മരിയാലിസ് കുൾത്തൂസ് (Marialis Cultus)
പരിശുദ്ധ കന്യാമറിയത്തോടുള്ള ഭക്തിയുടെ ശരിയായ ക്രമീകരണത്തിനും പോഷിപ്പിക്കലിനുമായി പോൾ ആറാമൻ മാർപാപ്പ 1972 ഫെബ്രുവരി രണ്ടിന് പുറത്തിറക്കിയതാണ് മരിയാലിസ് കുൾത്തൂസ് (Marialis Cultus) എന്ന അപ്പസ്തോലിക പ്രബോധനം.
പശ്ചാത്തലം
രണ്ടാം വത്തിക്കാൻ സൂനഹദോസ് തിരുസഭയിൽ നവീകരണത്തിന്റെ ഒരു കൊടുങ്കാറ്റ് സൃഷ്ടിച്ചു. അതിന്റെ ഫലമായി അന്നുവരെ നിലനിന്നിരുന്ന പല പാരമ്പര്യങ്ങളും ചോദ്യം ചെയ്യപ്പെട്ടു. അതിന്റെ ഫലമായി പരിശുദ്ധ കന്യകാമറിയത്തോടുള്ള വണക്കവും സംശയിക്കപ്പെടുകയും ചോദ്യം ചെയ്യപ്പെടുകയും ചെയ്തപ്പോൾ, മാതാവിനോടുള്ള വണക്കത്തിന്റെ ചരിത്രവും ശരിയായ കാരണങ്ങളും നിരത്തി, അതിന്റെ സാധുതയെയും ആവശ്യകതയെയും പറ്റി വിവരിക്കുകയും സ്ഥാപിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുകയാണ് പോൾ ആറാമൻ മാർപാപ്പ ഈ അപ്പസ്തോലിക പ്രബോധനത്തിലൂടെ. മറിയത്തിന്റെ ശുദ്ധീകരണതിരുനാൾ എന്നറിയപ്പെട്ടിരുന്ന ഒരു ആഘോഷം ഈശോയെ ദൈവാലയത്തിൽ കാഴ്ച വയ്ക്കുന്ന തിരുനാൾ എന്ന രീതിയിൽ പുനർനിർവചിക്കപ്പെട്ട് ക്രിസ്തുകേന്ദ്രീകൃത ആരാധനക്രമ തിരുനാളായി ആഘോഷിക്കുന്ന ഫെബ്രുവരി രണ്ടാം തിയതി തന്നെ ഈ അപ്പസ്തോലിക പ്രബോധനം പുറത്തിറക്കാൻ മാർപാപ്പ തിരഞ്ഞടുത്തത്, മറിയത്തിന് ദൈവപുത്രനോടുള്ള ബന്ധവും രക്ഷാകരപദ്ധതിയിൽ തന്റെ പുത്രനോടൊപ്പം വഹിച്ച പങ്കുമാണ് മരിയഭക്തിയുടെ ഉറവിടം എന്ന് വ്യക്തമാക്കാനാണ്.
പ്രതിസന്ധികൾക്കുള്ള ഉത്തരം
മരിയഭക്തി അക്കാലത്ത് നേരിട്ട പ്രതിസന്ധികൾക്കുള്ള ഉത്തരമായിരുന്നു ഈ അപ്പസ്തോലിക പ്രബോധനം. പരിശുദ്ധ കന്യകാ മറിയത്തെ അനുസ്മരിക്കുന്ന ആരാധനാക്രമ തിരുനാളുകൾ സഭ എപ്രകാരം ആഘോഷിക്കുന്നു എന്ന് വ്യക്തമാക്കുകയും മരിയഭക്തിയെക്കുറിച്ച് വിവരിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്ന ഒന്നാണ് ഇത്. ആരാധനാക്രമത്തെയും തിരുസഭയെയും കുറിച്ചുള്ള രണ്ടാം വത്തിക്കാൻ സൂനഹദോസിന്റെ പ്രമാണരേഖകൾ ഈ അപ്പസ്തോലിക പ്രബോധനത്തെ സ്വാധീനിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്.
മൂന്നു ഭാഗങ്ങള്‍
ഈ പ്രബോധനത്തെ മൂന്ന് പ്രധാന ഭാഗങ്ങളായി തിരിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു. 1. ആരാധനക്രമത്തിൽ പരിശുദ്ധ കന്യകാമറിയത്തോടുള്ള ഭക്തി, 2. പരിശുദ്ധ കന്യകാമറിയത്തോടുള്ള ഭക്തിയുടെ നവീകരണം, 3. ‘കർത്താവിന്റെ മാലാഖ’ എന്ന ജപം, ജപമാല എന്നീ ഭക്തനുഷ്ടാനങ്ങളെക്കുറിച്ചുള്ള നിരീക്ഷണങ്ങൾ.
ഒന്നാം ഭാഗം
ആദ്യഭാഗത്ത്, പുതുക്കിയ റോമൻ ആരാധനക്രമത്തിൽ വാഴ്ത്തപ്പെട്ട കന്യകാ മറിയത്തിന്റെ സ്ഥാനം (2 -15) വിവരിക്കുകയും, പരിശുദ്ധ അമ്മയെ ദൈവാരാധനയിൽ സഭയുടെ മാതൃകയായി (16 – 23) അവതരിപ്പിക്കുകയും ചെയ്തിരിക്കുന്നു. മുമ്പുള്ളതിനേക്കാൾ മരിയൻ ആഘോഷങ്ങളുടെ എണ്ണം വർദ്ധിപ്പിക്കുന്നതോടൊപ്പം, ക്രിസ്തുവിന്റെ അമ്മയുടെ അനുസ്മരണം തന്റെ പുത്രന്റെ ദിവ്യരഹസ്യങ്ങളുടെ ആഘോഷമായ ആരാധനക്രമത്സരത്തിലെ വിവിധ കാലങ്ങളോട് എപ്രകാരം സ്വഭാവേനയായി ഇഴചേർക്കാം എന്ന് റോമൻ ആരാധനാക്രമ പരിഷ്കരണം തെളിയിക്കുന്നു. കൂടാതെ, ദിവ്യരഹസ്യങ്ങൾ ആഘോഷിക്കുകയും ജീവിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്ന സഭയുടെ ആത്മീയ മനോഭാവത്തിന്റെ മാതൃകയാണ് പരിശുദ്ധ കന്യകാമറിയമെന്ന് പ്രസ്താവിക്കുന്നു. സഭ പരിശുദ്ധ കന്യകാമറിയത്തോട് പ്രകടിപ്പിക്കുന്ന ബഹുമാനത്തിന്റെയും വണക്കത്തിന്റെയും ഏറ്റവും ഉന്നതമായ ആവിഷ്‌കാരവും വ്യക്തമായ തെളിവുമാണ് ആരാധനക്രമം എന്ന് അസന്നിഗ്ധമായി പറയുന്നു.
