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Blessed Virgin Mary (Topic Page)
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"Thine
arms carried the treasure of the world."
"[T]hrough
[Mary] was given to us the gift of life." (Sequence)
"Our
Lord is revealed to St. John by the voice of Mary."
"He willed us to have all through
Mary." (St. Bernard, Doctor of the Church)
"For Mary [is] our sister, inasmuch as we
are all from Adam." (St. Athanasius, Doctor of the Church, c. 370 A.D.)
"Heart
of stone! Can I behold Mary's love and still be cold?" (St.
Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)
"God, the Blessed Virgin, the angels and
saints are about our path; they are at our side and see all we
do." (St. John Vianney)
"Jesus,
Mary, The Cross: I want no other friends but these." (St.
Bernadette Soubirous)
"How can I love thy Son, Sweet Mother! If I
love not thee." (Faber)
"You
see that Mary doubted not but believed, and therefore the fruit of
faith followed." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church)
"God wisheth her to be the beginning of all
good things" (St. Irenaeus)
"In
her hand are the treasures of the mercies of the Lord" (St.
John Damascene, Doctor of the Church)
"Before Jesus ever spoke about Himself and
His mission, Mary spoke of Him to those who came to visit the
Child." (Pope John Paul II)
"God,
looking upon what Mary believed was her nothingness, once more
created a world out of 'nothing.'" (Archbishop Fulton Sheen)
"For of all generations she alone has risen as a virgin pure in body and in spirit; and she alone bears Him who bears all things on His word."
(St. Gregory Thaumaturgos)
"Be
a guide to Christ for us, O Mary. Be for us a Morning Star that
shines in the heavens of eternal Wisdom, above the horizons of our
human world. Amen." (Pope John Paul II)
"Though she was the Mother of the Lord, yet
she desired to learn the precepts of the Lord, and she who brought
forth God, yet desired to know God." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of
the Church, 4th
century A.D.)
"As sailors are guided by a star to the
port, so Christians are guided to heaven by Mary." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"I'll
not add another word, except to urge you to be faithful and
humble. Keep the great Mother of God before your mind. The more
she was exalted, the more she humbled herself." [St. Pio of
Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)]
"The
example of the Apostles should be borne in mind who, awaiting the
supreme gift of the Paraclete promised to them, persevered
unanimously in prayer with the Mother of Jesus." (Pope Leo
XIII)
"Let all Christians, therefore, glory in
being subjects of the Virgin Mother of God, who, while wielding
royal power, is on fire with a mother's love." (Pope Pius
XII, "Ad Caeli Reginam", 1954 A.D.)
"[F]or
we must take the very greatest care, even should it cost us our
life, that no one lessen in any way the honor of Our Lady."
(St. Bonaventure, Doctor of the Church) [Reminder:
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"[We
are confident] that the Immaculate Virgin, Daughter of the Father,
Mother of the Word, and Spouse of the Holy Ghost, will obtain for
you from the most holy and adorable Trinity better days"
(Pope St. Pius X, "Une Fois Encore", 1907)
"Even
now as the King is preparing for his judgement; the day, terrible
beyond all thought, is at hand; and who will be our refuge? The
Virgin Mother, the hope of all. May she pray to her Son for
us!" ('Canticle of the Last Judgment')
"Our
heart is full of desire for those wondrous fruits which, on many
occasions, the devotion of Catholic people to Mary has brought
forth; already We enjoy them deeply and abundantly in
anticipation." (Pope Leo XIII, "Octobri Mense",
1891)
"The water of baptism
is like the Virgin's
womb; for the same Holy Spirit fills the font, Who filled the
Virgin, that the sin, which that sacred conception overthrew, may
be taken away by this mystical washing." (Pope St. Leo I the
Great, Doctor of the Church)
"Every Christian land is a Marian land;
there is not a nation redeemed in the blood of Christ which does
not glory in proclaiming Mary its Mother and Patroness."
(Pope Pius XII, "Le Pelerinage De Lourdes", 1957 A.D.)
"You,
beloved Mother of God's Son! You, Virgin Spouse of the Holy
Spirit! You, who dwell in the tabernacle of the Most Holy Trinity!
Truly, you will never cease to be in the very heart of the Divine
Plan." (Pope John Paul II)
"The Father of all is indeed one, and also
is the universal Word, and the Holy Spirit is the same everywhere;
and only one is the Virgin Mother. I love to call her the Church…She
is at once both Virgin and Mother; as a Virgin, undefiled; as a
Mother, full of love." (St. Clement of Alexandria, c. 202
A.D.)
"In her, the destinies of the world were to
be reversed, and [Satan's] head bruised. In her was bestowed
the greatest honor ever put upon any individual of our fallen
race. God was taking upon Him her flesh and humbling Himself to be
called her offspring - such is the deep mystery!" (Cardinal
Newman)
"May
the very powerful Mother of God, moved by the prayers of so many
of her sons, obtain from her only Son - let us all beseech her -
that those who have miserably wandered from the path of truth and
virtue may, with new fervor, find it again." (Pope Pius XII)
"Jesus
is to have no earthly father; He will therefore receive more from
His mother than could any other son. In return, no creature could
be so like to Jesus in the order of grace, as she whom He thus
deigns to resemble in the order of nature" (Liturgical Year)
"O
God, who by the fruitful Virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary hast
given to mankind the rewards of eternal salvation; grant, we
beseech thee, that we may experience her intercession, by whom we
received the Author of Life, our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son.
