Blessing
Venerable Brothers and dear Sons and Daughters,
Health and the Apostolic Blessing.
INTRODUCTION
1. The Mother of the Redeemer has a precise place
in the plan of salvation, for "when the time had fully come, God sent
forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were
under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are
sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba!
Father!'" (Gal. 4:4-6)
With these words of the Apostle Paul, which the
Second Vatican Council takes up at the beginning of its treatment of the
Blessed Virgin Mary,1 I too wish to begin my reflection on the role of Mary in
the mystery of Christ and on her active and exemplary presence in the life of
the Church. For they are words which celebrate together the love of the Father,
the mission of the Son, the gift of the Spirit, the role of the woman from whom
the Redeemer was born, and our own divine filiation, in the mystery of the
"fullness of time."2
This "fullness" indicates the moment
fixed from all eternity when the Father sent his Son "that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (Jn. 3:16). It
denotes the blessed moment when the Word that "was with God...became flesh
and dwelt among us" (Jn. 1:1, 14), and made himself our brother. It marks
the moment when the Holy Spirit, who had already infused the fullness of grace
into Mary of Nazareth, formed in her virginal womb the human nature of Christ.
This "fullness" marks the moment when, with the entrance of the
eternal into time, time itself is redeemed, and being filled with the mystery
of Christ becomes definitively "salvation time." Finally, this
"fullness" designates the hidden beginning of the Church's journey.
In the liturgy the Church salutes Mary of Nazareth as the Church's own
beginning,3 for in the event of the Immaculate Conception the Church sees
projected, and anticipated in her most noble member, the saving grace of
Easter. And above all, in the Incarnation she encounters Christ and Mary
indissolubly joined: he who is the Church's Lord and Head and she who, uttering
the first fiat of the New Covenant, prefigures the Church's condition as spouse
and mother.
2. Strengthened by the presence of Christ (cf. Mt.
28:20), the Church journeys through time towards the consummation of the ages
and goes to meet the Lord who comes. But on this journey- and I wish to make
this point straightaway-she proceeds along the path already trodden by the
Virgin Mary, who "advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and loyally
persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross."4
I take these very rich and evocative words from
the Constitution Lumen Gentium, which in its concluding part offers a clear
summary of the Church's doctrine on the Mother of Christ, whom she venerates as
her beloved Mother and as her model in faith hope and charity.
Shortly after the Council, my great predecessor
Paul VI decided to speak further of the Blessed Virgin. In the Encyclical
Epistle Christi Matri and subsequently in the Apostolic Exhortations Signum
Magnum and Marialis Cultus5 he expounded the foundations and criteria of the
special veneration which the Mother of Christ receives in the Church, as well
as the various forms of Marian devotion- liturgical, popular and private-which
respond to the spirit of faith.
3. The circumstance which now moves me to take up
this subject once more is the prospect of the year 2000, now drawing near, in
which the Bimillennial Jubilee of the birth of Jesus Christ at the same time
directs our gaze towards his Mother. In recent years, various opinions have
been voiced suggesting that it would be fitting to precede that anniversary by
a similar Jubilee in celebration of the birth of Mary.
In fact, even though it is not possible to
establish an exact chronological point for identifying the date of Mary's
birth, the Church has constantly been aware that Mary appeared on the horizon
of salvation history before Christ.6 It is a fact that when "the fullness
of time" was definitively drawing near-the saving advent of Emmanuel- she
who was from eternity destined to be his Mother already existed on earth. The
fact that she "preceded" the coming of Christ is reflected every year
in the liturgy of Advent. Therefore, if to that ancient historical expectation
of the Savior we compare these years which are bringing us closer to the end of
the second Millennium after Christ and to the beginning of the third, it
becomes fully comprehensible that in this present period we wish to turn in a
special way to her, the one who in the "night" of the Advent
expectation began to shine like a true "Morning Star" (Stella
Matutina). For just as this star, together with the "dawn," precedes
the rising of the sun, so Mary from the time of her Immaculate Conception
preceded the coming of the Savior, the rising of the "Sun of Justice"
in the history of the human race.7
Her presence in the midst of Israel-a presence so
discreet as to pass almost unnoticed by the eyes of her contemporaries-shone
very clearly before the Eternal One, who had associated this hidden
"daughter of Sion" (cf. Zeph. 3:14; Zeph. 2:10) with the plan of
salvation embracing the whole history of humanity. With good reason, then, at
the end of this Millennium, we Christians who know that the providential plan
of the Most Holy Trinity is the central reality of Revelation and of faith feel
the need to emphasize the unique presence of the Mother of Christ in history,
especially during these last years leading up to the year 2000.
4. The Second Vatican Council prepares us for this
by presenting in its teaching the Mother of God in the mystery of Christ and of
the Church. If it is true, as the Council itself proclaims,8 that "only in
the mystery of the Incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light,"
then this principle must be applied in a very particular way to that
exceptional "daughter of the human race," that extraordinary
"woman" who became the Mother of Christ. Only in the mystery of
Christ is her mystery fully made clear. Thus has the Church sought to interpret
it from the very beginning: the mystery of the Incarnation has enabled her to
penetrate and to make ever clearer the mystery of the Mother of the Incarnate
Word. The Council of Ephesus (431) was of decisive importance in clarifying
this, for during that Council, to the great joy of Christians, the truth of the
divine motherhood of Mary was solemnly confirmed as a truth of the Church's
faith. Mary is the Mother of God (= Theotókos), since by the power of the Holy
Spirit she conceived in her virginal womb and brought into the world Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, who is of one being with the Father.9 "The Son of
God...born of the Virgin Mary...has truly been made one of us,"10 has been
made man. Thus, through the mystery of Christ, on the horizon of the Church's
faith there shines in its fullness the mystery of his Mother. In turn, the
dogma of the divine motherhood of Mary was for the Council of Ephesus and is
for the Church like a seal upon the dogma of the Incarnation, in which the Word
truly assumes human nature into the unity of his person, without cancelling out
that nature.
5. The Second Vatican Council, by presenting Mary
in the mystery of Christ, also finds the path to a deeper understanding of the
mystery of the Church. Mary, as the Mother of Christ, is in a particular way
united with the Church, "which the Lord established as his own
body."11 It is significant that the conciliar text places this truth about
the Church as the Body of Christ (according to the teaching of the Pauline
Letters) in close proximity to the truth that the Son of God "through the
power of the Holy Spirit was born of the Virgin Mary." The reality of the
Incarnation finds a sort of extension in the mystery of the Church-the Body of
Christ. And one cannot think of the reality of the Incarnation without
referring to Mary, the Mother of the Incarnate Word.
In these reflections, however, I wish to consider
primarily that "pilgrimage of faith" in which "the Blessed
Virgin advanced," faithfully preserving her union with Christ.12 In this
way the "twofold bond" which unites the Mother of God with Christ and
with the Church takes on historical significance. Nor is it just a question of
the Virgin Mother's life-story, of her personal journey of faith and "the
better part" which is hers in the mystery of salvation; it is also a
question of the history of the whole People of God, of all those who take part
in the same "pilgrimage of faith."
The Council expresses this when it states in
another passage that Mary "has gone before," becoming "a model
of the Church in the matter of faith, charity and perfect union with
Christ."13 This "going before" as a figure or model is in
reference to the intimate mystery of the Church, as she actuates and
accomplishes her own saving mission by uniting in herself-as Mary did-the
qualities of mother and virgin. She is a virgin who "keeps whole and pure
the fidelity she has pledged to her Spouse" and "becomes herself a
mother," for "she brings forth to a new and immortal life children
who are conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of God."14
6. All this is accomplished in a great historical
process, comparable "to a journey." The pilgrimage of faith indicates
the interior history, that is, the story of souls. But it is also the story of
all human beings, subject here on earth to transitoriness, and part of the
historical dimension. In the following reflections we wish to concentrate first
of all on the present, which in itself is not yet history, but which
nevertheless is constantly forming it, also in the sense of the history of
salvation. Here there opens up a broad prospect, within which the Blessed
Virgin Mary continues to "go before" the People of God. Her
exceptional pilgrimage of faith represents a constant point of reference for
the Church, for individuals and for communities, for peoples and nations and,
in a sense, for all humanity. It is indeed difficult to encompass and measure
its range.
The Council emphasizes that the Mother of God is
already the eschatological fulfillment of the Church: "In the most holy
Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she exists
without spot or wrinkle (cf. Eph. 5:27)"; and at the same time the Council
says that "the followers of Christ still strive to increase in holiness by
conquering sin, and so they raise their eyes to Mary, who shines forth to the
whole community of the elect as a model of the virtues."15 The pilgrimage
of faith no longer belongs to the Mother of the Son of God: glorified at the
side of her Son in heaven, Mary has already crossed the threshold between faith
and that vision which is "face to face" (1 Cor. 13:12). At the same
time, however, in this eschatological fulfillment, Mary does not cease to be
the "Star of the Sea" (Maris Stella) 16 for all those who are still
on the journey of faith. If they lift their eyes to her from their earthly
existence, they do so because "the Son whom she brought forth is he whom
God placed as the first-born among many brethren (Rom. 8:29),"17 and also
because "in the birth and development" of these brothers and sisters
"she cooperates with a maternal love."18
PART I - MARY IN THE MYSTERY OF
CHRIST
1. Full of Grace
7. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places" (Eph. 1:3). These words of the Letter to the Ephesians
reveal the eternal design of God the Father, his plan of man's salvation in
Christ. It is a universal plan, which concerns all men and women created in the
image and likeness of God (cf. Gen. 1:26). Just as all are included in the
creative work of God "in the beginning," so all are eternally
included in the divine plan of salvation, which is to be completely revealed,
in the "fullness of time," with the final coming of Christ. In fact,
the God who is the "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"-these are the
next words of the same Letter-"chose us in him before the foundation of
the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in
love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
to the praise of his glorious grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the
Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our
trespasses, according to the riches of his grace" (Eph. 1:4-7).
The divine plan of salvation-which was fully
revealed to us with the coming of Christ-is eternal. And according to the
teaching contained in the Letter just quoted and in other Pauline Letters (cf.
Col. 1:12- 14; Rom. 3:24; Gal. 3:13; 2 Cor. 5:18-29), it is also eternally
linked to Christ. It includes everyone, but it reserves a special place for the
"woman" who is the Mother of him to whom the Father has entrusted the
work of salvation.19 As the Second Vatican Council says, "she is already
prophetically foreshadowed in that promise made to our first parents after
their fall into sin"-according to the Book of Genesis (cf. 3:15).
"Likewise she is the Virgin who is to conceive and bear a son, whose name
will be called Emmanuel"- according to the words of Isaiah (cf. 7:14).20
In this way the Old Testament prepares that "fullness of time" when
God "sent forth his Son, born of woman...so that we might receive adoption
as sons." The coming into the world of the Son of God is an event recorded
in the first chapters of the Gospels according to Luke and Matthew.
8. Mary is definitively introduced into the
mystery of Christ through this event: the Annunciation by the angel. This takes
place at Nazareth, within the concrete circumstances of the history of Israel,
the people which first received God's promises. The divine messenger says to
the Virgin: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk. 1:28).
Mary "was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what
sort of greeting this might be" (Lk. 1:29): what could those extraordinary
words mean, and in particular the expression "full of grace"
(kecharitoméne).21
If we wish to meditate together with Mary on these
words, and especially on the expression "full of grace," we can find
a significant echo in the very passage from the Letter to the Ephesians quoted
above. And if after the announcement of the heavenly messenger the Virgin of
Nazareth is also called "blessed among women" (cf. Lk. 1:42), it is
because of that blessing with which "God the Father" has filled us
"in the heavenly places, in Christ." It is a spiritual blessing which
is meant for all people and which bears in itself fullness and universality
("every blessing"). It flows from that love which, in the Holy
Spirit, unites the consubstantial Son to the Father. At the same time, it is a
blessing poured out through Jesus Christ upon human history until the end: upon
all people. This blessing, however, refers to Mary in a special and exceptional
degree: for she was greeted by Elizabeth as "blessed among women."
The double greeting is due to the fact that in the
soul of this "daughter of Sion" there is manifested, in a sense, all
the "glory of grace," that grace which "the Father...has given
us in his beloved Son." For the messenger greets Mary as "full of grace";
he calls her thus as if it were her real name. He does not call her by her
proper earthly name: Miryam (= Mary), but by this new name: "full of
grace." What does this name mean? Why does the archangel address the
Virgin of Nazareth in this way?
In the language of the Bible "grace" means
a special gift, which according to the New Testament has its source precisely
in the Trinitarian life of God himself, God who is love (cf. 1 Jn. 4:8). The
fruit of this love is "the election" of which the Letter to the
Ephesians speaks. On the part of God, this election is the eternal desire to
save man through a sharing in his own life (cf. 2 Pt. 1:4) in Christ: it is
salvation through a sharing in supernatural life. The effect of this eternal
gift, of this grace of man's election by God, is like a seed of holiness, or a
spring which rises in the soul as a gift from God himself, who through grace
gives life and holiness to those who are chosen. In this way there is
fulfilled, that is to say there comes about, that "blessing" of man
"with every spiritual blessing," that "being his adopted sons
and daughters...in Christ," in him who is eternally the "beloved
Son" of the Father.
When we read that the messenger addresses Mary as
"full of grace," the Gospel context, which mingles revelations and
ancient promises, enables us to understand that among all the "spiritual
blessings in Christ" this is a special "blessing." In the
mystery of Christ she is present even "before the creation of the
world," as the one whom the Father "has chosen" as Mother of his
Son in the Incarnation. And, what is more, together with the Father, the Son
has chosen her, entrusting her eternally to the Spirit of holiness. In an
entirely special and exceptional way Mary is united to Christ, and similarly
she is eternally loved in this "beloved Son," this Son who is of one
being with the Father, in whom is concentrated all the "glory of
grace." At the same time, she is and remains perfectly open to this
"gift from above" (cf. Jas. 1:17). As the Council teaches, Mary
"stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently await
and receive salvation from him."22
9. If the greeting and the name "full of
grace" say all this, in the context of the angel's announcement they refer
first of all to the election of Mary as Mother of the Son of God. But at the
same time the "fullness of grace" indicates all the supernatural
munificence from which Mary benefits by being chosen and destined to be the
Mother of Christ. If this election is fundamental for the accomplishment of
God's salvific designs for humanity, and if the eternal choice in Christ and
the vocation to the dignity of adopted children is the destiny of everyone,
then the election of Mary is wholly exceptional and unique. Hence also the
singularity and uniqueness of her place in the mystery of Christ.
The divine messenger says to her: "Do not be
afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive
in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be
great, and will be called the Son of the Most High" (Lk. 1:30-32). And
when the Virgin, disturbed by that extraordinary greeting, asks: "How
shall this be, since I have no husband?" she receives from the angel the
confirmation and explanation of the preceding words. Gabriel says to her:
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of
God" (Lk. 1:35).
The Annunciation, therefore, is the revelation of
the mystery of the Incarnation at the very beginning of its fulfillment on
earth. God's salvific giving of himself and his life, in some way to all
creation but directly to man, reaches one of its high points in the mystery of
the Incarnation. This is indeed a high point among all the gifts of grace
conferred in the history of man and of the universe: Mary is "full of
grace," because it is precisely in her that the Incarnation of the Word,
the hypostatic union of the Son of God with human nature, is accomplished and
fulfilled. As the Council says, Mary is "the Mother of the Son of God. As
a result she is also the favorite daughter of the Father and the temple of the
Holy Spirit. Because of this gift of sublime grace, she far surpasses all other
creatures, both in heaven and on earth."23
10. The Letter to the Ephesians, speaking of the
"glory of grace" that "God, the Father...has bestowed on us in
his beloved Son," adds: "In him we have redemption through his
blood" (Eph. 1:7). According to the belief formulated in solemn documents
of the Church, this "glory of grace" is manifested in the Mother of
God through the fact that she has been "redeemed in a more sublime
manner."24 By virtue of the richness of the grace of the beloved Son, by
reason of the redemptive merits of him who willed to become her Son, Mary was
preserved from the inheritance of original sin.25 In this way, from the first
moment of her conception- which is to say of her existence-she belonged to
Christ, sharing in the salvific and sanctifying grace and in that love which
has its beginning in the "Beloved," the Son of the Eternal Father,
who through the Incarnation became her own Son. Consequently, through the power
of the Holy Spirit, in the order of grace, which is a participation in the
divine nature, Mary receives life from him to whom she herself, in the order of
earthly generation, gave life as a mother. The liturgy does not hesitate to
call her "mother of her Creator"26 and to hail her with the words
which Dante Alighieri places on the lips of St. Bernard: "daughter of your
Son."27 And since Mary receives this "new life" with a fullness
corresponding to the Son's love for the Mother, and thus corresponding to the
dignity of the divine motherhood, the angel at the Annunciation calls her
"full of grace."
