter was persuaded to be obedient to God, in order that the Virgin Mary might become the advocate of the virgin Eve.”

St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book V, Chapter 19