The Popes

Pope Benedict's Prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan

Pope Benedict XVI

Prayer of His Holiness Benedict XVI to Our Lady of Sheshan
on the Occasion of the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China

Given May 24, 2008
Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians

Virgin Most Holy, Mother of the Incarnate Word and our Mother,
venerated in the Shrine of Sheshan under the title "Help of Christians",
the entire Church in China looks to you with devout affection.
We come before you today to implore your protection.
Look upon the People of God and, with a mother’s care, guide them
along the paths of truth and love, so that they may always be
a leaven of harmonious coexistence among all citizens.
When you obediently said "yes" in the house of Nazareth,
you allowed God’s eternal Son to take flesh in your virginal womb
and thus to begin in history the work of our redemption.
You willingly and generously cooperated in that work,
allowing the sword of pain to pierce your soul,
until the supreme hour of the Cross, when you kept watch on Calvary,
standing beside your Son, who died that we might live.
From that moment, you became, in a new way,
the Mother of all those who receive your Son Jesus in faith
and choose to follow in his footsteps by taking up his Cross.
Mother of hope, in the darkness of Holy Saturday you journeyed
with unfailing trust towards the dawn of Easter.
Grant that your children may discern at all times,
even those that are darkest, the signs of God’s loving presence.
Our Lady of Sheshan, sustain all those in China,
who, amid their daily trials, continue to believe, to hope, to love.
May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world,
and of the world to Jesus.
In the statue overlooking the Shrine you lift your Son on high,
offering him to the world with open arms in a gesture of love.
Help Catholics always to be credible witnesses to this love,
ever clinging to the rock of Peter on which the Church is built.
Mother of China and all Asia, pray for us, now and for ever. Amen!

Taken from the official Vatican Web site.

Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI for the 16th World Day of the Sick

Pope Benedict XVI

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1. On February 11, Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes, the World Day of the Sick will be celebrated, a propitious occasion to reflect on the meaning of pain and the Christian duty to take responsibility for it in whatever situation it arises. This year this significant day is connected to two important events for the life of the Church, as one already understands from the theme chosen, "The Eucharist, Lourdes and Pastoral Care for the Sick": the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Immaculate Mary at Lourdes, and the celebration of the International Eucharistic Congress at Quebec in Canada. In this way, a remarkable opportunity to consider the close connection that exists between the Mystery of the Eucharist, the role of Mary in the project of salvation, and the reality of human pain and suffering is offered to us.

The 150 years since the apparitions of Lourdes invite us to turn our gaze towards the Holy Virgin, whose Immaculate Conception constitutes the sublime and freely-given gift of God to a woman so that she could fully adhere to divine designs with a steady and unshakable faith, despite the tribulations and the sufferings that she would have to face. For this reason, Mary is a model of total self-abandonment to God’s will: she received in her heart the eternal Word and she conceived it in her virginal womb; she trusted in God and, with her soul pierced by a sword (cf. Lk 2:35), she did not hesitate to share the Passion of her Son, renewing on Calvary at the foot of the Cross her "yes" of the Annunciation. To reflect upon the Immaculate Conception of Mary is thus to allow oneself to be attracted by the "yes" which joined her wonderfully to the mission of Christ, Redeemer of humanity; it is to allow oneself to be taken and led by her hand to pronounce in one’s turn "fiat" to the will of God, with all one’s existence interwoven with joys and sadness, hopes and disappointments, in the awareness that tribulations, pain and suffering make rich the meaning of our pilgrimage on the earth.

2. One cannot contemplate Mary without being attracted by Christ and one cannot look at Christ without immediately perceiving the presence of Mary. There is an indissoluble link between the Mother and the Son generated in her womb by the work of the Holy Spirit, and this link we perceive in a mysterious way in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, as the Fathers of the Church and theologians have pointed out from the early centuries onwards. "The flesh born of Mary, coming from the Holy Spirit, is bread descended from heaven", observed St Hilary of Poitiers. In the Bergomensium Sacramentary of the ninth century we read: "Her womb made flower a fruit, a bread that has filled us with an angelic gift. Mary restored to salvation what Eve had destroyed by her sin". And St Peter Damiani observed: "That body that the Most Blessed Virgin generated, nourished in her womb with maternal care, that body, I say, without doubt and no other, we now receive from the sacred altar, and we drink its blood as a sacrament of our redemption. This is what the Catholic faith believes, this the holy Church faithfully teaches". The link of the Holy Virgin with the Son, the sacrificial Lamb who takes away the sins of the world, is extended to the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. Mary, observes the Servant of God John Paul II, is a "woman of the Eucharist" in her whole life, as a result of which the Church, seeing Mary as her model, "is also called to imitate her in her relationship with this most holy mystery" (Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, n. 53). In this perspective one understands even further why in Lourdes the cult of the Blessed Virgin Mary is joined to a strong and constant reference to the Eucharist with daily celebrations of the Eucharist, with adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament and with the blessing of the sick, which constitutes one of the strongest moments of the visit of pilgrims to the grotto of Massabielles.