Amen." ('Anthem to the Blessed Virgin')
"[John
the Baptist]
was not filled with the Spirit, until [Mary] stood near him who bore
Christ in her womb. Then indeed he was both filled with the
Spirit, and leaping imparted the grace to his mother" [Origen
("the greatest scholar of Christian antiquity" -
although he would eventually be excommunicated and be regarded as
a heretic), 3rd century A.D.]
"To
the beloved Mother of God, mediatrix of heavenly graces, we
entrust the priests of the whole world in order that, through her
intercession, God will vouchsafe a generous outpouring of his
spirit which will move all ministers of the altar to holiness and,
through their ministry, will spiritually renew the face of the
earth." (Pope Pius XII)
"Let
all the Faithful of Christ take the Angelic Doctor [St. Thomas
Aquinas] as a model of devotion to the august Queen of Heaven, for
it was his custom often to repeat the 'Hail Mary' and to inscribe
the sweet Name upon his pages, and let them ask the Doctor of the
Eucharist himself to inspire them with love for the divine
Sacrament." (Pope Pius XI, "Studiorum Ducem",
1923)
"So
it was then, lest the virgin should despair of being able to bear
a son, that she received the example of one both old and barren
about to bring forth, in order that she might learn that all
things are possible with God, even those which seem to be opposed
to the order of nature. Whence it follows, 'For there shall be no
word impossible with God'." (St. Bede the Venerable, Doctor
of the Church)
"Ask
the Immaculate Virgin to obtain for you a childlike spirit towards
God as she prayed in her Magnificat, her face turned toward the
Almighty with gratitude and joy. May she teach you docility as she
did at Cana when she advised the servants to do all that her
divine Son might tell them. Last of all, may she obtain for you a
far-reaching fraternal and apostolic charity, as she obtained it
by her prayer in the midst of the first Christians gathered at the
Cenacle." (Pope Pius XII)
"Remark, by the by, that this writer does
not scruple to address these words to Mary: 'Save us, we perish';
as does a certain author already noticed, and who says, that we
cannot ask Mary to save us, as this belongs to God alone. But
since a culprit condemned to death can beg a royal favorite to
save him by interceding with the king that his life may be spared,
why cannot we ask the Mother of God to save us by obtaining us
eternal life?" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)
"It is in Mary, therefore, that the Church
of Christ indicates the example of the worthiest way of receiving
in our spirits the Word of God, in accordance with the luminous
sentence of St. Augustine: 'Mary was therefore more blessed in
receiving the faith in Christ than in conceiving the flesh of
Christ. Accordingly, maternal consanguinity would not have
benefited Mary if she had not felt more fortunate in having Christ
in her heart then in her womb.'" (Pope Paul VI, 1967 A.D.)
"Mary, as soon as she was reassured by the
voice of the Angel Gabriel that God had chosen her as the
unblemished mother of His only-begotten Son, unhesitatingly gave
her consent to a work which would have engaged all the energies of
her fragile nature and declared: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord;
be it done to me according to thy word.' From that moment, she
consecrated all of herself to the service not only of the heavenly
Father and of the Word Incarnate who had become her Son, but also
to all mankind" (Pope Paul VI,
1967 A.D.)
"But
thy blessed Mother, O Jesus, was not satisfied with adoring thee
interiorly; her glad heart soon gave expression to its intense
gratitude. She saw that thou hadst preferred her to all the
daughters of her people, nay, to all generations both past and to
come; her soul therefore thrilled with delight, and her lips could
scarce give utterance to her immense joy. 'He that is mighty,' she
said, 'hath done great things in me; he hath regarded the
lowliness of his handmaid; and all generations shall call me
blessed.'" ('Act of Thanksgiving for Advent')
"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)." (Pope John Paul II)
"We
know that there is sure help in the maternal goodness of the
Virgin, and We are very certain that We shall never vainly place
Our trust in her. If, on innumerable occasions, she has displayed
her power in aid of the Christian world, why should We doubt that
she will now renew the assistance of her power and favor, if
humble and constant prayers are offered up on all sides to her?
Nay, We rather believe that her intervention will be the more
marvelous as she has permitted Us to pray to her, for so long a
time, with special appeals." (Pope Leo XIII, "Quamquam
Pluries", 1889)
"There,
in the second chapter [of the Gospel of St. John], we find these
words: There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the Mother of
Jesus was there (Jn. ii 1). The sacred text goes on to say that
Jesus also and his disciples were among the guests; but the Holy
Spirit, who guided the Evangelist's hand, would have him first
make mention of Mary. It was to teach us that this our blessed
Mother extends her protection to those who enter upon the married
life with worthy dispositions, that is, with such dispositions as
to draw down upon themselves the blessing of her divine Son."
(Gueranger)
"Our
Lady: Such is the title which befits her in every way, as that of
Our Lord beseems her Son; it is the doctrinal basis of that
worship of hyperdulia which belongs to her alone. She is below her
Son, whom she adores as we do; but above all God's servants, both
angels and men, inasmuch as she is His Mother. At the name of
Jesus every knee is bent; at the name of Mary every head is bowed.
And although the former is the only name whereby we may be saved;
yet, as the Son can never be separated from His Mother, heaven
unites their two names in hymns of praise, earth in its
confidence, hell in its fear and hatred." (Liturgical Year)
"Furthermore, it is well to bear in mind
that Mary's eminent sanctity was not only a singular gift of
divine liberality. It was also the fruit of the continuous and
generous cooperation of her free will in the inner motions of the
Holy Spirit. It is because of the perfect harmony between divine
grace and the activity of her human nature that the Virgin
rendered supreme glory to the Most Holy Trinity and became the
illustrious ornament of the Church, which thus greets her in
sacred Liturgy: 'You are the glory of Jerusalem, the joy of
Israel, the honor of our people.'" (Pope Paul VI, 1967 A.D.)
"As
she became the Refuge of Sinners by knowing what it is to lose God
and then find Him, so He became the Redeemer of sinners by knowing
the deliberateness, the willfulness, the resoluteness of those who
wound the ones they love! She felt the creature losing the
Creator; He felt the Creator losing the creature. Mary lost Jesus
only in mystical darkness of the soul, not in the moral blackness
of an evil heart. Her loss was a veiling of His face, not a
flight. But she does teach us that, when we lose God, we must not
wait for Him to come back. We must go out in search of Him; and,
to the joy of every sinner, she knows where He can be found!"
(Archbishop Fulton Sheen)
"It has always been the habit of Catholics
in danger and in troublous times to fly for refuge to Mary, and to
seek for peace in her maternal goodness; showing that the Catholic
Church has always, and with justice, put all her hope and trust in
the Mother of God. And truly the Immaculate Virgin, chosen to be
the Mother of God and thereby associated with Him in the work of
man's salvation, has a favor and power with her Son greater than
any human or angelic creature has ever obtained, or ever can gain.
And, as it is her greatest pleasure to grant her help and comfort
to those who seek her, it cannot be doubted that she would deign,
and even be anxious, to receive the aspirations of the universal
Church." (Pope Leo XIII, "Supremi Apostolatus
Officio", 1883 A.D.)
"It pleased Christ to take upon Himself the
Son of Man, and to become thereby our Brother, in order that His
mercy to us might be shown most openly; for 'it behooved him in
all things to be made like unto his brethren that he might become
a merciful and faithful high priest before God.' Likewise because
Mary was chosen to be the Mother of Christ, our Lord and our
Brother, the unique prerogative was given her above all other
mothers to show her mercy to us and to pour it out upon us.
Besides, as we are indebted to Christ for sharing in some way with
us the right, which is peculiarly His own, of calling God our
Father and possessing Him as such, we are in like manner indebted
to Him for His loving generosity in sharing with us the right to
call Mary our Mother and to cherish her as such." (Pope Leo
XIII, "Magnae Dei Matris", 1892 A.D.)
"And
as in the times of the Crusades, in all Europe there was raised
one voice of the people, one supplication; so today, in all the
world, the cities, and even the smallest villages, united with
courage and strength, with filial and constant insistence, the
people seek to obtain from the great Mother of God the defeat of
the enemies of Christian and human civilization, to the end that
true peace may shine again over tired and erring men. If, then,
all will do this with due disposition, with great faith and with
fervent piety, it is right to hope that as in the past, so in our
day, the Blessed Virgin will obtain from her divine Son that the
waves of the present tempests be calmed and that a brilliant
victory crown this rivalry of Christians in prayer." (Pope
Pius XI, "Ingravescentibus Malis", 1937)
"No
other reason is needed that that of a Divine faith which, by a
powerful and most pleasant impulse, persuades us towards Mary.
Nothing is more natural, nothing more desirable than to seek a
refuge in the protection and in the loyalty of her to whom we may
confess our designs and our actions, our innocence and our
repentance, our torments and our joys, our prayers and our desires
- all our affairs. All men, moreover, are filled with the hope and
confidence that petitions which might be received with less favor
from the lips of unworthy men, God will accept when they are
recommended by the most Holy Mother, and will grant with all
favors. The truth and the sweetness of these thoughts bring to the
soul an unspeakable comfort; but they inspire all the more
compassion for those who, being without Divine faith, honor not
Mary and have her not for their mother" (Pope Leo XIII,
"Octobri Mense", 1891)
"The
Virgin, whether she understood or whether she could not yet
understand, equally laid up all things in her heart for reflection
and diligent examination. Hence it follows, And, his mother laid
up all these things...(Lk. 2:51) Mark the wisest of mothers, Mary
the mother of true wisdom, becomes the scholar or disciple of the
Child. For she yielded to Him not as to a boy, nor as to a man,
but as unto God. Further, she pondered upon both His divine words
and works, so that nothing that was said or done by Him was lost
upon her, but as the Word itself was before in her womb, so now
she conceived the ways and words of the same, and in a manner
nursed them in her heart. And while indeed she thought upon one
thing at the time, another she wanted to be more clearly revealed
to her; and this was her constant rule and law through her whole
life." (St. Bede
the Venerable, Doctor of the Church)
"As time went on, it became more and more
evident how deserving of love and honor was she whom God Himself
was the first to love, and loved so much more than any other that,
after elevating her high above all the rest of His creation and
adorning her with His richest gifts, He made her His Mother. The
many and splendid proofs of her bounty and beneficence toward us,
which We remember with deep gratitude and which move Us to tears,
still further encourage and strongly inflame Our filial reverence
for her. Throughout the many dreadful events of every kind which
the times have brought to pass, always with her have We sought
refuge, always to her have We lifted up pleading and confident
eyes. And in all the hopes and fears, the joys and sorrows, that
We confided to her, the thought was constantly before Us to ask
her to assist Us at all times as Our gracious Mother and to obtain
this greatest of favors: that We might be able, in return, to show
her the heart of a most devoted son." (Pope Leo XIII, "Magnae
Dei Matris", 1892 A.D.)