11. In the salvific design of the Most Holy
Trinity, the mystery of the Incarnation constitutes the superabundant
fulfillment of the promise made by God to man after original sin, after that
first sin whose effects oppress the whole earthly history of man (cf. Gen.
3:15). And so, there comes into the world a Son, "the seed of the
woman" who will crush the evil of sin in its very origins: "he will
crush the head of the serpent." As we see from the words of the
Protogospel, the victory of the woman's Son will not take place without a hard
struggle, a struggle that is to extend through the whole of human history. The
"enmity," foretold at the beginning, is confirmed in the Apocalypse
(the book of the final events of the Church and the world), in which there
recurs the sign of the "woman," this time "clothed with the
sun" (Rev. 12:1).
Mary, Mother of the Incarnate Word, is placed at
the very center of that enmity, that struggle which accompanies the history of
humanity on earth and the history of salvation itself. In this central place, she
who belongs to the "weak and poor of the Lord" bears in herself, like
no other member of the human race, that "glory of grace" which the
Father "has bestowed on us in his beloved Son," and this grace
determines the extraordinary greatness and beauty of her whole being. Mary thus
remains before God, and also before the whole of humanity, as the unchangeable
and inviolable sign of God's election, spoken of in Paul's letter: "in
Christ...he chose us...before the foundation of the world,...he destined us...to
be his sons" (Eph. 1:4, 5). This election is more powerful than any
experience of evil and sin, than all that "enmity" which marks the
history of man. In this history Mary remains a sign of sure hope.
2. Blessed is she who believed
12. Immediately after the narration of the
Annunciation, the Evangelist Luke guides us in the footsteps of the Virgin of
Nazareth towards "a city of Judah" (Lk. 1:39). According to scholars
this city would be the modern Ain Karim, situated in the mountains, not far
from Jerusalem. Mary arrived there "in haste," to visit Elizabeth her
kinswoman. The reason for her visit is also to be found in the fact that at the
Annunciation Gabriel had made special mention of Elizabeth, who in her old age
had conceived a son by her husband Zechariah, through the power of God:
"your kins woman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a Son; and
this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing
will be impossible" (Lk. 1:36-37). The divine messenger had spoken of what
had been accomplished in Elizabeth in order to answer Mary's question.
"How shall this be, since I have no husband?" (Lk. 1:34) It is to
come to pass precisely through the "power of the Most High," just as
it happened in the case of Elizabeth, and even more so.
Moved by charity, therefore, Mary goes to the
house of her kinswoman. When Mary enters, Elizabeth replies to her greeting and
feels the child leap in her womb, and being "filled with the Holy
Spirit" she greets Mary with a loud cry: "Blessed are you among
women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" (cf. Lk. 1:40-42)
Elizabeth's exclamation or acclamation was subsequently to become part of the
Hail Mary, as a continuation of the angel's greeting, thus becoming one of the
Church's most frequently used prayers. But still more significant are the words
of Elizabeth in the question which follows: "And why is this granted me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Lk. 1:43) Elizabeth bears
witness to Mary: she recognizes and proclaims that before her stands the Mother
of the Lord, the Mother of the Messiah. The son whom Elizabeth is carrying in
her womb also shares in this witness: "The babe in my womb leaped for
joy" (Lk. 1:44). This child is the future John the Baptist, who at the
Jordan will point out Jesus as the Messiah.
While every word of Elizabeth's greeting is filled
with meaning, her final words would seem to have fundamental importance:
"And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what
was spoken to her from the Lord" (Lk. 1:45).28 These words can be linked
with the little "full of grace" of the angel's greeting. Both of
these texts reveal an essential Mariological content, namely the truth about
Mary, who has become really present in the mystery of Christ precisely because
she "has believed." The fullness of grace announced by the angel
means the gift of God himself. Mary's faith, proclaimed by Elizabeth at the
Visitation, indicates how the Virgin of Nazareth responded to this gift.
13. As the Council teaches, "'The obedience
of faith' (Rom. 16:26; cf. Rom. 1:5; 2 Cor. 10:5-6) must be given to God who
reveals, an obedience by which man entrusts his whole self freely to
God."29 This description of faith found perfect realization in Mary. The
"decisive" moment was the Annunciation, and the very words of
Elizabeth: "And blessed is she who believed" refer primarily to that
very moment.30
Indeed, at the Annunciation Mary entrusted herself
to God completely, with the "full submission of intellect and will,"
manifesting "the obedience of faith" to him who spoke to her through
his messenger.31 She responded, therefore, with all her human and feminine
"I," and this response of faith included both perfect cooperation with
"the grace of God that precedes and assists" and perfect openness to
the action of the Holy Spirit, who "constantly brings faith to completion
by his gifts."32
The word of the living God, announced to Mary by
the angel, referred to her: "And behold, you will conceive in your womb
and bear a son" (Lk. 1:31). By accepting this announcement, Mary was to
become the "Mother of the Lord," and the divine mystery of the
Incarnation was to be accomplished in her: "The Father of mercies willed
that the consent of the predestined Mother should precede the
Incarnation."33 And Mary gives this consent, after she has heard
everything the messenger has to say. She says: "Behold, I am the handmaid
of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word" (Lk. 1:38). This fiat
of Mary-"let it be to me"-was decisive, on the human level, for the
accomplishment of the divine mystery. There is a complete harmony with the
words of the Son, who, according to the Letter to the Hebrews, says to the
Father as he comes into the world: "Sacrifices and offering you have not
desired, but a body you have prepared for me.... Lo, I have come to do your
will, O God" (Heb. 10:5-7). The mystery of the Incarnation was
accomplished when Mary uttered her fiat: "Let it be to me according to
your word," which made possible, as far as it depended upon her in the
divine plan, the granting of her Son's desire.
Mary uttered this fiat in faith. In faith she
entrusted herself to God without reserve and "devoted herself totally as
the handmaid of the Lord to the person and work of her Son."34 And as the
Fathers of the Church teach-she conceived this Son in her mind before she
conceived him in her womb: precisely in faith!35 Rightly therefore does
Elizabeth praise Mary: "And blessed is she who believed that there would
be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." These words
have already been fulfilled: Mary of Nazareth presents herself at the threshold
of Elizabeth and Zechariah's house as the Mother of the Son of God. This is
Elizabeth's joyful discovery: "The mother of my Lord comes to me"!
14. Mary's faith can also be compared to that of
Abraham, whom St. Paul calls "our father in faith" (cf. Rom. 4:12).
In the salvific economy of God's revelation, Abraham's faith constitutes the
beginning of the Old Covenant; Mary's faith at the Annunciation inaugurates the
New Covenant. Just as Abraham "in hope believed against hope, that he
should become the father of many nations" (cf. Rom. 4:18), so Mary, at the
Annunciation, having professed her virginity ("How shall this be, since I
have no husband?") believed that through the power of the Most High, by
the power of the Holy Spirit, she would become the Mother of God's Son in
accordance with the angel's revelation: "The child to be born will be
called holy, the Son of God" (Lk. 1:35).
However, Elizabeth's words "And blessed is
she who believed" do not apply only to that particular moment of the
Annunciation. Certainly the Annunciation is the culminating moment of Mary's
faith in her awaiting of Christ, but it is also the point of departure from
which her whole "journey towards God" begins, her whole pilgrimage of
faith. And on this road, in an eminent and truly heroic manner- indeed with an
ever greater heroism of faith-the "obedience" which she professes to
the word of divine revelation will be fulfilled. Mary's "obedience of
faith" during the whole of her pilgrimage will show surprising
similarities to the faith of Abraham. Just like the Patriarch of the People of
God, so too Mary, during the pilgrimage of her filial and maternal fiat,
"in hope believed against hope." Especially during certain stages of
this journey the blessing granted to her "who believed" will be
revealed with particular vividness. To believe means "to abandon
oneself" to the truth of the word of the living God, knowing and humbly
recognizing "how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his
ways" (Rom. 11:33). Mary, who by the eternal will of the Most High stands,
one may say, at the very center of those "inscrutable ways" and "unsearchable
judgments" of God, conforms herself to them in the dim light of faith,
accepting fully and with a ready heart everything that is decreed in the divine
plan.
15. When at the Annunciation Mary hears of the Son
whose Mother she is to become and to whom "she will give the name
Jesus" (= Savior), she also learns that "the Lord God will give to
him the throne of his father David," and that "he will reign over the
house of Jacob for ever and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Lk.
1:32- 33). The hope of the whole of Israel was directed towards this. The
promised Messiah is to be "great," and the heavenly messenger also
announces that "he will be great"-great both by bearing the name of
Son of the Most High and by the fact that he is to assume the inheritance of
David. He is therefore to be a king, he is to reign "over the house of
Jacob." Mary had grown up in the midst of these expectations of her
people: could she guess, at the moment of the Annunciation, the vital
significance of the angel's words? And how is one to understand that
"kingdom" which "will have no end"?
Although through faith she may have perceived in
that instant the was the mother of the "Messiah King," nevertheless
she replied: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me
according to your word" (Lk. 1:38). From the first moment Mary professed
above all the "obedience of faith," abandoning herself to the meaning
which was given to the words of the Annunciation by him from whom they
proceeded: God himself.
16. Later, a little further along this way of the
"obedience of faith," Mary hears other words: those uttered by Simeon
in the Temple of Jerusalem. It was now forty days after the birth of Jesus
when, in accordance with the precepts of the Law of Moses, Mary and Joseph
"brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord" (Lk. 2:22).
The birth had taken place in conditions of extreme poverty. We know from Luke
that when, on the occasion of the census ordered by the Roman authorities, Mary
went with Joseph to Bethlehem, having found "no place in the inn,"
she gave birth to her Son in a stable and "laid him in a manger" (cf.
Lk. 2:7).
A just and God-fearing man, called Simeon, appears
at this beginning of Mary's "journey" of faith. His words, suggested
by the Holy Spirit (cf. Lk. 2:25-27), confirm the truth of the Annunciation.
For we read that he took up in his arms the child to whom-in accordance with
the angel's command-the name Jesus was given (cf. Lk. 2:21). Simeon's words
match the meaning of this name, which is Savior: "God is salvation." Turning
to the Lord, he says: "For my eyes have seen your salvation which you have
prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the
Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel" (Lk. 2:30-32). At the same
time, however, Simeon addresses Mary with the following words: "Behold,
this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign
that is spoken against, that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed";
and he adds with direct reference to her: "and a sword will pierce through
your own soul also" (cf. Lk. 2:34-35). Simeon's words cast new light on
the announcement which Mary had heard from the angel: Jesus is the Savior, he
is "a light for revelation" to mankind. Is not this what was
manifested in a way on Christmas night, when the shepherds come to the stable
(cf. Lk. 2:8-20)? Is not this what was to be manifested even more clearly in
the coming of the Magi from the East (cf. Mt. 2:1-12)? But at the same time, at
the very beginning of his life, the Son of Mary, and his Mother with him, will
experience in themselves the truth of those other words of Simeon: "a sign
that is spoken against" (Lk. 2:34). Simeon's words seem like a second
Annunciation to Mary, for they tell her of the actual historical situation in
which the Son is to accomplish his mission, namely, in misunderstanding and
sorrow. While this announcement on the one hand confirms her faith in the
accomplishment of the divine promises of salvation, on the other hand it also
reveals to her that she will have to live her obedience of faith in suffering,
at the side of the suffering Savior, and that her motherhood will be mysterious
and sorrowful. Thus, after the visit of the Magi who came from the East, after
their homage ("they fell down and worshipped him") and after they had
offered gifts (cf. Mt. 2:11), Mary together with the child has to flee into
Egypt in the protective care of Joseph, for "Herod is about to search for
the child, to destroy him" (cf. Mt. 2:13). And until the death of Herod
they will have to remain in Egypt (cf. Mt. 2:15).
17. When the Holy Family returns to Nazareth after
Herod's death, there begins the long period of the hidden life. She "who
believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the
Lord" (Lk. 1:45) lives the reality of these words day by day. And daily at
her side is the Son to whom "she gave the name Jesus"; therefore in
contact with him she certainly uses this name, a fact which would have
surprised no one, since the name had long been in use in Israel. Nevertheless,
Mary knows that he who bears the name Jesus has been called by the angel
"the Son of the Most High" (cf. Lk. 1:32). Mary knows she has
conceived and given birth to him "without having a husband," by the
power of the Holy Spirit, by the power of the Most High who overshadowed her
(cf. Lk. 1:35), just as at the time of Moses and the Patriarchs the cloud
covered the presence of God (cf. Ex. 24:16; 40:34-35; I Kings 8:10-12).
Therefore Mary knows that the Son to whom she gave birth in a virginal manner
is precisely that "Holy One," the Son of God, of whom the angel spoke
to her.
During the years of Jesus' hidden life in the
house at Nazareth, Mary's life too is "hid with Christ in God" (cf.
Col. 3:3) through faith. For faith is contact with the mystery of God. Every
day Mary is in constant contact with the ineffable mystery of God made man, a
mystery that surpasses everything revealed in the Old Covenant. From the moment
of the Annunciation, the mind of the Virgin-Mother has been initiated into the
radical "newness" of God's self-revelation and has been made aware of
the mystery. She is the first of those "little ones" of whom Jesus
will say one day: "Father, ...you have hidden these things from the wise
and understanding and revealed them to babes" (Mt. 11:25). For "no
one knows the Son except the Father" (Mt. 11:27). If this is the case, how
can Mary "know the Son"? Of course she does not know him as the
Father does; and yet she is the first of those to whom the Father "has
chosen to reveal him" (cf. Mt. 11:26-27; 1 Cor. 2:11). If though, from the
moment of the Annunciation, the Son-whom only the Father knows completely, as
the one who begets him in the eternal "today" (cf. Ps. 2:7) was
revealed to Mary, she, his Mother, is in contact with the truth about her Son
only in faith and through faith! She is therefore blessed, because "she
has believed," and continues to believe day after day amidst all the
trials and the adversities of Jesus' infancy and then during the years of the
hidden life at Nazareth, where he "was obedient to them" (Lk. 2:51).
He was obedient both to Mary and also to Joseph, since Joseph took the place of
his father in people's eyes; for this reason, the Son of Mary was regarded by
the people as "the carpenter's son" (Mt. 13:55).
The Mother of that Son, therefore, mindful of what
has been told her at the Annunciation and in subsequent events, bears within
herself the radical "newness" of faith: the beginning of the New
Covenant. This is the beginning of the Gospel, the joyful Good News. However,
it is not difficult to see in that beginning a particular heaviness of heart,
linked with a sort of night of faith"-to use the words of St. John of the
Cross-a kind of "veil" through which one has to draw near to the Invisible
One and to live in intimacy with the mystery.36 And this is the way that Mary,
for many years, lived in intimacy with the mystery of her Son, and went forward
in her "pilgrimage of faith," while Jesus "increased in
wisdom...and in favor with God and man" (Lk. 2:52). God's predilection for
him was manifested ever more clearly to people's eyes. The first human creature
thus permitted to discover Christ was Mary, who lived with Joseph in the same
house at Nazareth.
