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 twenty-seventh invocation: Vessel of honor, pray for us.
What does it mean to say that Saint Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mother of God is a “vessel of honor”? The Hebrew words yeqar and hadar are translated variously, including “preciousness, price, honor.” The Greek word doxa from which we get “doxology” is translated variously as praise, honor, glory. The Greek verb epitimao translates “to honor, to mete out due measure.” Merriam-Webster reminds us that honor has to do with a “good name or public esteem” or “showing of usually merited respect” or “a person of superior standing”, “especially as a title for a holder of high office.” Saint Mary has a good name and enjoys esteem among believers. Her standing is high in the sight of God.
In Matthew 13:57 and Mark 6:4 we read that “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and in his own house.” Surely, she who prophesied that “all generations will call me blessed” (Luke 1:48) has honor in her house, namely the Holy Church of her Son. Almighty God commands that we “honor” father and mother (Matthew 15:4; 19:19; Mark 7:10; 10:19). The Blessed Virgin Mother of God is also our Mother in the order of grace, the spiritual realm, so we honor her. Our Lady not only honors God with her lips but with her entire being (cf. Matthew 15:8; Mark 7:6). Our Lady did not seek out honors herself, humble like her Son, but we honor her for her fidelity even as God honors her who served Him as handmaid (cf. John 8:54; 12:26; Luke 1:38, 48). If “glory, honor, and peace go to every man who works good” how much more Our Lady who cooperated deeply in God’s plan of redemption (cf. Romans 2:10)?/! Indeed, Saint Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote that we are to give honor to those to whom it is due (cf. Romans 13:7). Saint Mary is due honor as the Mother of God, as the Immaculate Virgin, as the vessel of honor.
The 1959 play l’honor de Dieu by the French dramatist Jean Anouilh (+1987) was adapted for the film Becket (1964) starring Richard Burton in the titular role. There is a scene where the holy martyr relates how before his conversion he only loved the honor of God. Saint Mary, vessel of honor, loved not only God’s honor, but God Himself Whom she bore and wrapped in swaddling clothes. It is our honor to honor her as the saints before us have done.
Father John Arthur Orr