"...Mary, the Church, and our soul...Pope Francis

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In his address to Italian prelates yesterday May 21, 2018, during the Italian Episcopal Conference’s (CEI) 71st General Assembly, Pope Francis said:

…After thanking them for their prensence, especially in inaugurating the Feast Day of Mary Mother of the Church, he invited: “Let us all say from our heart, all together: “Monstra te esse matrem”. Always: “Monstra te esse matrem.”

Expressing the prayer means ‘Make us feel that you are the mother,’ he noted it is recognition that we are not alone, that Mary accompanies us as a mother,’

“It is the motherhood of the Church, of the Hierarchical Holy Mother Church, which is gathered here … But that she is a mother. “Hierarchical Holy Mother Church”, as Saint Ignatius [of Loyola] so liked to say.”

The Holy Father prayed that Mary, our Mother, “help us so that the Church may be a mother. And – following the inspiration of the fathers – may our soul also be a mother. The three women: Mary, the Church and our soul. All three mothers. May the Church be Mother, may our soul be a Mother…” (quote from Zenit)

There is so much to ponder in Mary, our Mother and Model for the Church. As St. Bernard said: “De Maria numquam satis” – roughly translated: “Concerning Mary, there is never enough!”