However, when he had been found in the Temple, and
his Mother asked him, "Son, why have you treated us so?" the
twelve-year-old Jesus answered: "Did you not know that I must be in my
Father's house?" And the Evangelist adds: "And they (Joseph and Mary)
did not understand the saying which he spoke to them" (Lk. 2:48-50). Jesus
was aware that "no one knows the Son except the Father" (cf. Mt.
11:27); thus even his Mother, to whom had been revealed most completely the
mystery of his divine sonship, lived in intimacy with this mystery only through
faith! Living side by side with her Son under the same roof, and faithfully
persevering "in her union with her Son," she "advanced in her
pilgrimage of faith," as the Council emphasizes.37 And so it was during
Christ's public life too (cf. Mk. 3:21-35) that day by day there was fulfilled
in her the blessing uttered by Elizabeth at the Visitation: "Blessed is
she who believed."
18. This blessing reaches its full meaning when
Mary stands beneath the Cross of her Son (cf. Jn. 19:25). The Council says that
this happened "not without a divine plan": by "suffering deeply
with her only-begotten Son and joining herself with her maternal spirit to his
sacrifice, lovingly consenting to the immolation of the victim to whom she had
given birth," in this way Mary "faithfully preserved her union with
her Son even to the Cross."38 It is a union through faith- the same faith
with which she had received the angel's revelation at the Annunciation. At that
moment she had also heard the words: "He will be great...and the Lord God
will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the
house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Lk.
1:32-33).
And now, standing at the foot of the Cross, Mary
is the witness, humanly speaking, of the complete negation of these words. On
that wood of the Cross her Son hangs in agony as one condemned. "He was
despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows...he was despised, and we
esteemed him not": as one destroyed (cf. Is. 53:3- 5). How great, how
heroic then is the obedience of faith shown by Mary in the face of God's
"unsearchable judgments"! How completely she "abandons herself
to God" without reserve, offering the full assent of the intellect and the
will"39 to him whose "ways are inscrutable" (cf. Rom. 11:33)!
And how powerful too is the action of grace in her soul, how all-pervading is
the influence of the Holy Spirit and of his light and power!
Through this faith Mary is perfectly united with
Christ in his self- emptying. For "Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the
form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied
himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men":
precisely on Golgotha "humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even death on a cross" (cf. Phil. 2:5-8). At the foot of the Cross Mary
shares through faith in the shocking mystery of this self- emptying. This is
perhaps the deepest "kenosis" of faith in human history. Through
faith the Mother shares in the death of her Son, in his redeeming death; but in
contrast with the faith of the disciples who fled, hers was far more
enlightened. On Golgotha, Jesus through the Cross definitively confirmed that
he was the "sign of contradiction" foretold by Simeon. At the same
time, there were also fulfilled on Golgotha the words which Simeon had
addressed to Mary: "and a sword will pierce through your own soul
also."40
19. Yes, truly "blessed is she who
believed"! These words, spoken by Elizabeth after the Annunciation, here
at the foot of the Cross seem to re-echo with supreme eloquence, and the power
contained within them becomes something penetrating. From the Cross, that is to
say from the very heart of the mystery of Redemption, there radiates and
spreads out the prospect of that blessing of faith It goes right hack to
"the beginning." and as a sharing in the sacrifice of Christ-the new
Adam-it becomes in a certain sense the counterpoise to the disobedience and
disbelief embodied in the sin of our first parents. Thus teach the Fathers of
the Church and especially St. Irenaeus, quoted by the Constitution Lumen
Gentium: "The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience;
what the virgin Eve bound through her unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosened by her
faith."41 In the light of this comparison with Eve, the Fathers of the
Church-as the Council also says-call Mary the "mother of the liing"
and often speak of "death through Eve, life through Mary."42
In the expression "Blessed is she who
believed," we can therefore rightly find a kind of "key" which
unlocks for us the innermost reality of Mary, whom the angel hailed as
"full of grace." If as "full of grace" she has been
eternally present in the mystery of Christ, through faith she became a sharer
in that mystery in every extension of her earthly journey. She "advanced
in her pilgrimage of faith" and at the same time, in a discreet yet direct
and effective way, she made present to humanity the mystery of Christ. And she
still continues to do so. Through the mystery of Christ, she too is present
within mankind. Thus through the mystery of the Son the mystery of the Mother
is also made clear.
3. Behold your mother
20. The Gospel of Luke records the moment when
"a woman in the crowd raised her voice" and said to Jesus:
"Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!"
(Lk. 11:27) These words were an expression of praise of Mary as Jesus' mother according
to the flesh. Probably the Mother of Jesus was not personally known to this
woman; in fact, when Jesus began his messianic activity Mary did not accompany
him but continued to remain at Nazareth. One could say that the words of that
unknown woman in a way brought Mary out of her hiddenness.
Through these words, there flashed out in the
midst of the crowd, at least for an instant, the gospel of Jesus' infancy. This
is the gospel in which Mary is present as the mother who conceives Jesus in her
womb, gives him birth and nurses him: the nursing mother referred to by the
woman in the crowd. Thanks to this motherhood, Jesus, the Son of the Most High
(cf. Lk. 1:32), is a true son of man. He is "flesh," like every other
man: he is "the Word (who) became flesh" (cf. Jn. 1:14). He is of the
flesh and blood of Mary!43
But to the blessing uttered by that woman upon her
who was his mother according to the flesh, Jesus replies in a significant way:
"Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it" (Lk.
11:28). He wishes to divert attention from motherhood understood only as a
fleshly bond, in order to direct it towards those mysterious bonds of the
spirit which develop from hearing and keeping God's word.
This same shift into the sphere of spiritual
values is seen even more clearly in another response of Jesus reported by all
the Synoptics. When Jesus is told that "his mother and brothers are
standing outside and wish to see him," he replies: "My mother and my
brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it" (cf. Lk. 8:20-21).
This he said "looking around on those who sat about him," as we read
in Mark (3:34) or, according to Matthew (12:49), "stretching out his hand
towards his disciples."
These statements seem to fit in with the reply
which the twelve- year-old Jesus gave to Mary and Joseph when he was found
after three days in the Temple at Jerusalem.
Now, when Jesus left Nazareth and began his public
life throughout Palestine, he was completely and exclusively "concerned
with his Father's business" (cf. Lk. 2:49). He announced the Kingdom: the
"Kingdom of God" and "his Father's business," which add a
new dimension and meaning to everything human, and therefore to every human
bond, insofar as these things relate to the goals and tasks assigned to every
human being. Within this new dimension, also a bond such as that of
"brotherhood" means something different from "brotherhood
according to the flesh" deriving from a common origin from the same set of
parents. "Motherhood," too, in the dimension of the Kingdom of God
and in the radius of the fatherhood of God himself, takes on another meaning.
In the words reported by Luke, Jesus teaches precisely this new meaning of
motherhood.
Is Jesus thereby distancing himself from his
mother according to the flesh? Does he perhaps wish to leave her in the hidden
obscurity which she herself has chosen? If this seems to be the case from the
tone of those words, one must nevertheless note that the new and different
motherhood which Jesus speaks of to his disciples refers precisely to Mary in a
very special way. Is not Mary the first of "those who hear the word of God
and do it"? And therefore does not the blessing uttered by Jesus in
response to the woman in the crowd refer primarily to her? Without any doubt,
Mary is worthy of blessing by the very fact that she became the mother of Jesus
according to the flesh ("Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the
breasts that you sucked"), but also and especially because already at the
Annunciation she accepted the word of God, because she believed it, because she
was obedient to God, and because she "kept" the word and
"pondered it in her heart" (cf. Lk. 1:38, 45; 2:19, 51) and by means
of her whole life accomplished it. Thus we can say that the blessing proclaimed
by Jesus is not in opposition, despite appearances, to the blessing uttered by
the unknown woman, but rather coincides with that blessing in the person of
this Virgin Mother, who called herself only "the handmaid of the
Lord" (Lk. 1:38). If it is true that "all generations will call her
blessed" (cf. Lk. 1:48), then it can be said that the unnamed woman was
the first to confirm unwittingly that prophetic phrase of Mary's Magnificat and
to begin the Magnificat of the ages.
If through faith Mary became the bearer of the Son
given to her by the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit, while
preserving her virginity intact, in that same faith she discovered and accepted
the other dimension of motherhood revealed by Jesus during his messianic
mission. One can say that this dimension of motherhood belonged to Mary from
the beginning, that is to say from the moment of the conception and birth of
her Son. From that time she was "the one who believed." But as the
messianic mission of her Son grew clearer to her eyes and spirit, she herself
as a mother became ever more open to that new dimension of motherhood which was
to constitute her "part" beside her Son. Had she not said from the
very beginning: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me
according to your word" (Lk. 1:38)? Through faith Mary continued to hear
and to ponder that word, in which there became ever clearer, in a way
"which surpasses knowledge" (Eph. 3:19), the self-revelation of the
living God. Thus in a sense Mary as Mother became the first
"disciple" of her Son, the first to whom he seemed to say:
"Follow me," even before he addressed this call to the Apostles or to
anyone else (cf. Jn. 1:43).
21. From this point of view, particularly eloquent
is the passage in the Gospel of John which presents Mary at the wedding feast
of Cana. She appears there as the Mother of Jesus at the beginning of his
public life: "There was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of
Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples"
(Jn. 2:1-2). From the text it appears that Jesus and his disciples were invited
together with Mary, as if by reason of her presence at the celebration: the Son
seems to have been invited because of his mother. We are familiar with the
sequence of events which resulted from that invitation, that "beginning of
the signs" wrought by Jesus-the water changed into wine-which prompts the
Evangelist to say that Jesus "manifested his glory; and his disciples
believed in him" (Jn. 2:11).
Mary is present at Cana in Galilee as the Mother
of Jesus, and in a significant way she contributes to that "beginning of
the signs" which reveal the messianic power of her Son. We read:
"When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no
wine.' And Jesus said to her, 'O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour
has not yet come'" (Jn. 2:3-4). In John's Gospel that "hour"
means the time appointed by the Father when the Son accomplishes his task and
is to be glorified (cf. Jn. 7:30; 8:20; 12:23, 27; 13:1; 17:1; 19:27). Even
though Jesus' reply to his mother sounds like a refusal (especially if we
consider the blunt statement "My hour has not yet come" rather than
the question), Mary nevertheless turns to the servants and says to them:
"Do whatever he tells you" (Jn. 2:5). Then Jesus orders the servants
to fill the stone jars with water, and the water becomes wine, better than the
wine which has previously been served to the wedding guests.
What deep understanding existed between Jesus and
his mother? How can we probe the mystery of their intimate spiritual union? But
the fact speaks for itself. It is certain that that event already quite clearly
outlines the new dimension, the new meaning of Mary's motherhood. Her
motherhood has a significance which is not exclusively contained in the words
of Jesus and in the various episodes reported by the Synoptics (Lk. 11:27-28
and Lk. 8:19-21; Mt. 12:46-50; Mk. 3:31-35). In these texts Jesus means above
all to contrast the motherhood resulting from the fact of birth with what this
"motherhood" (and also "brotherhood") is to be in the
dimension of the Kingdom of God, in the salvific radius of God's fatherhood. In
John's text on the other hand, the description of the Cana event outlines what
is actually manifested as a new kind of motherhood according to the spirit and
not just according to the flesh, that is to say Mary's solicitude for human
beings, her coming to them in the wide variety of their wants and needs. At
Cana in Galilee there is shown only one concrete aspect of human need,
apparently a small one of little importance ("They have no wine").
But it has a symbolic value: this coming to the aid of human needs means, at
the same time, bringing those needs within the radius of Christ's messianic mission
and salvific power. Thus there is a mediation: Mary places herself between her
Son and mankind in the reality of their wants, needs and sufferings. She puts
herself "in the middle," that is to say she acts as a mediatrix not
as an outsider, but in her position as mother. She knows that as such she can
point out to her Son the needs of mankind, and in fact, she "has the
right" to do so. Her mediation is thus in the nature of intercession: Mary
"intercedes" for mankind. And that is not all. As a mother she also
wishes the messianic power of her Son to be manifested, that salvific power of
his which is meant to help man in his misfortunes, to free him from the evil
which in various forms and degrees weighs heavily upon his life. Precisely as
the Prophet Isaiah had foretold about the Messiah in the famous passage which
Jesus quoted before his fellow townsfolk in Nazareth: "To preach good news
to the poor...to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to
the blind..." (cf. Lk. 4:18).
Another essential element of Mary's maternal task
is found in her words to the servants: "Do whatever he tells you."
The Mother of Christ presents herself as the spokeswoman of her Son's will,
pointing out those things which must be done so that the salvific power of the
Messiah may be manifested. At Cana, thanks to the intercession of Mary and the
obedience of the servants, Jesus begins "his hour." At Cana Mary
appears as believing in Jesus. Her faith evokes his first "sign" and
helps to kindle the faith of the disciples.
22. We can therefore say that in this passage of
John's Gospel we find as it were a first manifestation of the truth concerning
Mary's maternal care. This truth has also found expression in the teaching of
the Second Vatican Council. It is important to note how the Council illustrates
Mary's maternal role as it relates to the mediation of Christ. Thus we read:
"Mary's maternal function towards mankind in no way obscures or diminishes
the unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its efficacy," because
"there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1
Tim. 2:5). This maternal role of Mary flows, according to God's good pleasure,
"from the superabundance of the merits of Christ; it is founded on his
mediation, absolutely depends on it, and draws all its efficacy from
it."44 It is precisely in this sense that the episode at Cana in Galilee
offers us a sort of first announcement of Mary's mediation, wholly oriented
towards Christ and tending to the revelation of his salvific power.
From the text of John it is evident that it is a
mediation which is maternal. As the Council proclaims: Mary became "a
mother to us in the order of grace." This motherhood in the order of grace
flows from her divine motherhood. Because she was, by the design of divine
Providence, the mother who nourished the divine Redeemer, Mary became "an
associate of unique nobility, and the Lord's humble handmaid," who
"cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the
Savior's work of restoring supernatural life to souls."45 And "this
maternity of Mary in the order of grace. . .will last without interruption
until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect." 46
23. If John's description of the event at Cana
presents Mary's caring motherhood at the beginning of Christ's messianic
activity, another passage from the same Gospel confirms this motherhood in the
salvific economy of grace at its crowning moment, namely when Christ's
sacrifice on the Cross, his Paschal Mystery, is accomplished. John's description
is concise: "Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his
mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw
his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his
mother: 'Woman, behold your son!' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your
mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home" (Jn.
19:25-27).
Undoubtedly, we find here an expression of the
Son's particular solicitude for his Mother, whom he is leaving in such great sorrow.
And yet the "testament of Christ's Cross" says more. Jesus highlights
a new relationship between Mother and Son, the whole truth and reality of which
he solemnly confirms. One can say that if Mary's motherhood of the human race
had already been outlined, now it is clearly stated and established. It emerges
from the definitive accomplishment of the Redeemer's Paschal Mystery. The
Mother of Christ, who stands at the very center of this mystery-a mystery which
embraces each individual and all humanity-is given as mother to every single
individual and all mankind. The man at the foot of the Cross is John, "the
disciple whom he loved."47 But it is not he alone. Following tradition,
the Council does not hesitate to call Mary "the Mother of Christ and
mother of mankind": since she "belongs to the offspring of Adam she
is one with all human beings.... Indeed she is 'clearly the mother of the
members of Christ...since she cooperated out of love so that there might be
born in the Church the faithful.'"48
And so this "new motherhood of Mary,"
generated by faith, is the fruit of the "new" love which came to
definitive maturity in her at the foot of the Cross, through her sharing in the
redemptive love of her Son.
24. Thus we find ourselves at the very center of
the fulfillment of the promise contained in the Proto-gospel: the "seed of
the woman...will crush the head of the serpent" (cf. Gen. 3:15). By his
redemptive death Jesus Christ conquers the evil of sin and death at its very
roots. It is significant that, as he speaks to his mother from the Cross, he
calls her "woman" and says to her: "Woman, behold your
son!" Moreover, he had addressed her by the same term at Cana too (cf. Jn.
