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

The texts of this Mass are taken largely from the Proper Mass of Our Lady of Divine Providence, first granted to the Clerics Regular of St. Paul (Barnabites) by Pope Benedict XIV in 1744 and later to several other religious institutes. (148) The formulary found in the Proper of Saints for Certain Places and assigned to the Saturday before the Third Sunday of November in the former Roman Missal (RM 67) as well as the one found in the Collection both provide for this celebration the Gospel of the wedding feast of Cana (Jn. 2:1-11). Hence the apposite reference to the Cana scene in the new proper Preface. The section which concerns us particularly may be rendered literally thus:

Thus this Preface manages to emphasize both dimensions of the title of the Mass: Mary's spiritual motherhood and her provident care for each member of the faithful as a minister of God's loving kindness.

Finally, in the Preface of the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother and Mediatrix of Grace (Beata Maria Virgo, Mater et Mediatrix Gratiæ) we find the fullest elaboration of the meaning of Mary's role as ministra pietatis. This euchological text describes her as ministra gratiæ, an office which follows from her relationship with the Redeemer as Mother and Associate and derives from his unique mediation:

At the very outset it should be recognized that this Preface is the most developed and comprehensive statement of Mary's mediation of grace to be found in the Roman liturgy insofar as this author is aware. It reproduces an important clarification about the relationship of Mary's mediation to that of Christ which is taken directly from Lumen Gentium #60 and #62. (152) Moreover, in my opinion, it manages to situate Mary's mediatorial role more successfully than does the conciliar text, in a way which does not minimize it, but shows it to be a real maternal office or mission in the Church (munus maternum in Ecclesia) which she exercises by divine design (tuæ bonitatis consilio).

Before continuing the analysis of this capital text, it should also be noted that this Mass of Mary, Mother and Mediatrix of Grace, replaces the original Mass of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces (Beatæ Mariæ Virginis omnium gratiarum Mediatricis), (153) which was granted by Pope Benedict XV at the request of Cardinal Désiré Joseph Mercier, Archbishop of Malines-Brussels, Belgium. (154) As all the Marian Masses of the former Roman Missal used the same Marian Preface, we can say that this new Preface, as all the Prefaces which we have been analyzing, represents a genuine enrichment of the liturgical cultus of Our Lady. More specifically, we can say that it presents the doctrine of Mary's mediation of grace in the context of worship as it has never been previously presented. Here I would like to propose my own fairly literal translation of a part of this magnificent Preface in order to highlight Mary's maternal mission, especially her mission as "minister of grace":

Following the lead of Father Calabuig, I wish to underscore that the word munus has acquired a very specific meaning in ecclesiastical Latin refering to an office or mission which a person is designated to carry out. One speaks, for instance, of the munus episcoporum or the office of Bishops. It is not incorrect to translate this word as role or function—and, indeed, "maternal role" may seem to be a more natural phrase than "maternal mission." What I wish to emphasize in this Preface is the clear assertion that by God's explicit design Mary exercises a unique maternal office which includes the mediation of grace. The faithful rightly call upon her as Mother of mercy and minister of grace i.e., the one who ministers grace, the one through whom grace comes. A final word: just as I find "handmaid of love" a weak rendition of ministra pietatis, so I find "handmaid of grace" equally innocuous in interpreting ministra gratiæ, which is a strong proclamation of Mary's mediation of grace.

The Preface which we have just considered is beautifully complimented by another, this one from the Mass of Mary, Mother of the Lord (Sancta Maria, Mater Domini). The term which I wish to highlight this time is totally complementary to ministra gratiæ, namely dispensatrix gratiæ. We have already met this term in the papal magisterium and have noted that during the Council the Theological Commission acknowledged as "common doctrine" that "Mary is the minister and dispenser of all graces (omnium gratiarum administra et dispensatrix) because she was associated with Christ in acquiring them." Here we have the liturgical confirmation of that doctrine:

This beautiful prayer formula taken from the Proper Masses of the Mercedarians (156) strongly accentuates Mary's mediation, particularly her mediation of grace. Let us consider some of its major features by looking at another partial literal translation of the text.

