By St. John Henry Newman
Mary is called the Gate of Heaven, because it was through her that Our Lord passed from heaven to earth. The prophet Ezekiel, prophesying about Mary, says: “The gate shall remain closed, it shall not be opened, and no one shall pass through it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; and it shall remain closed for the Prince, the same Prince shall sit in it.” This is fulfilled not only in that Our Lord took flesh from her and was her Son, but also in that she had a place in the economy of the Redemption; it is fulfilled in her spirit and in her will, as well as in her body.
Eve had a part in the fall of man, though it was Adam who represented us, and whose sin made us sinners. It was Eve who began and who tempted Adam. Scripture says: “The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes and desirable for gaining wisdom; she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.”
It was fitting, therefore, in God’s mercy, that as the woman began the destruction of the world, so also the woman should begin its restoration; and that, as Eve opened the way for the fatal act of the first Adam, so Mary should open the way for the great work of the second Adam, namely, Our Lord Jesus Christ, who came to save the world by dying for it on the Cross.
For this reason Mary is called by the holy Fathers a second and better Eve, for having taken that first step in the salvation of the human race which Eve took in its ruin. How and when did Mary take part—and the initial part—in the restoration of the world? It was when the angel Gabriel came to her to announce the great dignity that was to be her inheritance.
St. Paul exhorts us to “present our bodies to God as a reasonable sacrifice.” We must not only pray with the lips, fast, do outward penance and be chaste in the body; we must also be obedient and pure in the mind. And so, as regards the Blessed Virgin, it was God’s will that she should freely and with full knowledge accept to be the Mother of Our Lord, and not be a mere passive instrument whose motherhood would have no merit or reward.
The greater our gifts, the heavier our duties. It was no light matter to be so intimately united to the Redeemer of men, as she experienced later when she suffered with Him.
For this reason, pondering well the angel’s words before giving her answer, she first asked if so high an office would involve the loss of that virginity which she had consecrated. When the angel told her no, then, with the full consent of a full heart, filled with God’s love for her and her own humility, she said: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.” By this consent she became the Gate of Heaven.
[And “Mother of the Creator.”]
This is a title which, more than any other, we might have thought impossible for any creature to possess. At first sight we might be tempted to say that it confounds our primary ideas of Creator and creature, the eternal and the temporal, the self-subsistent and the dependent; and yet, upon deeper consideration, we shall see that we cannot deny this title to Mary without denying the divine Incarnation, that is, the great and fundamental truth of the Revelation: that God became man.
And this was seen from the first age of the Church. Christians were accustomed from the beginning to call the Blessed Virgin “Mother of God,” because they understood that it was impossible to deny her that title without denying the words of St. John: “The Word (that is, God the Son) became flesh.” And it was not long before it was seen necessary to proclaim this truth by the voice of an Ecumenical Council of the Church.
For, as a consequence of men’s aversion to the mystery, the error arose that Our Lord was not really God, but a man different from us only in this: that God dwelt in Him, as God dwells in all good men, though in greater measure; in the same way that the Holy Spirit dwelt in the angels and prophets, as in a kind of temple; or also as Our Lord now dwells in the tabernacle of the church.
Then the bishops and the faithful saw that there was no other way to prevent this false and pernicious doctrine from being taught than by clearly declaring and making an article of faith that Mary was Mother not only of man, but of God.
And from that time the title of Mary as Mother of God has become what is called a dogma, or article of faith, in the Church. But this leads us to a wider view of the matter. Is this title given to Mary more wonderful than the doctrine that God, without ceasing to be God, became man? Is it more mysterious that Mary should be Mother of God than that God should be man?
And yet this latter—as I have said—is the elementary truth of the Revelation, attested by prophets, evangelists and apostles throughout Scripture. And what can be more consoling and joyful than the wonderful promises that follow from this truth, that Mary is the Mother of God?
The great wonder, namely, that we become brothers of our God; that, if we live well and die in God’s grace, we shall all be taken up afterwards by our incarnate God to that place where the angels dwell; that our bodies shall rise from the dust and be taken to Heaven; that we shall be really united to God; that we shall be partakers of the divine nature; that each of us, soul and body, shall be plunged into the abyss of glory that surrounds the Almighty; that we shall see Him and share His blessedness, according to the text: “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
About the author
John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was created a cardinal by Leo XIII in 1879, beatified by Benedict XVI in 2010, and canonized by Pope Francis on October 13, 2019. He was one of the most important Catholic writers of the last centuries.