Contemplify Podcast Summary

Episode: Backporch Advent Outpost with Hadewijch and the Mother of Love
Host: Paul Swanson
Date: December 8, 2024

Overview

In this special Advent episode, host Paul Swanson reflects on the spiritual meaning of Advent by exploring the writings and mystical theology of 13th-century poet and mystic, Hadewijch. Set against the backdrop of the season’s anticipation and longing, Swanson dives into Hadewijch's unique understanding of Mary, the mother of Jesus, reframing her as the "Mother of Love" and inviting listeners to consider the lived, embodied implications of carrying and birthing love into the world. The episode offers poetic and practical inspiration to live this Advent more deeply and contemplatively.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Hadewijch’s Vision of Mary: The Mother of Love

• Paul introduces Hadewijch, a 13th-century mystic theologian renowned for her poetry and epistolary teachings.
• Hadewijch’s preferred term for Christ is "Love," and thus she refers to Mary as the "Mother of Love," emphasizing a seamless, incarnational connection between Mary and Christ.
  • "[Hadewijch] saw an unsplit, intimate and incarnational reality between Mary and Christ that through Mary's bearing and birthing of Christ, there are the theo, poetic, mystical implications for all of humanity." (01:17)
• Paul is personally moved by how Hadewijch translates Mary's physical experience of pregnancy into spiritual lessons on the incarnation and the invitation this extends to all humanity.

2. Incarnation and Theosis

• For Hadewijch, the Incarnation of Christ doesn’t just divinize Mary but reveals a path of theosis for all people—participating in the divine through love.
• Paul notes:
  • "Mary... bears Christ's divinity in her body and imitates Christ's humanity in her suffering and delighting of his birthday. So for Hadewijch, the incarnation of Christ is the divinization or theosis for Mary and ultimately for all of us." (01:55)

3. Growing Up and Giving Birth to Love

• Hadewijch summarizes the spiritual path as "growing up and giving birth to love."
  • Growing up: Attuning one's life to Jesus, opening humbly to suffering and working for justice, which is paired with the joy of birthing love.
  • Giving birth to love: The patient, continuous labor of living out and manifesting love in our lives, both in suffering and delight.
  • "Growing up is humbly opening up oneself to suffering through the works of justice, which is an inextricable partner with the delight of giving birth to love." (02:31)
• Paul draws forth Hadewijch’s insight: "We enjoy God's divinity by imitating the humanity of Jesus." (02:44)
• Every act of justice, every embrace of suffering or joy, becomes a way of carrying and bearing love into the world.

4. Incarnational Love as a Call for All

• Hadewijch (and Paul) extend Mary’s path to all people: All are called to be 'mothers of love'—those who nurture, bear, and birth love in the world.
  • "One who follows the path of mysterious incarnate love towards a union already started and ripened every day. By suffering and delighting in the service of love, love lives inside of us." (03:01)
  • "We imitate and suffer love to give birth to love so that we may increase the way of love." (03:13)
• The invitation is both mystical and practical: Bearing and birthing love within daily joys, works of justice, suffering, and ordinary acts.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Hadewijch’s Influence:
  • "Her (Hadewijch’s) understanding of Mary has deeply impacted me this Advent." (00:57)
• On Advent’s Invitation:
  • "I join Hadewijch in inviting us all to be mothers of love by believing that we are all bearing and birthing love." (03:27)
  • "And I wonder what this might look like for you this Advent season. How might you already be preparing, bearing and birthing love?" (03:37)
• Blessing for Listeners:
  • "This Advent season may be a deepening in the darkness. Till next time friends. Be well." (03:48)

Important Timestamps

• 00:05 – Introduction to the Advent theme, Hadewijch, and Mary as “Mother of Love”
• 01:17 – Hadewijch’s theo-poetic implications of Mary’s motherhood
• 01:55 – Theosis and mutual participation in the Incarnation
• 02:31 – Explanation of "growing up and giving birth to love"
• 03:27 – Paul’s invitation to all contemplatives for Advent
• 03:48 – Closing blessing

Overall Tone

Paul Swanson maintains his signature contemplative, poetic tone, blending scholarship, lived spirituality, and heartfelt invitation. He draws listeners into a richer, more incarnational Advent—marked by both humility and hope—echoing Hadewijch’s vision that we are all capable of “bearing and birthing love” in our daily lives.

For listeners and readers alike, this episode is a gentle, rich call to awaken a mystical and practical sense of love’s incarnation in the world this Advent.