For He who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is His name
Mary, Mother of God, Prophet and Priest
Sermon preached on the Feast of the Assumption 2010 at St Mary’s Weeting
Readings:
Isa 61:10-11 or Rev 11:19-12:6,10
Gal 4:4-7
Luke 1:46-55
+In Nomine
It is most curious that during the debate over the ordination of women as priests and the current legislation before General Synod on the consecration of women as bishops, that there has been no mention of an ancient tradition in the church – East and West – of the priesthood of Mary, Mother of God whose feast we celebrate today.
Over the centuries so much has been made of Mary’s motherhood and her supposed submissiveness – that ‘essential’ quality of women in any patriarchal society – ‘nice’, well bred, obedient women, like children, should be seen and not heard. Indeed the Forward in Faith Bishop who preached this year at the annual pilgrimage at Walsingham was at great pains to impress upon his congregation that Mary and Elizabeth were ‘lay women’ and it was implied that a woman’s major, if not only desirable raison d’etre in life is motherhood.
Yet through the religious art and writings of theologians down the centuries, a different picture emerges. The idea of the priesthood – and indeed the episcope - of Mary seems to have been around since the writings of the early
Fathers of the Church in the 4th century. It is wonderfully illustrated in striking mages of Mary dressed in priest’s vestments – some dating from as

early as the 6th century. In our own time and in this country there is an extraordinary artistic representation of Mary as priest which I first discovered amid the ruins of Mt Grace Priory, North Yorkshire in 2003.
It was late afternoon on a searing summers day. I had come to Mt Grace as a historian to look at the reconstructed Carthusian monks cells. As I entered the west archway of the ruined priory church, I noticed what I took to be a sculpture of a monk roughly where the High Altar once stood. The monk appeared to be holding a loaf of bread aloft and I took it to be a contemporary depiction of a monk offering Mass…nothing especially out of the ordinary in what had been after all a monastery!
As I drew closer, with shock I realized that what I’d seen from afar was a clever optical illusion. The figure, though cowled and habited as a monk was in fact female, and the ‘object’ which I took for bread was actually a baby. This was no man but Mary, Mother of God, holding her Son aloft as priest holds the Host aloft following the words of consecration…that moment when, through the action of the Holy Spirit, Christ Himself becomes present in the
Sacrament of the Altar.
This was none other than the Madonna of the Cross, crafted by local historian and artist Malcolm Brocklesby in 1996. His inscription reads:
This Madonna is not the meek and subservient figure portrayed in so many paintings, but a determined and intelligent young woman who understands the wonder and the importance of her calling as she dedicates her Child to the purpose of the Creator.
"She is also aware of the suffering that this will entail. The figure of the Madonna is integral with that of the Cross, the stark and terrible symbol at the heart of
Christianity, which is an inescapable part of her existence.
"Her expression, however, is more of serenity than anguish. She is looking beyond
Calvary to the Resurrection, and the way in which she holds the Christ Child high

suggests the subsequent Ascension rather than the immediate prospect of a sacrificial death. The statue combines the three facets of Christianity which establish the
Atonement of Mankind - the Nativity, the Crucifixion and the Ascension.
The fact that she is placed at the spot where the High Altar would have stood was and is to me a powerful symbol of Mary’s priesthood. Whilst a student at
Westcott House, I visited the Lady Chapel at Ely Cathedral and there saw the controversial ‘Saxon Mary’, pregnant with the Christ child, hands raised aloft in prayer and blessing. That image first enabled me to grasp the significant theological connection between the Annunciation and Eucharist. Through her
‘yes’, Mary opened the way for the Holy Spirit to act and make Christ present in the world through her, just as the priest, through the action of the Holy
Spirit, makes Christ present in the words of consecration. Meeting the
Madonna of the Cross that day in Yorkshire reinforced for me the power of
Mary’s priesthood and its connection with the Ministerial Priesthood into which I was to be ordained.
When we turn to that well loved Song of Mary which is the Gospel set for today, another significant dimension of Mary’s priesthood becomes apparent.
In the Magnificat, Mary stands firmly within the prophetic tradition of the
Old Testament. Prophesy is indeed one of the less popular aspects of priesthood. At ordination priests are exhorted to be the Lord’s messengers – to
seek the lost, announce God’s justice, warn and correct those in error to quote the
Ordinal. Not always an easy task...and it never was. The Old Testament is full of stories about the prophets fleeing from the wrath of kings or being put to death for transmitting God’s justice and mercy to those who chose to ignore it. Mary proclaims the greatness of the Lord and rejoices in God her saviour.
She then powerfully proclaims God’s holiness, mercy, justice and faithfulness to the Holy Covenant made with His people Israel. God who cares for the lowly, who feeds the hungry and whose mercy is on all who fear him from
generation to generation …that means us too! And the child she carries will

bring this great prophesy to fulfilment. In the Magnificat, is is clear that Mary is filled with the Spirit and joyfully proclaims the greatness of the Lord. Again religious art depicts Mary present and tongued with fire with the apostles at
Pentecost as the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them so that they would be bold to preach Christ – crucified, risen, ascended and glorified. This outpouring of the Spirit sealed them in their mission as apostles – ones who were sent to lead the fledgling church – and Mary was among them.
So….as priest and prophet, Mary is my role model par excellence.
The image of Mary as priest, however it is received, is a powerful one. It challenges the view of Mary, meek and mild with the idea that in Mary’s submission to the will of God, to her vocation, she becomes the model of both faithful Christian discipleship and faithful priesthood. And who becomes so
because she is a woman. If fundamental to the priesthood is the priest being the intermediary, bringing the people to God and God to the people, Mary must be the ultimate example of this through her motherhood, bearing God in her womb. This speaks of the extraordinary relationship between God and humanity in the Incarnation. The flesh and the blood crucified for the redemption of the world, was Mary’s flesh and blood, fully God’s son and fully Mary’s child. As his mother, she gave her son to the world so that He could offer His life as a ransom for many in obedience to His heavenly Father.
Mary is the human exemplar of love, obedience, trust and faith…not just in the good times but in the midst of the perplexity and suffering that was part and parcel of being the mother of such an extraordinary Son.
Indeed at the beginning of last century, in 1906, none other than the ultra conservative Pope Pius X approved a prayer which says “Mary, Virgin Priest, pray for us.” Sadly but unsurprisingly, it was banned by the Vatican powers that be 10 years later. But it points to the old tradition of the church which

upheld the example of this holy woman whose ‘yes’ to God made the redemption of the world possible through Her Son.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, Priest and Prophet, pray for us sinners now and at the
hour of our death. Amen.