Mary as Coredemptrix,

Mediatrix and Advocate in the Contemporary Roman Liturgy

 

Rev. Arthur Burton Calkins

 

Fr. Calkins is an official of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei” in Rome, and contributing member of the Pontifical International Marian Academy.

I.  Introduction

 

The topic of Our Lady's role as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate for the People of God in the Liturgy of the Catholic Church is a very broad one, one which requires a number of preliminary clarifications.  For the purposes of our analysis, it is important to recognize at the outset that in the overall category of Marian mediation three distinct "moments" of the process may be differentiated:  (1) that of Mary's collaboration in the redemption of the human race; (2) that of her distribution of the manifold graces won by the redemption and (3) that of her complementary intercession on behalf of the human race for the gift of redemption and all that flows from it.  These three moments have been delineated by Dr. Mark I. Miravalle in terms of Our Lady's role as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate for the People of God.[1]  Yet another way of clarifying these inter-related concepts is to say that Mary's mediation constitutes the general category while the specific categories may be further distinguished as coredemption, mediation and advocacy.

There is no doubt that the category of Marian mediation is an ancient one traceable to the Scriptures[2] and expounded by the Fathers[3] and Doctors of the Church[4]  With time and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the theme has been continually enriched, developed and refined by subsequent ecclesiastical writers.  This topic has also passed into the realm of popular piety and the liturgy as well as into the speculation of theologians and the magisterium of the Church.

The object of this particular study will be to investigate the manifold mediation of the Mother of God as it is testified to in the liturgy of the Catholic Church.  The Church's public worship is a privileged place for coming to grasp her deepest belief.  Here is how the relationship between faith and liturgy is put in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

 

The Church's faith precedes the faith of the believer who is invited to adhere to it.  When the Church celebrates the sacraments, she confesses the faith received from the apostles -- whence the ancient saying:  lex orandi, lex credendi (or:  legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi, according to Prosper of Aquitaine [5th cent.]).  The law of prayer is the law of faith:  the Church believes as she prays.  Liturgy is a constitutive element of the holy and living Tradition.[5]

 

The Servant of God Pope Paul VI cited this classic dictum lex orandi, lex credendi in his Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus with specific reference to the place of Mary in the Church's worship.

 

The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is an intrinsic element of Christian worship.  The honor which the Church has always and everywhere shown to the Mother of the Lord, from the blessing with which Elizabeth greeted Mary (cf. Lk. 1:42-45) right up to the expressions of praise and petition used today, is a very strong witness to the Church's norm of prayer and an invitation to become more deeply conscious of her norm of faith.  And the converse is likewise true.  The Church's norm of faith requires that her norm of prayer should everywhere blossom forth with regard to the Mother of Christ.[6]

 

Hence we should fully expect that the Church's past and present liturgical formulations which speak of Mary's mediatorial role will be sound indications of her fundamental belief.

A full treatment of the theme of Mary's role as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate for the People of God in the Liturgy of the Catholic Church would most probably require an extensive collaborative effort among liturgical specialists in all the rites of the Church, both in their past and presently fixed forms.  A pioneering effort in this regard was already made over seventy years ago by Dom Idesbald Van Houtryve, O.S.B., a monk of the Belgian Abbey of Mont-César, Louvain.[7]  The monastic scholar's two-part article, although of a general nature, demonstrated nonetheless the author's remarkable familiarity with liturgical fonts in the Latin Rites, such as the Roman, Sarum, Ambrosian and Mozarabic Missals and breviaries, and with the Byzantine Rite in its Greek form.  Brief overviews of the liturgical testimony in this area have also been provided by E. Druwé, S.J. in his masterful study, "La Médiation Universelle de Marie,"[8] by Armand J. Robichaud, S.M. in his essay "Mary, Dispensatrix of All Graces"[9] and by Robert Javelet in his book, Marie, La Femme Médiatrice.[10] All of these studies, however, have concentrated almost exclusively on Our Lady's mediation in the sense of her distribution of the grace of redemption with much less emphasis on her complementary roles as Coredemptrix and Advocate.  These other two areas are dealt with in more detail by Father Serapio de Iragui, O.F.M. Cap. in a presentation which he made to the International Mariological Congress held in Rome in 1950.[11]  Like Father Van Houtryve, he displays a notable mastery of Eastern and Western liturgical sources with a special emphasis on medieval breviary hymns.

