The Annunciation: The Commencement of Mary’s Role as Co-redemptrix

""Not of man’s seed, conjoined to its own Artificier, without the debt of death These mandates of the Father through bright stars. An angel carries down, that angel-fame The tidings may accredit; telling how A virgin’s debts a Virgin, flesh’s flesh Should pay"" (1).

The whole plan of salvation history is evident in the integrity of the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. We can find benchmarks and points of progression in this plan beginning with the accounts of the "Word" or Logos initiating creation and then later the "Word" made flesh, the new Adam, re-creates or recapitulates fallen creation by the obedient offering of his natural life for the greater love of the Father. The first Adam and Eve failed to choose obedience over suffering and forfeited supernatural life. At the Annunciation Mary’s fiat, "Let it be done to me according to thy Word," imitates Jesus’ impending suffering in obedience to his Father’s will. In doing so she becomes the first to co-operate in the operation of salvation but in a unique and objective way. She becomes the instrumental cause of salvation for herself and the whole human race. This active offering of herself begins her role as the Co-redemptrix. The fiat she gave is a lifetime yes that is confirmed by her cooperation and mystical suffering throughout her life as Mother of God, on through "the loving consent to the immolation" (2) in her offering of the Son during the Passion, and still today in her role as Mediatrix and Advocate (3). We should examine the theme of the Woman in her role as Co-redemptrix as it was providentially planned, and its commencement with the offering of her womb at the Annunciation, the womb that provided the flesh for the "Word" incarnate that brings about our redemption.

The eternal Word is the meaning of all Scripture since ultimately all of Scripture is but one word, the "one Utterance" of God, that eternal Word "in whom he expresses himself completely" (4). The Catechism quotes St. Augustine who explains "the one and the same Word of God … he who was in the beginning God with God has no need of separate syllables; for he is not subject to time" (5). In his "Homily III," Amadeus of Lyon confronts the difficult question that is raised when trying to comprehend that "as Christ came from the Father, he came also in a way from the Word, he came from the Holy Spirit … but in what way did he come from the Father, he who never left the Father? How from the Word, he who never ceased to be the Word? How from the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and himself?" (6) Only through the Incarnation can mankind receive this revelation of the essence of God, for it is only through the words of the second person that the Trinity is revealed. Amadeus offers this explanation and analogy:

Christ has come from the Word, he has come from the Holy Spirit, since the whole Trinity accomplished his conception and his Incarnation. … The Only-begotten came from the Father and from himself according to another kind of reasoning as well he came from the Holy Spirit—in one way, however, from the Father and himself, in another way from the Holy Spirit. Begotten of the Father eternally, begotten in time he came forth from his mother, remaining invisibly with the Father and dwelling visibly with men … he was wholly in eternity, wholly in time; wholly was he found in the Father when wholly in the virgin. … If you ask how, gather the truth by means of an illustration. A word conceived in the heart goes forth complete in the voice, so that it comes perfectly to others, yet remains wholly in the heart. So the good Word forth from the heart of the Father went forth into the broad plain, yet did not leave the Father. … He was made flesh in such a way that he did not cease to be the Word. … The Holy Spirit indeed proceeds from him by an eternal procession, but he, born of the Virgin Mary, came from the Holy Spirit by a temporal conception (7).

In Psalm 33 we see a proclamation of the "Word of God" as creator and master of all, its succinct summation of the biblical explanation of the origin of the visible and invisible universe urges humanity’s proper response to its creator. The universe was created by the design of God, specifically and directly by "his Word." His image is reflected in all of visible creation and especially in man. He is actively present throughout all of time and he is aware of every action and plan of mankind. He is even aware of man’s innermost desires and workings of his heart. He is the one who brings goodness and he wants the earth to be filled with righteousness. He brings the goodness and fruitfulness of his plan to those who revere and hope in him. All other plans of man, outside of obedience to God’s will, can bear no fruit or happiness. Mary realized this and freely responded in accordance with this principle to the Angel Gabriel who came bearing witness to the Word of truth. "For the Lord’s word is true; all his works are trustworthy" (8). Everything that he creates is good, because his word is true, and therefore worthy of praise. In Psalm 33:6 we also see mention of the Lord’s word, this time as an assertion of the cause of the heavens, sea and everything on the earth (9), including the creatures that inhabit it. "By the Lord’s word the heavens were made; by the breath of his mouth all their host" (10). Everything seen and unseen points to God because it was by his word, his breath, that it was filled. The sea is held in place by his power and plan, those on earth should worship him, "for he spoke and it came to be; commanded, and it stood in place (11). Therefore the universe we know, both the physical and spiritual is not just a chance occurrence or the result of random evolution but God’s word made it to be. Any attempt to draw up an understanding and purpose of man through reason alone is destined for failure. The only way to know the purpose of creation and mankind as the crown of it is to know the purpose that the creator intended, for he has even "fashioned the hearts of them all" (12). Therefore we can rest in him, knowing that our true happiness and ultimate understanding of ourselves can only be found in him. Not in the claims of science, that tries to explain a physical existence based on natural selection apart from a creator. Nor on psychology, which attempts to define our happiness based on instinct and earthly desires. We were made by God, for God and we live in a world that is replete with evidence of God everywhere. The Psalmist was inspired to inspire the reader to realize this and praise him. God, in turn, through the Spirit’s inspiration, relates to man (13) the key to his understanding of his surroundings and of himself, even of his heart. This revelation was made possible by Mary’s yes to the Word that allowed God to have a body with which to teach, heal and suffer. She rested in the supernatural divine revelation and deferred to her faith in the miraculous truth when her reason alone may have proposed an obstacle to an immediate understanding of how these events would transpire.

