Catholics do not worship Mary, but--following her Son's example--we do love and honor her. We also ask her to pray for us. Because Mary is so important to her Son and to us, her spiritual children, we have several reminders of her in our church.
In Fatima, Portugal in 1917, Mary appeared to three children (Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco) several times. One of those times she held in the palm of her right hand a heart surrounded with thorn. Lucia later wrote, "We understood it was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, insulted by the sins of humanity, which wanted reparation." Mary said to the children, "[My Son] wants to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. To those who accept it, I promise salvation and those souls will be loved by God as flowers I have place to embellish His Throne."
Another time the Boy Jesus stood beside His beloved Mother and told the three children, "Have pity on the heart of you Most Holy Mother which is covered with thorns with which ingrate men pierce it at every moment with no one to make an act of reparation to pull them out."
Mary and Jesus asked that we honor her Immaculate Heart on the first five Saturday of five consecutive months by going to Confession, receiving Holy Communion, praying five decades of the Rosary and meditating for fifteen minutes on the mysteries of the Rosary in reparation for sins. In return Mary promised that she would-- as our Mother-- pray for us and intercede for us at the hour of our death.
In 1930, years after Jacinta and Francisco had died and Lucia had become a nun, Lucia's confessor asked her why there were five rather than seven or nine Saturdays. Lucia explained that Jesus had told her there were five kinds of offenses perpetrated against the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
- blasphemies against her Immaculate Conception
- against her virginity
- against her divine maternity, at the same time refusing to accept her as the Mother of men
- those who publicly try to instill indifference, scorn, and even hatred to her in the hearts of children
- and those who insult her directly in her sacred images
Notice that the depiction of Mary's heart in our window does not include the thorns the children of Fatima saw, but rather has a sword piercing it. This is a reminder of what we read in Luke 2:22-35, the story of the old man named Simeon, who recognizes Baby Jesus as the messiah and tells Mary that a sword will-pierce her.
Sometimes pictures of Mary's heart show that it is pierced not by a single sword but rather with seven small swords or daggers. These remind us of Mary's Seven Sorrows (or Seven Dolors): Simeon's prophesy, the flight into Egypt, the loss of the Child Jesus in the temple, Mary's accompaniment of Jesus on the way of the cross, the crucifixion of her Son, His descent from the Cross, and His entombment in the Holy Sepulchre.
Let's look once again at our window. Notice that above Mary's heart are some lilies. Lilies are traditional symbols of purity. These remind us that Mary was, as we say at Mass, "ever virgin." In Luke 1, when the Archangel Gabriel tells Mary that she will conceive and bear the "Son of the Most High," Mary asks, "How can this be, since I have no husband?" Gabriel tells her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God."
But did Mary remain a virgin even after the birth of Jesus? How about later references to Jesus' brothers and sisters? From the very earliest days of the Church, it has always been taught that these brothers and sisters were relatives. The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words used in these references in the Bible can mean brothers and sisters but also nephew, niece, half-brother, half-sister, and cousin. Note, too, that the James and Joseph who were called the "brothers of Jesus" are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ whom Matthew calls "the other Mary." (Matthew 27:56 and 61, Matthew 28:1, and Mark 15:40)
In the Gospel of John, Jesus entrusts Mary to John. If she had other children, why weren't' they with her and Jesus then, and why would Jesus ask John to care for her? (John 19:26-27)
From the beginnings of the Church, Catholics have always believed Mary to be "ever virgin." St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.) wrote the Mary "remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin giving birth to Him, a virgin in carrying Him, a virgin in nursing Him at her breast, always a virgin."
In the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we address Mary as "Holy Virgin of Virgins" and Mother most pure, Mother most chaste, Mother inviolate, Mother undefiled."
One of the other things we might observe about the window is the wreathe of flowers around Mary's heart. Are they roses? Early Christians saw Mary as the scriptural "Rose of Sharon." (Song of Song 2:1) A traditional story says that roses and lilies were found in Mary's chamber after Her Assumption. The word Rosary comes from the Latin rosarium, which means garland, garden or wreathe of roses. (In fact, many who have prayed the Rosary over the years have offered each "Hail Mary" as a sort of rose to Mary.)
There is another window in our church and an altar devoted to Mary. We'll discuss these next.
