Litany of Loreto - Queen ...

The title 'queen' occurs more often in the Book of Esther than in any other text of the Bible. Some of its uses refer to Vashti, who refused to attend on the King when he summoned her and so lost her crown. But most of them refer to Esther, a beautiful Jewish woman who catches the eye of the King and becomes Queen in place of Vashti. We are told that Esther found favour in the eyes of all who saw her (2:15). When she was brought before the King she found grace and favour in his sight such that he loved her more than all the women (2:17).

Queen Esther

What begins as an ordinary story about an oriental court becomes a dramatic story of grace, oppression and redemption in which Esther plays the key role. The human experience in which the concept of 'grace' originates is that of attracting the interest and attention of another person. Thus Noah, Jacob and Joseph are all said to have found favour in God's sight (Genesis 6:8-9; 33:5,11; 39:21). It means God noticed them, remembered them, and 'turned his face towards them'. In the great blessing of Numbers 6:25 the people pray that the Lord will turn his face towards them and elsewhere they pray that he will not hide his face from them (Psalms 27 and 102). As the story of Esther unfolds we see that there is a more important 'finding favour' at the heart of her life, that whereby her people are chosen to be God's people, finding grace and favour in His sight, so that He loves them more than all other nations on the earth. The king's choice of her turns out to be at the service of God's love for His people and it is through Esther that the Jews are saved from persecution.

Parish of Black Rock, Barbados

Why say all this when reflecting on the last series of titles given to Mary, those that begin 'Queen of ...'? Mary too is a beautiful Jewish woman, an ordinary daughter of her people. called to play a key role in a dramatic story of grace, oppression, and redemption. This time, however, it is a drama which includes not just the people of Israel but all humanity. Mary is remembered by God, noticed by him, and he turns his face towards her: 'hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you'. 'Blessed are you among women', her cousin Elizabeth says, thereby completing the angel's greeting to give us the prayer we know as the Hail Mary. She is to be a 'queen mother' since she is to give birth to a son whose kingdom will have no end. We celebrate her queenship a week after celebrating her Assumption into heaven, on 22nd August each year,  and in the liturgy for that day we pray:

Father, you have given us the mother of your Son to be our queen and mother. With the support of her prayers may we come to share the glory of your children in the kingdom of heaven.

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This series of reflections on the Litany of Loreto has helped us to see something of the rich biblical, theological, spiritual and liturgical traditions that have given rise to this list of titles. For some of them we have had to turn to the Wisdom literature and other texts of the Bible, for others to the traditions associated with the Temple in Jerusalem, the place of God's presence. For more we have had to recall ordinary human relationships of healing and teaching, of support and love. Through it all has run the theme of grace. We venerate Mary because she is 'the highest honour of our race', the mother of Jesus and so the mother of life, of sweetness and of holy hope. We give thanks to God for His extraordinary gifts to her and pray with her that the peace of her Son's kingdom may be ever more firmly established even in this world.

Litany of Loreto - Help of Christians

Here we have a title that does not contain doctrine that needs unpacking, or symbolism that needs uncovering, or biblical allusions that need exegesis! We are simply being told that Mary, by her prayers, helps Christians here and now. The straightforwardness, even directness of the title, implies or suggests to me a practicality about Mary and the impact of her intercession. I think this sits well with the woman who noticed that a couple was embarrassed by running out of wine at their wedding feast and asked her son to help (John 2: 1-12). This is first recorded request Mary made of Jesus and in a way is an intercession, and thus an anticipation of her ongoing prayer for all of us. It also suggests that we can be direct in addressing Mary and confident that she grasps the reality of daily life, its needs, and the problems it throws up. Daily concerns are not too trivial to be taken to Mary in prayer.

However, the title’s doctrinal and linguistic simplicity is countered by what is seen by many today as its perplexing and even controversial history. The title was adopted in connection with the military victory of Catholic forces against a Muslim Turkish (Ottoman) force seeking to dominate the Eastern Mediterranean and even Europe as a whole. The battle, named Lepanto, was fought on 7^th October 1571 and Pope St Pius V, a Dominican, was heavily involved in organising the force and also in urging the faithful to pray the Rosary for victory. In fact, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formally called Our Lady of Victory, is still kept on this day in connection with these events, victory being attributed to Mary’s intercession sought by Catholics in prayer and in praying the Rosary in particular. The title and intercession “(Mary), Help of Christians” was first used in connection with these events.

This raises difficult questions about Mary (and the Papacy) and war. Does the Biblical presentation of Mary sit with a woman who would back a military cause? Would Jesus? He refused to fulfil his mission by military means. If ‘no’ is the answer in either or both cases, then does this rather limit the practical help Mary will give us, or that we can ask of her? As such, does it undermine this title and indeed our general confidence in God, assuming our cause may reasonably be considered just? I will leave you to ponder these difficult issues, but the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) offers additional food for thought: how did Mary understand this to be fulfilled and did her understanding change during her life and even on entering heaven where she intercedes for us?

In a modern context it is also striking that Mary is addressed as help of Christians, not just of Catholics. It seems to me to imply, even to state, that Mary and her prayer blesses not just Catholics, not even just Christians that actually ask for her prayers, but all Christians including therefore those who ignore the prospect of her intercession helping them. (The battle of Lepanto was seen to benefit all the Christians of Europe.) This is worth reflecting on. Mary is often seen as on obstacle to ecumenism but I think she is concerned for it and can be a very positive focus for it and the building of a fuller expression of the unity of the Body of Christ of which she is the Mother. Our Lady, help of Christians, pray for us!