This essay has an aim which is at once more specific and more limited.  It is my intention to study the evidence indicative of the Church's belief in Our Lady's roles as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate primarily in the present edition of the Roman Missal issued according to the Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum of 3 April 1969[12] (RM 70) and particularly in the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary issued according to the Decree Christi mysterium celebrans of the Congregation for Divine Worship of 15 August 1986 (Col).  The latter volume is described in this way by Fathers Cuthbert Johnson, O.S.B. and Anthony Ward, S.M.:

 

The Collection is not strictly a new liturgical book nor a supplement to the Roman Missal, nor is it a wholly original composition.  The Masses given in the Collection have, for the most part, been drawn from the Roman Missal or from the Propers of Masses of local Churches or Religious Orders and Institutes.  It is precisely what its name indicates:  a gathering under one cover of several Masses in honour of the Virgin Mary.  The material is gathered and sanctioned by authority for use in Marian sanctuaries, in the celebration of Saturday Masses of Our Lady, and other such occasions provided for by law.[13]

 

In some ways it might be said that the Collection fulfills the function of the various Marian Masses published in editions of the Roman Missal prior to that of Pope Paul VI in the Proper of the Saints for Certain Places [Proprium Sanctorum pro Aliquibus Locis], but with the exception of the Masses for the Advent, Lenten and Easter seasons whose use is restricted to Marian shrines,[14] these Masses are available to priests and congregations of the entire Roman Rite.[15]

While many of the Masses in the Collection and virtually all of the Prefaces are of recent composition, they nonetheless conform faithfully to the norm lex orandi, lex credendi in expressing the faith of the Church.  Thus Paul VI wrote in his Apostolic Letter Signum Magnum:

 

Nor is it to be feared that liturgical reform, if put into practice according to the formula "the law of faith must establish the law of prayer" may be detrimental to the "wholly singular" veneration due to the Virgin Mary for her prerogatives, first among these being the dignity of the Mother of God.[16]

 

It will be noted that in this case the Pope was citing the principle lex orandi, lex credendi from the perspective of the faith of the Church establishing the law of prayer.  In fact Pius XII had proposed two formulations of this maxim in his Encyclical Letter Mediator Dei, the first and most ancient which comes from Prosper of Aquitaine affirming the constitutive nature of the liturgy of the Church for her belief and the second rightly insisting on the normative value of the Church's belief in establishing the liturgy.[17]  Our primary concern, as already indicated, will be, in line with the ancient formulation of the maxim lex orandi, lex credendi, to discover the Church's belief in Mary as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate as this is expressed in the contemporary liturgy of the Roman Rite.

 

II.  Mary as Coredemptrix

 

The term Coredemptrix usually requires some initial explanation in the English language because often the prefix "co" immediately conjures up visions of complete equality.  For instance a co-signer of a check or a co-owner of a house is considered a co-equal with the other signer or owner.  Thus the first fear of many is that describing Our Lady as Coredemptrix puts her on the same level of her Divine Son and implies that she is our Redeemer in the same way that He is, thus reducing Jesus "to being half of a team of redeemers".[18]  In the Latin language from which the term Coredemptrix comes, however, the meaning is always that Mary's cooperation or collaboration in the redemption is secondary, subordinate, dependent on that of Christ -- and yet for all that --something that God "freely wished to accept ... as constituting an unneeded, but yet wonderfully pleasing part of that one great price"[19] paid by His Son for world's redemption.  As Mark Miravalle points out:

 

