"in The Flesh Our Lady Was His Mother--in The Spirit She Was His

[Thomist-in-Training]

Baltimore Catechism No. 3: (I think this is the caption for an image of the Crucifixion with Mary, possibly appearing in the Matrimony section):

[quote]"In the flesh Mary was the mother of Jesus, but in the spirit she was His bride."[/quote]

I read today also in an email meditation (Mary Vitamin) this quotation (Fr. Stefano Maria Manelli, FI, [i]All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed: Biblical Mariology[/i], Academy of the Immaculate: 1995, p. 366).

[quote]"Mary is the 'spouse' not only the virginal, legal spouse of St. Joseph (Mt 1:18; Lk 1:27), but the virginal, real spouse of God the Father who willed her to be the Mother, according to His human nature, of His only-begotten Son (Gal 4;4); [b]the spouse of God the Son, the Redeemer[/b], who intimately associated her with Himself in His redemptive work, as the new Eve beside the 'new Adam'; the spouse of God the Holy Spirit, who, overshadowing her, enabled her to conceive Jesus (Lk 1:35)."[/quote]

The first time I read this in the Baltimore Catechism, it was kind of surprising, but I figured it was the Baltimore Catechism. Now I read it again so I guess it's true but it's hard to get one's mind around. Do you guys know any other references on this topic?

*Title was too long, I couldn't tell. If a mod sees this, could you fix it someway? Thanks anyhow.

Edited March 18, 2009 by Thomist-in-Training

[StColette]

I believe Mary as the Bride of Christ has much do with her role as the Second Eve and her being a perfect model of the Church. Christ is the Second Adam and Mary is the Second Eve, so it's easy to see how she could be viewed as His bride in the spiritual sense when you take those titles into consideration. The Bride of Christ is also the Church, which Mary is a perfect model of, so I can see where one could draw the Mary as the Bride of Christ symbolism from there as well. Rarely have I heard Mary referred to as the Bride of God the Father, more often she is referred to as the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. I guess in the sense that Christ is the Son of God the Father and the Son of Mary then there is a type of spousal relationship there. And the spousal relationship with the Holy Spirit is very apparent by the Incarnation. So in conclusion I would say that Mary is the spouse of the persons of the Holy Trinity according to different roles, models, titles, and involvement.

The following is part of my Thesis on Mary's Relationship to the Members of the Holy Trinity

[quote]From before the beginning of creation the Holy Spirit has existed eternally. He sprang from the love of the Father and the Son. It is because of this that He is considered the eternal Immaculate Conception. His conception does not have a beginning but exists eternally. Through Him all graces flow and are bestowed upon God's creation. The Holy Spirit is by far the most mysterious of all the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity, and through Him one creature is honored above all others. The creature which possesses this singular privilege is the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is said that if the Holy Spirit had become incarnate it would have been in the Immaculate Mary. The same Spirit who from all eternity is the Immaculate Conception in the bosom of the Trinity, makes Mary another Immaculate Conception.46 The Holy Spirit had a hand in the creation of Mary from the very beginning of the thought of her existence. He designed her nature in such a way that she could proclaim to St. Bernadette, I am the Immaculate Conception.47 Mary's very nature is so bound to her Immaculate Conception that it not only describes how she came into being but rather what she is. She was fashioned by the Holy Spirit to be His holy bride. In fashioning her this way, He poured out all graces upon her that she may shine unlike any other creature and be so submissive to God that she would never wish to stray her will from the Lord. The Holy Spirit was the one to pour forth these great graces into Mary because He is the source of all graces. He saw it fitting that His spouse should be a holy and grace-filled woman.

In St. Luke's Gospel, the story of Mary’s being betrothed to another man can make the understanding of her being the Spouse of the Holy Spirit quite complicated.48 One must look at the idea of Mary as the Holy Spirit's spouse from an objective point of view. The Gospel never informs us of an actual marriage taking place between Mary and Joseph. The fact that Mary is with child from origins unknown to Joseph comes as a shock, in which he even contemplates secretly divorcing her in order to save her from death. The shock Joseph experiences is because he is aware of Mary’s vow of virginity which she took in the temple.49 It is only revealed later to Joseph, in a dream, that the child Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit and that he should have no reservations about taking her into his home. He did so only at the instruction of the angel of God and he had faith enough to trust that what was told to him was true. Joseph had to come to the realization that Mary had been created by God as the cause for salvation. By cause it is not meant to mean the main cause of salvation; rather she is involved deeply in the plan of salvation history from the very beginning. It is easy to conclude that St. Joseph had to have been a very grace-filled and holy person to have been able to accept and understand the role he would play in salvation history.

The idea of Mary as the spouse of the Holy Spirit and the betrothed of Joseph causes the issue of bigamy. On further deduction it can be explained that the Virgin Mary could not be guilty of bigamy. A marriage between a man and woman is only fully formed when the marriage is consummated in the marital embrace. Mary never had this marital embrace with Joseph because she had taken a vow of virginity at a very early age. The Holy Spirit in a sense consummated spiritually His marriage to the Blessed Virgin Mary at the moment of the conception of Christ. Since Mary never consummated the marriage covenant with Joseph, she can not be found guilty of bigamy.

