VI. THE VIRGIN OF OUR AMEN
1. Starting point of marian devotion and cult
2. Concrete practice of devotion and cult:
- Marian feasts
- Preaching and catechesis
- To know, imitate and love her
3. Traditional practices and renewal
4. Ecclesial and missionary significance
5. Marian attitude in prayer
- Ecclesialmarian attitude
- Mary's prayer
- The marian prayer of the Church
Bibliography
VI. THE VIRGIN OF OUR AMEN
The whole Christian life could be summed up in a "Yes" united to Christ's yes: "Yes, Father, for so it has seemed good to you" (Lk 10:21). Sacrificial "yes", the Good Shepherd's giving and commitment. The Church should say this "yes" and "Amen" (Rev. 1:67). In spite of our fragility we can "utter the Amen through him", because "he has put his seal upon us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as guarantee" (cf. 2 Cor. 1:2022). It is the "amen" or "fiat" that Mary said as representative of the Church and mankind. Marian devotion and cult are a training or apprenticeship for us to say our "Amen" to the Father, as those redeemed by Christ who have received the force of the Spirit (Eph. 2:18).
1. Starting point of marian devotion and cult
When St. Peter announced the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus, he stirred up in the people a basic attitude: "What are we to do?" (Act 2:37). The answer summed up the Christian way to conformity with Christ: "Do penance and be baptized", that is, change your attitudes to live in Christ (Acts 2:38). It is the same Christian norm St. Paul draws up when he speaks of the death and resurrection of the Lord: "Have among yourselves the same mind that was in Christ Jesus" (cf. Phil. 2:5).
In the Church marian devotion and cult reflect this commitment to transformation in Christ, like Mary "clothed with the sun" (Rev. 12:1): "Devoutly meditating on her and contemplating her in the light of the Word made man, the Church reverently penetrates more deeply into the great mystery of the Incarnation and becomes more and more like her Spouse" (LG 65). This is the Church faithful to the Lord's words: "Behold your Mother" (Jn 19:27).
Marian devotion and cult draw us to live the Lord's Paschal Mystery since, "having entered deeply into the history of salvation, Mary, in a way, unites in her person and reechoes the most important doctrines of the faith: and when she is the subject of preaching and worship she prompts the faithful to come to her Son, to his sacrifice and to the love of the Father" (LG 65). A marian life, "far from hindering in any way the immediate union of the faithful with Christ, on the contrary fosters it" (LG 60).
Through the precept of love, we are urged to see each person like a reflection of God and a participation in the life of Jesus. In each person we are brought to discover and love the mission he is called on to carry out in the world or the Church, according to his calling in Christ.
It is characteristic of the Church to be associated and transformed into Him to allow him to be seen in her visage. Hence, part of the very reason for the Church's existence is an affective relationship with Mary, Model and Mother of the Church. The Marian conciliar text aims at explaining the function Mary has in the history of salvation and at the same time to explain "the duties of the redeemed towards the Mother of God who is Mother of Christ and Mother of Men, and most of all of those who believe" (LG 54).
As is shown in the apostolic exhortation Marialis Cultus (Paul VI, 1974), marian devotion and cult have a trinitarian, christological and pneumatological aspect. Mary's "Yes" to the Father's salvific plan made possible the incarnation of the Word by the work of the Holy Spirit. Thanks to the energy of the Spirit and the redeeming mediation of Jesus, mankind can reach the Father. "Starting from the 'fiat' of the humble servant of the Lord, mankind begins its return to God" (Paul VI, Marialis Cultus). Marian devotion and cult are a means to live the deepest levels of the christian mystery.[7]
Marian cult and devotion foster "the immediate union of believers with Christ" (LG 60). The deepening and renewal of Marian cult and devotion is made in the light of the biblical, salvific, Christological, pneumatological, ecclesial, ecumenical, missionary, contemplative dimension, etc. This renewed devotion guides people and communities towards the mystery of Christ in the same way that "Mary guides the faithful to the Eucharist" (RMa 44).
2. Concrete practice of devotion and cult
The Second Vatican Council invites people to know Mary in the Mystery of Christ and the Church, to imitate her fidelity, to have a personal relationship with Her, to venerate her and beseech her intercession. The encyclical Redemptoris Mater presents these same perspectives, stressing Mary's "active presence" "at the centre of the pilgrim Church" (RMa, part II). The ecumenical councils, particularly from the council of Ephesus onwards (year 431), often speak of Mary's intercession and approve of the veneration of her pictures (Nicaea II).[8]
A) Marian feasts
Any marian feast shows up some aspect of the Lord's Easier mystery or his victory over death and sin. United with Mary and living her mystery, the Church continually celebrates and lives the Mystery of Christ dead and risen again: "In celebrating this annual cycle of the mysteries of Christ, Holy Church honors the Blessed Mary, Mother of God with a special love. She is inseparably linked with her son's saving work. In her the Church admires and exalts the most excellent fruit of the redemption, and joyfully contemplates, as in a faultless image, that which she herself desires and hopes wholly to be" (SC 103). Praise, invocation and supplication are all concrete activities of this cult.