The truth as revealed by Scripture and taught by the Church is that God’s "Word" is the origin of the universe. "Nothing exists that does not owe its existence to the creator. The world began when God’s word drew it out of nothingness: all of nature, and all human history are rooted in this primordial event, the very genesis by which the world was constituted and time begun" (14). Support of this idea of the dependence of all existence, especially of mankind, upon God is prevalent throughout sacred scripture and Tradition. The Church teaches that "God upholds and sustains creation" (15). Obedience to God’s Word, hinges upon creation’s eternal source and cause of existence, God. "For not without means was your almighty hand, that had fashioned the universe from formless matter…And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it…as you are just, you govern all things justly…For your might is the source of justice" (16). We see in this passage from The book of Wisdom the similar idea of creator and created, with intrinsic dependence and obedience of the latter. Psalm 33 promotes the Church’s teaching of God as sovereign master of his plan, but with the dignity granted to his creatures by free cooperation in this plan (17), a dignity that Mary assumes for herself and for humanity through her obedience to the Word. Because Mary in her essence was aware of humanity’s total dependence on God she offered her existence as woman for the mission of the Messiah. Through this obedience and impregnation with the Word she assumes the role that God intends for her as primary cooperator with this Word in his mission for our salvation.

The Old Testament’s use of "the Lord’s Word" in Psalm 33 draws us into an undeniable link with Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, in the New Testament. Easton’s Bible Dictionary defines the "Word" as one of the titles of our Lord, which designates the divine nature of Christ. John in his Gospel gives us the theology of the eternal Word of creation before witnessing to his assumption of our humanity; he "was in the beginning"… "was with God" and "was God" and was the Creator of "all things" (18). So also, the inspired writer of Psalm 33 was pointing the way to Christ in the language used when describing God’s initiation of creation. There are many similarities to the body of Psalm 33 and the first verses of John’s Gospel. Both passages link the Word to the creative powers of God and to his goodness, which brings goodness and light to the human race. In John’s Gospel the Word becomes flesh, totally revealing God’s divine nature and illuminating his design for mankind.

John begins his Prologue with an explicit reference to creation to establish a parallel as well as an opposition, between the creative work of God…and the saving work of Christ, the Incarnate Word…we might say that St. John meant to divide Christ’s life into seven periods of seven days, in seven weeks…(this is not a) puerile game…or even a convenient or artificial frame in which to enclose the life of Christ…(this is done) to draw a parallel between the work of creation and the work of the Messiah (19).

In Psalm 33 the Old Testament writer reveals the prefigurement of Christ as he is known through visible creation. "The Letter of St. Athanasius to Marcellinus on the Interpretation of the Psalms" makes light of this prophetic interpretation of Psalm 33. In fact, he points out several relationships between the Word of the Lord in the Psalter and Christ who will reign on the throne over creation (20). Jamieson, Faucet and Brown, in their 1871 commentary, see an allusion to the Son in verse 6’s use of "word" and also see a reference to the Holy Spirit with its mention of "breath" (21).

Although as Christians we do not believe that creation itself is God (pantheism), we do not deny that all of creation is a great reflection of God, manifesting his goodness and beauty. The entire created universe exists from the one eternally existent Word expressive of God’s creative love. The theme of the Word of God used throughout Scripture is one of the deepest of all unifying notions in revelation. The word of the Lord is used to instruct or command men, who can accept or reject the proposals and covenants (22). The Word becomes flesh to fulfill previous covenants and to bridge the gap between fallen creation and creator. In Psalm 33, the psalmist assures the reader that hope is in the Lord; that the Lord will deliver those who hope in him from the fallen state of death and famine. He will be the shield and nourishment of his chosen people. The fulfillment of this deliverance of all humanity from death and famine of the supernatural life is brought about by the Word made flesh in the womb of Mary through her cooperation, faith, hope and love with, in, and of the preexisting Word.

From the first pages of Genesis, on the heels of the fall initiated by the woman Eve’s disobedience, we learn of "the Woman" who will be part of God’s plan to reverse this fall and forfeiture of our supernatural life. Jesus will use this same title, "Woman," found in the Protoevangelium, to reveal that indeed Mary and he are bringing the plan into action. He went forth in his mission with her at his side from the moment of the unveiling of his supernatural life that transforms creation and humanity, as he transformed the Cana wedding with his miracle performed at his mother’s request. Throughout the gospels Jesus reminds us of Mary’s presence and identity as the Woman who will crush evil in the world and in our lives if we allow her to adopt us spiritually into the Trinitarian love and unity she shares with her Son. Luke’s Acts reminds us of the role she played as the center of the early Church by reminding us of her unwavering presence as she nurtures his mystical body the Church in its birth at Pentecost, the Church as her offspring that wages battle in union with Mary as her mother in Revelation (23).

