What started as a conversation with my mother about a lost statue of the Virgin Mary… and me declaring to my mother that when I find another one – I will pick it up. Only to have that opportunity present itself to me on that same day of that conversation. Some call it coincidence, I call it a mystery.
On January 1, 2015 Pope Francis said, “Mary is so closely united to Jesus because she received from him the knowledge of the heart, the knowledge of faith, nourished by her experience as a mother and by her close relationship with her Son.” It is her unconditional “yes” to God which sublimely encourages believers to say “yes” to God’s call today.
Pope Francis also added that her example of being receptive to divine guidance serves as a beacon of light and for that reason has become a mighty intercessor and a faithful companion for many on their spiritual journey. To Catholics this holds true as Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus.
I must admit, I really did not understand the layout of the Catholic story as it connects with: the Creation, the Fallen Angels, the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, Lucifer, the serpent, the Virgin Mary, and the passion of Jesus Christ which puts in the center of it all… God Love for humanity.
So there was the fall of angels and THEN there was the fall of man.
I have learned that to explore into any uncertain territory it is helpful to suspend pre-conceived beliefs and approach things as a curious child with a sense of wonder. So here we go. IN THE BEGINNING… for this exploration, we will travel through the sacred text of the King James Version of Genesis – The History of Creation (see link below).
In a nutshell: God created Lucifer aka: Satan was as one of the host of angelic beings, the captain of the cherubic hosts. Sometime during creation week Satan became vain about his beauty and position, and his heart became rebellious against God.
Mind you, I’m just a lay-person and not a theologian. So, based on scripture it appears that sometime between the creation of Adam and Eve and the Seventh Day the angels were created – AND ADDITIONALLY, sometime before the creation of Adam and Eve and after the creation of ANGELS there was a rebellion. The Bible says: “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts (Genesis 2:1).” Bible reference of angels being hosts can be seen in Luke 2:13: “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God”.
This introduction is important because it leads to the Fallen Angels. Again… things getting a bit fuzzy… I have struggled with how to explain the existence of so much evil in the world, so much suffering … so much moral evil? Was that part of God’s plan too? God made man to his own image, with intelligence and free will, so that he was free to accept or reject the will of the Creator.
What about the angels? We may learn a bit more of angelic disposition when we read the book of Jude 6: “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;” Would this infer that they too have free will?
For the purpose of this trilogy, let’s go with the inference that along with man, angels also have free-will. One can say this is seen in the angels’ choice to love and serve God when the they were created, yet there can be a point of debate on the issue of free will because Psalm 91:11-12 says, “He will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone” … which would leave to believe that they have no choice but to fulfill that mandate so… they do not have free-will. Back to this story:
Enters Lucifer which means “star of the morning”. He was more beautiful, with great wisdom and more powerful than all the other creatures that God has made. He was called “the guardian cherub” and held a high-ranking position in the angelic host of great power and influence. These references can be found in Ezekiel 28:12–17
Returning to Genesis, you will discover that Lucifer was listening when God gave Man dominion over the earth to represent God’s reign on this planet. Well, man has made a terrible mess of things – everywhere you turn someone is saying something about corruption with leaders in government – that’s for another post.
This is where things get fuzzy. There is a rebellion. Satan was rightfully judged by God: “I threw you to the earth” (Ezekiel 28:18). Satan still retained access to heaven even after his fall (Job 1:6-12; Zechariah 3:1,2). However, Ezekiel 28:18 indicates that Satan was absolutely and completely cast out of God’s heavenly government and his place of authority (Luke 10:18).
So we move to the next scene – the Garden of Eden. From this point on Lucifer has many new titles so trying to connect the events gets rough.
He hatches a plan to spoil God’s handiwork of creation and drags human beings—for whom God has a special love—into death and misery – with this plan he succeeds in deceiving Eve, and through her, Adam.
This initial action of deception done of free-will by Satan in the Garden of Eden could constitute as the first sin. But why do this if he had so much power? This can be discovered in James 1:14 – explains that evil comes from one’s own desire. It was by Satan’s own desire that his pride in his own beauty and abilities overtook him… and while there may be seeds of temptation planted, the choice to ‘grab those seeds’ is of each ones doing. The saying the Devil made me do it does not hold water… the choice is still ones own.
Next scene: God appears to clean up the mess, clearly everyone’s getting a scolding. God tells Satan/serpent that he is going to eat dirt for the rest of his days and adds: “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” (Genesis 3:15). The verse according to what I’ve ready has traditionally been applied to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Projecting forward.. Satan is put on notice that Mary is one special woman.
So when we read what Isaiah says in the next verse… we are provided with a glimpse of Lucifer’s nature lathered with pride and arrogance in wanting to assume God’s throne – Isaiah 14:12-14 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:12–14).
IF ANYTHING these scriptures establishes Lucifer’s powers (aka: Satan) and the Fallen Angels (Revelation 12:4)
our story jumps quickly to Jesus
(Let’s remember the premisce here, suspend belief for a minute. Give your logical brain a break, we are looking at the creation of a religion that came at the back of pagan and Bacchus Rites) God becoming Man is what separates Christianity from any other religion, the incarnation separates Jesus Christ from any other human being. And to the Catholics no one else is or will ever be the Mother of God. No one else knows Jesus Christ as God in the way that the Blessed Virgin Mary did.
It is the humbleness of Mary that defeats the enemy. Lucifer was God’s most beautiful creation and now God has chosen this supremely humble woman to be called Theotokos – Mary’s first and most important title means “God bearer.” Mother of God. What Lucifer lost through pride, Mary gained through humility; what Eve destroyed and lost through disobedience, Mary saved through obedience.
It could easily be concluded that Mary mother of Jesus Christ was the very first disciple.
Many statues of the Blessed Lady depict the heel of Her foot crushing the head of the serpent. Removing the religious aspect one can look to the metaphor and if someone wants to defeat the work of evil in their own lives and the world, one of the strongest responses is to see that the imagery invites us to understand that we all have the power within to combat the ‘opposing dark forces” with love.
Which brings us finally to the Rosary. It is widely believed that in 1214 St. Dominic had a vision of Mary. In this vision she presented him with the rosary, both the beads and instructions of the prayers to be prayed – these are an invitation to meditate on the mysteries surrounding the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ. The Rosary is one of the Catholic prayers associated with the battle against evil forces.
Mary who is full of Grace awaits our prayers, and petitions in order to intercede and be the bearer of those graces for us. She is a channel of grace – a channel between Heaven and earth. Again to add my own interpretation, if we move towards the spiritual which allows us to break the bonds of religious division, we can connect with the power of prayer (or inner communication) to help us create a bridge that unites us with the all encompassing Love Energy that holds all of creation together.
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Mary, Mother of Grace – Part 1
The Many Names of the Virgin Mary – Part 2
reference:
https://www.catholicgentleman.net/2015/01/devil-hates-blessed-virgin-much-love/
https://answersingenesis.org/angels-and-demons/satan/what-about-satan-and-the-origin-of-evil/
https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/booklets/creation-or-evolution-does-it-really-matter-what-you-believe/the-world-before-man-the-biblical-explanation
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1&version=NKJV
https://www.piercedhearts.org/hearts_jesus_mary/alimandi/humble_power_mary.htm
