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 emphasize.
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."
