Holy Spirit, Eucharist, Mary

Introduction

The coming of the Holy Spirit upon the womb of Mary (cf. Lk 1:35) is a prelude to Pentecost and also to the action of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharistic mystery, as an actualization of the mystery of Christ the Redeemer. “It was from Pentecost, in fact, that the ‘Acts of the Apostles’ began, just as by the work of the Holy Spirit upon the Virgin Mary Christ was conceived, and by the further descent of the Holy Spirit upon Christ at prayer, He was impelled to begin his ministry” (Second Vatican Council, Ad Gentes 4).

The Most Splendid Work of the Holy Spirit

We recall the words of John Paul II, in the radio message of Sunday, June 7, 1981, after the Second Vespers of Pentecost at Saint Mary Major: “the most splendid work accomplished by the Holy Spirit through the incarnation was consummated with the conscious consent and with the humble ‘fiat’ of her who, becoming the Mother of God, said of herself: ‘Here I am, I am the handmaid of the Lord’; Mary of Nazareth, the handmaid of the Lord of the lineage of David, became the true Mother of God: Theotokos”.

The invocation of the Holy Spirit (epiclesis) in the Eucharistic celebration also recalls the mystery that took place in the womb of Mary and that, in the Eucharistic celebration, happens in a new way: making Jesus present under the Eucharistic species and transforming us into him, also in relation to Mary, Mother of the Church. Saint John Damascene explains the epiclesis with these words: “You ask how the bread is changed into the body of Christ? It is enough to hear that it is by the action of the Holy Spirit, in the same way that, thanks to the Most Holy Virgin and to the same Holy Spirit, the Lord, by himself and in himself, assumed human flesh”.

Without Mary There Is No Eucharist

The memory of Mary in the Eucharistic Prayer, whose text goes back at least to the third century, therefore has a pneumatological and ecclesiological dimension. The mystery of the Incarnation, by the work of the Spirit in the womb of Mary, now happens in a new way through the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, at the same time as Mary is present in the midst of the ecclesial community.

The ancient Mass of January 1 (fourth century), in the prayer over the offerings, says this: “Lord, may the gifts we offer upon the altar be received through the goodness of the Holy Spirit, who filled the womb of Mary with the splendor of his truth”. In invoking the Holy Spirit (epiclesis) to transform the bread and the wine into the body and blood of the Lord, we recall the presence and the example of Mary. With her and like her, the Church says the yes (amen) that makes her become the bearer of Christ.

The relationship between the Eucharist and Mary is deepened in the light of the action of the Holy Spirit. The text of the Common of Saint Mary in Sabato in the season of Pentecost, and the votive Masses of Our Lady, allude to Mary as bearer of the Spirit, model of fidelity and figure of the action of the Spirit in the Church.

“You willed, Father, that at the announcement of the angel the Immaculate Virgin should conceive your eternal Word and, wrapped in the light of the Holy Spirit, should become the temple of the new covenant: grant that we may humbly adhere to your will, as the Virgin trusted in your word” (Collect of December 20).

The liturgical texts recall this relationship, especially in the season of Advent. The prayer over the offerings on the Fourth Sunday of Advent says: “Accept, O God, the gifts we present at the altar, and consecrate them by the power of your Spirit, who sanctified the womb of the Virgin Mary”. This prayer confirms the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Eucharistic sacrifice, while at the same time offering a perfect parallel between what happened at Nazareth in the Virgin Mary (the Incarnation of the Lord) and what happens in the Eucharistic celebration.

The same contents are gathered in the Preface of Advent II/A: “From the virginal womb of the Daughter of Zion sprang forth the one who feeds us with the bread of angels, and salvation and peace burst forth for the whole human race”. In the Common Preface VI, which is taken from Eucharistic Prayer II, we pray to the Father with these words: “He (Jesus) is your living Word, made man by the work of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary”.

Therefore, in the Eucharistic Prayer we ask that the same Holy Spirit, who came into the womb of Mary for the virginal conception of Jesus, “gather us into one body“, that is, transform us into Jesus “by communion in the body and blood of Christ“. The Eucharist is the “memorial of the death and resurrection” of the Lord (Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium 47) and therefore, in its celebration, we recall the fruit of the redemption in Mary and in the saints and, at the same time, Mary’s collaboration in that same redemption.

In every historical age, including our own, the Holy Spirit impels the Church to pray “with Mary“, in order to become “one heart and one soul“, courageous in evangelization, through the listening to the Word and the Eucharistic celebration (cf. Acts 1:14, in relation to Acts 2:42-47; 4:31-35). These Eucharistic and Marian moments are the most fruitful in the history of the Church. Paul VI, in the apostolic exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, affirmed: “On the morning of Pentecost, she presided with her prayer over the beginning of evangelization, under the action of the Holy Spirit: may she be the star of the ever-renewed evangelization that the Church, docile to the mandate of her Lord, must promote and carry out, especially in these times that are difficult but full of hope” (Evangelii Nuntiandi 82. Cf. Ad Gentes 4, Redemptoris Missio 92).

