HOMILY OF SAINT AUGUSTINE ABOUT THE VIRGIN MARY

“I implore you, listen well to what Jesus said to His disciples: ‘These are my mother and my sisters; those who do the will of my Father, who sent me; they are my brother, my sister and my mother.’ Is there any doubt about Mary, if she has done the will of God? She believed with faith, she conceived with faith, and, she was chosen to give birth to our Saviour to live amongst us. Christ created her before she gave Him birth. Yes, the Blessed Virgin did accept the Will of God. BUT, it was better for Mary, it was of a higher grade, for Mary, to be a disciple of Christ than to be His Mother. “

This declaration by St.Augustine, at first hearing, seems to many, like a ‘blow, a knock out’. He is saying that the first priority for Mary was to be a disciple of Christ and then to be His mother. But let us follow the argument brought forward by Augustine, a Doctor of the Church.

“Mary is blessed because, before giving birth to Jesus, she conceived in her womb. Try and follow my argument. One day Jesus was teaching and healing the sick, followed by a crowd listening to Him. A woman in the crowd told Him: ‘Blessed is the womb that gave you birth, and the paps that gave you suck.’ Jesus wanted to show that woman, and the crowd following Him, that blessedness and joy should not be tied to, or depend on the body, and He answered her: ‘But they are more blessed those who listen to the Word and live it.’ That is why Mary was blessed, because she listened to the Word of God and followed it, made it her programme of life. Christ was in her heart and spirit as well as in her womb, but it is better to have Christ in your heart,  than in your womb.”

We have to stop and think, think deeply, and try to follow the argument of Augustine. It is a fact, Mary carried Jesus for nine months in her womb, she gave birth to Jesus, this is all true. But, Augustine is arguing that more important than carrying Jesus in your womb for nine months and giving birth to Him, yes, more important, is, to be His disciple, to follow His words, to live His words. Mary was the first and foremost disciple of her Son, Jesus Christ.

This homily by St.Augustine is still used by the Church as the Liturgy for the Feast of the Presentation of  Mary. It is a very deep thought, but it should serve as ‘food for thought’. No one can deny the fact that it is such a great honour for that maiden, Mary from Nazareth, to be chosen by God, from eternity, to be His Mother. Why not, every woman should envy her. But, Mary paid the price when she declared: “Be it done with me according to your will’. That was the thought, the idea, the belief that it is of the utmost importance to be a disciple of Jesus, without lessening the honour of the Motherhood of Mary, the Theotokos. Mary herself suggested the idea when at Cana of Galilee she told the servants: “Do what He tells you.”  This is the one and only advice given to us by our mother, Mary, in the whole of the Scriptures. This means that she is underlining the fact, whilst declaring the great importance of ‘doing what He tells us … just as she has done. And to do what He tells you, you must be His disciple, just like Mary was.