രണ്ടാം ഭാഗം
രണ്ടാം ഭാഗത്ത്, മരിയഭക്തിയുടെ ത്രിത്വൈക ദൈവവിശ്വാസപരവും ക്രിസ്തുവിജ്ഞാനീയപരവും സഭാവിജ്ഞാനീയപരവുമായ കാരണങ്ങൾ (25-28) നിരത്തുകയും, വി. ഗ്രന്ഥം, ആരാധനാക്രമം, സഭൈക്യം, നരവംശശാസ്ത്രം എന്നിവയെ അടിസ്ഥാനമാക്കി മരിയഭക്തിക്കായുള്ള മാർഗ്ഗനിർദ്ദേശങ്ങൾ (29-39) നൽകുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു. ക്രിസ്തീയവിശ്വാസികൾ കർത്താവിന്റെ അമ്മയോട് കാണിക്കുന്ന സവിശേഷ ബഹുമാനം സഭയിൽ അവൾ വഹിക്കുന്ന “ക്രിസ്തുവിനുശേഷം ഏറ്റവും ഉയർന്നതും ഏറ്റവും അടുത്തതുമായ” സ്ഥാനം വ്യക്തമായി കാണിക്കുന്നു എന്ന് മാർപാപ്പ പറയുന്നു. കാരണം, പരിശുദ്ധ കന്യകാമറിയം സ്വന്തം ദൈവപുത്രന്റെ മാത്രം ഒരു അമ്മയായിട്ടല്ല, മറിച്ച് അപ്പോസ്തലിക സമൂഹത്തിന്റെ ക്രിസ്തുവിലുള്ള വിശ്വാസം ശക്തിപ്പെടുത്താൻ സഹായിച്ചവളും തന്റെ മാതൃത്വം കാൽവരിയിൽ വച്ച് വ്യാപ്തമാവുകയും സാർവത്രികമാവുകയും ചെയ്തപ്പെട്ട ഒരു സ്ത്രീയായിട്ടും കൂടിയാണ് വെളിപ്പെടുന്നത്.
മൂന്നാം ഭാഗം
മൂന്നാം ഭാഗത്ത്, “കർത്താവിന്റെ മാലാഖ” എന്ന ജപം, ജപമാല എന്നീ രണ്ട് ഭക്തനുഷ്ടാനങ്ങളെക്കുറിച്ചുള്ള നിരീക്ഷണങ്ങൾ (40 – 54 ) നൽകിയിരിക്കുന്നു. “കർത്താവിന്റെ മാലാഖ” എന്ന ലളിതവും വിശുദ്ധ ഗ്രന്ഥാധിഷ്ഠിതവുമായ ജപം പെസഹാരഹസ്യങ്ങളെ അനുസ്മരിപ്പിക്കുന്നതും ദിവസത്തിന്റെ യാമങ്ങളെ വിശുദ്ധീകരിക്കുന്നതും ആണെന്ന് പാപ്പാ വ്യക്തമാക്കുന്നു. ജപമാലയ്ക്കട്ടെ സുവിശേഷങ്ങളിൽ നിന്ന് പ്രചോദനമുൾക്കൊള്ളുന്നതും, ദൈവത്തിന്റെ വചനം കാരുണ്യപൂർവ്വം മനുഷ്യന്റെ അവസ്ഥകളിലേയ്ക്ക് ഇറങ്ങിവന്ന് അവന്റെ രക്ഷ സാധിതമാക്കുന്ന രക്ഷാകരപദ്ധതിയിലെ പ്രധാന ദിവ്യരഹസ്യങ്ങളെപ്പറ്റി ധ്യാനിക്കാൻ വ്യക്തികളെ സഹായിക്കുന്നതുമാണ് എന്ന് മാർപാപ്പ വളരെ വിശദമായി സമർത്ഥിക്കുന്നു. അതിനാൽ, കുടുംബ പ്രാർത്ഥനയിൽ ഏറ്റവും ഉയർന്ന സ്ഥാനം വഹിക്കേണ്ട യാമപ്രാർത്ഥനകൾ കഴിഞ്ഞാൽ ക്രൈസ്തവ കുടുംബങ്ങൾ ഒരുമിച്ചിരുന്നു ചൊല്ലേണ്ട ഏറ്റവും മികച്ചതും ഫലപ്രദവുമായ ഒരു പ്രാർത്ഥനയായി ജപമാലയെ കണക്കാക്കണം എന്ന് മാർപാപ്പ എല്ലാവരെയും ഉദ്‌ബോധിപ്പിക്കുന്നു.
വാഴ്ത്തപ്പെട്ട കന്യകയോടുള്ള സഭയുടെ ഭക്തി ക്രിസ്തീയ ആരാധനയുടെ അന്തർലീനഘടകമാണെന്നും, ദിവ്യരക്ഷകനെ ആരാധിക്കുന്നതിനോട് കീഴ്വഴങ്ങിയുള്ളതും അതിനോട് ചേർന്നിരിക്കുന്നതുമായ പരിശുദ്ധ അമ്മയോടുള്ള ഭക്തി വലിയ അജപാലനഫലപ്രാപ്തി ഉള്ളതും ക്രിസ്തീയജീവിതം നവീകരിക്കുന്നതിന് വലിയ ശക്തി പ്രദാനം ചെയ്യുന്നതുമാണെന്നും വ്യക്തമാക്കിക്കൊണ്ടാണ് മാർപാപ്പ ഈ അപ്പസ്തോലിക പ്രബോധനം സമാപിപ്പിക്കുന്നത്.
ഡോ. സെബാസ്റ്യന്‍ മുട്ടംതൊട്ടില്‍ mcbs
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
OF HIS HOLINESS PAUL VI
MARIALIS CULTUS
FOR THE RIGHT ORDERING AND DEVELOPMENT
OF DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
To All Bishops in Peace and Communion
with the Apostolic See
February 2, 1974
INTRODUCTION
Division of the Treatise
Occasion and Purpose of the Document
Venerable Brothers:
Health and the Apostolic Blessing
From the moment when we were called to the See of Peter, we have constantly striven to enhance devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, not only with the intention of interpreting the sentiments of the Church and our own personal inclination but also because, as is well known, this devotion forms a very noble part of the whole sphere of that sacred worship in which there intermingle the highest expressions of wisdom and of religion(1) and which is therefore the primary task of the People of God.
Precisely with a view to this task, we have always favored and encouraged the great work of liturgical reform promoted by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, and it has certainly come about not without a particular design of divine Providence that the first conciliar document which together with the venerable Fathers we approved and signed in Spiritu Sancto was the Constitution Sacrosanctum concilium. The purpose of this document was precisely to restore and enhance the liturgy and to make more fruitful the participation of the faithful in the sacred mysteries.(2) From that time onwards, many acts of our pontificate have been directed towards the improvement of divine worship, as is demonstrated by the fact that we have promulgated in these recent years numerous books of the Roman Rite, restored according to the principles and norms of the same Council. For this we profoundly thank the Lord, the giver of all good things, and we are grateful to the episcopal conferences and individual bishops who in various ways have collaborated with us in the preparation of these books.