2:4). How can one doubt that especially now, on Golgotha, this expression goes
to the very heart of the mystery of Mary, and indicates the unique place which
she occupies in the whole economy of salvation? As the Council teaches, in Mary
"the exalted Daughter of Sion, and after a long expectation of the
promise, the times were at length fulfilled and the new dispensation
established. All this occurred when the Son of God took a human nature from
her, that he might in the mysteries of his flesh free man from sin."49
The words uttered by Jesus from the Cross signify
that the motherhood of her who bore Christ finds a "new" continuation
in the Church and through the Church, symbolized and represented by John. In
this way, she who as the one "full of grace" was brought into the
mystery of Christ in order to be his Mother and thus the Holy Mother of God,
through the Church remains in that mystery as "the woman" spoken of
by the Book of Genesis (3:15) at the beginning and by the Apocalypse (12:1) at
the end of the history of salvation. In accordance with the eternal plan of
Providence, Mary's divine motherhood is to be poured out upon the Church, as
indicated by statements of Tradition, according to which Mary's
"motherhood" of the Church is the reflection and extension of her
motherhood of the Son of God.50
According to the Council the very moment of the
Church's birth and full manifestation to the world enables us to glimpse this
continuity of Mary's motherhood: "Since it pleased God not to manifest
solemnly the mystery of the salvation of the human race until he poured forth
the Spirit promised by Christ, we see the Apostles before the day of Pentecost
'continuing with one mind in prayer with the women and Mary the mother of
Jesus, and with his brethren' (Acts 1:14). We see Mary prayerfully imploring
the gift of the Spirit, who had already overshadowed her in the
Annunciation."51
And so, in the redemptive economy of grace,
brought about through the action of the Holy Spirit, there is a unique
correspondence between the moment of the Incarnation of the Word and the moment
of the birth of the Church. The person who links these two moments is Mary:
Mary at Nazareth and Mary in the Upper Room at Jerusalem. In both cases her
discreet yet essential presence indicates the path of "birth from the Holy
Spirit." Thus she who is present in the mystery of Christ as Mother
becomes-by the will of the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit-present in the
mystery of the Church. In the Church too she continues to be a maternal
presence, as is shown by the words spoken from the Cross: "Woman, behold
your son!"; "Behold, your mother."
PART II - THE MOTHER OF GOD AT THE CENTER OF THE
PILGRIM CHURCH
1. The Church, the People of
God present in all the nations of the earth
25. "The Church 'like a pilgrim in a foreign
land, presses forward amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations
of God,'52 announcing the Cross and Death of the Lord until he comes (cf. 1
Cor. 11:26)."53 "Israel according to the flesh, which wandered as an
exile in the desert, was already called the Church of God (cf. 2 Esd. 13:1;
Num. 20:4; Dt. 23:1ff.). Likewise the new Israel...is also called the Church of
Christ (cf Mt 16:18). For he has bought it for himself with his blood (Acts
20:28), has filled it with his Spirit, and provided it with those means which
befit it as a visible and social unity. God has gathered together as one all
those who in faith look upon Jesus as the author of salvation and the source of
unity and peace, and has established them as Church, that for each and all she
may be the visible sacrament of this saving unity."54
The Second Vatican Council speaks of the pilgrim
Church, establishing an analogy with the Israel of the Old Covenant journeying
through the desert. The journey also has an external character, visible in the
time and space in which it historically takes place. For the Church "is
destined to extend to all regions of the earth and so to enter into the history
of mankind," but at the same time "she transcends all limits of time
and of space."55 And yet the essential character of her pilgrimage is
interior: it is a question of a pilgrimage through faith, by "the power of
the Risen Lord,"56 a pilgrimage in the Holy Spirit, given to the Church as
the invisible Comforter (parakletos) (cf. Jn. 14:26; 15:26; 16:7): "Moving
forward through trial and tribulation, the Church is strengthened by the power
of God's grace promised to her by the Lord, so that...moved by the Holy Spirit,
she may never cease to renew herself, until through the Cross she arrives at
the light which knows no setting."57
It is precisely in this ecclesial journey or
pilgrimage through space and time, and even more through the history of souls,
that Mary is present, as the one who is "blessed because she
believed," as the one who advanced on the pilgrimage of faith, sharing
unlike any other creature in the mystery of Christ. The Council further says
that "Mary figured profoundly in the history of salvation and in a certain
way unites and mirrors within herself the central truths of the faith."58
Among all believers she is like a "mirror" in which are reflected in
the most profound and limpid way "the mighty works of God" (Acts
2:11).
26. Built by Christ upon the Apostles, the Church
became fully aware of these mighty works of God on the day of Pentecost, when
those gathered together in the Upper Room "were all filled with the Holy
Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance" (Acts 2:4). From that moment there also begins that journey of
faith, the Church's pilgrimage through the history of individuals and peoples.
We know that at the beginning of this journey Mary is present. We see her in
the midst of the Apostles in the Upper Room, "prayerfully imploring the
gift of the Spirit."59
In a sense her journey of faith is longer. The
Holy Spirit had already come down upon her, and she became his faithful spouse
at the Annunciation, welcoming the Word of the true God, offering "the
full submission of intellect and will...and freely assenting to the truth
revealed by him," indeed abandoning herself totally to God through
"the obedience of faith,"60 whereby she replied to the angel:
"Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your
word." The journey of faith made by Mary, whom we see praying in the Upper
Room, is thus longer than that of the others gathered there: Mary "goes
before them," "leads the way" for them.61 The moment of
Pentecost in Jerusalem had been prepared for by the moment of the Annunciation
in Nazareth, as well as by the Cross. In the Upper Room Mary's journey meets
the Church's journey of faith. In what way?
Among those who devoted themselves to prayer in
the Upper Room, preparing to go "into the whole world" after
receiving the Spirit, some had been called by Jesus gradually from the
beginning of his mission in Israel. Eleven of them had been made Apostles, and
to them Jesus had passed on the mission which he himself had received from the
Father. "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you" (Jn. 20:21),
he had said to the Apostles after the Resurrection. And forty days later,
before returning to the Father, he had added: "when the Holy Spirit has
come upon you...you shall be my witnesses...to the end of the earth" (cf.
Acts 1:8). This mission of the Apostles began the moment they left the Upper
Room in Jerusalem. The Church is born and then grows through the testimony that
Peter and the Apostles bear to the Crucified and Risen Christ (cf. Acts
2:31-34; 3:15-18; 4:10-12; 5:30-32).
Mary did not directly receive this apostolic
mission. She was not among those whom Jesus sent "to the whole world to
teach all nations" (cf. Mt. 28:19) when he conferred this mission on them.
But she was in the Upper Room, where the Apostles were preparing to take up
this mission with the coming of the Spirit of Truth: she was present with them.
In their midst Mary was "devoted to prayer" as the "mother of
Jesus" (cf. Acts 1:13-14), of the Crucified and Risen Christ. And that
first group of those who in faith looked "upon Jesus as the author of
salvation,"62 knew that Jesus was the Son of Mary, and that she was his
Mother, and that as such she was from the moment of his conception and birth a
unique witness to the mystery of Jesus, that mystery which before their eyes
had been disclosed and confirmed in the Cross and Resurrection. Thus, from the
very first moment, the Church "looked at" Mary through Jesus, just as
she "looked at" Jesus through Mary. For the Church of that time and
of every time Mary is a singular witness to the years of Jesus' infancy and
hidden life at Nazareth, when she "kept all these things, pondering them
in her heart" (Lk. 2:19; cf. Lk. 2:51).
But above all, in the Church of that time and of
every time Mary was and is the one who is "blessed because she
believed"; she was the first to believe. From the moment of the
Annunciation and conception, from the moment of his birth in the stable at
Bethlehem, Mary followed Jesus step by step in her maternal pilgrimage of
faith. She followed him during the years of his hidden life at Nazareth; she
followed him also during the time after he left home, when he began "to do
and to teach" (cf. Acts 1:1) in the midst of Israel. Above all she
followed him in the tragic experience of Golgotha. Now, while Mary was with the
Apostles in the Upper Room in Jerusalem at the dawn of the Church, her faith,
born from the words of the Annunciation, found confirmation. The angel had said
to her then: "You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall
call his name Jesus. He will be great...and he will reign over the house of
Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." The recent
events on Calvary had shrouded that promise in darkness, yet not even beneath
the Cross did Mary's faith fail. She had still remained the one who, like
Abraham, "in hope believed against hope" (Rom. 4:18). But it is only
after the Resurrection that hope had shown its true face and the promise had
begun to be transformed into reality. For Jesus, before returning to the
Father, had said to the Apostles: "Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations . . . lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (cf. Mt.
28:19-20). Thus had spoken the one who by his Resurrection had revealed himself
as the conqueror of death, as the one who possessed the kingdom of which, as
the angel said, "there will be no end."
27. Now, at the first dawn of the Church, at the
beginning of the long journey through faith which began at Pentecost in
Jerusalem, Mary was with all those who were the seed of the "new
Israel." She was present among them as an exceptional witness to the
mystery of Christ. And the Church was assiduous in prayer together with her,
and at the same time "contemplated her in the light of the Word made
man." It was always to be so. For when the Church "enters more
intimately into the supreme mystery of the Incarnation," she thinks of the
Mother of Christ with profound reverence and devotion.63 Mary belongs
indissolubly to the mystery of Christ, and she belongs also to the mystery of
the Church from the beginning, from the day of the Church's birth. At the basis
of what the Church has been from the beginning, and of what she must
continually become from generation to generation, in the midst of all the
nations of the earth, we find the one "who believed that there would be a
fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord" (Lk. 1:45). It is
precisely Mary's faith which marks the beginning of the new and eternal
Covenant of God with man in Jesus Christ; this heroic faith of hers "precedes"
the apostolic witness of the Church, and ever remains in the Church's heart
hidden like a special heritage of God's revelation. All those who from
generation to generation accept the apostolic witness of the Church share in
that mysterious inheritance, and in a sense share in Mary's faith.
Elizabeth's words "Blessed is she who
believed" continue to accompany the Virgin also at Pentecost; they
accompany her from age to age, wherever knowledge of Christ's salvific mystery
spreads, through the Church's apostolic witness and service. Thus is fulfilled
the prophecy of the Magnificat: "All generations will call me blessed; for
he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name" (Lk.
1:48-49). For knowledge of the mystery of Christ leads us to bless his Mother,
in the form of special veneration for the Theotokos. But this veneration always
includes a blessing of her faith, for the Virgin of Nazareth became blessed
above all through this faith, in accordance with Elizabeth's words. Those who
from generation to generation among the different peoples and nations of the
earth accept with faith the mystery of Christ, the Incarnate Word and Redeemer
of the world, not only turn with veneration to Mary and confidently have
recourse to her as his Mother, but also seek in her faith support for their
own. And it is precisely this lively sharing in Mary's faith that determines
her special place in the Church's pilgrimage as the new People of God
throughout the earth.
28. As the Council says, "Mary figured
profoundly in the history of salvation.... Hence when she is being preached and
venerated, she summons the faithful to her Son and his sacrifice, and to love
for the Father."64 For this reason, Mary's faith, according to the
Church's apostolic witness, in some way continues to become the faith of the
pilgrim People of God: the faith of individuals and communities, of places and
gatherings, and of the various groups existing in the Church. It is a faith
that is passed on simultaneously through both the mind and the heart. It is
gained or regained continually through prayer. Therefore, "the Church in
her apostolic work also rightly looks to her who brought forth Christ,
conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin, so that through the Church
Christ may be born and increase in the hearts of the faithful also."65
Today, as on this pilgrimage of faith we draw near
to the end of the second Christian Millennium, the Church, through the teaching
of the Second Vatican Council, calls our attention to her vision of herself, as
the "one People of God...among all the nations of the earth." And she
reminds us of that truth according to which all the faithful, though
"scattered throughout the world, are in communion with each other in the
Holy Spirit."66 We can therefore say that in this union the mystery of
Pentecost is continually being accomplished. At the same time, the Lord's
apostles and disciples, in all the nations of the earth, "devote
themselves to prayer together with Mary, the mother of Jesus" (Acts 1:14).
As they constitute from generation to generation the "sign of the
Kingdom" which is not of his world,67 they are also aware that in the
midst of this world they must gather around that King to whom the nations have
been given in heritage (cf. Ps. 2:8), to whom the Father has given "the
throne of David his father," so that he "will reign over the house of
Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will he no end."
During this time of vigil, Mary, through the same
faith which made her blessed, especially from the moment of the Annunciation,
is present in the Church's mission, present in the Church's work of introducing
into the world the Kingdom of her Son.68
This presence of Mary finds many different
expressions in our day, just as it did throughout the Church's history. It also
has a wide field of action. Through the faith and piety of individual
believers; through the traditions of Christian families or "domestic
churches," of parish and missionary communities, religious institutes and
dioceses; through the radiance and attraction of the great shrines where not
only individuals or local groups, but sometimes whole nations and societies,
even whole continents, seek to meet the Mother of the Lord, the one who is
blessed because she believed is the first among believers and therefore became
the Mother of Emmanuel. This is the message of the Land of Palestine, the
spiritual homeland of all Christians because it was the homeland of the Savior
of the world and of his Mother. This is the message of the many churches in
Rome and throughout the world which have been raised up in the course of the
centuries by the faith of Christians. This is the message of centers like
Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima and the others situated in the various countries.
Among them how could I fail to mention the one in my own native land, Jasna
Gora? One could perhaps speak of a specific "geography" of faith and
Marian devotion, which includes all these special places of pilgrimage where
the People of God seek to meet the Mother of God in order to find, within the
radius of the maternal presence of her "who believed," a
strengthening of their own faith. For in Mary's faith, first at the
Annunciation and then fully at the foot of the Cross, an interior space was
reopened within humanity which the eternal Father can fill "with every
spiritual blessing." It is the space "of the new and eternal
Covenant,"69 and it continues to exist in the Church, which in Christ is
"a kind of sacrament or sign of intimate union with God, and of the unity
of all mankind."70
In the faith which Mary professed at the
Annunciation as the "handmaid of the Lord" and in which she
constantly "precedes" the pilgrim People of God throughout the earth,
the Church "strives energetically and constantly to bring all humanity...back
to Christ its Head in the unity of his Spirit."71
2. The Church's journey and the
unity of all Christians
29. "In all of Christ's disciples the Spirit
arouses the desire to be peacefully united, in the manner determined by Christ,
as one flock under one shepherd."72 The journey of the Church, especially
in our own time, is marked by the sign of ecumenism: Christians are seeking
ways to restore that unity which Christ implored from the Father for his
disciples on the day before his Passion: "That they may all be one; even
as you, Father, are in me, and I in you that they also may be in us, so that
the world may believe that you have sent me" (Jn. 17:21). The unity of
Christ's disciples, therefore, is a great sign given in order to kindle faith
in the world while their division constitutes a scandal.73
The ecumenical movement, on the basis of a clearer
and more widespread awareness of the urgent need to achieve the unity of all
Christians, has found on the part of the Catholic Church its culminating
expression in the work of the Second Vatican Council: Christians must deepen in
themselves and each of their communities that "obedience of faith" of
which Mary is the first and brightest example. And since she "shines forth
on earth,...as a sign of sure hope and solace for the pilgrim People of
God," "it gives great joy and comfort to this most holy Synod that
among the divided brethren, too, there are those who live due honor to the
Mother of our Lord and Savior. This is especially so among the
Easterners."74
30. Christians know that their unity will be truly
rediscovered only if it is based on the unity of their faith. They must resolve
considerable discrepancies of doctrine concerning the mystery and ministry of
the Church, and sometimes also concerning the role of Mary in the work of
salvation.75 The dialogues begun by the Catholic Church with the Churches and
Ecclesial Communities of the West76 are steadily converging upon these two
inseparable aspects of the same mystery of salvation. If the mystery of the
Word made flesh enables us to glimpse the mystery of the divine motherhood and
is, in turn, contemplation of the Mother of God brings us to a more profound
understanding of the mystery of the Incarnation, then the same must be said for
the mystery of the Church and Mary's role in the work of salvation. By a more
profound study of both Mary and the Church, clarifying each by the light of the
other, Christians who are eager to do what Jesus tells them-as their Mother
recommends (cf. Jn. 2:5)- will be able to go forward together on this
"pilgrimage of faith." Mary, who is still the model of this
pilgrimage, is to lead them to the unity which is willed by their one Lord and
so much desired by those who are attentively listening to what "the Spirit
is saying to the Churches" today (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17).
