The Corona of Hope

Solemnity of the Assumption

I can safely say that there are very few persons alive today who would not have heard of the corona virus. The name is derived from the Latin word “corona” which means a “crown” or a “wreath” (which the Greek kings wore as crowns). Apart from being an apt description of the shape of the virus, the virus should actually be “crowned” as king of all viruses since it has brought down this pandemic upon an entire world, halted global thriving economies, shut down borders, locked-down social-economic life, closed schools, universities, and places of worship. It does seem that nothing can stand in its way and the destruction it has wreaked in its passage can only be described as apocalyptic.

As the world waits for a cure or vaccine, Christians need not have to place their hope exclusively on a shaky medical solution. We already have a firm and certain foundation for hoping. It is to be found in the sign which is given to us in the first reading taken from the Book of the Apocalypse and fulfilled in the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Here we see a different “corona”, one which emboldens rather than frightens, one which inspires rather than infects. The sign depicted in Chapter 12 of the Book of Apocalypse is that of a “woman adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown.” Yes, this woman is wearing a “corona”, a crown. If it takes one “corona” to wreak havoc and terror on the world, it takes another corona-wearing woman to give us hope by announcing the victory of light over darkness, life over death.

If the Wuhan coronavirus and other virulent diseases remind us of our human fragility and mortality, the woman “adorned with sun … and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown” gives us reason to hope against all odds. This is what the author of the book of Apocalypse wishes us to see. It is a vision of a confrontation between two unequal sparring parties. In one corner, we have the woman – a symbol of powerlessness and weakness. Her vulnerable position is compounded by the fact that she is in labour. On the other side, we have the picture of the fearsome dragon towering over the woman. It appears that nothing can withstand the power of the dragon. But just when the reader expects the woman to end up as a happy meal for the dragon, God intervenes and the final outcome changes. God saves the woman and allows her to bring a child into this world, and it turns out that this child will be the real ruler of the universe and not the dragon. At the moment when all appeared to be lost, at the moment of certain defeat, God ensures victory for those who are weak and afflicted.

Who is this woman? She represents not just one figure but four:  Israel, the Church, Eve, and Mary.

She is Israel because she is associated with the sun, the moon, and the twelve stars. These symbols are drawn from Genesis 37:9–11, in which the patriarch Joseph has a dream of the sun and moon (symbolising his father and mother) and stars (representing his brothers), which bow down to him. Taken together, the sun, moon, and twelve stars symbolise the people of Israel.

The woman is also the Church, the new Israel, because, as 12:17 tells us, “the rest of her offspring”, us Christians, are those who bear witness to Jesus.

But the woman also represents Eve, because she is part of the three-way conflict involving her offspring and the Dragon (now a fully grown serpent) mentioned in Genesis 3:15. But this conflict is merely a sign which prefigures the conflict between Mary, Satan, and Jesus.

Finally, we see why this reading is always chosen as the first reading for this Solemnity. The woman is Mary because she is the mother of Jesus, the child who will rule the nations with a rod of iron (19:11–16). Like Mary, she is pictured as being in heaven and she flies (mirroring Mary’s Assumption).

The event of the Assumption, Mary at the end of her earthly life being assumed into heaven both body and soul, is indeed a proclamation of the good news first proclaimed in Genesis 3:15, that the offspring of the woman will crush the head of the serpent, even though the serpent is allowed the first strike. We see in Mary’s Assumption, the undoing of Eve’s curse, the unravelling of death’s hold on man, and the reopening of Paradise to those barred from entering.  Our Lady’s Assumption is proof that death will not have the last word, evil will not triumph and Christ’s victory over sin and death is certain.

This coronavirus has infected close to 20 million persons worldwide. It is responsible for more than three quarters of a million deaths and the number is still rapidly growing unabated. Economists are already predicting a global economic depression which would result in massive unemployment and social woes. The worst is yet to come. In the face of such a powerful and uncontrollable force, is there any hope that we will get through this alive or even unscathed?

Well, back in the year 1950, when Pope Pius XII defined this dogma, it felt very much the same. The world was in shambles, millions had died in the two great world wars, the survivors could barely scrape a living. Instead of giving in to all the gloom and doom, Pius XII discerned that it was time to hold forth the image of Our Lady’s Assumption as a beacon of hope to a world draped in the darkness of despair. In our Lady’s Assumption, the Church invites us to raise our eyes and through our imagination, try to behold the splendour of this wondrous event of our Blessed Mother being assumed body and soul into heaven into the welcoming arms of the Holy Trinity. In this event, the Church announces the victory of grace over sin, good over evil, life over death. Through Mary’s Assumption we are given a glimpse of our future glory, our final home, the holy beatitude of heaven, where the righteous are freed of every coronavirus or ailment, and are given imperishable crowns (or coronas) of glory.