Introduction

Throughout the life of the Church, the Blessed Virgin Mary has been called upon as the Advocate for the People of God. At Cana she inaugurated Jesus' public ministry by calling forth his first public miracle, turning water into wine for wedding hosts and guests. With the Apostles, she prayed for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Prayers to Mary for protection and aid have been recorded as early as AD 250. Battles of historical significance have been believed to be won by her intercession. Marian apparitions have emphasized her mediatorial effect in warding off the punishment of God in response to repentance, prayer and fasting. She has been the soothing Mother to whom people turn when they feel that they cannot approach God directly.

The theological foundations for Marian Advocacy are rooted in Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the teachings of the Magisterium. Mary's role in salvation history was planned by God, and pre-echoes of her emergence at the fullness of time may be seen in Old Testament prophecy. She was pre-redeemed by her Immaculate Conception to become the perfect woman to be the Mother of God. Her loving, free and obedient Yes to Gabriel's Annunciation involved her fully and knowingly in the Redemption. She is seen as Coredemptrix by virtue of having suffered with Christ to acquire graces for us, in a unique yet subordinate way. She is properly called Mediatrix of all graces, because she alone, of all humanity, helped Christ to acquire them. Her Assumption into heaven, where she reigns as Queen with Christ as King, places her in a position to help the People of God with all their needs.

The Meaning of Advocacy

To advocate means to intercede. The term is derived from two Latin words, ad ("to") and vocare ("to call"). In the practice of law, attorneys are "called to" the aid of those for whom they intercede; they are summoned to help. To advocate is to "speak in favor of; recommend." An advocate is one who "argues for a cause" or "pleads in another's behalf."¹

In the New Testament, the term advocate is translated from the Greek parakletos, "called in to help." At the Last Supper, Jesus used this term in referring to the coming aid of the Holy Spirit. Among saints, the term Advocate is reserved almost exclusively for Mary, and this is fitting in light of her intimate association with the Holy Spirit.² According to St. Maximilian Kolbe, grace flows from the Father to the Son and through the Holy Spirit and Mary to humanity; the human reaction flows in the inverse direction, to Mary first and then to the Son and Father by way of the Holy Spirit. This places Mary, full of the grace of the Holy Spirit, first in line to receive humanity's pleadings. Mary "occupies a place in the Church which is the highest after Christ and also closest to us" (LG, 54). She intercedes on our behalf, as Advocate to her Son through the Holy Spirit, and ultimately to God the Father.³

Mary, then, is rightly called the Advocate for the People of God.⁴ According to Lumen Gentium:

Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix (LG, 62).

The Advocacy of Mary in Sacred Scripture: Old Testament

Queen Mother

In the books of First and Second Kings, references are made to the role of the Queen Mother in the kingdoms of the Ancient Near East. Due to the practices of polygamy and concubinage, male rulers often had multiple wives and mistresses. To avoid competitive jealousies among these women, the woman with the primary authority to influence the king was his mother. She was designated Queen Mother and sat on a throne at the king's right hand. Her title in Hebrew was Gebirah, "Great Lady," and she assisted the king in ruling his kingdom and served as his counselor.⁵

Because of her primacy of place and role of authority, the Queen Mother was the strongest advocate for the people as intercessor to the king on their behalf. Bathsheba, for example, interceded for Adonijah when he wanted to make Abishag his wife (1 Kings 2:13-21 NIV). When Asa became king of Judah and instituted various reforms, he "deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother" because she had been supportive of temple prostitution and the use of Asherah poles (1 Kings 15:11-13 NIV). This shows the role of Queen Mother as an important position that carried significant influence.

Throughout the books of First Kings and Second Kings, when a new king came into power, his mother's name was recorded along with his name, and the mothers took active roles in ruling the kingdom and establishing royal succession. In 2 Kings 11, Athaliah, the mother of King Ahaziah, tried to have all of the royal princes destroyed when the king died, probably fearing for her life at the hands of his former rivals. Ahaziah's sister, Jehosheba, protected one young prince, Joash, from the slaughter. He eventually became king, and Athaliah was killed. When Joash was installed as king, the Hebrew scriptures record his mother's name: "In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king ... his mother's name was Zibiah" (2 Kings 12:1 NIV). Similarly, "Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king ... his mother's name was Hamutal" (2 Kings 23:31), and "Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king ... his mother's name was Zebidah" (2 Kings 23:36). Although not all mothers of kings are mentioned, the frequency with which these references occur underscores the importance of the role of Queen Mother in kingdoms of the Ancient Near East.

The emphasis on the role of Queen Mother in the Old Testament (OT) paves the way for Mary's royal role as Queen Mother of Christ the King in the New Testament. It is appropriate for her to be addressed as Our Lady, in the spirit of Gebirah (Heb.) or Domina (Lat.), "Great Lady." It is a noble title, fitting for her role as Queen Mother of Christ, sitting at the right hand of her Son the King, and interceding for the People of God as did the Queen Mothers in the time of the Davidic Kings.

Genesis

After the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the Lord God says to the serpent, "I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel" (Gen 3:15 NIV). This establishes complete opposition and enmity between the woman and her seed against the serpent. The woman, as the mother of the offspring who will crush Satan, is Mary, because it is Christ who defeats the Devil symbolized by the serpent. Because of this total unity and singleness of will and purpose for both Mary and Christ, Mary may be viewed as the best human advocate for the People of God. She is close to us as a human being, yet closest to Christ in his purpose and will, in total opposition to the Devil. She therefore encourages us to join with her Son in the good fight against evil, and any request of ours in harmony with that goal will be well received by her and presented to Him with her blessing.

Esther

The OT book of Esther contains the story of a woman interceding for the Hebrew people in the face of a plan to put them to death. A beautiful young Hebrew woman, Esther, had entered the chambers of King Assuerus as part of his harem, without his knowledge of her as a member of the race his advisor Haman would have him persecute. The King loved Esther, and she became Queen. Eventually Queen Esther took the risk of presenting the King with her plea for the salvation of her people, at the advice of her uncle, Mordecai. When the King learned that his advisor had unfairly instigated the persecution against the Hebrew people, he withdrew the decree calling for their eradication and had Haman killed instead. Queen Esther had saved her people.

Esther may be seen as a type or prefigurement of Mary in three ways: 1) Mary is viewed as "All Fair" by the Church, as Esther was radiantly beautiful; 2) Mary alone was excluded from the law of original sin by her Immaculate Conception, as Esther alone was excluded from the condemnation of the Hebrew people; and 3) Mary saved all people from condemnation by working with Christ as Coredemptrix, as Esther saved her people by working with the King and pleading to him on their behalf.⁶ Mary stayed committed to Jesus' ministry throughout his life, inaugurating his first public miracle and his entire public ministry at Cana, and giving up her maternal rights at the Cross to endure a spiritual martyrdom herself. This was done on behalf of the humanity Christ came to save; she therefore had an integral role in saving all of humanity, as Esther did in saving the Hebrew people. Mary's dedication to the salvation of humanity is a profound form of advocacy, and from heaven she continues her work of pleading for the rescue of all people from sin, death and the power of Satan.

New Testament

Luke

At the Annunciation, the angel Gabriel told Mary, "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end" (Lk 1:31-33 NIV). Mary is thus cast into the role of Queen Mother; Jesus is the King whose reign will never end, and she is his mother. This places her in a position to advocate for the subjects of the King, who are the People of God, the Church. It should be remembered that the Church has a deep respect for all people seeking truth, and as such Mary is the mother of all.

At the Visitation, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:41 NIV), Elizabeth refers to Mary as "the mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43 NIV). This places Mary in the role of Great Lady (Domina, Gebirah), according to Elizabeth. The phrase "mother of my Lord" was used in the Ancient Near East to refer to the mother of the reigning King.⁷ Elizabeth exclaims further, "Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished" (Lk 1:45 NIV). Elizabeth recognizes Mary as the mother of the Lord, bearing Christ the King in her womb. Her Queen Mother role was recognized by Elizabeth under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit even before Christ was born.

John

John the Evangelist records Mary interceding on behalf of the hosts at the wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1-11 NIV). Mary notices that they are running out of wine, and she asks Jesus to do something about it. He responds, "Dear woman ... my time has not yet come" (Jn 2:4 NIV). She instructs the servants, "Do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2:5 NIV). It was thus at her request that he did his first public miracle, and this began his public ministry.

Mary was advocating for the people at the wedding, even before they fully realized what they needed. This is an expression of Mary's concern for those outside her immediate nuclear family group. "At that moment, when she asked water to be changed into wine, she died to love of Jesus as her Son, and began to mount to that higher love for all whom Jesus would redeem when He died on the cross. Cana was the death of the mother-Son relationship, and the beginning of that higher love involved in the Mother-humanity Christ-redeemed relationship."⁸ She is also shown as a powerful and effective intercessor for our daily, worldly concerns as she requests the miraculous transformation of water into wine at the wedding at Cana.

At the foot of the cross, Mary stands. She endures the pain of her Son's crucifixion and supports him in his mission by giving up her maternal rights and instinct to protect him. This shows her concern for all of humanity, for whose salvation he was laying down his life. Fully aware of this, she stood by him and suffered with him. Near the end of his life, Jesus designates her as the mother of all disciples, by saying, "Dear woman, here is your son," a reference to John standing nearby (Jn 19:26 NIV). He says to John, "Here is your mother" (Jn 19:27 NIV). Thus, Jesus gives Mary to us as our mother at the cross, because we may identify with John as disciples of Christ. The use of the term "woman" at Cana and at the cross identifies Mary with the "woman" from Genesis 3:15, who, with her seed, is at enmity with the serpent, and the "woman" in Revelation 12:1. She is one to whom we can turn for assistance, because Christ gave her to us as our mother, and his unity with his mother in enmity with Satan ensures that whatever pleadings reach her ears will be addressed to Christ.