Meanwhile, it is a hopeful sign that these
Churches and Ecclesial Communities are finding agreement with the Catholic
Church on fundamental points of Christian belief, including matters relating to
the Virgin Mary. For they recognize her as the Mother of the Lord and hold that
this forms part of our faith in Christ, true God and true man. They look to her
who at the foot of the Cross accepts as her son the beloved disciple, the one
who in his turn accepts her as his mother.
Therefore, why should we not all together look to
her as our common Mother, who prays for the unity of God's family and who
"precedes" us all at the head of the long line of witnesses of faith
in the one Lord, the Son of God, who was conceived in her virginal womb by the
power of the Holy Spirit?
31. On the other hand, I wish to emphasize how
profoundly the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and the ancient Churches of
the East feel united by love and praise of the Theotokos. Not only "basic
dogmas of the Christian faith concerning the Trinity and God's Word made flesh
of the Virgin Mary were defined in Ecumenical Councils held in the
East,"77 but also in their liturgical worship "the Orientals pay high
tribute, in very beautiful hymns, to Mary ever Virgin...God's Most Holy
Mother."78
The brethren of these Churches have experienced a
complex history, but it is one that has always been marked by an intense desire
for Christian commitment and apostolic activity, despite frequent persecution,
even to the point of bloodshed. It is a history of fidelity to the Lord, an
authentic "pilgrimage of faith" in space and time, during which
Eastern Christians have always looked with boundless trust to the Mother of the
Lord, celebrated her with praise and invoked her with unceasing prayer. In the
difficult moments of their troubled Christian existence, "they have taken refuge
under her protection,"79 conscious of having in her a powerful aid. The
Churches which profess the doctrine of Ephesus proclaim the Virgin as
"true Mother of God," since "our Lord Jesus Christ, born of the
Father before time began according to his divinity, in the last days, for our
sake and for our salvation, was himself begotten of Mary, the Virgin Mother of
God according to his humanity."80 The Greek Fathers and the Byzantine
tradition contemplating the Virgin in the light of the Word made flesh, have
sought to penetrate the depth of that bond which unites Mary, as the Mother of
God, to Christ and the Church: the Virgin is a permanent presence in the whole
reality of the salvific mystery.
The Coptic and Ethiopian traditions were
introduced to this contemplation of the mystery of Mary by St. Cyril of
Alexandria, and in their turn they have celebrated it with a profuse poetic
blossoming.81 The poetic genius of St. Ephrem the Syrian, called "the lyre
of the Holy Spirit," tirelessly sang of Mary, leaving a still living mark
on the whole tradition of the Syriac Church.82 In his panegyric of the
Theotókos, St. Gregory of Narek, one of the outstanding glories of Armenia,
with powerful poetic inspiration ponders the different aspects of the mystery
of the Incarnation, and each of them is for him an occasion to sing and extol
the extraordinary dignity and magnificent beauty of the Virgin Mary, Mother of
the Word made flesh.83
It does not surprise us therefore that Mary
occupies a privileged place in the worship or the ancient Oriental Churches
with an incomparable abundance of feasts and hymns.
32. In the Byzantine liturgy, in all the hours of
the Divine Office, praise of the Mother is linked with praise of her Son and
with the praise which, through the Son, is offered up to the Father in the Holy
Spirit. In the Anaphora or Eucharistic Prayer of St. John Chrysostom,
immediately after the epiclesis the assembled community sings in honor of the
Mother of God: "It is truly just to proclaim you blessed, O Mother of God,
who are most blessed, all pure and Mother of our God. We magnify you who are
more honorable than the Cherubim and incomparably more glorious than the
Seraphim. You who, without losing your virginity, gave birth to the Word of
God. You who are truly the Mother of God."
These praises, which in every celebration of the
Eucharistic Liturgy are offered to Mary, have moulded the faith, piety and
prayer of the faithful. In the course of the centuries they have permeated
their whole spiritual outlook, fostering in them a profound devotion to the
"All Holy Mother of God."
33. This year there occurs the twelfth centenary
of the Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (787). Putting an end to the
wellknown controversy about the cult of sacred images, this Council defined
that, according to the teaching of the holy Fathers and the universal tradition
of the Church, there could be exposed for the veneration of the faithful,
together with the Cross, also images of the Mother of God, of the angels and of
the saints, in churches and houses and at the roadside.84 This custom has been
maintained in the whole of the East and also in the West. Images of the Virgin
have a place of honor in churches and houses. In them Mary is represented in a
number of ways: as the throne of God carrying the Lord and giving him to
humanity (Theotokos); as the way that leads to Christ and manifests him
(Hodegetria); as a praying figure in an attitude of intercession and as a sign
of the divine presence on the journey of the faithful until the day of the Lord
(Deesis); as the protectress who stretches out her mantle over the peoples
(Pokrov), or as the merciful Virgin of tenderness (Eleousa). She is usually
represented with her Son, the child Jesus, in her arms: it is the relationship
with the Son which glorifies the Mother. Sometimes she embraces him with
tenderness (Glykophilousa); at other times she is a hieratic figure, apparently
rapt in contemplation of him who is the Lord of history (cf. Rev. 5:9-14).85
It is also appropriate to mention the icon of Our
Lady of Vladimir, which continually accompanied the pilgrimage of faith of the
peoples of ancient Rus'. The first Millennium of the conversion of those noble
lands to Christianity is approaching: lands of humble folk, of thinkers and of
saints. The Icons are still venerated in the Ukraine, in Byelorussia and in
Russia under various titles. They are images which witness to the faith and
spirit of prayer of that people, who sense the presence and protection of the
Mother of God. In these Icons the Virgin shines as the image of divine beauty,
the abode of Eternal Wisdom, the figure of the one who prays, the prototype of
contemplation, the image of glory: she who even in her earthly life possessed
the spiritual knowledge inaccessible to human reasoning and who attained
through faith the most sublime knowledge. I also recall the Icon of the Virgin
of the Cenacle, praying with the Apostles as they awaited the Holy Spirit:
could she not become the sign of hope for all those who, in fraternal dialogue,
wish to deepen their obedience of faith?
34. Such a wealth of praise, built up by the
different forms of the Church's great tradition, could help us to hasten the
day when the Church can begin once more to breathe fully with her "two
lungs," the East and the West. As I have often said, this is more than
ever necessary today. It would be an effective aid in furthering the progress
of the dialogue already taking place between the Catholic Church and the
Churches and Ecclesial Communities of the West.86 It would also be the way for
the pilgrim Church to sing and to live more perfectly her
"Magnificat."
3. The "Magnificat"
of the pilgrim Church
35. At the present stage of her journey,
therefore, the Church seeks to rediscover the unity of all who profess their
faith in Christ, in order to show obedience to her Lord, who prayed for this
unity before his Passion. "Like a pilgrim in a foreign land, the Church
presses forward amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God,
announcing the Cross and Death of the Lord until he comes."87 "Moving
forward through trial and tribulation, the Church is strengthened by the power
of God's grace promised to her by the Lord, so that in the weakness of the
flesh she may not waver from perfect fidelity, but remain a bride worthy of her
Lord; that moved by the Holy Spirit she may never cease to renew herself, until
through the Cross she arrives at the light which knows no setting."88
The Virgin Mother is constantly present on this
journey of faith of the People of God towards the light. This is shown in a special
way by the canticle of the "Magnificat," which, having welled up from
the depths of Mary's faith at the Visitation, ceaselessly re-echoes in the
heart of the Church down the centuries. This is proved by its daily recitation
in the liturgy of Vespers and at many other moments of both personal and
communal devotion.
"My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on his servant in her lowliness.
For behold, henceforth all generations
will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name:
and his mercy is from age to age
on those who fear him.
He has shown strength with his arm,
he has scattered the proud-hearted,
he has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his posterity for ever."
(Lk.1 :46-55)
36. When Elizabeth greeted her young kinswoman
coming from Nazareth, Mary replied with the Magnificat. In her greeting,
Elizabeth first called Mary "blessed" because of "the fruit of
her womb," and then she called her "blessed" because of her
faith (cf. Lk. 1:42, 45). These two blessings referred directly to the
Annunciation. Now, at the Visitation, when Elizabeth's greeting bears witness
to that culminating moment, Mary's faith acquires a new consciousness and a new
expression. That which remained hidden in the depths of the "obedience of
faith" at the Annunciation can now be said to spring forth like a clear
and life-giving flame of the spirit. The words used by Mary on the threshold of
Elizabeth's house are an inspired profession of her faith, in which her
response to the revealed word is expressed with the religious and poetical
exultation of her whole being towards God. In these sublime words, which are
simultaneously very simple and wholly inspired by the sacred texts of the
people of Israel,89 Mary's personal experience, the ecstasy of her heart,
shines forth. In them shines a ray of the mystery of God, the glory of his
ineffable holiness, the eternal love which, as an irrevocable gift, enters into
human history.
Mary is the first to share in this new revelation
of God and, within the same, in this new "self-giving" of God.
Therefore she proclaims: "For he who is mighty has done great things for
me, and holy is his name." Her words reflect a joy of spirit which is difficult
to express: "My spirit rejoices in God my Savior." Indeed, "the
deepest truth about God and the salvation of man is made clear to us in Christ,
who is at the same time the mediator and the fullness of all
revelation."90 In her exultation Mary confesses that she finds herself in
the very heart of this fullness of Christ. She is conscious that the promise
made to the fathers, first of all "to Abraham and to his posterity for
ever," is being fulfilled in herself. She is thus aware that concentrated
within herself as the mother of Christ is the whole salvific economy, in which
"from age to age" is manifested he who as the God of the Covenant,
"remembers his mercy."
37. The Church, which from the beginning has
modelled her earthly journey on that of the Mother of God, constantly repeats
after her the words of the Magnificat. From the depths of the Virgin's faith at
the Annunciation and the Visitation, the Church derives the truth about the God
of the Covenant: the God who is Almighty and does "great things" for
man: "holy is his name." In the Magnificat the Church sees uprooted
that sin which is found at the outset of the earthly history of man and woman,
the sin of disbelief and of "little faith" in God. In contrast with
the "suspicion" which the "father of lies" sowed in the
heart of Eve the first woman, Mary, whom tradition is wont to call the
"new Eve"91 and the true "Mother of the living,"92 boldly
proclaims the undimmed truth about God: the holy and almighty God, who from the
beginning is the source of all gifts, he who "has done great things"
in her, as well as in the whole universe. In the act of creation God gives
existence to all that is. In creating man, God gives him the dignity of the
image and likeness of himself in a special way as compared with all earthly
creatures. Moreover, in his desire to give God gives himself in the Son,
notwithstanding man's sin: "He so loved the world that he gave his only
Son" (Jn. 3:16). Mary is the first witness of this marvelous truth, which
will be fully accomplished through "the works and words" (cf. Acts
1:1) of her Son and definitively through his Cross and Resurrection.
The Church, which even "amid trials and
tribulations" does not cease repeating with Mary the words of the
Magnificat, is sustained by the power of God's truth, proclaimed on that
occasion with such extraordinary simplicity. At the same time, by means of this
truth about God, the Church desires to shed light upon the difficult and
sometimes tangled paths of man's earthly existence. The Church's journey,
therefore, near the end of the second Christian Millennium, involves a renewed
commitment to her mission. Following him who said of himself: "(God) has
anointed me to preach good news to the poor" (cf. Lk. 4:18), the Church
has sought from generation to generation and still seeks today to accomplish
that same mission.
The Church's love of preference for the poor is
wonderfully inscribed in Mary's Magnificat. The God of the Covenant, celebrated
in the exultation of her spirit by the Virgin of Nazareth, is also he who
"has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly,
...filled the hungry with good things, sent the rich away empty, ...scattered
the proud-hearted...and his mercy is from age to age on those who fear him."
Mary is deeply imbued with the spirit of the "poor of Yahweh," who in
the prayer of the Psalms awaited from God their salvation, placing all their
trust in him (cf. Pss. 25; 31; 35; 55). Mary truly proclaims the coming of the
"Messiah of the poor" (cf. Is. 11:4; 61:1). Drawing from Mary's
heart, from the depth of her faith expressed in the words of the Magnificat,
the Church renews ever more effectively in herself the awareness that the truth
about God who saves, the truth about God who is the source of every gift, cannot
be separated from the manifestation of his love of preference for the poor and
humble, that love which, celebrated in the Magnificat, is later expressed in
the words and works of Jesus.
The Church is thus aware-and at the present time
this awareness is particularly vivid-not only that these two elements of the
message contained in the Magnificat cannot be separated, but also that there is
a duty to safeguard carefully the importance of "the poor" and of
"the option in favor of the poor" in the word of the living God.
These are matters and questions intimately connected with the Christian meaning
of freedom and liberation. "Mary is totally dependent upon God and
completely directed towards him, and at the side of her Son, she is the most
perfect image of freedom and of the liberation of humanity and of the universe.
It is to her as Mother and Model that the Church must look in order to
understand in its completeness the meaning of her own mission."93
PART III - MATERNAL MEDIATION
1. Mary, the Handmaid of the
Lord
38. The Church knows and teaches with Saint Paul
that there is only one mediator: "For there is one God, and there is one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a
ransom for all" (1 Tim. 2:5-6). "The maternal role of Mary towards
people in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Christ, but
rather shows its power":94 it is mediation in Christ.
The Church knows and teaches that "all the
saving influences of the Blessed Virgin on mankind originate...from the divine
pleasure. They flow forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rest
on his mediation, depend entirely on it, and draw all their power from it. In
no way do they impede the immediate union of the faithful with Christ. Rather,
they foster this union."95 This saving influence is sustained by the Holy
Spirit, who, just as he overshadowed the Virgin Mary when he began in her the
divine motherhood, in a similar way constantly sustains her solicitude for the
brothers and sisters of her Son.
In effect, Mary's mediation is intimately linked
with her motherhood. It possesses a specifically maternal character, which
distinguishes it from the mediation of the other creatures who in various and
always subordinate ways share in the one mediation of Christ, although her own
mediation is also a shared mediation.96 In fact, while it is true that "no
creature could ever be classed with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer," at
the same time "the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but
rather gives rise among creatures to a manifold cooperation which is but a
sharing in this unique source." And thus "the one goodness of God is
in reality communicated diversely to his creatures."97
The teaching of the Second Vatican Council
presents the truth of Mary's mediation as "a sharing in the one unique
source that is the mediation of Christ himself." Thus we read: "The
Church does not hesitate to profess this subordinate role of Mary. She
experiences it continuously and commends it to the hearts of the faithful, so
that, encouraged by this maternal help, they may more closely adhere to the
Mediator and Redeemer."98 This role is at the same time special and
extraordinary. It flows from her divine motherhood and can be understood and
lived in faith only on the basis of the full truth of this motherhood. Since by
virtue of divine election Mary is the earthly Mother of the Father's
consubstantial Son and his "generous companion" in the work of
redemption "she is a mother to us in the order of grace."99 This role
constitutes a real dimension of her presence in the saving mystery of Christ
and the Church.
39. From this point of view we must consider once
more the fundamental event in the economy of salvation, namely the Incarnation
of the Word at the moment of the Annunciation. It is significant that Mary,
recognizing in the words of the divine messenger the will of the Most High and
submitting to his power, says: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let
it be to me according to your word" (Lk. 1:38). The first moment of
submission to the one mediation "between God and men"-the mediation
of Jesus Christ-is the Virgin of Nazareth's acceptance of motherhood. Mary
consents to God's choice, in order to become through the power of the Holy
Spirit the Mother of the Son of God. It can be said that a consent to
motherhood is above all a result of her total selfgiving to God in virginity.
