Christian Armor: The Rosary and the Bible

Christian Armor

The Rosary and the Bible

David C. Bellusci, OP

Christian Armor

The Rosary and the Bible

Copyright ©

2024

David C. Bellusci. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers,

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8

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, Eugene, OR

97401

.

Wipf & Stock

An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199

W.

8

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paperback isbn: 978-1-6667-8610-1

hardcover isbn: 978-1-6667-8611-8

ebook isbn: 978-1-6667-8612-5

version number 04/01/24

All Scripture quotations are from The Catholic Edition of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright ©

1989

. National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Scripture Abreviations

JOYFUL MYSTERIES

I—First Joyful Mystery—Annunciation

1. Nazareth

2. Mary: Chosen by God

3. Eve: First Woman

4. Mary: The New Eve

5. Mary’s Humility

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Virtue of Humility

Practical Matters—

1. Humility: Path to Sanctity

2. Pride: Way to Death

I—Second Joyful Mystery—Visitation

1. Ein Karem—fountain of the vineyard

2. Mary and Elizabeth

3. Baptizer and Savior in their Wombs

4. Humility and Charity

5. Immaculate Conception

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Virtue of Charity; Love of Neighbor

Practical matters—

Truth

Death

Love

I—Third Joyful Mystery—Birth of Jesus

1. Bethlehem—house of bread

2. Jesus’s Ancestry

3. Joseph: Husband of Mary

4. Roman Census

5. Birth of Jesus: Promise Fulfilled

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Virtue of Poverty

Practical matters—

I—Fourth Joyful Mystery—Presentation in the Temple

1. Mary and Joseph Present Jesus in the Temple

2. Simeon’s Prophecy

3. Sword Pierces Mary’s Soul

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Virtue of Obedience

Practical matters—

I—Fifth Joyful Mystery—Finding of Jesus in the Temple

1. Looking for Your Child

2. Finding Jesus

3. Throne of the Word

4. Finding: Repeats Itself in the Joyful Mysteries

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Virtue of Piety

Practical matters—

LUMINOUS MYSTERIES

I—First Luminous Mystery—Baptism of the Lord

1. Jordan River

2. John and Jesus

3. Ein Karem: Old and New Covenants

4. Purity of John the Baptist

5. Baptism of Jesus

6. Holy Trinity

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Openness to the Holy Spirit

Practical Matters—

I—Second Luminous Mystery—Miracle at Cana

1. Wedding

2. Mary and Jesus

3. Wedding Feast of the Lamb

4. Mary as Mediatrix

II—Fruit of this Mystery: to Jesus through Mary

Practical Matters—

I—Third Luminous Mystery—Proclamation of the Kingdom of God

1. Two Kingdoms

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Repentance; Trust in God

Practical Matters—

I—Fourth Luminous Mystery—Transfiguration

1. Mount Tabor

2. Transfiguration

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Desire for Holiness

Practical Matters—

1. Holiness in the Scriptures

2. Discipline

3. Striving in Virtue

I—Fifth Luminous Mystery—Institution of the Eucharist

1. Last Supper

2. Priesthood of Jesus

II— Fruit of this Mystery: Eucharistic Adoration; Active Participation at Mass

Practical Matters—

1. Bread and Wine

2. Body and Blood of Christ

3. Doubting Thomas

4. Eucharistic Adoration

SORROWFUL MYSTERIES

I—First Sorrowful Mystery—Agony in the Garden

1. Gethsemane

2. Prophesy

3. Agony

4. Betrayal

5. Father’s Will

II— Fruit of this Mystery: Virtue of Contrition; Conformity to the Will of God

Practical Matters—

I—Second Sorrowful Mystery—Scourging at the Pillar

1. Judas Betrays Jesus

2. Caiphas’s House

3. Peter’s Threefold Denial

4. Divinity and Kingship

5. Pilate’s Dilemma

6. Flagellation

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Virtue of Purity; Mortification

Practical Matters—

Steps towards Purity

I—Third Sorrowful Mystery—Crowning with Thorns

1. Handed over to the Romans

2. Throne of His Ancestor David

3. The House of Jacob Forever

4. His Reign Will Have No End

5. Your Kingdom Come

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Virtue of Moral Courage

Practical Matters—

I—Fourth Sorrowful Mystery—Jesus Carries His Cross

1. Via Dolorosa

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Virtue of Patience

Practical Matters—

What Is Patience?

