On Titus 3:4–7 and Luke 2:15–20
“Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart.” — Luke 2:19
On Saturdays, Holy Mother Church invites us to turn our hearts especially toward the Blessed Virgin Mary. The liturgy of Sanctæ Mariæ Sabbato—the Saturday votive Mass of Our Lady—presents us with readings that shine light upon her unique place in salvation history. Today, in contemplating Titus 3:4–7 and Luke 2:15–20, we are drawn into the mystery of divine mercy and the contemplative heart of Mary.
“The kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared” (Titus 3:4)
Saint Paul, writing to Titus, teaches that salvation is entirely the fruit of God’s mercy, not of any righteousness of our own: “Not by works of justice which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us…” (Titus 3:5). This mercy is not abstract, but has appeared—it has taken flesh.
Saint Ambrose, in his commentary on Luke, writes:
“The womb of Mary is the workshop of the Incarnation.” (Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam, II, 26)
It is in Our Lady that the mercy of God is first manifested in time. She is the portal through which Divine Charity entered the world visibly. The humanitas of Christ, the appearance of God’s kindness in our midst, is received from the Virgin’s own flesh. The Fathers never tire of repeating this: the mercy of God is not a mere pardon, but a Person—Jesus Christ—born of Mary.
Saint Augustine likewise declares:
“The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, that man, made in the likeness of God, might be renewed to the image of his Creator. And this was done by the Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who is God above all things, blessed forever, born of the Holy Virgin.” (Sermo 191.1)
Thus, the first reading reminds us that our justification is not our own work, but flows from the mercy shown to us in the Incarnate Son—received through Mary.
“Let us go over to Bethlehem… and see this word” (Luke 2:15)
In the Gospel, the shepherds go in haste to Bethlehem, where they behold the Word made flesh lying in a manger. Saint Bede the Venerable notes the significance of their promptness:
“They did not delay to obey the call; they did not despise the lowliness of the place, but came in haste to Him Who had come for their salvation.” (Homiliae Evangelii, I, 7)
The shepherds respond with faith, and upon seeing the Divine Infant, they become evangelists—“making known abroad the word that was spoken to them concerning this child” (Luke 2:17). But Our Lady’s response is different. She does not speak, but ponders. Her role is contemplative.
“But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)
This holy pondering is not passive; it is the highest act of love and faith. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux sees in this verse the model of Marian interiority:
“What does it mean that Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart? It means she considered them carefully, compared them with one another, meditated upon them, and weighed them. She sought to understand what she had experienced, in the light of what she had heard and seen.” (Homilia II Super Missus Est)
Mary’s heart is the Church’s first sanctuary of contemplation. The shepherds proclaim, but she keeps. The Church Fathers often interpret her as the figure of the Ecclesia contemplativa, the Church that dwells upon the mysteries of Christ in silent adoration.
Saint Ephraim the Syrian expresses this beautifully:
“Mary bore the Shepherd of all, and yet He became the Lamb in her arms. She nursed the One Who feeds all. She is more spacious than the heavens, for He Whom the heavens cannot contain, she carried in her womb.” (Hymns on the Nativity, 17:1)
Conclusion: The Heart of Mary and the Waters of Regeneration
The epistle from Titus tells us we are saved by “the laver of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5)—a clear allusion to the Sacrament of Baptism. But as all grace comes through Christ, so too, in God’s design, all grace comes through Mary. Just as Christ took flesh from her, the life of grace is given to us through the same mystery of the Incarnation.
Let us, like the shepherds, hasten to Christ—but also learn to stay with Mary in prayerful silence. Her heart is the mirror in which the Christian soul learns to reflect upon the mysteries of God. Saturdays are set aside in her honor, and rightly so—for she kept the mysteries of Christ before the Church did, she bore Him before the Apostles preached Him, and she believed before miracles were shown.
✠ Prayer
O Mary, Mother of Mercy and Ark of the Covenant, teach us to keep the words of God in our hearts. Make us worthy of the laver of regeneration by your maternal intercession. And may we, through the mystery of Christ’s appearing, be found faithful in pondering all that He has done for us. Amen.