The Woman’s Cooperation with the Word in Salvation History, the "Coredemption Begun" (24) with Mary’s Obedience at the Annunciation

When we look at Luke’s account of the Annunciation, we first and foremost seek the primary Christological dimension that the inspired author intends to convey. From this perspective, the Rev. Geoffrey Graystone comments, the "center of interest" is the Messiah’s Incarnation in a miraculous manner confirming his divinity. But viewed from its salvific perspective we can’t hold that the holy obedience of Mary is a superfluous coincidence or consequence of this event. This "secondary or dependant mariological and ascetical intention is not thereby excluded just as it is not excluded in the Cana narrative." Rather than entertain an inerrant historical-criticism’s rejection of the "ipsissima verba reproduction" of the evangelist, based instead upon a correct ecclesial exegesis of Luke’s account of Mary’s response found in this narrative we can confidently conclude that Mary’s maternal memory relayed in Luke conveys "the full sense" of the mystery she "pondered in light of past prophecy and future revelation." This prophecy is fulfilled in the life and words of the divine person in her womb and the events "until Pentecost and after." Graystone concludes;

…her faith contrasts sharply with Zachary’s doubt and disbelief, as does her explicit consent and cooperation with his dumbness. And so, if Luke does not explicitly refer to Mary’s piety and holiness, it is because this is implicit in the whole narrative, and because Mary’s praise comes from the messenger of God himself (25).

In Mary’s relationship with the Angel Gabriel it was he who was awed in the presence of the Queen of the Angels. In that moment the angel transcended the supernatural to enter into the natural with the message of a "word" that was to be among us and Mary responded with immediate obedience to that "word." For she new that "thy word" which she agreed to be done through her will was not some ethereal power that somehow only generated the matter of existence but that this was the one true God’s single utterance of himself that desired to begin a personal relationship with her and humanity, a relationship as her son and our brother that would change not only her life and human history but the heavenly order as well. By Gabriel’s personal obedience he was eternally gifted with his place in heaven and he must have then (and now) rejoiced at the transformation of humanity, that she instrumentally causes, to assume its place among the heavenly host.

In the period of Judaism in which the Angel Gabriel approached Mary with this divine proposition angels did not necessarily hold the same holy respect that we give them today based on our perspective in light of their positive role surrounding the Nativity. The idea of fallen angels was as prevalent then as the fall of Adam is for us as an explanation of evil in the world today. "In this context the term ‘angel’ had by no means the almost entirely positive resonance it has for us today" (26). Mary saw Gabriel for his holy obedience and not as her contemporaries might imagine an angelic visitor would be: "an overbearing or menacing force seeking possibly to exploit her, but rather as a force for good, wishing only to transmit a divine message" (27).

Her response was to give it all away instantly for the higher love of God, for she wished to be the handmaid or servant of the Lord in his mission to save and redeem her and us. This was a reversal of the old Eve’s refusal to sacrifice her free will and earthly life for obedience. A disobedience that necessitated Mary’s "Let it be done"… that gave God the cooperation he required from mankind to forge for him a new creation, yet this time in her womb. Mary’s is a womb that contained the waters of a supernatural cosmos that fulfilled her typology as ark of the cosmic temple of Israel. God’s "let there be…" in the recapitulation or recirculation was audibly spoken now by his existing creature of perfection as she said, "Let it be…" and the building of a new temple that would be destroyed and raised was commenced in her womb.

It was clear in the Old Testament that the dwelling place of God was in the Holy of Holies. Now in the New this dwelling place would again be mobilized as during the desert wanderings and conquest of Canaan. This would first occur with Mary’s direct missionary journey to Christ’s precursor and last prophet, her kin John, and his mother Elizabeth, who rejoiced audibly along with her in this Good News of salvation. It was on another of her Christian missionary journeys, during the Presentation, when Mary, Jesus and Joseph went up to the then-existing earthly temple to be purified in the holy water according to the "law," that that the holy soul Simeon recognized this new and incarnate law contained in the unassuming appearance of the babe in her arms and already present in her heart, a heart that would suffer with him. For, like the dove that Noah released over the waters of the first re-creation, the Holy Spirit allowed Simeon to take his place early on in the long list of those that would recognize this child as the man who brought the universal kingdom that he had awaited. Now Simeon’s life was complete and he could rest in peace knowing that salvation had come to Israel and the world. The Remnant could now safely step out of the ark that had held them in limbo since Adam’s transgression, and into that rich kingdom which had been prophesized.

In that instant of her fiat the triune reality was made manifest among human nature. For this impregnation of Mary impregnated the world with the hope of salvation and insertion into that realest of all families as brothers with the eternal Son. For this reason, her motherhood of God, she is the Co-redemptrix. She has cooperated uniquely in the buying back or redemption of human nature for herself and us. The Biblical tapestry that weaves the interrelationship and interdependence of Jesus and Mary in their shared human natures, natures which are full of that purpose of mankind which their and our contemporaries have forgotten, can not be torn apart but instead should be examined to identify the seams and stitches that make her cooperation in the redemption impossible to separate or tear away from the operation of Christ in the buying back or redeeming of mankind as it occurred and continues to transpire among the Church suffering and militant today. Many misguided theologians and dissenters do indeed attempt to unravel her story from the threads of salvation history but invariably the Holy Spirit’s reparation, in the form of dogmatic exegesis proclaimed by the watchdog of the tapestry of revelation, the Magisterium, only makes the resulting understanding and articulation stronger and more precise; this history has proven again and again.