B) Preaching and catechesis
Preaching the Word of God in all its various aspects of kerygma or first announcement, catechumenate, catechesis, homily, teachings. etc., should manifest the mystery of Christ exactly as it is, that is, with its Marian stamp. What is in question is to explain without exaggeration or pettiness, all the duties and privileges of the Blessed Virgin, which always refer to Christ, the source of all truth, sanctity and devotion" (LG 67). So that, "by preaching and baptizing the Church brings forth sons who are conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of God, to a new and immortal life" (LG 64).
C) To know, imitate and love her
To know Mary is to know what God has done in her and the function he has given her in the history of salvation. It is to know the mystery of Christ just as it is, all its depth, manifestation and presence.
The Church looks towards Mary "who shines to the whole community of the elect as the model of virtues" (LG 65). "The Church indeed contemplating her hidden sanctity, imitating her charity and faithfully fulfilling the Father's will, by receiving the word of God in faith becomes herself a mother" (LG 64). "The Blessed Virgin Mary continues to 'go before' the People of God. Her exceptional pilgrimage of faith represents a constant point of reference for the Church, for individuals and for communities, for peoples and nations, and in a sense for all humanity" (RMa 6).
Like Mary she becomes the virgin who listens, prays and offers as virginmother. The Blessed Virgin "is an example of the spiritual attitude in which the Church celebrates and lives the divine mysteries" (Paul VI, Marialis Cultus).
Love of Mary stems from the intimate relationship that obtains between herself and the Church on the level of maternity, intercession, affection and presence. Vatican II speaks of "recognizing the excellence of the Mother of God, by which we are moved to a filial love towards our mother and to the imitation of her virtues... which proceeds from true faith" (LG 67), and a movement of the Holy Spirit: "The Catholic Church, taught by the Holy Spirit, honors her with filial affection and devotion as a most beloved mother" (LG 54).
3. Traditional practices and renewal
Besides liturgical marian practices which are the most important, there are others. Vatican II thus exhorts us: "This sacred synod... admonishes all the sons of the Church that... practices and exercises of devotion (to the Blessed Virgin), recommended by the teaching authority of the Church in the course of centuries be highly esteemed, and that those decrees, which were given in the early days regarding the cult images of Christ, the Blessed Virgin and the saints, be religiously observed" (LG 67).
With this principle, continuity of marian devotional practices, especially those approved by the Church, are assured continuity. But continual renewal of these practices should take into account enriching aspects that in their evolution will adapt them to new situations and the freshness of God's graces.
In Marialis Cultus, Paul VI speaks of "a careful revision of pious exercises dedicated to the Blessed Virgin", but that "respect healthy traditions and be open to the rightful aspirations of men of our times". In other words, a "genuine creative activity". What follows is a summary of the main directives of this pontifical document.[9]
The basic groundplan of this renewal is traced by Vatican II in its biblicalsalvific and ecclesialeschatological dimension. Hence, marian devotion should include a trinitarian, christological, ecclesial, ecumenical and anthropological perspective which we find in Marialis Cultus. Some of these aspects we have already treated, and here are the remaining ones.
Authentic devotion to Mary in its most concrete expression, should help to "deepen knowledge of the action of the Holy Spirit in the history of salvation... This study will especially show the mysterious relationship existing between God's Spirit and the virgin of Nazareth, as well as his activity in the Church".
Concrete devotion to Mary should express a deep, ecclesial mentality, "love for the Church will lead to love of Mary and viceversa", since "it is impossible to speak of the Church without Mary's presence".
The anthropological meaning of the praxis or Marian devotion should be reflected in an appreciation of man as cooperating and responsible in the work of creation and redemption. Mary is like a "mirror of hope for men of our days". Mary's active and responsible consent to the work of redemption shows an integral anthropology, illumined by Christ made man in the womb of the Virgin, and her association in the work of salvation.
Practices and acts of devotion in the concrete have a twofold aspect: the lasting content revealed and the concrete formulation. The first is, of course, basic; the second always subject to renewal. Christian living demands that believers maintain an attitude of communion even in the acceptance of these concrete forms of Marian devotion.
In Marialis Cultus, Paul VI stresses the importance of living Marian devotion through the liturgy and practically, in the liturgical cycle. The new liturgical texts and emphasis given to the main feasts all related to the celebration of the mystery of Christ, manifest Mary "associated with the Redeemer as the holy Mother of God".
