The Woman of the Promise: The Co-redemptrix Foreshadowed in the Old Testament

Liturgy - The Readings for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

These readings should be read over and over and meditated upon to see how the Church in her wisdom uses typology and the writings of the fathers and saints of her tradition, to illustrate how God spoke previously of Mary in the pages of the Old Testament, and how that is fulfilled in her life and mission in the New Testament.

Vigil Mass: 1 Chronicles 15:3-4, 15-16, 16:1-2; Psalm 132:6-7, 8-10, 13-14; 1 Corinthians 15:54b-57; Luke 11:27-28

Day Mass: Rev 11:19a, 12:1-6a, 10ab; Psalm 45:10-12, 16; 1 Corinthians 15:20-27; Luke 1:39-56

The readings compiled together, just like St. John Chrysostom's homily above, speak of David's glorious procession of the Ark into Jerusalem (1 Chr 15:3-4). Then the Psalms speak of the Ark being assumed to the throne of God in heaven (Ps 132), and the queen at the right hand of the king (Ps 45). The Book of Revelation shows that the New Ark is the "woman clothed with the sun," that is, Mary. St. Paul's readings in Corinthians show Christ's victory over sin and death and thus Mary's also. This all culminates with Luke's account of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, which, as we have shown, is a typological parallel to 2 Sam 6 and David's bringing of the Ark up to Jerusalem. This is theologically significant because Christ the Son of David, Son of God, brings the new Ark, Mary, body and soul into the heavenly Jerusalem. The account of the Visitation also contains Mary's great Magnificat, which we have shown, parallels the victory songs of Miriam, Deborah and Bathsheba, Gebirahs, all foreshadowing her.

The Woman and the dragon - full circle

It is this author's opinion that St. John purposely connects Gen 3:15 with Rev 12. He uses the words "that ancient serpent" and "the deceiver of the whole world." The ancient serpent had one word in Hebrew which applied to both serpent and dragon (nahash). The Greek word John uses in 12:3, δρακων, also can mean either big serpent or dragon. ¹ Isaiah 27:1 is probably the most telling passage in Scripture which shows that the serpent and the dragon are the same, in fact, he has a name; it's "Leviathan." "In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea" (emphasis added). And if anyone is still in doubt that this "ancient serpent" or "dragon" is anything other than Satan, they can read all of chapter 41 of the book of Job, which describes the dragon in detail with his Satanic power. John also calls it this in 12:9: "...that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan." This is being emphasized for the simple point that many scholars today would not make this connection, and see little or no literal significance in the Genesis and Revelation accounts of the "ancient serpent" as the Devil. The context is so obviously important because in Rev 12 the "ancient serpent" is cast down to earth from heaven. The Fallen Lucifer is demoted and cast down among humanity where he didn't want to be in the first place (non serviam). When he is cast down, "he pursues the woman and her offspring." The interesting thing about the passage is that it has to be talking about a past event, because Satan could not pursue Eve until he was cast down to earth. This is typical of the Book of Revelation, and of Old Testament prophecy in general, where there is triple fulfillment in some cases; past, present and future. John first speaks in the present tense, of the "Woman" in glory, clothed with the sun, a crown of twelve stars on her head and the moon under her feet (this is the glorified Mary, Mother of God and Queen of heaven and earth). This is the woman who has crushed the head of the "ancient serpent" through her cooperation with her Redeemer-Son. Then he moves backwards and shows how this "ancient serpent" was cast down to earth. Then he moves to the future where the serpent pursues the Church (the Woman's spiritual offspring) until the second coming of Christ. In one way the battle has already been won by Christ and the Church triumphant resides in heaven. In another sense, the battle wages below with the Church militant, where one day, the Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph and usher in the Reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Conclusion