The prefix "co" does not mean equal, but comes from the Latin word, "cum" which means "with".  The title of Coredemptrix applied to the Mother of Jesus never places Mary on a level of equality with Jesus Christ, the divine Lord of all, in the saving process of humanity's redemption.  Rather, it denotes Mary's singular and unique sharing with her Son in the saving work of redemption for the human family.  The Mother of Jesus participates in the redemptive work of her Saviour Son, who alone could reconcile humanity with the Father in his glorious divinity and humanity.[20]

 

While one might argue about the use of the term Coredemptrix[21] because of the possible confusion which might result from it and propose Pius XII's term of predilection, alma socia Christi (beloved associate of Christ),[22] it is equally arguable that there is no other word which places the participation of the Mother of God in our redemption in such sharp and bold relief.[23] 

A further argument brought up against the use of this term is that it was specifically avoided by the Second Vatican Council.  It is, indeed, true that the term was not used in any of the official documents promulgated by the Council[24] and, undeniably, "ecumenical sensitivity" was a prime factor in its avoidance.[25]  The concept, however, was nonetheless conveyed.  Thus the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium speaks of Mary as "under and with him [Christ], serving the mystery of redemption, by the grace of Almighty God" [sub Ipso et cum Ipso, omnipotentis Dei gratia, mysterio remdeptionis inserviens], as "freely cooperating in the work of man's salvation" [humanæ saluti cooperantem] (#56), of the "union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation" [cum Filio in opere salutari coniunctio] (#57) and of how she

 

faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, associated herself with his sacrifice in her mother's heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim which was born of her [vehementer cum Unigenito suo condoluit et sacrificio Eius se materno animo sociavit, victimæ de se genitæ immolationi amanter consentiens] (#58).

 

Likewise the Council Fathers state that Mary

 

shared her Son's sufferings as he died on the cross. 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 [Filioque suo in cruce morienti compatiens, operi Salvatoris singulari prorsus modo cooperata est, oboedientia, fide, spe et flagrante caritate, ad vitam animarum supernaturalem restaurandam] (#61).

 

Monsignor Brunero Gherardini points out that, with or without the use of the term Coredemptrix, the Protestant observers recognized just as readily the Catholic position on Mary's participation in the redemption.  The great majority of those who adhere to the reformed tradition see any human participation in the work of man's salvation, however secondary and subordinate, as contrary to Luther's principle of solus Christus and thus "a robbery from God and from Christ".[26]  Hence in this enterprise we are dealing with more than just the possible justification of the term Coredemptrix, but a fundamental datum of Catholic theology, a matter which will not be facilely dealt with in ecumenical dialogue by simply substituting one word or phrase with another which seems more neutral.[27]

Father Gabriele M. Roschini, O.S.M., founder of the Pontifical Faculty of Theology "Marianum" and tireless researcher in mariology, summarized the teaching of the papal magisterium on the coredemption under five headings:  (1) Mary's association with Christ the Redeemer; (2) her union with Christ the new Adam in the redemption of the human race as the new Eve; (3) her cooperation in the Redemption beyond the fact of her Divine Maternity; (4) her cooperation in the Redemption which involves her at the same time in the distribution of the graces of the Redemption and (5) her immediate collaboration in Christ's redemptive death and the various effects flowing from it.[28]  I have found that not all of these categories seem equally helpful in organizing the liturgical data on the Coredemption and so I have developed the following: (1) Associate of Christ the Redeemer; (2) the New Eve; (3) Totally Devoted to the Person and Work of Her Son; (4) Sharer in the Sufferings of Christ; (5) Presenting her Son to the Father; (6) the United Sacrifice of Jesus and Mary.  Since it would be impossible within the limits of this study to cite every text available, I will strive to illustrate each of these points with representative texts.

