Volume V, Issue 5, February 23, 2008

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- Cardinal Calls Mary "Co-redemptrix" in Vatican on Lourdes Anniversary by Vatican Information Service
- Cardinals Lead - Time for Us to Follow by Mark Miravalle
- The Drive for a New Solemn Definition on Mary by Kevin Clarke
- Mary, Mother of Humanity, Hic et Nunc! by Hugh McNichol
- Her Station Keeping: Immaculate Conception to Co-redemptrix by Matthew Tsakanikas, S.T.L.

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- Cardinal Calls Mary "Co-redemptrix" in Vatican on Lourdes Anniversary by Vatican Information Service

In St. Peter’s Basilica, on the significant date of February 11, 2008, the 150th anniversary of Lourdes, Javier Cardinal Lozano Barragán spoke significant words concerning the one who herself is the Immaculate Conception, chief among them, "Corredentrice" (literally translated, this means Co-redemptrix.) The President of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry stated that Mary participated "on Calvary as the co-redemptrix (corredentrice) with the Savior. … Christ on the cross suffered all the pains that his Most Holy Mother suffered. And she in Christ suffers all our pains, she assumes them and knows how to commiserate with us. Out suffering is also her suffering."

He also stated that the Holy Spirit unites our suffering with that of Christ, and that participation in the Eucharist is the path to this union in suffering. We present below the article published by Vatican Information Services, reporting on Cardinal Lozano Barragán’s homily from the World Day of the Sick.
—Asst. Ed.

Our Sufferings are also Christ’s Sufferings

VATICAN CITY, Feb. 11 2008 (VIS)—In the Vatican Basilica at 4 p.m. today, Feast of Out Lady of Lourdes and 16th World Day of the Sick, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, celebrated Mass for the sick and for pilgrims of UNITALSI (Italian National Union for Transport of the Sick to Lourdes and International Shrines), and of Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi.

At the beginning of his homily, the cardinal recalled that today marks the 150th anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous in the grotto of Massabielle.

Commenting on certain aspects of Benedict XVI's Message for the World Day of the Sick—in which the Pope highlights the intimate bond between the Eucharistic mystery, Mary's role in the project of salvation and the reality of human suffering—Cardinal Lozano asked: "Is it possible to experience the suffering of Christ in our own suffering, to find therein happiness and joy? The answer," he went on, "can only come from the Holy Spirit, fusing our suffering with that of Christ through His infinite Love."

The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's suffering, said the president of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, going on to explain that "the reality of the mystery of suffering—which in Christ becomes positive, creative, redeeming, happiness and joy, while not ceasing to be extremely painful—is the Eucharist. Participation in the Eucharist is the authentic way to make our own suffering part of Christ's suffering. This is Eucharistic communion. The Eucharist is thus our cross and our resurrection. It is the only true remedy to pain. It is the medicine of immortality."

"In order to respond to the full love of the cross," said Cardinal Lozano, we must pronounce "an unreserved 'yes' to the mysterious plan of the Redeemer, a 'yes' that means fullness of Love. This complete 'yes' of love is the Immaculate Conception of our dear Mother, Mary," who participated "on Calvary as the co-redemptrix with the Saviour. … Christ on the cross suffered all the pains that his Most Holy Mother suffered. And she in Christ suffers all our pains, she assumes them and knows how to commiserate with us. Out suffering is also her suffering."

He went on: "Suffering has value in as much as the death of Christ inherently comprehends His resurrection. In other words, suffering has value in as much as it leads towards the destruction of suffering. Thus suffering itself, understood in a Christian sense, encourages us to struggle against suffering in this life, as an anticipation of the resurrection."

