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

It is also to be noted that the final three texts which we have cited do not speak explicitly of Mary's mediation of grace, but rather of her ministry in a more general context. These texts do not in any way exclude her role of being minister or dispenser of grace, but rather situate it in a more comprehensive framework. These references harken back to the description of Mary given in Leo XIII's Encyclical Adiutricem Populi as "minister of the mystery of human redemption" (sacramenti humanæ redemptionis patrandi administra) and are in full harmony with the description which we have already seen in the Preface of the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Presentation of the Lord as "minister of the plan of salvation" (salvificæ dispensationis ministra).

By way of concluding our consideration of the magisterial statements about Mary as "minister of grace," I would like to cite the words of Father Armand J. Robichaud, S.M. on Our Lady as "Dispensatrix (dispenser) of all graces." Although I have limited this analysis to instances of the term "minister of grace" (with the three exceptions noted above) because of the parallel liturgical usage which we will see, it is obvious that the terms dispensatrix and ministra are virtually equivalent and that his statement, which takes into consideration many other papal texts on Mary's mediation, also serves as an excellent summary of the doctrine which we have been considering.

B. Minister of Grace according to the Liturgy

Coming to the concept of Mary's ministry from the perspective of Lumen Gentium #56 which speaks of Mary's "serving the mystery of the redemption" (mysterio redemptionis inserviens) and from Paul VI's Apostolic Exhortation Signum Magnum (120) which we have seen above, Father Ignacio Calabuig Adán, O.S.M. says that the term ministry (ministerium) predicated of Mary seems to add to the term service (servitium) a note of stability and organic unity which thus implies an office or mission (munus). (121) He cites St. Peter Chrysologus' application of the term minister of salvation (ministra salutis) to Mary already in the fifth century (122) and cites with approval the reapplication of this term to Our Lady once again in the postconciliar Roman liturgy. (123) (We are already aware of the precedent in the pontifical magisterium of the past hundred years.) He says that

Let us consider carefully what he is expounding. Mary's ministry, both on earth and in heaven, he says, is a service to the salvific plan of God. Because this is so, she is fittingly described in the Preface of the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Presentation of the Lord (Sancta Maria in Præsentatione Domini) as "minister of God's saving plan" (ministra dispensationis salvifica) (125) and in that of Our Lady of Ransom (Beata Maria Virgo de Mercede) as "minister of our redemption." (126)

Both of these designations may be considered as encapsulated in the term ministra pietatis. I leave this term in Latin for the moment because of the difficulty facing the translator who wants to render it with a simple English phrase. The basic meaning of pietas is dutifulness. To an ancient Roman its meaning would have been supplied by its point of reference: pietas directed to the gods meant piety or devotion; pietas directed to one's parents or elders meant respect or deference; pietas directed to one's country meant patriotism; pietas on the part of the gods meant benevolence, compassion and mercy. (127) As we will recognize from the discussion of Mary as "the minister of God's saving plan," it is this final denotation which best renders this word for our purposes. Mary is indeed the minister of God's mercy, compassion, tenderness and loving kindness. (128) I submit that it is this range of meaning which is the most faithful to the Latin liturgical texts with which we will now deal.

There is one final preliminary observation to be made before we begin to consider the liturgical texts themselves. The English translators have consistently rendered the words ministra and administra as "handmaid." This word, indeed, has a long and distinguished history as rendering the Latin word ancilla in Mary's response to the angel Gabriel: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord" (Lk. 1:38). I believe that Manuel Miguens, O.F.M. has made an excellent case for translating the original Greek word doule, rendered in the Latin Vulgate as ancilla, with the stronger word servant (129) which in Latin would be serva. Be that as it may, I think that it weakens the sense of the Latin text in each instance considerably to translate the word ministra as handmaid. Father Calabuig and Doctor Barbieri justly argue that the word ministerium adds to the word servitium the connotation of stability and implies a munus (office). (130) So it does also in English. A woman serving as a prime minister or holding a cabinet level post as minister of finance would rightly balk at being called the "first handmaid" or the "handmaid of finance." While the term ancilla is still a fully appropriate description of Our Lady in her littleness and is used as such in the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary, (131) I submit that it notably diminishes the role attributed to Mary as salvificæ dispensationis ministra (132) and redemptionis ministra (133) to render it respectively as "the handmaid of your plan of salvation" and "the handmaid of our redemption" as is done in the vernacular typical edition of the Collection published for use in the United States.

