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
ENCYCLICAL LETTER REDEMPTORIS MATER