33 Days to Morning Glory (Part 2)

 Throne of Wisdom by Jan Van Eyck

Perhaps a question is begged in this discussion of Fr. Gaitley's 33 Days to Morning Glory, being, why consecrate ourselves to Mary at all? Why not go "straight to Jesus" as the Protestants declare? In traditional Catholicism one encounters the phrase, to Jesus through Mary. St. Louis de Montfort believed that Marian consecration is the quickest, easiest, and safest way to go to Jesus. Because Jesus came to us through the Blessed Mother, he wills that the faithful go to him through her. This is so simple and makes such logical sense!

One of Mary's traditional titles is Mediatrix of All Grace. This was St. Maximilian Kolbe's favorite title for her. The Father wills that Mary be the chief dispenser of divine grace. Kolbe seemed to believe that the Holy Spirit works only through the Immaculata. This, however, does not appear to be the model followed by the postconciliar Church, except in certain countries in which traditional Marian devotion and folk piety have been maintained. Leading the way for a revival of a mariology that is central to Catholic faith in the Americas are the peoples who venerate Our Lady of Guadalupe. In such a figure as Guadalupe, we can apprehend a theology and devotion to Mary as Temple of Wisdom, especially as the Virgin here is wearing a sash which symbolizes pregnancy. I propose this title as a more fitting desigantion for the Virgin than we find in either "spouse" or "quasi-incarnation" of the Holy Spirit, as I discussed in Part 1 of this article. Why "Temple of Wisdom"?

Another traditional title for Mary is Seat (or Throne) of Wisdom. Artwork representing Mary as Seat of Wisdom shows the Child Jesus sitting on her lap. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Mary is named the dwelling of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Because Jesus is not only the Word, but Wisdom Incarnate, Mary is also the dwelling of Wisdom. Another biblical name for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Wisdom, so here we have an additional way in which Mary is the dwelling of Wisdom. As we can see, Kolbe's apprehension of Mary as a unique sanctuary of the Holy Spirit is quite on target. 

Let us consider that the word for Spirit in Hebrew is Ruah, which is of feminine gender; in Greek it is Pneuma, a neutral (genderless) word; and in Latin, it is Spiritus, of masculine gender. (These are the languages from which the Bible in English is translated.) It could be argued that either masculine or feminine pronouns used in reference to the Holy Spirit would be grammatically correct. Technically, the pronoun "it" would be most accurate in Greek, though this of course would not be a fitting way to refer to God.

Let us go on to consider that in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, the words for Wisdom are unanimously feminine in gender--Chokmah, Sophia, and Sapientia, respectivley. It may feel a bit odd, then, to refer to Jesus, a male person, as Wisdom Incarnate; especially considering that Wisdom is not only grammatically a "she" in the Old Testament books in which she is most prevalent--Proverbs, Wisdom, and Sirach--but she is clearly depicted as a bride and mother. Because Wisdom is a feminine "spirit" and personified as a woman in the Bible, and because Mary is the Seat of Wisdom, passages from the Wisdom books (including the Song of Songs) are accomodated to Mary both in the liturgy and in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The faithful are all called to be temples of the Holy Spirit and Wisdom. We receive the Holy Spirit at Baptism and are released then from the condition of original sin, and at Confirmation we again receive the Spirit and the associated seven gifts, one of which is wisdom. To be protected from inheriting original sin, Mary must have received the Holy Spirit and Wisdom at the moment of her conception. We will explore these themes surrounding Mary as Temple of Wisdom in greater detail in future installments of this article, so please stay tuned!