Reflection on Proverbs 8:22–24, 32–35 and Luke 1:26–38
“The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before he made any thing from the beginning. I was set up from eternity, and of old before the earth was made.”
(Proverbs 8:22–23)“And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”
(Luke 1:28)
The Eternal Wisdom and the Virgin of Nazareth
In these sacred texts, the Church contemplates two mysteries joined as one radiant light: the Eternal Wisdom spoken of in Proverbs, and the Incarnation announced in the Gospel of Luke. In the former, Wisdom speaks as a person, begotten before all creation; in the latter, this Wisdom takes flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Fathers of the Church, reading Proverbs 8 in the light of Christ, recognized in these verses the voice of the Divine Word, the Second Person of the Trinity. Yet they also perceived, in a mystical sense, a foreshadowing of Mary herself—the dwelling prepared from eternity for the coming of that very Wisdom.
St. Augustine writes:
“Wisdom built for herself a house when the Word was made flesh in the Virgin’s womb.”
(Sermon 123 on the New Testament)
Thus, when we read, “The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His ways,” we can hear the echo of that eternal predestination of Mary—the one whom God foreknew, elected, and prepared as the Mother of His Son before the foundation of the world.
The Humility that Drew Down Heaven
In Sanctissimi Rosarii Beatæ Mariæ Virginis, Pope Leo XIII calls us to meditate, through the Rosary, upon “the ineffable union of the divine with the human nature in the womb of the Virgin.” Each Ave Maria is a renewal of that angelic salutation, Ave, gratia plena—a recognition that the humility and obedience of Mary opened the door of salvation.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux beautifully describes the moment of the Annunciation as the pause of heaven itself:
“The angel awaits the answer, O Lady; we too await it. Behold, the price of our salvation is offered to thee. If thou consentest, we shall be delivered.”
(Homily on the Missus Est, IV)
Mary’s Fiat—“Be it done unto me according to thy word”—was not merely a personal assent; it was the human echo of divine Wisdom’s own eternal “Yes” to the Father’s plan. In her, Wisdom was made flesh, and through her, grace began to flow abundantly to the world.
Mary, the Pathway to Wisdom
Proverbs continues:
“Now therefore, children, hear me: Blessed are they that keep my ways… Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my gates.”
(Prov. 8:32, 34)
These words, addressed to the “children of Wisdom,” find their fulfillment in those who turn to Mary—the living Gate of Heaven, Porta Caeli. The Fathers saw in her not merely the Mother of Christ, but also the teacher and guide of those who seek divine Wisdom.
St. Irenaeus, contrasting Eve and Mary, writes:
“As Eve, being seduced, disobeyed and became the cause of death to herself and to the whole human race, so Mary, being obedient, became the cause of salvation to herself and the whole human race.”
(Adversus Haereses, III, 22, 4)
In the school of the Rosary, we sit at Mary’s feet and learn the lessons of divine Wisdom—humility, purity, patience, and faith. Each mystery is a step upon the ladder of contemplation, leading the soul from Nazareth to Calvary, and thence to the glory of the Resurrection.
Contemplating with the Rosary
Pope Leo XIII urged the faithful to return constantly to the Rosary, that “through Mary, we may come more surely and more sweetly to the knowledge of Christ.” The Joyful Mysteries, especially the Annunciation, invite us to ponder the eternal Wisdom entering time, the Infinite made finite in the womb of the humble Virgin.
In meditating upon Proverbs 8 and Luke 1 together, the heart recognizes that all creation waited upon one word: Fiat. And that word, spoken by Mary, drew down the Word eternal. The Rosary becomes, then, not mere repetition, but participation in the very rhythm of salvation—the union of the Eternal Wisdom with the humble “handmaid of the Lord.”
Prayer
O Seat of Wisdom,
whom the Lord possessed from all eternity,
teach us the silence and humility that draw the Word into our hearts.
May our lives echo thy Fiat,
that through obedience and grace,
we may bear Christ into the world.
Amen.