The Humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary; This was Her defining Virtue

July 17 we celebrated the Humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The dictionary defines humility as the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one’s importance, rank, etc. A few synonyms for the word humility would be; lowliness, meekness, or submissiveness.

Our Blessed Mother, the Mother of God, Queen of the Universe, was chosen from among all people from time immemorial as the one to bring the Savior of us all into this world. Yet, among the very first words she speaks are  “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word.” From the beginning she placed herself last.

Filled from the moment of her birth with God’s grace, she shows us what humility truly is. Pregnant, she visits her cousin, Elizabeth, to be there to help her as John the Baptist is born into the world. We see her patiently waiting outside a house to talk to Jesus, where He was preaching. After He finished, she still waited until she was invited in. She came to us to serve and, no matter how exalted she was, that is what she did.

Pope St. John Paul II, in his homily given on November 1, 2000, while celebrating Mass on the 50^th anniversary of Pope Pius XII’s pronouncement of the dogma of the Assumption, helps us all to understand how profound this day truly is.

The Holy Father’s homily journeys into the pathway to Holiness. He tells us the way to holiness is attained by going with the Apostles up to the mount of the Beatitudes. Then he gets to teaching us about the Blessed Virgin and Humility. What follows is from the homily:

This was discovered in particular by Mary Most Holy, who lived in unique communion with the incarnate Word, entrusting herself unreservedly to his saving plan. For this reason, she was granted to hear, in anticipation of the "Sermon on the Mount," the Beatitude that sums up all the rest: "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord" (Lk 1:45).

5. The depth of the Blessed Virgin's faith in God's word appears clearly in the song of the Magnificat: "My soul magnifies the Lord, / and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, / for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden" (Lk 1:46-48).

In this song Mary shows what constituted the foundation of her holiness: deep humility. We might ask ourselves in what did her humility consist? Much is said to us by the "trouble" she felt at the Angel's greeting: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28). Before the mystery of grace, the experience of a particular presence of God who has rested his gaze upon her, Mary feels a natural impulse of humility (literally, of "abasement"). It is the reaction of someone who is fully aware of her own littleness before the greatness of God. In this truth Mary beholds herself, others and the world.

 copyright Larry Peterson 2018