In his "four homilies," that are reflections on the Annunciation, the medieval Doctor Marialis (28), St. Bernard of Clairvaux elaborated eloquently about the association of Mary’s humble desire to fulfill God’s will and the historical reality that resulted by her obedience to the Word, that of the Word becoming flesh. The words of Bernard, a humble disciple of the Lord, lover of Mary, and servant of the Church, show the understanding of the doctrine of coredemption that was present in his time and before. These "Homilies in Praise of the Virgin Mother" contain content that had already been found in earlier sources of tradition (29). He was the "first to teach of Mary’s ‘offering’ of Jesus" (30), but his preaching was generally not on any new understanding but simply a exultation of the glorious truth that surrounds an understanding of Mary’s role in the economy of salvation as indivisible from that of Christ (31). In his exegesis Mary and Jesus are brought together in the "heart of the mystery of the Word made flesh" (32). Bernard’s writing is rich in scriptural references from the Old and New Testaments, not only in his extensive treatment of Luke’s account but also in his reference to the other gospels, the epistles, the Psalms and the prophets, showing both the explicit and implicit scriptural basis for the doctrinal development to come.

… having already received the grace of a free promise, she joined to it the merit of prayer saying, "Let it be to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). Let it be to me concerning the Word according to your word. I beg that the Word be to me, not (a word) which once pronounced fades away, but which conceived remains, clothed with flesh (Job 10:11) and not with air. Let it be to me, (a Word) not only audible to the ear, but visible to the eyes, one which hands can touch (Lk 24:39) and arms carry. And let it not be to me a written and mute word, but one incarnate and living, that is to say, not (a word) scratched by dumb signs on dead skins, but one in human form truly graven, lively, within my chaste womb, not by tracings of a dead pen, but by the workings of the Holy Spirit. Let it be to me as it has never been to any person before me and will be to no one after me (Jn 1:15, 27) … I ask that it be to me in my womb according to your word…one silently inspired, personally incarnate, corporally inviscerate. May the Word which could not, and had no need to, be made in himself, deign to be in me, deign to be according to your word. Let it be for the whole world, but let it be to me uniquely "according to your word" (33).

Mary’s response at the Annunciation is considered an example of how, after Jesus himself, she is the model of perfection in prayer. The limited accounts of her dialogue in Scripture include this prayer which "sums up the entire attitude of Mary towards God." When she has comprehended that the angels message had come from God she had the sufficient fiduciary evidence to give her total assent regardless of the limitations of clarity that the reception of the message could contain in time and space where it was received. She responded in the manner of the Old Testament patriarch Abraham whose intent to sacrifice his earthly fatherhood was accomplished only by faith in the benevolent authority of the command (34). Sister Lucia reflects in her "Calls" From the Message of Fatima that the Trinity itself was revealed to Mary in Gabriel’s words just prior to her fiat, "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" (Lk 1:35). "All three divine Persons are mentioned in this passage: the Holy Spirit who comes down upon the Virgin; the Most High (whom Jesus Christ, the ‘Son of the Most High’ called Father) who begets the Word; and the Son who is to be born and, as the Angel said, ‘will be called the Son of God’" (35). It was in the faith of the unity of God that she assented to giving birth on earth to the mystical body, the Church, which is the one and only way that God has provided for supernatural unity to be brought to mankind, within it’s providential motherhood of grace which Mary herself fulfills in her role as Mother of the Church.

Mary’s Continuing Cooperation with the Word throughout Jesus’ Life and Ministry, Leading to his Hour at Calvary

On the day of the Annunciation she entered on her wondrous work and ever since she has been the busy mother attending to her household duties. For a while these were contained in Nazareth, but soon the little house became the whole wide world, and her Son expanded into mankind (36).

In her life’s work of mothering and teaching Jesus to live in his humanity Mary was also instructed herself in the divine pedagogy that he brought to fulfillment. She pondered the words of Simeon in her heart that would be pierced by a sword (37). His prediction of Christ’s destiny to be a sign of contradiction is a precursor of Jesus’ own prediction of rejection by the elders, priests and scribes during his mission. That contradiction would meet no further resistance from Christ as he traveled to Jerusalem and fulfilled this prophecy in the Passion (38). Mary nurtured Jesus in his growth of strength and wisdom as he advanced in age toward his hour of redemption, an hour that John mentions seventeen times in his account of the Word become flesh. An hour that was prefigured in Mary’s searching and anxiety at Jesus’ twelfth Passover as described in Luke’s account of Jesus’ early years (39). He was obedient to her and Joseph just as she was obedient to the Word that was he. This perfect correlation of her will with that of the Father, which is the primary sense of her role as handmaid of the Lord, results in her and Christ’s will both being directed toward the hour of which he speaks. When she intercedes at Cana her service to the Son in his Trinitarian dimension in the form of this request initiates his performing of this his first miracle which would initiate his proximation to the cross, the tree of obedience, where both would be present to actively fulfill the Father’s will for our salvation and complete the reversal or recirculation of the disobedience of the first Adam and the first Eve. This was accomplished by Christ in his passion of flesh and blood, by Mary in the compassion of her mother’s heart as she stood by in obedience, offering her son for immolation (40). The intercession for the unnamed couple who are not yet disciples reveals a dimension of her universal motherhood that would be fully established and definitively proclaimed at Calvary when all people and nations are invited by Christ to receive her as spiritual mother (41). Many who see Jesus’ response to Mary at Cana as a resistance to her request and his use of the term woman as derogatory fail to see this reality. Of course Jesus’ use of the word woman here, and from the cross, reveals that Mary indeed is the "Woman" of the protoevangelium (42) whose heel would crush the serpent.