We might also remember to pray to Mary for Muslims, and to help us in our relations with them, remembering that they accept and honour Mary’s purity from the beginning of her life and her virginal conception of Jesus and her radical obedience to the will of God. May her prayers help us all live in peace and come to recognise God in her son, Jesus, and follow him in obedience to the will of God.

Litany of Loreto - Comforter of the Afflicted

In Dostoevsky's classic work The Brothers Karamazov there is a brilliant exploration of the problem of evil and suffering. In Book IV Ivan tells his younger brother that human freedom is not worth the immense evil brought about by its abuse. In this he claims the Catholic Church as an ally. His famous parable "The Grand Inquisitor" imagines Jesus returning to sixteenth century Seville in the midst of an auto-da-fe. The people recognise Him and begin to follow Him, drawn to Him by an indescribable sense of attraction. The Inquisition recognise Him too, and arrest Him, for Christ makes humanity free, but humanity cannot abide freedom. Instead the people want their sensual needs met without the agonizing dilemmas of conscience. They have laid their freedom at the feet of the Inquisitors who bear this terrible responsibility on their behalf. The Inquisitors sedate the people with sentimental religion and magic, they immunise them against the pain of choice. Christ expects too much of his creatures, he cannot be allowed to interfere once more in human affairs, and so the Inquisition arrests Him.

The charge that religion in general and Catholicism in particular is an 'opium' for the people, an unreal refuge to which the afflicted flee from the meaninglessness of suffering, is one that has been levelled again and again since the enlightenment. The cynical Ivan is in despair. Like many a great philosopher he has seen through the false gods offered to Him by religious communities that have twisted the gospel, he has seen how human beings have been mangled and mutilated by the abuse of our freedom, but he can see no light of redemption. Ivan believes that he now beholds the terrible truth of the human condition. Yet Ivan's despair is not a case of too much Truth, but not enough, for if he delved deeper he would find God and Christian hope.

True Christian hope means having the courage to look our sinful world in the eye and recognise it for what it really is. It means refusing illusions and delusions. When we look at our world with the eyes of faith we see the Truth that God loves all that he has made including each one of us with a love that infinitely exceeds any imperfection or evil. It is this love that holds this creation in being, and it is this love that sustains it. True Christian hope, then, is not a retreat into unreality but the gift of truth. When we call Mary the Comforter of the Afflicted we are not offering a sentimental and unreal emotional prop to those in need. Instead we are reminding ourselves of the truth: like Mary we will suffer in this life; however, our sufferings, like Mary's, are not meaningless and like Mary we are destined for the vision of God in heaven.

In Dostoevsky's novel the reply to Ivan's "Grand Inquisitor" comes almost immediately afterwards in the testimony of the holy monk Zosima. Like Ivan, Zosima beholds the suffering of humanity unflinchingly, but like Mary he beholds God in humanity and in his own suffering. His trials lead him not to despair, but to God.

Litany of Loreto - Refuge of Sinners

Mary stands by her Son not only in the moments of joy, but also in his sorrow and suffering. Likewise, she is not only there for us as the ‘Cause of our Joy’ – the object of our celebration and veneration – but also as a source of compassion when times are hard. In particular, she stands for us as an example in moments of temptation, showing us by her sinless life that we too, strengthened like her by God’s grace (which we received in our Baptism), can avoid sin if we will only trust him and, like Mary, say ‘yes’ to him: for, as the angel said, ‘with God nothing is impossible’ (Luke 1:37). In such moments, though, she helps us not only by giving an example, but also by her prayer: when it all feels too much, by turning to her we can be assured of her support (and that of all the Church) in a battle which is not ours to be fought alone – rather, it is our share in the battle which has already been fought and won by her Son.

But she is also there for us when we have failed: when we have fallen, sinned, and betrayed the great love her Son has shown for us. Often in such circumstances, when we recognise our sin, we can have a kind of false humility by which we convince ourselves we are not worthy to pray, even if we know it is the very thing we should be doing. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, we are embarrassed and hide from the face of the Lord. Again, in moments like that, we need help, and whose help could be better than that of the Mother of God? Even though it is our own fault, our own timidity, that prevents us from turning straight to Christ, nevertheless her powerful intercession can help obtain for us the courage we lack. After all, by her Immaculate Conception she shows us that God’s gift of mercy has nothing to do with any worthiness or merit on our part: she did not exist before she received that special grace, and so in it we see the utter gratuity of God’s love.

Thus, at times like these (both of temptation and after sinning), the familiar words of the prayers of the Rosary, for example, can be of great comfort and help to us. It does not require any great mental effort, of which we might well not feel capable, and our beads, as it were, give us something to hold on to as we turn ‘to Jesus through Mary’. Besides that, in such moments I personally find the Memorare, that passionate prayer of St Bernard, a great help:

Remember, O most blessed Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your aid or sought your intercession, was left unaided. 

Filled, therefore, with confidence in your goodness, I fly to you, Virgin of virgins, my mother.

To you I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful.

