The Feminine Face of God

Woman of Revelation 12

It is apparent that the once common reference to Mary among Catholics as "the feminine face of God" has been suppressed since Vatican II.  Some modern, feminist theologians are perfectly happy with the status quo of a marginalized Mary.  Yet they are not satisfied with the lack of feminine names and imagery used for God and the excessively patriarchal language that has dominated Christianity.  Instead of focusing on Mary as Queen of Heaven, they seek to feminize the Holy Spirit. This seems to me to signify a failure to connect the theological dots.

The problem is solved if one follows the Marian teachings of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who understood Mary as the "quasi incarnation" of the Holy Spirit.  The union of the Blessed Mother with the third person of the Trinity is not equivalent to the hypostatic union of the human Jesus with the divine Son of God.  He often clarified that Jesus' mother is completely human (though she partakes in the divine nature of her Son, as do all heavenly saints).  Yet the union between Mary and the Spirit is so profound as to make them function as one being, while each retains her own, personal nature.  Together they provide motherly intercession in the work of the salvation of humankind.  Both have traditionally been given the title, Advocate by the Church.  Kolbe saw Mary as bride of the Holy Spirit, but more specifically as divine Sanctuary. 

In my spiritual contemplation I have come to the same conclusion as Catholic writer Thomas Merton, that the spirit Sophia of the Wisdom Books of the Bible is the ousia of God, contained in each member of the Trinity.  In my own words, Sophia is the feminine nature of God at the heart of the Trinity, who is revealed most perfectly in the Holy Spirit and manifested personally in the Virgin Mary and cosmologically in Ecclesia, Holy Mother Church.  For this reason it is fitting to refer at times to the Holy Spirit as "she", the immanent Mother-Love of God who indwells all members of the body of Christ.  Now we can understand Mary as revealing the feminine face of God, in her role as Mother of God and Mother of the Church.  A choice does not need to be made between Mary in her full cosmological presence and the naming of the Holy Spirit, when appropriate, as the "feminine" member of the Godhead (always keeping in mind that God is pure spirit, neither male nor female).  The two concepts, in essence, are complementary, together revealing the mystery of the sacred feminine.

What Did Vatican II Really Do to Mariology?

 Queen of Heaven by Nicholas Roerich, 1931

I have been researching the question of the effect of the Marian teachings of Vatican II on the liturgy and personal devotions for some time. I have drawn no absolute conclusions, but I can make some definite observations. It is striking to me that very early in my journey to the Catholic Church, I caught on to the the current division between what I now classify as "traditionalists" and "progressives". How much of this is primarily a debate among academics versus the populace I am not sure. It seems safe to say that there are those who like Vatican II and those who decidedly do not. Then there are those who mostly agree with the Council's teachings but feel that certain grievous mistakes were made, including the area of Marian doctrine.

I have read the chapter on Mary at the end of Lumen Gentium, the Council's document on the Church. Evidently there was a huge debate regarding this choice to place Marian teaching within this larger context rather than giving Mary her own, special document. The winning faction had their way only by a very narrow margin, and there was much bitterness between the two groups of bishops. The traditionalists were expecting a new dogma to be declared regarding Mary as Mediatrix of All Grace. The progressives believed that this would thwart ecumenical efforts. The title "Mediatrix" was indeed included in the chapter on Mary, but great caution was taken to make sure this was not misleading and did not take away from Christ's role as the one, unique Mediator. Mary's intercession is accomplished in a unique way with the primacy of Jesus, not in place of him, and this is certainly solid theology.

Vatican II did not take away any of Mary's titles or doctrines, and it states in the beginning of the chapter that its goal was not to reiterate the vast body of teaching and tradition. It rather emphasized Mary's ecclesiotypical nature; that is, her relationship with the Church as Mother and exemplary member of the Body of Christ, and her role as Jesus' first disciple. There was not any intention to "throw Mary out of the Church". In fact, my interpretation is that the Church is tied like an apron around Mary's waist, with each member carefully tucked into a pocket, and therefore, Marian spirituality cannot be separated from Catholic Christian worship.

But that's not how it was understood by many, as the sharp decline in Marian devotion after Vatican II bears witness. The Rosary was no longer popular but thought to be old-fashioned, statues were put in church basements or placed in less prominent areas, and Marian prayers and hymns were greatly reduced in the liturgy. In short, the result was decidedly reductionist. Pope Paul VI was so concerned about this unintended fallout that he spent four years writing Marialis Cultis, published in 1974, to emphasize the importance of properly honoring the Blessed Mother. And of course the intense Marian devotion of Pope John Paul II helped to revive Mariology, as did increased alleged apparitions. There is currently a campaign by Vox Populi, begun in the 1990s I believe, to urge the Vatican to declare a 5th Marian dogma, naming her Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix of All Grace, and Advocate of the People. Pilgrimages to Marian shrines are at an all time high all over the world. Yet there are still a great many who are very uncomfortable with traditional Marian devotion. The great divide between traditionalists and progressives lives on. What will be the conclusion?