John’s revelation of the New Ark in the heavenly Jerusalem as the same "Woman" also reveals Mary as the Queen of Heaven engaged in this continuing battle of an eschatological dimension that includes the spiritual offspring of her universal motherhood, those who share in her obedience to God’s will and witness (Rev 11:19- 12:18). The words of John in Revelation are scriptural proof that Mary is indeed the Woman for none other than Mary can claim to giving birth to the male child engaged in the battle, Christ. At Cana she stood by in obedience and her words to the servants there are prophetic and universal for all who wish to cooperate with her as "the handmaid of the Lord" (43). She tells all to "do whatever he tells" us (44) and she stands by in obedience as he transforms reality by changing the water into wine. Here we see Mary continuing to align her wishes with his Word which he "tells," and calling humanity to do likewise in cooperation to effect the transformation. This transformation is a foreshadowing of his transformation of reality at Calvary that is perpetuated in the Eucharist. The "allusion to the liturgy" at Cana is apparent in that when his "still-distant hour" finally comes he expects to provide an abundance of the finest wine as he pours himself out for believers of all generations all over the world. "The hour of Jesus that unfolds during Holy Week also extends throughout the centuries and throughout the world…in the sacramental liturgy of the New Covenant. This (liturgical dimension) may explain ‘the hidden premise’ behind his response to his mother’s request, ‘My hour has not yet come’" (45).

… soon the little house became the whole wide world, and her Son expanded into mankind. And so it has continued; all the time her domestic work goes on and nothing in that Nazareth-grown-big can be performed without her. Any caring of the Lord’s body is only supplemental to her care; the apostle only adds himself to her maternal occupations; and in that sense Our Lady might declare: "I am Apostleship," almost as she said: "I am the Immaculate Conception" (46).

Mary’s role as Mother to Christ is unending as she assumes her place as the first and foremost member of the human family to be made part of the eternal triune family. For this reason she assumes the role as spiritual mother to us all as well, a role confirmed by Jesus’ own words from the tree of obedience she accompanied him to, the cross. In her Magnificat found in Luke’s Gospel we hear her exclaim that her "soul magnifies the Lord." When we think of the idea of a magnifying glass we see that the glass does not add, perfect or change its object. The glass must be opaque to let the light enter our eyes and for us to conceptualize its reality. In the same way Mary is opaque when allowing her son to illuminate our spiritual eyes, yet since our vision is impaired her existence is the only way many of us can ever recognize Christ. This magnifier is not a human invention like an ordinary lens that must be formed precisely by earthly hands, sand and fire to allow the magnification effect, in her case the Immaculata is God’s own providential creation that he prepares with painstaking precision and perfection to help us see his Son clearly. In the womb of her mother Anne, God ensured that the essence of Mary would be transformed by the Holy Spirit. In so doing he ensured that her soul would be made of the proper material so that from the moment of Jesus’ conception she would be able to illuminate mankind as to his presence. With the Holy Spirit’s power to magnify Christ, indeed as her very essence, she becomes not a magnifying glass but a "magnifying soul." When we look through the lens of Mary we do see Christ much more clearly. The joyful leap of John at the Visitation is the first evidence of this power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in her to bring Christ into other souls. This spark that jumped into Elizabeth’s womb ignited a fire that John later gathered kindling for, a fire that Jesus ignited among his apostles and disciples during his earthly life, a fire that rapidly spread at Pentecost and which continues to burn until today. If that fire grows brighter still depends on our cooperation with the Spirit as the apostles of today, a cooperation Mary models par excellence. As souls look through her they too will feel the intensity of the illumination of truth to ignite a fire in their soul for the Lord. A fire that burns with clarity, charity, obedient faith, and hope for today and for all eternity.

Mary became the Mother of Christ and our mother when to the Angel’s salutation she pronounced her meek assent, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word."(Lk 1:38) That motherhood of hers was proclaimed at the moment when it reached its complete expansion, that is, when redemption was consummated. Amid the sorrows of Calvary Jesus said to her from the cross: "Woman, here is your son" and to St. John "Here is your mother." (Jn 19:26-27) Through St. John, these words were addressed to all the elect. Fully co-operating by her consent and sorrows in this spiritual birth of mankind, Mary became in the fullest and the most perfect sense our mother (47).