In this paper we have tried to show the Old Testament passages that foreshadow Mary in her unique role as Co-redemptrix of the human race. We began with Gen 3:15 which has been called the coredmptrix passage. This is the foundational passage for so many doctrines on Mary. We showed the importance of this passage for the Fathers of the Church and how Marian doctrine developed from it. We mentioned the astounding statement of St. Irenaeus as early as the second century: "Mary is the cause of salvation for herself and the whole human race." We showed how important this passage was for magisterial teaching, especially for Pope Pius IX who used it as the main Scripture source in the papal bull for the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (Ineffabilis Deus). We also referenced Pius XII, The Second Vatican Council's Lumen Gentium #55 and John Paul II's Redemptoris Mater, where they all see Mary as the New Eve "who crushes the head of the serpent" in cooperation with her Son. We showed how this passage points forward to the Cross where the ultimate act of redemption and coredmption takes place. We showed how Gen 3:15 points forward also to Rev 12, where the Co-redemptrix is crowned queen of heaven and earth and shares the victory with her Son, the King of Kings. We showed that in this way Gen 3:15 contains, in seed form, the coredemptrix doctrine. Dr. Mark Miravalle states that, "the doctrine of Marian Coredemption is contained within the patristic concept of the new Eve. As Eve uniquely cooperated with Adam in the fall of the human race, so Mary, the new Eve, uniquely cooperated with Jesus Christ, the new Adam, in the restoration of graces for the human race." ²

Next we tried to show how the life of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac foreshadow Jesus and Mary in their roles as Redeemer and Co-redemptrix. We showed how the Fathers saw the near-sacrifice of Isaac as a foreshadowing of Calvary. We showed how the miraculous birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah foreshadowed the miraculous births of both Jesus and John the Baptist. We showed how the great faith of Abraham was a foreshadowing of Mary's great faith and how Abraham is specifically mentioned in the Magnificat and the Benedictus. Finally, we showed how the drama of the Aqedah, in pointing forward to Calvary, foreshadows the Redeemer and the Co-redmeptrix. Mary follows Jesus up the mountain as he carries the Cross to the same location where Abraham followed Isaac carrying the wood on his back up Moriah. Mary willingly consents in obedience to the Father, to the sacrifice of her only beloved Son, just as Abraham had done two thousand years before. Manelli confirms our findings saying: "It becomes clear, therefore, that the typology contained in the figures of Abraham and Isaac, fulfilled in Mary and Christ, is precisely that of Coredemptress-Redeemer." ³ Finally, we showed the profound quote from John Paul II in a homily on the commemoration of Abraham, which compares Mary to Abraham as we have shown.

Finally, we showed how Mary as Co-redemptrix is foreshadowed in the kingdom of David, in the queen mother (Gebirah), as a warrior queen. We started by tracing the history of the Gebirah in some of the great women who also foreshadowed Mary: Miriam; Deborah and culminating in Bathsheba. We showed that as 2 Sam 7 is the central prophecy of the coming Messiah in the OT, so 2 Sam 6, in tandem, foreshadows the new Ark, Mary, who in the battle element connected to the Ark, "crushes the head of the serpent" and has final victory with her Royal Son. We showed how this points forward to Revelation 12 where the "Queen stands at His right hand" (Ps 45), and the Ark is visible in the Temple in heaven. We showed how in Al Wolters' research, he sees the "Song of the Valiant Woman" (Prov 31:10-31), as the Song of the Gebirah. We showed how this was Bathsheba's advice to her son Solomon on choosing a proper queen and wife. We showed how the Song foreshadows Mary's virtues and attributes. Connecting all of this to her as the warrior queen (Gebirah), as it foreshadows Mary as Co-redemptrix. We finished the section showing the total enmity between the "woman" and the dragon or "ancient serpent," and how this brings Scripture and salvation history full circle from Gen 3:15.

Something we learned recently which adds as a nice crowning finish to this paper and which ties all that we have presented together is, that the only three references to "the seed" in the Old Testament which refers to the Messiah are from the passages we have presented here: Gen 3:15, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed;" Gen 22:18, "and by your descendants (seed) shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice;" and 2 Sam 7:12-14, "I will raise up your offspring (seed) after you ... he shall be my son." ⁴