Mary accepted her election as Mother of the Son of God, guided by spousal love,
the love which totally "consecrates" a human being to God. By virtue
of this love, Mary wished to be always and in all things "given to
God," living in virginity. The words "Behold, I am the handmaid of
the Lord" express the fact that from the outset she accepted and
understood her own motherhood as a total gift of self, a gift of her person to
the service of the saving plans of the Most High. And to the very end she lived
her entire maternal sharing in the life of Jesus Christ, her Son, in a way that
matched her vocation to virginity.
Mary's motherhood, completely pervaded by her
spousal attitude as the "handmaid of the Lord," constitutes the first
and fundamental dimension of that mediation which the Church confesses and
proclaims in her regard100 and continually "commends to the hearts of the
faithful," since the Church has great trust in her. For it must be
recognized that before anyone else it was God himself, the Eternal Father, who
entrusted himself to the Virgin of Nazareth, giving her his own Son in the
mystery of the Incarnation. Her election to the supreme office and dignity of
Mother of the Son of God refers, on the ontological level, to the very reality
of the union of the two natures in the person of the Word (hypostatic union).
This basic fact of being the Mother of the Son of God is from the very
beginning a complete openness to the person of Christ, to his whole work, to
his whole mission. The words "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord"
testify to Mary's openness of spirit: she perfectly unites in herself the love
proper to virginity and the love characteristic of motherhood, which are joined
and, as it were, fused together.
For this reason Mary became not only the
"nursing mother" of the Son of Man but also the "associate of
unique nobility"101 of the Messiah and Redeemer. As I have already said,
she advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and in this pilgrimage to the foot of
the Cross there was simultaneously accomplished her maternal cooperation with
the Savior's whole mission through her actions and sufferings. Along the path
of this collaboration with the work of her Son, the Redeemer, Mary's motherhood
itself underwent a singular transformation, becoming ever more imbued with
"burning charity" towards all those to whom Christ's mission was
directed. Through this "burning charity," which sought to achieve, in
union with Christ, the restoration of "supernatural life to
souls,"102 Mary entered, in a way all her own, into the one mediation
"between God and men" which is the mediation of the man Christ Jesus.
If she was the first to experience within herself the supernatural consequences
of this one mediation-in the Annunciation she had been greeted as "full of
grace"-then we must say that through this fullness of grace and
supernatural life she was especially predisposed to cooperation with Christ,
the one Mediator of human salvation. And such cooperation is precisely this
mediation subordinated to the mediation of Christ.
In Mary's case we have a special and exceptional
mediation, based upon her "fullness of grace," which was expressed in
the complete willingness of the "handmaid of the Lord." In response
to this interior willingness of his Mother, Jesus Christ prepared her ever more
completely to become for all people their "mother in the order of
grace." This is indicated, at least indirectly, by certain details noted
by the Synoptics (cf. Lk. 11:28; 8:20-21; Mk. 3:32-35; Mt. 12:47-50) and still
more so by the Gospel of John (cf. 2:1-12; 19:25-27), which I have already
mentioned. Particularly eloquent in this regard are the words spoken by Jesus
on the Cross to Mary and John.
40. After the events of the Resurrection and
Ascension Mary entered the Upper Room together with the Apostles to await
Pentecost, and was present there as the Mother of the glorified Lord. She was
not only the one who "advanced in her pilgrimage of faith" and
loyally persevered in her union with her Son "unto the Cross," but
she was also the "handmaid of the Lord," left by her Son as Mother in
the midst of the infant Church: "Behold your mother." Thus there
began to develop a special bond between this Mother and the Church. For the
infant Church was the fruit of the Cross and Resurrection of her Son. Mary, who
from the beginning had given herself without reserve to the person and work of
her Son, could not but pour out upon the Church, from the very beginning, her
maternal self-giving. After her Son's departure, her motherhood remains in the
Church as maternal mediation: interceding for all her children, the Mother
cooperates in the saving work of her Son, the Redeemer of the world. In fact
the Council teaches that the "motherhood of Mary in the order of
grace...will last without interruption until the eternal fulfillment of all the
elect."103 With the redeeming death of her Son, the maternal mediation of
the handmaid of the Lord took on a universal dimension, for the work of
redemption embraces the whole of humanity. Thus there is manifested in a
singular way the efficacy of the one and universal mediation of Christ
"between God and men" Mary's cooperation shares, in its subordinate
character, in the universality of the mediation of the Redeemer, the one
Mediator. This is clearly indicated by the Council in the words quoted above.
"For," the text goes on, "taken up
to heaven, she did not lay aside this saving role, but by her manifold acts of
intercession continues to win for us gifts of eternal salvation."104 With
this character of "intercession," first manifested at Cana in
Galilee, Mary's mediation continues in the history of the Church and the world.
We read that Mary "by her maternal charity, cares for the brethren of her
Son who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until
they are led to their happy homeland."105 In this way Mary's motherhood
continues unceasingly in the Church as the mediation which intercedes, and the
Church expresses her faith in this truth by invoking Mary "under the
titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix and Mediatrix."106
41. Through her mediation, subordinate to that of
the Redeemer, Mary contributes in a special way to the union of the pilgrim
Church on earth with the eschatological and heavenly reality of the Communion
of Saints, since she has already been "assumed into heaven."107 The
truth of the Assumption, defined by Pius XII, is reaffirmed by the Second
Vatican Council, which thus expresses the Church's faith: "Preserved free
from all guilt of original sin, the Immaculate Virgin was taken up body and
soul into heavenly glory upon the completion of her earthly sojourn. She was
exalted by the Lord as Queen of the Universe, in order that she might be the
more thoroughly conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords (cf. Rev. 19:16) and
the conqueror of sin and death."108 In this teaching Pius XII was in
continuity with Tradition, which has found many different expressions in the
history of the Church, both in the East and in the West.
By the mystery of the Assumption into heaven there
were definitively accomplished in Mary all the effects of the one mediation of
Christ the Redeemer of the world and Risen Lord: "In Christ shall all be
made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his
coming those who belong to Christ" (1 Cor. 15:22-23). In the mystery of
the Assumption is expressed the faith of the Church, according to which Mary is
"united by a close and indissoluble bond" to Christ, for, if as
Virgin and Mother she was singularly united with him in his first coming, so
through her continued collaboration with him she will also be united with him
in expectation of the second; "redeemed in an especially sublime manner by
reason of the merits of her Son,"109 she also has that specifically
maternal role of mediatrix of mercy at his final coming, when all those who
belong to Christ "shall be made alive," when "the last enemy to
be destroyed is death" (1 Cor. 15:26)."110
Connected with this exaltation of the noble
"Daughter of Sion"111 through her Assumption into heaven is the
mystery of her eternal glory. For the Mother of Christ is glorified as
"Queen of the Universe."112 She who at the Annunciation called
herself the "handmaid of the Lord" remained throughout her earthly
life faithful to what this name expresses. In this she confirmed that she was a
true "disciple" of Christ, who strongly emphasized that his mission
was one of service: the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to
give his life as a ransom for many" (Mt. 20:28). In this way Mary became
the first of those who, "serving Christ also in others, with humility and
patience lead their brothers and sisters to that King whom to serve is to
reign,"113 and she fully obtained that "state of royal freedom"
proper to Christ's disciples: to serve means to reign!
"Christ obeyed even at the cost of death, and
was therefore raised up by the Father (cf. Phil. 2:8-9). Thus he entered into
the glory of his kingdom. To him all things are made subject until he subjects
himself and all created things to the Father, that God may be all in all (cf. 1
Cor. 15:27-28)."114 Mary, the handmaid of the Lord, has a share in this
Kingdom of the Son.115 The glory of serving does not cease to be her royal
exaltation: assumed into heaven, she does not cease her saving service, which
expresses her maternal mediation "until the eternal fulfillment of all the
elect."116 Thus, she who here on earth "loyally preserved in her
union with her Son unto the Cross," continues to remain united with him,
while now "all things are subjected to him, until he subjects to the
Father himself and all things." Thus in her Assumption into heaven, Mary
is as it were clothed by the whole reality of the Communion of Saints, and her
very union with the Son in glory is wholly oriented towards the definitive
fullness of the Kingdom, when "God will be all in all."
In this phase too Mary's maternal mediation does
not cease to be subordinate to him who is the one Mediator, until the final
realization of "the fullness of time," that is to say until "all
things are united in Christ" (cf. Eph. 1:10).
2. Mary in the life of the
Church and of every Christian
42. Linking itself with Tradition, the Second
Vatican Council brought new light to bear on the role of the Mother of Christ
in the life of the Church. "Through the gift...of divine motherhood, Mary
is united with her Son, the Redeemer, and with his singular graces and offices.
By these, the Blessed Virgin is also intimately united with the Church: the
Mother of God is a figure of the Church in the matter of faith, charity and
perfect union with Christ."117 We have already noted how, from the
beginning, Mary remains with the Apostles in expectation of Pentecost and how,
as "the blessed one who believed," she is present in the midst of the
pilgrim Church from generation to generation through faith and as the model of
the hope which does not disappoint (cf. Rom. 5:5).
Mary believed in the fulfillment of what had been
said to her by the Lord. As Virgin, she believed that she would conceive and
bear a son: the "Holy One," who bears the name of "Son of
God," the name "Jesus" (= God who saves). As handmaid of the
Lord, she remained in perfect fidelity to the person and mission of this Son.
As Mother, "believing and obeying...she brought forth on earth the
Father's Son. This she did, knowing not man but overshadowed by the Holy
Spirit."118
For these reasons Mary is honored in the Church
"with special reverence. Indeed, from most ancient times the Blessed
Virgin Mary has been venerated under the title of 'God-bearer.' In all perils
and needs, the faithful have fled prayerfully to her protection."119 This
cult is altogether special: it bears in itself and expresses the profound link
which exists between the Mother of Christ and the Church.120 As Virgin and
Mother, Mary remains for the Church a "permanent model." It can
therefore be said that especially under this aspect, namely as a model, or
rather as a "figure," Mary, present in the mystery of Christ, remains
constantly present also in the mystery of the Church. For the Church too is
"called mother and virgin," and these names have a profound biblical
and theological justification.121
43. The Church "becomes herself a mother by
accepting God's word with fidelity."122 Like Mary, who first believed by
accepting the word of God revealed to her at the Annunciation and by remaining
faithful to that word in all her trials even unto the Cross, so too the Church
becomes a mother when, accepting with fidelity the word of God, "by her
preaching and by baptism she brings forth to a new and immortal life children
who are conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of God."123 This
"maternal" characteristic of the Church was expressed in a particularly
vivid way by the Apostle to the Gentiles when he wrote: "My little
children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you!"
(Gal. 4:19) These words of Saint Paul contain an interesting sign of the early
Church's awareness of her own motherhood, linked to her apostolic service to
mankind. This awareness enabled and still enables the Church to see the mystery
of her life and mission modelled upon the example of the Mother of the Son, who
is "the first-born among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29).
It can be said that from Mary the Church also
learns her own motherhood: she recognizes the maternal dimension of her
vocation, which is essentially bound to her sacramental nature, in
"contemplating Mary's mysterious sanctity, imitating her charity and
faithfully fulfilling the Father's will."124 If the Church is the sign and
instrument of intimate union with God, she is so by reason of her motherhood,
because, receiving life from the Spirit, she "generates" sons and
daughters of the human race to a new life in Christ. For, just as Mary is at
the service of the mystery of the Incarnation, so the Church is always at the
service of the mystery of adoption to sonship through grace.
Likewise, following the example of Mary, the
Church remains the virgin faithful to her spouse: The Church herself is a
virgin who keeps whole and pure the fidelity she has pledged to her
Spouse."125 For the Church is the spouse of Christ, as is clear from the
Pauline Letters (cf. Eph. 5:21-33; 2 Cor. 11:2), and from the title found in
John: "bride of the Lamb" (Rev. 21:9). If the Church as spouse
"keeps the fidelity she has pledged to Christ," this fidelity, even
though in the Apostle's teaching it has become an image of marriage (cf. Eph.
5:23-33), also has value as a model of total self-giving to God in celibacy
"for the kingdom of heaven," in virginity consecrated to God (cf. Mt.
19:11-12; 2 Cor. 11:2). Precisely such virginity, after the example of the
Virgin of Nazareth, is the source of a special spiritual fruitfulness: it is
the source of motherhood in the Holy Spirit.
But the Church also preserves the faith received
from Christ. Following the example of Mary, who kept and pondered in her heart
everything relating to her divine Son (cf. Lk. 2:19, 51), the Church is
committed to preserving the word of God and investigating its riches with
discernment and prudence, in order to bear faithful witness to it before all
mankind in every age.126
44. Given Mary's relationship to the Church as an
exemplar, the Church is close to her and seeks to become like her:
"Imitating the Mother of her Lord, and by the power of the Holy Spirit,
she preserves with virginal purity an integral faith, a firm hope, and a
sincere charity."127 Mary is thus present in the mystery of the Church as
a model. But the Church's mystery also consists in generating people to a new
and immortal life: this is her motherhood in the Holy Spirit. And here Mary is
not only the model and figure of the Church; she is much more. For, "with
maternal love she cooperates in the birth and development" of the sons and
daughters of Mother Church. The Church's motherhood is accomplished not only
according to the model and figure of the Mother of God but also with her
"cooperation." The Church draws abundantly from this cooperation,
that is to say from the maternal mediation which is characteristic of Mary,
insofar as already on earth she cooperated in the rebirth and development of
the Church's sons and daughters, as the Mother of that Son whom the Father
"placed as the first-born among many brethren."128
She cooperated, as the Second Vatican Council
teaches, with a maternal love.129 Here we perceive the real value of the words
spoken by Jesus to his Mother at the hour of the Cross: "Woman, behold
your son" and to the disciple: "Behold your mother" (Jn. 19:26-27).
They are words which determine Mary's place in the life of Christ's disciples
and they express-as I have already said-the new motherhood of the Mother of the
Redeemer: a spiritual motherhood, born from the heart of the Paschal Mystery of
the Redeemer of the world. It is a motherhood in the order of grace, for it
implores the gift of the Spirit, who raises up the new children of God, redeems
through the sacrifice of Christ that Spirit whom Mary too, together with the
Church, received on the day of Pentecost.
Her motherhood is particularly noted and
experienced by the Christian people at the Sacred Banquet-the liturgical
celebration of the mystery of the Redemption-at which Christ, his true body
born of the Virgin Mary, becomes present.
The piety of the Christian people has always very
rightly sensed a profound link between devotion to the Blessed Virgin and
worship of the Eucharist: this is a fact that can be seen in the liturgy of
both the West and the East, in the traditions of the Religious Families, in the
modern movements of spirituality, including those for youth, and in the
pastoral practice of the Marian Shrines. Mary guides the faithful to the
Eucharist.
45. Of the essence of motherhood is the fact that
it concerns the person. Motherhood always establishes a unique and unrepeatable
relationship between two people: between mother and child and between child and
mother. Even when the same woman is the mother of many children, her personal
relationship with each one of them is of the very essence of motherhood. For each
child is generated in a unique and unrepeatable way, and this is true both for
the mother and for the child. Each child is surrounded in the same way by that
maternal love on which are based the child's development and coming to maturity
as a human being.
It can be said that motherhood "in the order
of grace" preserves the analogy with what "in the order of
nature" characterizes the union between mother and child. In the light of
this fact it becomes easier to understand why in Christ's testament on Golgotha
his Mother's new motherhood is expressed in the singular, in reference to one
man: "Behold your son."
lt can also be said that these same words fully
show the reason for the Marian dimension of the life of Christ's disciples.