"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. 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." (Pope John Paul II)
"For can anyone fail to see that there is
no surer or more direct road than by Mary for uniting all mankind
in Christ and obtaining through Him the perfect adoption of sons,
that we may be holy and immaculate in the sight of God? For if to
Mary it was truly said: 'Blessed art thou who hast believed
because in thee shall be fulfilled the things that have been told
thee by the Lord' (Luke i., 45); or in other words, that she would
conceive and bring forth the Son of God and if she did receive in
her breast Him who is by nature Truth itself in order that 'He,
generated in a new order and with a new nativity, though invisible
in Himself, might become visible in our flesh' (St. Leo the Great,
Ser. 2, De Nativ. Dom.): the Son of God made man, being the
'author and consummator of our faith'; it surely follows that His
Mother most holy should be recognized as participating in the
divine mysteries and as being in a manner the guardian of them,
and that upon her as upon a foundation, the noblest after Christ,
rises the edifice of the faith of all centuries." (Pope St.
Pius X, "Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum", 1904 A.D.)
"And
that through the Virgin, and through her more than through any
other means, we have offered us a way of reaching the knowledge of
Jesus Christ, cannot be doubted when it is remembered that with
her alone of all others Jesus was for thirty years united, as a
son is usually united with a mother, in the closest ties of
intimacy and domestic life. Who could better than His Mother have
an open knowledge of the admirable mysteries of the birth and
childhood of Christ, and above all of the mystery of the
Incarnation, which is the beginning and the foundation of faith?
Mary not only preserved and meditated on the events of Bethlehem
and the facts which took place in Jerusalem in the Temple of the
Lord, but sharing as she did the thoughts and the secret wishes of
Christ she may be said to have lived the very life of her Son.
Hence nobody ever knew Christ so profoundly as she did, and nobody
can ever be more competent as a guide and teacher of the knowledge
of Christ." (Pope St. Pius X, "Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum",
1904)
"The
supreme Apostolic office which we discharge and the exceedingly
difficult condition of these times, daily warn and almost compel
Us to watch carefully over the integrity of the Church, the more
that the calamities from which she suffers are greater. While,
therefore, we endeavor in every way to preserve the rights of the
Church and to obviate or repel present or contingent dangers, We
constantly seek for help from Heaven - the sole means of effecting
anything - that our labors and our care may obtain their
wished-for object. We deem that there could be no surer and more
efficacious means to this end than by religion and piety to obtain
the favor of the great Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, the
guardian of our peace and the minister to us of heavenly grace,
who is placed on the highest summit of power and glory in Heaven,
in order that she may bestow the help of her patronage on men who
through so many labors and dangers are striving to reach that
eternal city." (Pope Leo XIII, "Supremi Apostolatus
Officio", 1883)
"O
Mary! Beautiful in thine unsullied holiness, pray for us who are
weighed down by the consequences of that sin of our first parents,
which God would not suffer to approach thee. Thou art the
implacable enemy of the serpent; watch over us, lest his sting
inflict death on our souls. We were conceived in sin, and born in
sorrow; pray for us, that we may so live as to merit blessing. We
are condemned to toil, to suffering, and to death; intercede for
us, that our atonement may find acceptance with the Lord. We are
exposed to the treachery of our evil inclinations; we are in love
with this present life; we forget eternity; we are ever striving
to deceive our own hearts: how could we escape hell, were the
grace of thy divine Son not unceasingly offered to us, enabling us
to triumph over all our enemies? Thou, O Immaculate Mother of
Jesus, are the Mother of divine grace! Pray for us that we, who
glory in being thy kindred by nature, may be daily more and more
enriched with this priceless gift." (Gueranger)
"How
grateful and magnificent a spectacle to see in the cities, and
towns, and villages, on land and sea - wherever the Catholic faith
has penetrated - many hundreds of thousands of pious people
uniting their praises and prayers with one voice and heart at
every moment of the day, saluting Mary, invoking Mary, hoping
everything through Mary. Through her may all the faithful strive
to obtain from her Divine Son that the nations plunged in error
may return to the Christian teaching and precepts, in which is the
foundation of the public safety and the source of peace and true
happiness. Through her may they steadfastly endeavor for that most
desirable of all blessings, the restoration of the liberty of our
Mother, the Church, and the tranquil possession of her rights -
rights which have no other object than the careful direction of
men's dearest interests, from the exercise of which individuals
and nations have never suffered injury, but have derived, in all
time, numerous and most precious benefits." (Pope Leo XIII,
"Octobri Mense", 1891)
"True,
we are passing through disastrous times, when we may well make our
own the lamentation of the Prophet: 'There is no truth and no
mercy and no knowledge of God on the earth. Blasphemy and lying
and homicide and theft and adultery have inundated it' (Os.
iv.,1-2). Yet in the midst of this deluge of evil, the Virgin Most
Clement rises before our eyes like a rainbow, as the arbiter of
peace between God and man: 'I will set my bow in the clouds and it
shall be the sign of a covenant between me and between the earth'
(Gen. ix.,13). Let the storm rage and sky darken - not for that
shall we be dismayed. 'And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I
shall see it and shall remember the everlasting covenant'
(Ibid.16). 'And there shall no more be waters of a flood to
destroy all flesh' (Ibid.15.). Oh yes, if we trust as we should in
Mary, now especially when we are about to celebrate, with more
than usual fervor, her Immaculate Conception, we shall recognize
in her that Virgin most powerful 'who with virginal foot did crush
the head of [Satan]' (Off. Immac. Conc.)." (Pope St. Pius X, "Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum",
1904)
"Oh
how bitterly and fiercely is Jesus Christ now being persecuted,
and the most holy religion which he founded! And how grave is the
peril that threatens many of being drawn away by the errors that
are afoot on all sides, to the abandonment of the faith! 'Then let
him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall' (I Cor. x., 12).