In being the spouse of the Holy Spirit, Mary is the epitome of all creation. Mary reveals the presence of the Holy Spirit in her by all she is, by her words, her actions, her whole life.50 In her there is the perfection of every woman and spouse. She is so closely and perfectly bound to her spouse, the Holy Spirit, that she is the example for every woman and wife. Unlike Eve and the women who came before her in the Biblical text she is both a humble and meek servant of God. Most of the women of the Old Testament led their husbands into great sin and discourse. For example, Sarah, the wife of Abraham, in her own lack of faith caused there to be discord in the covenant between Abraham and God.51 Since the fall of man, there has been disunity between husband and wife. It is this disunity that caused such rifts in the Old Testament. Mary has complete unity with the Holy Spirit. United to the Holy Spirit as his spouse, in ineffable manner, she is one with God an incomparably more perfect way than can be predicated of any other creature.52

The union of Mary and the Holy Spirit is unlike any union that has ever existed. No creature has ever been so united to God. The only way to see a glimpse into this type of union is to understand the idea of love. In the union of the Holy Spirit with her, not only do we have the love of two beings in one of the two we have all the love of the Trinity itself; and in the other we have all of creation's love.53 The love of the Trinity is encompassed all within the Person of the Holy Spirit. Out of that love the Holy Spirit created His spouse, and in her He poured out all of creation's love. It was by this love that Mary grew to be the wondrous creature that she is. The love that flows in the very being of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the love that cared and nurtured for Jesus Christ, God made flesh. She was dominated by God's love. All her other virtues, including her great infused knowledge and understanding and wisdom were permeated by the Spirit's love in her.54 By dominated one does not mean overpowered by it nor overshadowed by it in order that she could not act freely on her own. Rather, Mary is so consumed in love that she can only act out of love of God. Love is not something that restricts a person but rather love is something that allows one to act more freely in union with God.[/quote]

[url="http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?s=&showtopic=79702&view=findpost&p=1516065"]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?s...t&p=1516065[/url]

[abercius24]

Mary is Christ's spiritual bride in the sense of her being THE key member of the Church by grace -- the Church as a whole being His bride (Ephesians 5). Mary typifies this spiritual, marital role for all of us, but all of us will find ourselves being members of the Bride of Christ in heaven in just as much a real sense as does Mary. Spiritual Marriage is the best and only way God has communicated to us the intimate relationship He intends to have with us spiritually. But in all honesty, this relationship only begins to be described as a marital relationship. I would bet it truly goes far beyond what we can even begin to imagine. But yes, Mary typifies this spiritual relationship for all of us.

I have written more on this in a paper on the Luminous Mysteries if you're interested:

[url="http://www.catholicqanda.com/Luminous.html"]A Sacramental Meditation on the Luminous Mysteries[/url]

Edited March 19, 2009 by abercius24

[Thomist-in-Training]

Thanks, friends. Interesting. StColette, are you perchance in the MIM?

[Mr.Cat]

She is the Bride of Christ, in a [i]sense [/i]the Church, and the Mother of the Church...

What is so confusing?

[Thomist-in-Training]

[quote name='Mr.CatholicCat' post='1814360' date='Mar 22 2009, 10:00 PM']She is the Bride of Christ, in a [i]sense [/i]the Church, and the Mother of the Church...

What is so confusing?[/quote]

Not so much "confusing" as a concept that I have only heard mentioned expressly two times in my life, and which is pretty paradoxical, thus on which it would help to have further reading.

[Nihil Obstat]

Don't we also refer to the entire Church as the "Bride of Christ"?

[StColette]

[quote name='Thomist-in-Training' post='1811183' date='Mar 18 2009, 11:33 PM']Thanks, friends. Interesting. StColette, are you perchance in the MIM?[/quote]


Nope

I just have a huge love for Marian Theology as well as Biblical Studies.

[StColette]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' post='1820200' date='Mar 30 2009, 12:30 AM']Don't we also refer to the entire Church as the "Bride of Christ"?[/quote]

The Spotless Church is the Bride of Christ so yes. Mary is a Perfect and Spotless Model of the Church. Mary and the Church are often interchangeable in Scripture as well as in the Ancient Tradition of the Church and Early Church Fathers. Revelation 19 & 20 make this very apparent.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='StColette' post='1820546' date='Mar 30 2009, 03:53 PM']The Spotless Church is the Bride of Christ so yes. Mary is a Perfect and Spotless Model of the Church. Mary and the Church are often interchangeable in Scripture as well as in the Ancient Tradition of the Church and Early Church Fathers. Revelation 19 & 20 make this very apparent.[/quote]

Something about that post was just awesome to read. I don't know what or why.

[StColette]

It should say Revelation 11 & 12 lol oops!

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='StColette' post='1821195' date='Mar 31 2009, 04:08 PM']It should say Revelation 11 & 12 lol oops![/quote]
I'd like to say that reading those was somewhat enlightening with the subject... but honestly, I just have no idea.

Is there a condensed dumb person version of how one interprets this?