O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petition, but in your mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

Litany of Loreto - Health of the Sick

St. Simon Stock call Mary "the medicine of sinners" but is it all a bit too much to call Mary "Health of the Sick"? Is this just an example of the overeager 'Marian worship' that the Catholic Church is often accused of? This doubt in the validity of the title brings St. Bonaventure's first Marian maxim to mind: One should carefully beware of decreasing, even in the slightest, the honor that is due to Mary. Rather than being an example of medieval-Marian-mania, this title has its roots in the early Church. St. Ephrem, writing in the fourth century, calls Mary "health itself ... Robust health for those who have recourse in her".

In calling Mary 'Health of the Sick' we do not in any way relegate Christ, who brings true health. Throughout his earthly ministry Jesus cured and healed the sick. He not only healed physical ailments but also healed souls. Christ shares the gifts and missions of healing with his Church. Our Lady, as the preeminent disciple, shares most closely in this mission of her Son but she is also, through her Immaculate Conception and Glorious Assumption, the shining example of the healing and restoration offered through Christ. She stands as a sign of hope for the sick who call upon her, and Mary wants to be called upon. She has suffered through her sorrows and "shared in the mystery of pain " in a unique and special way, that can rarely be understood by the rest of humanity, but that allows her to better understand our pain and suffering. It is through this healing ministry that we see Christ, as Pius XII said "a vision of the Divine Redeemer Himself."

Litany of Loreto - Morning Star

From ancient times we have looked in wonder upon the stars and other ‘heavenly bodies’, and used them, fruitfully, to guide us. In a world of growth and decay, the heavens seem to be enduring and unchanging, celestial constants suspended above an ever-changing world. Against the dark sky of night they shine bright and hold their steady, unchanging course. It is little wonder then, that in our awe and fascination for such things, and in our knowledge of their usefulness in safely guiding us, that we would employ their titles analogously to highlight the enduring qualities of Our Lady and Our Blessed Lord.

The Morning Star has always been a sign of the coming day. With it we know that the shades of night are soon to vanish; as such it is the herald of the coming day when we will once again feel the warmth of the sun and be able to see our way more clearly. Our Lady, as the Morning Star, goes ahead of Christ to announce the coming of His Light. Her loving purpose is to prepare the way for Our Lord and reflect His glory: “I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star” (Rev 22:16). In reflecting the glory of the Lord, the title Morning Star, is truly apposite for this ‘star’ is not really a star at all, but the planet Venus. As such, it shines not of itself but reflects he brightness of the sun, just as Mary reflects the brightness and glory of Our Lord.

Our Lady then, as the Morning Star, precedes the Son whose radiance she reflects and by her presence she announces His coming. It is thus fitting to reflect upon just how Mary reflects this glory so that we can try to emulate her as a pattern of holiness. We should always be mindful of her presence in showing us the way to the Lord and let ourselves be so guided by her to Him. Ad Iesum per Mariam.

Litany of Loreto - Gate of Heaven

The history of the covenant between God and man begins in the very first book of the Bible. After the flood, Noah is the first to receive a guarantee that the Lord will not exterminate his creation forever. But this is only the beginning of what God has in mind. He constitutes a new covenant, where Abraham is chosen to be the father of “many nations”. God proves his intentions by giving Sarah a son, even though she is past child-bearing. This son, Isaac, becomes the father of Jacob. In his younger years, Jacob has a dream where he sees a ladder reaching from earth to the skies, and he hears God’s voice telling him:

“I, the Lord, am the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The ground on which you are lying I shall give to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be as plentiful as the dust on the ground; you will spread out to west and east, to north and south, and all clans on earth will bless themselves by you and your descendants” (Genesis 28:13-14).

The lives of the three patriarchs of Israel are all individual, unique stories, unique lives. But they unite in a common experience: God acts in their lives and assures them a future of prosperity. Even if they do not see the covenant fulfilled, their lives have, henceforth, an eschatological perspective. From the moment that Abram was called to leave a nomad people struggling to survive in rough conditions, this new people has become a people sustained by a vision. Their lives are defined by God’s promise, and they continue their lives with their inner eyes oriented towards a horizon designed by the Lord himself.

There is a huge distance from the fathers of the old covenant to where we are standing today. And whereas the fathers looked forward to a future of prosperity, we are looking backwards to the moment when the covenant of God was fulfilled. Our perspective is centred on the moment where God makes his giant leap towards humanity, by becoming the incarnate God. But he does so in such a human, natural way that man finds it hard to believe. The almighty chooses a young woman to become the gate of heaven, and a baby is born under poor conditions. “For the needy is not forgotten forever, not for ever does the hope of the poor come to nothing” (Psalm 10(9):18). No, the needy are not forgotten, the Lord remembers mankind by becoming a poor human being, and thereby proving his everlasting love for the lowly and humble of heart.

We look to Mary, and we realise how she has become the chosen one to unite heaven and earth. From this moment, the body of Christ grows and fills the earth as the Church spread out to west and east, to north and south. Therefore, as we meditate on the gift that God gives to, and through, Mary, we realise that we have become this gate ourselves. We are the ones who bring the good news to the world. We are the ones who continue the incarnation by the Holy Spirit. Pope Leo the Great says in his famous homily: “Christian, know your dignity!” (Sermon used in the office for Christmas day in the Church.) We are nothing less than the Gate of Heaven. Our horizon is the Son of God, our model is Mary showing us the openness to God's will in her life, just as the Church always searches to fulfill the mission that Christ has given her. Our lives are defined by a Christological vision, and our vision is nourished by the Holy Spirit, as we look forward to the moment when God the Father opens the doors for the last time, saying: “Come! Everything is now ready” (Luke 14:17).

