Looking Beyond the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Purity

Some traditions about Mary, the Mother of God, elevate her purity and virtues to an almost divine level. I first encountered this perspective during a visit to a local art museum, where a Renaissance painting showed Mary as a young girl studying beside her parents. According to the artist’s notes, she possessed God-given purity, lived without sin, and devoted herself to serving others. Such paintings, I learned, were intended as models for young girls—encouraging devotion and diligence in household tasks.

When I returned home from the outing, I consulted my Bible to see what, if any, of the artist’s imaginings about Mary had any basis in scripture. As it turns out, the Bible offers little information about her early life. What, then, was I to make of this idealized version of the child Mary?

Much of that idealization likely stems from Christian tradition—especially in Catholicism—which emphasizes Mary’s physical and spiritual purity.  Some Christians believe she was immaculately conceived, a “holiness in the womb” that inspired some Christians’ celebration of her birthday as a feast day. Other traditions hold that God preserved her from sin from conception throughout her life. In either view, Mary’s purity stands at the center of her story.

As I reflected on what I had learned after my visit to the art museum, I felt conflicted. Honoring traditions of the Church is important to me as they connect me to the communion of saints before and after my time. However, sometimes these traditions distract me from other important aspects of well-known biblical stories. I wondered: if we put aside Mary’s purity, what else might we celebrate?

Two avenues for reflection come to mind. The first focuses on Mary’s response to God’s call in her life. When the Angel Gabriel appears before Mary to announce her pregnancy and motherhood, Mary responds with a radical “yes!” Rather than shy away from God’s call or ask lots of follow-up questions (certainly what I would do), Mary proclaims God’s glory in a song we now call the Magnificat. Mary embodies how God’s power turns the world’s values upside down, lifting up the poor over the rich and comfortable. Recognizing this aspect of her role in the Gospel is to celebrate the broader promise it holds: God will make all things new in ways we cannot fully imagine, God invites us to join in that renewal as co-creators, and God’s kingdom is for all people—even a poor, young girl from a small town in Galilee.

A second avenue for reflection about Mary employs a practice called Ignatian contemplation. A practice of Ignatian spirituality, contemplation in this context uses the imagination to bring scriptural stories to life during prayer. Ignatian contemplation invites the viewer to imagine a biblical story as vividly as possible, focusing on all five senses to connect more deeply to the text. When we bring this form of prayer to the story of Mary’s life, we open space to connect to Mary in her humanity more fully. What images did Mary see when Gabriel greeted her? What did the angel’s voice sound like? What did Mary’s family say when she shared her news? How did it feel physically to embrace Elizabeth after a long journey? What emotions coursed through Mary’s body as she listened and sang? Though scripture might not reveal the answers to these questions, Ignatian prayer invites our imagination to fill in the gaps, finding places of connection and resonance. 

Mary’s purity is a significant aspect of her persona in the Christian tradition—but it is not the only important piece of who Mary was or what unfolded during her life. To engage fully with the Mother of God, we must expand our vision to include her “yes,” as well as the realities of her life when mothering Jesus began. Only then will we begin to see who Mary truly is and what she has to say to us today.

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On this feast day, invite your household to choose one of the passages of scripture featuring Mary listed below, then enter into it using Ignatian contemplation. Pray, wonder, and imagine aspects of the story as they might relate to sight, sound, feel, taste, and touch.

Matthew 1:18-23
Matthew 2:6-16
Luke 1:26-38
Luke 1:39-56
Luke 2:1-7
Luke 2:15-19
Luke 2:21-39
John 19:23-30