Glorious things are told of the Blessed Virgin Mary
May 29, 2023 - Monday. Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
Psalm 87:1-3 and 5-7
Psalm 87 sings about Jerusalem as uniquely loved by God: “The Lord loves it more” than any other city in Israel (see Ps 87:2). The Christian tradition easily recognises in the description of this city the heavenly Jerusalem but this psalm is also used on the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary the most glorious daughter of Zion. Since the beginning of the Church’s proclamation of the Gospel, glorious things are said of Mary, the Mother of Incarnate God and the Mother of the Church.
The first to use the title of Mary as the Mother of the Church was Saint Ambrose, the bishop of Milan. Centuries later on November 21, 1964, Paul VI, who before being elected pope was an archbishop of Milan, declared Mary “Most Holy Mother of the Church, that is, of all the Christian people”. The declaration took place at the closing of the third session of the Second Vatican Council and some say that the bishop of Cracow, Karol Wojtyła, a future Pope John Paul II, played a prominent role in making this declaration happen.
Although many centuries passed between Saint Ambrose and Saint Paul VI, the people of God always recognised the maternal role of Mary in their lives. This conviction springs from the Bible. At the foot of the cross, Jesus made her the mother of all his disciples (John 19:25-27) and in the book of Revelation, the mysterious woman “clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet” (Rev 12:1), symbolising both the Church and Mary, is the mother of “those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (Rev 12:17).
Over centuries, Christ’s followers turned to Mary for help in their time of need. Drawing inspiration from the wedding in Cana, they believe that if Mary passes their request to Jesus, a miracle will take place in their lives (see John 2:1-12). The most ancient prayer addressed to Mary comes from the third century and presents evidence of growing faith in Mary’s powerful intercession on behalf of Christ’s followers: “We fly to your patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin”.
But, Mary’s powerful help is not confined to individual people alone. The battle of Lepanto in 1571 during which the small Christian fleet defeated the more numerous Muslim fleet of Ottoman Turks is believed to be influenced by Mary. The outcome of the battle of Warsaw that took place in 1920 between the newly resurrected Republic of Poland and Bolshevik Russia is also believed to be influenced by Mary. Some of the Catholics saw a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary over the capital of Poland.
Saint Bernard Clairvaux (1090-1153) is the author of the well-known “Memorare”, the prayer that we often recite at the end of the Rosary. After one thousand years of the Church’s history, Saint Bernard could say that “never was it known that anyone who fled to [Mary’s] protection […] was left unaided”. Living in the twenty-first century, we have further evidence of this truth and so we come to Mary and pray:
The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us and the whole world.