It is truly a categorical affirmation to declare that God does not cease to work out our salvation through Mary, but this statement is also measured against the Church's millennial experience of the efficacy of Mary's maternal intercession and her gradual growth in recognizing it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Church's belief in her agency as a "minister of our redemption" is made clear by these strong assertions: "By her words you admonish us; by her example you attract us to the following of Christ; by her prayers you pardon us."

Such lapidary statements give eloquent testimony to Mary's mediation and it is precisely in this context that Mary is called "the dispenser of grace" (dispensatrix gratiæ). This term has been used to describe Our Lady's mediation and specifically her role in the distribution of grace in the papal magisterium since at least 24 January 1806 with the Apostolic Constitution Quod Divino Afflata Spiritu of Pius VII. (157) To my knowledge the appearance of this term in the Collection is the first instance of its liturgical use in a Missal intended for use throughout the Roman Rite.

I would now like to add a word about the extent of Mary's role as dispenser or minister of grace. The title of the original Mass granted by the Congregation of Rites at the request of Cardinal Mercier was The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces (Beatæ Mariæ Virginis omnium gratiarum Mediatricis) which obviously indicates that all graces without exception come through the mediation of Our Lady. This concept is also attested to by the first Entrance Antiphon proposed for the Mass formulary which is the successor to that original one: Hail, holy Mary, rich fountain of love, treasure-house of all graces,... (Ave, sancta Maria, fons pietatis, omnium gratiarum referta ubertate, ...). (158) Finally, there is this testimony from the Postcommunion of the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Miraculous Medal (Beatæ Mariæ Virginis Immaculatæ a sacro Numismate) provided in the Proper of Saints for Certain Places in the former Roman Missal for 27 November:

As Monsignor Lebon pointed out, (160) the wording of this prayer is a direct allusion to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux's famous statement in his sermon on Our Lady's Nativity (commonly referred to as the sermon on the aqueduct) that "it is God's will that we have everything through Mary" (quia sic est voluntas eius, qui totum nos habere voluit per Mariam). (161) Just as these words of St. Bernard are echoed in this oration, they have been cited repeatedly by Supreme Pontiffs in speaking of Mary's mediation of grace. (162)

Mary as Advocate

In his book, Mary: Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, Advocate, Dr. Mark Miravalle declares:

In stating himself in this way Dr. Miravalle also acknowledges that he is following a thought process traced by St. Maximilian-Maria Kolbe. (164) In lecture notes dated 5-20 August 1940 Maximilian speaks of the union between Mary and the Holy Spirit.

Mary, then, according to St. Maximilian, is not only the chosen channel of grace to man, but also the unique human person through whom man begins his return to God. As Miravalle puts it:

The theme of Mary as our Advocate is also a very ancient one in Christian literature. It can be traced to the thought of St. Irenaeus (+ after 194) who spoke of the Virgin Mary becoming the advocate of the virgin Eve, destroying virginal disobedience by virginal obedience. (167) "It has been assumed," says Father O'Carroll, "that the Greek word used was Paracletos," (168) the same word used by Jesus to speak of himself and the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:16-17). Just as we speak of Mary's mediation as subordinate and secondary to and dependent upon the mediation of Jesus, so Mary's advocacy must be understood in the same way.