Fr. Stefano M. Manelli makes the connection between two verses in Luke’s Gospel account of the Annunciation and the Magnificat which confirm and explain each other in their prediction of the ever-unfolding role of Mary as Redemptrix from age to age. In her humble proclamation she reveals through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that "all generations will call me blessed" (48), an inspiration to proclaim a prophecy in which there must be fulfillment due to the nature of God’s revelation. Manelli shows that this oracle must be linked to and contingent upon the earlier prophecy of Gabriel to Mary that her Son Jesus’ kingdom would have no end (49). This is clearly a scriptural explicitness which supports the doctrine of Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate in the order that orthodox Catholic theology understands these complimentary aspects, as a result of the Annunciation-Incarnation-Motherhood of God.

Because of her feminine existence we can see God in ways we could not before the Annunciation. Eve’s femininity in the book of Genesis completes creation and shows that the wholeness of created reality is brought about because of woman’s existence, woman allows for all of reality to find itself rightly in its place. Mary, the new Eve, is the Woman of Scripture so when we see God through her we more perfectly see God’s purpose; this is referred to as the fulfillment and perfection of Revelation in Dei Verbum (50). The woman in creation completes the plan of man, this is why God uses the Woman in his objective plan of redemption and to complete divine revelation by perpetuating her role as the soul who continues to make great or magnify the Gospel for souls subjectively. It may be harder for a man to be open to the creative, woman have built into them a receptivity to creation and motherhood. Because of their femininity they enable mankind to be co-creators with God. The potential to bear life in women also gives her a spiritual motherhood which is realized fully in Mary. If contemporary woman inhibits completion and fulfillment of this potential through unnatural means then man also lacks completeness as well. The complete understanding of what being a man is depends on a complete woman. Mary is that perfect woman who can complete reality. Mary said yes; let it be done to me according to thy creative word. Do not contemporary women engaged in contraceptive relations reverse and hinder God’s creative plan for mankind?

Those commentators who assert that several of the passages in John and Luke show that Jesus offered resistance to Mary’s counsel, "O woman what have you to do with me" (Lk 2:4), questioned her blessedness or her obedience to the word of God, … "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it" (Lk 11:28), and "My Mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it" (Lk 8:20-21), generally but not exclusively those speaking from a Protestant perspective, fail to see the undeniable tapestry of scriptural proof for the truth that is the antithesis of these claims. Using these verses out of the context and unity of Revelation, narrow-minded approaches to exegesis deny Mary’s integral role in cooperating with (by obedience) and in furthering (by accompanying) Jesus’ mission, a cooperation that is best described under the threefold dogma that Mary desires the Church to define; Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix, Advocate (51).

A footnote commentary from the New American Bible shows that this flawed exegesis had crept into Catholic exegesis as well in the wave of "unorthodox" historical criticism that now fortunately seems to be reversing itself as evidenced by the correct and authoritative exegesis of John Paul II contained in the Magisterial document Redemptoris Mater. This 1970 note in the NAB, found in reference to the prediction of Simeon in Luke 2:35, refers to the passages mentioned above from Luke chapters 8 and 11 where Jesus responds to those who speak to him of his Mother. This interpretation imposes upon the reader an inaccurate understanding of Christ’s intentions in these verses, intentions that are only revealed when viewing the Scriptures in their unity and entirety:

Her blessedness as mother of the Lord will be challenged by her son who describes true blessedness as "hearing the word of God and observing it" (52).

It is obvious that the obedience Mary professes and shows to the Word at the Annunciation and after is human obedience par excellence. When the woman from the crowd exalts Mary’s blessedness on a truly human level in her role as the physical woman who nurtures the most precious babe that has ever been nursed, Jesus (as he does throughout the New Testament) raises the stakes a bit when he adds to her physical nurturing aspect the aspect of her spiritual maternity and advocacy as well. Her acceptance of this role of spiritual motherhood is later evidenced by her appeal for him to intercede on behalf of the unknown wedding couple which prefigures her appeal for him to intercede on behalf of humanity, an appeal that continues today. Her spiritual motherhood is fully developed and continues from that hour when from the cross Jesus commands to her and humanity to embrace Mary in this role, "‘Woman behold your Son,’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother’" (53). "By welcoming the Word she is the model and mother of disciples" (54).

This spiritual maternity is the means by which the Holy Spirit comes to humanity through the Church and enables mankind to transcend his human nature and to live in the supernatural life of the Trinity, which in turn enables him to go beyond the law of the Old Testament to usher in the kingdom of love. These obedient souls, Jews and Gentiles alike, become the spiritual descendents of Israel transformed into the universal or "Catholic" Church. A Church based on divine love and mercy which towers above the foundation of minimalist law and justice of the Old Testament, but on which it is built. Amadeus proclaims about Mary:

He filled Abraham with faith and an obedience that should profit his descendants (Gen 22), but, saved by your faith and obedience, the whole world gives thanks. He filled Moses and he appointed him to be the one to bring the Law, not grace, but you are the one bringing not only the Giver of the Law but the Bestower of grace and glory (Jn 1:17). He appointed David prophet and king (1 Sam 16), but David writes for you and calls your Son his Lord (Ps 110:1). (55)