While I have no issue with the ecclesiotypical interpretation of Mary, I think it can--and should-- live in harmony with the "biblicalplus" version of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth, as advocated by Charlene Spretnak in her book, Missing Mary. She sees Our Lady as matrix-typical, in the cosmological sense of the subtle relationship of all living things with one another and God the Creator, reflecting the findings of post-modern science. Spretnak wants to bring "Big Mary" back, seeing her as symbolizing the Maternal Matrix, as revealing the feminine face of God. Isn't there room for both the biblical Nazarene village woman who lived at a certain point in history and the divinized Mother of God assumed body and soul into heaven, reigning next to her Son? I say yes, we need the whole picture. We need the poetry, art, and song, the symbolism that lifts us from text bound literalism to mystical awareness. This is true wisdom. This is true religion. This is true devotion to Mary.

Queen of Heaven by Bonnie Bisbee

Our Lady of the Rosary

 Our Lady of Fatima holy card

The feast day for Our Lady of the Rosary is coming up on Sunday, October 7.  Last night I participated in a "living rosary" with my child's religious education class. All of the kids from the 1st through 8th grades, their teachers, and some parents prayed the Joyful Mysteries together. Before we started, one teacher told how the Virgin Mary visited three children in Fatima, Poland in 1917 and asked them to pray the rosary daily for peace and the end of the war, which of course was WWI. Our Lady also gave the children a prayer to add after the Glory Be:

Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins,
save us from the fires of hell,
lead all souls to heaven, especially 
those most in need of thy mercy. Amen. 

Right now many Catholics in the United States are praying a novena to Our Lady for our nation, which will culminate on Oct. 7.  You can find the information for this novena at www.ewtn.com/novena. Prayer is powerful, and the rosary grants us innumerable graces. Some Catholics today think the rosary is too old-fashioned, a relic of past, less modern times. But Our Lady tells us it is a weapon against the devil, and there is no better meditation to keep us focused on the life of our Lord, as seen through the eyes, and with the guidance, of his Blessed Mother.

My daughter's religious education teacher told us about her grandmother, who used to have  rosaries placed in every room of her home, so that as she went about her daily round she could pray and meditate on them. This is an example of religion being a way of life, not merely a side note practiced on Sundays. The Rosary of Our Lady is simple but profoundly deep. I would go so far as to say it is life altering. Do not forget Mary on Sunday, and for the entire month of October dedicate some time in devotion to her and see how this enriches your spiritual being. Honor her request to the children of Fatima, and make praying the rosary a priority for each and every day.

Hail, Holy Queen

Early on when I began to attend Mass at a Catholic church, there was a bookmark pinned to the bulletin board which said, "How to Pray the Rosary".  The concluding prayer was the Salve Regina:

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,
our life, our sweetness, and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.
To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping
in this vale of tears. Turn, then, most gracious Advocate
thine eyes of mercy toward us; and, after this our exile,
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, o pious, o sweet Virgin Mary;
Queen of the most Holy Rosary, pray for us,
that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.  

I have since learned from Charlene Spretnak's book, Missing Mary, that this prayer used to be said at the end of every Mass! At least where I live, this is no longer true, and from what Charlene says, it's generally not the case. Her book argues that since Vatican II, there has been a decline in Marian devotion, and the full spiritual presence and meaning of Mary was marginalized and removed from its once central place in Catholic theology. I was alarmed when I read this. Had I met Mary and found the Catholic Church too late? But no, she says, there is a strong, grassroots movement to restore Mary's honored place, not just based on her strictly biblical presence, but on the traditional, cosmological presence of what she calls Big Mary, the biblicalplus version that venerates both the Nazarene village woman of the Bible and the Queen of Heaven, divinized by virtue of her Son.

In this blog I will explore the theology of Mary as I understand it, the Christological and mystical dimensions, and her relationship to the Church. I wish to celebrate Mary, to allow her to lead me to Jesus, who is both the Word and Wisdom Incarnate, and to explore how she embodies the sacred feminine and enriches a living Catholicism. Marian devotion, I believe, is in fact indispensable to the practice of True Religion. I'm bringing Mary back! I hope you will join me on this journey.