Mary as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate in the Contemporary Roman Liturgy

D. Sharer in the Sufferings of Christ

In the course of his pontificate Pope John Paul II frequently commented on the text of Colossians 1:24, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church." In his Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris of 11 February 1984 he did so with explicit reference to Our Lady's "compassion" (59) or sharing in the sufferings of Christ:

This idea of Mary's compassion or co-suffering (61) in the spirit of Colossians 1:24 is brought out magnificently in the Opening Prayer of the first Mass of Mary at the Foot of the Cross (Beata Maria Virgo iuxta Crucem Domini, I):

Father Joncas' comment about this prayer is that it

The above-cited prayer finds a splendid complement in the Prayer after Communion on the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows (Beatæ Mariæ Virginis Perdolentis Memoria).

While, indeed, all of us are called to "bring to completion the saving passion of Christ," there is no doubt that no other human being shared as fully as Mary in the passion of Christ and, if the sober Roman liturgy does not say this in so many words, it does so equivalently by the frequent repetition of this theme. Since space does not allow us to linger over each recurrence, let us take particular note of some representative texts. The Opening Prayer of the Mass of Our Lady of Sorrows articulates this theme in the classical and synthetic Roman manner.

Unfortunately, the official English translation of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) fails to do justice to the rich theological content of this prayer. In the first place the translation doesn't clearly state that Mary's presence and sharing in Christ's sufferings was willed by the Father. Secondly, it doesn't render accurately the request that the "Church may be her (Mary's) companion in the passion of Christ." (66) The request of the prayer, quite clearly, is that, as God willed that Mary should share in the suffering of Christ, we (as members of the Church) pray to be her companions in sharing in Christ's passion, so as to share in his resurrection. Here the understanding is that participation in Mary's compassion is a privileged way of sharing in Christ's passion in order to share in his resurrection. Hence Mary's co-suffering (compassion) is presented as a paradigm for the entire Church.

This theme of companionship with Mary in sharing in the work of the redemption is beautifully highlighted in the Prayer over the Gifts of the first Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Image and Mother of the Church, (Beata Maria Virgo, Imago et Mater Ecclesiæ I):

It is precisely by the charity which Mary bears for her children as Mother of the Church that we ask to be inflamed and thus merit to be intimately associated with her in the work of the redemption. This prayer, in effect, recognizes the uniqueness of Our Lady's coredemptive role.

Among the numerous other liturgical texts which could be adduced illustrating Mary's sharing in the suffering of Christ, let us take note of but two more. The first comes from the Preface of the third Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Image and Mother of the Church (Beata Maria Virgo, Imago et Mater Ecclesiæ III).

This composition gives evidence of a refined theological and poetic quality in linking the themes of Mary as mother, virgin and spouse. Of particular interest to us is the paralleling of her spousal relationship to Christ (69) with her being the sharer of his passion. The second text is yet another evocative depiction of Mary's intimate union with her Son in his suffering which is presented in the Preface of the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Fairest Love (Beata Maria Virgo, Mater Pulchræ Dilectionis):

Admittedly, this magnificent Latin composition is a challenge to unravel in English. The allusion "silent before his executioners" is not found in the Latin, but what is stated is that "beautiful in the passion of her Son, purpled by his blood," Mary is "the meek ewe-lamb suffering with the Lamb most meek."

E. Presenting her Son to the Father

In his Letter Inter Sodalicia of 22 May 1918 Pope Benedict XV put the mystery of Mary's coredemption in bold relief. He said:

So united with God's salvific will was Mary, says the Pope, that "as far as it depended on her, (she) offered her Son to placate divine justice." This motif of Mary as the Virgin offering her Son to the Father is one which we find taken up in the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary in at least three places. First we find it expressed succinctly in the Prayer over the Gifts of the Mass of Holy Mary, Fountain of Light and Life (Sancta Maria, Fons Lucis et Vitæ):

Clearly, then, the Church's offering of the Eucharist is seen as patterned on the offering of the Mother of Christ.

The next two instances which refer to the offering of Christ by the Virgin take as their point of departure the scene in the Gospel of Luke in which we are told of Mary and Joseph taking the infant Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem "to present him to the Lord" (Lk. 2:22) (73) while their point of arrival is quite explicitly the offering of Christ as victim on Calvary. Here is a portion of the Preface of the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Presentation of the Lord (Sancta Maria in Præsentatione Domini):

It should be noticed here as in many other instances that the English text only approximates the Latin. The Latin verb sistit (75)is rendered as "presents" while the Latin verb offert is also translated as "presents" whereas its first meaning is obviously "offers." Literally, the last line states that Mary is the "Virgin, the minister of the dispensation of salvation, who offers to you the Lamb who is to be immolated on the altar of the cross for our salvation." In our second major section on Mary's mediation we will have much more to say about Mary as ministra, a concept which in our judgement is not adequately rendered by the English word "handmaid."

Our final reference to Mary as the "Virgin offering" comes from the Preface of the second Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Image and Mother of the Church (Beata Maria Virgo, Imago et Mater Ecclesiæ II). As in the immediately preceding citation, a definite parallel is intended between the offering in the temple and on the cross.

The reference to the "Virgin who offers" (literally the Virgin offering) is an allusion (77) to a subtopic developed in Pope Paul VI's Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus which links the presentation of Jesus in the temple to the salvific event of the cross. (78) While the idea of Mary sharing in the self-offering of Christ on the tree of the cross is very much in line with the theme of coredemption, what the Latin text says is even stronger, i.e., that Mary consents to his immolation on the cross. This final item is obviously a quite deliberate quotation from Lumen Gentium #58 and ought to be rendered as such:

F. The United Sacrifice of Jesus and Mary

We have already quoted above from the celebrated Letter Inter Sodalicia of Benedict XV which concludes by stating that "we may well say that she with Christ redeemed mankind." (ut dici merito queat, Ipsam cum Christo humanum genus redemisse.) (80) While this statement needs to be understood in the terms which we have outlined in the introduction to this section, it has continued to be confirmed by subsequent magisterial statements. Pope John Paul II declared in Salvifici Doloris that

Another very striking statement of this mystery occurs in Pope Pius XII's Encyclical Letter Haurietis Aquas of 15 May 1956: