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TO HONOR MARY
IS TO GO TO JESUS
Pope John
Paul II
General Audience
November 15, 1995
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1. After
following in our previous catecheses how the Christian community's reflection on the
figure and role of the Blessed Virgin in salvation history took shape from the earliest
times, let us pause today to meditate on the Marian experience of the Church.
The
development of Mariological thought and devotion to the Blessed Virgin down the centuries
has contributed to revealing ever better the Church's Marian aspect. Of course, the
Blessed Virgin is totally related to Christ, the foundation of faith and ecclesial
experience, and she leads to him. That is why, in obedience to Jesus, who reserved a very
special role for his Mother in the economy of salvation, Christians have venerated, loved
and prayed to Mary in a most particular and fervent way. They have attributed to her an
important place in faith and piety, recognizing her as the privileged way to Christ, the
supreme Mediator.
The
Church's Marian dimension is thus an undeniable element in the experience of the Christian
people. It is expressed in many ways in the life of believers, testifying to the place
Mary holds in their hearts. It is not a superficial sentiment but a deep and conscious
emotional bond, rooted in the faith which spurs Christians of the past and present to turn
habitually to Mary, to enter into a more intimate communion with Christ.
2.
After the most ancient prayer, formulated in Egypt by the Christian communities of the
third century, to implore "the Mother of God" for protection in danger, numerous
invocations were addressed to her, whom the baptized consider most powerful in her
intercession with the Lord.
Christian
People Have Expressed Deep Devotion to Mary
Today, the most
common prayer is the *Hail Mary*, whose first part consists of words from the Gospel (cf. Lk 1:28, 42). Christians learn to recite it at
home from their earliest years and receive it as a precious gift to be preserved
throughout life. This same prayer, repeated tens of times in the Rosary, helps many of the
faithful to enter into prayerful contemplation of the Gospel mysteries and sometimes to
remain for long intervals in intimate contact with the Mother of Jesus. Since the Middle
Ages, the *Hail Mary* has been the most common prayer of all believers who ask the Holy
Mother of the Lord to guide and protect them on their daily journey through life (cf.
Apostolic Exhortation *Marialis cultus*, nn. 42-55).
Christian
people have also expressed their love for Mary by multiplying expressions of their
devotion: hymns, prayers and poetic compositions, simple or sometimes of great quality,
imbued with that same love for her who was given to men as Mother by the Crucified One.
Some of these, such as the "Akathist Hymn"
and the "Salve Regina", have deeply marked the faith life of believers. The
counterpart of Marian piety is the immensely rich artistic production in the East and
West, which has enabled entire generations to appreciate Mary's spiritual beauty.
Painters, sculptors, musicians and poets have left us masterpieces which, in shedding
light on the various aspects of the Blessed Virgin's greatness, help to give us a better
understanding of the meaning and value of her lofty contribution to the work of
Redemption.
In
Mary, Christian art recognizes the fulfilment of a new humanity which corresponds to God's
plan and is therefore a sublime sign of hope for the whole human race.
3.
This message could not fail to be grasped by Christians called to a vocation of special
consecration. In fact, Mary is particularly venerated in religious orders and
congregations, in institutes or associations of consecrated life. Many institutes,
primarily but not only female, include Mary's name in their title. Nevertheless, over and
above its external expressions, the spirituality of religious families, as well as of many
ecclesial movements, some of which are specifically Marian, highlight their special bond
with Mary as the guarantee of a charism fully and authentically lived.
This
Marian reference in the lives of people particularly favored by the Holy Spirit has also
developed the mystical dimension, which shows how the Christian can experience Mary's
intervention in the innermost depths of his being.
This
reference to Mary binds not only committed Christians but also simple believers and even
the "distant", for whom it is frequently their only link with the life of the
Church. Pilgrimages to Marian shrines, which attract large crowds of the faithful
throughout the year, are a sign of the Christian people's common sentiment for the Mother
of the Lord. Some of these bulwarks of Marian piety are famous, such as Lourdes, Fatima,
Loreto, Pompei, Guadalupe and Czestochowa! Others are known only at the national or local
level. In all of them, the memory of events associated with recourse to Mary conveys the
message of her motherly tenderness, opening our hearts to God's grace.
These
places of Marian prayer are a wonderful testimony to God's mercy, which reaches man
through Mary's intercession. The miracles of physical healing, spiritual redemption and
conversion are the obvious sign that, with Christ and in the Spirit, Mary is continuing
her work as helper and mother.
Marian
Dimension Pervades Church's Whole Life
4. Marian
shrines often become centers of evangelization. Indeed, even in the Church today, as in
the community awaiting Pentecost, prayer with Mary spurs many Christians to the apostolate
and to the service of their brothers and sisters. Here I would especially like to recall
the great influence of Marian piety on the practice of charity and the works of mercy.
Encouraged by Mary's presence, believers have often felt the need to dedicate themselves
to the poor, the unfortunate and the sick, in order to be for the lowliest of the earth a
sign of the motherly protection of the Blessed Virgin, the living icon of the Father's
mercy.
It can
be clearly seen from all this how the Marian dimension pervades the Church's whole life.
The proclamation of the Word, the liturgy, the various charitable and cultural expressions
find in Mary an occasion for enrichment and renewal.
The
People of God, under the guidance of their Pastors, are called to discern in this fact the
action of the Holy Spirit who has spurred the Christian faith onward in its discovery of
Mary's face. It is he who works marvels in the centers of Marian piety. It is he who, by
encouraging knowledge of and love for Mary, leads the faithful to learn from the Virgin of
the Magnificat how to read the signs of God in history and to acquire a wisdom that makes
every man and every woman the architects of a new humanity.
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