Litany of Loreto – Ark of the Covenant

'The holy Virgin is in truth an ark, wrought with gold both within and without, that has received the whole treasury of the sanctuary.'

These words from St. Gregory Thaumaturgus in the third century reflect an understanding of Our Lady that goes right back to the beginning of Christianity. In Luke's Gospel, there are clear parallels between Our Lady and the ark of the covenant. In the hill country of Judea, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of her cousin Mary, the babe leapt in her womb. Elizabeth exclaimed 'why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?' and Mary remained with Elizabeth for three months before returning home (Luke 1). Compare this with the account of King David and the ark (2 Samuel 6). When he manages to retrieve the ark after its capture by the Philistines, he leaps and dances before it. He says “how can the ark of the Lord come to me?” and he takes the ark to Abu Ghosh, a village in the hill country of Judea and the ark remains there for three months.

 The relationship between Our Lady and the ark is also seen in the book of Revelation:

“Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child” (Revelation 11:19-12:2)

To see why Our Lady should be associated with the ark, we need to consider what was actually kept within it. The ark contained three things: the tablets on which the ten commandment were written, a jar of manna from the desert, and Aaron's staff that budded (Hebrew 9:4). So whereas the ark contained the word of God inscribed on stone tablets, the bread of heaven and the staff representing the Levitical priesthood, within Our Lady's womb was the Word of God made flesh, Jesus the bread of life who is our true high priest. Until the Babylonian exile, the ark of the covenant marked the presence of God among his people. Now Our Lady has taken on this role and so it is very appropriate that we pray to her as ark of the new covenant, that she reveal to us the blessed fruit of her womb.

Litany of Loreto - House of Gold

In around 64 AD, the emperor Nero built himself an astoundingly lavish palace in the centre of Rome, the 'Domus Aurea' or 'House of Gold'. Although the palace was destroyed and plundered after Nero's death, legends of its magnificence have tantalised historians for centuries. Interestingly, the Litany of Loreto uses this same title - Domus Aurea - to refer to Our Lady, and I don't think it is merely co-incidental.

Rather, this title is accorded to Our Lady to draw a sharp contrast between Nero's short-lived House of Gold (destroyed in 68 AD), and Mary, whose name is continually praised, for "all generations will call [her] blessed". The self-aggrandizement of Nero's structure is further juxtaposed with the humility and "lowliness" of Mary. Moreover, Nero's building stands for corruption and decadence while Mary is immaculately conceived, and remained a pure virgin throughout her life. It is precisely Mary's incorruptibility, endurance, and purity that is thus symbolized by gold. She, unlike Nero's false 'Domus Aurea', is the one truly worthy of this title. For "unless the Lord builds the house, in vain do its builders labour" (Psalm 127:1).

Gold, of course, is also a symbol of nobility and is associated with royalty, as is fitting for the Mother of Christ the King. Above all, gold is also a symbol of faith which is tested and proved in suffering. As St Peter says: "Now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:6-7). And Our Lady, whose heart is pierced with a sword (Luke 2:35), is pre-eminent in such faith.

In 1 Kings 6:20, the Holy of Holies of Solomon's Temple is described as a perfect cube, overlaid with gold. Alluding to this in the Apocalypse of St John, the heavenly Jerusalem is also described as a perfect cube made of pure gold (Apocalypse 21:16-18). Here again, gold is a sign of purity and eternity, but what is especially significant is that both these golden places house the presence and glory of God. So, the title 'Domus Aurea' re-affirms that Mary is the temple within whom the incarnate Word dwells, and as such, she is "full of grace", and preserved from sin from the moment of her conception. Therefore, St Thomas Aquinas says that "as all in the temple was covered with gold, so was everything in the beautiful soul of Mary filled with sanctity".

Hence, in the Votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Temple of the Lord, we say that God "made the Blessed Virgin Mary [his] Temple without compare, a house of gold adorned by the Spirit with every kind of virtue, a royal palace resplendent with the presence of the One who is Truth".

Litany of Loreto - Tower of Ivory

Strangely, in its modern usage the term 'ivory tower' has come to designate the esoteric and impractical ponderings of scholars who have disconnected themselves from the demands and needs of the wider world. It implies bloodless, heartless intellectual pursuits that are sterile and cold. Yet the roots of this expression are in perhaps the most passion soaked book in the Bible, the Song of Songs. In chapter seven of this wedding song the Groom is exultant, rejoicing in the beauty of his Bride. We read:

Your neck is like an ivory tower, your eyes are pools in Hesbon, by the gate of Bathrabbin, your nose is like a tower of Lebanon overlooking Damascus (Song of Songs 7:4).

The traditional allegorical reading of this book has seen the Groom as a figure of Christ. The analogy of marriage is used consistently throughout the Bible in an attempt to shed light on God's relationship with his people. Hosea, for example, is ordered to marry a prostitute as an allegory for God's relationship with Israel. The same idea appears in Ezekiel 16:8, God pledges himself to Israel when he sees that she is old enough to be loved. The author of the Book of Revelation sees the Bride of Christ - the heavenly Jerusalem - in a vision (Revelation 21:9). Paul says the love of husband for wife is like the love of Christ for the Church (Ephesians 5:25), even going so far as to call the Church the Body of Christ with the obvious allusion to the second chapter of Genesis, 'the husband cleaves to his wife and they become one flesh' (Genesis 2:24).