The more important liturgical seasons should draw attention chiefly to the practice of an authentic marian devotion, more especially those of Advent and Pentecost. This attention to the liturgy will enable us to coordinate, harmonize, and provide vitality and depth for other legitimate devotional expressions. Mary appears as a "mirror of the spiritual attitude in which the Church celebrates and lives the divine mysteries... For each Christian she is a spiritual mother..., above all a model of that cult which consists in making one's life an offering to God".
Two exercises that retain their value: the Angelus and the Rosary, are given concrete application in Marialis Cultus. From the first century we find traces of devotion to Mary with the salutation of the "Hail Mary" (graffiti of Nazareth); it is a kind of vital necessity for the Church who wants to say her "yes" to the Word and to God like Mary and with her help. The nature of the Church is expressed through continual meditation of the mystery of Christ like Mary, in her presence and with her intercession. The Angelus also is "an invitation to pause and pray" like Mary. A contemplative attitude is implied in the Rosary since "without contemplation the Rosary is like a body without a soul".[10]
The Oriental Church has given expression to her Marian devotion, besides her icons, through the daily recitation of the verses called "Theotokia", that is, invocation to the Mother of God.
Consecration to Mary brings out two essential aspects of Christian spirituality: a) a decision to do the will of God and to follow the workings of the Spirit like Mary; b) a feeling of the need for Mary's maternal presence, her affection, intercession and example. One formula for this consecration is the prayer: "Our Lady, my Mother". There are many varieties, according to times, for example, the "marian slavery" that includes all the different aspects alluded to, besides a sentiment of trust in the mercy of God at a time when human limitations were too strongly emphasized.[11]
Apparitions of Mary do not belong directly to the deposit of revelation. The Church guarantees in approving them that the marian message does not contrast with Christian faith. As for the fact of the apparition, the Church may guarantee its existence by approving the liturgical feast devotional practices, etc, besides sometimes canonizing persons or approving writings. But in all this ecclesial context emerges the intention to underline the importance of Mary's presence in the life of each individual and in the Church. The apparitions are a sign among many others given by the Lord to his Church of this presence and closeness.[12]
Faith goes far beyond these signs. Mary's presence in the Church is far more important than its signs. In spite of their "poverty" these are most efficacious pedagogical tools and a stimulus for living the great reality that Mary is living in her glory, accompanying the pilgrimage of the People of God.
4. Ecclesial and missionary significance
Ecclesial spirituality consists in being faithful, like Mary and with her help, to the word of God and to the action of the Holy Spirit. It is a spirituality of marriage and association with Christ and thus a spirituality of the Covenant. So Mary's relationship to the Church, and the Church's relationship to Mary, her Type and Mother, is a basic point of this spirituality.
The Church meditates on the Word of God and the mystery of Christ in a relationship of imitation and filial affection with Mary. For Mary, and for the Church, "to believe" means "to abandon oneself" to the truth of the word of the living God" (RMa 14).
In looking at Mary as her Type and Mother the Church undertakes to be a virgin and mother, i.e., faithful and an instrument of grace and life in Christ. In the service of the ecclesial signs and ministries also Mary's saving collaboration is present, as being associated with the risen Christ present in the Church. In order to fulfil her saving mission "the Church is a mother and... the Church has need of a Mother..., Mary, Mother of the Church" (RH 22).
Ecclesial and marian spirituality develops mainly in the exercise of the ministries. It is a spirituality of the mother Church in imitation of Mary's motherly love: "In her life the Virgin has been the model of that motherly love with which all who join in the Church's apostolic mission for the regeneration of mankind should be animated" (LG 65).[13]
The Marian theme is an integral part of the "first proclamation" of the Gospel to all peoples since "through the assent of the humble handmaid of the Lord mankind begins its return to God" (MC 28). "The Church sees the Blessed Mother of God in the saving mystery of Christ and in her own mystery. She sees Mary deeply rooted in humanity's history, in man's eternal vocation according to the providential plan which God has made for him from eternity" (RMa 52).
"Consequently, Mary must be on all the ways for the Church's daily life. Through her maternal presence the Church acquires certainty that she is truly living the life of her Master and Lord and that she is living the mystery of the Redemption in all its lifegiving profundity and fullness. Likewise the Church, which has struck root in many varied fields of the life of the whole of presentday humanity, also acquires the certainty and, one could say, the experience of being close to man, to each person, of being each person's Church, the Church of the People of God" (RH 22).
5. Marian attitude in prayer
A) Ecclesialmarian attitude
One of the outstanding characteristics in Mary's life is her contemplative attitude (Lk 2:1951). God speaks through the silence of our circumstances or our "Nazareth". The word of God, his utterance to man, is heard in situations of silence, that is, "in the cloud" (Wis. 18:1415). Enwrapped in the silence or cloud of the Spirit, God pronounces this Word, at Nazareth, at the beginning of the public life, and on Tabor: "This is my beloved Son: listen to him" (Lk 9:35). As Mary contemplated the Father's Word, she breaks open the cloud of God's resonant silence with the "yes" she will maintain all her life long.