The presence of many sick pilgrims at Lourdes, and of the volunteers who accompany them, helps us to reflect on the maternal and tender care that the Virgin expresses towards human pain and suffering. Associated with the Sacrifice of Christ, Mary, Mater Dolorosa, who at the foot of the Cross suffers with her divine Son, is felt to be especially near by the Christian community, which gathers around its suffering members who bear the signs of the passion of the Lord. Mary suffers with those who are in affliction, with them she hopes, and she is their comfort, supporting them with her maternal help. And is it not perhaps true that the spiritual experience of very many sick people leads us to understand increasingly that "the Divine Redeemer wishes to penetrate the soul of every sufferer through the heart of his holy Mother, the first and the most exalted of all the redeemed"? (John Paul II, Salvifici Doloris, n. 26).

3. If Lourdes leads us to reflect upon the maternal love of the Immaculate Virgin for her sick and suffering children, the next International Eucharistic Congress will be an opportunity to worship Jesus Christ present in the Sacrament of the Altar, to entrust ourselves to him as Hope that does not disappoint, to receive him as that medicine of immortality which heals the body and the spirit. Jesus Christ redeemed the world through his suffering, death and Resurrection, and he wanted to remain with us as the "bread of life" on our earthly pilgrimage. "The Eucharist, Gift of God for the Life of the World": this is the theme of the Eucharistic Congress and it emphasizes how the Eucharist is the gift that the Father makes to the world of his Only Son, incarnated and crucified. It is he who gathers us around the Eucharistic table, provoking in his disciples loving care for the suffering and the sick, in whom the Christian community recognizes the Face of its Lord. As I pointed out in the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis: "Our communities, when they celebrate the Eucharist, must become ever more conscious that the sacrifice of Christ is for all, and that the Eucharist thus compels all who believe in him to become "bread that is broken’ for others" (n. 88). We are thus encouraged to commit ourselves in the first person to helping our brethren, especially those in difficulty, because the vocation of every Christian is truly that of being, together with Jesus, bread that is broken for the life of the world.

4. It thus appears clear that it is specifically from the Eucharist that pastoral care in health must draw the necessary spiritual strength to come effectively to man’s aid and to help him to understand the salvific value of his own suffering. As the Servant of God John Paul II would write in the already quoted Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris, the Church sees in her suffering brothers and sisters as it were a multiple subject of the supernatural power of Christ (cf. n. 27). Mysteriously united to Christ, the one who suffers with love and meek self-abandonment to the will of God becomes a living offering for the salvation of the world. My beloved Predecessor also stated that: "The more a person is threatened by sin, the heavier the structures of sin which today’s world brings with it, the greater is the eloquence which human suffering possesses in itself. And the more the Church feels the need to have recourse to the value of human sufferings for the salvation of the world" (ibid.). If, therefore, at Quebec the mystery of the Eucharist, the gift of God for the life of the world, is contemplated during the World Day of the Sick in an ideal spiritual parallelism, not only will the actual participation of human suffering in the salvific work of God be celebrated, but the valuable fruits promised to those who believe can in a certain sense be enjoyed. Thus, pain, received with faith, becomes the door by which to enter the mystery of the redemptive suffering of Jesus and to reach with him the peace and happiness of his Resurrection.

While I extend my cordial greetings to all sick people and to all those who take care of them in various ways, I invite the diocesan and parish communities to celebrate this coming World Day of the Sick by appreciating to the full the happy coinciding of the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady at Lourdes with the International Eucharistic Congress. May it be an occasion to emphasize the importance of the Holy Mass, of adoration of the Eucharist and of the cult of the Eucharist, so that chapels in our health-care centers become a beating heart in which Jesus offers himself unceasingly to the Father for the life of humanity! The distribution of the Eucharist to the sick as well, done with decorum and in a spirit of prayer, is true comfort for those who suffer, afflicted by all forms of infirmity.

May the next World Day of the Sick be in addition a propitious occasion to invoke in a special way the maternal protection of Mary over those who are weighed down by illness, on health-care workers and workers in pastoral health care! I think in particular of priests involved in this field, women and men religious, volunteers and all those who with active dedication are concerned to serve in body and soul the sick and those in need. I entrust all to Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, the Immaculate Conception. May she help everyone in testifying that the only valid response to human pain and suffering is Christ, who by rising defeated death and gave us life that knows no end. With these feelings, from my heart I impart to everyone my special Apostolic Blessing.

Taken from the official Vatican Web site.

John Paul II: The Pope of Totus Tuus

Msgr. Arthur B. Calkins

In the course of recent centuries there have been any number of saints, founders and foundresses of religious communities, and apostolic laymen like Frank Duff (1889-1980), founder of the Legion of Mary who have been advocates of Marian consecration. Without hesitation, I would point to St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716), the author of the famous treatise, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and St. Maximilian-Maria Kolbe (1894-1941), the Polish Conventual Franciscan martyr of Auschwitz, as two of the most important and influential proponents of Marian consecration among the canonized saints of modern times.

