Did you know that, according to the Bible:
Mary is crowned with glory and honor to rule over the works of the Lord’s hands, and God has put all things under her feet. She will be given power over the nations, she will judge the world, she will judge angels, she will inherit all things. Mary will be crowned with life and righteousness and will sit with Christ on his throne. God’s divine power has given to Mary all things that pertain to life and godliness. Mary has been perfected forever. Mary is a member of Christ’s body, of his flesh and bones. She cannot die any more for she is equal to the angels and partakes of the nature of God.
If that sounds overstated, then read the scriptures for yourself:
- Psalm 8:5-8
- Revelation 2:26
- 1 Corinthians 6:2,3
- James 1:12
- 2 Timothy 4:8
- Revelation 3:21
- 2 Peter 1:4
- Revelation 21:7
- Hebrews 10:14
- Ephesians 5:29-30
- Luke 20:36
“But wait,” you may say, “Those passages don’t mention Mary at all! Those are descriptions of humanity glorified in union with Christ.”
Yes. Yes they are.
If these things are true of all Christians, then they are true of Mary.
You see, the reason we are uncomfortable with hailing Mary as being full of grace (Luke 1:28) and blessed among women (Luke 1:42) is that our view of salvation is too small.
The problem is that modern Christianity has reduced salvation down to a weak soup of “Go to heaven when you die” and has lost sight of the glory of union with God.
We don’t need to reduce our respect for the mother of Christ our God; rather, we need to recognize the plan of God to make humans in Christ holy, full of life and light and power and authority, reigning beside the Lamb who is glorified in his saints (2 Thessalonians 1:10).
And as the Church has always taught, Christology is soteriology. That is: What you believe about the union of the natures of God and humanity in the person of Jesus Christ is also what you believe about salvation.
The Transfiguration reality that brought the Apostles to their knees, the revelation that Saint Paul prays we may somehow grasp (Ephesians 1:17-23), is the glory of redeemed humanity: purified, illumined, and personally united to God, so that the glory of the uncreated Trinity shines through.
If these passages about the exalted destiny of the human race in Christ are true of any of us, then first of all they are true of the first person to receive Christ in herself: His mother. If the altar of God in the temple and everything that touched it were holy (Exodus 29:37), and the Ark of the Covenant, on which God’s glory was seen, was so holy that to touch it was death (2 Samuel 6:3-8,1 Chronicles 13:7-11) — then what about the person who held her Creator and God within her body for nine months, nursed Him with milk and carried Him in her arms, and sang Him to sleep?
Mary is not only a passive vessel through which God passed; she is a person and for all her adult life she was the Mother of the divine, incarnate Person Jesus Christ. “Mother of God” is both a dogmatic title teaching the divinity of Mary’s Son; it is also a reminder that her relationship to her Son and God, which is unlike anyone else’s. Who else at Cana (John 2:3-5) had the sheer boldness to decide that Christ should do a miracle here and now?
Don’t worship Mary as a goddess! Orthodox Christians certainly don’t. We pray for her and ask her to pray for us, but unlike the Lord God, we don’t offer Mary any sacrifices (which is what worship is.)
But don’t be afraid to praise her. Not only God is worthy of praise; rather, “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Praise is an appropriate response to virtue, so we are commanded to “Let another man praise thee” (Proverbs 27:2) and to let the good works of a virtuous woman praise her (Proverbs 31:31). And what father is ever displeased when you praise his daughters? God is not shortchanged when we praise the works of his hands – on the contrary “God is glorified in His saints” (2 Thessalonians 1:9-12).
If you want a scriptural example of how to respond to the wondrous works of God in the person of the virgin who became Christ’s mother, then take the biblical example of the Archangel Gabriel and exclaim, “Hail, O full of grace! The Lord is with you!” And with Saint Elizabeth, exclaim “Blessed are you among women!”