We contemplate with joy and gratitude the work so far accomplished and the first positive results of the liturgical renewal, destined as they are to increase as this renewal comes to be understood in its basic purposes and correctly applied. At the same time we do not cease with vigilant solicitude to concern ourself with whatever can give orderly fulfillment to the renewal of the worship with which the Church in spirit and truth (cf. Jn. 4:24) adores the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, “venerates with special love Mary the most holy Mother of God”(3) and honors with religious devotion the memory of the martyrs and the other saints.
The development, desired by us, of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is an indication of the Church’s genuine piety. This devotion fits-as we have indicated above-into the only worship that is rightly called “Christian,” because it takes its origin and effectiveness from Christ, finds its complete expression in Christ, and leads through Christ in the Spirit to the Father. In the sphere of worship this devotion necessarily reflects God’s redemptive plan, in which a special form of veneration is appropriate to the singular place which Mary occupies in that plan.(4) Indeed every authentic development of Christian worship is necessarily followed by a fitting increase of veneration for the Mother of the Lord. Moreover, the history of piety shows how “the various forms of devotion towards the Mother of God that the Church has approved within the limits of wholesome and orthodox doctrine”(5) have developed in harmonious subordination to the worship of Christ, and have gravitated towards this worship as to their natural and necessary point of reference. The same is happening in our own time. The Church’s reflection today on the mystery of Christ and on her own nature has led her to find at the root of the former and is a culmination of the latter the same figure of a woman: the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Christ and the Mother of the Church. And the increased knowledge of Mary’s mission has become joyful veneration of her and adoring respect for the wise plan of God, who has placed within His family (the Church), as in every home, the figure of a Woman, who in a hidden manner and in a spirit of service watches over that family “and carefully looks after it until the glorious day of the Lord.”(6)
In our time, the changes that have occurred in social behavior, people’s sensibilities, manners of expression in art and letters and in the forms of social communication have also influenced the manifestations of religious sentiment. Certain practices of piety that not long ago seemed suitable for expressing the religious sentiment of individuals and of Christian communities seem today inadequate or unsuitable because they are linked with social and cultural patterns of the past. On the other hand in many places people are seeking new ways of expressing the unchangeable relationship of creatures with their Creator, of children with their Father. In some people this may cause temporary confusion. But anyone who, with trust in God reflects upon these phenomena discovers that many tendencies of modern piety (for example, the interiorization of religious sentiment) are meant to play their part in the development of Christian piety in general and devotion to the Blessed Virgin in particular. Thus our own time, faithfully attentive to tradition and to the progress of theology and the sciences, will make its contribution of praise to her whom, according to her own prophetical words, all generations will call blessed (cf. Lk. 1:48).
We therefore judge it in keeping with our apostolic service, venerable Brothers, to deal, in a sort of dialogue, with a number of themes connected with the place that the Blessed Virgin occupies in the Church’s worship. These themes have already been partly touched upon by the Second Vatican Council(7) and also by ourself,(8) but it is useful to return to them in order to remove doubts and, especially, to help the development of that devotion to the Blessed Virgin which in the Church is motivated by the Word of God and practiced in the Spirit of Christ.
We therefore wish to dwell upon a number of questions concerning the relationship between the sacred liturgy and devotion to the Blessed Virgin (I), to offer considerations and directives suitable for favoring the development of that devotion (II) and finally to put forward a number of reflections intended to encourage the restoration, in a dynamic and more informed manner, of the recitation of the Rosary, the practice of which was so strongly recommended by our predecessors and is so widely diffused among the Christian people (III).
PART ONE
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Liturgy
1. As we prepare to discuss the place which the Blessed Virgin Mary occupies in Christian worship, we must first turn our attention to the sacred liturgy. In addition to its rich doctrinal content, the liturgy has an incomparable pastoral effectiveness and a recognized exemplary conduct for the other forms of worship. We would have liked to take into consideration the various liturgies of the East and the West, but for the purpose of this document we shall dwell almost exclusively on the books of the Roman Rite. In fact, in accordance with the practical norms issued by the Second Vatican Council,(9) it is this Rite alone which has been the object of profound renewal. This is true also in regard to expressions of veneration for Mary. This Rite therefore deserves to be carefully considered and evaluated.
Section One
The Blessed Virgin in the Revised Roman Liturgy
2. The reform of the Roman liturgy presupposed a careful restoration of its General Calendar. This Calendar is arranged in such a way as to give fitting prominence to the celebration on appropriate days of the work of salvation. It distributes throughout the year the whole mastery of Christ, from the Incarnation to the expectation of His return in glory,(10) and thus makes it possible in a more organic and closely-knit fashion to include the commemoration of Christ’s Mother in the annual cycle of the mysteries of her Son.
3. For example, during Advent there are many liturgical references to Mary besides the Solemnity of December 8, which is a joint celebration of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, of the basic preparation (cf. Is. 11:1, 10) for the coming of the Savior and of the happy beginning of the Church without spot or wrinkle.(11) Such liturgical references are found especially on the days from December 17 to 24, and more particularly on the Sunday before Christmas, which recalls the ancient prophecies concerning the Virgin Mother and the Messiah(12) and includes readings from the Gospel concerning the imminent birth of Christ and His precursor.(13)
4. In this way the faithful, living in the liturgy the spirit of Advent, by thinking about the inexpressible love with which the Virgin Mother awaited her Son,(14) are invited to take her as a model and to prepare themselves to meet the Savior who is to come. They must be “vigilant in prayer and joyful in…praise.”(15) We would also remark that the Advent liturgy, by linking the awaiting of the Messiah and the awaiting of the glorious return of Christ with the admirable commemoration of His Mother, presents a happy balance in worship. This balance can be taken as a norm for preventing any tendency (as has happened at times in certain forms of popular piety) to separate devotion to the Blessed Virgin from its necessary point of reference-Christ. It also ensures that this season, as liturgy experts have noted, should be considered as a time particularly suited to devotion to the Mother of the Lord. This is an orientation that we confirm and which we hope to see accepted and followed everywhere.
5. The Christmas season is a prolonged commemoration of the divine, virginal and salvific motherhood of her whose “inviolate virginity brought the Saviour into the world.”(16) n fact, on the Solemnity of the Birth of Christ the Church both adores the Savior and venerates His glorious Mother. On the Epiphany, when she celebrates the universal call to salvation, the Church contemplates the Blessed Virgin, the true Seat of Wisdom and true Mother of the King, who presents to the Wise Men, for their adoration, the Redeemer of all peoples (cf. Mt. 2:11). On the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (the Sunday within the octave of Christmas) the Church meditates with profound reverence upon the holy life led in the house at Nazareth by Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Man, Mary His Mother, and Joseph the just man (cf. Mt. 1:19).