If the Groom in the Song of Songs has been understood to be Christ, then the Bride is the Church. Yet Mary has long been considered a symbol of the Church, so it is only natural that Christians would think of Our Lady when the Groom heaps praises upon his bride. Mary, conceiving as she did by the Holy Spirit, is at once a child, mother, and spouse of God. She remained a virgin because she belonged to God in a peculiarly intense way, unlike that of any other woman. Mary is honoured as a 'tower of ivory' precisely because she was set apart in this manner, precisely because of her unique relationshop with her Son, precisely because she showed the depth of love that only one who is without sin is able to offer.

Litany of Loreto - Tower of David

The scriptural basis for this Marian title is Song of Songs 4:4, ‘Your neck is the Tower of David, built on layers, hung round with a thousand bucklers, and each the shield of a hero.’ Here it is in the first place a reference to the physical beauty of a woman who it would seem had – in the eyes of her lover - a tall and elegant neck. This was made still more beautiful by the necklaces that adorned it. He continues in verse 9,‘You ravish my heart with a single link of your necklace.’ The author of the Song of Songs is comparing the neck of his lover with a military tower put up on or near Mount Zion to defend Jerusalem. It would seem, at least some of the time, that it bore the shields of those who could be called upon to defend the tower and city in time of military threat.

Two lines of development and application then seem apparent with regard to Mary. Overtly the one is based on beauty, and physical beauty at that, and the other on military prowess, albeit a defensive one. The first has tended to be spiritualised and thus been seen as a reference to Mary’s spiritual beauty, and of her being adorned with many virtues. The second is seen symbolically to refer to Mary in terms of the defence and protection she offered Jesus, from the time he was in her womb, then as a baby, and then growing up. Sometimes added to this is a sense of her life-long ‘defence’ of her virginity - though, it seems to me, that her life long defence by sinless living of her immaculate conception might be a fuller meaning. Also sometimes added is the usefulness of a theological grasp of Mary (as virgin mother of God) in defending Christological doctrines.

I think it is also worth pondering whether these two lines of reflection, beauty and military prowess, pull Mary in different, even irreconcilable, directions? Well, a graced and virtuous woman can be one who is full of valour, and strength, and concerned to defend life and promote justice. And interestingly it is, I think, this combination that accords most with the Biblical presentation of Mary. Mary, full of grace, takes on the risk of being the mother of Jesus, despite the risks to her reputation, marriage, and life, and is someone, based on her Magnificat, who was passionate about God bringing justice and freedom from oppression to God’s people. (Jesus declared a similar message: for example see Luke 4:16-22.) Something of such  a combination of beauty and valour is also reflected, I think, in the imagery of Revelation 12 which presents a woman beautiful enough to be crowned with the sun and standing on the moon, but also in conflict with Satan. The woman is often seen as a representation of Mary, as well as of Israel, and of the Church more generally.

The title ‘Tower of David’ can thus express the beauty of the grace given to Mary, seen specifically as a spirituality that equips her for spiritual warfare, and this as a combat undertaken to bring in the Kingdom of God, with its saving righteousness, justice and liberation, and to defend us from sin and Satan. This is a combat, through her intercession, that Mary still wages for us and the world we live in.

Litany of Loreto - Mystical Rose

Writing this on St Valentine's Day it is impossible not to recall that of all the flowers it is the rose more than any other that symbolises beauty and love. We find a number of references to roses in the Bible, all of which have been used in thinking about Mary. In the Song of Songs (as we are learning in this series, a rich source of imagery and symbolism for Mariology) the rose is referred to twice: the beloved describes herself as 'a rose of Sharon and a lily of the valleys' (Song 1:17; 2:1). The lily came to symbolise purity on account of its brilliant whiteness, the rose to symbolise love, for the rose is most often red and red means passion, desire, zeal, and love. The rose is also a complex flower, combining beauty and threat (no rose without thorns), straight and curved lines, making itself available and yet hiding its beauty in the recesses of the flower. The rose garden is the original 'rosary', or rosarium, a place for quiet contemplation and meditation.

Isaiah uses the image of the rose when talking about the power of God's re-creating Spirit. The desert will rejoice and will blossom like a rose, he says, the land that had been barren and unfruitful will flower like a rose (Isaiah 35:1,2). It is easy to see how, because of her virginity, this might be applied to Mary: the place in which we did not expect to find fruit has become fruitful by God's power.

There is a wonderful poem in chapter 24 of the Book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) which speaks about the role of wisdom 'alongside' God in the creation of the world: 'I came forth from the mouth of the Most High', she says (24:3), and she is present everywhere, in all that is made and in every nation. She has come, by God's command, to dwell particularly in Israel (24:8), putting down her roots among God's chosen, ministering in the holy tabernacle, taking root in an honored people (24:10,12). Wisdom continues:

'I grew tall like a cedar in Lebanon, and like a cypress on the heights of Hermon. I grew tall like a palm tree in En-gedi, and like rose plants in Jericho; like a beautiful olive tree in the field, and like a plane tree I grew tall ... Like a terebinth I spread out my branches and my branches are glorious and graceful. Like a vine I caused loveliness to bud, and my blossoms became glorious and abundant fruit' (24:13-14, 16-17).

