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patricius79
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“Mary is this glorious intermediary; she is the mighty Mother of the Almighty; but-what is still sweeter - she is gentle, extreme in tenderness, of a limitless loving-kindness.”–Pope Saint Pius X, Octobri Mense
During this month devoted to her Immaculate Heart, I’m contemplating the the teaching of Vatican II that Mary is our “Mother in the order of grace” (Lumen Gentium 61), who “brings us the gifts of eternal salvation” from Jesus Christ, “the One Mediator” (LG 62). I’m also reflecting on Blessed Pope Paul VI’s call for: “an ever more more fervid and more fruitful Marian piety” (Signum Magnum 2:7)
In the encyclical Redemptoris Mater, Pope St. John Paul II wrote how “[Mary] stands at the very center [of the Paschal mystery].” The Crucified Lord gives Mary “as mother to every single individual” with the words “Behold, your Mother!” (RM 23). He describes this beautiful gift:
“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.” (RM 45).
w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031987_redemptoris-mater.html
Jesus called us to become like little children. Little children know how much they need their mothers. A doctor of the Church, St. Alphonsus Liguori even said that “just as the body cannot live without breathing, so the soul cannot live without having recourse to Mary”, our Mother in the order of grace. Are we aware of how much we need her, praying to her frequently?
I end with the hopeful conclusion of Vatican II, which asks all of us to pour forth urgent prayers to our Mother that all people might be one in Jesus Christ:
"69. It gives great joy and comfort to this holy and general Synod that even among the separated brethren there are some who give due honor to the Mother of our Lord and Saviour, especially among the Orientals, who with devout mind and fervent impulse give honor to the Mother of God, ever virgin.(24*) The entire body of the faithful pours forth instant supplications to the Mother of God and Mother of men that she, who aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers, may now, exalted as she is above all the angels and saints, intercede before her Son in the fellowship of all the saints, until all families of people, whether they are honored with the title of Christian or whether they still do not know the Saviour, may be happily gathered together in peace and harmony into one people of God, for the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity.
vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html
During this month devoted to her Immaculate Heart, I’m contemplating the the teaching of Vatican II that Mary is our “Mother in the order of grace” (Lumen Gentium 61), who “brings us the gifts of eternal salvation” from Jesus Christ, “the One Mediator” (LG 62). I’m also reflecting on Blessed Pope Paul VI’s call for: “an ever more more fervid and more fruitful Marian piety” (Signum Magnum 2:7)
In the encyclical Redemptoris Mater, Pope St. John Paul II wrote how “[Mary] stands at the very center [of the Paschal mystery].” The Crucified Lord gives Mary “as mother to every single individual” with the words “Behold, your Mother!” (RM 23). He describes this beautiful gift:
“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.” (RM 45).
w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031987_redemptoris-mater.html
Jesus called us to become like little children. Little children know how much they need their mothers. A doctor of the Church, St. Alphonsus Liguori even said that “just as the body cannot live without breathing, so the soul cannot live without having recourse to Mary”, our Mother in the order of grace. Are we aware of how much we need her, praying to her frequently?
I end with the hopeful conclusion of Vatican II, which asks all of us to pour forth urgent prayers to our Mother that all people might be one in Jesus Christ:
"69. It gives great joy and comfort to this holy and general Synod that even among the separated brethren there are some who give due honor to the Mother of our Lord and Saviour, especially among the Orientals, who with devout mind and fervent impulse give honor to the Mother of God, ever virgin.(24*) The entire body of the faithful pours forth instant supplications to the Mother of God and Mother of men that she, who aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers, may now, exalted as she is above all the angels and saints, intercede before her Son in the fellowship of all the saints, until all families of people, whether they are honored with the title of Christian or whether they still do not know the Saviour, may be happily gathered together in peace and harmony into one people of God, for the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity.
vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html
