Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed

12 OCTOBER (Lk 11,27-28)

In Ancient Scripture never had there been a bliss of immanence, always of transcendence. Bliss is in the right and holy relationship with God, who becomes and also makes himself just and holy relationship with the brothers.

How blessed is he who considers the helpless; The LORD will deliver him in a day of trouble. The LORD will protect him and keep him alive, And he shall be called blessed upon the earth; And do not give him over to the desire of his enemies. The LORD will sustain him upon his sickbed; In his illness, You restore him to health. As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me; Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.” My enemies speak evil against me, “When will he die, and his name perish?” And when he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood; His heart gathers wickedness to itself; When he goes outside, he tells it. All who hate me whisper together against me; Against me they devise my hurt, saying, “A wicked thing is poured out upon him, That when he lies down, he will not rise up again.” Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me. But You, O LORD, be gracious to me and raise me up, That I may repay them. By this I know that You are pleased with me, Because my enemy does not shout in triumph over me. As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, And You set me in Your presence forever. Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen (Psalm 41 (40) 1-14).

The husband of a virtuous woman is proclaimed blessed or lucky, but a virtue is God’s gift. Never might there be bliss without a holy relationship of real transcendence.

Happy the husband of a good wife, twice-lengthened are his days; A worthy wife brings joy to her husband, peaceful and full is his life. A good wife is a generous gift bestowed upon him who fears the LORD; Be he rich or poor, his heart is content, and a smile is ever on his face. There are three things at which my heart quakes, a fourth before which I quail: Though false charges in public, trial before all the people, and lying testimony are harder to bear than death, A jealous wife is heartache and mourning and a scourging tongue like the other three. A bad wife is a chafing yoke; he who marries her seizes a scorpion. A drunken wife arouses great anger, for she does not hide her shame. By her eyelids and her haughty stare an unchaste wife can be recognized. Keep a strict watch over an unruly wife, lest, finding an opportunity, she make use of it; Follow close if her eyes are bold, and be not surprised if she betrays you: As a thirsty traveler with eager mouth drinks from any water that he finds, So she settles down before every tent peg and opens her quiver for every arrow. A gracious wife delights her husband, her thoughtfulness puts flesh on his bones; A gift from the Lord is her governed speech, and her firm virtue is of surpassing worth. Choicest of blessings is a modest wife, priceless her chaste person. Like the sun rising in the Lord’s heavens, the beauty of a virtuous wife is the radiance of her home. Like the light which shines above the holy lamp stand, are her beauty of face and graceful figure. Golden columns on silver bases are her shapely limbs and steady feet (Sir 26,1-18).

A woman from the crowd proclaims blessed the womb that carried Jesus and the breasts that nursed him. The Mother of Jesus is not blessed by a mere fact of immanence. She is blessed for an event of most pure transcendence. She is blessed because she believed.

While he was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

Today, Jesus confirms the bliss shouted to Mary by St. Elizabeth.

During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Lk 1,39-45).

There is nothing of immanence in Mary. Everything in Her is most pure and very high transcendence.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us be from the Word.