Much stronger and more faithful to the original Latin typical edition, it seems to me, is to denominate Mary as "minister of God's saving plan" and "minister of our redemption." True, she is not the principal minister who is always Christ. But "under and with him" (sub Ipso et cum Ipso), she has no equal in "serving the mystery of the redemption" (mysterio redemptionis inserviens). (134) Hence, while I will continue to cite the English translation approved for use in the United States in each citation, I wish to register my dissatisfaction with it in this regard and in commenting I will provide my own translation when it seems appropriate. I find it rather ironic that in this era when the word minister and ministry seems to be so consistently over-used, one who has a special claim to this title should be denied it.

In the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary the word administra only occurs once, (135) in the Prayer over the gifts of the first Mass of Mary at the Foot of the Cross (Beata Maria Virgo iuxta Crucem Domini, I):

The word administra is not identifiable in the English translation; the closest reflection of it is in the verb "served." The relevant portion might be rendered literally thus: "make them the sacrament of human redemption of which the generous Virgin stood as a minister at the altar of the cross." (137) What is stated here obviously testifies to the doctrine of the coredemption: Mary stood as a minister at the altar of the cross. But there is at least a further implication, even if it is not developed: she who shared in the ministry of Christ on the altar of the cross shares also in the application of the gifts of the redemption.

The term ministerium is attributed to Our Lady in the Preface of the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Epiphany of the Lord (Beata Maria Virgo in Epiphania Domini):

Here, according to Manlio Sodi, we have an image of the Virgin holding the infant Jesus in her arms and presenting him to the Magi who represent all peoples. But is this reflection limited strictly to the past? In the liturgy of the Church these words take on a trans-temporal significance. They may also be seen as referring to Mary's heavenly ministry and that is indisputably a ministry of grace. Thus Mary is acknowledged as having a ministry of drawing all families of peoples to the faith.

The word ministra itself occurs six times in the Collection (139) and we have already dealt at some length with two of them: "minister of God's saving plan" (ministra dispensationis salvifica) (140) and "minister of our redemption" (redemptionis ministra). (141) It need only be added here that both of these descriptions are ways of speaking about Mary's mediation and, while they do not speak explicitly of her mediation of grace, they definitely imply it because both the concept of God's saving plan and that of redemption necessarily include the saving grace won for us by Christ.

Next, there are three instances of the term ministra pietatis. The first of these is to be found in the Preface of the Mass of Holy Mary, Handmaid of the Lord (Sancta Maria, Ancilla Domini):

First let us note that the text of Lumen Gentium #56 is being quoted directly here on Mary's serving the mystery of the redemption. Next we recognize the coredemptive dimension: Mary ministered greatly to Christ (multum Christo ministravit) which led to her glorification. Hence she now reigns as Queen with Christ the King "where she intercedes for us as the benevolent minister of divine mercy." The official Italian translation further supports our interpretation by speaking of Mary "exalted as the glorious queen at the side of the throne of your Son where she intercedes for us as minister of mercy and grace." (143)

The Preface of the Mass of Holy Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy (Sancta Maria, Regina et Mater Misericordiæ) also provides us with an important instance of Mary as ministra pietatis:

This is a strikingly beautiful and expressive Preface, a true paean of praise to God for the great things that he has done in Mary as well as a celebration of her as Queen and Mother of Mercy. Pope John Paul II tells us in his Encyclical Dives in Misericordia that by virtue of her preventive redemption, her Immaculate Conception, she has "obtained mercy in an exceptional way" (more extraordinario misericordiam experta) (145) and this duly echoed in the words "she... has herself uniquely known your loving kindness" (misericordiam tuam singulariter experta). The final sentence cited above is a beautiful description of the effects of Mary's intercession: as minister of divine mercy (146) she intercedes for us with her Son so that he may enrich us with his grace and strengthen us with his power. Whereas in the first part of this Preface Mary's ministry of receiving sinners is described, at the end her ministry of intercession is emphasized, an intercession which wins us grace.

The Preface of the Mass of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Divine Providence (Beata Maria Virgo, Divinæ Providentiæ Mater) affords us a third opportunity to study the meaning of ministra pietatis: