Spiritual
Orientation BEHOLD MARY, THE MOTHER OF LIFE The Testament of Jesus is very
clear. In John's Gospel is written: »But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother,
and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When
Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He
*said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He *said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own
household."« (Jn 19:25-27). John, the disciple whom Jesus loved,
is entrusted to Mary the mother of Jesus. And John incorporates - as one might
translate literally - the Mother of God within himself. Of course, with “John”,
not only is the former fisherman's son meant; rather, we are all addressed, for
all of us who believe in Christ, should take heed of the last words of Jesus
and incorporate Mary in our lives and profoundly learn from Mary what it means
to follow Jesus. Because indeed: Mary is our paragon
in the Faith. Not for nothing is she welcomed by her cousin Elizabeth with the
words: “Blessed is she who has believed”
(Lk 1:45). To her, the great believer, do we render thanks and our petitions.
We are grateful to receive her from the hands of Jesus, as our mother; and we
ask her, always anew, to be our advocata
nostra – our intercessor/advocate, as stated in the Salve Regina. And we
can be certain that Mary looks at us, after all, this is indeed her
job, according to the words of Jesus as he died: “Woman, behold thy son”! Mary looks at us. She takes us under her
mantle of protection. She teaches us to fight the "good fight of
faith" (cf. 1 Tim 6:12). She is the "Victor in all the battles of
God" (Pius XII.) and shows us the way to heaven. The 6th
World Prayer Congress for Life, which will take place this year in
Vienna, Austria, on the occasion of the 15th Anniversary of the “Life Center”
(Pregnancy Resource Center) of Vienna, has made this Marian program its own:
Looking to Mary, as Jesus has instructed us, in order to contemplate Jesus -
with her, in her and through her. This
is the way of life. How could it be otherwise: Since Mary, who gave birth to
our Savior, is the Mother of Life and as such she wants her children to live –
to truly live. The Catechism
of the Catholic Church cites the Dogmatic Constitution of the Second
Vatican Council, Lumen gentium, and
expresses it as follows (CCC 494): As St. Irenaeus says, "Being obedient she became the cause of
salvation for herself and for the whole human race" St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres.
3, 22, 4). Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert. . .: "The
knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve
bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith" (St. Irenaeus,
Adv. haeres. 3, 22, 4) Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary "the Mother
of the living" and frequently claim: "Death through Eve, life through
Mary" (LG 56). 1. Thursday
– Fiat mihi – Be it done unto me according to your word From the beginning, Mary is the one
who follows Christ. Christ, the eternal WORD – her entire life belongs to him.
Mary has never, even in the least, resisted the word. She is the only person who perfectly obeyed. Looking at Mary, we perceive: the
Word is first of all received. And this Word always proves to be life-giving.
Therefore, it is only logical, that Mary be invoked as Mater vitae, Mother of
Life.
2. Friday
– Stabat Mater – His mother stood at the cross of Jesus Mary obeyed, even when her worst
hour came, the hour of the mother at the cross. It had been prophesied to her: and a sword will pierce even your own soul
(Luke 2:35). But how does one do this: To love and to suffer, without giving
up? How have the saints lived-out this taking up of the cross? On this second
day of the congress, we shall follow Mary to the Cross. With her, we desire to
understand more deeply what it means to accept suffering in a spirit of
atonement and thus make it fruitful. The spiritual center of this day is the Mass of Atonement in
the afternoon, during which, international congress participants representing
all the nations of the world will take part in a ceremony whereby they will
symbolically hand over all the sins against life committed world-wide – and lay
them at the foot of the cross, in the triumphant hope that Christ, in His
sacrifice on the cross will grant forgiveness, redemption and a fresh start to
today’s, so seriously ill world. 3.
Saturday – Benedicta tu – Blessed are you »Blessed are you among women and blessed is the
fruit of your womb..« This was the
greeting of Elizabeth to her cousin Mary during the famous Visitation scene.
And since then, this greeting has never faded. Blessed are you - so have
believers throughout the generations prayed and sung throughout the centuries. Saturday is traditionally observed
as dedicated to the Mother of God; Saturday recalls Mary's unbreakable faith
even in the night of Holy Saturday. On this third day of the congress,
we wish to attend the school of Mary, to better learn how to pray and worship.
The position of Mary in salvation history should light up and make clear - her
continual, loving education and her continual care – the care of a mother.
Without this continuous care of Mary, is the Protection of life unthinkable. Congress participants themselves respond
to the affection of Mary so that they will wish to consecrate to Mary all of
their intercessions regarding the protection of life at an evening candlelight
procession. The subsequent Celebration of Life
will present touching testimonies, as to how Mary helps and works worldwide to
guard the precious gift of life. 4. Sunday – Magnificat – My soul proclaims the
greatness of the Lord Sunday: Dies Domini. The Lord’s Day. Day of the
Resurrection. We gather together with Mary in the Upper Room and praise the
greatness of the Lord. In the Church Maria vom Siege (Mary of Victory)
we celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, on this day, which is also the
Feast of the Holy Rosary, and herewith obey Jesus’ commission »on his own, in the face of a godless world: Do
this in memory of me!« We proclaim Christ’s victory, and »this proclamation is both a making present, is a
taking of the victory of Christ through those whom He has taken to Himself; and
as such ordered towards the fulfillment of the victory on the last day - until he comes«
(H. Spaemann). |