What Was Mary Doing During The First Holy Week? ~ Part I

How must Jesus have prepared His mother for His Passion, Death and Resurrection?

The Glorification of Mary by Botticelli

They had a connection like no other mother and child. Their experience was out of this world. It involved Pure Love, the Holy Spirit, overshadowing Mary as a 16-year-old virgin.

What first catches my attention is the 16-year-old virgin. What was Mary’s origin? Who really is this mother of Jesus?

This post is written from the perspective of a mother, which I can identify with since I am the mother of five adult children, and grandmother of 12 beautiful grandchildren. However, Our Blessed Mother, Mary, is not me. Mary had a very unique beginning. Mary was a pure and holy child.

“Joachim and Anne were the (maternal) grandparents of Jesus, but they were very old before God sent them Our Blessed Mother as a child. Joachim and Anne were rich and faithful Jews. Each year at the Temple, before Mary was born to them, Joachim made his offering to make up for his sins. One day when Joachim made his offering, the Jewish elders said to him, ‘It is not right for you to offer first gifts, for you have begotten no offspring in Israel.’

“Joachim was very sad and went to the desert to fast and pray. Anne also prayed in her home. There was no greater misfortune for a Jewish person than to be childless. Anne promised God, if He would send her a child, she would bring it up in the faith. She also promised God the child would serve Him all the days of its life. God heard the prayers of Joachim and Anne and sent them a baby girl, Mary.

“In gratitude for the blessing of a daughter, Joachim and Anne brought Mary to the Temple when she was around three years old. At the Temple she was accepted into a special group of virgins, consecrated to God, and received spiritual lessons.

“The desires of the world, vanity, immodest dress and sin never touched her pure soul. She was preserved virginal, body and soul, so that she would be the loving, pure, first “tabernacle” of Jesus, God-made man on earth.

“Mary treasured her purity and her virginity. Even when God sent Jesus to her, and she was married to Joseph, Mary was filled with all the fruits of the Holy Spirit.” Taken from The Virtue of Virtues, Chapter III

In The Holy Bible Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition, Luke 1:26-36 says, “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

“He will be great, and will be called
the Son of the Most High;
and the Lord God will give to him
the throne of his Father
David,
and he will reign over the house of
Jacob for ever;
and of his kingdom there will be
no end.”

“And Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I have no husband?’

“And the angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore the child to be born will be called holy,
the Son of God.’

“And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”

Gabriel presents the plan of God, the Almighty Father of heaven and earth, yet Gabriel waits for Mary to consider in her mind and use her free will to answer. She meditates for a moment, then says, yes: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”

It is popular these days to say we believe in angels, but what would we do if an angel spoke to us? More than an angel is celebrated this Holy Week. Jesus is reaching from heaven into your and my heart, reminding all of us what He has done for all humankind, even those who do not yet know Him, and those so busy denying Him that there seems to be no room, as in the stable of His birth, in the corners of human hearts. But here is Jesus, still knocking at the door of our hearts, minds and voices. He meets us right where we are, beckoning us to come just a bit closer, and closer still.

Mary and Jesus share a deep Love of God, the Father of both of them. Mary is referred to as Spouse of God through the Holy Spirit. Jesus shares His Blessed Mother with us while He was on the Cross. John 19:26-27 says, “When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved (John) standing near, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour on the disciple took her to his home.” The Holy Bible Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

After the training from a very early age at the Temple, Our Blessed Mother was taught and knew the scriptures of old told of the suffering servant, the Savior of the world to come as promised, the Messiah. Many women of that day were awaiting the arrival of the Savior, however they understood that to mean. Some thought an earthly king. But Our Blessed Mother remained pure in her heart, not weighed down by ego nor fantasy.

In the next upcoming posts, we can place ourselves at these scenes as we pray and meditate, watching as the child of faith that we are, how Our Blessed Mother responds to the events of Holy Week, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, until the culmination of victory over the Cross on Easter Sunday.

We will see Mary receive the first-hand knowledge of the risen Jesus Christ on the word of John, with whom she is now living. There is so much more to say than this post can hold. It will continue tomorrow, Good Friday.

Upon investigation, every culture claims the name, Mary. The name, Mary, seems to have its roots in Aramaic and Hebrew. According to Wikipedia:

“The name was early etymologized as containing the Hebrew root mr “bitter” (cf. myrrh), or mry “rebellious”. St. Jerome (writing c. 390), following Eusebius of Caesarea, translates the name as “drop of the sea” (stilla maris in Latin), from Hebrew מר mar “drop” (cf. Isaias 40:15) and ים yam “sea”. This translation was subsequently rendered stella maris (“star of the sea”) due to scribal error, whence Our Lady’s title Star of the Sea. Rashi, an 11th-century Jewish commentator on the Bible, wrote that the name was given to the sister of Moses because of the Egyptians’ harsh treatment of Jews in Egypt. Rashi wrote that the Israelites lived in Egypt for 210 years, including 86 years of cruel enslavement that began at the time Moses’ elder sister was born. Therefore, the girl was called Miriam, because the Egyptians made life bitter (מַר, mar) for her people.”

God Bless