Mary’s Nativity

THE OLDEST verified mother on record is Maria del Carmen Bousada de Lara, who was almost 67 years old when, on 29 December 2006, she gave birth to twin boys conceived through in vitro fertilization with donor eggs. The oldest verified mother to conceive naturally is Dawn Brooke of the United Kingdom who, while taking estrogen, conceived a son at the age of 59 years in 1997. However, Daljinder Kaur, a woman in India, could hold the record as the oldest ever to give birth. The fertility clinic which helped Daljinder become pregnant stated that she was 72 when she gave birth, although her age is disputed as she has no birth certificate. Daljinder and her husband, 79-year-old Mohinder Singh Gill, having been married for forty six years, became parents for the first time after spending two years undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment and enduring two failed attempts.

“Everyone asked me to adopt a baby, but I never wanted to. I had faith in the Almighty, and knew I would bear my child one day,” The Times of India quoted Kaur. Their healthy son Arman (the name means ‘wish’ in Hindi) was born on 19 April 2016.

 Questionable practice

Doctors and fertility experts question the wisdom and ethics of using fertility techniques to help older women conceive. The Catholic Church opposes in vitro fertilization for all women, no matter their age, stating that conception should occur naturally in the loving sexual act between husband and wife. Artificially promoting or interfering with the natural consequence of love-making distort God’s plan for procreation.

Most doctors today are concerned about the physical risks to older pregnant women. “Data shows that as maternal age increases, so do the risk of health complications for the pregnant woman. Complications associated with blood pressure, blood sugars, and other things that can affect the mother’s health.”

The health of babies born to older women can be compromised, too. “The risk of preeclampsia, a condition characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to other organs like the kidneys, increases with age and can lead to preterm birth.”

“The risk of pregnancy complications increases as the mother’s age increases. Risks associated with childbearing over the age of 50 include an increased incidence of gestational diabetes, hypertension, delivery by caesarean section, miscarriage, preeclampsia, and placenta previa. In comparison to mothers between 20 and 29 years of age, mothers over 50 are at almost three times the risk of low birth weight, premature birth, and extremely premature birth; their risk of extremely low birth weight, small size for gestational age, and fetal mortality was almost double.”

Women of faith

Others worry about the child’s future when the parents die. Arman’s father is not worried. “I have full faith in God. God is omnipotent and omnipresent, he will take care of everything.”

Daljinder’s and Mohinder’s faith seems to parallel that of some women in Scripture who had no in vitro fertilization or estrogen treatments to help them conceive. By the grace of God Hannah, Elizabeth, and Sarah conceived naturally in their old age. Ann, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, seems to have also been of advanced age when she conceived Our Lady.

Like Daljinder and Mohinder, each of these Biblical couples longed for children, but without any coming. Then, one day, a child is miraculously conceived. Instead of going for prenatal tests and worrying about pregnancy complications, these couples prayed for a safe delivery and a healthy baby. How could they worry as God had ordained the pregnancy?

In modern obstetrics, the focus on pregnancies in older women is on the mother. If the baby is born healthy, only the parents seem to focus on the child. The opposite is true in Scripture. There the emphasis is on the child and who that child becomes. Saint Anthony took up the theme of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin because, through her, came Christ.

Anthony likens the birth of Mary, celebrated on September 8, to a star whose brilliance is visible in darkness. “Let us say, then: The glorious Virgin Mary was as the morning star…” (Sermons for Sundays and Festivals III, p. 391; Edizioni Messaggero Padova).

 He goes on to tell a story. “There is a legend that a certain holy man, while devoutly praying, heard the angels in heaven singing a sweet melody. When a year had passed, he heard the same again, on the same day. He asked the Lord to show him the meaning of this; and received the reply that on that day blessed Mary was born, and for her Nativity the angels in heaven gave praise to God.” (Sermons III, p. 391-392.)

Special saint

Every baby’s birth is special, because each child comes with a mission to the world, but “the birth of the blessed Virgin differs from the birth of all other saints… The birth of the blessed Virgin gave light to a world covered by darkness and the shadow of death. Hence the words of Ecclesiasticus are apt: As the morning star in the midst of a cloud, etc.” (Sermons III, p. 392).

Anthony is talking in metaphors, because probably no great light lit the sky when Mary was born. Nevertheless, Anthony likens Mary to the morning star which “shines more brilliantly among all the other stars, with what is properly called ‘radiance.’” The morning star, “going before the sun and heralding the morning, scatters the shades of night with the brightness of its light.” In other words, the morning star appears just before the dawn, fading from sight as the sun rises, just as the Blessed Mother faded to the background in the Gospels when Jesus, the true Sun, was born. Anthony put this beautifully. “The true morning star… Blessed Mary; who… put to flight the shadowy cloud, and in the morning of grace heralded the son of justice to those who sat in darkness.” (Sermons  III, p. 392.)

The full moon

Not content with likening Mary to a star, Anthony also likens her to a “‘full moon’ because she is perfect in every way. The half-moon is imperfect, having markings and horns; but the glorious Virgin had no spot in her birth, because she was sanctified in her mother’s womb and guarded by angels; and no horns of pride in her days, so that she shines fully and perfectly. She is called ‘light’, because she scatters the darkness.” (Sermons  III, p. 394.)

Like the morning star, the moon also shines in the darkness until the rising sun’s brilliance erases the moon’s light. In the same way, Christ’s brilliance eclipses that of His Mother while not diminishing her own light. Anthony offers her this prayer.

“We ask you then, our Lady, that as you are the morning star, you may by your splendor drive away the cloud of the devil’s suggestions which covers the earth of our minds. Do you, who are the full moon, fill our emptiness and scatter the darkness of our sins, so that we may be able to come to the fullness of eternal life, to the light of unending glory. May he grant this, who brought you forth to be our light, who made you to be born on this day, that he might be born of you. To him be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”  (Sermons III, p. 394).