Victor R. Claveau, MJ
Answer: The Church teaches that at Bethlehem Mary did not bring her divine Child in pain nor did she flee to the wilderness after the Ascension. Hence, the woman before the birth of the Child, most probably represents the Israel of the Old Testament, whose heroes and heroines toiled to prepare the way for the Messiah. After the birth of Jesus and his Ascension into heaven, the woman symbolizes the Israel of the New Testament, the Church.
But Mary is also included in the symbolism of the woman. She certainly is the most distinguished purely human person of the Old Testament: by her prerogatives, her prayers, her good works, her consent, she pre-eminently prepared the way for the Incarnation. Moreover, she physically gave birth to the Savior, though without the pangs of childbirth. She is also the brightest ornament of the New Testament. If the sun, the moon, and the stars represent the glories of the Old and New Testaments, then her singular privileges and virtues must be included. Hence, the woman of the Apocalypse designates Mary in an exclusive and pre-eminent sense. Finally, the woman’s symbolism exhibits a feature which is borrowed from Mary’s personality; she virginally conceives and bears, which reminds us of Isaiah’s prophecy about the virgin (7:14) and the singular prediction of Micah about the woman in labor (5:3).
Women having to undergo the pains of childbirth was a result of the sin of Eve in the Garden. “To the woman he said, ‘I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.’” (Gen 3:16)
As Mary was immaculately conceived and without Original Sin, she would not have had to experience pain during the birth of the Savior.