In
Mel Gibson's new film "The Passion of the Christ," one
of the most poignant scenes is a cinematic depiction of the "Pieta."
Mary holds the body of her dead son, as she gazes straight
ahead at us. Her face is etched with sorrow and hope.
The passion of the Son is matched by the compassion of the Mother.
The word "passion" derives from the Latin word for "suffering."
The prefix "com" means "with." Hence Mary
suffers with Christ. The film depicts Mary as an active participant
in Christ's passion.
Medieval mystery
plays often dramatized the Passion of Christ, taking artistic license
to insert Mary at key moments of the drama. This medieval
tradition was deeply indebted to the Franciscan movement of the
13th Century, which gave concrete emphasis to the Passion.
Even now in Assisi, every Good Friday, an extraliturgical pageant
wends its way through the narrow streets commemorating the union
of Mary with her Son. A huge statue of Our Lady, with her
heart pierced (cf Luke 2:35) is carried from the Cathedral of San
Rufino to the Basilica of St. Francis, where she "collects"
the body of her dead Son, escorting His catafolque back to the Cathedral.
Confraternities of laity, dressed in penitential robes and foot
chains chant solemnly in support of the Mother of Sorrows (Mater
Dolorosa).
The Franciscan
linking of Jesus's Passion with Mary's Compassion dates to St. Francis
himself. The Seraphic Father composed an "Office for
the Passion," which was recited by the friars daily. Each of
its seven hours began and ended with a special "Antiphon "
invoking the "Holy Virgin Mary." Hence fourteen
times daily, the friars prayed publicly to Our Lady, associating
her with the Passion of Christ. This had a profound impact
on the friars' Marian theology and piety.
While all
the followers of Francis would exemplify this linkage of Mary with
Jesus in the Passion, none did so as beautifully as Friar Jacopone
da Todi (d. 1306) in his poetic masterpiece the "Stabat Mater":
"At the Cross her station keeping, stood the mournful Mother
weeping, close to Jesus to the last... " Subsequent Franciscan
influence would develop the "Stations of the Cross" tradition,
beginning in the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land and spreading
from there. The "4th Station"--Jesus meeting his
afflicted Mother on the way to Calvary--originated in local oral
traditions of Palestine. Even now a local Armenian church
on Jerusalem's Via Dolorosa commemorates Mary's "footprints"
of compassion at the alleged site of the encounter with her Son
on his way to crucifixion.
The Biblical
scene of Mary at the Foot of the Cross (John 19: 25-27) provides
a basis for the Franciscan theological position on the "co-redemption":
the Redeemer's decision to associate his Mother as an active collaborator
in His saving work. Franciscan teachings on the "Immaculate
Conception" likewise hinged on the Calvary sequence, whereby
the Perfect Redeemer preserved his Mother free of Original Sin,
in view of His merits on Calvary, whereon she would stand as first
fruits of His victory.
One could
say that the "compassionate" Mary stood in the "shadow"
of her "Passionate" Son on Calvary. Her presence
there transformed the shadow of the Cross into a welcoming shelter
for John, the little company of women, and by extension all of us.
Like a tent ("tabernacle') in the desert, Mary's presence cooled
the heat of the Passion with the cooling "breath" of the
Holy Spirit, her Spouse. Mind you, St. Francis invoked Mary
as "Spouse of the Holy Spirit" in his Antiphon for the
Office of the Passion previously cited. In the wake of the
Passion, the scene at the foot of the Cross becomes a meeting place
for the assembly of the faithful. Calvary becomes a birthing
scene for Church. The Cross is in fact a birthing couch for
the Church, born in the Spirit from the pierced side of Christ --
from whom water and blood flow as symbols of Baptism and Eucharist.
Mary serves as midwife in this birthing dynamic. "Pierced
by the sword" of compassion, she fosters our sharing in the
fruits of the Passion, and guides us along the way of Christian
discipleship.
Fr.
James McCurry, OFM Conv.
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