Even as a poem this is beautiful, but its associations with Wisdom and then with Mary give it an extraordinarily profound significance for Christians. These phrases, as well as other parts of Sirach 24 referring to water, and gardens, and spices, provide the antiphons for the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  For the liturgy it is she, Mary, the Mystical Rose, who is speaking in this great poem, pointing to the wonders of grace worked in her by God and to the complex beauty of His gift to her (exceptional joy, extraordinary sorrow). It is a striking recapitulation of the mystery of creation and of the human longing for a wisdom that seems  elusive: 'those who eat me will hunger for more, and those who drink me will thirst for more' (24:21). 'Do whatever he tells you', Mary/Wisdom tells us at Cana, opening our eyes to the One in whom our hunger will be satisfied and our thirst cured, the son of Mary, the fruit of the Mystical Rose, whose love is everything we could ever need or want, whose beauty holds us, and whose aroma we have become.

Litany of Loreto - Singular Vessel of Devotion

In certain periods of the Church's history (and the current time, I think, is probably one of them), Christians have been rather cautious about giving too much honour to the saints: after all, true worship is due to God alone (cf. Ex 20: 3-6), and veneration of the saints can sometimes look dangerously like diverting that true worship elsewhere.

This phenomenon is particularly interesting nowadays, though, when secular society appears to be fascinated with the cult of celebrity. We seem to be quite happy honouring people not even for what they have achieved but simply for who they are - for being famous. I say this is interesting because, ultimately, Christians don't honour the saints because of their achievements. We honour the saints because the Church perceives in their lives a flourishing of humanity, a conformity to the divine image in which we are all created. Such conformity is achieved not by human effort but by an openness to the Holy Spirit, by sharing in the free gift of divine life which we call grace.

It follows that of all the saints, Our Lady occupies a special place in Christian devotion. She whom the angel called 'full of grace' (Luke 1:28) was so profoundly conformed to God, the ultimate object of all our devotion, that she was chosen to bear within herself the very Word of God made Flesh. Thus  she is quite literally a singular vessel of our devotion. So it is that the Byzantine Church dares to sing so exultantly in response to the Magnificat, Mary's own song of joy:

More honourable than the Cherubim,
and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim
Thou who inviolate didst bring forth the Word of God,
very Mother of God, Thee do we magnify!

Litany of Loreto - Vessel of Honour

By the "unique and unrepeatable fact" that Mary was truly the Mother of God, the Theotokos or God-bearer, she is honoured. She is the new Ark of the Covenant, the place where God chooses to rest. She was the vessel that not only carried Christ in her womb but gave him his human nature. This intimate relationship with the Word itself made flesh elevates her in the created order and amongst humanity. However to think of Mary as just some sort of passive incubation chamber for the incarnate Word would not only be false, it would also be a somewhat perverse view not only of her motherhood but of motherhood in general. We can also think of Mary as a vessel in a nautical sense. A ship carries cargo and its destination is determined by the cargo but its crew must navigate the oceans to reach port.

During our Lord's public ministry, a woman in a crowd once exclaimed "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!". Christ replies, some might say rather surprisingly, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!". In saying this Christ does not dismiss the blessedness of His mother but emphasises her faithful cooperation with God and His grace. Mary responded to God's call at the Annunciation, and throughout her life pondered upon the Word made flesh in her heart. It is for this reason that we can also call Mary a model for the Church. By following her example the Church, as Pope John Paul II said, achieves "a fruitful spiritual motherhood". The image of the Church as a ship has often been used and it is apt in this instance. If we follow the lead of the pride of the fleet, the Star of the Sea and the Lord's Vessel of Honour, we too can cross the ocean to the promised new world.

Litany of Loreto - Spiritual Vessel

Visiting Lourdes and other Marian shrines one is often struck by the sheer volume, and indeed, variety of the statues representing Our Lady. Some are very beautiful, others have been known to draw less favourable comments. A regular visitor to Knock as a small boy, I would always be drawn to the ‘Holy Water Mary’s’, as I called them. You may recall (perhaps with a shudder) these plastic vessels which could be filled with Holy Water. Filled to the brim, the screw-top crown didn’t always do its job and it was rather an effort to ‘get Mary home’ without ‘leaking’. I would jealously guard this precious cargo - it always seemed a bit better than the Holy Water one got in England - where, awaiting it in my bedroom was a porcelain water stoop of deplorable design. It would be fair to say that I wasn’t overly impressed by the container: it was the precious contents that mattered.

Thinking upon Our Lady, however, one is perhaps struck by the tremendous range of theological meaning the phrase ‘Spiritual Vessel’ can convey. As spiritual we mean that within, that which is not apparent to the senses but is of the soul. From the moment of her conception Mary was full of grace and preserved from all stain of Original Sin. This purity allowed within her a fullness of sanctifying grace which could never be 'leaked' or lost. This fullness of grace, foreshadowed in the scriptures, would prepare her to be a vessel not only of the Spirit but of the Word made flesh. It was in her supernatural perfections that Our Lady gained an inward beauty totally unique in human history, and as that most worthy, spiritual, vessel, became the Mother of Christ and of His Church. It was this fullness of grace that allowed her to watch her Son grow and flourish and ultimately which gave her the strength to watch Him suffer and die for us. She kept all such things and “pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:51). Finally, such was her blessed state that she was assumed into Heaven, body and soul, to be united with her Son as the Queen of Heaven.

