First published in The Reign of Mary, Issue #135

The Humility of Her Heel

By Rev. Fr. Benedict Hughes, CMRI

“I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel” (Genesis, 3:15). So spoke God to the serpent after the sin of Adam and Eve. This woman, of course, has always been considered as referring to Our Blessed Mother. Thus we have in Catholic art many examples of pictures and statues of Our Lady, with the serpent lying under her heel.

St. Louis Marie de Montfort speaks of this in his treatise True Devotion to Mary. He states that it costs the devil more to be beaten by Our Lady than even by God Himself, and he gives two reasons for this: first, because of her humility and second, because Our Blessed Mother, being a mere creature, humbles him more through her victories than does the might of God. To Mary has always been assigned the power and prerogative of destroying heresy and crushing the infernal serpent. “Thou alone, O Mary, has crushed all heresies in the whole world,” sings the Church in the Divine Office.  

One here recalls the story of an exorcism performed by St. Dominic, as recorded by St. Louis Marie de Montfort in his book on the Rosary. The saint demanded that the devil, speaking through the mouth of the possessed, tell everyone who was in attendance who was his most-feared adversary. The devils pleaded, cajoled and begged St. Dominic to not require them to answer that question. Their piteous lament was so touching that even some of the bystanders were moved by it. But the saint held his ground and, finally, the demons were forced to admit that Our Blessed Mother is their mortal enemy, the one who rescues so many souls from their clutches:

“We fear her more than all the other saints in heaven together and we have no success with her faithful servants. Many Christians who call upon her when they are at the hour of death and who really ought to be damned according to our ordinary standards are saved by her intercession....”

Mary, then, completely crushes the demons and is rightly pictured crushing the head of the serpent, because the mind is the seat of pride. Likewise, we who hope to have the victory over the devil, the cursed enemy of God must be humble, in imitation of Our Lady. As St. Louis also points out: “The power of Mary over all the devils will especially shine forth in the latter times, when Satan will lay his snare against her heel: that is to say, her humble slaves and her poor children, whom she will raise up to make war against him.” He then explains that these children of Mary shall be despised by men, by “the world,” but they shall be precious in the eyes of God.

Are we her humble and poor servants? Are we deserving of the reproach of the world, by our total rejection of its vices and pleasures? If we are truly living a Christian life, one of humble subjection to Our Immaculate Queen, then the words of St. Louis can deservedly be said of us: “With the humility of their heel, in union with Mary, they shall crush the head of the devil and cause Jesus Christ to triumph.”

We all know that humility is an indispensable virtue in the spiritual life. Yet, despite its recognized necessity, it is also elusive. In fact, many who seek humility believe they have attained it, when in fact they are far from it. We even see, in the lives of the saints, that they were persecuted by proud men who had deluded themselves into believing that they were acting from the purest of motives. Thus we see how necessary it is to be on our guard against the insidious vice of pride, which is so odious to both Jesus and Mary.

God has his ways of keeping us humble. Often, he allows the proud to fall miserably, that they might not forget that it is His grace and not their own merits, by which they attain the victory. On the other hand, the simple and humble have attained great conquests with God’s help.

In this regard there is a wonderful story told in chapter 7 of the book of Judges in the Old Testament. Gedeon was sent by the command of God against the idolatrous Madianites. Gedeon had assembled 32,000 men to fight against the great enemy host, but God told him he had too many soldiers. Even though 22,000 were dismissed and returned home, Gedeon was informed by God that he still had too many men. Finally, Gedeon led an army of only 300 against the Madianites, who were “as numerous as locusts. Nor could their camels be counted, for these were as many as the sands on the seashore.” Yet Gedeon achieved a complete victory. This great conquest was wrought by such a small number, in order that the Israelites might remember that it was God who granted the victory.

If we always remember our nothingness and turn humbly to God for his help, we too shall gain great victories. Rather, it will be God who will use us as His instruments to gain the victory. Let us never be discouraged, then, at our apparent deficiencies, our weakness, or at the small numbers of the faithful. On the contrary, mindful that we are as the heel of the body, let us trust completely in Our Blessed Mother, remembering that she will always be victorious over Satan. She will crush his proud head, and for this purpose she will use her poor and humble servants, who are looked down upon by the proud, to gain the victory.

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