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A Growing Proof of God There are proofs of God which are as old as St. Anselm and St. Thomas Aquinas. Logically impeccable, these can be difficult to master. But there are other proofs of God which grow more convincing, more miraculous with every single day that passes. One of these is the fulfillment of the Virgin Mary's words, 'Behold, henceforth, all generations will call me blessed' recorded in the gospel of St. Luke (Luke 1:48). We might consider this proof from two aspects. One is the fact that Mary's prediction has come true. And the second is how utterly unique her claim was, how there has been no separate claim like it in all history, and how it would be utterly impossible to fulfill unless it were the plan of God Himself. As to the truth of the prophecy, its fulfillment began immediately. Mary's cousin Elizabeth had just then called her 'blessed'. Then when Jesus was teaching and casting out demons, a woman cried out, 'Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!' (Luke11:27) By Pentecost there was a roomful of apostles who marvelled at this blessed woman who was the Mother of God. Devotional pictures survive showing veneration to Mary was already widespread from the beginning of the second century. In the second century, writers such as St. Justin and Tertullian exalted Mary, and the Council of Ephesus in 431 clarified that the Church Fathers 'did not hesitate to speak of the holy Virgin as the Mother of God.' This tradition of reverence for Mary has never stopped growing. Two Anglo-Saxon manuscripts at the British Museum, one of which may be as old as the year 1030, show that the words Ave Maria and benedicta tu in mulieribus ('blessed art thou among women') occurred in almost every part of the Cursus (Little Office). Abbot Baldwin, who was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1184, wrote 'we daily greet the most Blessed Virgin'. The Dominican nun St. Margaret (d. 1292), daughter of the King of Hungary, on certain days recited the Ave, calling Mary Blessed, a thousand times with a thousand prostrations. By the Middle Ages millions of others were also calling Mary 'blessed' each time they prayed the Hail Mary. Today there are a billion Catholics worldwide who do the same and a quarter of a billion Orthodox Christians who address Mary in language so exalted it sounds fit for angels. (This is to say nothing of a billion Muslims who revere Mary, and another billion non-Catholics Christians who admire her.) We might estimate then that at least one billion Hail Mary's are now said each day. It is true that there are many baptized Catholics who do not pray, but then each Catholic who prays the Angelus calls Mary 'blessed' at least three times a day. Each Catholic who prays the Rosary calls Mary 'blessed' at least fifty times a day, or if they pray three cycles of mysteries, then 150 times a day. And there are cloistered nuns who will call Mary 'blessed' many more times than this. This means that if in reference to Mary, the word 'blessed' is being uttered one billion times each day, then it is being said on average 12,000 times per second! This means that even if only a fraction of people pray with fervent devotion, then today Heaven hears from humanity a constant, never-ceasing stream of love for the Mother of God. Indeed, more paintings, poems, songs, sculptures and buildings have been dedicated to Mary than to any other woman. All generations indeed! But there is a second aspect to this proof of God which makes it yet more miraculous, and which in fact means we must either deduce the existence of Divinity or else bury our heads from reality. It is the astonishing nature of Mary's claim. There have been kings and emperors of many civilizations, of Egypt, Persia, India, the Aztecs, who counted themselves great and yet now their memory is dust. There have been tyrants who think themselves gods, from Caligula to Kim Il Sung. Even their own generation found them an abomination. And yet here is a teenage girl in Judea with no apparent prospects whatsoever, saying that all generations will call her blessed! On reflection, it is a phenomena in itself that history even recorded her words, for there are few other teenage girls on record from 2,000 years ago. To suggest is was not Mary, but some eager propagandist who later inserted the words into Sacred Scripture, makes no dent on the proof because such a folly still fails to explain how such words could come true, except, of course, that they were spoken through Mary by the Holy Spirit. Many have held that the prophecy made in Psalm 45:17 'I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations; therefore the peoples will praise you for ever and ever', applies to Jesus Christ as King, and to Mary as queen. Can atheists explain this phenomena, which is unlike anything else in the world? That a poor teenage Jewish virgin should make a claim to eternal admiration, and that her claim is now fulfilled, perhaps 12,000 times per second! This is staggering. Such an accomplishment is inconceivable, but also a sure sign of the Divine. Her words come true with a fertility and a superabundance that is breathtaking, uplifting and life-giving. Praise God and Blessed be His Mother! |