We are the offspring of the Virgin Mary

Through Her trust and total reliance upon God, Mary stands in complete opposition to Satan who had shown disobedience to God.

The Prince of Darkness hates Mary because of Her humility, but at the same time, is afraid of Her. She is the only one who does not listen to and succumb to his lies. Through Her love and obedience to God, She takes part in the destruction of Satan’s evil plans. That is why Satan will continue to attack Mary and Her children with such hatred and venom, so as to poison and destroy Her work. Already at the very beginning, following the original sin, it was announced that the Son of a woman would crush a serpent’s head but that the serpent would crush His foot; the latter fact, no doubt refers to Satan’s continued attacks on the body of Christ, that is on the Church: “Then the dragon was enraged with the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children that is, all who obey God’s commandments and bear witness for Jesus” (Rv 12:17).

This apocalyptic vision is not only a simple parable, but an image of the real battle which from the very beginning is taking place in human history. The main thrust of this fierce battle is directed against Mary as it was thanks to Her that ‘The One’ who conquered death had come into the world. This struggle is becoming more and more intense, as Satan is aware that his days are numbered (Rv 12:12). We may ask how Satan fights with the Virgin and Her offspring today and what methods he resorts to in these contemporary times? Today, Satan’s attack focuses on the woman and on those values which were important to Mary. We can easily convince ourselves that it is alright to absorb the current views by resorting to some powerful means, such as the mass media, Satan tries to ridicule certain Christian concepts, such as the idea of virginity and motherhood, as well as the very institution of marriage.

Mary was a virgin; She was a mother and the spouse of St Joseph. She lived in a family in which Jesus was able to grow up and mature safely until His mission could be fulfilled. Hence, the threat to the concepts of family, virginity and motherhood is so serious, as it is precisely thanks to these values that man is able to fulfil God’s plan and realise his calling to eternal life. One cannot reconcile these values with the Devil’s wayward plan to attack everything that is connected with life, one’s wellbeing and with faith; for the Devil is death and he rejoices to see man plunge into hell. His attack is directed primarily against life. It is very easy to recognise this ideology which is aimed against life and all in the name of protecting the woman’s freedom; namely, it is often argued that the woman has a right to determine her plight, in other words that she has a right to kill. Contemporary society often accepts this way of reasoning. At that moment the woman loses her sense of conscience and the mother is often left broken and damaged. Let us pray for expectant mothers for a safe delivery and all mothers throughout world.

As we approach Christmas we think of the new-born baby Jesus in the manger with our Blessed Mother and Joseph. May we rejoice in the birth of our Lord and Saviour on Christmas Day.

God bless you.

Fr Peter Prusakiewicz CSMA, Poland