And let all, with humble prayer and entreaty, implore of God,
through the intercession of Mary, that those who have abandoned
the truth may repent. We know, indeed, from experience that such
prayer, born of charity and relying on the Virgin, has never been
vain. True, even in the future the strife against the Church will
never cease, 'for there must be also heresies, that they also who
are reproved may be made manifest among you' (I Cor. xi., 19). But
neither will the Virgin ever cease to succor us in our trials,
however grave they be, and to carry on the fight fought by her
since her conception, so that every day we may repeat: 'Today the
head of [Satan] was crushed by her' (Office Immac.
Con., 11. Vespers, Magnif.)." (Pope St. Pius X, "Ad Diem
Illum Laetissimum", 1904)
"The
Wisdom of God, with inscrutable providence, disposeth all things
rightly: Joachim and Anne are united in wedlock, but their union
is sterile. With all the heart's affection they together bind
themselves by inviolable vow to the Lord: that if he deign to give
them offspring, they without delay will consecrate it to him for
ever in the temple. A bright angel appears, and tells them their
prayers are heard, and by the grace of the most high King, a
daughter shall be given them, full of grace. Holy even in her
conception, she is born in a wondrous manner, yet in a way more
wondrous still will she give birth, remaining a virgin, to the Son
of the most high Father, when he comes freely to cancel the guilt
of the world. She is born, then, that blessed Virgin, and at the
age of three years is presented in the temple; swift and erect,
adorned with her beautiful robe, she ascends the fifteen steps,
beneath her parents' gaze. The temple shines with a new glory,
when this august Virgin is presented; there she is taught by God,
is visited by the angels from heaven, and rejoices with
them." (Sequence)
"There
is no doubt that the Blessed Virgin received in a high degree both
the gift of wisdom and the grace of miracles and even of prophecy,
just as Christ had them. But she did not so receive them, as to
put them and such like graces to every use, as did Christ: but
accordingly as it befitted her condition of life. For she had the
use of wisdom in contemplation, according to Luke 2:19: 'But Mary
kept all these words, pondering them in her heart.' But she had
not the use of wisdom as to teaching: since this befitted not the
female sex, according to 1 Timothy 2:12: 'But I suffer not a woman
to teach.' The use of miracles did not become her while she lived:
because at that time the Teaching of Christ was to be confirmed by
miracles, and therefore it was befitting that Christ alone, and
His disciples who were the bearers of His doctrine, should work
miracles. Hence of John the Baptist it is written (John 10:41)
that he 'did no sign'; that is, in order that all might fix their
attention on Christ. As to the use of prophecy, it is clear that
she had it, from the canticle spoken by her: 'My soul doth magnify
the Lord' (Luke 1:46, etc.)." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of
the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the
Church")
"To
the sufferers in purgatory, whom the burning flame is cleansing
and sharp pains are tormenting, may thy compassion bring
assistance, O Mary! Fount accessible to all and washing away their
sins, thou aidest all, despisest none: to the dead who languish in
unceasing tortures, stretch forth thy hand, O Mary! How lovingly
do the departed souls sigh towards
thee, yearning to be delivered
from their sufferings and to be admitted to the sight of thee in
the enjoyment of eternal bliss, O Mary! Hear their groans, and
hasten, O Mother, to show the love of thy heart; obtain of Jesus
that he would deign to heal them through his own wounds, O Mary!
Thou art the true hope of them that call upon thee: lo! United
multitudes cry to thee for their brethren, that thou wouldst
appease thy Son, and obtain for them the heavenly reward, O Mary!