Our Lady's advocacy is likewise presupposed in the earliest recorded invocation to the Mother of God of which we are aware, the prayer known in the Latin tradition as the Sub tuum præsidium. (169) While the earliest extant manuscript of this prayer, which dates from the third or fourth century, is in Greek, a standard rendering of this prayer in English is the following:

The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council saw fit to make a reference to this famous prayer in #66 of Lumen Gentium. In #62 of that same chapter they point to Mary's advocacy as a consequence of her spiritual maternity:

Pope John Paul II developed this theme in his Encyclical Redemptoris Mater by saying that "Mary's motherhood continues unceasingly in the Church as the mediation which intercedes." (173) He also presented the idea succinctly in a homily which he gave at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii on 21 October 1979: "Mary is always at the very center of our prayer. She is the first among those who ask. She is Omnipotentia supplex: the 'Omnipotence of intercession.'" (174)

As the liturgy characterizes Mary as "minister of grace," so it also describes her as "advocate of grace." In the Preface for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (In Conceptione Immaculata Beatæ Mariæ Virginis) the celebrant addresses the Father in these words:

This is really another way of looking at the mystery of Mary's mediation of grace and Father O'Keefe does not hesitate to render the idea in this way:

The same terminology is found in the Preface of the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of All Creation (Beata Maria Virgo, Universorum Regina):

The whole Preface, of which we have only quoted a part, makes a striking parallel between the humiliation and exaltation (Kingship) of Christ and the analogous humiliation and exaltation (Queenship) of Mary. (178) It also evokes the Old Testament image of the Queen Mother who sits at the right hand of her son the King and intercedes on behalf of others. (179) It is in this sense that Mary is our "advocate of grace."

A. Intercessor

Without a doubt the liturgy is a privileged witness to the Church's profound belief in Mary's advocacy on behalf of her children. A beautiful example of this occurs in the Preface of the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Gate of Heaven (Beata Maria Virgo, Ianua Cæli):

Here the Latin describes Mary as the Virgo supplex, literally "the suppliant Virgin" who obtains by her entreaty the return of sinners to her Son.

After reviewing the testimony of the conciliar and subsequent documents of the papal magisterium on Mary as the "supplex Mater" (the suppliant Mother), Father Calabuig notes what a frequent theme Mary's intercession is in the liturgy and how this very recurrence testifies to the truth of the axiom that the lex supplicandi (the law of supplication) has established the lex credendi (the law of belief). (181) There is hardly a Marian prayer in the Roman liturgy which does not beg or refer in some manner to Mary's intercession. Father Calabuig refers to the ancient and splendid oration of the Solemnity of the Mother of God (182):

While the English translation does convey the idea of Mary's intercession on our behalf, it doesn't do justice to the richness of the concepts employed in the Latin. (184) Here is an attempt to be faithful to those concepts while also striving to render them in dignified modern English:

This prayer may be taken as representative of a great many in former editions of the Roman Missal as well as that of Paul VI. A glance at the valuable index provided by Fathers Johnson and Ward indicates how frequently the words "intercede" and "intercession"—not to mention other cognate forms—are attributed to Our Lady in the Collection. (186) Unfortunately, I am not aware of a similar tool which could be indicated for immediate references to the vocabulary of the present Roman Missal. I have found at least twelve orations in Masses of Our Lady which employ the word intercede or intercession and even more which deal with the idea.

B. Protection

We have already noted that the Latin word præsidium is translated as "patronage" in the ancient Marian prayer which dates from the third or at latest the fourth century in its original Greek form. (187) It is a word whose range of meaning isn't matched by one single English word. It means a sitting before, hence a (military) protection, a defense, a place occupied by a garrison and, in a more general sense, help, assistance, support. (188) By the early Middle Ages præsidium became a conventional way of describing the protection which could be expected as a result of Mary's advocacy, of her all-powerful intercession. Hence it is found in private prayers invoking Our Lady's help already in this period of Christian history. (189) Here is how it occurs in the Opening Prayer of the Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Beatæ Mariæ Virginis de Monte Carmelo Memoria):

Unhappily, several allusions are lost in this translation. (191) Let us listen to Father Joncas' incisive comment:

Even more important, from our perspective, is the plea that Mary's intercession might help us, so that "fortified by her protection," (193) we may reach the mountain which is Christ.