Our Blessed Mother

Throughout the centuries, May has been a month of special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This devotion is shown in many ways. Among them: pilgrimages to places, churches or shrines dedicated to her; the daily recitation of the Holy Rosary; floral offerings; the annual May fiestas in the Philippines. May 13 is the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima, and May 31 the feast day of the Visitation.

What explains such special devotion? We do not adore or worship the Blessed Mother. Worship and adoration we reserve to God alone. But we venerate and honor her, in the same way we do to the other saints in heaven.

Our Blessed Mother holds a unique place in the life of Jesus Christ. She has been enriched with special gifts and blessings given to no other human being apart from her Son. From the first moment of her conception she belonged to Christ (Redemptoris Mater, 10), and she was preserved from the stain of the original sin, decreed as the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The angel Gabriel greeted her, “Hail, full of grace.” She is full of grace. Elizabeth greeted her too with the words, “Blessed are you among women.” The election of Mary is wholly exceptional and unique. The fullness of grace announced by the angel means the gift of God himself (Ibid., 9, 12). Mary is "the Mother of the Son of God. As a result she is also the favorite daughter of the Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Because of this gift of sublime grace, she far surpasses all other creatures, both in heaven and on earth" (Lumen Gentium, 53). She is the mother of Jesus, the Second Person in the Holy Trinity. She is the Mother of God (Theotokos). It was in her womb that Christ was formed (Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 10).

Our Blessed Mother shows us how we should relate to God’s love. First is with faith. Mary believed the angel. “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord," her cousin Elizabeth would add (Lk 1:45). Second is with obedience borne of faith. “May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). Third is with humility. “I am the handmaid of the Lord” (Ibid.)

Our Blessed Mother models for us a personal and human response to God’s call. Hers is a complete entering into a life with God. Mary lived with her eyes fixed on Christ, treasuring his every word: “She kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19; cf. 2:51; Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 11). She is a teacher of the spiritual life for individual Christians. As early as the fourth century, St. Ambrose, speaking to the people, expressed the hope that each of them would have the spirit of Mary in order to glorify God: "May the heart of Mary be in each Christian to proclaim the greatness of the Lord; may her spirit be in everyone to exult in God." But Mary is above all the example of that worship that consists in making one's life an offering to God (Marialis Cultus, 21). She is held up as an example to the faithful for the way in which, in her own particular life, she fully and responsibly accepted the will of God (cf. Lk 1:38), because she heard the word of God and acted on it, and because charity and a spirit of service were the driving force of her actions. She is worthy of imitation because she was the first and the most perfect of Christ's disciples (Ibid., 35).

Hers is a full and totally obedient “yes.” While Jesus was talking to the people, someone approached Him saying, “Your mother and your brethren are just outside; they want to speak to you.” Jesus answered: “Who is my mother?” Who are my brethren? Whoever does the will of my Father is my brother, my sister and my mother.” (Mt 12: 48-50). Mary's "yes" – “May it be done to me according to your word” -- is for all Christians a lesson and example of obedience to the will of the Father, which is the way and means of one's own sanctification (Marialis Cultus, 21).

“Our entire perfection consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ. Hence the most perfect of all devotions is undoubtedly that which conforms, unites and consecrates us most perfectly to Jesus Christ. Now, since Mary is of all creatures the one most conformed to Jesus Christ, it follows that among all devotions that which most consecrates and conforms a soul to our Lord is devotion to Mary, his Holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to her the more will it be consecrated to Jesus Christ”(Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 15).

Mary is the perfect example of motherhood. She cared for her Son. She, together with St. Joseph, provided an environment at home in which Jesus grew in piety and wisdom. She took care of the needs of Jesus. Remember the cloth Jesus wore as he carried his cross. It was seamless and special that the Roman guards did not cut it to pieces but cast lots as to who should own it.

She is a model of prayer. Her Magnificat is directed to the glory of God. The last description of Mary's life in the Gospel presents her as praying. The apostles "joined in continuous prayer, together with several women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers" (Acts 1:14).

She is a teacher of the virtues of faith, hope and love; of care and solicitousness (“They have no wine,” she told her Son at Cana); of courage and sacrifice. At the foot of the Cross, she bears the pain of a mother, seeing her son, innocent, crucified and dying; yet she stood there until the death of her Son, and even after the death. Tradition tells us that after Jesus was brought down from the cross, our Blessed Mother held Him in her arms.

Devotion to Mary is devotion to Christ. The ultimate purpose of devotion to the Blessed Virgin is to glorify God and to lead Christians to commit themselves to a life which is in absolute conformity with His will. When the children of the Church unite their voices with the voice of the unknown woman in the Gospel and glorify the Mother of Jesus by saying to Him: "Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that you sucked" (Lk. 11:27), they will be led to ponder the Divine Master's serious reply: "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it" (Lk 11:28) While it is true that this reply is in itself lively praise of Mary, it is also an admonition to us to live our lives in accordance with God's commandments. It is also an echo of other words of the Savior: "Not every one who says to me 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Mt. 7:21); and again: "You are my friends if you do what I command you" (Jn 15:14; Marialis Cultus, 39).