In the revised ordering of the Christmas period it seems to us that the attention of all should be directed towards the restored Solemnity of Mary the holy Mother of God. This celebration, placed on January 1 in conformity with the ancient indication of the liturgy of the City of Rome, is meant to commemorate the part played by Mary in this mystery of salvation. It is meant also to exalt the singular dignity which this mystery brings to the “holy Mother…through whom we were found worthy to receive the Author of life.”(17) It is likewise a fitting occasion for renewing adoration of the newborn Prince of Peace, for listening once more to the glad tidings of the angels (cf. Lk. 2:14), and for imploring from God, through the Queen of Peace, the supreme gift of peace. It is for this reason that, in the happy concurrence of the Octave of Christmas and the first day of the year, we have instituted the World Day of Peace, an occasion that is gaining increasing support and already bringing forth fruits of peace in the hearts of many.
6. To the two solemnities already mentioned (the Immaculate Conception and the Divine Motherhood) should be added the ancient and venerable celebrations of March 25 and August 15.
For the Solemnity of the Incarnation of the Word, in the Roman Calendar the ancient title-the Annunciation of the Lord-has been deliberately restored, but the feast was and is a joint one of Christ and of the Blessed Virgin: of the Word, who becomes Son of Mary (Mk. 6:3), and of the Virgin, who becomes Mother of God. With regard to Christ, the East and the West, in the inexhaustible riches of their liturgies, celebrate this solemnity as the commemoration of the salvific “fiat” of the Incarnate Word, who, entering the world, said: “God, here I am! I am coming to obey Your will” (cf. Heb. 10:7; Ps. 39:8-9). They commemorate it as the beginning of the redemption and of the indissoluble and wedded union of the divine nature with human nature in the one Person of the Word. With regard to Mary, these liturgies celebrate it as a feast of the new Eve, the obedient and faithful virgin, who with her generous “fiat” (cf. Lk. 1:38) became through the working of the Spirit the Mother of God, but also the true Mother of the living, and, by receiving into her womb the one Mediator (cf. 1 Tm. 2:5), became the true Ark of the Covenant and true Temple of God. These liturgies celebrate it as a culminating moment in the salvific dialogue between God and man, and as a commemoration of the Blessed Virgin’s free consent and cooperation in the plan of redemption.
The solemnity of August 15 celebrates the glorious Assumption of Mary into heaven. It is a feast of her destiny of fullness and blessedness, of the glorification of her immaculate soul and of her virginal body, of her perfect configuration to the Risen Christ; a feast that sets before the eyes of the Church and of all mankind the image and the consoling proof of the fulfillment of their final hope, namely, that this full glorification is the destiny of all those whom Christ has made His brothers, having “flesh and blood in common with them” (Heb. 2:14; cf. Gal. 4:4). The Solemnity of the Assumption is prolonged in the celebration of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which occurs seven days later. On this occasion we contemplate her who, seated beside the King of ages, shines forth as Queen and intercedes as Mother.(18) These four solemnities therefore, mark with the highest liturgical rank the main dogmatic truths concerning the handmaid of the lord.
7. After the solemnities just mentioned, particular consideration must be given to those celebrations that commemorate salvific events in which the Blessed Virgin was closely associated with her Son. Such are the feasts of the Nativity of Our Lady (September 8), “the hope of the entire world and the dawn of salvation”(19); and the Visitation (May 31), in which the liturgy recalls the “Blessed Virgin Mary carrying her Son within her,”(20) and visiting Elizabeth to offer charitable assistance and to proclaim the mercy of God the Savior.(21) Then there is the commemoration of Our Lady of Sorrows (September 15), a fitting occasion for reliving a decisive moment in the history of salvation and for venerating, together with the Son “lifted up on the cross, His suffering Mother.”(22)
The feast of February 2, which has been given back its ancient name, the Presentation of the Lord, should also be considered as a joint commemoration of the Son and of the Mother, if we are fully to appreciate its rich content. It is the celebration of a mystery of salvation accomplished by Christ, a mystery with which the Blessed virgin was intimately associated as the Mother of the Suffering Servant of Yahweh, as the one who performs a mission belonging to ancient Israel, and as the model for the new People of God, which is ever being tested in its faith and hope by suffering and persecution (cf. Lk. 2:21-35).
8. The restored Roman Calendar gives particular prominence to the celebrations listed above, but it also includes other kinds of commemorations connected with local devotions and which have acquired a wider popularity and interest (e.g., February 11, Our Lady of Lourdes August 5, the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major). Then there are others, originally celebrated by particular religious families but which today, by reason of the popularity they have gained, can truly be considered ecclesial (e.g., July 16, Our Lady of Mount Carmel; October 7, Our Lady of the Rosary). There are still others which, apart from their apocryphal content, present lofty and exemplary values and carry on venerable traditions having their origin especially in the East (e.g., the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin, celebrated on the Saturday following the second Sunday after Pentecost).
9. Nor must one forget that the General Roman Calendar does not include all celebrations in honor of the Blessed Virgin. Rather, it is for individual Calendars to include, with fidelity to liturgical norms but with sincere endorsement, the Marian feasts proper to the different local Churches. Lastly, it should be noted that frequent commemorations of the Blessed Virgin are possible through the use of the Saturday Masses of our Lady. This is an ancient and simple commemoration and one that is made very adaptable and varied by the flexibility of the modern Calendar and the number of formulas provided by the Missal.
10. In this Apostolic Exhortation we do not intend to examine the whole content of the new Roman Missal. But by reason of the work of evaluation that we have undertaken to carry out in regard to the revised books of the Roman Rite,(23) we would like to mention some of the aspects and themes of the Missal. In the first place, we are pleased to note how the Eucharistic Prayers of the Missal, in admirable harmony with the Eastern liturgies,(24) contain a significant commemoration of the Blessed Virgin. For example, the ancient Roman Canon, which commemorates the Mother of the Lord in terms full of doctrine and devotional inspiration: “In union with the whole Church we honor Mary, the ever-virgin Mother of Jesus Christ our Lord and God.” In a similar way the recent Eucharistic Prayer III expresses with intense supplication the desire of those praying to share with the Mother the inheritance of sons: “May he make us an everlasting gift to you (the Father) and enable us to share in the inheritance of your saints, with Mary, the Virgin Mother of God.” This daily commemoration, by reason of its place at the heart of the divine Sacrifice, should be considered a particularly expressive form of the veneration that the Church pays to the “Blessed of the Most High” (cf. Lk. 1:28).
11. As we examine the texts of the revised Missal we see how the great Marian themes of the Roman prayerbook have been accepted in perfect doctrinal continuity with the past. Thus, for example, we have the themes of Mary’s Immaculate Conception and fullness of grace, the divine motherhood, the unblemished and fruitful virginity, the Temple of the Holy Spirit, Mary’s cooperation in the work of her Son, her exemplary sanctity, merciful intercession, Assumption into heaven, maternal Queenship and many other themes. We also see how other themes, in a certain sense new ones, have been introduced in equally perfect harmony with the theological developments of the present day. Thus, for example, we have the theme of Mary and the Church, which has been inserted into the texts of the Missal in a variety of aspects, a variety that matches the many and varied relations that exist between the Mother of Christ and the Church. For example, in the celebration of the Immaculate Conception which texts recognize the beginning of the Church, the spotless Bride of Christ.(25) In the Assumption they recognize the beginning that has already been made and the image of what, for the whole Church, must still come to pass.(26) In the mystery of Mary’s motherhood they confess that she is the Mother of the Head and of the members-the holy Mother of God and therefore the provident Mother of the Church.(27)
When the liturgy turns its gaze either to the primitive Church or to the Church of our own days it always finds Mary. In the primitive Church she is seen praying with the apostles(28); in our own day she is actively present, and the Church desires to live the mystery of Christ with her: “Grant that your Church which with Mary shared Christ’s passion may be worthy to share also in his resurrection.”(29) She is also seen represented as a voice of praise in unison with which the Church wishes to give glory to God: “…with her [Mary] may we always praise you.”(30) And since the liturgy is worship that requires as way of living consistent with it, it asks that devotion to the Blessed Virgin should become a concrete and deeply-felt love for the Church, as is wonderfully expressed in the prayer after Communion in the Mass of September: “…that as we recall the sufferings shared by the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may with the Church fulfill in ourselves what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.”
12. The Lectionary is one of the books of the Roman Rite that has greatly benefited from the post-conciliar reform, by reason both of its added texts and of the intrinsic value of these texts, which contain the ever-living and efficacious word of God (cf. Heb. 4:12). This rich collection of biblical texts has made it possible to arrange the whole history of salvation in an orderly three-year cycle and to set forth more completely the mystery of Christ. The logical consequence has been that the Lectionary contains a larger number of Old and New Testament readings concerning the Blessed Virgin. This numerical increase has not however been based on random choice: only those readings have been accepted which in different ways and degrees can be considered Marian, either from the evidence of their content or from the results of careful exegesis, supported by the teachings of the magisterium or by solid Tradition. It is also right to observe that these readings occur not only on feasts of the Blessed Virgin but are read on many other occasions, for example on certain Sundays during the liturgical year, in the celebration of rites that deeply concern the Christian’s sacramental life and the choices confronting him,(32) as also in the joyful or sad experiences of his life on earth.(33)
13. The Liturgy of the Hours, the revised book of the Office, also contains outstanding examples of devotion to the Mother of the Lord. These are to be found in the hymns-which include several masterpieces of universal literature, such as Dante’s sublime prayer to the Blessed Virgin(34)-and in the antiphons that complete the daily Office. To these lyrical invocations there has been added the well-known prayer Sub tuum praesidium, venerable for its antiquity and admirable for its content. Other examples occur in the prayers of intercession at Lauds and Vespers, prayers which frequently express trusting recourse to the Mother of mercy. Finally there are selections from the vast treasury of writings on our Lady composed by authors of the first Christian centuries, of the Middle Ages and of modern times.
14. The commemoration of the Blessed Virgin occurs often in the Missal, the Lectionary and the Liturgy of the Hours-the hinges of the liturgical prayer of the Roman Rite. In the other revised liturgical books also expressions of love and suppliant veneration addressed to the Theotokos are not lacking. Thus the Church invokes her, the Mother of grace, before immersing candidates in the saving waters of baptism(35); the Church invokes her intercession for mothers who, full of gratitude for the gift of motherhood, come to church to express their joy(36); the Church holds her up as a model to those who follow Christ by embracing the religious life(37) or who receive the Consecration of Virgins.(38) For these people the Church asks Mary’s motherly assistance.(39) The Church prays fervently to Mary on behalf of her children who have come to the hour of their death.(40) The Church asks Mary’s intercession for those who have closed their eyes to the light of this world and appeared before Christ, the eternal Light”;(41) and the Church, through Mary’s prayers, invokes comfort upon those who in sorrow mourn with faith the departure of their loved ones.(42)
15. The examination of the revised liturgical books leads us to the comforting observation that the postconciliar renewal has, as was previously desired by the liturgical movement, properly considered the Blessed Virgin in the mystery of Christ, and, in harmony with tradition, has recognized the singular place that belongs to her in Christian worship as the holy Mother of God and the worthy Associate of the Redeemer.
It could not have been otherwise. If one studies the history of Christian worship, in fact, one notes that both in the East and in the West the highest and purest expressions of devotion to the Blessed Virgin have sprung from the liturgy or have been incorporated into it.
We wish to emphasize the fact that the veneration which the universal Church today accords to blessed Mary is a derivation from and an extension and unceasing increase of the devotion that the Church of every age has paid to her, with careful attention to truth and with an ever watchful nobility of expression. From perennial Tradition kept alive by reason of the uninterrupted presence of the Spirit and continual attention to the Word, the Church of our time draws motives, arguments and incentives for the veneration that she pays to the Blessed Virgin. And the liturgy, which receives approval and strength from the magisterium, is a most lofty expression and an evident proof of this living Tradition.
Section Two
The Blessed Virgin as the Model of the Church in Divine Worship
16. In accordance with some of the guidelines of the Council’s teaching on Mary and the Church, we now wish to examine more closely a particular aspect of the relationship between Mary and the liturgy-namely, Mary as a model of the spiritual attitude with which the Church celebrates and lives the divine mysteries. That the Blessed virgin is an exemplar in this field derives from the fact that she is recognized as a most excellent exemplar of the Church in the order of faith, charity and perfect union with Christ,(43) that is, of that interior disposition with which the Church, the beloved spouse, closely associated with her Lord, invokes Christ and through Him worships the eternal Father.(44)
17. Mary is the attentive Virgin, who receives the word of God with faith, that faith which in her case was the gateway and path to divine motherhood, for, as Saint Augustine realized, “Blessed Mary by believing conceived Him (Jesus) whom believing she brought forth.”(45) In fact, when she received from the angel the answer to her doubt (cf. Lk. 1:34-37), “full of faith, and conceiving Christ in her mind before conceiving Him in her womb, she said, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you have said be done to me’ (Lk. 1:38).”(46) It was faith that was for her the cause of blessedness and certainty in the fulfillment of he promise: “Blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Lk. 1:45). Similarly, it was faith with which she, who played a part in the Incarnation and was a unique witness to it, thinking back on the events of the infancy of Christ, meditated upon these events in her heart (cf. Lk. 2:19,51). The Church also acts in this way, especially in the liturgy, when with faith she listens, accepts, proclaims and venerates the word of God, distributes it to the faithful as the bread of life(47) and in the light of that word examines the signs of the times and interprets and lives the events of history.