I—Fifth Sorrowful Mystery—Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord

1. Our Lives Forever Changed

2. Death of Jesus

3. Salvific Act

4. Law and Prophets

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Virtue of Self-Denial

Practical Matters—

GLORIOUS MYSTERIES

I—First Glorious Mystery—Resurrection of Our Lord

1. Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher

First Appearance—Jerusalem: Jesus Greets Mary Magdalene

Second Appearance—Emmaus: Jesus Breaking Bread

Third Appearance: Jesus Shows Thomas His Wounds

Fourth Appearance—Tiberius: Jesus Eats Breakfast with His Apostles

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Virtue of Faith

Practical Matters—

Dealing with Doubt

I—Second Glorious Mystery—Ascension of Our Lord

1. Ascension

2. Son of Man

3. Jesus’s Kingship

4. House of Jacob

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Virtue of Hope; Desire for Heaven

Practical Matters—

I—Third Glorious Mystery—Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary

1. Language

2. Holy Spirit

3. Upper Room

4. Speaking Other Tongues

5. Paraclete—Counselor

6. Gifts and Fruit of the Spirit

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Wisdom; Love of God

Practical Matters—

1. Ten Commandments (Exod 20: 2–17)

2. Eight Beatitudes (Matt 5:3–12)

I—Fourth Glorious Mystery—Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Body and Soul into Heaven

1. Mount Zion

2. Ebionite Heresy

3. Council of Ephesus

4. Devotion to Mary

5. Assumption of Mary

6. Assumption of Mary and Immaculate Conception

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Devotion to Mary

Practical Matters—

I—Fifth Glorious Mystery—The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

1. Catholic Queens and Saints

2. Biblical Queens

II—Fruit of this Mystery: Eternal Happiness

Practical Matters—

Conclusion

Bibliography

In memory

of mamma and papa

who first brought me to the Holy Land

—Nazareth, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem—

to reflect, discern, and worship.

And in memory of Garrett Thomas Marchetti

(

2001

–

21

)

who served our pilgrim Masses, June

2019

,

in Tiberius, Nazareth, Mt. Tabor, Bethlehem,

Bethany, and Gethsemane.

Dedicated to my students,

my godchildren,

my spiritual children,

and my nephews and nieces.

In Honorem Beatissimae Virginis Mariae

Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be

with me according to your word." (Luke

1

:

38

)

"Lord, to whom can we go?

You have the words of eternal life." (John

6

:

68

)

Preface

A Dominican writing a book on the rosary seems fitting, given that the Dominicans wear the rosary as part of their habit. Moreover, filial devotion to the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, is found in the Constitutions of the Order of Preachers.¹ The biblical themes of each mystery of the rosary has inspired Dominican preaching.

Although this writing project on the rosary and its biblical themes began in 2018, the motivation for this work can be traced to my first year at university year in Montreal, Canada.

At the beginning of my university studies, and living away from home, I continued my practice of participating at daily Mass at the Basilica of Notre Dame or at the Loyola Chapel in the Notre-Dame-de-Grace district of the city. Being a devout Catholic, I also wanted to grow in my knowledge of the Scriptures, so I joined two Bible study groups offered by Evangelical Christians: Campus Crusade for Christ and Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. I soon found myself attempting to answer their questions or responding to their criticisms of my beliefs and practises as a Catholic. Questions about the Pope, praying to Mary and the Saints, indulgences, salvation by works, purgatory, and praying for the dead, just to name a few. Although I strived to practice my Catholic faith, I could not always answer their questions, nor could I defend myself in response to their criticisms.

I enjoyed the company of some Catholic friends, but we rarely talked about our religious beliefs. My network also included several non-Christian friends to whom I explained the teachings of the Catholic Church. And I was also very close friends with an atheist; this individual referred to my beliefs as fairy tales.

In the first year of studies, during the summer months, I took a course in modern philosophy covering René Descartes, John Locke, and David Hume. Questions that I tried to answer no longer concerned my Catholic faith; I was now trying to make sense of my belief in God. During that same summer that I studied modern philosophy, the religious studies department sponsored a talk by an international biblical scholar. The lecture included comparisons between Genesis and Isaiah.