 

A.  Associate of Christ the Redeemer

 

The concept of Mary as intimately associated with the life, suffering and death of Christ has deep roots in the Christian tradition.  Hence describing her as associate or companion of the Redeemer [socia Redemptoris][29] has become a standard way of recognizing her active role in the Redemption.  The first explicit use of this terminology with regard to Mary occurs in the writings of Ambrose Autpert (+784), but he uses the verbal form sociata to express the idea.  "As present knowledge goes, it is Ekbert of Schönau (+1184) who first uses the noun socia of Mary."[30]   As we have already indicated, Pope Pius XII had a particular preference for the term socia Christi in referring to Mary's secondary and subordinate, but nonetheless real, collaboration in the Redemption. For instance, in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus of 1 November 1950 he described Our Lady as "the noble associate of the divine Redeemer" [generosa Divini Redemptoris socia][31] and again in his Encyclical Letter Ad Cæli Reginam of 11 October 1954 he referred to her as the "Mother of the Christ God and ... His associate in the work of redemption" [Christi Dei mater, socia in divini Redemptoris opera].[32]  The term, "generous associate" [generosa socia], is used of Mary in the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium #61 and in John Paul's Marian Encyclical Redemptoris Mater #38.[33]

Not surprisingly, we find the very same terminology utilized in the liturgy.[34]  In the Preface of the Mass of Mary, the New Eve [Sancta Maria, Mulier Nova] the celebrant addresses the Father saying:

 

You gave to Christ, author of the New Covenant, the Blessed Virgin Mary as his mother and companion ... [Quia beatam Virginem Mariam Christo, novi foederis auctori, matrem et sociam dedisti ...].[35]

 

Likewise in the Mass of Holy Mary, Handmaid of the Lord [Sancta Maria, Ancilla Domini] the opening prayer begins:

 

Lord our God, in your loving plan of redemption you chose the Blessed Virgin, your lowly handmaid, to be the mother and companion of Christ your Son, ...  [Deus, qui beatam Virginem, humilem ancillam tuam, misericordi redemptionis consilio, Christi matrem et sociam statuisti, ...][36]

 

The Mass of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother and Mediatrix of Grace [Beata Maria Virgo, Mater et Mediatrix Gratiæ], is particularly expressive of Mary's association with the Redeemer. Hence the Opening Prayer addresses God in this way:

 

Lord our God, in your eternal wisdom and love you chose the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother of the author of all grace and his companion in bringing about the mystery of our redemption.  [Deus, qui arcano providentiæ consilio, beatam Virginem Mariam gratiæ Auctorem proferre voluisti eique in humanæ redemptionis mysterio sociam dedisti ...][37]

 

Her role is further delineated in the Preface of that same Mass:

 

In your wisdom and goodness the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother and companion of the Redeemer, was to have a maternal role in the Church:  of intercession and pardon, of prayer and grace, of reconciliation and peace.  [Sed tuæ bonitatis consilio statuisti ut beata Virgo Maria, Redemptoris mater et socia, munus in Ecclesia exerceret maternum:  intercessionis et veniæ, impetrationis et gratiæ, reconciliationis et pacis.]

 

In the Preface of the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Good Counsel [Beata Maria Virgo, Mater Boni Consilii] the theme is sounded again:

 

How generously you poured out the gifts of your Holy Spirit upon the Blessed Virgin Mary to make her worthy to be the mother and companion of the Redeemer.  [Qui beatissimam Virginem Mariam Sancti Spiritus donis abundanter replevisti ut digna fieret mater et socia Redemptoris ...][38]

 

Finally, let us take note of the praise-filled testimony of the Preface of the Mass of Our Lady of Ransom [Beata Maria Virgo de Mercede], a feast proper to the Mercedarian Order and celebrated on 24 September.[39]

 

In your wise and provident plan you joined the Blessed Virgin so closely to your Son in the work of redemption that she was with him as a loving mother in his infancy, stood by his cross as the faithful companion in his passion, ... [Qui mirabili providentique consilio, beatam Virginem in opere salutis humanæ Filio tuo tam arcta societate iunxisti, ut in humilitate cunarum ei amantissima mater adesset et iuxta crucem staret fidelis socia passionis: ...][40]