This "obedience in love" of Mary that allows her to accompany Jesus in his obedient path towards his Passion is her faith in action that brings her spiritual children into the kingdom as Jesus’ brothers and sisters in blessedness that he preaches of, "My Mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it" (56). In other words Jesus tells the crowd that the Trinitarian family and heaven are now opened up, what was once lost, supernatural life, is now renewed and available, through the merits of Christ, to all who would give themselves to him as Mary did when she said, "Be it done to me according to thy word" on the day her spousal relationship with the Holy Spirit commenced. A marriage vow which earthly couples should strive to imitate since it is a lifetime yes, not just a yes on the day of the profession. This was the marriage that Jesus consummated at Calvary. Although his wedding party had scattered and his best man had been beheaded, his bride remained faithful and gave birth to the Church as bride and to the new life of the New Testament as a result of this passionate consummation and miraculous transformation into his glorified body. The bridegroom conquers death as he emerges from the virginal tomb as he had once emerged from the virginal womb of Mary his Mother and bride, Mother of his bride the Church. In other words Jesus tells the potential people of God in the crowd that his mother Mary indeed is truly blessed for it was in her response to the messenger Gabriel that she devoted herself to his Word, a Word which leads humanity to the possibility of spiritual adoption into the Trinitarian family … she has "acted" on it by offering her womb and nursing the Son of Man, carrying him into the world and attending to him as her mission in life, even now as the crowds surround him. The crowds may soon disperse but Mary will continue to hear and act in obedience through the events of the ultimate offering of obedience of the united heart of mother and son for humanity at the altar of Calvary.

We see her obedience, which allowed the Spirit to form the Church as the mystical body of Christ in her womb, continued during the birth of the Church at Pentecost. In the upper room were Mary and the apostles who had remained obedient, and also now in their company we see Jesus’ brethren who had delayed in their discipleship (57). This is the beginning of the apostolate that brings the Holy Spirit to the universal Church for our salvation, clearly an explicit scriptural proof of her silent yet powerful cooperation in redemption or her "coredemption" of humanity, an apostolate made possible by her obedience and which is modeled after it. In the words of the great Marian Pope John Paul II:

Without any doubt Mary is worthy of blessing by the very fact that she became the mother of Jesus according to the flesh, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked," but also and especially because already at the annunciation she accepted the word of God, because she believed, because she was obedient to God, and because she "kept" the word and "pondered it in her heart" (cf. Lk 1:38, 45; 2:19, 51) and by means of her whole life accomplished it. Thus we can say that the blessing proclaimed by Jesus is not in opposition, despite appearances, to the blessing uttered by the unknown woman, but rather coincides with that blessing in the person of this Virgin Mother, who called herself only "the handmaid of the Lord." (Redemptoris Mater, ‘Mary, Mother of the Redeemer,’ Pope John Paul II, 1987). (58)

Mary’s human acceptance of God’s divine will for her and all of creation at the Annunciation has transformed humanity and creation by allowing the Word to penetrate into its essence in a renewed and superior way. This cooperation in the buying back of our supernatural life merits her threefold title as Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate; the mother who suffers, feeds, and pleads for us her children. Mary pleads with us to allow the Holy Spirit to breathe this truth out into the world in order to call all of her sheep into the fold of her Son, the "good shepherd" (John 10). Let us plead and petition the Magisterium to bring again to us, her children, a title to rejoice and exclaim in the streets as was done at the dogmatic pronouncements that accompanied the clarification of the unified and integral set of Marian doctrines which the Church exegetes, articulates, and defends. The Word desires to dwell in the hearts of man and to renew, re-create, and resurrect humanity. His mother is the conduit of grace that brings his Word into time and space, the time and space he created so that man could for a time live in his abundant love with each other and ever after time with himself and his Mother in the eternal family of the Trinity. Let us hear her request from heaven and act in obedience as she did at the Annunciation when her sacrificial actions commenced, actions which coincide with her words to the world conveyed during her apparition to visionary Ida Peerdeman on January 3, 1946:

It has not been rejected.It will most likely become dogma.

Excerpt from
http://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/jp2bvm65.htm

“With regard to the objections made by some of the Council Fathers concerning the term “Mediatrix”, the Council itself provided an answer by saying that Mary is “a mother to us in the order of grace” (Lumen gentium, n. 61). We recall that Mary’s mediation is essentially defined by her divine motherhood. Recognition of her role as mediatrix is moreover implicit in the expression “our Mother”, which presents the doctrine of Marian mediation by putting the accent on her motherhood. Lastly, the title “Mother in the order of grace” explains that the Blessed Virgin co-operates with Christ in humanity’s spiritual rebirth.”

That article you linked to was about Mediatrix, not co-redemptrix, of which it says:

“The Church does not hesitate to profess this SUBORDINATE role of Mary, which it constantly experiences and recommends to the heartfelt attention of the faithful”

It is possible to participate in Christ’s mediation in various areas of the work of salvation. After stressing that “no creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer” (n. 62), Lumen gentium describes how it is possible for CREATURES to exercise certain forms of mediation WHICH ARE DEPENDENT ON CHRIST. In fact, “just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold co-operation which is but a sharing in this one source”

“That article you linked to was about Mediatrix, not co-redemptrix.”

They are pretty much the same.This is where some confusion is.

Dear friend,calling Mary co redeemer does not put Mary equal with Christ. I think if you read the article on this thread you will understand this.

