Omnes cum Petro ad Iesum per Mariam!
All, with Peter, to Jesus through Mary!
St. Josemaría Escrivá.
The insistent prayer to the Mother of God is based on the confidence that her maternal intercession can do everything before the heart of the Son. She is "omnipotent by grace".
Some time ago Pope Saint John Paul IIIn Redemptoris Mater, he wrote about the intercession of the Virgin Mary and pointed out that Mary "freely cooperated in the work of the salvation of humanity, in profound and constant harmony with her divine Son.
From this cooperation "derives the gift of universal spiritual motherhood: associated with Christ in the work of Redemption, which includes the spiritual regeneration of humanity, she becomes the Mother of men reborn to a new life".
It is the Virgin Mary who "guides the Church's faith towards an ever deeper acceptance of the Word of God, sustaining its hope, encouraging charity and fraternal communion, and fostering apostolic dynamism.
God wanted to unite "to the priestly intercession of the Redeemer the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary. It is a function that she exercises for the benefit of those who are in danger and in need of temporal favors and, above all, of eternal salvation".
The titles with which we Christians address the Virgin Mary when we pray the litanies that accompany the prayer of the Lord's Day are the following Holy RosaryThe Church's mission, "helps us to better understand the nature of her intervention in the life of the Church and of each of the faithful". St. John Paul II.
As "Lawyer"She defends her children and protects them from the harm caused by their own faults. Christians invoke Mary as "Auxiliadora"recognizing her motherly love that sees the needs of her children and is ready to intervene to help them, especially when their eternal salvation is at stake".
Receives the title of "Socorro"because it is close to those who suffer or are in situations of grave danger. And as "Maternal Mediator"Mary presents to Christ our desires, our petitions and transmits to us the divine gifts, interceding continually on our behalf.
"Mother! -call her loudly, loudly. -She hears you, sees you in danger perhaps, and offers you, your Holy Mother Mary, with the Grace of her Son, the consolation of her lap, the tenderness of her caresses: and you will find yourself comforted for the new struggle."
St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, No. 516.
Mary did not want to draw attention to herself. She lived on earth with her eyes fixed on Jesus and the heavenly Father. Her most intense desire is to make everyone's gaze converge in the same direction. He wants to promote a gaze of faith and hope in the Savior sent to us by the Father. With this gaze of faith and hope, he urges the Church and believers to always fulfill the will of the Father, which Christ has manifested to us.
From the Homily on the Blessed Virgin Mary delivered by St. Josemaría Escrivá on May 4, 1957, and included in the book "Christ Is Passing By":
"They were standing by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore had looked upon his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother! And from that moment the disciple took her to be his mother". John 19:25-27.
It is so, because the Lord willed it. And the Holy Spirit He ordered that it be written down, so that it might be recorded for all generations.
Mary certainly wants us to invoke her, to approach her with confidence, to appeal to her motherhood, asking her to manifest herself as our Mother (Monstra te esse Matrem - Liturgical hymn Ave maris stella).
She is a mother who does not make us beg, who even anticipates our requests, because she knows our needs and comes promptly to our aid, demonstrating by her works that she constantly remembers her children.
Jesus' entrustment of his Mother is a gift that Christ makes personally to each person. It is His gift to us; it was not enough for Him to give us creation, life, forgiveness, but He went further and left us His Blessed Mother as our Mother.
Mary was intimately united to her sacrifice, a sacrifice that involved continuing to keep things in her heart. The 7 Sorrows of the VirginThe moments in the life of the Virgin Mary where she was united to Jesus in a particular and unique way. This allowed her to share the depth of her Son's sorrow and the love of his sacrifice.
"Do whatever He tells you." John 2:5. It is John who recounts the scene at Cana. He is the only evangelist who has recorded this trait of maternal solicitude. St. John wants to remind us that Mary was present at the beginning of the Lord's public life. This shows us that he knew how to deepen the importance of the Lady's presence. Jesus knew to whom he entrusted his Mother: to a disciple who had loved her, who had learned to love her as his own mother and was capable of understanding her.
Among creatures, no one knows Christ better than Mary, no one like his Mother can introduce us to a profound knowledge of his mystery.
Leo XIII, in an Encyclical on the Rosary, says: "By the express will of God, no good is granted to us except through Mary; and as no one can come to the Father except through the Son, so generally no one can come to Jesus except through Mary".
"She cooperated by her charity that the faithful might be born in the Church, members of that head, of which she is indeed mother according to the body." St. Augustine, De sancta virginitate, 6.
St. Luke, the evangelist who narrated the infancy of Jesus at the greatest length. It seems as if he wanted us to understand that, just as Mary played a leading role in the Incarnation of the Word, in an analogous way she was also present at the origins of the Church, which is the Body of Christ.
From the first moment of the Church's life, all Christians who have sought God's love, that love which is revealed to us and made flesh in Jesus Christ, have encountered Our Lady, and have experienced her maternal solicitude in many different ways.
Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, Prelate of Opus Dei, in 1987, in Toshi.
Jesus is a path that can be traveled, open to all. The Virgin Mary today shows us, shows us the way: Let us follow her! And you, Holy Mother of God, accompany us with your protection, Amen. Benedict XVI, Homily of 01/02/2012.
As Prelate of Opus Dei, Bishop Alvaro del Portillo in 1987 spoke about the intercessory power of the Blessed Virgin Mary when he traveled to the island of Toshi, off the coast of Toba in Japan.
"You see the power of our Mother's intercession. When she asks, her Son God cannot say no, he says yes. She is the good little Mother of God and God says yes to his good little Mother. And this good little Mother of God is also a good little Mother, who always listens to us, who hears us and listens to us. And that is why, when we are in trouble, when we are in pain, when we are in sorrow, it is convenient to turn to the Blessed Virgin so that she, who can do everything, may intercede with her Son".
As good children we must love our Heavenly Mother every day; we know that She is a gift from Jesus, and God gives us the Immaculate Heart of Mary for our salvation, to bring us closer to Him.
We take refuge under your protection, Holy Mother of God:
do not despise the supplications that we address to you in our need,
but save us always from all dangers,
Glorious and blessed Virgin.
Bibliography
Opusdei.org.
"Christ is passing by," St. Josemaría Escrivá.
Corazones.org.
Encyclical Letter, Redemptoris Missio, 1990, St. John Paul II.
Homily of 01/01/2012, Benedict XVI.
