Famous Women in the Bible and History
Symbols of the Virgin Mary
1, 2. The Burning Bush and the Censer (Shoria):
- It was said of the Lord that He is: “a consuming fire” (Deut. 4:24). This fire burned in the bush that Moses the Prophet saw in the wilderness, without causing it any harm (Ex. 3). Likewise, the burning coal of the Divinity dwelt in the Virgin Mary. The Church teaches this symbol to her children in the well-known hymn of “The Burning Bush.”
- In the same way, the censer is presented as a symbol.
Inside it, the fire is united with the charcoal, as an example of the union of the Divinity with the humanity within the womb of the Virgin Mary. Because of the Virgin’s purity and holiness, the Church, in its hymns, calls her “the Golden Censer” (Ϯϣⲟⲩⲣⲏ).
3, 4. The Second Heaven and the Tabernacle of Moses:
- Just as God dwells in heaven, He dwelt for nine months in the womb of the Virgin. Therefore, the Church has given her the title of the Second Heaven, the dwelling place of God.
The title the Second Heaven for the Virgin is found in the verses of the Morning Prayer in the Agpeya.
- With the same meaning, the tabernacle that Moses the Prophet prepared (the Tent of Meeting), in which God dwelt, symbolizes her. We say in the Psalmody: “The tabernacle which Moses made on Mount Sinai, they likened you to it, O Virgin Mary… in which God is.”
5, 6. The Holy of Holies and the Ark of the Covenant:
- The high priest entered it only once each year to make atonement for all the people. Likewise, the Lord of Glory dwelt within the Virgin Mary once for the redemption of the whole world.
- Likewise, the Virgin was likened to the Ark of the Covenant, in which the Word of God was placed, in the two tablets of the Law and the copy of the Torah. But the Virgin contained the Word of God Himself.
The Ark of the Covenant was made of acacia wood, which does not decay, as a symbol of the Virgin’s purity. It was overlaid with gold inside and outside, as a symbol of God’s indwelling within her inwardly and His presence upon her in her outward life.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, published in El-Keraza Magazine, Year Eight, Issue Fifty-One, December 23, 1977.
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