I was left disturbed by the scholar’s lecture; what I carried away was an argument to reduce the Bible to a mythical narrative. I began to wonder about his biblical scholarship and the demythologizing of the Bible. At that same event, I approached the international scholar in the faculty lounge during the reception. After my brief exchange with this invited lecturer, in the presence of some faculty members listening, I responded as a zealous follower of Christ; I ended the conversation by telling the speaker, there is still time for your salvation.²

That evening I returned home, late in the dark, feeling depressed. I reached a state of total confusion. I lay on the floor in my one-room apartment, more than just crying. I was screaming in anger because I no longer knew what I believed. Did I believe in anything? I could not be sure. I was not even certain whether God existed. In the course of two semesters, I rapidly slid downhill from faith to uncertainty sinking further into an abyss.

I felt certain of my existence. I did not have to prove to myself a self-evident truth. And to exist meant that a greater being than myself gave me my existence, a being upon whom I depended for my own and ongoing existence. A being who gave life to me and who sustains me: God.

I also knew from experience that I sinned and I needed a savior. That is why God sent his Son. To save me. I could not dismiss the outstanding fidelity of Mary as she stood before her son at the cross. And Jesus entrusted me to his Mother; in fact, in my room hung Salvador Dali’s Crucifixion with Mary looking upon her resurrecting Son.

Somehow, I understood what I believed and why. Why I was a Roman Catholic. From that late night to the early morning I experienced what I now call, my six-hour crisis of faith. From that day onwards, I made it my responsibility to learn everything I could about Catholicism. I was nineteen years old.

Christian Armor is meant to be spiritual reading adequate for Scripture classes or rosary-themed retreats. As a personal spiritual reading, Christian Armor can be read one page per day to probe the rosary mystery along with the Biblical verses. This savoring of both God’s Word and the rosary allows for Scriptural meditation, personal reflection, and thanksgiving. After the end of each mystery, with probing practical matters, the reader is encouraged to set goals in virtue-building.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Rome, Santa Maria Maggiore

Assumption of Mary

August

15

,

2023

1

. Book of Constitutions and Ordinations of the Friars of the Order of Preachers, Sect.

1

, Ch.

1

, Art.

3

, Paragraph

28

, I.

2

. A paraphrase of my final words.

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to the biblical scholarship of Jean Doutre (OP), Michel Gourgues (OP), and Rick Jaworski (CC) in their New Testament instruction, and Walter Vogels (MAfr) in Old Testament studies. These biblical scholars provided me with a deeper theological understanding of New Testament and Old Testament studies.

In Mariology, Maximo Gatela (OP) offered direction and guidance in the biblical and historical understanding of the Virgin Mary, especially the Immaculate Conception. The late Father Lawrence Dewan (OP)+ provided me with the foundation to Thomist Metaphysics and Ethics. In Catechetical studies, I benefitted from the teaching of John Vandennacker (CC).

I wish to thank my colleagues at Catholic Pacific College. The faculty and staff share one mission: educating and forming students in truth and love anchored in Christ and his Church.

I am very grateful to Milanka Lachman and 206 Tours who made it possible for me to go on pilgrimages to Egypt, the Holy Land, and Jordan, journeys that served as archaeological, geographic, and especially biblical foundation to understanding the rosary mysteries in connection to both the Old and New Testament.

A particular thanks to Lorraine Claire Shelstad for proofreading this manuscript, checking it for typos, grammar, and punctuation. Any errors remaining in the manuscript are my own.

My writing on the mysteries of the rosary and the Scripture started during a retreat at the Benedictine Monastery in Mission, BC, on the Feast of the Presentation in 2018; I returned to the monastery to work on the scriptural meditations. I am grateful to the Benedictine monks for their hospitality, their prayerful surroundings, and their silence to help me contemplate the Word of God. At Santa Maria Maggiore, the Apostolic College in Rome, where I spend my summer months working with the Dominican confessors, I am grateful for the international Dominican community and the fraternal atmosphere of Dominican life. My time in Rome enabled me to pray before Salus Populi Romani, to reflect, re-think, and revise my chapters. In the silence of Our Lady of Oropa, a Marian shrine in the Italian Alps—not far from Turin—the prayerful surroundings provided the focus I needed for further reflection and revision on my manuscript.

