PHILOSOPHARIA IN MARIA

(Introduction)

Vocation is a call by God through Jesus Christ to everyone to enter the Kingdom of heaven and to the perfection of sanctity.  In the primary sense, vocation concerns only our final end, or union with God and the communion of saints.  In a secondary sense, vocation concerns our state in life as consecrated religious, married lay, or ordained priest.

Though it is only part of the means to reach our final end, being a philosopher is also a vocation in a tertiary sense. My topic or rather the “theme” for today’s sermonette is “philosopharia in Maria” i.e., philosophize in Mary. Our Blessed Mother is usually associated with theologians, revelation, and faith. "All men and women are in some sense philosophers and have their own philosophical conceptions with which they direct their lives.” Before proceeding further, let me confess that this sermonette is based on a reflection of Sr. Prudence Allen on Fides et Ratio (Faith and reason) by Pope John Paul II, where he finds a deep harmony between the vocation of Mary and the vocation of a true philosopher.

At its fundamental level, a philosopher is simply “a lover of wisdom.” St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians proclaims Jesus as the Wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:30.) Jesus is the pure embodiment of wisdom: He is Wisdom; his words don’t just communicate truth, they are Truth.

Because all this is true, we must then ask the next logical question: who loves this Divine Wisdom, more than his own mother? Many saints have picked up on this. For example, in the eleventh century, Saint Peter Damian began referring to Mary as the “Throne of Wisdom,” for it was on her lap that the Divine Mind sat as a child.

(Philosophy in the Life of Mary)

(Annunciation)

At the Annunciation, Mary engaged in an interpersonal dialogue with the Archangel Gabriel, emissary of the Eternal Father, while sitting at the table of her own embodied being. She revealed her gift of intellect by seeking insight, as Bernard Lonergan would say, by asking the right question: 'How can this be?’

In addition to the exercise of her intellect, Mary exercised her gift of free will. Like Mary, the authentic philosopher places himself at the disposal of the divine truth which is the object of his pursuit; and again, like Mary, the philosopher’s freedom is not thereby limited, but perfected.

(2. Visitation)

“In order to develop properly, philosophy needs a community of persons, and especially the experience of trust between persons, since so much of what we know and take as data for understanding must come from trust in what others tell us. This is especially true with respect to the philosophical understanding of the person and interpersonal relations.... “- Father Norris Clarke, S.J. By analogy we can ponder that in the Visitation Mary "went in haste" to be with Elizabeth, to share her vocation with a companion. The angel went only to Mary, and no one could understand her. Yet, Elizabeth was able to be with Mary in a communion of persons, even without perhaps understanding completely the mystery of her encounter with God.

( Nativity)

Pope St. John Paul II, following St. Thomas Aquinas, argues in his encyclical Fides et Ratio that faith and reason, far from being opposed, are “like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth. In the Nativity scene, we see two groups of people paying homage to the infant Jesus; the shepherds who were instructed by the angels and the wise men who walked by sense and reason. Mary humbly welcomes them to adore the King of kings. Edith Stein beautifully portrays this as the reception of both faith and reason.

(Wedding of Cana)

"Mary at the wedding of Cana in her quiet, observing look surveys everything and discovers what is lacking. Before anything is noticed, even before embarrassment sets in, she has procured the remedy. She finds ways and means, she gives necessary directives, doing all quietly. She draws no attention to herself. She became the prototype of woman in professional life. "The Church sees in Mary the highest expression of the "feminine genius" and she finds in her a source of constant inspiration .... Putting herself at God's service, she also put herself at the service of others: a service of love.“

Three main components of her identity and dignity are

 1) she was created with intellect and will as a human being with the highest capacities for thought and free choice,

2) she acted with loving concern and self-gift of service towards those other persons entrusted to her, and

3) she was called into an eternal union of love with the Transcendent God, who sent His Beloved Son

into the world through her free cooperation with the Divine initiative.

(The Way of the Cross)

Turning again to the Way of the Cross, Jesus, after gathering strength from his inter-personal encounters of love with Mary and others, relentlessly moved towards His Crucifixion. Mary, in suffering union with her Son, stood at the Foot of the Cross until His mission was completed. Mary fulfilled the end of her vocation by being taken into the heart of the Holy Trinity, as daughter of the Eternal Father, Mother of the Beloved Son, and Spouse of the Holy Spirit.

(Conclusion)

Thus, Mary ought to serve as a prime exemplar of the philosophical vocation. We have considered Mary's personal acts of intellect and will at the Annunciation, her communal sharing of vocation at the Visitation, her symbolic receptivity to faith and reason at the Epiphany, her generous and thoughtful acts of love at Cana, her consistent willingness to walk with and stand by the Transcendent God, her beloved Son, in the presence of the evils surrounding Him and whose weight were carried by His Cross, and her continued availability to teach us through the Holy Spirit after her glorious Assumption.

As philosophers, may we be reminded whenever we are at an altar of the Eucharist, Cross, banquet, desk, podium, or seminar table, that God and Mary gently but persistently invite us into a deeper love and fidelity to our vocation to become Christian philosophers and called to be images of the Beloved Son. When we imitate Mary in this respect, and approach her as our own patroness, we are bound to benefit greatly from her intercession. Pope John Paul II laudably concludes Fides et Ratio with an invocation to Mary, that she would be “a sure heaven for all who devote their lives to the search for wisdom.” May all philosophers look to Mary for guidance, grace, and inspiration.

Cl. Henrick John Antony