My dear parishioners,
Peace! On the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, 7 October, 2019, Pope Francis established the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, to be observed each year on the 10th of December. At the same time Pope Francis proclaimed a Lauretan Jubilee Holy Year to run from 8 December, 2019 through 10 December, 2020. There are fifty-one invocations in the Litany of Loreto. The following is a reflection on the third invocation: Holy Virgin of Virgins, pray for us.
What does it mean to call Saint Mary Virgin of Virgins? There is nothing prude or “anti-sex” about this title of Our Lady. The Hebrew word al-maw is translated variously as “a lass, damsel, maid, virgin.” It appears more than thirty times in more than thirty verses of Sacred Scripture. The Greek word Parthenos is translated variously as “maiden, unmarried daughter, virgin.” The Litany of Loreto includes not only the title Virgin of Virgins for Our Lady Saint Mary, but also six other aspects in which her virginity is praised (prudent, venerable, renowned, powerful, merciful, faithful).
Among the most privileged passages regarding Saint Mary as Virgin of Virgins are: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His Name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:4); and “The Angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. “ (Luke 1:26-27). The sacred liturgy uses these passages especially around Christmas time.
The perpetual virginity of Our Lady, Saint Mary the Virgin, is a doctrine of our faith, expounded upon throughout the ages by various saints, including Augustine (+430AD) in his Sermon 186 and John Paul II (+2005) in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 510. The liturgical prayer Confiteor (I confess) includes a reference to the perpetual virginity of Saint Mary, calling her “ever virgin.” Sacred art, especially in the iconography of the East, often depicts Our Lady with three stars (one on her forehead and one on each shoulder) representing her virginity before, during and after giving birth to Jesus Christ in Bethlehem.
A libertine age like ours has not put much (any) of an emphasis on the virtue of chastity either before or during Marriage (eg among others the 2005 film The 40-Year Old Virgin). Sacred Scripture, on the contrary, inspired by God, does call for purity of heart (cf. Deuteronomy 22:21; Matthew 5:8; 1; 1 Corinthians 6:20; Theology of the Body 50:1-5; 55:1-7; 73:1-5). Saint Mary, the Virgin of Virgins, has taken the virtue of chastity to heart. When the Litany invokes Saint Mary as Virgin of Virgins we should also recall other holy virgins, among them Saint Agatha (+253), Saint Lucy (+304), Saint Maria Goretti (+1902) who are all Virgin Martyrs and great heroines of the faith who resisted wicked men. Saint Mary the Virgin is no less a heroine of faith.
Father John Arthur Orr