Hence the Eucharist, as participation in Christ's suffering, encourages us to care for our sick brothers and sisters," the cardinal added. "We must share the joy of the resurrection, overcoming the daily manifestation of death in sickness. Here is the engine that drives us forward to combat all infirmities and bring health to everyone. From here arises the obligation to progress constantly in the art and science of medicine and to continue its extraordinary modern developments."

http://www.motherofallpeoples.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1245

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- Cardinals Lead - Time for Us to Follow by Mark Miravalle

Over the course of the last few weeks, several events have taken place which one could rightly interpret as historic steps leading ever closer to the solemn papal definition of the fifth Marian Dogma:

• On January 11, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI released his 2008 World Day of the Sick Address for February 11, in which he presented his strongest teaching to date on Our Lady’s coredemptive role with Jesus at Calvary. The Holy Father states:

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. … 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"? (1)

• On February 8, 2008, five cardinals release a press statement regarding their January 1, 2008, letter to every cardinal and bishop of the world, in which they invite the world’s prelates to join them in their petition to Pope Benedict XVI to solemnly define as dogma the role of the blessed Virgin Mary as the Spiritual Mother of humanity under its three essential roles as Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces and Advocate. These five cardinals—their Eminences Telesphore Cardinal Toppo, Luis Cardinal Aponte Martínez, Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, and Ernesto Cardinal Corripio Ahumada—enclosed the following votum and invited each cardinal and bishop to sign and to forward to the Holy Father:

http://www.motherofallpeoples.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1244

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- The Drive for a New Solemn Definition on Mary by Kevin Clarke

Five cardinals, with the support of a number of cardinals and bishops throughout the world and throughout the years, have sought to dogmatically define the spiritual motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary as mother of all humanity. The Church has long taught that Mary is the Mater Dolorosa (Suffering Mother), Co-redemptrix with Christ ("co" meaning with, not equal to), Mediatrix of all graces (because all grace comes through Christ, and Christ comes through Mary), and Advocate (because she prays for each of her children).

Additionally, to bolster our excitement at the actions of the Cardinals and the papal message from the World Day of the Sick, we receive the following news. Javier Cardinal Lozano Barragán stated in a Feb. 11 homily from St. Peter’s in the Vatican that the Mother of God is "corredentrice" with the Savior, the Italian word for Co-redemptrix.

http://www.motherofallpeoples.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1243

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- Mary, Mother of Humanity, Hic et Nunc! by Hugh McNichol

Mary, Mother of all humanity ... the time is now!

One point that indeed unites most of the Catholic world is the special role of Mary in the preparation for the life and ministry of Jesus Christ on earth. Often the moment of the Annunciation provides a catechetical moment in Church iconography and art and the mystery of the Incarnation is humanly realized. Jesus Christ present to the entire world, through the acceptance of a young Jewish girl. Understanding the pivotal role that Mary played in salvation history is the key to uniting all faithful believers into a global renewal of prayerful and political harmony.

http://www.motherofallpeoples.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1242

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- Her Station Keeping: Immaculate Conception to Co-redemptrix by Matthew Tsakanikas, S.T.L.

Introduction

The recent history of Mariology has not always been told and so the recent reinvigoration of the movement for a fifth Marian Dogma by the group of five Cardinals remains a curiosity to some. Others believe the movement should be dropped since Cardinal Ratzinger in the year 2000 mentioned in an interview with Peter Seewald that he was not in favor of the title "Co-redemptrix." The interview caused a stir in the English-speaking world when it was published two years later in God and the World; used ever since to question those who speak of the need for the official promulgation of the title. Since then, many still fail to make the distinction that Cardinal Ratzinger was not pope at that time, and he was not speaking in an official capacity. In fact, a careful examination of Joseph Ratzinger’s writings reveals he has a much deeper Mariology and understanding of all the issues necessary for such a title; he actually provides foundations that were missing in previous attempts to clarify the need for the title "Co-redemptrix."

The intention of this article is to demonstrate that promulgation of the title and dogma "Co-redemptrix" is not a luxury but much rather a necessity, as even the dying of many religious orders reveals. John Paul the Great did much to heal misunderstandings in Mariology since Vatican II, but Joseph Ratzinger’s own words still ring true. Concerning Lumen Gentium, he made the statement: "The immediate outcome of the victory of ecclesiocentric Mariology was the collapse of Mariology altogether" (1), an outcome that not even Paul VI’s "introduction of the title ‘Mother of the Church’" could prevent (2). What allowed false interpretations that led to the collapse? What is the needed healing for the Church and the world? The five Cardinals are on the right track. The title "Co-redemptrix" is not a luxury, it is a necessity. It will help make sense of the titles "Mediatrix" and "Advocate" which Lumen Gentium did bestow on Mary. More importantly, it will restore the Mariology that our religious orders and our "domestic churches" (family homes) need to flourish.

http://www.motherofallpeoples.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1241

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