Mary and the Moon

Seeing how the natural reflects the supernatural

04/08/2024

Lk 1:26-38 The angel Gabriel was sent from Godto a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

One of the oldest symbols for the Blessed Virgin Mary is the moon. Just like the moon receives all its light, radiance, and beauty from the sun – it is dark and lifeless alone – so Mother Mary’s grace and glory is but a perfect reflection of the light of Jesus, the Son of God. I love to walk my dog Apollo at night while we pray the rosary together. I say the first half of the Hail Mary and he responds with the second half.

When I see the moon in the heavens following us, I think of Mother Mary and ask her prayers to help convert Apollo from a pagan god into a Christian. I think it will take a lot more rosaries for that canine conversion. Nonetheless, when I see the moon at night, I think of Mary because in looking at her, I see the light of her Son. Even at night the Son shines brightly.

This year we see another curious instance of how Mary is symbolized by the moon. There is not only a solar eclipse occurring today but it is also matched by a kind of spiritual eclipse. We know people will be outside today around 2 p.m. to see how the moon will entirely cover the sun on the natural level. Well, we see something similar happen on the supernatural level with the feast we celebrate today, the Annunciation.

The Archangel Gabriel announces that Mary will conceive the Son of God. At the moment Mary uttered her “Fiat” – let it be done to me – Jesus was conceived in her womb. Starting today, therefore, and for nine months Mary sort of eclipses Jesus the Son, who would grow and gestate hidden in her womb. Today we celebrate a supernatural eclipse when Mary (the moon) would overshadow Jesus (the Son).

It is a remarkable coincidence that this year the date of Easter fell very early, on March 31. Because of that early Easter the Church moved the Solemnity of the Annunciation to after Easter and it falls today, April 8. Normally, the Annunciation occurs on March 25 in order to correspond to the typical nine months a baby spends in his or her mother’s womb.

That is, March 25th is precisely nine months before December 25th, the Solemnity of Christmas, Jesus’ Birth. But this year, the year of the total eclipse of the sun, the solemnity was moved to April 8. As a result, the lunar cycle perfectly aligns with the liturgical cycle. Yet again, we see how Mary is symbolized by the moon.

There is another coincidence today worth noting, namely, the Vatican has released a new document emphasizing and defending human dignity. It is called “Dignitas Infinita” which means “Infinite Dignity.” It treats of a wide range of issues that violate basic human dignity, which is rooted in the reality that each person is created in the “image and likeness” of God (Gn 1:27). Each person is a child of God.

So, the Church condemns every kind of attack on such divine dignity like capital punishment, sex trafficking, slave labor, terrorism, organized crime, abortion, polygamy, aggression and violence against LBGTQ persons. But it also condemns surrogacy and gender theory. Regarding gender theory, the Vatican reiterates Church teaching and urges: "all attempts to obscure reference to the ineliminable (inerasable) sexual difference between man and woman are to be rejected” (no. 59).

In other words, there is a growing cultural criticism of Church teaching today – both from the far right and from the far left – and Catholic Christians should eclipse that false light through the prayers of Mother Mary, and the true light of faith. It may be easier to convert Apollo to the true faith than many modern people. Today, on this unique day on which we see a solar eclipse in the sky and celebrate a spiritual eclipse in this sacrament, may our faith not be eclipsed by the trends and tides of our culture. Nature and supernature always work in tandem and shed light on each other, like the symbolism of Mary and the moon.

Praised be Jesus Christ!