Marian Spirituality and the Eucharistic Presence of Christ

The Eucharistic mystery is celebrated and lived in the Church according to these aspects: presence, sacrifice, communion, communication of the Spirit, ministry, mission and eschatology. Eucharistic-Marian spirituality is founded on the active and maternal presence of Mary in all these aspects of the Eucharistic mystery.

In the radio message after the Vespers of Pentecost at Saint Mary Major (June 7, 1981), John Paul II affirmed: “We come here because, recalling in a particular way the presence of Mary at the birth of the Church, we fix our gaze on her admirable motherhood, which is for us hope and inspiration on the paths of the mission inherited from the Apostles”. Mary is the paradigm of our sanctification, which comes about by the work of the Holy Spirit with the aim of configuring us to Christ and uniting us to him. Mary becomes “memory” (“anamnesis”) for the Church, which invokes the Spirit of sanctification (“epiclesis”) in order to become “communion” (“koinonia”) as a reflection of God who is Love, One and Triune.

The “great sign” on this path is “the woman clothed with the sun” (Rev 12:1), who has already attained eschatology. What happened in Mary now happens in the Church, in a different way and degree. The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist has the meaning of “Covenant”, of a declaration of love (cf. Mt 26:27; Jn 13:1). It is a presence accepted with faith anchored in the words of Christ (cf. Jn 6:44), with the Marian attitude of listening and response (cf. Lk 1:29, 38), of contemplative fidelity (cf. Lk 2:19, 51), of spousal association in the dimension of the new Covenant (cf. Jn 2:4-5; 19:25-27).

It is a presence entrusted to the Church that recalls the Marian attitude of laying Jesus in the manger: “For two thousand years the Church has been the cradle in which Mary lays Jesus and entrusts him to the adoration and contemplation of all peoples” (Saint John Paul II, Incarnationis mysterium 11). Mary in Bethlehem, “filled with the Spirit, gave birth to the Firstborn of the new creation” (Saint John Paul II, Incarnationis mysterium 14) and “points out to all the way that leads to the Son” (Ibidem).

Saint Mary Major is also called “Sancta Maria ad Praesepe”, because it preserves the crib or cradle of Jesus. The presence of Mary in the post-paschal community that celebrates the Eucharist (cf. Acts 1:14; 3:42-47) is a permanent and present reality, as a “presence” that is active and “maternal” (cf. Redemptoris Mater 24). The fact that the beloved disciple welcomed Mary “into his home” (Jn 19:27) recalls to the whole community an attitude of “communion of life” (Redemptoris Mater 45) with her, in every moment of ecclesial life and in the central moment of the Eucharist. Mary is “in the heart of the Church” (Redemptoris Mater 27).

The saving presence of Christ in the community is at every moment accompanied by Mary, associated with the redeeming work, as Mother of the Church, the Mystical Body of the Lord. The relationship between the Mystical Body of Christ and his Eucharistic body gives a particular meaning to the presence of Mary in the Eucharistic celebration. Mary, Mother of the physical body of the Lord, collaborates in the growth of the Mystical Body of Christ also in relation to the Eucharistic body. In the Eucharist there is present the same body of Christ born of Mary and present in the Church. Mary continues to be the Mother of Christ present in the Eucharist.

In this perspective, one can better understand the affirmation of Paul VI in “Marialis cultus”: “Mary as the model of the spiritual attitude with which the Church celebrates and lives the divine mysteries” (Marialis cultus 16). The Church is attentive to the words of Mary: “Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5). With this Marian attitude, the Church listens to and puts into practice the Eucharistic words of the Lord that make him present in a new way in the midst of the community: “Do this in memory of me” (Lk 22:19). In this Eucharistic dimension, the Church carries out the charge of Jesus: “Behold your Mother” (Jn 19:27).

The Saints have highlighted the relationship between the Eucharist and Mary, especially in recalling the bread of life, the Eucharistic bread, which was formed in the womb of Mary and is the “bread of the Virgin” (St. John of Ávila, Sermon 39,28). This great saint, a contemporary of St. Ignatius, St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross, possesses a profound Eucharistic and Marian doctrine. He has a very profound sermon on “Our Lady of the Snows” (August 5, 1547). He also presents the relationship between the Incarnation and the Eucharist (cf. Sermon 55,235ff). Marian spirituality in relation to the Eucharistic presence becomes a relational attitude toward Christ, whose presence requires our presence and intimacy: celebration, adoration, memory. Marian spirituality becomes the lived memory of the Eucharistic presence.