Mary in the Midst of Israel's Waiting (XIII)

"A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son" (Is 7:14) All throughout tradition, saints and mystics have also been unanimous in believing that the very humble Virgin never imagined she might be the mother of the Savior. This certainly was the great sign of the coming of the Messiah foretold by the prophet Isaiah: "The Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Is 7:14). The Hebrew text speaks of a "girl" and the Greek translation of the Septuagint a "virgin", but we often forget the important Aramaic translation, that today's Jews regard as canonical and more respectable than the Septuagint. This translated into the "language of humanity" that the Talmuds translated directly in a Hebrew text, "God's language", in order to understand it better, takes a precise term from the prophecy of Isaiah, which designates "an engaged girl not yet married." By becoming the mother of this Child, Mary becomes the "City of the great King" (Ps 48.3) where God lives and protects. Within her, "generation after generation will proclaim their joy, and the name of her who is Elect will endure through the generations to come" (Tb 13:11).