In all these momentous occasions she never faltered in love of her Son. She cared nothing for praise or adulation but lived only to serve and to praise Him. “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour” (Luke 1:46-47). In her exalted state she continues to do just this and asks nothing more than that we do the same, knowing that only God can fill and satisfy the soul which was made by Him and for Him. We sometimes feel that we are losing our ‘spiritual contents’ as we journey, but Mary shows us in the pattern of her life the example we must follow, as the preeminent member, the ‘exemplary realization’ of the Church. None can ever really begin to convey the beauty of Mary’s soul and all words fail to convey adequately that purity and sanctity, but the title ‘Spiritual Vessel’ can give us a many layered meditation, whereby we can begin to ponder upon this spiritual richness and its significance for us all. Ad Iesum per Mariam.

Litany of Loreto - Cause of our Joy

It was a Friday morning, I was late for my course, running down the stairs thinking of whether I had remembered to turn off the light in my room or not, and whether I had brought with me my books and locked the door. In the stairways I met one of the brethren. I do not know if he saw my stressed state of mind, but as I continued down the stairs with my cappa flying around his legs, he said ”may the Spirit be with you”. I started to smile as I couldn’t help thinking of Yoda, the little green man in the Star Wars films, always greeting his colleagues by saying ”may the force be with you”. Well. Yoda soon disappeared from my mind, but the words of my brother remained throughout the day. May the Spirit be with you! So much more than a wish to 'have a nice day'! I realized that the reality of being followed and upheld by God’s Holy Spirit reaches far beyond my limited thoughts. Our life is anchored in Him who holds the whole of the cosmos in his hands.

A few minutes after having received this early morning blessing, I sat around a table face to face with Anglicans, Baptists and Evangelicals, and Paul’s word of being living stones building each other up became so alive, so clear. Being united in the body of Christ, we are enjoying God’s own presence within us, as a fruit of Salvation given us in the Son. There is a Holy bond between all who have received the Lord, a bond throughout the world and across history, reaching all the way back to the first fruits of this salvation, Mary, who even before carrying the seed of God’s Messiah to the world, had been blessed and destined to bring forth the reason of our everlasting joy. It seems very simple: Jesus, our Lord, is our joy, Mary is the Mother of our Lord, and so Mary is 'cause of our joy'.

Litany of Loreto - Seat of Wisdom

Wisdom is more active than all active things; and reaches everywhere, by reason of her purity. For she is a vapour of the power of God, and a certain pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty God: and therefore no defiled thing comes into her (Wisdom 7:24-25).

The Virgin Orans at St. Sophia Cathedral, Kiev

For centuries Christians have prayed to Our Lady that they might be guided in wisdom. At Blackfriars, we'll often begin meetings with the prayer: 'Our Lady Seat of Wisdom, pray for us.' There is a very special relationship between Our Lady and wisdom. In the Old Testament, wisdom is personified as a female figure who brings God's plans to perfection. Whilst the New Testament never applied these texts directly to Mary herself, early Christians began to ask who this figure was. One possibility was to identify this figure with Christ himself, but this was slightly problematic, not only because wisdom is a female figure, but also because the Old Testament described wisdom as a mother who had been created (Sirach 24). So who was this person, so near to God without being God, associated with him in the role of mother of the whole world, this female figure that fulfils His plans to perfection? It was the analogy between this image and that of the woman in Revelation 12 clothed with the sun and crowned with twelve stars, that led Christians to apply the wisdom texts to Mary.

Mary cannot be said to be wisdom without qualification. Only Christ is the eternal uncreated wisdom of God, and only the Church made perfect at the end of time, is to be the final created realisation of this divine wisdom. But Mary is the one who was predestined to be the first created realisation of wisdom. For creation was only able to fully engage with the wisdom of God when Mary in her total receptivity to the divine will, allowed herself to be that seat in which wisdom would makes its home.

Litany of Loreto - Mirror of Justice

After a series of titles addressing Mary as Mother and Virgin comes a series of thirteen, Mirror of justice, Seat of wisdom, Cause of our joy, Spiritual vessel, Vessel of honour, Singular vessel of devotion, Mystical rose, Tower of David, Tower of ivory, House of gold, Ark of the covenant, Gate of heaven, and Morning star. Some of these are clearly found in the Old Testament whereas the origin of others is obscure, but it has been argued that they all belong in Jewish Wisdom literature and in the mystical and theological ideas associated with the Temple in Jerusalem. Mary is being acknowledged as the place of the presence of God, more specifically as 'Wisdom', the consort or companion of God in the creation and government of the world. The English biblical scholar and proponent of 'Temple theology', Margaret Barker, says that these titles all originate in the Wisdom tradition, both the texts accepted by the Church as canonical scripture and in other Jewish writings that were preserved only by the Church, indicating their importance to Christians. She argues that they come from a rich tradition of spiritual and theological thinking centred on 'the Lady' of Solomon's Temple, and that this much older tradition was later used by Christians - when exactly we don't know - and applied by them to the Mother of the Lord in what has become the Litany of Loreto. (See Margaret Barker, 'The Images of Mary in the Litany of Loreto', published in Usus Antiquior 1 (2010) pages 110-31, and available here.)

