{"id":78745,"date":"2025-12-01T08:02:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T13:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/?p=78745"},"modified":"2026-01-03T18:21:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T23:21:51","slug":"is-it-he-or-she","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/is-it-he-or-she\/","title":{"rendered":"Is It ‘He’ Or ‘She’?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Look, we don’t really need any titles for Mary–do we?–to know how powerful she is.<\/p>\n

Christ told us from the Cross: “She is your mother.”<\/p>\n

That says as much as we need to know.<\/p>\n

Powerful against evil?<\/p>\n

Beyond all doubt, we know that also. In countless artistic depictions, as well as during certain historic apparition, the Woman is seen stepping on the head of Satan (the serpent).<\/p>\n

Catholic tradition, particularly in the Middle Ages, linked \u201cshe\u201d with the Virgin Mary, emphasizing her role in salvation history–thus much of the art. Intriguing it is that Latin Vulgate Variant, quoting\u00a0Genesis<\/em> 3:15, still says \u201cShe shall crush your head.\u201d (\u201cI will put enmity between you and the woman, and your seed and her seed: she<\/em> shall crush your head, and you shall lie in wait for her heel.\u201d)<\/p>\n

This is the famous “ipsa” (Latin for “herself” or “she”)<\/em> reading\u2014\u201cshe shall crush\u201d\u2014linked to Marian interpretation. It is Saint Jerome’s version.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\"Why<\/p>\n

Hear ye: Is Mary not presented in this fashion on the Miraculous Medal, which was given in a supernatural vision to Saint Catherine Laboure in 1830? (Below<\/em> original medal:)<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

In her vision, Mary instructed Saint Catherine to have the medal struck with a specific design and promised that those who wear it with confidence would receive great graces.<\/p>\n

The front of the medal features Mary standing on an earth with a serpent, with rays of light streaming from her hands. She is shown crushing the head of a serpent under her feet, symbolizing her victory over evil. The reverse side shows a large “M” topped by a cross, with the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary beneath it, all surrounded by twelve stars. We see her close cooperation with her Divine Son!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Yet that doesn’t come,<\/span> as many believe, from the most versions of the Book of Genesis (Genesis<\/em> 3:15), including the New American Standard Bible now used by Catholics, which “And I will put enmity <\/span>Between you and the woman, <\/span>And between your seed and her seed; <\/span>He shall bruise you on the head, <\/span>And you shall bruise him on the heel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Most modern Catholic Bibles have corrected it to \u201che,\u201d but older Catholic editions preserved the \u201cshe\u201d reading<\/p>\n

The feminine pronoun \u201cshe\u201d appears to be a later scribal alteration or interpretive decision, because many believe Jerome himself seems to have intended ipse<\/em> (\u201che\u201d). The Hebrew (“h\u016b\u2019 y\u0115shuphkha tosh<\/em>“) clearly uses he, not she.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Some early Vulgate manuscripts have ipse<\/em>, others ipsa.\u00a0<\/em>Are you confused enough yet?<\/p>\n

Modern Catholic Bibles have returned to the Hebrew sense. Catholic Translations Using \u201cHe\u201d Instead of \u201cShe\u201d: New American Bible (NABRE),
\nRevised Standard Version\u2013Catholic Edition, New Jerusalem Bible, Christian Community Bible. These all say \u201che shall crush\/strike your head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly all Jewish and Protestant translations follow this. To wit: the King James Version, the English Standard Version, the New International Version, the
\nNew Revised Standard Version, and the Jewish Publication Society.<\/p>\n

The Douay\u2013Rheims Bible, based on the Latin Vulgate, famously says \u201cshe shall crush thy head\u201d and in the 1800s and early 1900s, many English Catholic Bibles of this period followed the Vulgate\u2019s \u201cipsa\u201d (\u201cipsa conteret caput tuum<\/em>\u201d).<\/p>\n

In the famous image of Guadalupe, which is celebrated this month (December 12), Mary\u2019s right foot rests on a dark crescent moon. In Aztec symbolism, this crescent represented the god of darkness, night, chaos, and the underworld. The moon\u2019s shape resembled the \u201cserpent\u2019s jaw\u201d in Aztec myth). The moon was not in the original image of Guadalupe, according to scientists (for your discernment) but added to the miraculous “painting” by later artists who embellished it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Again, does it really matter?<\/p>\n

Well, Christ is King.<\/span> He is the ultimate source of power against evil. When demons are cast out, it is in the Name of Jesus.<\/p>\n

But Mary has done quote a job rallying her children to deliverance through the winding centuries, hasn’t (ipsa)<\/em> she?<\/p>\n

\n

“Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.”<\/p>\n

-St. Maximilian Kolbe pic.twitter.com\/RI195oAyvR<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Trad West (@trad_west_) November 30, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n