They saw the child with Mary his mother (Mt 2:10-11)

The Adoration of the Magi: A Mariological Exegesis and Reflection

They saw the boy with Mary his mother: an exegesis and mariological reflection“And behold, magi from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the king of the Jews who has been born? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him…’ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. They entered the house, and there they saw the boy with Mary his mother, and they prostrated themselves and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gold, incense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:1-10).In early Christian art, the magi are depicted presenting gifts to the Child, who is in the arms of his Mother, seated on a throne with steps (the wooden door of Santa Sabina in Rome, c. 430). Sometimes, the Mother of God is at the center, surrounded symmetrically by the magi and shepherds. In other instances, as in Santa Maria Antiqua in Rome (8th century), the first magus kneels before Mary and the Child, while Joseph stands behind the Virgin, and an angel points to the star and the path.During the Middle Ages, especially in the Gothic cathedral portals, the depiction of the Adoration of the Magi often framed images of the Virgin, while later altars added more detailed scenes.In the Renaissance, the central focus on the Mother and Child was somewhat diminished by the emphasis on the luxurious attire of the magi and the exotic curiosities of their entourage. This trend intensified in Baroque art, which exaggerates the theatrical aspects (see Tiepolo’s “Adoration of the Magi” in Munich, 1753).Nevertheless, the core of the famous narrative of the magi revolves around that verse: “They saw the boy with Mary his mother and, prostrating themselves, worshiped him.” The Theotokos is presented here in her fundamental role as the one who generates and offers to the world her divine Son.The account in Matthew 2:1-12, often superficially read as an oriental tale filled with exotic scents and colors, is in fact rich with symbolic and theological references, a mosaic of biblical quotes and themes woven into a very broad and flexible historical tapestry with dense and strained patterns of thought. We find, as in the rest of the infancy narratives of Jesus, a Christological synthesis spread throughout the fine threads of a fabric with very wide historical gaps and flexible patterns, and very dense and strained thought.A mistaken way of reading and meditating on this page is to lose sight of Christ and Mary and become too captivated by the Magi. This temptation has existed from the beginning: in Roman catacombs, these characters appear in frescoes as early as the 2nd century, two centuries before the shepherds, who were very ordinary and modest. Tradition made them kings, counted them in three, made them racially distinct (white, yellow, black), gave them different names according to pagan cultures (in the West, Gaspar, Melchior, and Baltazar), spread their relics from Milan to Cologne, and saw special signs in their gifts (gold for the kingship of Christ, incense for his divinity, myrrh for his passion and death).The heart of the passage, however, is Christ, and the question to which a double answer is given: “Where does Christ birth take place and where does he come from?” Both answers are given through the citation of the prophet Micah, a text we already know and which Matthew quotes and adapts in verse 6: “And thou, Bethlehem, land of Judah, art in no way least among the rulers of Judah, for from thee shall come a ruler who shall shepherd my people Israel” (Micah 5:1).Bethlehem, the city of David, and David’s lineage are the two answers offered: Jesus Christ is the davídic, royal Messiah announced in Scripture. Now let us note another detail. Within the narrative and in contrast, light and darkness oppose each other, representing good and evil, the two fields of history. The great struggle of human history is projected onto the baby Jesus and his mother, personified in Herod and the Magi.The city of David, Bethlehem, opposes Jerusalem, the city of Herod. Herod’s homicidal quest is contrasted with the Magi’s loving search, fear is replaced by joy, the question “Where is the king of the Jews?” is followed by the joyful “They have seen the child and his mother.” Night is overlaid by the star that illuminates the darkness, the star points but also disappears, the high priests and scribes know the truth about the Messiah, but do not know how to recognize him. Thus, alongside the welcome, rejection emerges, personified in Herod, the priests, and “all Jerusalem.”But the apex is represented by light. In fact, at the heart of the narrative, a star hovers, about which theology informs us far more than astronomy. Some have recourse to a “new” or “Supernova“, one of those faint, distant stars that suddenly, over weeks or months, increase in visual intensity due to a colossal internal explosion. Others rely on Halley’s Comet (which, however, appeared on 12/11 BC) and others speculate about a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, and so on. In fact, the most illuminating reference is the Bible, perhaps to the oracle of the magician Balaam, a pagan like the Magi, who blesses Israel by divine vocation, saying: “A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel…” (Nm 24:17). The passage had become a messianic text in Judaism. The Apocalypse calls Christ “the