Mary: The New Ark of the Covenant

Many of the titles that apply to Mary in the litany that we recite after the Rosary may have originated in the imagination and devotion of God's people. Mary as the Ark of the Covenant, however, has its roots in the Bible. This is how the evangelist Saint Luke presents her.

Origin and purpose of the ark of the covenant
As a general rule, Judaism rejects public manifestations of spirituality, preferring to focus on actions and beliefs. In fact, the story of Judaism begins with Abraham who, according to ancient sources, destroyed the idols that were the conventional method of religious observance at the time.

The worship of images or statues is severely condemned throughout the Torah; the greatest sin that the Israelites collectively committed was the construction of the golden calf (Exodus 32) which was intended to serve as a material intermediary between God and them.

But in the history of the Jewish people, there was one exception to this rule. One man-made object was considered intrinsically sacred – the ark of the covenant.

Built during the desert crossing, it was used until the destruction of the first temple. The ark was the most important symbol of the Jewish faith and served as the material and concrete manifestation of God’s presence on earth. The legends associated with this object – and the severe punishments handed out to those who abused it – confirm the ark's centrality in Jewish faith of that period.

The construction of the ark is ordained by God to Moses while the Jews were still encamped in Sinai (Exodus 25). The ark was a chest of two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. It was made of acacia wood overlaid with pure gold, inside and outside.

At the bottom of the ark, four gold rings were fastened, through which two poles, also made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, were placed. The family of Kohath, of the tribe of Levi, would carry the ark on the shoulders of two men.

The ark was covered by a kapporet or mercy-seat of pure gold, that was two and a half cubits by one and a half cubits. Fixed to the mercy-seat were two hammered cherubim, also in pure gold. The two cherubim faced each other turned towards the mercy-seat, with their wings spread out and touching, overshadowing the mercy-seat.

Legend has it that the ark travelled in front of the people, burning scorpions, snakes, and thorns with jets of fire coming out of it, thus preparing the way for God's people. It also accompanied the soldiers to war; in fact, it was once taken by the Philistines during a battle.

From a spiritual point of view, the ark was the manifestation of God's physical presence on earth (the Shekhinah). When God spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the desert, he did so from between the two cherubim (Numbers 7:89). After the ark was moved to the most sacred and private space of the tabernacle, and later to the temple, it became accessible only once a year and only to one person. On Yom Kippur, the high priest (the kohen gadol) would enter this space to ask forgiveness for himself and for the entire nation of Israel (Leviticus 16:2).

Mary is the new Ark
The Virgin Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant because, "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 holy; he will be called Son of God." Luke 1:35

The description that Mary was covered with the shadow and power of God is the same and only description found in the passage about the ark that we read in Exodus: Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34). It was in the tabernacle that the ark was located.

The ark travelled to a Judean town in the hill country to stay in the house of Obed-edom (2 Samuel 6:1-11). Mary travelled to a Judean town in the hill country to go to Elizabeth's house (Luke 1:39).

David asked, “How can the ark of the Lord come into my care?” (2 Samuel 6:9). Elizabeth asked upon seeing Mary, “And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?” (Luke 1:43).

Dressed in a priestly vestment, King David approached the ark, and danced and leaped with joy (2 Samuel 6:14). John the Baptist, the son of a priest, leaped with joy in Elizabeth's womb at the approach of Mary, the new Ark (Luke 1:43).

The ark remained in the house of Obed-edom for 3 months (2 Samuel 6:11). Mary stayed in her cousin Elizabeth's house for 3 months (Luke 1:56).

The house of Obed-edom was blessed by the presence of the ark (2 Samuel 6:11). The word blessed is used 3 times in Luke 1:39-45 about Mary in the house of Elizabeth.

The ark returned to its sanctuary and eventually ended up in Jerusalem, where the presence and glory of God were revealed in the newly built temple (2 Samuel 6:12; 1 Kings 8:9-11). Mary returned home after visiting Elizabeth and eventually went to Jerusalem, where she presented her son to God in the temple (Luke 1:56; 2:21-22).

The contents of the ark
The final proof that Mary is in fact the Ark of the New and everlasting Covenant is given to us by the contents of the ark. What then did the ark of the Old Covenant contain, and what did Mary, the Ark of the New and everlasting Covenant, contain?

Old law and new law – Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant, for just as the old ark held the tablets of the law (Hebrews 9:4), Mary held Christ, the New law, in her womb. The old ark contained the tablets of the law, the Ten Commandments; Christ is the new law, the law of love which sums up the commandments and goes beyond, for he invites us to love without measure while the commandments only told us what not to do.

The manna is the true bread that comes down from heaven – Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant, for just as the old ark held the manna, the bread that came down from heaven (Hebrews 9:4), Mary held Jesus, the true Bread, in her womb, for while those who ate the manna died, those who eat the true Bread have eternal life.

The manna is the bread that the Jews ate only to go hungry again. The true bread is the one that, once eaten, makes us never hunger again; it is the true bread descended from heaven which is Christ. This bread was sown in the womb of Mary, as a song of Fatima says:

"The Wheat that God sown in Mary's womb has become for us the bread that gives us life and eternal salvation.... Mary is the ground where this seed germinates 100%. She is also the oven that baked him for nine months and presented him.”

