Part II. The doctrine: C. The Blessed Virgin

The Blessed Virgin

She was born like all other human beings, with the original sin. But the Scriptures tell us that God purged the sins of Isaiah, sanctified Jeremiah from the womb, and in selecting the Baptist, He filled him with the Holy Spirit while yet within the womb (Is. VI : 6-7, Jer. 1 : 5; Luke 1 : 15). If God so willed to sanctify His prophets thereby enabling them to carry out the mission entrusted to them, how much more will He sanctify Her Who was to bear the Word Incarnate within Her Womb ? And as the Coptic Church expresses it : if He so desired to fit His servants for their task, how much more will He fit the Queen for Her Rôle ? From her lifestory, we know that She was offered to the Temple when She was three years old, and lived therein until Her betrothal to Joseph. The high priests, through unaware of the Majesty of the Rôle She was to fulfil, regarded Her with great esteem. So much so, that when the time came for Her to be married they dared not follow to the letter the Law of Moses, but resorted to the method indicated by God to this prophet for the choice of Aaron to the high priesthood, (Numbers XVIII : 1-9). Consequently, they laid the rods of the men, decreed by the Mosaic Law eligible for Her, in the Temple; next morning, Joseph’s rod was found budding. So they betrothed Her to him and entrusted Her to his charge (which was legal according to their Law).

St. Luke tells us of the Angel Gabriel appearing to Her, hailing Her with the words “... Thou art highly favoured, the Lord is with Thee, blassed art Thou among women ...... ” (1:28-24). The Coptic Fathers assert that had not Mary so readily assented, declaring that She is “the handmaid of the Lord”, the Christ would not have incarnated through Her; accordingly, She had an active part in effecting the Salvation of mankind. As for St. Matthew, he tells us of the doubts which assailed Joseph and the appearance of the Angel to him to confort him (1 : 19-21).

The Coptic Church believes that She is Perpetual Virgin, according to the Scriptures. To cite but a few passages as an example : King Solomon said of Her, “A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up; a fountain sealed ...” (Song of Songs IV : 12). While Ezekiel describes how God took him to the gate that looks towards the east and “it was shut, and He said unto me, this gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut” (XLIV:1-2). At the same time , when the Christ hung on the cross, He said to His Mother : “Woman behold thy son!”. then to His beloved disciple : “behold thy Mother”. And the Evangelist adds : “from that hour, that disciple took her to his own home”. Now, according to the custom of the East, the widowed mother lives with her son; if she has no son, she lives with her daughter. Under no circumstances does she lives with relatives, still less with strangers, so long as she has sons or daughters. Our Blessed Saviour gave us the example of living according to the social customs which clashed not with His teachings. He certainly knew the prevalent custom on this matter and therefore would not have entrusted His Mother to His disciple who was a stranger. As for mentioning the Lord’s “brothers” and “sisters”, that again has a special significance in the East, namely that all cousins are considered brothers and sisters — so much so, that in Egypt, it is common to call an uncle “father” (adding his name to it), and an aunt, “mother” with the same addition just to make the hearer realize that it is not the factual parent who is alluded to.

and just as the Blessed Virgin was born like the rest of the human race, so did she taste death in like manner. But, because God the Father overshadowed Her, and the Holy Spirit came upon Her, and the Incarnate Word dwelt within Her Womb taking from Her His flesh, Her body was not left in the earth to decay like those of others; it was carried away by the angels. This carrying away of Her body is termed “Her Assumption” and is celebrated by the Coptic Church on the 22nd of August (16th Messra in the Coptic calendar).

To express their esteem of the Blessed Virgin, the Coptic Fathers were the first to entitle Her “Theotokos” (or Mother-of-God). In addition, they call Her “Mother of the Light”, “Mother of the Mercy”, “Mother of the Grace”, “Ship of Safety” and numerous other epithets. Also, in imploring the saints to intercede for mankind, they mention Her first and last. While during the prayers preceding the Liturgy, there is a chant entreating the celestial beings to intercede for us. The Blessed Virgin takes precedence even over the celestial hosts; and the Coptic word used in petitioning Her is “Presira” which denotes that Her mediation is authoritative.