33 Days to Morning Glory (Part 3)

To give oneself fully to the Mother of God, that is the quest of this consecration. After St. Louis de Montfort and St. Maximilian Kolbe, 33 Days to Morning Glory explores the teachings of Blessed Mother Teresa and St. Pope John Paul II.

Mother Teresa shows us Jesus' thirst for love and for souls and Mary's instrumental role in the personal calling that Mother received. Mother leads us to say "yes" to Mary, and Mary teaches us to say "yes" to Jesus.

John Paul was my favorite of the four. He takes us to the foot of the cross and really makes us look. He shines a spotlight on the blood and water pouring from Christ's side as the source of our redemption. The Pope's particular consecration is to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and is tied directly to the Divine Mercy. I am continuously inspired and amazed at the depth and breadth of the Catholic Faith!

The day of consecration is fast approaching, and I am a little behind in my reading. I will be making the consecration on Nov. 21, the Presentation of Mary. Tradition says that Mary was presented by her parents to be raised in the Temple at the age of three, the gift of Anne and Joachim to God for the unexpected blessing of a child. They knew she was special. Some fantastical legends accompany this story, found in the Protoevangelium of James, but I think they attempt to express the deep love and honor that Christians had for Mary from the beginnings of the Church. Her holiness and embodiment of Wisdom did not go unnoticed. Let us then further explore the connection between Mary, Wisdom, and the Holy Spirit.

I envision, in a mystical way, that the "feminine" nature of God (who is neither male nor female), who is personified as Lady Wisdom (or Sophia) in the Bible, is hidden at the heart of the Trinity. This can be visualized by the symbol of the triquetra, three interlocking circles. At the point of intersection of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is Wisdom, forming a shape like a dove or a flower. She is part and parcel of all three members of the Holy Trinity. She is not a 4th person, but rather is hypostasized within each of the three. Thomas Merton described Wisdom as the "ousia", or divine essence, of God.

Another possible mystical vision of Sophia is to think of her origins in terms of "call and response". From eternity, the Father calls to himself. His Wisdom responds, and the Son proceeds from the Father. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son as the particularly, but not exclusively, "bridal-maternal" person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is, as the Bible tells us, also the Spirit of Wisdom. Wisdom is, however, contained in each member of the Trinity, and while distinct persons, they are part and parcel of one another. Therefore, Jesus truly is Wisdom Incarnate.  But as Sophia is hidden at the heart of the Trinity, in Jesus she also remains mysterious.

Yet another perception of Wisdom is that she exists somehow in two modes, as the likes of St. Augustine imagined. Sophia may indeed be at once divine and "creaturely".  Sophia at the heart of the Trinity (as ousia of God) represents her divine nature, while she is simultaneously manifest in a mysterious and personal way in the Virgin Mary. This explains why Wisdom is sometimes expressed as divine and at other times created in Sacred Scripture. This is also why, along with Mary's title as Seat of Wisdom, that the Church finds it fitting to accomodate the biblical passages of Wisdom to Mary.

Perhaps the theory that makes most sense, and lines up most precisely with Fr. Gaitley's theology and insights gleaned from the four saints, is that the Lady Wisdom of the Old Testament prefigures Mary as the eternal sanctuary of the Holy Spirit. In this mystical union of Mary and the Holy Spirit (especially in the "bridal-maternal" sense previously discussed), Wisdom is reflected in both her divine and "creaturely" dimensions.  I do not believe, as some have argued, that Wisdom is merely the personification of an attribute of God.

I am no theologian, and when I read the great ones like St. Maximilian, my head can start to spin. What I have endeavored to do is to simplify the theology of Holy Wisdom, Hagia Sophia, in a way that I can comprehend and that will hopefully help others who read what I have written. The Church gives the faithful ample room for understanding the meaning of Wisdom, of who she is. This mystery is a blessing in that the fullness of the story is as yet unwritten, and I truly believe that the answer lies in Marian devotion and consecration. Our Blessed Mother is the key that unlocks everything.