We have just celebrated the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and as we continue with our journey in Ordinary Time, we discover also the invitation to journey together with Our Blessed Mother.
The Sub Tuum Praesidium is the oldest documented prayer to Our Lady. It was first discovered on papyrus scrolls. While the actual dating is contested, scholars generally agree that its origins can be traced to the 3rd century A.D (Hunt 1911; Johnson, Martin, and Hunt 1915; Roberts 1938).
The words of this prayer are as follows:
English:
We fly to your protection,
O holy Mother of God.
Despise not our petitions in our necessities,
but deliver us always from all dangers,
O glorious and blessed Virgin.
Latin:
Sub tuum praesidium confugimus,
Sancta Dei Genetrix.
Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus,
sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper,
Virgo gloriosa et benedicta.
The role of Mother Mary is closely connected and interwoven with that of her Son, Jesus. In her complete docility and corporation with the Will of God, our Father, in the totality of her union with her Son and as a channel of His redemptive work, and in her obedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Mother Mary is the Church’s exemplar of faith, hope, and charity. Mary functions thus to show how the superabundance of life flows forth from “the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2024: 970)
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2024) continues to explain,
The Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship.” The Church rightly honours “the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honoured with the title of ‘Mother of God,’ to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs…. This very special devotion … differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration.” The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an “epitome of the whole Gospel,” express this devotion to the Virgin Mary (2024: 971).
To live out the Christian Life necessitates a relationship with Mother Mary, and devotion to Our Lady is of great centrality in the Faith and Worship Life of a Catholic.
In the Litany of Loreto, Mother Mary is known by several titles, for instance she is called the Seat of Wisdom, and the Ark of the Covenant.
She is the Seat of Wisdom, because Jesus the Incarnate Word is Wisdom Himself, and He sits in her womb –
Mary is acclaimed and represented in the liturgy as the “Seat of Wisdom.” In her, the “wonders of God” that the Spirit was to fulfil in Christ and the Church began to be manifested:
The Holy Spirit prepared Mary by his grace. It was fitting that the mother of him in whom “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” should herself be “full of grace.” She was, by sheer grace, conceived without sin as the most humble of creatures, the most capable of welcoming the inexpressible gift of the Almighty (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2024: 721-722)
Mother Mary as the Ark of the Covenant is highly interesting. To understand why the title, we would need to take a journey through Scripture.
We understand that God our Father has always had the desire to be close to His people. In the Old Testament, Moses was instructed to build the Ark of the Covenant:
For a tabernacle was constructed, the outer one, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of offering; this is called the Holy Place.
Behind the second veil was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies, in which were the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant entirely covered with gold. In it were the gold jar containing the manna, the staff of Aaron that had sprouted, and the tablets of the covenant.
Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the place of expiation. Now is not the time to speak of these in detail (Hebrews 9:2-5 NAB).
When the Ark was completed, the Glory of the Lord came down to the Ark and overshadowed it (See Exodus 40: 34-35 NAB). As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2024) explains,
In the theophanies of the Old Testament, the cloud, now obscure, now luminous, reveals the living and saving God, while veiling the transcendence of his glory – with Moses on Mount Sinai, at the tent of meeting, and during the wandering in the desert, and with Solomon at the dedication of the Temple. In the Holy Spirit, Christ fulfils these figures. the Spirit comes upon the Virgin Mary and “overshadows” her, so that she might conceive and give birth to Jesus. On the mountain of Transfiguration, the Spirit in the “cloud came and overshadowed” Jesus, Moses and Elijah, Peter, James and John, and “a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!'”Finally, the cloud took Jesus out of the sight of the disciples on the day of his ascension and will reveal him as Son of man in glory on the day of his final coming (CCC. 697)
According to Steve Ray (2019), who writes for Catholic Answers, the following Scriptural parallels may be observed:
Mary, the Ark As Revealed in Mary’s Visit to Elizabeth
| Golden Box: Ark of the Old Covenant | Mary: Ark of the New Covenant |
| The ark traveled to the house of Obed-edom in the hill country of Judea (2 Sam. 6:1-11). |
Mary traveled to the house of Elizabeth and Zechariah in the hill country of Judea (Luke 1:39). |
| Dressed as a priest, David danced and leapt in front of the ark (2 Sam. 6:14). |
John the Baptist – of priestly lineage – leapt in his mother’s womb at the approach of Mary (Luke 1:41). |
| David asks, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” (2 Sam. 6:9). |
Elizabeth asks, “Why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43). |
| David shouts in the presence of the ark (2 Sam. 6:15). |
Elizabeth “exclaimed with a loud cry” in the presence of Mary (Luke 1:42). |
| The ark remained in the house of Obed-edom for three months (2 Sam. 6:11). |
Mary remained in the house of Elizabeth for three months (Luke 1:56). |
| The house of Obed-edom was blessed by the presence of the ark (2 Sam. 6:11). | The word blessed is used three times; surely the house was blessed by God (Luke 1:39-45). |
| The ark returns to its home and ends up in Jerusalem, where God’s presence and glory is revealed in the temple (2 Sam. 6:12; 1 Kgs. 8:9-11). |
Mary returns home and eventually ends up in Jerusalem, where she presents God incarnate in the temple (Luke 1:56; 2:21-22). |
Mary as the Ark Revealed by Items inside the Ark
| Inside the Ark of the Old Covenant | Inside Mary, Ark of the New Covenant |
| The stone tablets of the law – the word of God inscribed on stone | The body of Jesus Christ – the word of God in the flesh |
| The urn filled with manna from the wilderness – the miraculous bread come down from heaven | The womb containing Jesus, the bread of life come down from heaven (John 6:41) |
| The rod of Aaron that budded to prove and defend the true high priest | The actual and eternal High Priest |
(Ray 2019: Sidebars)
Mother Mary is the New Ark of the New Covenant, and Jesus is the New Covenant. She becomes a tabernacle of the Living Presence of God, and in that effect, becomes like the Holy of Holies in ancient days. The readings for the Vigil celebration of the Solemnity of the Assumption, give us a vital clue to who Mary is. The first reading speaks of the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament, the responsorial psalm’s response is “Go up, Lord, to the place of your rest, you and the ark of your strength.” Finally, the Vigil’s Gospels alludes to the “womb” that bore Jesus (cf. Luke 11: 27-28 NAB).
Where Jesus is, Mother Mary is also.
Let us turn to Mother Mary with great confidence. She is the Mother of Christ, and she is our Mother too.
By the Grace of God,
Brian Bartholomew Tan
References
Catechism of the Catholic Church. 2024. “Paragraph 6. MARY – MOTHER OF CHRIST, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH”. Vatican: Librera Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved August 17, 2024 (https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_one/section_two/chapter_three/article_9/paragraph_6_mary_-_mother_of_christ,_mother_of_the_church.html )
Hunt, Arthur, S. 1911. Catalogue of the Greek Papyri in the John Rylands Library, Manchester, Volume I, Literary Texts (Nos. 1-61). Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Johnson, J. D, M., Victor Martin, and Arthur S. Hunt. 1915. Catalogue of the Greek Papyri in the John Rylands Library, Manchester, Volume II, Documents of the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods (Nos. 62-456). Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Ray, Steve. 2019. “Mary the Ark of the New Covenant”. Catholic Answers. Retrieved August 17, 2024. (https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/mary-the-ark-of-the-new-covenant )
Roberts, C.H. 1938. Catalogue of the Greek and Latin Papyri in the John Rylands Library Manchester, Volume III, Theological and Literary Texts (Nos. 457-551). Manchester: Manchester University Press.