The shepherds Moses and Aaron and the Good Shepherd – Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant, for just as the old ark contained the staff of Aaron and Moses with which they shepherded the people of Israel (Hebrews 9:4), Mary contained in her womb the new and ultimate Moses, the one who is the Good Shepherd, the one who lays down his life for his sheep.

If the old ark contained the staff of Moses with which he guided his people and worked miracles, the new Ark contains the Good Shepherd, the one who gives his life for the sheep and tells us that we must recognize only one authority, one Father, one Teacher, one Lord who is God.

Conclusion: If the ark of the covenant, which only contained signs of God's glory, was venerated, then Mary, the New Ark of the Covenant, must be doubly venerated for having contained God Himself.

Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC

Theotokos or Mater Dei?

A zealous Protestant convert gets on a bus and announces, "Here is the letter and here is the envelope that it was sent in, we keep the letter and throw the envelope in the trash. Christ is the letter, Mary is the envelope. "Is your mother also an envelope that you throw in the trash?" someone asked, and got no answer...

Up until the 5th century, the Church's reflection revolved around the identity of Christ. But even before the Council of Chalcedon in 451, in which Christ was defined as true God and true man, the Church’s reflection had already revolved around his mother. In fact, in as early as 431 at the Council of Ephesus, Mary was declared "Theotokos".

"Ave, Theotokos! Hail, Mater Dei! Hail, Hail Mary! Hail, Hail, Mary!" prays a canticle of Fatima, translating the Greek term "Theotokos" into the Latin "Mater Dei", but this is not the correct translation. "Theotokos" means God bearer which is not the same thing as mother of God.

History of human reproduction
Until the beginning of the 20th century, it was not known that a human being was the result of the fusion of two half cells – the sperm from a man and the egg from a woman – some time after the sexual act.

In the course of evolution from the appearance of Homo sapiens 5 million years ago to the present day, there was a time when the origin of a new human being was not known. With his less developed intelligence, primitive man did not apply the principle of cause/effect that associated the sexual act with the birth of a child nine months later.

During this period, although man had more physical strength, it was the woman who ruled the world, because it was from her and only her that the future of human species came; it was she and only she who ensured the survival of human beings. Societies were matriarchal at the time; even to this day, in all languages the words Earth and Nature are feminine words; God was conceptualized as a woman, as a great mother.

With the discovery of man's role in reproduction, society abruptly shifted from matriarchy to patriarchy. After all, a woman had no say or part in reproduction; rather, it was the man who put the new being inside of her, and she was only the fertile ground where it grew. God was no longer thought of as a mother, but a father, and man relegated woman to the background to this day.

The definition of Mary as "Theotokos" or God bearer is in agreement with what was thought at the time of the Council of Ephesus about the role of women in the act of human reproduction. A woman is only the fertile ground where the seed grows; it is the man who implants this seed, the sperm, which in itself was understood as a homunculus, that is, a small human being, but already fully complete. If this belief were still in force today, Mary would be, like all women, merely a "surrogate".

Holy Mary, Mother of God...
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law... Galatians 4:4    

St. Paul does not say born through a woman, but born of a woman. Mother is the one who welcomes a child into her womb and genetically contributes to its formation; Mary is mother in both of these senses.

Reading the incarnation of Christ in the light of what we know today about the origin of the human person, we can then say that the sperm came by way of the Holy Spirit, so that Christ was truly God, and the egg came from Mary, so that Christ was truly man. Now if Mary is the mother of Jesus and Jesus is God, then Mary is the mother of God; a perfect and undeniable syllogism.

She is not the mother of God in the sense that she is the origin of God, or that she is older than God and the origin of Jesus’ divinity. She is the mother of God because she welcomed God into her womb, and because she contributed genetic material to the human form that God took in Jesus of Nazareth.

Going back to the envelope metaphor
Mary is not only "Theotokos", God bearer; she is like our mother, who welcomed and carried us for nine months, and who also contributed half of the genetic material that formed us. Mary is therefore not only the envelope that contained God but she is truly the mother of God.

"Whoever my children kiss, my mouth sweetens". A mother is happy when people treat her children well and sad when they treat them badly; the same can be said of a son with respect to his mother. How can Protestants love the son and disrespect or ignore his mother?

Still using the metaphor of the envelope, lovers who keep their love letters, keep them inside their envelopes. Christ is God’s love letter to humanity. Mary is that flowery and colourful envelope that contains this letter; whoever is a mother is always a mother.

Furthermore, the envelop also contains the address of the person who sent the letter. We need it to respond to the letter, just as we need Mary's mediation because since she was the mediator of the primordial grace that was Jesus Christ, she is the mediator of all graces.

Conclusion: Mary is not only Theotokos, God bearer, because she welcomed Jesus into her womb; she is also Mater Dei, mother of God, because she contributed her own genetic material in the conception of Jesus. In this sense, Jesus is the flesh of her flesh, blood of her blood. If, so to say,  the divinity of Jesus comes from God, then his humanity comes from Mary.

Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC