A WOMAN FOR ALL - B: Solemnity of the Assumption

First Reading: Rev 11:19, 12:1-6, 10 (15 August 2021)

“A woman, adored with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown” (Rev 12:1).

This verse, along with the ensuing story of the woman’s escape from the dragon’s attempt to devour her newborn child (vv. 1-6), is popularly associated to the Blessed Virgin Mary’s childbearing of Jesus. In the Bible, Mary is depicted as the bearer of God’s Son by virtue of the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel (Lk 1:26-38). In contrast to the first mother of mankind in the person of Eve (Gen 3:6), Mary did not succumb to the temptation of disobeying the will of God. Her famous “Fiat” (Lk 1:38) sealed the deal in her role, not only as the mother of Jesus, but as the new mother of mankind. Accordingly, while standing at the foot of the cross, she received this title from Jesus himself with these words to the beloved disciple:

“Behold your mother” (Jn 19:27). This disciple represents all the followers of Jesus over time.

This biblical foundation led to the portrayal of Mary in iconography as the Theotokos, i.e., the mother of God, that presents her as holding the child Jesus in her arms. Furthermore, as Jesus was the conqueror of the evil one (cf. Mt 4:11; Lk 4:13), Mary, by analogy, has also become a subjugator of the proverbial dragon. In this regard, in her apparition to St. Juan Diego of Mexico in 1531, Mary showcased herself as standing upon the crescent moon in harmony with the description of Rev 12:1—She is known here as La Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. Later, to St. Catherine Laboure of France in 1830, she appeared as crushing the head of the serpent in accord with the prophecy of Gen 3:15. This occurrence was immediately supplemented by an image of a letter M (i.e., Mary) on a medal that is encircled by twelve stars, which suits the details of Rev 12:1—She is known in this apparition as the Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.

While it seems clear for Catholics that it was Mary who is alluded to by the word “woman” in Rev 12:1-6, the Greek text of the New Testament does not name her particularly as Mary. Rather, she was only referred with the generic word gynē (“woman”). Appropriately, there is a big probability that another woman other than Mary is being referred to here by the seer.

Some suggest that this “woman” is actually the Church, being the one that would continue this battle with the evil one. Along these lines, Matthew Henry comments that it was “[t]he church, under the emblem of a woman, the mother of believers, was seen by the apostle in vision, in heaven.... As watchful to crush the Christian religion; but in spite of the opposition of enemies, the church brought forth a manly issue of true and faithful professors, in whom Christ was truly formed anew” (cf. Matthew Henry’s Commentary 1706). Meanwhile, some associate the “woman” to be something else as George Beasley-Murray enumerates, “Religious people of the ancient world would have seen in the travailing woman a goddess crowned with the twelve stars of the zodiac; a Jew would have understood her as Mother Zion, but for John she represented the ‘Mother’ of the Messianic community, the believing people of God of old and new covenants” (cf. New Bible Commentary 1994).

As this aforementioned woman can be scripturally referential of Mary, the Church, a goddess, Mother Zion, or the symbolic mother of a community, it is difficult to fix our understanding of Rev 12:1-6.

Despite this plurality of meaning, what is significant is that any person—a Christian, a Jew, a Gentile, or a member of a sectarian community—do have access to this proverbial woman who can inspire and intercede for them in fighting the evil one.

This woman (be it Mary or somebody else) provides hope to everyone that a better tomorrow is coming.

- Rex Fortes, CM