Without a doubt, however, the greatest proponent of Marian consecration in the final quarter of the twentieth century and up to the moment of his death was our late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. His coat of arms as Bishop and Pope was a blue shield featuring an off-centered cross with the initial M under it, symbolically representing Mary standing at the foot of the Cross of her Son (cf. Jn. 19:25-27), thus underscoring her unique role in the redemption. In iconographic language the statement couldn’t be missed – even if it was a constant source of chagrin to experts in ecclesiastical heraldry. Beneath the shield were the words Totus Tuus (all yours), an abbreviated form of one of Saint Louis de Montfort’s formulas, Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt [I am all yours (O Mary) and everything I have is yours, cf. True Devotion, #233].

The Co-redemption

Cardinal Georges Cottier, O.P.

The following is a presentation given by Cardinal Georges Cottier when he was a Theologian of the Papal Household, on behalf of the Congregation of the Clergy during a world video conference held in Rome on May 29, 2002.

In the beautiful final Chapter of the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church Lumen Gentium, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, we read «After this manner the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, (see John 19:25) in keeping with the divine plan (294), grieving exceedingly with her only begotten Son, uniting herself with a maternal heart with His sacrifice, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this Victim which she herself had brought forth. Finally, she was given by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross as a mother to His disciple with these words: "Woman, behold thy son." (see John 19:26-27)» (no. 58). These very intense lines are the echo of a long tradition authenticated by the Magisterium. The Mother of the Son of God made man is consecrated, at the foot of the cross, the Mother of His Mystical Body.

She was then proclaimed Mother of the Church by Paul VI. This title enlightens the meaning of Mary’s «intimate union» with the Church, where she occupies, «in an eminent and singular way» the «first place» (see no. 63). It is in her person that the Church has already achieved that perfection which makes her without stain or wrinkle (see Eph 5:27). She is the model of the Church (typus). One must perceive that Mary is not outside the Church, since she is its eminent and exemplary member, and that she exercises a maternal function for the Church. The Church’s mystery and Mary’s mystery include and enlighten each other reciprocally.

How can this be explained? The Council, after remembering the words of the apostle (1 Tim 2:5-6): «Since there is only one God, there is only one mediator between God and men, Jesus Christ, who is a man, and gave Himself as a ransom for them all,» and added that «The maternal duty of Mary toward men in no ways obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows His power» (n.60).

A life of grace, participation in divine life, exists in principle and in fullness with Christ, the Head of the Mystical Body, so as to be communicated to His Body, which is the Church. With this communication Christ attracts the Church and all its members to be assimilated in Him, to conform to Him and to participate in the gift of Himself to the Father, through whom He saved mankind. The only Mediator: the gift of Himself is totally and infinitely sufficient for the redemption of the world. Allowing His Church to participate in this is the mark of His love and the depth of the union to which He introduces her. Like all lives, a life of grace is fruitful, it brings its fruits in abundance. There is a law here both for the Church and for Mary, in proportion to the singular privileges.

The Council’s text, which we have quoted, strongly emphasises this: Beneath the cross, Mary suffers deeply with Her only born Son, she joins in His sacrifice with maternal love; lovingly consenting the immolation of the victim generated by her: what could these words mean if not that Mary plays an active role in the mystery of the Passion and the work of the Redemption? The Council itself clarifies this: the divine Redemptor’s mother was «and above all others and in a singular way the generous associate»: «(...) was united with Him by compassion as He died on the Cross. In this singular way she co-operated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the work of the Saviour in giving back supernatural life to souls. Wherefore she is our mother in the order of grace» (n.61). «Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this salvific duty, but by her constant intercession continued to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.» For this reason «the Virgin is invoked by the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix» (n. 62).

Can we add to the title Mediatrix that of co-redemptrix? In the light of the above, the answer is affirmative. In fact the Council itself, so as to avoid any false interpretation, adds that the use of these titles is legitimate. But it must be understood «that it neither takes away from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficaciousness of Christ the one Mediator» (ibid.).

You will notice that this title of co-redemptrix does not appear in the Council’s texts. One might envisage that this intentional absence was the answer to a ecumenical reason. The use of this term needed further development. It is true that, if the word co-redeemer was to evoke a juxtaposition and an addition to the Savior’s redeeming work, it should have been strongly rejected. It is as predestined, provoked, contained by Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, in a subordinated manner, participated, totally dependent on Him, that Mary’s co-redemption beneath the cross is meant, just as it is fully permeated by the intercession of the Son in glory, His mediation in interceding with heaven. The Council enunciated the principle that, translating an intuition of faith, regulates theological meditation in this field: «For all the salvific influence of the Blessed Virgin on men originates, not from some inner necessity, but from the divine pleasure. It flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on His mediation, depends entirely on it and draws all its power from it. In no way does it impede, but rather does it foster the immediate union of the faithful with Christ» (n. 60). In the light of this principle, we understand in which sense Mary, and only Her, is the co-redeemer, and how proportionally the Church is also the co-redeemer. We also understand in which sense, the vocation of all who are baptised for sanctity leads them to participate in the mystery of Redemption. Each of these participations is like an epiphany of the fruitfulness of the cross of Jesus.

1 This of course also applies to the word mediatrix, but this word is covered by the authority of a liturgical tradition.