93.5月25日基督之母－白孟德神父（Fr. Charles Belmonte Lopez）語錄-譯者:林豪

Titles of the Blessed Mother: Mother of Christ. We invoke Mary as the Mother of Christ. Why so? To remind us that she was associated with the hopes and prayers of the prophets, of all true worshipers of God, and of all who “looked for the redemption of Israel.”

聖母的榮銜：「基督之母」。 我們祈求聖母瑪利亞為「基督之母」。為什麼呢？這提醒我們，她與先知、所有真正朝拜天主的人，以及所有「尋求以色列的救贖」的人，他們的希望與祈禱有關。

Our Lord was called Christ (in Greek), or Messiah (in Hebrew), by the Jewish people. The two words mean the same, the “Anointed One.” In the old times there were three great ministries or offices by means of which God spoke to His chosen people, that of Priest, King, and Prophet. These were solemnly anointed with oil – oil signifying the grace of God, which was given to them for the due performance of their high duties. But our Lord is all three: – a Priest, because He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins; a Prophet, because He revealed to us the Holy Law of God; and a King, because He rules over us. Thus, He is the one true Christ.

猶太人稱我主為「基督（希臘語）或默西亞（希伯來語）」。這兩個詞的意思是一樣的，即「受傅者」。在過去，有三個偉大的聖職或職務，天主藉此對祂的選民說話，即「司祭、君王及先知」。這些人被莊嚴地用油膏塗抹—「油」象徵著天主的恩典，這是為了他們要履行崇高的職責而賜給他們的。但是，我主具備所有三個身分：其一為司祭，因為祂為我們的罪，奉獻了自己作為祭品；然後是先知，因為祂向我們揭示了天主的神聖律法；以及君王，因為祂統治我們。因此，祂是唯一的真基督。

The Jews expected him from age to age. Their first great question was, “When will He come,” and then, “Who will be His Mother?” They were told, not that He should come from heaven, but that He should be born of a Woman.

猶太人世世代代都在期待祂。他們的首要重大問題是：「祂什麼時候來」，然後是，「誰將成為祂的母親？他們被告知，不是說祂應該要從天堂降來，而是祂應該由一位女子所生。」

At the time of the fall of Adam, God had said that the seed of the Woman should crush the Serpent’s head. Who, then, was to be that Woman? At the end of many centuries, it was further revealed to the Jews that the great Messiah, or Christ, the seed of the Woman, should be born of their lineage, and of one of the twelve tribes.

在亞當墮落時，天主說過女人的後裔要踏碎蛇的頭顱。那麼，誰會成為那位女人呢？在許多世紀的終結，這進一步向猶太人啟示，偉大的默西亞，或基督，女人的後裔，應該從他們的血脈和十二個支派之一誕生。

Thus, Mary became the Mother of Christ, not in the way they expected Him, but, declining such maternity, she became a Mother by means of a higher grace, by the Holy Spirit. This is the full meaning of St. Elizabeth’s words, when the Blessed Virgin visited her, contained in the Hail Mary: “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.”

Inspired on St. John Henry Newman

因此，聖母瑪利亞成為「基督之母」，不是按照他們所期望的方式，而，排除了這樣的母性，她透過更高的恩典，藉由聖神成為母親。這就是聖依撒伯爾在聖母拜訪她時，所說的話之全部內涵，收納在聖母經中：「妳在婦女中受讚頌，妳的親子耶穌同受讚頌。」

靈感來自聖若望．亨利．紐曼