This is true not only of John, who at that hour stood at the foot of the Cross
together with his Master's Mother, but it is also true of every disciple of
Christ, of every Christian. The Redeemer entrusts his mother to the disciple,
and at the same time he gives her to him as his mother. Mary's motherhood,
which becomes man's inheritance, is a gift: a gift which Christ himself makes
personally to every individual. The Redeemer entrusts Mary to John because he
entrusts John to Mary. At the foot of the Cross there begins that special
entrusting of humanity to the Mother of Christ, which in the history of the
Church has been practiced and expressed in different ways. The same Apostle and
Evangelist, after reporting the words addressed by Jesus on the Cross to his
Mother and to himself, adds: "And from that hour the disciple took her to
his own home" (Jn. 19:27). This statement certainly means that the role of
son was attributed to the disciple and that he assumed responsibility for the
Mother of his beloved Master. And since Mary was given as a mother to him
personally, the statement indicates, even though indirectly, everything
expressed by the intimate relationship of a child with its mother. And all of
this can be included in the word "entrusting." Such entrusting is the
response to a person's love, and in particular to the love of a mother.
The Marian dimension of the life of a disciple of
Christ is expressed in a special way precisely through this filial entrusting
to the Mother of Christ, which began with the testament of the Redeemer on
Golgotha. Entrusting himself to Mary in a filial manner, the Christian, like
the Apostle John, "welcomes" the Mother of Christ "into his own
home"130 and brings her into everything that makes up his inner life, that
is to say into his human and Christian "I": he "took her to his
own home." Thus the Christian seeks to be taken into that "maternal
charity" with which the Redeemer's Mother "cares for the brethren of
her Son,"131 "in whose birth and development she cooperates"132
in the measure of the gift proper to each one through the power of Christ's
Spirit. Thus also is exercised that motherhood in the Spirit which became
Mary's role at the foot of the Cross and in the Upper Room.
46. This filial relationship, this self-entrusting
of a child to its mother, not only has its beginning in Christ but can also be
said to be definitively directed towards him. Mary can be said to continue to
say to each individual the words which she spoke at Cana in Galilee: "Do
whatever he tells you." For he, Christ, is the one Mediator between God
and mankind; he is "the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn. 14:6);
it is he whom the Father has given to the world, so that man "should not
perish but have eternal life" (Jn. 3:16). The Virgin of Nazareth became
the first "witness" of this saving love of the Father, and she also
wishes to remain its humble handmaid always and everywhere. For every
Christian, for every human being, Mary is the one who first
"believed," and precisely with her faith as Spouse and Mother she wishes
to act upon all those who entrust themselves to her as her children. And it is
well known that the more her children persevere and progress in this attitude,
the nearer Mary leads them to the "unsearchable riches of
Christ"(Eph. 3:8). And to the same degree they recognize more and more
clearly the dignity of man in all its fullness and the definitive meaning of
his vocation, for "Christ...fully reveals man to man himself."133
This Marian dimension of Christian life takes on
special importance in relation to women and their status. In fact, femininity
has a unique relationship with the Mother of the Redeemer, a subject which can
be studied in greater depth elsewhere. Here I simply wish to note that the
figure of Mary of Nazareth sheds light on womanhood as such by the very fact
that God, in the sublime event of the Incarnation of his Son, entrusted himself
to the ministry, the free and active ministry of a woman. It can thus be said
that women, by looking to Mary, find in her the secret of living their femininity
with dignity and of achieving their own true advancement. In the light of Mary,
the Church sees in the face of women the reflection of a beauty which mirrors
the loftiest sentiments of which the human heart is capable: the self-offering
totality of love; the strength that is capable of bearing the greatest sorrows;
limitless fidelity and tireless devotion to work; the ability to combine
penetrating intuition with words of support and encouragement.
47. At the Council Paul VI solemnly proclaimed that
Mary is the Mother of the Church, "that is, Mother of the entire Christian
people, both faithful and pastors."134 Later, in 1968, in the Profession
of faith known as the "Credo of the People of God." he restated this
truth in an even more forceful way in these words: "We believe that the
Most Holy Mother of God, the new Eve, the Mother of the Church, carries on in
heaven her maternal role with regard to the members of Christ, cooperating in
the birth and development of divine life in the souls of the redeemed."135
The Council's teaching emphasized that the truth
concerning the Blessed Virgin, Mother of Christ, is an effective aid in
exploring more deeply the truth concerning the Church. When speaking of the
Constitution Lumen Gentium, which had just been approved by the Council, Paul
VI said: "Knowledge of the true Catholic doctrine regarding the Blessed
Virgin Mary will always be a key to the exact understanding of the mystery of
Christ and of the Church."136 Mary is present in the Church as the Mother
of Christ, and at the same time as that Mother whom Christ, in the mystery of
the Redemption, gave to humanity in the person of the Apostle John. Thus, in
her new motherhood in the Spirit, Mary embraces each and every one in the
Church, and embraces each and every one through the Church. In this sense Mary,
Mother of the Church, is also the Church's model. Indeed, as Paul VI hopes and
asks, the Church must draw "from the Virgin Mother of God the most
authentic form of perfect imitation of Christ."137
Thanks to this special bond linking the Mother of
Christ with the Church, there is further clarified the mystery of that
"woman" who, from the first chapters of the Book of Genesis until the
Book of Revelation, accompanies the revelation of God's salvific plan for
humanity. For Mary, present in the Church as the Mother of the Redeemer, takes
part, as a mother, in that monumental struggle; against the powers of
darkness"138 which continues throughout human history. And by her
ecclesial identification as the "woman clothed with the sun" (Rev.
12:1),139 it can be said that "in the Most Holy Virgin the Church has
already reached that perfection whereby she exists without spot or
wrinkle." Hence, as Christians raise their eyes with faith to Mary in the
course of their earthly pilgrimage, they "strive to increase in
holiness."140 Mary, the exalted Daughter of Sion, helps all her children,
wherever they may be and whatever their condition, to find in Christ the path
to the Father's house.
Thus, throughout her life, the Church maintains
with the Mother of God a link which embraces, in the saving mystery, the past,
the present and the future, and venerates her as the spiritual mother of
humanity and the advocate of grace.
3. The meaning of the Marian
Year
48. It is precisely the special bond between
humanity and this Mother which has led me to proclaim a Marian Year in the
Church, in this period before the end of the Second Millennium since Christ's
birth, a similar initiative was taken in the past. when Pius XII proclaimed
1954 as a Marian Year, in order to highlight the exceptional holiness of the
Mother of Christ as expressed in the mysteries of her Immaculate Conception
(defined exactly a century before) and of her Assumption into heaven.141
Now, following the line of the Second Vatican
Council, I wish to emphasize the special presence of the Mother of God in the
mystery of Christ and his Church. For this is a fundamental dimension emerging
from the Mariology of the Council, the end of which is now more than twenty
years behind us. The Extraordinary Synod of Bishops held in 1985 exhorted
everyone to follow faithfully the teaching and guidelines of the Council We can
say that these two events-the Council and the synod-embody what the Holy Spirit
himself wishes "to say to the Church" in the present phase of
history.
In this context, the Marian Year is meant to
promote a new and more careful reading of what the Council said about the
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in the mystery of Christ and of the Church,
the topic to which the contents of this Encyclical are devoted. Here we speak
not only of the doctrine of faith but also of the life of faith, and thus of
authentic "Marian spirituality," seen in the light of Tradition, and
especially the spirituality to which the Council exhorts us.142 Furthermore,
Marian spirituality, like its corresponding devotion, finds a very rich source
in the historical experience of individuals and of the various Christian
communities present among the different peoples and nations of the world. In
this regard, I would like to recall, among the many witnesses and teachers of
this spirituality, the figure of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort,143 who
proposes consecration to Christ through the hands of Mary, as an effective means
for Christians to live faithfully their baptismal commitments. I am pleased to
note that in our own time too new manifestations of this spirituality and
devotion are not lacking.
There thus exist solid points of reference to look
to and follow in the context of this Marian Year.
49. This Marian Year will begin on the Solemnity
of Pentecost, on June 7 next. For it is a question not only of recalling that
Mary "preceded" the entry of Christ the Lord into the history of the
human family, but also of emphasizing, in the light of Mary, that from the
moment when the mystery of the Incarnation was accomplished, human history
entered "the fullness of time," and that the Church is the sign of
this fullness. As the People of God, the Church makes her pilgrim way towards
eternity through faith, in the midst of all the peoples and nations, beginning
from the day of Pentecost. Christ's Mother-who was present at the beginning of
"the time of the Church," when in expectation of the coming of the
Holy Spirit she devoted herself to prayer in the midst of the Apostles and her
Son's disciples-constantly "precedes" the Church in her journey
through human history. She is also the one who, precisely as the "handmaid
of the Lord," cooperates unceasingly with the work of salvation
accomplished by Christ, her Son.
Thus by means of this Marian Year the Church is
called not only to remember everything in her past that testifies to the
special maternal cooperation of the Mother of God in the work of salvation in
Christ the lord, but also, on her own part, to prepare for the future the paths
of this cooperation. For the end of the second Christian Millennium opens up as
a new prospect.
50. As has already been mentioned, also among our
divided brethren many honor and celebrate the Mother of the Lord, especially
among the Orientals. It is a Marian light cast upon ecumenism. In particular, I
wish to mention once more that during the Marian Year there will occur the
Millennium of the Baptism of Saint Vladimir, Grand Duke of Kiev [988]. This
marked the beginning of Christianity in the territories of what was then called
Rus', and subsequently in other territories of Eastern Europe. In this way,
through the work of evangelization, Christianity spread beyond Europe, as far
as the northern territories of the Asian continent. We would therefore like,
especially during this Year, to join in prayer with all those who are
celebrating the Millennium of this Baptism, both Orthodox and Catholics,
repeating and confirming with the Council those sentiments of joy and comfort
that "the Easterners...with ardent emotion and devout mind concur in
reverencing the Mother of God, ever Virgin."144 Even though we are still
experiencing the painful effects of the separation which took place some decades
later [1054], we can say that in the presence of the Mother of Christ we feel
that we are true brothers and sisters within that messianic People, which is
called to be the one family of God on earth. As I announced at the beginning of
the New Year "We desire to reconfirm this universal inheritance of all the
Sons and daughters of this earth."145
In announcing the Year of Mary, I also indicated
that it will end next year on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin into heaven, in order to emphasize the "great sign in heaven"
spoken of by the Apocalypse. In this way we also wish to respond to the
exhortation of the Council, which looks to Mary as "a sign of sure hope
and solace for the pilgrim People of God." And the Council expresses this
exhortation in the following words: "Let the entire body of the faithful
pour forth persevering prayer to the Mother of God and Mother of mankind. Let
them implore that she who aided the beginning of the Church by her prayers may
now, exalted as she is in heaven above all the saints and angels, intercede
with her Son in the fellowship of all the saints. May she do so until all the
peoples of the human family, whether they are honored with the name of
Christian or whether they still do not know their Savior, are happily gathered
together in peace and harmony into the one People of God, for the glory of the
Most Holy and Undivided Trinity."146
CONCLUSION
51. At the end of the daily Liturgy of the Hours,
among the invocations addressed to Mary by the Church is the following:
"Loving Mother of the Redeemer, gate of
heaven, star of the sea,
assist your people who have fallen yet strive to
rise again.
To the wonderment of nature you bore your
Creator!"
"To the wonderment of nature"! These
words of the antiphon express that wonderment of faith which accompanies the
mystery of Mary's divine motherhood. In a sense, it does so in the heart of the
whole of creation, and, directly, in the heart of the whole People of God, in
the heart of the Church. How wonderfully far God has gone, the Creator and Lord
of all things, in the "revelation of himself" to man!147 How clearly
he has bridged all the spaces of that infinite "distance" which
separates the Creator from the creature! If in himself he remains ineffable and
unsearchable, still more ineffable and unsearchable is he in the reality of the
Incarnation of the Word, who became man through the Virgin of Nazareth.
If he has eternally willed to call man to share in
the divine nature (cf. 2 Pt. 1:4), it can be said that he has matched the
"divinization" of man to humanity's historical conditions, so that
even after sin he is ready to restore at a great price the eternal plan of his
love through the "humanization" of his Son, who is of the same being
as himself. The whole of creation, and more directly man himself, cannot fail
to be amazed at this gift in which he has become a sharer, in the Holy Spirit: "God
so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (Jn. 3:16).
At the center of this mystery, in the midst of
this wonderment of faith, stands Mary. As the loving Mother of the Redeemer,
she was the first to experience it: "To the wonderment of nature you bore
your Creator"!
52. The words of this liturgical antiphon also
express the truth of the "great transformation" which the mystery of
the Incarnation establishes for man. It is a transformation which belongs to
his entire history, from that beginning which is revealed to us in the first
chapters of Genesis until the final end, in the perspective of the end of the
world, of which Jesus has revealed to us "neither the day nor the
hour" (Mt. 25:13). It is an unending and continuous transformation between
falling and rising again, between the man of sin and the man of grace and
justice. The Advent liturgy in particular is at the very heart of this
transformation and captures its unceasing "here and now" when it
exclaims: "Assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise
again"!
These words apply to every individual, every
community, to nations and peoples, and to the generations and epochs of human
history, to our own epoch, to these years of the Millennium which is drawing to
a close: "Assist, yes assist, your people who have fallen"!
This is the invocation addressed to Mary, the
"loving Mother of the Redeemer," the invocation addressed to Christ,
who through Mary entered human history. Year alter year the antiphon rises to
Mary, evoking that moment which saw the accomplishment of this essential
historical transformation, which irreversibly continues: the transformation
from "falling" to "rising."
Mankind has made wonderful discoveries and
achieved extraordinary results in the fields of science and technology. It has
made great advances along the path of progress and civilization, and in recent
times one could say that it has succeeded in speeding up the pace of history.
But the fundamental transformation, the one which can be called
"original," constantly accompanies man's journey, and through all the
events of history accompanies each and every individual. It is the
transformation from "falling" to "rising," from death to
life. It is also a constant challenge to people's consciences, a challenge to
man's whole historical awareness: the challenge to follow the path of "not
falling" in ways that are ever old and ever new, and of "rising
again" if a fall has occurred.
As she goes forward with the whole of humanity
towards the frontier between the two Millennia, the Church, for her part, with
the whole community of believers and in union with all men and women of good
will, takes up the great challenge contained in these words of the Marian
antiphon: "the people who have fallen yet strive to rise again," and
she addresses both the Redeemer and his Mother with the plea: "Assist
us." For, as this prayer attests, the Church sees the Blessed Mother of
God in the saving mystery of Christ and in her own mystery. She sees Mary
deeply rooted in humanity's history, in man's eternal vocation according to the
providential plan which God has made for him from eternity She sees Mary
maternally present and sharing in the many complicated problems which today
beset the lives of individuals, families and nations; she sees her helping the
Christian people in the constant struggle between good and evil, to ensure that
it "does not fall," or, if it has fallen, that it "rises
again."
I hope with all my heart that the reflections
contained in the present Encyclical will also serve to renew this vision in the
hearts of all believers.
As Bishop of Rome, I send to all those to whom
these thoughts are addressed the kiss of peace, my greeting and my blessing in
our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Given in Rome, at Saint Peter's, on March 25, the
Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, in the year 1987, the ninth of my
Pontificate.
JOHN
PAUL II
1. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 52 and the whole of Chapter VIII, entitled "The Role
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in the Mystery of Christ and the
Church."
2. The expression "fullness of time" (pleroma tou chronou)
is parallel with similar expressions of Judaism, both Biblical (cf. Gen. 29:21;
1 Sam. 7:12; Tob. 14:5) and extra-Biblical, and especially of the New Testament
(cf. Mk. 1:15; Lk. 21:24; Jn. 7:8; Eph. 1:10). From the point of view of form,
it means not only the conclusion of a chronological process but also and
especially the coming to maturity or completion of a particularly important
period, one directed towards the fulfillment of an expectation, a coming to
completion which thus takes on an eschatological dimension. According to Gal.
