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Q. Did Mary understand exactly to what she was saying "yes" when the Angel Gabriel asked her to be the Mother of God? Was she grappling with doubts or did she just have blind faith? Did she have foreknowledge of her vocation? When she said, "how can this be since I do not know man?", was it the result of a thought she had been fighting with a long time, or the fruit of the spur of the moment?

A.            Wow, looks like you’ve been doing some good spiritual work during advent. I know of no definitive teaching in the matter, but I will allow myself to offer these thoughts, my own opinion on the matter.

1. Traditional knowledge of Mary and private revelations of the saints inform us that Mary was a consecrated virgin, practically unheard of in her time, even since she was very young, just a girl. The problem with private revelations is that they saints don’t have the gift of infallibility, and so it is possible that they report things incorrectly, remember incorrectly, etc., unlike when the Magisterium speaks about public revelation (sacred scripture and sacred tradition).

            As Jesus was like us in all things but sin, I think it would be similar with Mary; but yet, Mary did not have a divine intellect as Jesus did, as she was man (I mean human being, question of male or female aside) and not also God as the Lord, her Son, was. Jesus knew with two intellects, a human and a divine. He loved with two hearts, a divine love and a human heart. Mary wasn’t God, so she just had the human part, albeit more exalted in grace than the human mind will ever be able to comprehend (as stated in the Encyclical about the Immaculate Conception).

            If she knew as a human, and the facts of the salvation of man became known not by human reason but by divine revelation, the logical conclusion would be that she did not know any more what God’s plan of salvation was than did King David, the prophet Isaiah, or the Maccabees brothers. It is so, so, so important for the world to return to the marvel of revelation. The truths of revelation aren’t those which the history of philosophy have given us, but God spoke to us, and still does, he has entered in conversation with man out of love for him, and has not abandoned us. He teaches us things that we cannot otherwise know, about Himself and about his plan of salvation. How could anyone ever really know God’s plan of salvation unless it were revealed?

            2. Furthermore, her response with fear at the angels words offer a less “objective” and more “subjective” evidence that this whole thing was a surprise for her. For her, not for God: he chose her since before the world began. She is God’s masterpiece, and all baptized women are called to follow in imitation of Mary.

            3. It is possible, however, that God may have revealed to her privately that all this was going to happen, but whether she understood the real import of such a revelation, or whether it even happened, we do not know. Given the previous points (1. and 2.) it seems unlikely.

            4. As for her response, “I do not know man,” we need to again think through this with as much logic as faith. She was a virgin, and we know by the teaching of the Church that she conceived Jesus in a virginal way, and even when she gave birth the sanctuary of her body was not violated, but she gave birth in a virginal way (such is the constant teaching of the fathers of the Church). She was then thereafter ever a virgin, living with a perfect love for Joseph in a marriage which was celebrated in rite but not consummated by sexual intercourse, never ever. She is always the Immaculate Virgin, the Purest Mother of God, and the most beautiful of all creatures. “Blessed are the pure of heart, they shall see God!” (Mt 5:3-12)

            Furthermore, as I stated above, devout tradition (which is not the same as Sacred Tradition as one of the sources of public Divine Revelation) and private revelations to the saints teach us that she was a consecrated virgin ever since her earliest years, as a young girl. So her marriage was a mystery to her, for she was a consecrated virgin, and she really did not know how all this was to happen.

            Her question contrasts that of Zachariah, who, in a verses just previous in Luke, poses a question, “How can I know this, as I am advanced in years, and my wife is barren, etc.” Zachariah was the rationalist who distrusted the truth of the Angel’s words. Mary asked in order to get instructions from the angel, not to doubt, but in order to more effectively obey. Hence Gabriel punished Zachariah with silence for misusing his tongue, and Gabriel humbly taught Mary what God’s will is.

            Furthermore, I doubt that her response represents a simply gut reaction. For the verses in scripture were written for our salvation and instruction, to encourage and reproach, and to teach us about God and his plan of salvation. The scriptures have a double author: God and man. It’s not 50/50, but rather 100% God and 100% man. Nothing is there which was not intended by both authors. Each word in the scripture was carefully chosen by God the Father for you: the Bible is God the Father’s love letters to his children, to you his daughter. Words therefore don’t wind up in scripture just by whim, chance, or coincidence. Every word in scripture, every last dot on an i, was planned by the Trinity since the beginning of time.

            5. So I hope that you have been considering your own vocational discernment in the light of this marvelous passage. Never tire of returning to it, it is an abyss of love. See the basic four movements in this passage, captured so marvelously in the prayer, the Angelus:

- God spoke to Mary, and Mary was listening in prayer

- Mary obeyed with promptitude, totality, joy and love

- God’s word became a reality

- God’s call would eventually bear fruit of eternal life.

Isn’t that a great plan of life?

            My prayer for you is that you fall so in love with God, with the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you promise to follow him always, to do your very best to live out the ten commandments and the eight beatitudes, that the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit flourish in your soul, and that you work with great personal abnegation to acquire the heroic degree in living all the virtues. Through my priestly prayer, may Mary and the baby Jesus give you this gift. For the Lord is rich in mercy upon us.