Mary, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit

By Fr. Christopher Foeckler, MJ • Phoenix, AZ

As we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost at the end of this month of May, we can recall that on the day of Pentecost the disciples were all gathered in the upper room and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was with them. Cf Acts 1:14 We can imagine that Mary was not only praying with the apostles and the disciples, but also praying for them to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit promised to them by the Lord at His Ascension: “And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Lk 24:49

Jesus had said earlier to Nicodemus that “the One Whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration His gift of the Spirit.” Jn 3: 34 The power of Pentecost is a demonstration of the abundance of His gift of the Spirit and Peter affirms this boldly to the Sanhedrin itself saying, “We are witnesses of these things, as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Acts 5: 31

Mary’s association with the Holy Spirit began back in Nazareth as the Angel Gabriel acknowledged in his greeting to her during the Annunciation: “Hail, full of grace!” Mary had already been cooperating with the Sanctifier her whole life and being “full of grace” meant that she always obeyed His promptings. Presented with the unique and wonderful mission of being the Mother of God’s Son, she offers her beautiful fiat: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.” Then following His promptings, she soon gathers her things and goes in haste to the hill country to help her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, whom she was told by the angel “was in her sixth month”, a visit which produced an abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit! Cf. Lk 1:39ff.

It is this lifelong cooperation with the Holy Spirit that is at the root of her title “Spouse of the Holy Spirit”, which is not a theological, or even less a dogmatic title, but rather a devotional or pious title given by saints, especially St. Louis de Montfort and St. Maximillian Kolbe in their fervent devotion to Mary. They call Mary the “Spouse of the Holy Spirit” because she has a unique and quite extensive relationship with the third Person of the Trinity and not because she has an exclusive relationship, hence her prayer for the apostles in the upper room for them to have an active and powerful relationship with Him as well. St. Louis de Montfort writes in Secret of Mary, “The Holy Spirit espoused Mary and produced His greatest work, the incarnate Word, in her, by her and through her. He has never disowned her and so He continues to produce every day, in a mysterious but very real manner, the souls of the elect in her and through her.” Thus we pray, Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Your well-beloved spouse, and enkindle in us the fire of Your divine life and You shall renew the face of the earth!

Happy Pentecost everyone!