Mary, Spiritual Mother and Mediatrix

"What do all the doctrines that God has revealed about the Blessed Virgin have to do with me personally? How do these revealed truths about the Mother of Jesus affect my own spiritual life"?

It is in answer to these questions and to others that we now explore Mary’s God-given role as Spiritual Mother of humanity, under its three aspects of Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate. For it is understanding Mary as Spiritual Mother in its fullness that allows for the foundation of an authentic Catholic response to the Mother of Jesus.

By an authentic Catholic response we mean here a response both "from the head" and "from the heart"; both theologically and spiritually; in a phrase, our personal and ecclesial response to Mary. So Mary’s role as Spiritual Mother and Mediatrix can rightly be called the bridge between authentic Marian doctrine and devotion.

First, we will look at the basic understanding of the spiritual motherhood of Mary and then continue to its fullest and most profound understanding in the role of the Mother of Jesus as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces and Advocate.

Spiritual Motherhood

Along with Mary’s yes to being the Mother of the Savior at the Annunciation (Lk l:26f), the principal scriptural basis for the doctrine of Mary as Spiritual Mother of all humanity is found in John 19:26-27. Here Mary is on Calvary at the foot of the Cross with her crucified Son and John, the beloved disciple. As the Gospel of John reads: "When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, your son.' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother'" (Jn 19:26-27).

John, the "beloved disciple," is a symbol of all humanity and, in a special way, of every person who likewise seeks to be a "beloved disciple" of Jesus. That John is symbolic of all humanity and, in a special way, of all the faithful, has been confirmed by several popes, not to mention an endless list of theologians and spiritual writers. For example, Pope Leo XIII writes: "Now in John, according to the constant mind of the Church, Christ designated the whole human race, particularly those who were joined with him in faith" (Adiutricem populi).

Pope John Paul II discussed Mary’s motherhood as a personal gift which Christ gives to John, and beyond John to every individual:

Note that the words of Christ, rather than proposing a suggestion, state a theological fact. Our Lord says: "Behold, your mother." He does not passively invite us to accept Mary as Mother; rather, he states the theological fact that Mary is the newly God-given Mother of each beloved disciple. Our remaining question then should not so much be, "Is Mary our Mother?" but more appropriately, "How do we properly implement the words of Christ to 'behold our mother'?"

Spiritual Motherhood in Tradition

The Fathers of the Church recognized Mary’s role as Spiritual Mother as it was essentially contained in her example and role as the "New Eve." Mary was the new "Mother of the living" who participated with Jesus, the New Adam, in regaining the life of grace for the human family. Since the name "Eve" means "mother of the living," then Mary, as the New Eve, is the "new Mother of the living" in the order of grace. Again, as St. Jerome summed it up, "Death through Eve, life through Mary."

Further, the prayers of petition offered in the early Church to the Mother of God for spiritual and physical protection manifest an understanding of Mary’s ability to intercede for her spiritual children. We see this son or daughter-like petition for the special aid of our Spiritual Mother in the Sub Tuum: "We fly to your patronage, O holy Mother of God. Despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us from all dangers, O ever glorious and blessed Virgin."

St. Augustine saw Mary’s spiritual maternity based on the mystical union between Christ and the faithful. As physical Mother of Christ, the Head, Mary in a spiritual manner is Mother also of the faithful that make up the Body of Christ. (1)

The voice of the Magisterium has been clear and consistent regarding the doctrine of Mary's spiritual motherhood. The first Pope to refer to Mary as Spiritual Mother, particularly as "Mother of Grace," was Pope Sixtus IV in 1477 (Apostolic Constitution Cum praecelsa). Since Pope Sixtus IV, no less than twenty-seven subsequent popes have declared Mary as Spiritual Mother with an always increasing specificity and clarity. (2)

Vatican II granted the confirmation of an ecumenical council to the doctrine of Mary's spiritual motherhood when it declared: "Thus, in a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the work of the Savior in restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace" (Lumen Gentium, No. 61).

Theology of Mary as Spiritual Mother

But how do we explain theologically Mary's role as Spiritual Mother? Her spiritual motherhood is intimately related to the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. In the rich doctrine of the Mystical Body according to St. Paul (cf. Col 1:18, Eph 4:15), Christ is the Head of the Body, and the Church is the Body of Christ. Mary, then, in conceiving Jesus, the Head of the Mystical Body, also conceived all the faithful since we all are members of that same Body. In giving birth to Jesus the Head, Mary also gives birth to the Body, the Church. So, Mary, in giving physical birth to Jesus, made it possible for his members to receive spiritual life through Jesus. It is for this reason that Mary is called our true "Spiritual Mother."