 

B.  The New Eve

 

St. Justin Martyr (+165), St. Irenaeus (+ after 193) and Tertullian (+ after 220) all signaled the parallelism and contrast between Mary and Eve.  This teaching which had developed over the centuries[41] was highlighted in the Marian chapter of Lumen Gentium thus:

 

Rightly, therefore, the Fathers see Mary not merely as passively engaged by God, but as freely cooperating in the work of man's salvation through faith and obedience. For, as St. Irenaeus says, she "being obedient, became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race."  Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert with him in their preaching:  "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."  Comparing Mary with Eve, they call her "Mother of the living," and frequently claim:  "death through Eve, life through Mary."[42]

 

The English-speaking reader might expect that the Mass formulary of Mary, the New Eve[43] would capitalize on the Mary/Eve theme, only to be dismayed at not finding it so directly underscored.  The primary reason for this is that the translators chose not to render the Latin title of this Mass [Sancta Maria, Mulier Nova] literally as "Holy Mary, the New Woman".  While the introduction to this formulary does in fact speak of Mary as the "New Eve", it develops even more the idea of the "new woman".[44]

The explicit theme of Mary as the New Eve, however, is not ignored in the Collection.[45]  It is sounded already in the Preface of the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Chosen Daughter of Israel [Beata Maria Virgo, Electa Israel Progenies], the first of the Marian Masses of the Advent season:

 

She is by nature the daughter of Adam, who by her sinlessness undid the sin of Eve.  [Ipsa enim condicione filia est Adæ, quæ culpam matris innocentia reparavit ...][46]

 

It will be noted that the Latin text does not mention Eve, but does speak of the sin of "the mother". 

The motif of Mary as the New Eve is beautifully developed in the Prefaces of the two Lenten Masses of Mary at the Foot of the Cross  [Beata Maria Virgo iuxta Crucem Domini].  In the first we have this lapidary statement:

 

At the cross the Blessed Virgin appears as the new Eve, so that, as a woman shared in bringing death, so a woman would share in restoring life.  [Ibi enim beata Virgo nova fulget Eva, ut, sicut mulier contulit ad mortem, ita mulier conferret ad vitam.][47]

 

In the second we have the happy fusion of the theme of socia (rendered this time in English as "partner") with that of the "New Eve":

 

In your divine wisdom you planned the redemption of the human race and decreed that the new Eve should stand by the cross of the new Adam:  as she became his mother by the power of the Holy Spirit, so, by a new gift of your love, she was to be a partner in his passion ... [Tu enim, ad humanam sobolem sapienti consilio reformandam novam Evam iuxta crucem novi Adami astare voluisti:  ut quæ, divino fecundante Spiritu, facta erat mater, novo tuæ pietatis dono fieret socia passionis ...][48]

 

The description of Mary as a "partner in the passion of the New Adam" seems quite deliberately evocative of the text of Genesis in which the Lord God creates for Adam a "helper fit for him" (2:18, 20).

Likewise the scriptural association of Eve as crediting the word of the serpent rather than accepting the word of God (Gen. 3:1-6) and thus with the barring of the gates of Paradise (Gen. 3:24) is appropriately played upon in the Preface of the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Gate of Heaven [Beata Maria Virgo, Ianua Cæli]:

 

She is the humble Virgin, whose faith opened the gate of eternal life, closed by the disbelief of Eve.  [Hæc est Virgo humilis, quæ æternæ vitæ ianuam, quam Eva incredula clauserat, nobis reseravit fidelis.][49]

 

Finally the New Adam theme which resounds in Rom. 5:12-17 is complemented by the New Eve theme developed in an alternative Advent Preface for use from 17 to 24 December which is provided in the second edition (1983) of the Roman Missal approved by the Italian Episcopal Conference.