The regular retreats I offer to prayer groups, my courses on Scriptures taught to university students at Catholic Pacific College, the Bible study/faith sharing groups, and my daily Biblical/Mass reflections provided the source for this book on the rosary and the sacred Scripture. Among these prayer groups I would like to mention in gratitude the Guards of Honor of the Sacred Heart, the Legion of Mary, the Padre Pio Prayer Group, and the Knights of Columbus. Among the religious congregations, I am grateful for the presence and prayers of the Carmelite Nuns, Dominican Friars, Nuns, and Nashville Sisters, the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, the Missionaries of Charity, Missionary Sisters of Queen of the Apostle, and Passionist Nuns. A celibate young men’s prayer group—Pier Giorgio Frassati Bible study and faith sharing—where we end by praying the rosary, have supported me with their prayers and Roman Catholic zeal.

I wish to thank my family for their encouraging and supportive presence in my life—brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I always remain grateful to my Dominican community in Vancouver for being a spiritual pillar for me, their joyful presence, their apostolic energy, and their commitment to the Gospel of Christ; they are a source of inspiration. Finally, I am grateful to the many faithful Catholics, family, and friends, who have kept me in their rosary prayers.

Introduction

This work on the rosary and the Bible is divided according to the twenty mysteries of the rosary. The title of these mysteries direct the faithful to the biblical theme or biblical inspiration for the meditation. The fruit of the mysteries are also included with a practical angle: virtue-building. Prayer is fundamentally about spiritual growth which means to grow in virtue. This makes prayer concrete—connected to the reality of our lives and the world we live in.

Christian Armor presents the twenty mysteries in chronological order, beginning with the Virgin Mary in whom the Son of God is enfleshed, then the life of Jesus, the promised Savior; the ministry and passion of Jesus; and the eternal life we can hope for as faithful disciples of Jesus, Son of God.

The five joyful mysteries include: the Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity of Our Lord, Presentation, Finding in the Temple. The Five Luminous Mysteries: Baptism of Our Lord, Wedding at Cana, Preaching of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration, the Eucharist which contain the mysteries associated with the ministry of Jesus introduced by his baptism. The five sorrowful mysteries that mark the passion of Jesus follow chronologically: Agony, Flagellation, Crowning with Thorns, Carrying the Cross, Crucifixion. Meditation on the five sorrowful mysteries will also extend to the Way of the Cross. The five glorious mysteries—Resurrection, Ascension, Descent of the Holy Spirit, Assumption of Mary, Coronation of Mary—represent the fulfillment of Christ’s promise to those who remain faithful to his teachings and persevere to the end.

The Scripture passages used for each of the mysteries provide the biblical focus and reflection for each of the mysteries drawing from both Old Testament and New Testament events. The Holy Spirit as the source of both the Sacred Scriptures and Church Tradition opens us to God’s revelation with prayer that sustains our communication with God. References are made to the Catechism of the Catholic Church on doctrinal or moral issues to shed further light on the biblical text. Selected references are made to the Dominican preacher St. Thomas Aquinas; the angelic doctor has proven to be a sound reference for Christian orthodoxy throughout the centuries.

Scripture Abreviations

Joyful Mysteries

First Joyful Mystery—Annunciation

I—And he came to her and said, Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you! (Luke 1:28)

Our Father . . . Hail Mary . . . Glory Be . . .

1. Nazareth

As we approach the crypt, pilgrims remain kneeling in meditative silence, candles and prayer unchanged for centuries. The pilgrims are moved by the presence of the mother of God. The sense of a mantle enveloping each pilgrim with Mary’s love and protection covers the sacred space. The solemn mass filled the basilica with devoted voices—the pilgrim’s desire to remain kneeling in thanksgiving for God’s love, for Mary his chosen daughter. And to reflect on the most radical event in history: the here of the incarnation. This dwelling—the crypt where the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary—transmits the silence of Mary, and the awesomeness of her consent.

At her home in Nazareth, God privileged this young woman to be the mother of his Son in this sacred space. This encounter between the human and the divine through the message of an angel realizes the act of conception by the power of the Holy Spirit upon Mary; she conceives the Second Person of the Trinity in her flesh—in her womb.

The earliest pilgrim whose records date from the fourth century, Egeria, mentions a big and splendid cave in which she lived in reference to Mary while on her journey to Nazareth.¹ The remains of a crusader church are evident above the cave. Nazareth became inaccessible to Christians after 1187 with the Battle of Hattin and the collapse of the Latin Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. In the early seventeenth century, the Franciscans obtained the church property and what remained of the church, thereby re-establishing the Christian presence. The present Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth was dedicated in 1969.

The visible Byzantine remains in the Basilica floor date to the mid-fifth century and contrasts with the crusader church floor with the cave to the left standing from the entrance. The chaire Maria—words of the angel Gabriel—inscribed over the symbolic seven steps descending to Mary’s grotto suggests a baptistry of the pre-Constantinian period. The cave itself where we knelt to pray in this most sublime location holds an altar with the words, And the Word—HERE—was made flesh. Certainly, holy ground where one can only kneel to contemplate the encounter between Mary, the message of the angel, and the Word Became Flesh. The floral architecture symbolizes the Virgin Mary.² To be united with Mary means to be united with Jesus.

2. Mary: Chosen by God

The angel Gabriel, a messenger of God, was sent to Nazareth, a city in Galilee. This is not the first time we hear of an angel performing an act that serves to deliver a message of God’s divine presence—to secure the forces of goodness—a divine service, a watchful intercessor.

In the Book of Tobit, Raphael plays an active role as a messenger sent by God to intervene in the lives of Tobias and Sarah by guiding, leading, and intervening in both their lives. Tobias loves Sarah as his sister and future wife (Tob 5–8). In the book of the prophet Daniel, Michael is presented as the defender of God’s faithful (Dan 12:1), and in Revelation, Michael is actively engaged in battling the dragon; the archangel Michael protects the combat against diabolical forces (Rev 12:7).³

Now the angel Gabriel appears to a woman chosen by God residing in the town of Nazareth from the house of David. The child she is being asked to conceive by the Holy Spirit is the Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32). The woman will give birth to a child whom she will name Jesus. This child will sit on the throne of David, and the kingdom of Jesus will have no end—his kingdom is eternal.

In Genesis, the fallen angel, Satan, appeared as a serpent cunningly turning the first woman, Eve, and the man, Adam, against God (Gen 3). But now we find this loyal angel appearing to the woman, Mary, so she might act upon God’s plan for human salvation, and the angel Gabriel waits for Mary’s consent.

God has a plan to save humanity: first, to destroy the work of the enemy, the devil, and second, to bring eternal life to his human creation. This young virgin, chosen in the hill country of Nazareth, not far from the Sea of Galilee and the town of Cana, is the woman for whom humanity has been waiting for centuries—Mary’s yes.

The Virgin Mary, the angel Gabriel, and the Holy Spirit form a spiritual hierarchy, bringing Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity, into the world. Each act according to their power: Mary’s human, Gabriel’s angelic, and the Holy Spirit’s divine. The angel transmits, Mary consents, and the Holy Spirit acts. Mary is at the center of this triptych.

Mary’s human freedom is never jeopardized but respected: to accept this divine mission, a mission that will be a battle between the forces of good and evil, that is, between Jesus and Satan, so that man can enter into God’s eternal kingdom. Mary, at the bottom of the hierarchy, is now raised above the angels: Mary enfleshes the Son of God.

3. Eve: First Woman

In God’s plan for our salvation, the role of the woman to crush Satan’s head is already foretold in what is referred to as the Proto-Evangelium: I will put enmity between you and the woman, / and between your offspring and hers; / he will strike your head, / and you will strike his heel (Gen 3:15).

The first man and woman brought sin into the world—original sin, deadly sin, transmitted to each of us when we were conceived—a sin only conquerable by God’s power, God’s intervention, God’s cleansing which is accomplished by Christ on the cross. Through the sacrament of baptism God’s human creation is reconciled with God by the faith of the parents or personal faith.

The first woman allowed herself to be tempted by the serpent and was seduced by Satan’s cunning, twisting language to the point of the woman rethinking God’s words, doubting God, believing the devil was telling the truth, and drawn by the promise of god-like power: You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil (Gen 3:4–5).

The man simply went along with the woman rather naively without offering any resistance or guardianship as a man should; this is his fundamental role since creation: to guard, to protect, to assert his authority. Given what the man knew of the prohibition (Gen 2:16), the man’s responsibility was to intervene against the serpent who contradicted God. The man failed as guardian, his priestly role as the first created man, and protector, the kingly role entrusted to him.