She is not our physical Mother, nor is the title a mere figure of speech. Mary, in giving birth to Jesus, truly communicated to us the supernatural life of grace that allows us to become children of God. This is why Mary, during medieval times, was referred to as the "Neck of the Mystical Body." It is she who connects the Head with the members of the Body in the order of grace. And since the Head should never be separated from the Body, it is Mary that is Mother to both: Mother to Jesus the Head, physically; and Mother to the members of the Mystical Body, spiritually. As explained by Pope St. Pius X in his famous Marian encyclical:

But Mary's spiritual motherhood to us in grace does not stop only at the birth of the Mystical Body. A true mother both "natures" and "nurtures" her children. A true mother gives birth to her children, and she also nourishes and forms her children. Spiritually, then, Mary not only gave birth to the Body of Christ, but also continually intercedes in obtaining graces for her spiritual children, leading them to her Son and to eternal salvation. Mary does so, not only in virtue of conceiving the Mystical Body of Jesus at the Annunciation (Lk 1:26), but also by sharing in the sufferings of her crucified Son on Calvary (Jn 19:26) where she is definitively given as Spiritual Mother to all beloved disciples and to humanity in general.

Hence, Mary became our Spiritual Mother initially at the Annunciation, but her motherhood was perfected on Calvary, participating in the spiritual regeneration or rebirth of the human family. The exercise of her motherhood continues in her constant intercession from Heaven in leading her earthly children to their heavenly home.

As the Second Vatican Council profoundly summarizes:

This is the sound theological basis that led Pope Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council to proclaim Mary as "Mother of the Church." For Mary is the Christ-designated Spiritual Mother of the members of the Mystical Body of Jesus, which is the Church.

Queenship of Mary

Another dimension of Mary's spiritual motherhood is the Queenship of Mary. Queenship can be understood in one of two ways. A queen can be a "female king" or independent ruler of a kingdom, or she can be the mother or spouse of the king. It is only in the second relative sense that Mary is rightly understood as Queen, as true Mother of Christ the "King," whose kingdom is the Mystical Body.

Mary is thereby Queen in the Kingdom of God. As Mother of Christ the King, she intercedes for the members of the Kingdom of God. This "Queen Mother" guides and rules the members of her Son's kingdom in complete subordination and submission to Christ the King in the law and order of sanctifying grace.

Mary's Queenship is referred to in Revelation 12:1, where the Mother of God is portrayed with the moon under her feet and wearing a crown of twelve stars, and as Mother of her Son, the King who will rule all nations, she is taken up to his throne (Rev 12:5).

Maternal Mediatrix

A mediator, in general, is a person who intervenes between two other persons for the goal of uniting the two parties. The task of the mediator is not to distance further but to reconcile, to bring together the two parties in question.

In the Christian faith, we know that there is only one unique mediator between God and man: the person of Jesus Christ. As St. Paul says: "For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim 2:5). But the perfect mediation of Jesus Christ does not prevent (and in fact provides for) other mediators who are subordinate and secondary to Jesus. Jesus' perfect mediation allows for others to participate in the one and unique mediation of Our Lord. In fact, in the four lines before the passage from 1 Timothy just quoted, St. Paul specifically asks that "supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions..." and states that doing so is "good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim 2:1-4). Supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings made for others are clearly forms of mediation.

We have several examples of secondary mediators in the Old Testament, mediators that were appointed by Almighty God Himself. We have the Old Testament prophets who are inspired by God to mediate between Yahweh and the oftentimes disobedient people of Israel (for the purpose of reconciling Yahweh and Israel). Certainly the patriarchs, like Abraham and Moses, were secondary mediators of the covenant between God and the chosen people of the Old Testament.

In both Old and New Testaments, the glorious mediation of the angels fills the pages of Sacred Scripture as God's special messengers and intercessors; for example, from the Book of Tobit, to the mediation of the Angel Gabriel on behalf of God at the Annunciation (cf. Lk 1:26). St. Thomas Aquinas called the angels "God's secondary causes" since God does so much through the mediation of the angels.

That the one mediation of Jesus Christ is unique, but at the same time allows for the subordinate and secondary mediation of others, is here summarized by St. Thomas Aquinas: "Christ alone is the perfect mediator between God and man...but there is nothing to prevent others in a certain way from being called mediators between God and man in so far as they, by preparing or serving, cooperate in uniting men to God." (3)