Mary is venerated under various titles. Among them are names derived from attributes ascribed to her in Sacred Scripture. Others derive from popular devotion or from characteristics that the faithful have attributed to her. Let us look at those that occur most frequently.
Mirror of perfection
In the Litany of Loreto, Mary is invoked as a mirror of perfection. In her, heaven, eternity, God in his entirety, the Father who created her, the Son who made her a Mother, and the Spirit who accompanied her are reflected. Because of her clarity, purity, and humility, she welcomed into herself the rays of Christ, reflecting his perfections. We know well, in fact, that a mirror reflects light and objects through the rays of light it receives, and Mary welcomed into herself not only the rays of the divine Sun, but the Sun itself, and showed it to the world in all its perfection, refracting the divine light into its infinite colors.
The moon
Among the recurring symbols in our churches is certainly the moon, which, placed beneath the Virgin Mary, appears in countless frescoes, statues, and mosaics. The moon was already considered in Jewish tradition a symbol of the people of God, called to illuminate the world by offering the reflection of the Creator's purest light. In Revelation, the Church is presented as a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars.
Very soon, the faith of the people of God reread the symbol in the light of the mystery of the Virgin, influencing all the iconography associated with Mary. In many depictions, the Mother of God has the moon at her feet, sometimes waning, symbolizing her purity, and at other times waxing, with its curve facing upward, an emblem of Christ's triumph over sin and death.
The rose
Another Marian symbol is the rose, a flower that also symbolizes the month of May, the month dedicated to Mary. The rose honors the Virgin with its fragrance and colors and becomes a crown in the prayer of the Rosary. On Pentecost, in Rome, there is a custom of letting a shower of red rose petals fall through the central oculus of the Pantheon to imitate the tongues of fire, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, that descended upon the Virgin and the apostles gathered in prayer in the Upper Room (Acts 2:1-11).
Mary herself, again in the Litany of Loreto, is called Mystical Rose, she who was born free from original sin. The roses associated with Mary also change meaning according to their color: the yellow roses at the feet of the Virgin of Lourdes, as described by Bernadette Soubirous, recall the light of God, the color of holiness; at Fatima, white roses symbolize purity; red roses recall the blood of Christ.
The Ivory Tower
In the Song of Songs we read: «Your neck is like an ivory tower» (7:5). In popular devotion, the Virgin is the Ivory Tower because through her pass the graces of which Jesus Christ is the source and head of the body constituted by the Church, and Mary, the Ivory Tower, represents the neck that connects the head to the limbs.
The Ivory Tower also signifies the Virgin Mary's inviolate and inviolable chastity, precious and immaculate.
The Ark of the Covenant
The Virgin Mary is also the embodiment of the Ark of the Covenant, which in Jewish tradition contained the tablets of the Law and represented the very presence of God. Mary, who welcomed Jesus into her womb, became the new Ark of the Covenant, the living receptacle of the Word, the will of God, and the new and eternal covenant represented by Jesus Christ.
The Gate of Heaven
Another Marian title, which we also find in the Litany of Loreto, is Gate of Heaven. Here too, Mary is compared to a passageway. Gate of Heaven was the title used by the Fathers of the Church, who also defined her as the sanctuary of the Godhead, the rest and tranquility of the Holy Trinity, the throne of God, the city of God, the altar of God, the temple of God, the world of God, and the paradise of God, highlighting her role as an intercessor between humanity and God. Her humility and obedience were thus emphasized, placing her at the opposite extreme from Eve, whose guilt had closed the gates of heaven. Mary's Immaculate Heart is this gate, always open to all who ask for her intercession.
The Seat of Wisdom
As the Mother of Jesus, Our Lady received all the Wisdom of God within herself and once again became a means through which we can grasp the sweetness of the Word and enjoy the Wisdom of God, who is her Son Jesus. Other definitions of Mary include: Wise Woman and Teacher of Truth, who knows how to interpret Jesus’ message and make it accessible to people.
The burning bush
More commonly called the “Icon of the Burning Bush,” this depiction of the Virgin Mary refers to the miracle witnessed by Moses on Mount Horeb, as we read in the Book of Exodus: God calls Moses, while he is on Horeb, from a bush that was «all aflame, but was not consumed». The miracle of the burning bush has been seen as a foreshadowing of the birth of Jesus.
Just as the bush burns without being consumed, so the Most Holy Mary became a mother while remaining chaste and a virgin; and just as fire is a symbol of God, so Jesus, born from her womb, is God himself.
Gideon’s fleece
In the Late Middle Ages, Gideon’s fleece became a symbol of Mary’s virginal conception. According to biblical tradition, an angel appeared to Gideon and tasked him with freeing the Jewish people from the raids of nomadic peoples. Gideon is suspicious, and his calling becomes a troubled one, from which he tries to withdraw by making excuses and giving reasons. God then sends him two tests: he burns a kid to ashes and makes dew soak a fleece spread out on the threshing floor, while the ground all around remains dry (Jgs 6:36-40).
The Virgin, fertilized by divine dew, was called to a fundamental mission for salvation and decided to accept God’s will in absolute freedom, placing complete trust in God.
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