The Mother of All Peoples

What do the dogmas that God has revealed about the Blessed Virgin Mary have to do with me personally? How do these revealed truths about the Mother of Jesus affect my own spiritual life? How can it be said that the Mother of Jesus is the mother of every person on earth?

It is in answer to these questions that we now explore Mary's God-given role as Spiritual Mother of all humanity. A full understanding of Mary's Spiritual Maternity provides the only adequate foundation for a proper Christian response to the Mother of the Lord.

An authentic Christian response to the Lord's Mother refers to a response of both "head" and "heart"; a response both theologically accurate and spiritually generous; a response both personal and ecclesial. Mary's role as Spiritual Mother and Mediatrix can rightly be called the bridge between authentic Marian doctrine and devotion.

Let us first look at the basic understanding of the spiritual motherhood of Mary, and then continue to examine its most complete expression under its three principal aspects and roles as Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces and Advocate.

Spiritual Motherhood

The Blessed Virgin began her mission as Spiritual Mother of humanity with her "fiat" at the Annunciation. Her "let it be done" (Lk 1:38), leads to her becoming the Mother of Jesus, who is the Head of the Mystical Body (which is the Church), and also mysteriously begins her spiritual motherhood in relation to the rest of the Body of Christ which is mystically connected to Jesus the Head. St. Augustine explained 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)

Along with Mary's yes to being the Mother of the Savior (and his Mystical Body) at the Annunciation, the scriptural basis for Mary's spiritual motherhood of all humanity is made manifest 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." (2)

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 behold his Mother, who is now 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 prayer for the special protection of their 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."

Historically, the voice of the Magisterium has been clear and consistent regarding the truth 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 (in the Apostolic Constitution Cum praecelsa). Since Pope Sixtus IV, no less than twenty-nine subsequent popes have referred to Mary as Spiritual Mother with an always increasing specificity and clarity. (4)

Vatican II professed Mary's spiritual motherhood when it refers to Our Lady as our "mother in the order of grace": "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

How do we explain theologically Mary's role as Spiritual Mother? Once again, 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. Therefore, Mary, in giving physical birth to Jesus, made it possible for his members to receive spiritual life through Jesus. It is firstly 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. As explained by Pope St. Pius X in his famous Marian encyclical, Ad diem illum:

Nevertheless, 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, but 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. During medieval times, the Virgin was also referred to as the "neck" of the Mystical Body of Christ, for it is Mary that connects the Head and Body in the mystical order of grace.

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.

Maternal Mediation

A deeper and more theologically precise manner of speaking of Mary's role as Spiritual Mother is contained in the term "maternal mediation," so often used by Pope John Paul II. (6)

Let us begin by examining the understanding of mediation and the role of a "mediator" in general, and then see to what degree the Mother of Jesus participates in the "one mediation" of Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Tim 2:5).

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.