The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 17, 2008
St. Mary the Virgin (transferred)

Today, we are celebrating the Feast Day of St. Mary the Virgin, the Mother of Christ, the God-bearer, the pre-eminent of all the Saints.  She is our patron in this parish, and you can see her everywhere.  Most obviously, she is present in our stained glass and iconography, in Our Lady of the Swamp.  But in more subtle and profound ways, Mary radiates from the very ground we walk on, in our gardens, and is at the center in our sacred fellowship.

We are also celebrating our great Sacrament of Baptism, this rite of initiation by and through which each one of us here today is joined in the mystical Body of Christ.  This holy water that washes all of us clean is our very life force.  It animates our spirits and guards our souls.

And standing at the crossroads of  these two celebrations is this precious baby girl, Mackensy Elizabeth, presented this day by her parents, Sarah and Stanley, and godparents, Shauna and Eric for Holy Baptism.  Today, we are all here to take vows to Mackensy, that we will see that she grows up strong and true, into the full stature of Christ.  And in this, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who join us in this solemn task.

And as we prepare ourselves to participate in this sacred rite, we draw inspiration  from our patron, the blessed Virgin Mary.  She is here with us today, I believe.  She is here to guide and watch over Mackensy.  She is here to give Mackensy a portion of her spirit to ensure she receives an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and persevere, the spirit to know and love God, and the gift of joy and wonder in all God’s works.

Remember, friends, Mary, herself, was still a young maiden when she said these words, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my saviour.”  Her purity of heart was simply her undivided love for God.  Her power was simply her embrace of the feminine in life.  She is the greatest woman  the world has ever known simply because she was true to herself.  And Mary’s purity, her power, and her greatness is right there in your daughter Mackensy’s heart, waiting to be nurtured and developed.

To have a patron such as Mary is a great blessing and privilege.  Those who have plumbed the wonder and mystery of St. Mary the Virgin over the ages have been the ones who have risen to her greatness.  One such remarkable soul lived 800 years ago.  Her name was Hildegard, and she lived in a small city in Germany named Bingen.  Hildegard expressed her love for Mary in her music and poetry.  When you hear Hildegard’s music, it connects you to the mystery and wonder of the archetypal Mary, whose spirit is in all things created.   I’d like to share a little of this with you this morning via the miracle of the modern Ipod, and translate the Latin as you listen.

“Hail, O greenest branch,
You who came forth in the windy blast of the questioning of the saints.
When the time came that you blossomed in your branches,
Hail, hail, was the word to you!
For the warmth of the sun distilled in you a fragrance like balsam.
For in you blossomed the beautiful flower
And gave fragrance to all the spices which had been dry.
And they all appeared in full greenness.
Hence the heavens dropped dew upon the grass
And the whole earth was made glad,
Because her womb brought forth wheat
And because the birds of heaven had nests in it.
Then a meal was prepared for humanity
And great joy for the banqueters.
Hence, O sweet Virgin,
In you, no joy is lacking.
Eve despised all these things.
Now, however, praise be to the Most High.”

Hildegard lived in the 12th Century, a time when women held very low status.  She herself was the 10th child born in her family, and from an early age, she was sickly.  But early on, Hildegard received visions, many of these of the St. Mary the Virgin.  At the age of 8, her parents gave her as a tithe to the church and in time, she took religious vows, becoming a renown abbess.  She is one of the most remarkable women of any age.  She went toe to toe with popes and bishops.  She was way before her time, and was accomplished in many things.  She was an artist, an author, a counselor, a linguist, a naturalist, a scientist, a philosopher, a physician, an herbalist, a poet, a visionary, and as we have just heart, a composer.

All of this she attributed to the beneficence of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  And so we do well, I believe, as we make vows for the precious child, Mackensy, to call upon the one who has sustained the faithful in every generation, even Holy Mary, full of grace.  And let us ask the divine mother that her magnificat may be Mackensy’s very own.  That in time, she too will grow in grace.  That she, too, will be blessed.  That the Mighty One will do great things for her.  That she will hold the love of God from this generation to the next.  That she will embrace what is good and just, and lift up the lowly and hungry, and scatter what is not lifegiving or from God.

May Mackensy walk in the light and truth as did Saint Hildegard and countless others who have drawn strength and courage from Mary.  May she exult in the divine spark she has in her soul and may  she be clothed in the garments of salvation  May she taste eternity in this life and in the life to come always be held close to her patron and ours, St. Mary the Virgin.