The fall occurs soon after the woman examines the tree: So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise . . . (Gen 3:6). The fruit satisfies instincts, senses, and intelligence, all three created by God to give thanks to God, but all three powers of the soul can be distorted to turn us away from God. These three goods potentially manifest themselves as sins: bodily lust, sensory lust, and pride. The triple-concupiscence is repeated in the First Letter of John: for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from the Father but the world (1 John 2:16).⁴

God inflicts punishment upon all three involved: the serpent who turned the woman and the man against God, the man who failed his guardian/priestly role, and the woman who allowed herself to be entertained by the seductive suggestions of the serpent. In the case of the serpent, God says, he will bruise your head, referring to his heel; indirectly the woman crushes Satan by her heel, her offspring, Jesus. So, the head of Satan is crushed. We have in the Proto-Evangelium the new Eve and the new Adam, Mary and Jesus. The woman whom God addresses in terms of your offspring is also translated as your seed. But seed identifies a male. In the case of the woman whom God addresses, there is no seed and there will be no seed; the woman’s offspring is born by the Holy Spirit and not the seed of a man.

4. Mary: The New Eve

So, what is Mary’s role? She is chosen to be mother of the Son of the Most High, the one who will be holy, and whom she will call Jesus for his kingdom will be without end. Mary is chosen out of all women for this role in divine motherhood; from the beginning of time, in God’s divine plan, Mary was prepared for the incarnation, the Second Person of the Trinity enfleshed in her womb. One thing was needed: Mary’s consent.

The grave sin that has inflicted the world, transmitted from one generation to the next, could only be destroyed by the power of God himself coming into the world born of a pure woman, prepared to receive God in her flesh. Mary is chosen to bring the Son of God, the Savior of humanity into the world. Only divine intervention, the Second Person of the Trinity, can destroy the work of Satan.

To be saved by the Son of God who enters into the world necessitates that the Savior is born of human flesh—the flesh of a woman chosen by God—the Son of God—a divine person, co-eternal with the Godhead, one same divine substance.⁵

God knew when the time had come to bring his Son into the world. In his divine plan, God could have chosen the besieging of Jerusalem during the Assyrian Empire of the early eight century BC, or after the destruction of Jerusalem during the Babylonian invasion in the late sixth century BC, or after the capture of Jerusalem under Greek domination in the mid-third century BC. Instead, God waited and saw the time was fitting during the Roman Empire, when Judea formed a Roman province and was clearly separated from Samaria in the north—a history of division between the south and the north: the divided house of Jacob.

Judah is the house to which God made his promise; in the words of Jacob, his fourth-born son, The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and the obedience of the peoples is his (Gen 49:10). Jacob explained to his first three sons why the three sons dishonored him and so did not receive their father’s blessing: Reuben had committed incest (Gen 35:22); Simeon and Levi carried out a wicked plan against the Shechemites making Jacob odious to the inhabitants (Gen 34:25–26). This leaves Jacob with his fourth-born son, Judah, who receives praise and exercises power.

This predilection of Judah, while strange because Judah is not the first born of Jacob but the fourth-born, is understood on the basis of the sins of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, the first three of the twelve sons and twelve tribes of Israel. In fact, Simeon will disappear as a tribe, absorbed into Judah, and Levi will not possess any land as he will become the priestly tribe.

When David the Bethlehemite is chosen by God after Jesse presents his seven sons to Samuel, the last-born, the eighth, is anointed king. The house of Judah and the throne of David (1 Sam 16:1–13) fulfil Jacob’s prophetic blessings.

Mary is betrothed to a man, Joseph of the house of David (Matt 1:16), and Mary herself is of the house of David (Luke 1:27). God sent the angel Gabriel to a woman who is both betrothed to a man of the house of David, Jesus’s spiritual father, and a woman from the house of David, from whom the Son of God will physically be born. Thus, the Davidic ancestry of Jesus is conveyed in both genealogies, Matthew’s and Luke’s.

The parents of Mary, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, conceived Mary through a natural conjugal union. However, in their union a supernatural event had occurred that could only be understood and explained through Divine intervention: the Virgin Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin. Mary’s soul was created united to the material flesh in Saint Anne’s womb, unlike the unnatural fallen state because this was not how God originally created the man and woman. Mary is without sin just as God’s original creation of man and woman were without sin. Mary received this particular grace for one reason: to bring the Son of God into the world. In other words, Mary’s privilege is directed to an end: the birth of the Messiah, Son of the Most High: Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you (Luke 1:28).⁶ The sense of Rejoice, you who enjoy God’s favor, from the Greek, kekaritomene, literally, full of grace can be translated as, Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you! The meaning behind this translation is that the Greek conveys Mary has already been graced and continues, in the present perfect in English, you have been graced; this suggests, Rejoice, you who have been graced . . . With an exceptional greeting of this kind, being favored as other translations give, Mary has been prepared for this divine motherhood enfleshing the Second Person of the Trinity; the fitting greeting is most exalted one.⁷

We are all born with original sin. This is true since the fall. Original sin goes back to the first man and the first woman, Adam and Eve, who disobeyed God’s command; they could eat from all the fruit in the Garden with the one exception: from the fruit of the tree of knowledge they were prohibited (Gen 2:15-17).

Tempted by Satan, camouflaged as a serpent, both the man and the woman succumbed to Satan, listening to Satan’s seducing words, who superbly confused the woman through language. The serpent was a master of rhetoric, skillfully playing with the woman’s words who repeated the prohibition; so, the serpent rephrased God’s command to distort God’s goodness and God’s intentions. The serpent successfully led the woman to doubt, then lose trust in God, and instead, to believe the words of the serpent, Satan, the great deceiver (Gen 3:1–5). From communion with God built on truth, the serpent leads to a rupture in that communion by creating mistrust between the human creation and God the Creator. By the end of the exchange the paradox is manifest: the God who creates a good world is suspected of being deceptive, and Satan, the deceitful creature, is trusted for his promise. The power of language, the skill of deceit.

This scene where the exchange occurs is disturbing because it shows how language can be manipulated in such a way that truth becomes falsehood and falsehood becomes truth. This is clearly the power of the devil to subvert our minds and thoughts so what is good appears as evil and what is evil appears as good.

This first sin which has been transmitted to generation after generation, a sin reflecting the very nature of the woundedness of humans, a wound so serious and so deep, an ontological wound that it can only be healed by the power of God—and God heals through his Son, Jesus Christ.⁸

The Virgin Mary was free from this stain of original sin. God intervened and protected Mary in a privileged way so that she did not experience original sin or its effects. Yet, Mary remained free to choose, just as the first woman, Eve, was free to choose to listen to God or to listen to the devil. And because one of the effects of sin is death, Mary did not undergo the corruption of death which is due to sin as we shall see in the fourth glorious mystery.

Mary, to whom the angel Gabriel appeared, informed her that she had found favor with God, the woman whom God preserved from original sin, the woman born of the house of David, the woman betrothed to a man named Joseph, also from the house of David. Mary had been favored by God, past, present, and future.

Mary was free just as Eve was free; Eve, the woman to bring sin into the world by listening to the warped words of Satan. Mary remained free to listen to unchanging truth of God’s words, the Word Mary enfleshed in her blessed womb. Yes, Mary was free. She was free to reverse the disobedience of the first woman by saying yes to God, by obedience to God, by submitting herself to the promise of God, unlike the first woman who submitted herself to the promise of the devil.

The work of disobedience of the first woman, Eva, has been undone by the perfect obedience of another woman, whom we now invoke: Ave! Ave Maria, gratia plena—Hail Mary full of grace—in our Marian prayers and hymns. We rejoice as the angel tells Mary, Rejoice! because she has been favored, chosen by God, to bring his divine Son into the world. Mary’s divine mission leads to our salvation by the Son she bears, echoing the words of God in Genesis, alluding to the woman’s offspring, he shall bruise your head . . . addressing the serpent.

With the biblical details above, especially the comparison between the first woman, Eve, and Mary, the New Eve, people are inclined to think that if Mary was chosen by God, if she was born immaculate, without sin, then, of course, she said yes to God’s plan. Did she really have any choice in the matter? Scriptures shows that Mary was free to accept or refuse God’s plan.

This yes that follows the angel Gabriel’s announcement Mary expresses in words of great trust in God’s providence: Mary’s faith, let it be to me according to your word (Luke 1:38), words expressing Mary’s freedom to cooperate—or not—with God’s plan, announced by the angel’s message. And so, in Mary the act of conception of our Savior, the Son of the Most High, takes place at the instant of Mary’s fiat, "let it be done."

God has a plan, but his will is not imposed; otherwise, one cannot freely say yes to truth and express yes to love—to love presupposes the freedom to choose, to exercise the intelligence and choose the truth presented to us.

For this reason, Eve and Mary are contrasted: both women are without sin, one at creation, the other through conception, both are