There is Something About Mary : Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Woman in Revelation 12, Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, and the Theotokos

There is something about Mary during this holiday season of the year: from Advent into Christmastide. Yes, there is a romantic comedy movie, "There is something about Mary" (1998), featuring Cameron Diaz. I am not talking about that Mary but Mary, who is so special in understanding His only begotten Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, in the context of God's salvific grand scheme. And, this season of the year is a good time to deepen our appreciation of God's saving plan and Christology through this very special woman, Mary, because, theologically and soteriologically speaking, there sure is something about Mary. 

As a new liturgical year begins with Advent, we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of Mary on December 8. Then, we celebrate the apparitions of Blessed Virgin Mary, evoking the image of the pregnant woman in Revelation 12, to San Juan Diego on the mount of Tepeyac, Mexico, on December 12. Then, we celebrate the birth of the Messiah, Jesus, on December 25, Christmas, and on January 1, the Octave of Christmas (on the 8th day of Christmas, the day of Jesus' circumcision), we honor Mary as the Theotokos, the mother of God. So, as Jesus is the reason for this season, it is also the season about Mary. After all, unless Mary was the way she was, including her Immaculate Conception, we would not have our Savior as the Word incarnated in the human body of Jesus, born from the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was later Assumed into Heaven to be crowned as the Queen of the Universe (as in the 5th Glorious Mystery of the Holy Rosary), representing the eschatological Church, the Ekklesia.

Because she was conceived sexually through an intercourse that Anna and Joachim had, Mary could have been passed on the “recessive spiritual gene” of Adam and Eve, as we all have.  However, by God’s special grace, Mary was not touched by this “recessive spiritual gene” – the stain of the Original Sin. Thus, Mary was immaculately conceived, and she is immaculate.

The purpose of Mary to be immaculate ever since the moment of her conception – ever since the beginning of her life – was to ensure that she is the one that the Holy Spirit is being sent to conceive the Messiah, as the Son of God the Father. For her flesh to be the suitable agent of God to incarnate, for the Word to become flesh, to dwell among us (John 1:14), God the Father had to intervene what is natural (i.e. the “recessive spiritual gene of Adam and Eve” to be passed, if conceived sexually) with His supernatural power, defying what is natural for the sake of redemptive salvation. This way, God was able to give His only begotten Son out of His mercy on us, the sinners, those who have been tainted by the Original Sin, as reflected in John 3:16.

In this regard, Jesus, the Son of God, the Son of Mary, is regarded as New Adam, and Mary, who was conceived immaculately by God’s special grace, is New Eve, as neither of them possess and are tainted by the marks of the Original Sin – the “recessive spiritual gene of Adam and Eve”.  Even though Jesus, the Son, in the Trinitarian hypostasis, is God, he is also human, as well, because he was born out of Mary’s body. However, because Mary was spared from any contamination of the marks of the Original Sin or the “recessive spiritual gene of Adam and Eve”, in spite of her sexual conception, Jesus was also free from the marks of the Original Sin.

The fact that Mary had been already spared from the influence of the marks of the Original Sin, ever since the moment of her conception, which also means to have saved her son, Jesus, from the influence of the Original Sin, in spite of having human flesh, is echoed in the way the pregnant woman and her son in her womb were saved from the dragon in Revelation 12. And, this juxtaposition between Mary’s immaculate conception and the way the woman in Revelation 12 was saved from the ferocious attack of dragon suggests that the woman in Revelation 12 is, indeed,  Mary and that the baby in her womb is Jesus. Furthermore, this juxtaposition is validated by the way Mary made apparition to San Juan Diego en el monte de Tepeyac, Mexico, in 1531, as Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe.

The woman in Revelation 12 is crowned with twelve stars, clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet (v.1).  If you look at the image of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, you notice that she resembles this image, her mantle casts the radiant countenance with majestic golden ray, like the sun light, while it also has stars, indicating that her heavenly connection. This reminds that Mary was assumed into Heaven, as we celebrate its feast on August 15 and as in the Fourth Glorious Mystery of the Holy Rosary. The moon under her feet reminds  that Nestra Senora de Guadalupe is above what the crescent moon symbolizes – the night and the darkness. The man who holds the moon represents us, who are subject to the night – subject to the marks of the Original Sin – as the “recessive spiritual genes of Adam and Eve” have been passed on through sexual conceptions, ever since Adam and Eve gave birth to Cain and Abel. The fact that Mary stands above powerfully symbolizes the meaning of her Immaculate Conception – her full of grace status, as she is not under the moon but above it and where the sun and stars are.  In the image of the women in Revelation 12, it is the dragon, a symbol of Satan, that is under her feet, as he fell out of heaven, upon his loss in the battle with Archangel Michael.

In juxtaposing the image of the woman in Revelation 12 and the image of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, as Mary, who is full of grace (completely free from any influence of the Original Sin or the Satan’s temptation) and immaculate, she has appeared to where we the human are and the domain of sinful influence of Satan (Dragon) from heaven (where she was Assumed as in the Fourth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary  and crowned with stars, as in the Firth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary)  to help her Son, Christ, in his evolving saving mission.

An important common string to connect  the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Woman in Revelation 12, and Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe together,  is the mercy of God’s saving grace for the fallen humanity, which has been in the domain of Satan. This domain is symbolized with “under the moon”, meaning that subject to the darkness. Because of the divine mercy of our Almighty Father God, who has sent His only begotten Son through Mary being full of grace and immaculate, Mary was once again sent to this world from the domain above (heaven) to ensure that her Son’s saving mission will not cease and fall under the Satan’s power. 

We celebrate this on December 8, as the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and December 12, as la fiesta por Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, just before Christmas, and furthermore, on January 1, on the Octave of Christmas, as the feast of Mary the Theotokos.

During this time of the year – from Advent into Christmastide, especially, between the feast of Immaculate Conception  (December 8) and the feast of the Theotokos  (January 1), we have so much to reflect on Mary and her important roles, as we continue to prepare for the coming of our Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father and the Son of Mary the Theotokos, the Immaculate, the woman in Revelation 12, and Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe.

It is also interesting to know that  the word, “Guadalupe”,  is associated with “wolf” in its Spanish etymological connection to Arabic words, "wadi"(valley) and “lupe”(wolf).  If you recall Jesus’ Good Shepherd discourse in John 10, Christ is to protect his sheep (us) from the attacks of wolves.  The fact that Mary has appeared as  Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe means that Mary has come, representing her Son, to where wolves are, to make sure that we, as Christ’s sheep, won’t be attacked, as we will not fall into Satan’s sinful temptation.