4:4 and its context, it is the coming of the Son of God that reveals that time
has, so to speak, reached its limit. That is to say, the period marked by the
promise made to Abraham and by the Law mediated by Moses has now reached its
climax, in the sense that Christ fulfills the divine promise and supersedes the
old law.
3. Cf. Roman Missal, Preface of 8 December, Immaculate Conception of
the Blessed Virgin Mary; Saint Ambrose, De Institutione Virginis, XV, 93-94: PL
16, 342; Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church
Lumen Gentium, 68.
4. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 58.
5. Pope Paul VI, Encyclical Epistle Christi Matri (15 September 1966):
AAS 58 (1966) 745-749, Apostolic Exhortation Signum Magnum (13 May 1967): AAS
59 (1967) 465:475; Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus (2 February 1974): AAS
66 (1974) 113-168.
6. The Old Testament foretold in many different ways the mystery of
Mary: cf. Saint John Damascene, Hom. in Dormitionem 1, 8-9: S. Ch. 80, 103-107.
7. Cf. Insegnamenti di
Giovanni Paolo II, VI/2 (1983) 225f.; Pope Pius IX, Apostolic Letter
Ineffabilis Deus (8 December 1854): Pii IX P. M. Acta, pars I, 597-599.
8. Cf. Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium
et Spes, 22.
9. Ecumenical Council of Ephesus, in Conciliorum Oecumenicorum
Decreta, Bologna 1973, 41-44; 59-61: DS 250-264; cf. Ecumenical Council of
Chalcedon, o. c. 84-87: DS 300-303.
10. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the
Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 22.
11. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 52.
12. Cf. ibid., 58.
13. Ibid., 63, cf. Saint Ambrose, Expos. Evang. sec. Lucam, II, 7: CSEL 32/4, 45; De
Institutione Virginis, XIV, 88-89: PL 16, 341.
14. Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 64.
15. Ibid., 65.
16. "Take away this star of the sun which illuminates the world:
where does the day go? Take away Mary, this star of the sea, of the great and
boundless sea: what is left but a vast obscurity and the shadow of death and
deepest darkness?": Saint Bernard, In Navitate B. Mariae Sermo-De
aquaeductu, 6: S. Bernardi Opera, V, 1968, 279; cf. In laudibus Virginis Matris
Homilia II, 17: ed. cit., IV, 1966, 34f.
17. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 63.
18. Ibid., 63.
19. Concerning the predestination of Mary, cf. Saint John Damascene,
Hom. in Nativitatem, 7, 10: S. Ch. 80, 65; 73; Hom. in Dormitionem 1, 3: S. Ch.
80, 85: "For it is she, who, chosen from the ancient generations, by
virtue of the predestination and benevolence of the God and Father who
generated you (the Word of God) outside time without coming out of himself or
suffering change, it is she who gave you birth, nourished of her flesh, in the
last time...."
20. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 55.
21. In Patristic tradition there is a wide and varied interpretation
of this expression: cf. Origen, In Lucam homiliae, VI, 7: S. Ch. 87, 148;
Severianus of Gabala, In mundi creationem, Oratio VI, 10: PG 56, 497f.; Saint
John Chrysostom (Pseudo), In Annunhationem Deiparae et contra Arium impium, PG
62, 765f.; Basil of Seleucia, Oratio 39, In Sanctissimae Deiparae
Annuntiationem, 5: PG 85, 441-46; Antipater of Bosra, Hom. II, In Sanctissimae
DeiparaeAnnuntiationem, 3-11: PG 85, 1777-1783; Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem,
Oratio 11, In Sanctissimae Deiparae Annuntiationem, 17-19: PG 87/3, 3235-3240;
Saint John Damascene Hom. in Dormitionem, 1, 70: S. Ch. 80, 96-101; Saint
Jerome, Epistola 65, 9: PL 22, 628, Saint Ambrose, Expos. Evang. sec. Lucam, II,
9: CSEL 32/4, 45f.; Saint Augustine, Sermo 291, 4-6: PL 38, 131 8f.;
Enchiridion, 36, 11: PL 40, 250; Saint Peter Chrysologus, Sermo 142: PL 52,
579f.; Sermo 143: PL 52, 583; Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe, Epistola 17, VI 12: PL
65 458; Saint Bernard, In laudibus Virginis Matris, Homilia III, 2-3: S.
Bernardi Opera, IV, 1966, 36-38.
22. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 55.
23. Ibid., 53.
24. Cf. Pope Pius XI, Apostolic Letter Ineffabilis Deus (8 December
1854): Pii IX P.M. Acta, pars I, 616; Second Vatican Ecumenical Council,
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 53.
25. Cf. Saint Germanus of Constantinople, In Annuntiationem SS.
Deiparae Hom.: PG 98, 327f.; Saint Andrew of Crete, Canon in B. Mariae Natalem,
4. PG 97, 1321f., In Nativitatem B. Mariae, I: PG 97, 81 1f. Hom. in
Dormitionem S. Mariae I: PG 97, 1067f.
26. Liturgy of the Hours of 15 August, Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, Hymn at First and Second Vespers; Saint Peter Damian, Carmina et
preces, XLVII: PL 145, 934.
27. Divina Commedia, Paradiso, XXXIII, 1; cf. Liturgy of the Hours,
Memomial of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday, Hymn II in the Office of
Readings.
28. Cf. Saint Augustine, De
Sancta Virginitate, III, 3: PL 40, 398; Sermo 25, 7: PL 46,
29. Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum, 5
30. This is a classic theme, already expounded by Saint Irenaeus:
"And, as by the action of the disobedient virgin, man was afflicted and,
being cast down, died, so also by the action of the Virgin who obeyed the word
of God, man being regenerated received, through life, life.... For it was meet
and Just...that Eve should be "recapitulated" in Mary, so that the
Virgin, becoming the advocate of the virgin, should dissolve and destroy the
virginal disobedience by means of virginal obedience": Expositio doctrinae
apostolicae, 33: S.Ch. 62, 83-86; cf. also Adversus Haereses, V, 19, 1: 5. Ch.
153, 248-250.
31. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine
Revelation Dei Verbum, 5.
32. Ibid., 5, cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium,
56.
33. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 56.
34. Ibid., 56.
35. Cf. ibid., 53; Saint Augustine, De Sancta Virginitate, III, 3: PL
40, 398; Sermo 215, 4; PL 38, 1074; Sermo 196, I: PL 38, 1019; De peccatorum
meritis et remissione, I, 29, 57: PL 44, 142; Sermo 25, 7: PL 46, 937-938;
Saint Leo the Great, Tractatus 21, de natale Domini, I: CCL 138, 86.
36. Ascent of Mount Carmel, 1. II, Ch. 3, 4-6.
37. Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 58.
38. Ibid., 58.
39. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on
Divine Revelation Dei Verbum, 5.
40. Concerning Mary's participation or "compassion" in the
death of Christ, cf. Saint Bernard, In Dominica infra octavam Assumptionis
Sermo, 14: S. Bernardi Opera, V, 1968, 273.
41. Saint Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses III, 22, 4: S. Ch. 211, 438-444;
cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 56, Note 6.
42. Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 56, and the
Fathers quoted there in Notes 8 and 9.
43. "Christ is truth, Christ is flesh: Christ truth in the mind
of Mary, Christ flesh in the womb of Mary": Saint Augustine, Sermo 25
(Sermones inediti), 7: PL 46, 938.
44. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 60.
45. Ibid., 61.
46. Ibid., 62.
47. There is a well-known passage of Origen on the presence of Mary
and John on Calvary: "The Gospels are the first fruits of all Scripture
and the Gospel of John is the first of the Gospels: no one can grasp its
meaning without having leaned his head on Jesus' breast and having received
from Jesus Mary as Mother": Comm. in loan., I, 6: PG 14, 31; cf. Saint
Ambrose, Expos. Evang. sec. Lucam, X, 129-131: CSEL 32/4, 504f.
48. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 54 and 53; the
latter text quotes Saint Augustine, De Sancta Virginitate, VI, 6: PL 40, 399.
49. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 55.
50. Cf. Saint Leo the Great, Tractatus 26, de natale Domini, 2: CCL
138, 126.
51. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 59.
52. Saint Augustine, De civitate Dei, XVIII, 51: CCL 48, 650.
53. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 8.
54. Ibid., 9.
55. Ibid., 9.
56. Ibid., 8.
57. Ibid., 9.
58. Ibid., 65.
59. Ibid., 59.
60. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on
Divine Revelation Dei Verbum, 5.
61. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on
the Church Lumen Gentium, 63.
62. Cf. ibid., 9.
63. Cf. ibid., 65.
64. Ibid., 65.
65. Ibid., 65.
66. Cf. ibid., 13.
67. Cf. ibid., 13.
68. Cf. ibid., 13.
69. Cf. Roman Missal, formula of the Consecration of the Chalice in
the Eucharistic Prayers.
70. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 1.
71. Ibid., 13.
72. Ibid., 15.
73. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on Ecumenism
Unitatis Redintegratio, 1.
74. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 68, 69. On Mary
Most Holy, promoter of Christian unity, and on the cult of Mary in the East,
cf. Leo XIII, Encyclical Epistle Adiutricem Populi (5 September 1985): Acta
Leonis XV, 300-312.
75. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on Ecumenism
Unitatis Redintegratio, 20.
76. Cf. ibid., 19.
77. Ibid., 14.
78. Ibid., 15.
79. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 66.
80. Ecumenical Council of
Chalcedon, Definitio fidei: Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta, Bologna 1973, 86
(DS 301).
81. Cf. the Weddase Maryam (Praises of Mary), which follows the
Ethiopian Psalter and contains hymns and prayers to Mary for each day of the
week. Cf. also the Matshafa Kidana Mehrat (Book of the Pact of Mercy); the
importance given to Mary in the Ethiopian hymnology and liturgy deserves to be
emphasized.
82. Cf. Saint Ephrem, Hymn. de Nativitate: Scriptores Syri, 82, CSCO,
186.
83. Cf. Saint Gregory of Narek, Le livre de prieres: S. Ch. 78,
160-163; 428-432.
84. Second Ecumenical
Council of Nicaea: Conciliorurn Oecumenicorum Decreta, Bologna 19733, 135-138
(DS 600-609).
85. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on
the Church Lumen Gentium, 59.
86. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on Ecumenism
Unitatis Redintegratio, 19.
87. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 8.
88. Ibid., 9.
89. As is well-known, the words of the Magnificat contain or echo
numerous passages of the Old Testament.
90. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine
Revelation Dei Verbum, 2.
91. Cf. for example Saint Justin, Dialogus cum Tryphone ludaeo, 100:
Otto II, 358; Saint Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses III, 22, 4: S. Ch. 211,
439-445; Tertullian, De carne Christi, 17, 4-6: CCL 2, 904f.
92. Cf. Saint Epiphanius, Panarion, III, 2; Haer. 78, 18: PG 42,
727-730.
93. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on
Christian Freedom and Liberation (22 March 1986), 97.
94. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 60.
95. Ibid., 60.
96. Cf. the formula of mediatrix "ad Mediatorem" of Saint
Bernard, In Dominica infra oct. Assumptionis Sermo, 2: S. Bernardi Opera, V,
1968, 263. Mary as a pure mirror sends back to her Son all the glory and honor
which she receives: Id., In Nativitate B. Mariae Sermo-De Aquaeductu, 12: ed.
cit., 283.
97. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 62.
98. Ibid., 62.
99. Ibid., 61.
100. Ibid., 62.
101. Ibid., 61.
102. Ibid., 61.
103. Ibid., 62.
104. Ibid., 62.
105. Ibid., 62; in her prayer too the Church
recognizes and celebrates Mary's "maternal role": it is a role
"of intercession and forgiveness, petition and grace, reconciliation and
peace" (cf. Preface of the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother and
Mediatrix of Grace, in Collectio Missarum de Beata Maria Virgine, ed. typ.
1987, I, 120).
106. Ibid., 62.
107. Ibid., 62; cf. Saint John Damascene, Hom. in Dormitionem, I, 11;
II, 2, 14; III, 2: S. Ch. 80, 111f.; 127-131; 157-161; 181-185; Saint Bernard,
In Assumptione Beatae Mariae Sermo, 1-2: S. Bernardi Opera, V, 1968, 228-238.
108. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 59; cf. Pope
Pius XII, Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus (1 November 1950): AAS
42 (1950) 769-771; Saint Bernard presents Mary immersed in the splendor of the
Son's glory: In Dominica infra oct. Assumptionis Sermo, 3; S. Bernardi Opera,
V, 1968, 263f.
109. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 53.
110. On this particular aspect of Mary's mediation as implorer of
clemency from the "Son as Judge," cf. Saint Bernard, In Dominica
infra oct. Assumptionis Sermo, 1-2: S. Bernardi Opera, V, 1968, 262f; Pope Leo
XIII, Encyclical Epistle Octobri Mense (22 September 1891): Acta Leonis, XI,
299-315.
111. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 55.
112. Ibid., 59.
113. Ibid., 36.
114. Ibid., 36.
115. With regard to Mary as Queen, cf. Saint John Damascene, Hom. in
Nativitatem, 6; 12; Hom. in Dormitionem, 1, 2, 12, 14; II, 11;III, 4: S. Ch.
80, 59f.; 77f.; 83f.; 113f.; 117; 151f.; 189-193.
116. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 62.
117. Ibid., 63.
118. Ibid., 63.
119. Ibid., 66.
120. Cf. Saint Ambrose, De
Institutione Virginis, XIV, 88-89: PL 16, 341, Saint Augustine, Sermo 215, 4:
PL 38, 1074; De Sancta Virginitate, II, 2; V, 5; VI, 6: PL 40, 397-398f.; 399;
Sermo 191, II, 3: PL 38, 1010f.
121. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on
the Church Lumen Centium, 63.
122. Ibid., 64.
123. Ibid., 64.
124. Ibid., 64.
125. Ibid., 64.
126. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on
Divine Revelation Dei Verbum, 8; Saint Bonaventure, Comment. in Evang. Lucae,
Ad Claras Aquas, VII, 53, No. 40, 68, No. 109.
127. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 64.
128. Ibid., 63.
129. Cf. ibid., 63.
130. Clearly, in the Greek text the expression "eis ta idia"
goes beyond the mere acceptance of Mary by the disciple in the sense of
material lodging and hospitality in his house; it indicates rather a communion
of life established between the two as a result of the words of the dying
Christ: cf. Saint Augustine, In loan. Evang. tract. 119, 3: CCL 36, 659:
"He took her to himself, not into his own property, for he possessed
nothing of his own, but among his own duties, which he attended to with
dedication."
131. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 62.
132. Ibid., 63.
133. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the
Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 22.
134. Cf. Pope Paul VI, Discourse of 21 November 1964: AAS 56 (1964)
1015.
135. Pope Paul VI, Solemn Profession of Faith (30 June 1968), 15: AAS
60 (1968) 438f.
136. Pope Paul VI, Discourse of 21 November 1964: AAS 56 (1964) 1015.
137. Ibid., 1016.
138. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on
the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 37.
139. Cf. Saint Bernard, In Dominica infra oct. Assumptionis Sermo: S. Bernardi Opera V, 1968,
262-274.
140. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 65.
141. Cf. Encyclical Letter Fulgens Corona (8 September 1953): AAS 45
(1953) 577-592. Pius X with his Encyclical Letter Ad Diem Illum (2 February
1904), on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the dogmatic definition of
the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, had proclaimed an
Extraordinary jubilee of a few months; Pii X P. M. Acta, I, 147-166.
142. Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 66-67.
143. Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Traite de la varie
devotion a la sainte Vierge. This saint can rightly be linked with the figure
of Saint Alfonso Maria de' Liguori, the second centenary of whose death occurs
this year; cf. among his works Le glorie di Maria.
144. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 69.
145. Homily on 1 January 1987.
146. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 69.
147. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on
Divine Revelation Dei Verbum, 2: "Through this revelation...the invisible
God...out of the abundance of his love speaks to men as friends...and lives
among them..., so that he may invite and take them into fellowship with
himself."
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