18. Mary is also the Virgin in prayer. She appears as such in the visit to the mother of the precursor, when she pours out her soul in expressions glorifying God, and expressions of humility, faith and hope. This prayer is the Magnificat (cf. Lk. 1:46-55), Mary’s prayer par excellence, the song of the messianic times in which there mingles the joy of the ancient and the new Israel. As St. Irenaeus seems to suggest, it is in Mary’s canticle that there was heard once more the rejoicing of Abraham who foresaw the Messiah (cf. Jn. 8:56)(48) and there rang out in prophetic anticipation the voice of the Church: “In her exultation Mary prophetically declared in the name of the Church: ‘My soul proclaims the glory of the Lord….'”(49) And in fact Mary’s hymn has spread far and wide and has become the prayer of the whole Church in all ages.
At Cana, Mary appears once more as the Virgin in prayer: when she tactfully told her Son of a temporal need she also obtained an effect of grace, namely, that Jesus, in working the first of His “signs,” confirmed His disciples’ faith in Him (cf. Jn. 2:1-12).
Likewise, the last description of Mary’s life 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). We have here the prayerful presence of Mary in the early Church and in the Church throughout all ages, for, having been assumed into heaven, she has not abandoned her mission of intercession and salvation.(50) The title Virgin in prayer also fits the Church, which day by day presents to the Father the needs of her children, “praises the Lord unceasingly and intercedes for the salvation of the world.”(51)
19. Mary is also the Virgin-Mother-she who “believing and obeying…brought forth on earth the Father’s Son. This she did, not knowing man but overshadowed by the Holy Spirit.”(52) This was a miraculous motherhood, set up by God as the type and exemplar of the fruitfulness of the Virgin-Church, which “becomes herself a mother…. For by her preaching and by baptism she brings forth to a new and immortal life children who are conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of God.”(53) The ancient Fathers rightly taught that the Church prolongs in the sacrament of Baptism the virginal motherhood of Mary. Among such references we like to recall that of our illustrious predecessor, Saint Leo the Great, who in a Christmas homily says: “The origin which (Christ took in the womb of the Virgin He has given to the baptismal font: He has given to water what He had given to His Mother-the power of the Most High and the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit (cf Lk. 1:35), which was responsible for Mary’s bringing forth the Savior, has the same effect, so that water may regenerate the believer.”(54) If we wished to go to liturgical sources, we could quote the beautiful Illatio of the Mozarabic liturgy: “The former [Mary] carried Life in her womb; the latter [the Church] bears Life in the waters of baptism. In Mary’s members Christ was formed; in the waters of the Church Christ is put on.”(55)
20. Mary is, finally, the Virgin presenting offerings. In the episode of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (cf. Lk. 2:22-35), the Church, guided by the Spirit, has detected, over and above the fulfillment of the laws regarding the offering of the firstborn (cf. Ex. 13:11-16) and the purification of the mother (cf. Lv. 12:6-8), a mystery of salvation related to the history of salvation. That is, she has noted the continuity of the fundamental offering that the Incarnate Word made to the Father when He entered the world (cf. Heb. 15:5-7). The Church has seen the universal nature of salvation proclaimed, for Simeon, greeting in the Child the light to enlighten the peoples and the glory of the people Israel (cf. Lk. 2:32), recognized in Him the Messiah, the Savior of all. The Church has understood the prophetic reference to the Passion of Christ: the fact that Simeon’s words, which linked in one prophecy the Son as “the sign of contradiction” (Lk. 2:34) and the Mother, whose soul would be pierced by a sword (cf Lk. 2:35), came true on Calvary. A mystery of salvation, therefore, that in its various aspects orients the episode of the Presentation in the Temple to the salvific event of the cross. But the Church herself, in particular from the Middle Ages onwards, has detected In the heart of the Virgin taking her Son to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (cf. Lk. 2:22) a desire to make an offering, a desire that exceeds the ordinary meaning of the rite. A witness to this intuition is found in the loving prayer of Saint Bernard “Offer your Son, holy Virgin, and present to the Lord the blessed fruit of your womb. Offer for the reconciliation of us all the holy Victim which is pleasing to God.”(56)
This union of the Mother and the Son in the work of redemption(57) reaches its climax on Calvary, where Christ “offered himself as the perfect sacrifice to God” (Heb. 9:14) and where Mary stood by the cross (cf. Jn 19:25), “suffering grievously with her only-begotten Son. There she united herself with a maternal heart to His sacrifice, and lovingly consented to the immolation of this victim which she herself had brought forth”(58) and also was offering to the eternal Father.”(59) To perpetuate down the centuries the Sacrifice of the Cross, the divine Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice, the memorial of His death and resurrection, and entrusted it to His spouse the Church,(60) which, especially on Sundays, calls the faithful together to celebrate the Passover of the Lord until He comes again.(61) This the Church does in union with the saints in heaven and in particular with the Blessed Virgin,(62) whose burning charity and unshakable faith she imitates.
21. Mary is not only an example for the whole Church in the exercise of divine worship but is also, clearly, a teacher of the spiritual life for individual Christians. The faithful at a very early date began to look to Mary and to imitate her in making their lives an act of worship of God and making their worship a commitment of their lives. 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 glory 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.”(63) But Mary is above all the example of that worship that consists in making one’s life an offering to God. This is an ancient and ever new doctrine that each individual can hear again by heeding the Church’s teaching, but also by heeding the very voice of the Virgin as she, anticipating in herself the wonderful petition of the Lord’s Prayer-“Your will be done” (Mt. 6:10)-replied to God’s messenger: “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let what you have said be done to me” (Lk. 1:38). And Mary’s “yes” 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.
22. It is also important to note how the Church expresses in various effective attitudes of devotion the many relationships that bind her to Mary: in profound veneration, when she reflects on the singular dignity of the Virgin who, through the action of the Holy Spirit has become Mother of the Incarnate Word; in burning love, when she considers the spiritual motherhood of Mary towards all members of the Mystical Body; in trusting invocation; when she experiences the intercession of her advocate and helper;(64) in loving service, when she sees in the humble handmaid of the Lord the queen of mercy and the mother of grace; in zealots imitation, when she contemplates the holiness and virtues of her who is “full of grace” (Lk. 1:28); in profound wonder, when she sees in her, “as in a faultless model, that which she herself wholly desires and hopes to be”(65); in attentive study, when she recognizes in the associate of the Redeemer, who already shares fully in the fruits of the Paschal Mystery, the prophetic fulfillment of her own future, until the day on which, when she has been purified of every spot and wrinkle (cf. Eph. 5:27), she will become like a bride arrayed for the bridegroom, Jesus Christ (cf. Rev. 21:2).
