[quote]Oleena wrote:
sinful (praying to the Virgin).
[/quote]
I believe it goes something like this:
The Annunciation
The relationship between the Holy Trinity and Mary is alluded to in Scripture. The account of the Annunciation in the Gospel of Luke suggests how the Trinity is involved in the conception and birth of Jesus Christ.
The Angel Gabriel said to Mary, â??The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High [the Father] will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born [from you] will be called holy, the Son of Godâ??. (Luke 1:35, RSV CE, emphasis added)
The coming upon Mary is the Holy Spirit, acting to bring the humanity of the Son into being in the womb of Mary. The overshadowing of Mary is the Father, willing the Incarnation through providentially directing everything to this event as the purpose and goal of creation. The birth from Mary is the Son â??taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of menâ?? humbling Himself and â??becoming obedient unto death â?¦ on a crossâ??. (Philippians 2:7-8) The child that is born of Mary is called holy, not only because He is consecrated to God but also because He is God in the flesh.
Grace, Love, Fellowship
How can devotion to Mary encourage a lively sense of the Trinity? Let us look at perhaps the most beautiful passage about the Trinity in Scripture.
In the conclusion of his Second Letter to the Corinthians, Paul expresses his heartfelt wish that his readers remain within the beneficent activities of the Holy Trinity: â??The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you allâ??. (II Corinthians 13:14, RSV CE, emphasis added)
This verse could really be a summary of Christianity in a nutshell and the sum total of its message. What news could be better, if it is really true that the Holy Trinity exists, than the news that the Lord Jesus Christ is grace for us and with us, God is love ahead of us and toward us, and the Holy Spirit is fellowship with us and in us?
Let us look more closely at this impressive verse.
The first and the third phrases of II Corinthians 13:13, â??the grace of the Lord Jesus Christâ??, and â??the fellowship of the Holy Spiritâ??, are exactly parallel in structure to its second phrase, â??the love of Godâ??. This parallel and balance of the three phrases suggest that the names, â??the Lord Jesus Christâ?? and â??the Holy Spiritâ?? refer to the divine reality as much as â??Godâ?? does in the middle phrase. Also, â??Jesusâ?? is called â??Lordâ?? and â??the Spiritâ?? is called â??Holyâ??; it so happens that both â??lordshipâ?? and â??holinessâ?? are qualities that belong most properly to God. The parallel and balanced structure of the phrases, and their vocabulary, indicate that God is the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as well as God the Father â?? therefore, God is the Holy Trinity.
The same characteristics of these phrases also indicate that God relates to us through the personal modes of grace, love, and fellowship, and therefore, they are the threefold or â??triuneâ?? relationship of God to us.
Both the Trinity of divine Persons and their triune relationship of grace, love, and fellowship in II Cor. 13:14 could more easily be understood if we correlate the two â??sets of threeâ?? with the three great articles of the Nicene Creed.
The Lord Jesus Christ is â??the only Son of Godâ??, and His grace is becoming man, dying, and rising for us, according to the second article of the Creed.
This grace is incarnate because the favor and divine gifts that the Son gives to us come only through the Son becoming flesh as Jesus and dying and rising in His humanity. God is â??the Father, the Almightyâ??, and His love is creating us and â??all that is, seen and unseenâ??, according to the first article of the Creed.
The work of creating is love â?? because God as the Trinity needs nothing. God is complete as the three Persons in their eternal relation with each other. God creates, not to benefit Himself, but to benefit what and who He has created. This love is providential because He creates, directs His creation, and accomplishes all His plans for creation out of the love He has had since before the foundation of the world.
The Holy Spirit is â??the Lord, the giver of lifeâ??, and His fellowship is filling the Church so that through it He forgives sins, raises our bodies, and brings us to life everlasting, according to the third article of the Nicene Creed. This fellowship is poured out and overflowing because the Spirit descends upon us, inspires us, and dwells within us.
Mary â?? a Sign
Because of Maryâ??s role in the life of Jesus, she receives the extraordinary gifts of freedom from sin, virginal motherhood, and union of her body and soul in heaven. These gifts are special signs that the providential love of the Father, the incarnate grace of Jesus Christ, and the outpoured fellowship of the Holy Spirit are realities that are meant for all those called by God to be His own.
The Immaculate Conception of Mary is a sign that the Father from His providential love has chosen and elected Mary to eternal life in a greater manner than any other human creature. The Father shows through this privilege given to Mary that sin was in no way part of His original intent in creation and that His original intention will be fulfilled in heaven where eternal life will be completely free from sin, suffering, and death.