morning star” (Ap 2:28; 22:16). Light then becomes the summary of Christ’s Nativity within the entire Christian tradition.We wish to focus on this theme that involves Mary and her Child. The date of Christmas, December 25th, as it is known, was chosen to replace the pagan festival of the Sun God, at least from the 4th century. St. Leo the Great, still in the 5th century, polemicized with a practice of Roman Christians impregnated with paganism: they “before entering the basilica of St. Peter on Christmas, stopped at the steps, turned towards the rising sun, and, bowing their heads, bowed down before it in homage to its brilliant disk” (Sermon 27 on Christmas). His conclusion also applies to us today: “Let the light of the celestial body act upon the senses of your body, but with all the ardent love of your soul, receive within yourself that light which illuminates every man who comes into this world!“.Thus, the oldest Christian mosaic, that of the mausoleum of the Julii (3rd century), depicted Christ-Sun, shining in his triumphant chariot. Thus, Mary, as the Church, was represented as the moon in the medieval tradition and was sung as the “morning star” in the Lauretan Litany, following the title attributed to Christ by the Apocalypse, as mentioned above. Thus, on an ancient Roman tomb inscription, the baptized person buried there was called hêliópais, “son of the sun“.When in Rome, the thirty races of the Sun’s Agony took place, with the people prostrating themselves before the rising sun at dawn, the Church gathered to celebrate the manifestation of the true sun who came from the womb of Mary. The night of Christmas was illuminated by the “splendor of Christ, the true light of the world,” as the liturgy declared.Mary’s womb in patristic literature becomes parallel to the womb of the earth, that is, the tomb: from both, Christ emerges radiant to life. It is no wonder that in ancient Christian tradition, Christmas and Easter were closely linked. In a Greek Christmas sermon, wrongly attributed to John Chrysostom, the luminous and “springlike” gift of Christ’s birth through Mary is exalted as follows:> “After the cold season of winter, the light of the gentle spring shines, the earth bursts forth and becomes green with herbs, the branches of the trees are adorned with new shoots, and the air begins to be illuminated by the splendor of the sun. But for us there is a celestial spring: Christ emerges like a sun from the Virgin Mother’s womb. He dispersed the cold clouds and stormy darkness of Satan and awakened to life the drowsy hearts of men, dissolving with his rays the mist of ignorance.”The symbolism of light, which marks the encounter between God and man at the birth of Christ, leads us to another dominant image in the narrative of the Magi, which is the “path.” The star indicates a path and a kind of cosmic revelation, as does the column of fire that guided the children of Israel in Exodus. Indeed, in the Gospel text, it is called “his star” (of the Messiah). The geographical framework that sustains the entire Chapter 2 of Matthew is filled with names: East (Babylon or Persia for the Magi), Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Judea, Egypt, Ramah, Galilee, Nazareth. But it is not a fixed topographical map. The biblical space is dynamic, based on the Abrahamic, Exodic, and Escatological typology: “We are always strangers like our fathers,” David confesses (1Ch 29:15), and the Letter to the Hebrews warns: “We do not have a permanent city here, but we seek the city that is to come” (13:14).God is also a pilgrim with His people, a nomad with them through the mobile sanctuary of the ark of the covenant. He is also “the guest who walks his way“, knocking on the door to be welcomed at the table (Rev 3:20). He is the shepherd who walks with His flock, allowing the sun to shine upon Him and thirst to parch His throat (Ps 23). Soon, in Matthew’s narrative, He will become a refugee in the Son, who will experience the bitterness of persecution and exile.The journey of the Magi, thus, symbolizes the Christian life understood as following, seeking, as a path in the footsteps of Christ, as detachment from things and from inertia. Those who are convinced of possessing everything and having the monopoly of truth are like the priests of Jerusalem, cold exegetes of a Word that does not involve or convert them. Those who are well established in the Jerusalem of history do not seek the Jerusalem above. Those who are settled in their city do not need Bethlehem: indeed, Bethlehem seems to them a insignificant provincial town.However, with the Magi, “many will come from the east and the west and sit down at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 8:11). Among them, some still have a wavering faith and, as Paul said in his speech in Athens, “they gropingly seek God” (Acts 17:27). Yet there is also the clear Christian, who, even in the silence of God and the temporary obscuring of the star, remains faithful and, in the end, reaches “the Child and His mother“.The final scene of the Magi’s narrative is significant: they are depicted as perfect worshippers, “prostrated in adoration” (v. 11). The purpose of their pilgrimage was not to seek a famous figure to question or to attend spectacular shows. No, they affirm without hesitation to those who question them: “We have come to worship him” (v. 2).This should be the motto for every pilgrimage, even those many undertake to the Holy Land or to Marian shrines. We should not seek apologetic or spectacular miracles. Instead, we should come to holy places and shrines to see the Child and His Mother and to adore the Lord Jesus. The appeal that a song of Isaiah encapsulates could ideally summarize the two symbolic dimensions of the Magi’s narrative that we have highlighted, light and path: “House of Jacob, come! Walk in the light of the Lord!” (Is 2:5).The light of Christ will progressively reflect upon us and illuminate us, transforming us into the image of His glory, imbuing us with immortality. His star will make us radiant stars: “The wise will shine like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead many to justice will be like the stars, forevermore” (Dn 12:3). Let us love in the Virgin the reflection of God’s light in its purest form. Let us love in her the figure of the Church that You gave us as Mother and from which You want us to be sons. Mary gives the Church a face of tenderness and gentle light. For wherever You were, Mary was with You, in the light of Your face, from the manger to the cross, and neither the Magi could distract her from the first, nor the soldiers from the second. Thus should Your Church be, illuminated by Your face and always close to You, a faithful Mother who never departs from You.The iconography of the Virgin of the Magi is steeped in light, but it is also a clear expression of faith in Christ, to which all peoples of the earth are called. The discovery the Magi make before this image, at first glance so ordinary and familiar, will inspire Christian tradition to celebrate the joyful arrival of nations to Christ. The liturgy of Epiphany, so solemn in the churches of the East, attests to this. Among the many witnesses, we would like to choose a less known voice. Under the patronage of Theodore of Alexandria, who died in 412, a sermon on the Flight of the Holy Family to Egypt, certainly later (6th-7th centuries), has come down to us, intended to be delivered at the sanctuary of Mount Coscam in Egypt, in memory of the legendary sojourn of the boy Jesus as a refugee with his parents at that place.Here is the English translation of the provided text:Thus, the pseudo-Theophilus extols the meeting of the Magi with the Child and His Mother: ‘They were filled with great joy because they saw the Child, and, worshipping Him, they exclaimed: Blessed art thou, great King, who shalt break all the power of the enemy! Thou hast come into the world to shatter every power of the enemy, as we read in the books of our ancient fathers, who were before us!’At this decisive moment, sketched in a few lines by Matthew, a magnificent blossoming takes place under the pen of one of the great Fathers of the Church: Ephrem, the Syrian (4th century). It is a *soghitha*, or a dialogued hymn, with Mary and the Magi as its protagonists. The Mother of Jesus addresses them and reveals to them her whole story and the mystery of her Son. Initially, it is the Magi who exalt Jesus, while Mary responds with humility, almost testing them. Then, she questions them about the reason for their strange choice to travel in search of the Child. She also expresses her fears:> “I am afraid that Herod, that enraged dog, will pursue me with his sword and gather the sweet grape before it is fully ripe… Jerusalem is a river of blood where the good are slain. As soon as he knows of the baby, he will seek him. Speak in secret, do not raise your voices!”In the end, she fully reveals the mystery of the Son, in an intense dialogue that culminates in a peaceful conclusion:> “Bring peace to your lands, let there be great peace in your land… Persia shall rejoice with your announcement, Assyria shall rejoice! Let the Kingdom of my Son shine!”Unable to quote the entire poem, which consists of 53 stanzas, we only cite a few passages from the initial dialogue between Mary and the Magi.> Mary: I have no royal treasures, nor have I ever had wealth. My house is humble and my dwelling poor. Therefore, do not call my Son a king!> Magicians: Your Son is a great treasure, a wealth that enriches all…> Mary: You see that the Child is quiet and that my mother’s house is empty and poor. There is nothing royal about Him. How then can He be a king?> Magicians: It is true, we see a quiet, sweet, and humble Child, as you say. However, we saw the stars in the sky light up to announce a message.> Mary: Believe us, young man: the star led us, experts, straight to Your Son without ever straying from the path to bring us directly here!> Mary: My Son is small, He does not wear a crown, and He does not have a throne. What do you find in Him to come to offer treasures like a king?Magicians: He is small because he so willed it, and is a sweet and humble boy until he manifests himself. There will come a time when all crowns will bow down to worship him.Mary: My son has no armies, nor legions nor hosts, and he is quiet in the shadow of his poor mother…Magicians: The armies of fire of his son traverse the sky. One of them came to us and called us, sowing fear in our land… Your son is ancient, Virgin, older than the days and older than all. Adam is younger than him and it is your son who rules over all creatures!Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian Theology, Marian Apparitions, and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.To deepen reflection on Mary’s presence with the Infant Jesus in Matthew 2:10-11, consult the Encyclical Redemptoris Mater by Pope John Paul II.