In thy goodness, cause the tears thou seest us shed before the feet
of the Judge, to extinguish speedily the flames of the avenging
fire, that the dear souls may join the angelic choirs, O Mary! And
when the strict examination shall take place at God's terrible
judgment, oh, then, implore thy Son, the Judge, that we may share
the inheritance of the saints, O Mary!" [14th Century Prose
(Liturgical Year)]
"Mary
is already in the dust of human lives; she lives amidst terror,
brain-washings, false accusations, libels, and all the other
instruments of terror. The Immaculate is with the maculate, the
sinless with the sinner, and she bears no rancor or bitterness
toward them - only pity that they do not see or know how loving
that Love is that they are sending to His death. In her purity,
Mary is on the mountaintop; in her compassion she is amidst
curses, death cells, hangmen, executioners, and blood. A man may
despair in his consciousness of sin from crying to God for
forgiveness, but he cannot shrink from invoking the intercession
of God's Mother, who saw sinners do these things and yet prayed
for their forgiveness. If the good Holy Mother, Mary, who deserved
to be speared evil, could nevertheless, in the special providence
of her Son, have a Cross, then how shall we, who deserve not to be
ranked with her, expect to escape our meeting with a cross? 'What
have I done to deserve this?' is a cry of pride. What did Jesus
do? What did Mary do? Let there be no complaint against God for
sending a cross; let there only be wisdom enough to see that Mary
is there making it lighter, making it sweeter, making it
hers!" (Archbishop Fulton Sheen)
"The
fourth good office which Our Lady renders to her children and
faithful servants is to protect and defend them against their
enemies. Rebecca, by her cares and artifices, delivered Jacob from
all the dangers in which he found himself, and particularly from
the death which his brother Esau would have inflicted on him
because of the envy and hatred which he bore him; as Cain did of
old to his brother Abel. Mary, the good Mother of the
predestinate, hides them under the wings of her protection, as a
hen hides her chickens. She speaks, she stoops down to them, she
condescends to all their weaknesses. To secure them from the hawk
and vulture, she puts herself round about them, and accompanies
them 'like an army in battle array.' (Cant. 6:3). Shall a man who
has an army of a hundred thousand soldiers around him fear his
enemies? A faithful servant of Mary, surrounded by her protection
and her imperial power, has still less to fear. This good Mother
and powerful Princess of the Heavens would rather dispatch
battalions of millions of angels to assist one of her servants
than that it should ever be said that a faithful servant of Mary,
who trusted in her, had had to succumb to the malice, the number
and the vehemence of his enemies." (St. Louis Marie de
Montfort)
"From early times Christians have believed,
and not without reason, that she of whom was born the Son of the
Most High received privileges of grace above all other beings
created by God. He 'will reign in the house of Jacob forever,'
'the Prince of Peace,' the 'King of Kings and Lord of Lords.' And
when Christians reflected upon the intimate connection that
obtains between a mother and a son, they readily acknowledged the
supreme royal dignity of the Mother of God. Hence it is not
surprising that the early writers of the Church called Mary 'the
Mother of the King' and 'the Mother of the Lord,' basing their
stand on the words of St. Gabriel the archangel, who foretold that
the Son of Mary would reign forever, and on the words of Elizabeth
who greeted her with reverence and called her 'the Mother of my
Lord.' Thereby they clearly signified that she derived a certain
eminence and exalted station from the royal dignity of her Son.
The same thing is found in the writings of St. Jerome where he
makes the following statement amidst various interpretations of
Mary's name: 'We should realize that Mary means Lady in the Syrian
Language.' After him St. Chrysologus says the same thing more
explicitly in these words: 'The Hebrew word 'Mary' means 'Domina.'
The Angel therefore addresses her as 'Lady' to preclude all
servile fear in the Lord's Mother, who was born and was called
'Lady' by the authority and command of her own Son.'" (Pope
Pius XII, "Ad Caeli Reginam", 1954 A.D.)
"As
the fullness of grace flowed from Christ on to His Mother, so it
was becoming that the mother should be like her Son in humility:
for 'God giveth grace to the humble,' as is written James 4:6. And
therefore, just as Christ, though not subject to the Law, wished,
nevertheless, to submit to circumcision and the other burdens of
the Law, in order to give an example of humility and obedience;
and in order to show His approval of the Law; and, again, in order
to take away from the Jews an excuse for calumniating Him: for the
same reasons He wished His Mother also to fulfil the prescriptions
of the Law, to which, nevertheless, she was not subject...
Although
the Blessed Virgin had no uncleanness, yet she wished to fulfil
the observance of purification, not because she needed it, but on
account of the precept of the Law. Thus the Evangelist says
pointedly that the days of her purification according to the Law
were accomplished; for she needed no purification in herself...
Moses seems to have chosen his words in order to exclude
uncleanness from the Mother of God ['If a woman, having received
seed, shall bear a man-child, she shall be unclean seven days'
(Lev. 12:2)], who was with child 'without receiving seed.' It is
therefore clear that she was not bound to fulfil that precept, but
fulfilled the observance of purification of her own accord"
(St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest
theologian in the history of the Church")
"This
is the salutation with which the Archangel greets Mary. It shows
us what was his admiration and his profound veneration for the
Virgin of Nazareth. The holy Gospel tells us that Mary was
troubled at these words, and thought within herself what such a
salutation as this could imply. The sacred Scriptures record many
angelical salutations: but, as St. Ambrose, St. Andrew of Crete,
and, before them, Origen had remarked, there is not one which
contains such praises as this does. The prudent Virgin was,
therefore, naturally surprised at the extraordinary words of the
angel, and, as the early fathers observe, they would remind her of
that other interview between Eve and the serpent. She therefore
remained silent, and it was only after the Archangel had spoken to
her a second time, that she made him a reply. And yet, Gabriel had
spoken not only with all the eloquence, but with all the profound
wisdom of a celestial spirit initiated into the divine mysteries;
and, in his own superhuman language, he announced that the moment
had come when Eve was to be transformed into Mary. There was
present before him a woman destined for the sublimest dignity, the
woman that was to be the Mother of God; yet, up to this solemn
moment, Mary was but a daughter of the human race. Think, then,
taking Gabriel's words as your guide, what must have been the
holiness of Mary in this her first estate: is it not evident that
the prophecy, made in the earthly paradise had already been
accomplished in her?" (Dom Gueranger)
"O
thou elect from all eternity, long was thou hidden in the shell of
the letter; of thee as future Mother of Christ, the Prophets
foretold in the Scripture, but in types. The Mystery was unveiled
when the Word made Flesh willed to be born of thee, who in His
love did powerfully snatch us from the power of the wicked one.