23. Therefore, venerable Brothers, as we consider the piety that the liturgical Tradition of the universal Church and the renewed Roman Rite expresses towards the holy Mother of God, and as we remember that the liturgy through its pre-eminent value as worship constitutes the golden norm for Christian piety, and finally as we observe how the Church when she celebrates the sacred mysteries assumes an attitude of faith and love similar to that of the Virgin, we realize the rightness of the exhortation that the Second Vatican Council addresses to all the children of the Church, namely “that the cult, especially the liturgical cult, of the Blessed Virgin be generously fostered.”(66) This is an exhortation that we would like to see accepted everywhere without reservation and put into zealous practice.
PART TWO
The Renewal of Devotion to Mary
24. The Second Vatican Council also exhorts us to promote other forms of piety side by side with liturgical worship, especially those recommended by the magisterium.(67) However, as is well known, the piety of the faithful and their veneration of the Mother of God has taken on many forms according to circumstances of time and place, the different sensibilities of peoples and their different cultural traditions. Hence it is that the forms in which this devotion is expressed, being subject to the ravages of time, show the need for a renewal that will permit them to substitute elements that are transient, to emphasize the elements that are ever new and to incorporate the doctrinal data obtained from theological reflection and the proposals of the Church’s magisterium. This shows the need for episcopal conferences, local churches, religious families and Community of the faithful to promote a genuine creative activity and at the same time to proceed to a careful revision of expressions and exercises of piety directed towards the Blessed Virgin. We would like this revision to be respectful of wholesome tradition and open to the legitimate requests of the people of our time. It seems fitting therefore, venerable Brothers, to put forward some principles for action in this field.
Section One
Trinitarian, Christological and Ecclesial Aspects of Devotion to the Blessed Virgin
25. In the first place it is supremely fitting that exercises of piety directed towards the Virgin Mary should clearly express the Trinitarian and Christological note that is intrinsic and essential to them. Christian worship in fact is of itself worship offered to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, or, as the liturgy puts it, to the Father through Christ in the Spirit. From this point of view worship is rightly extended, though in a substantially different way, first and foremost and in a special manner, to the Mother of the Lord and then to the saints, in whom the Church proclaims the Paschal Mystery, for they have suffered with Christ and have been glorified with Him.(68) In the Virgin Mary everything is relative to Christ and dependent upon Him. It was with a view to Christ that God the Father from all eternity chose her to be the all-holy Mother and adorned her with gifts of the Spirit granted to no one else. Certainly genuine Christian piety has never failed to highlight the indissoluble link and essential relationship of the Virgin to the divine Savior.(69) Yet it seems to us particularly in conformity with the spiritual orientation of our time. which is dominated and absorbed by the “question of Christ,”(70) that in the expressions of devotion to the Virgin the Christological aspect should have particular prominence. It likewise seems to us fitting that these expressions of devotion should reflect God’s plan, which laid down “with one single decree the origin of Mary and the Incarnation of the divine Wisdom.”(71) This will without doubt contribute to making piety towards the Mother of Jesus more solid, and to making it an effective instrument for attaining to full “knowledge of the Son of God, until we become the perfect man, fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself” (Eph. 4:13). It will also contribute to increasing the worship due to Christ Himself, since, according to the perennial mind of the Church authoritatively repeated in our own day,(72) “what is given to the handmaid is referred to the Lord; thus what is given to the Mother redounds to the Son; …and thus what is given as humble tribute to the Queen becomes honor rendered to the King.”(73)
26. It seems to us useful to add to this mention of the Christological orientation of devotion to the Blessed Virgin a reminder of the fittingness of giving prominence in this devotion to one of the essential facts of the Faith: the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. Theological reflection and the liturgy have in fact noted how the sanctifying intervention of the Spirit in the Virgin of Nazareth was a culminating moment of the Spirit’s action in the history of salvation. Thus, for example, some Fathers and writers of the Church attributed to the work of the Spirit the original holiness of Mary, who was as it were “fashioned by the Holy Spirit into a kind of new substance and new creature.”(74) Reflecting on the Gospel texts-“The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with his shadow” (Lk. 1:35) and “[Mary] was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit…. She has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 1:18, 20)-they saw in the Spirit’s intervention an action that consecrated and made fruitful Mary’s virginity(75) and transformed her into the “Abode of the King” or “Bridal Chamber of the Word,”(76) the “Temple” or “Tabernacle of the Lord,”(77) the “Ark of the Covenant” or “the Ark of Holiness,”(78) titles rich in biblical echoes. Examining more deeply still the mystery of the Incarnation, they saw in the mysterious relationship between the Spirit and Mary an aspect redolent of marriage, poetically portrayed by Prudentius: “The unwed Virgin espoused the Spirit,”(79) and they called her the “Temple of the Holy Spirit,”(80) an expression that emphasizes the sacred character of the Virgin, now the permanent dwelling of the Spirit of God. Delving deeply into the doctrine of the Paraclete, they saw that from Him as from a spring there flowed forth the fullness of grace (cf. Lk. 1:28) and the abundance of gifts that adorned her. Thus they attributed to the Spirit the faith, hope and charity that animated the Virgin’s heart, the strength that sustained her acceptance of the will of God, and the vigor that upheld her in her suffering at the foot of the cross.(81) In Mary’s prophetic canticle (cf. Lk. 1:46-55) they saw a special working of the Spirit who had spoken through the mouths of the prophets.(82) Considering, finally, the presence of the Mother of Jesus in the Upper Room, where the Spirit came down upon the infant Church (cf Acts 1:12-14; 2:1-4), they enriched with new developments the ancient theme of Mary and the Church.(83) Above all they had recourse to the Virgin’s intercession in order to obtain from the Spirit the capacity for engendering Christ in their own soul, as is attested to by Saint Ildephonsus in a prayer of supplication, amazing in its doctrine and prayerful power: “I beg you, holy Virgin, that I may have Jesus from the Holy Spirit, by whom you brought Jesus forth. May my soul receive Jesus through the Holy Spirit by whom your flesh conceived Jesus…. May I love Jesus in the Holy Spirit in whom you adore Jesus as Lord and gaze upon Him as your Son.”(84)
27. It is sometimes said that many spiritual writings today do not sufficiently reflect the whole doctrine concerning the Holy Spirit. It is the task of specialists to verify and weigh the truth of this assertion, but it is our task to exhort everyone, especially those in the pastoral ministry and also theologians, to meditate more deeply on the working of the Holy Spirit in the history of salvation, and to ensure that Christian spiritual writings give due prominence to His life-giving action. Such a study will bring out in particular the hidden relationship between the Spirit of God and the Virgin of Nazareth, and show the influence they exert on the Church. From a more profound meditation on the truths of the Faith will flow a more vital piety.
