by ARCHBISHOP CHRISTOPHER J. COYNE
While the month of December is traditionally thought of as the month of Advent and Christmas preparations, I would ask us to reflect upon the fact that it is also the month of Mary, the Mother of God. Now I know that the months of May and October are traditionally recognized as “Marian” months for all kinds of reasons and history, but consider if you will an argument for the cause of December.
First, there is the reason of the calendar itself. There are so many great Marian feast days that are in the month of December: the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12, Christmas itself on the 25, all ending with the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God on Jan. 1. Pope Francis recently restored the commemoration of Our Lady of Loreto, connected with devotion to the house in which the Blessed Mother lived, and made it an optional memorial in the universal calendar on Dec. 10. Even more, once the Church calendar hits Dec. 17 and the O Antiphons at evening prayer, many of the readings at Mass and in the Liturgy of the Hours are Marian in focus and narrative. Additionally, within that timeframe, the opening prayer for the Fourth Sunday in Advent is taken from the very Marian of all prayers, the Angelus, “Pour forth we beseech thee, O Lord, thy grace into our hearts … .”
So the momentum of the calendar naturally draws our prayers and attentions to the Blessed Mother. Then there is the great charisma and theology of the virtue of hope that is found in the season of Advent itself. Mary in her very existence epitomizes hope. Her childless parents, Anna and Joachim, hoped to someday have a child. But it looked like it was not to be. Finally, their prayers were fulfilled and Mary, a daughter was born for them. Their hope was fulfilled. Later in life, Mary herself spoke of the hope of Israel in the coming of the Messiah, now found through the conception of Jesus in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit, when she breaks forth in the great Magnificat of exultation, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.” She was hoping for God to do great things. She looked forward in hope to God’s breaking into the world and her hope was fulfilled. Can we do the same? As one writer puts it, “No one has waited with more hope than the Virgin Mary.
Advent invites us to join her in waiting, but we look with the perspective of Mary young and old. When she was a child, she waited for the birth of her son. In old age, she waited to be reunited with him, to see him face to face. Like the young Mary, the Church hopes to see Jesus born in us and in the lives of people we know and love. Like the aged Mary, we wait for the blessed reunion promised in Jesus’ second Advent.” — Waiting with Mary in Advent, by Jamie Cain And with that, my friends, I rest my case for why December is the most Marian of months.