Consecration to the Immaculata: A Way to Holiness, in the Footsteps of Mary, the Virgin Presenting Offerings and the Virgin Mother

Mary is the Virgin Mother

This is the Virgin’s feature that stands out immediately. She is, above all, the Mother of God. At the Annunciation, Mary gave her assent in faith and actually made available her body for the Incarnation of the Son of God.

We recall, in this regard, a well-known passage from Luke’s Gospel (11:27-28), in which there is a woman of the people who, admiring the extraordinary nature of the message that Jesus announced, raised her voice in the middle of the crowd, exclaiming, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you!” And yet, Jesus replied: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Mary is the Mother of Jesus, as St. Augustine wrote, not only for bringing the Lord in her womb, but especially for having received Him in faith. She lived a very tender love for the Son and his brethren (cf. KW 991).

Mary went promptly to her cousin Elizabeth to lend an exquisite evangelical service (cf. Lk 1:39-46). She was a caring mother at Cana: her carefulness increased the celebration and caused the faith of the disciples of the Lord to grow (cf. Jn 2:1-12). This motherhood reached universal dimensions under the Cross where she became the Mother of every man on earth.

There are two dimensions of the motherhood of Mary toward Christ: the physical dimension that we cannot ignore, because it gives us the truth about the Incarnation, and the spiritual dimension that indicates a relationship with Jesus that goes beyond the physical bond. We also can live this second dimension. As Jesus says, we also are brothers, sisters and mothers of the Lord if we listen to His word and put it into practice! (cf. Lk 8:21).

This motherhood of Mary that we call “spiritual” toward Jesus has been enlarged to reach the size of the world, to embrace each one of us, as is clear in the Gospel of John, where Jesus offered the Mother to the disciple. There, Mary became the one who generates children to faith, not in the physical sense, of course, but in the sense of caring for the brethren of her Son in faith, to show all people the Son as the only point of reference. “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5). Mary exercises her motherhood toward us, making sure that Christ is born, grows and strengthens within us, as St. Maximilian stated:

“In Mary’s womb our soul must be reborn after the form of Jesus Christ. She is bound to feed the soul with the milk of her grace, raise it as lovingly as she nourished, looked after, and raised Jesus. At her knee the soul must learn to know and love Jesus. From her Heart it must draw love toward Him, or even love Him with her heart and become like Him through love” (KW 1295).

Closing Prayer

Hail Mary… 

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you, and for all those who do not have recourse to you, especially the enemies of Holy Church and all those recommended to you.

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