28. It is also necessary that exercises of piety with which the faithful honor the Mother of the Lord should clearly show the place she occupies in the Church: “the highest place and the closest to us after Christ.”(85) The liturgical buildings of Byzantine rite, both in the architectural structure itself and in the use of images, show clearly Mary’s place in the Church. On the central door of the iconostasis there is a representation of the Annunciation and in the apse an image of the glorious Theotokos. In this way one perceives how through the assent of the humble handmaid of the Lord mankind begins its return to God and sees in the glory of the all-holy Virgin the goal towards which it is journeying. The symbolism by which a church building demonstrates Mary’s place in the mystery of the Church is full of significance and gives grounds for hoping that the different forms of devotion to the Blessed Virgin may everywhere be open to ecclesial perspectives.
The faithful will be able to appreciate more easily Mary’s mission in the mystery of the Church and her preeminent place in the communion of saints if attention is drawn to the Second Vatican Council’s references to the fundamental concepts of the nature of the Church as the Family of God, the People of God, the Kingdom of God and the Mystical Body of Christ.(86) This will also bring the faithful to a deeper realization of the brotherhood which unites all of them as sons and daughters of the Virgin Mary, “who with a mother’s love has cooperated in their rebirth and spiritual formation,”(87) and as sons and daughters of the Church, since “we are born from the Church’s womb we are nurtured by the Church’s milk, we are given life by the Church’s Spirit.”(88) They will also realize that both the Church and Mary collaborate to give birth to the Mystical Body of Christ since “both of them are the Mother of Christ, but neither brings forth the whole (body) independently of the other.”(89) Similarly the faithful will appreciate more clearly that the action of the Church in the world can be likened to an extension of Mary’s concern. The active love she showed at Nazareth, in the house of Elizabeth, at Cana and on Golgotha – all salvific episodes having vast ecclesial importance – finds its extension in the Church’s maternal concern that all men should come to knowledge of the truth (cf. 1 Tm. 2:4), in the Church’s concern for people in lowly circumstances and for the poor and weak, and in her constant commitment to peace and social harmony, as well as in her untiring efforts to ensure that all men will share in the salvation which was merited for them by Christ’s death. Thus love for the Church will become love for Mary, and vice versa, since the one cannot exist without the other, as St. Chromatius of Aquileia observed with keen discernment: “The Church was united… in the Upper Room with Mary the Mother of Jesus and with His brethren. The Church therefore cannot be referred to as such unless it includes Mary the Mother of our Lord, together with His brethren.”(90) In conclusion, therefore, we repeat that devotion to the Blessed Virgin must explicitly show its intrinsic and ecclesiological content: thus it will be enabled to revise its forms and texts in a fitting way.
Section Two
Four Guidelines for Devotion to the Blessed Virgin:
Biblical, Liturgical, Ecumenical and Anthropological
29. The above considerations spring from an examination of the Virgin Mary’s relationship with God-the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit-and with the Church. Following the path traced by conciliar teaching,(91) we wish to add some further guidelines from Scripture, liturgy, ecumenism and anthropology. These are to be borne in mind in any revision of exercises of piety or in the creation of new ones, in order to emphasize and accentuate the bond which unites us to her who is the Mother of Christ and our Mother in the communion of saints.
30. Today it is recognized as a general need of Christian piety that every form of worship should have a biblical imprint. The progress made in biblical studies, the increasing dissemination of the Sacred Scriptures, and above all the example of Tradition and the interior action of the Holy Spirit are tending to cause the modern Christian to use the Bible ever increasingly as the basic prayerbook, and to draw from it genuine inspiration and unsurpassable examples. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin cannot be exempt from this general orientation of Christian piety(92); indeed it should draw inspiration in a special way from this orientation in order to gain new vigor and sure help. In its wonderful presentation of God’s plan for man’s salvation, the Bible is replete with the mystery of the Savior, and from Genesis to the Book of Revelation, also contains clear references to her who was the Mother and associate of the Savior. We would not, however, wish this biblical imprint to be merely a diligent use of texts and symbols skillfully selected from the Sacred Scriptures. More than this is necessary. What is needed is that texts of prayers and chants should draw their inspiration and their wording from the Bible, and above all that devotion to the Virgin should be imbued with the great themes of the Christian message. This will ensure that, as they venerate the Seat of Wisdom, the faithful in their turn will be enlightened by the divine word, and be inspired to live their lives in accordance with the precepts of Incarnate Wisdom.
31. We have already spoken of the veneration which the Church gives to the Mother of God in the celebration of the sacred liturgy. However, speaking of the other forms of devotion and of the criteria on which they should be based we wish to recall the norm laid down in the Constitution Sacrosanctum concilium. This document, while wholeheartedly approving of the practices of piety of the Christian people, goes on to say:”…it is necessary however that such devotions with consideration for the liturgical seasons should be so arranged as to be in harmony with the sacred liturgy. They should somehow derive their inspiration from it, and because of its pre-eminence they should orient the Christian people towards it.”(93) Although this is a wise and clear rule, its application is not an easy matter, especially in regard to Marian devotions, which are so varied in their formal expressions. What is needed on the part of the leaders of the local communities is effort, pastoral sensitivity and perseverance, while the faithful on their part must show a willingness to accept guidelines and ideas drawn from the true nature of Christian worship; this sometimes makes it necessary to change long-standing customs wherein the real nature of this Christian worship has become somewhat obscured.
In this context we wish to mention two attitudes which in pastoral practice could nullify the norm of the Second Vatican Council. In the first place there are certain persons concerned with the care of souls who scorn a priori, devotions of piety which, in their correct forms have been recommended by the magisterium, who leave them aside and in this way create a vacuum which they do not fill. They forget that the Council has said that devotions of piety should harmonize with the liturgy, not be suppressed. Secondly there are those who, without wholesome liturgical and pastoral criteria, mix practices of piety and liturgical acts in hybrid celebrations. It sometimes happens that novenas or similar practices of piety are inserted into the very celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. This creates the danger that the Lord’s Memorial Rite, instead of being the culmination of the meeting of the Christian community, becomes the occasion, as it were, for devotional practices. For those who act in this way we wish to recall the rule laid down by the Council prescribing that exercises of piety should be harmonized with the liturgy not merged into it. Wise pastoral action should, on the one hand, point out and emphasize the proper nature of the liturgical acts, while on the other hand it should enhance the value of practices of piety in order to adapt them to the needs of individual communities in the Church and to make them valuable aids to the liturgy.
32. Because of its ecclesial character, devotion to the Blessed Virgin reflects the preoccupations of the Church herself. Among these especially in our day is her anxiety for the re-establishment of Christian unity. In this way devotion to the Mother of the Lord is in accord with the deep desires and aims of the ecumenical movement, that is, it acquires an ecumenical aspect. This is so for a number of reasons.
In the first place, in venerating with particular love the glorious Th
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