The term “co-redemptrix” is properly translated “the woman with the redeemer” or more literally “she who buys back with [the redeemer].” The prefix “co” comes from the Latin term “cum” which means “with” and not “equal to.” Co-redemptrix therefore as applied to Mary refers to her exceptional cooperation with and under her divine son Jesus Christ, in the redemption of the human family, as manifested in Christian Scripture.

Vatican II, Lumen Gentium also states: “Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, associated herself with his sacrifice in her mother’s heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim which was born of her.”

Whether one likes the title Coredemptrix or not, Mary as the New Eve associated herself with His sacrifice in her Mother’s Heart—she had a secondary, but active role to play in our redemption from sin (unlike the passive role played by the wood of the Cross, or the nails, etc.).

I am reliably informed that this notion has been discussed at a number of Orthodox synod meetings and the uniform reaction is that it will be a cause of scandal among the faithful and may be heretical. There is no doubt that such a proclamation would be uncanonical as it addresses no heresy and adds absolutely nothing to our understanding of the role of Panagia in the economy of salvation; quite the contrary, it causes confusion. I am also informed that these concerns were transmitted to Vatican theologians...past and present, and that the response was that this would not be declared dogma for the very reasons the Orthodox bishops expressed.

“Know what I mean?”

I know exactly what you mean. Not only will it kill any discussions with Protestants, it will assure the failure of any discussions with Orthodoxy. I also think that your assessment of the implications of the prefix “Co” is on the money. Arguing to an English speaking audience the Latin origins of that prefix and its meaning i9n Latin is too cute by half. Everyone who speaks English knows what “Co” means in English and it doesn’t mean with or beside except to imply equality. One is compelled to wonder what their true agenda is. I find it hard to believe that a council would not condemn as heretical any teaching that the Most Holy Theotokos was the equal of Christ in the economy of salvation. Why then push for a dogma which will imply exactly that or which has to be explained to avoid the heresy? Why not simply teach the faithful what the Church always and everywhere has believed? Who stands to gain from setting up the spread of heresy? I think we all know who.

From the article...

“”Mary’s role as Mother to Christ is unending as she assumes her place as the first and foremost member of the human family to be made part of the eternal triune family. For this reason she assumes the role as spiritual mother to us all as well, a role confirmed by Jesus’ own words from the tree of obedience she accompanied him to, the cross. In her Magnificat found in Luke’s Gospel we hear her exclaim that her “soul magnifies the Lord.” When we think of the idea of a magnifying glass we see that the glass does not add, perfect or change its object. The glass must be opaque to let the light enter our eyes and for us to conceptualize its reality. In the same way Mary is opaque when allowing her son to illuminate our spiritual eyes, yet since our vision is impaired her existence is the only way many of us can ever recognize Christ. This magnifier is not a human invention like an ordinary lens that must be formed precisely by earthly hands, sand and fire to allow the magnification effect, in her case the Immaculata is God’s own providential creation that he prepares with painstaking precision and perfection to help us see his Son clearly. In the womb of her mother Anne, God ensured that the essence of Mary would be transformed by the Holy Spirit. In so doing he ensured that her soul would be made of the proper material so that from the moment of Jesus’ conception she would be able to illuminate mankind as to his presence. With the Holy Spirit’s power to magnify Christ, indeed as her very essence, she becomes not a magnifying glass but a “magnifying soul.” When we look through the lens of Mary we do see Christ much more clearly. The joyful leap of John at the Visitation is the first evidence of this power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in her to bring Christ into other souls. This spark that jumped into Elizabeth’s womb ignited a fire that John later gathered kindling for, a fire that Jesus ignited among his apostles and disciples during his earthly life, a fire that rapidly spread at Pentecost and which continues to burn until today. If that fire grows brighter still depends on our cooperation with the Spirit as the apostles of today, a cooperation Mary models par excellence. As souls look through her they too will feel the intensity of the illumination of truth to ignite a fire in their soul for the Lord. A fire that burns with clarity, charity, obedient faith, and hope for today and for all eternity.

Mary became the Mother of Christ and our mother when to the Angel’s salutation she pronounced her meek assent, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word.”(Lk 1:38) That motherhood of hers was proclaimed at the moment when it reached its complete expansion, that is, when redemption was consummated. Amid the sorrows of Calvary Jesus said to her from the cross: “Woman, here is your son” and to St. John “Here is your mother.” (Jn 19:26-27) Through St. John, these words were addressed to all the elect. Fully co-operating by her consent and sorrows in this spiritual birth of mankind, Mary became in the fullest and the most perfect sense our mother (47).””

Do you disagree with any of this?

Those commentators who assert that several of the passages in John and Luke show that Jesus offered resistance to Mary’s counsel,

"O woman what have you to do with me" (Lk 2:4), questioned her blessedness or her obedience to the word of God,
… "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it" (Lk 11:28),
and "My Mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it" (Lk 8:20-21)

, generally but not exclusively those speaking from a Protestant perspective,

fail to see the undeniable tapestry of scriptural proof for the truth that is the antithesis of these claims.

Oh brother...

Using these verses out of the context and unity of Revelation, narrow-minded approaches to exegesis

Oh please do show us the appropriate interpretation of these verses that we take out of context...

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