Thee by the throne of Solomon, thee by the fleece of Gedeon, we
believe to be foreshown, and by the bush unburnt, if thy ancient
Testament we mystically ponder. On the fleece the dew descending,
in the bush the flame resplendent (yet neither hurt thereby), was
Christ assuming flesh in thee, yet not destroying thy purity by
His birth. The flower that was to spring from thee, the stem, and
benefit the world, Isaias sang; by the flower prefiguring Christ,
whose power everlasting neither began nor endeth. Thou art the
reservoir of the fountain of life, thou art a lamp burning and
shining: through thee the light supernal on us hath shed its ray;
burning with fire of charity, shining with light of chastity,
bringing into the world thy Son, the light of supreme brightness.
O gate of our salvation, hear us and comfort us, and from our
crooked ways hasten to call us back: we are calling on thee from
the abyss, sailing on the sea of the world; from the furious enemy
deliver us by thy prayer. O Jesus our salvation, by the
incomparable merit of Thy Mother, deign to visit us in this valley
with the gift of Thy grace. Thou who willest that no one be
condemned, grant us to steer our course so straightly through this
sea that after death we may be worthy to be rewarded in Thy rest.
Amen." (Sequence)
"On
the other hand, we must believe that her charity could not
possibly be defective: as her love of God surpasses the love of
all the elect, so the tenderness of all mothers united, centered
upon an only child, is nothing to the love wherewith Mary
surrounds the least, the most forgotten, the most neglected of all
the children of God, who are her children too. She forestalls them
in her solicitude, listens at all times to their humble prayers,
pursues them in their guilty flights, sustains their weaknesses,
compassionates their ills, whether of body or of soul, sheds upon
all men the heavenly favors whereof she is the treasury. Let us,
then, say to her, in the words of one of her great servants: 'O
most holy Mother of God, who hast beautified heaven and earth, in
leaving this world thou hast not abandoned man. Here below thou
didst live in heaven; from heaven thou conversest with us. Thrice
happy those who contemplated thee and lived with the Mother of
life! But in the same way as thou didst dwell in the flesh with
them of the first age, thou now dwellest with us spiritually. We
hear thy voice; and all our voices reach thine ear; and thy
continual protection over us makes thy presence evident. Thou dost
visit us; thine eye is upon us all; and although our eyes cannot
see thee, O most holy one, yet you art in the midst of us, showing
thyself in various ways to whomsoever is worthy. Thy immaculate
body, come forth from the tomb, hinders not the immaterial power,
the most pure activity of that spirit of thine, which being
inseparable from the Holy Ghost, breathes also where it wills. O
Mother of God, receive the grateful homage of our joy, and speak
for thy children to Him who has glorified thee: whatsoever thou
askest of Him, He will accomplish it by His divine power; may He
be blessed for ever.'" (Liturgical Year)
"To
form the holy Virgin's love, it was necessary to mingle together
all that is most tender in nature and most efficacious in grace.
Nature had to be there, for it was love of a son; grace had to
act, for it was love of a God. But what is beyond our imagination
is that nature and grace were insufficient; for it is not in
nature to have God for a son; and grace, at least ordinary grace,
cannot love a son as God: we must therefore raise higher. Suffer
me, O Christians, to raise my thoughts today beyond nature and
grace, and to seek the source of this love in the very bosom of
the Eternal Father. The divine Son, of whom Mary is Mother belongs
to her and to God. She is united with God the Father by becoming
the Mother of His only begotten Son, who is common to her and the
Eternal Father by the manner of His conception. But to make her
capable of conceiving God, the Most High had to overshadow her
with His own power - that is, to extend to her His own fecundity.
In this way Mary is associated in the eternal generation. But this
God, who willed to give her His Son, was obliged also, in order to
complete His work, to place in her chaste bosom a spark of the
love He himself bears to His only Son, who is the splendor of His
glory and the living image of His substance. Such is the origin of
Mary's love: it springs from an effusion of God's heart into hers;
and her love of her Son is given to her from the same source as
her Son Himself. After this mysterious communication, what hast
thou to say, O human reason? Canst thou pretend to understand the
union of Mary with Jesus Christ? It has in it something of that
perfect unity which exists between the Father and the Son. Do not
attempt any more to explain that maternal love which springs from
so high a source, and which is an overflow of the love of the
Father for His only begotten Son." (Bossuet)
"Venerable
Brethren, may the Virgin Mother of God hear the prayers of Our
paternal heart - which are yours also - and obtain for all a true
love of the Church - she whose sinless soul was filled with the
divine spirit of Jesus Christ above all other created souls, who
'in the name of the whole human race' gave her consent 'for a
spiritual marriage between the Son of God and human nature.'
Within her virginal womb Christ our Lord already bore the exalted
title of Head of the Church; in a marvelous birth she brought Him
forth as the source of all supernatural life, and presented Him
newly born, as Prophet, King and Priest to those who, from among
Jews and Gentiles, were the first to come to adore Him.
Furthermore, her only Son, condescending to His mother's prayer in
'Cana of Galilee,' performed the miracle by which 'his disciples
believed in Him.' It was she, the second Eve, who, free from all
sin, original or personal, and always more intimately united with
her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father for all the
children of Adam, sin-stained by his unhappy fall, and her
mother's rights and her mother's love were included in the
sacrifice. Thus she who, according to the flesh, was the mother of
our Head, through the added title of pain and glory became,
according to the Spirit, the mother of all His members. She it was
who through her powerful prayers obtained that the Spirit of our
Divine Redeemer, already given on the Cross, should be bestowed,
accompanied by miraculous gifts, on the newly founded Church at
Pentecost; and finally, bearing with courage and confidence the
tremendous burden of her sorrows and desolation, she, truly the
Queen of Martyrs, more than all the faithful 'filled up those
things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ...for His
Body, which is the Church'; and she continues to have for the
Mystical Body of Christ, born of the pierced Heart of the Savior,
the same motherly care and ardent love with which she cherished
and fed the Infant Jesus in the crib." (Pope Pius XII, "Mystici
Corporis Christi", 1943)
"There
too, as in so many other shrines of Mary throughout the world, the
words of today's liturgy seem to resound with a particularly
authentic force: 'You are the great pride of our nation' (Jdt
15:9), and also: '...when our nation was brought low...you avenged
our ruin, walking in the straight path before our God' (Jdt
13:20). At Fatima these words resound as one particular echo of
the experiences not only of the Portuguese nation but also of so
many other countries and peoples on this earth: indeed, they echo
the experience of modern mankind as a whole, the whole of the
human family. And so I come here today because on this very day
last year, in Saint Peter's Square in Rome, the attempt on the
Pope's life was made, in mysterious coincidence with the
anniversary of the first apparition at Fatima, which occurred on
13 May 1917. I seemed to recognize in the coincidence of the dates
a special call to come to this place. And so, today I am here. I
have come in order to thank Divine Providence in this place which
the Mother of God seems to have chosen in a particular way.
Misericordiae Domini, quia non sumus consumpti (Through God's
mercy we were spared-Lam 3:22), I repeat once more with the
prophet. I have come especially in order to confess here the glory
of God himself: 'Blessed be the Lord God, who created the heavens
and the earth', I say in the words of today's liturgy (Jdt 13:18).
And to the Creator of heaven and earth I also raise that special
hymn of glory which is she herself, the Immaculate Mother of the
Incarnate Word: 'O daughter, you are blessed by the Most High God
above all women on earth...your hope will never depart from the
hearts of men, as they remember the power of God. May God grant
this to be a perpetual honor to you '(Jdt 18:20). At the basis of
this song of praise, which the Church lifts up with joy here as in
so many other places on the earth, is the incomparable choice of a
daughter of the human race to be the Mother of God. And therefore
let God above all be praised: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. May
blessing and veneration be given to Mary, the model of the Church,
as the 'dwelling-place of the Most Holy Trinity'." (Pope John
Paul II, 1982)
"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.' ... 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...'), 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." (Pope John Paul II)
"We, O Mary! Have corrupted our way; we have disobeyed our Lord;
we have broken His law; we have preferred our own selfish
gratifications to the service we owed Him: but thou wast ever
filled with His holy love, and there passed not even a shadow of
sin upon thy soul, O spotless mirror of justice and holiness!
Virgin most faithful! The grace of thy Son ever triumphed in thy
heart. Mystical rose! The fragrance of thy virtues unceasingly
ascended to His throne, changing only in its daily increase of
sweetness. Tower of ivory! Fair beyond measure, without one spot
to mar thy purity! House of gold! Thou didst ever reflect the
precious gifts of the Holy Ghost. Have pity, then, upon us, for we
are sinners. We have obliged our God to repent that He made us:
but in thee, dear Mother, He has ever been well pleased. Thou art
the good land, wherein His divine seed yielded its thousandfold of
fruit: pray for us, that He give fresh fertility to our hearts,
and root up from them the thorns, which choke the heavenly plant.
We are defiled by sin; may He, through the merits of the tears
thou didst shed at the foot of the cross, mercifully cleanse us.
If thy divine Son have already pardoned us, there are the
consequences of our sins, which still weaken and humble us, like
the sores of wounds that have been cured: take us, sweet Mother of
our Jesus, under the mantle of thy tender care. We have too
little dread of sin; we are often on the verge of offending our
God; oh! Obtain for these poor children of thine courage and
firmness of resolution, and ambition for holiness of life. Thy
intercession must win for us that precious devotedness to God's
honor, which kills self-love, the root of sin. Oh! accursed
self-love, which may lead us to hell, who are now perhaps in the
grace of thy divine Son! The deluge, brought on by our sins, is
hurrying its vengeance against mankind; and we, O Mary! are
resolved to seek our refuge in the Ark of the Church, the safe
shelter created for us by thy Jesus. But we presume to pray to thee
for our brethren throughout the world. Our God has given thee a
power to stay His anger, and to win for guilty mortals an
extension of mercy: show this power now, for our world is
provoking its Master to destroy it. If the flood-gate of His just
indignation burst upon the face of our earth, millions of souls
that have been redeemed by the Blood of thy divine Son would be
lost eternally. If the sweet dove of peace bring her olive-branch
only when that terrible justice is appeased, it would be too late
for thy loving heart. Come before the deluge, O beautiful rainbow
of our Father's reconciliation! The love of a Mother, who is the
very Queen of mercy, emboldens us to sue for universal mercy. Can
the prayer of her, in whose purity and innocence the very God of
holiness finds no blemish be denied? Pray Him, then, to pardon us,
and all sinners!" (Gueranger)
"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. 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." (Pope John Paul II)
Also
See: Praise
of Mary | Devotion
to Mary / Devotion to Mary is Recommended | We
Should Imitate Mary / Mary is Our Model | Marian
Facts | Marian
Scriptural
References | Some
Reasons
to Honor the Blessed Virgin Mary | Some
Thoughts
on the Blessed Virgin Mary
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