Cooperator In Our Redemption
COOPERATOR IN
OUR REDEMPTION
Among the Fathers who write about the Blessed Virgin what is immediately noticeable is that they do not speak of her merely as the physical instrument of our Lord’s taking flesh, but as an intelligent, responsible cause of it. Her faith and obedience were accessories to the Incarnation, and gaining it as her reward. As Eve failed in these virtues, and thereby brought on the fall of the race in Adam, so Mary by means of the same had a part in its restoration. Some might say that the Blessed Virgin was only a physical instrument of our redemption; “what has been said of her by the Fathers as the chosen vessel of the Incarnation, was applied personally to her,” (that is, by Catholics,) and again “the Fathers speak of the Blessed Virgin as the instrument of our salvation, in that she gave birth to the Redeemer.”
On the other hand, St. Augustine, in well-known passages, speaks of her as more exalted by her sanctity than by her relationship to our Lord. However, not to go beyond the doctrine of Justin, Irenaeus and Tertullian, they unanimously declare that she was not a mere instrument in the Incarnation, such as David, or Judah, may be considered. They declare she co-operated in our salvation not merely by the descent of the Holy Spirit upon her body, but by specific holy acts, the effect of the Holy Spirit within her soul. Moreover, as Eve forfeited privileges by sin, so Mary earned privileges by the fruits of grace. As Eve was disobedient and unbelieving, so Mary was obedient and believing. Then, as Eve was a cause of ruin to all, Mary was a cause of salvation to all; Eve made room for Adam’s fall, so Mary made room for our Lord’s reparation of it. Thus, whereas the free gift was not as the offence, but much greater, it follows that, as Eve co-operated in effecting a great evil, Mary co-operated in effecting a much greater good.
And, besides the run of the argument, which reminds the reader of St. Paul’s antithetical sentences in tracing the analogy between Adam’s work and our Lord’s work, it is well to observe the particular words under which the Blessed Virgin’s office is described. Tertullian says that Mary “blotted out” Eve’s fault, and “brought back the female sex,” or “the human race, to salvation;” and St. Irenæus says that “by obedience she was the cause or occasion of salvation to herself and the whole human race;” that by her the human race is saved; that by her Eve’s complication is disentangled; and that she is Eve’s Advocate, or friend in need. It is supposed by critics, Protestant as well as Catholic, that the Greek word for Advocate in the original was Paraclete; it should be borne in mind, then, when we are accused of giving our Lady the titles and offices of her Son, that St. Irenæus bestows on her the special Name and Office proper to the Holy Spirit.
–Letter to Dr. Pusey