MARY SPOUSE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OR JOSEPH

"MARY, THE CHASTE SPOUSE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT"
Dear bro, the notion of Mary being the spouse of the Holy is to bring about a concise understanding of the relationship between the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit as it cuts across the Scripture and Traditions of the Church. It is important to recall that St. Francis of Assisi and St. Louis de Montfort both called Mary Spouse of the Holy Spirit. How old is this title for Mary? It predates St. Francis, and some sources say it as ancient as the Fathers of the Church.
The most appropriate place in the Scripture to begin a study of the relationship between Mary and the Holy Spirit, it seems to me, is in the first chapter of Luke. When Mary asked the angel how it could be that she would bear a son, since she was a virgin. The angel answered her, "the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow." This short scriptural passage has a great deal of meaning and wide ranging implications for understanding God's gift to Mary as mother of the Messiah. First, Mary received the Holy Spirit, you might say she was baptized or immersed in the Holy Spirit, and therefore the Gift of the Holy Spirit was made available to her in a special and unique way. This allowed her to exercise or use this Gift according to the will of God. More precisely, the Holy Spirit, in the fullness of His power was able to move Mary to perfectly accomplish the will of the Father.
The second point is that when we read, "the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow", we see in this passage a reference connecting various Old Testament and apocalyptic scriptures. In Exodus 24, we read that the cloud covered the mountain where God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, and His glory settled on Sinai (Horeb). The cloud also covered the Tent of Meeting (Ex 40), and no one was able to enter because the glory of God filled the tabernacle. Similarly, in 1Kings 8, 10-11 when the priests had dedicated the new Temple the cloud again filled the Temple and no one was able to enter. The word "shadow" in Luke chapter 1 implies cloud and thus suggests that Mary like the Temple, tent, house or tabernacle of the Old Covenant, becomes the dwelling place of God signaling the beginning of the New Covenant. We can see from this overshadowing by God that Mary became the chosen Temple of God and that the Glory of God filled her such that Mary was able to say, "God has done great things for me, (Lk 1:49)."
The overshadowing of Mary by the Most High also reminds us of the Spirit hovering over the waters in Genesis 1 prior to creation. In Mary’s case God was creating a home for himself in the womb of Mary, a human body, Emanuel: God with us. This work of creation by God in Genesis ended with the creation of man, the first Adam. The hovering of the Spirit over Mary ended with the incarnation of the New Adam, Jesus; God in flesh. In this the Blessed Virgin Mary becomes the Spouse of the Holy Spirit.
Human words themselves are inadequate to describe this truth and require the action of the Holy Spirit in the soul of the hearer in order for its profound gravity to emerge. In fact, Mary's faith was perfect since she conceived the Son of God, perfection itself. She did this by means of her faith. Let us be clear that neither does a prophet bring forth the Word of the Lord by his own power nor does a miracle worker bring forth a miracle by her own power. Likewise, Mary did not bring forth the Christ by her own power. Rather, acting in the power of the Holy Spirit each brings forth the work of God. In the same vein, both God and the Virgin Mary acted together and brought forth the Eternal Word in the flesh (Jesus Christ).
The special presence of the Holy Spirit over Mary as described above did not cease with the conception of Jesus. Upon learning from the angel that her relative Elizabeth was pregnant with the precursor of the Messiah, John the Baptist, Mary went to visit her. At hearing Mary's greeting, her cousin, Elizabeth, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied. This is reminiscent of Numbers 11, when the cloud was over the Tent of Meeting and the seventy-two elders received some of the Spirit God that had given to Moses. In this case, after the Holy Spirit had overshadowed the Blessed Virgin Mary, Elizabeth receives the Holy Spirit and prophecies; and what was the divine prophecy? “Blessed are you among all women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” this prophecy became so significant because one whom the Holy Spirit had chosen as His spouse becomes the Most blessed of all women.
In fact, throughout the history of the Church whenever the mother of Jesus appeared and in some way spoke to the people, Lourdes (1858) and Fatima (1917), and so forth, the people were filled with the Holy Spirit. When people are filled with the Holy Spirit the first fruit is repentance, that is, recognition of one’s sinfulness and the desire to change or reform one’s life. A good example of this is the apparition and miraculous image of Mary given in Mexico City in 1531 which, in a few years, led to the conversion of eight million aboriginal people to the Christian faith. Just looking at the miraculous image, these people were filled with the Holy Spirit and asked for baptism. In a similar way the foetal John, within Elizabeth, also received the Spirit as he leapt for joy at the presence of the Messiah and His mother; and that was understood as the baptism of John in the womb of Elizabeth.
Mary's relationship with the Holy Spirit cannot be overemphasized; it is evident in the faith she had that Jesus intervened in the wine problem at Cana. She was so intimately in touch with the Holy Spirit that she knew it was the hour to ask Jesus to begin his public ministry. Her words to the servants were also prophetic; inspired by the Spirit. These words witnessed in a general way to the Messianic role of Jesus when Mary said, "Do whatever He tells you."
Significantly, Luke places Mary among the disciples praying for the promised Paraclete after the ascension of Jesus; "All these joined in continuous prayer, including Mary the mother of Jesus" (Acts 1:14; Luke is the author of Acts..). When we consider how seldom Mary is mentioned in the scriptures we can appreciate that her mention here in the upper room is in some way essential to the Good News. Remember, Mary was the only one of the disciples already filled with the Holy Spirit. This same Holy Spirit that overshadowed Mary to bring about the incarnation of the Eternal Word of God at the annunciation was now hovering over the disciples to bring forth the birth of the Church at Pentecost. This overshadowing was more than a physical manifestation of the Spirit of God; it was co-incidental with the hearts and souls of the disciples being filled with the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth too was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied.
In understanding the Blessd Virgin Mary as the Spouse of the Holy Spirt, we must bear it in mind that the incarnation of the Son of God was not brought about by a physical activity (intercourse), but by what I already described in the spiritual sense as "the overshadowing power of the Holy Spirit". Hence, Mary was immersed in the Spirit as a drop of dye in the ocean and the Holy Spirit so filled her that she was truly aglow in the Spirit. Being thus lost to herself in the Spirit she was able to allow the Spirit to act through her as through His own body. In other words, there was absolutely no resistance to the Holy Spirit in Mary so that the Spirit could act fully and completely through her.
We pray, imploring the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, that she may ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with His gifts and fruits. Amen.