On the title 'Mirror of Justice', Barker writes as follows:

"In the Litany of Loreto, only one title, Mirror of Justice, speculum iustitiae, clearly resembles a title in the Wisdom Literature. In the Wisdom of Solomon 7.26 she is described as the spotless mirror of the power or Glory of God, speculum . . . Dei maiestatis. The Greek text here has the spotless mirror of the ἐνέργεια of God, the ‘working’ of God, and there is no Hebrew. This line is, however, one of a triplet in the Hebrew style, suggesting a Hebrew cultural context at the very least: she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, an image of his goodness. Why is Mary the mirror of iustitia? The Vulgate uses this word to render the Hebrew şedaqah, and the Greek δικαιοσúνη, both of which mean ‘righteousness’, and so this is perhaps a better way to understand the word. Now righteousness, in its Hebrew context, describes exactly the role of Wisdom. Righteousness was the process that brought peace, šalom, and Wisdom joined all things together, held them in harmony, ἁρμόζουσα (LXX Proverbs 8.30). ‘Mirror of Righteousness’, the One who shows how God works to bring peace, fits well with the triplet in Wisdom 7.26: reflection of eternal light, mirror of the working of God, image of his goodness. Mary as the speculum iustitiae links her to Wisdom" (p.113).

The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) teaches us that God's righteousness involves a radical re-creation of the order of this world. This re-creation is underway in the womb of Mary as she carries the Word of the Eternal Father. Mary's holiness, the work of God's grace preparing her to be the bearer of the Sun of Justice, means that we can fittingly call her the 'mirror of justice', the clearest possible reflection of divine wisdom and righteousness because she is closest to that wisdom and righteousness.

Litany of Loreto - Virgin ...

The title ‘virgin’ introduces a series of titles under which Mary is invoked in the Litany of Loreto. More specifically the words ‘Virgin most …’ identify Mary as prudent, venerable, renowned, powerful, merciful, and faithful, all in the fullest degree.

Why these qualities? The first and last, prudence end faithfulness, point to virtues that help sustain a life dedicated to God, such as Mary had. Those in-between, point rather to the power of her intercession in prayer, something seen as fruitful because of her dedication to and intimacy with God. By her faith-filled and efficacious intercession she is closely linked with the power and mercy of God. It is all this that means she is renowned and venerable. There is perhaps a certain irony here: Mary is recorded as being humble in the Bible (Lk 1:29). However, it is this humility and openness to God, and a transparency that goes with it, that means that God can fill her with his life in a way that has been recognised as profound. Indeed all generations do call her blessed! (Lk 1:48).

Interestingly, many of the preceding titles in the litany under which Mary is invoked as mother - pure, chaste, and especially inviolate and undefiled - also point to aspects of her virginity, thus establishing that her motherhood, both physical and spiritual, flows from and is rooted in her virginity.

Whatever our sexual history and whatever our vocational calling, we are called to a life of dedication to God, and this lies at the spiritual heart of virginity. Let us then look to Mary and ask her to help us cultivate the virtues here linked with her. Dedicating ourselves to God, we also can be so overshadowed by the Holy Spirit (cf Lk 1: 35) that we become spiritual mothers and fathers, forming people spiritually, whether or not we are or become physical parents. Thus we can be amiable, admirable, and give good counsel – to cite other qualities of Mary named in these sections of the litany.

Litany of Loreto - Mother ...

Last year, as part of our study programme here at Blackfriars, I attended a series of lectures on psychology and its intersections with theology. I was surprised to discover that psychology had preserved a theory of 'original sin', expressed under a number of different guises, during that period in the twentieth century when many theologians became reluctant to endorse the teaching.

Psychologists such as Freud, Jung, and Klein argued in favour of a link between the experiences of early childhood and the formation of unconscious aspects of the mind which can affect an individual's adult behaviour without them necessarily being aware of it. If correct, this theory has some interesting implications for the way we think about original sin which, as Herbert McCabe OP puts it, is 'sin that has infected us from our origins'.

Traditionally original sin has been understood as a defect in human nature that has been handed on from generation to generation. Sometimes it has even been associated with our biology but always with our solidarity with each other as members of the same 'race'. However, in the wake of Darwin's theory of evolution attempts have been made to complement this view, looking not just at our birth into the human race but with an added emphasis on the process after birth in which an individual comes to full personhood. If we are to become the person we were made to be, we must be immersed in loving relationships. The sad fact is that we are born into a world which starves us of this love and stunts our development. In a sense we are crippled from our origins by a lack of love, and this, so the argument goes, is the root of all evil that we call original sin.

Mary, of course, was protected from sin from her conception. She was free from original sin. This was so she could be a fitting ark for the new covenant. Yet Mary remained an 'ark' for Jesus for longer than the nine months that he was in her womb. She provided the loving context in which his human nature matured and he became the Man that God willed him to be. In the image of Mary and the child Jesus, then, we see the ideal human community. We see a loving relationship that allows both Mary and Jesus to become what they were meant to be. Through Christ's death and resurrection we can now enter into this community, becoming members of Christ, with Mary as our Mother, in order that we might reach our final end in God that is our beatitude.