The Motherhood of Mary is a sign that the Son through His incarnate grace has given her an intimacy with His being and mission in a greater manner than to any other human being. Through this privilege given to Mary, the Son shows that He, as the man Jesus, is the original reason, purpose, and goal of creation, and we are created to grow in the likeness of Christ as well as to be redeemed by Him.
The Assumption of Mary is a sign that the Spirit in His outpoured fellowship has shared the life of the world to come with Mary in a greater manner than any with other human being. The Spirit shows through this privilege given to Mary that all things that are divided, separated, and in conflict â?? especially symbolized by the separation of body and soul in death â?? are reconciled, united, and resolved in the incomparable peace of eternal life.
Mary is not only the recipient of extraordinary gifts from the Trinity; she is also a giver of extraordinary gifts from them. There is no greater love after the Fatherâ??s providential love than Maryâ??s loving nurture of those called to be His adopted children. There is no greater grace after the Sonâ??s incarnate grace than Maryâ??s gift of herself to those called to be the brothers and sisters of Jesus. There is no greater fellowship after the Spiritâ??s outpoured fellowship than Mary sharing her life and the riches of divine life intimately with those who are called to be friends and even â??spousesâ?? of the Spirit.
Mary â?? â??The excellent masterpiece of the Most Highâ??
This explanation of the Trinityâ??s relationship with Mary through the use of the verse from Second Corinthians dovetails with the explanation that Saint Louis de Montfort, a great apostle of Mary, gives of the same relationship in his True Devotion to Mary. He says Mary is â??the excellent masterpiece of the Most Highâ?? since the Father imparted to Mary His fruitfulness in order to enable her to bring forth His only Son into the world.
As a consequence, we may say, the Father wills that Mary be the spiritual mother who brings forth His adopted children through her nurturing influence until the end of time. She is â??the admirable Mother of the Sonâ??, since the Son became incarnate â?? was made flesh â?? through Mary and in Mary. As a result, the Son gives Himself to His spiritual brothers and sisters through His mother; and in a manner of speaking, through her will become incarnate for them as their Eucharistic food, and in them as an ever-greater likeness to Himself.
Finally, Mary is â??the faithful spouse of the Holy Spiritâ?? since the Spirit formed Jesus Christ within Maryâ??s womb, and remained with her in raising the child Jesus. It follows, then, that the Holy Spirit wills to fashion Jesus in His chosen ones and unite them to God by giving all of His gifts in and through Mary. As Saint Louis de Monfort wrote: â??Mary is the sanctuary and the repose of the Holy Trinity, where God dwells more magnificently and more divinely than in any other place in the universeâ??. (This quote, and his titles for Mary are from â??Preliminary Remarksâ?? in True Devotion, Father Faber edition.)
Ave Maria
A way to take to heart these reflections is to recall the Trinityâ??s relationship with Mary when we pray the â??Hail Maryâ??. Two sets of three phrases in the prayer could act as mental hooks for our attention to this relationship.
The set of phrases: â??full of graceâ??; â??the Lord is with theeâ??; and â??blessed art thou among womenâ??.
The first phrase is links to the Holy Spirit, since His indwelling in Mary â?? His fellowship with her from the moment of her conception to her queenship in heaven â?? is the chief reason she is â??full of graceâ??.
The second phrase links to Jesus the Son, since His grace is His physical presence in Maryâ??s womb, His spiritual presence in her mission in the world, and His supreme presence to her in heaven â?? all of which indicate that truly â??the Lord is withâ?? Mary.
The third phrase recalls us to God the Father, since His love is the source, above all, of Mary being â??blessed â?¦ among womenâ?? for bearing the Son of God who has become man.
The second set of three phrases: â??blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesusâ??, â??holy Maryâ??, and â??Mother of Godâ??.
The first phrase of this second set is a another hook for God the Father, since His love is the chief reason Mary is fruitful in this extraordinary way; she has brought into the world the Fatherâ??s supreme blessing to us and the clearest proof of His love: His Son and our Savior.
The second phrase again recalls the Holy Spirit since Mary is â??holyâ?? because of the singular fellowship of the indwelling Spirit with her from the moment of her conception; she is also â??holyâ?? because she furthers our fellowship with the Spirit by giving His gifts to us.
The last phrase also links to Jesus the Son since Mary is the â??Mother of Godâ?? precisely because her Son is also the only-begotten Son of God. Because of her virginal motherhood, she is the bearer to us of the grace of Jesus Christ beyond any other person.
O most gracious Virgin Mary, Help us to know and live our faith through the liberating grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, from the generous love of the Father, and in the intimate fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate, lead us at death into the beatific light that discloses to us the transfigured Christ, the blessed love that immerses us in the glory of the Father, and the blissful life in us that springs forth from the indwelling Spirit.
Hear and answer our petitions, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Amen.
