a sword will pierce

The Gospel According to Luke 2:35 (NABRE) contains one of the more difficult passages about our Blessed Mother: “(and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

There’s an especially interesting image here around the idea of piercing, which is a bit of an odd word choice in the Greek. The Greek word διέρχομαι (dierchomai) literally means “to go through” and in every other case in the New Testament the word is used to describe travel—someone passing through a region or area or even passing through from life to death. While the English translation pierce does convey essentially what’s happening, “pierce through” would perhaps be a fuller translation.

There’s also an additional meaning possible. When a traveler passes through an area, that traveler no longer is there. This passage could likewise be read that the sword passes through our Blessed Mother’s heart but doesn’t remain. Regardless of the exact best English rendering of this passage, it invites us to reflect on our Blessed Mother’s suffering as a part of her role in bringing about our salvation.

you also may like our two-part study of the psalms
Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church provides an in-depth look at all 150 psalms based on The Abbey Psalms and Canticles, a translation prepared by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey and endorsed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). This translation is being included in new Liturgy of the Hours books. Volume I currently is available only in a digital format. Click on these links to view a sample first lesson from Volume I and another from Volume II.

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