 

The grace which Eve took away from us is given back to us in Mary.  In her, Mother of all men, motherhood, freed from sin and from death, is open to the gift of new life. Where sin abounded, your mercy abounds even more in Christ our Savior.  [La grazia che Eva ci tolse ci èridonata in Maria.  In lei, madre di tutti gli uomini, la maternità, redenta dal peccato e dalla morte, si apre al dono della vita nuova.  Dove abbondò la colpa, sovrabbonda la tua misericordia in Cristo nostro salvatore.][50]

 

C.  Totally Devoted to the Person and Work of Her Son

 

We have already quoted a passage from Lumen Gentium #56, but let us return to that illuminating paragraph again as it describes Mary's fundamental orientation:

 

Committing herself whole-heartedly to God's saving will and impeded by no sin, she devoted herself totally, as a handmaid of the Lord, to the person and work of her Son, under and with him, serving the mystery of redemption, by the grace of Almighty God.  [salvificam voluntatem Dei, pleno corde et nullo retardata peccato, complectens, semetipsam ut Domini ancillam personæ et operi Filii sui totaliter devovit, sub Ipso et cum Ipso, omnipotentis Dei gratia, mysterio redemptionis inserviens.][51]

 

With these carefully chosen words the Council Fathers articulate the Catholic belief that Mary's role in the life of Christ was not simply fulfilled by her giving birth to him and nurturing him, but that she devoted herself totally to his person and work, thus actively participating in the mystery of the redemption.

Many of the Mass formularies in the Collection illustrate how deeply this consciousness of Mary's whole-hearted devotion has penetrated the prayer-life of the Church.  This is very clearly underscored in the Preface of the Mass of Holy Mary, Handmaid of the Lord [Sancta Maria, Ancilla Domini] in which we can detect the very language of the Council Fathers.

 

In the Blessed Virgin Mary you were especially pleased, for by embracing your plan of salvation she gave herself wholeheartedly to the work of your Son as a faithful servant of the mystery of redemption.  [Quia in beata Virgine tibi singulariter complacuisti:  illa enim, salvificam voluntatem tuam complectens, operi Filii tui totaliter se devovit, mysterio redemptionis fideliter inserviens ...][52]

 

This conviction about Mary's total dedication to Christ and his saving work is expressed in a variety of ways.  In the Preface of the Mass of the Mother of Good Counsel [Beata Maria Virgo, Mater Boni Consilii] the priest states that

 

she gave herself wholeheartedly to your wise and loving plan for renewing all things in Christ.  [intime adhæsit tuæ pietatis consilio omnia in Christo instaurandi.][53]

 

while in that of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother and Teacher in the Spirit [Beata Maria Virgo, Mater et Magistra Spiritalis] she is described as "sharing intimately in the mystery of Christ" [Quæ mysterio Christi tui intime sociata].[54]   Again, the Preface of Our Lady of Ransom [Beata Maria Virgo de Mercede] addresses the Father as having

 

joined the Blessed Virgin ... closely to your Son in the work of redemption [beatam Virginem in opere salutis humanæ Filio tuo ... arcta societate iunxisti][55]

 

while that of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Health of the Sick [Beata Maria Virgo, Salus Infirmorum] says that

 

To all who look up to her in prayer she is the model of perfect acceptance of your will and of wholehearted conformity with Christ ... [eam autem contemplantibus exemplar præbet animi tuæ voluntati perfecte consentientis et Christo plene se conformantis ...].[56]

 

Another facet of the mystery of Mary's total dedication to and identification with the person and work of her Son is to speak of her "sacrifice of self" or "self-offering" which thus rendered her available to serve him and so participate in the work of our redemption.  Hence, in the Mass of Our Lady of Nazareth [Sancta Maria De Nazareth] the celebrant prays in the name of all the faithful in the Prayer over the Gifts

 

we pray that by following the example of the Virgin of Nazareth we may present ourselves as a holy and pleasing sacrifice.  [ut, Virginis Nazarethanæ sequentes exempla, nosmetipsos exhibeamus hostiam sanctam, tibi placentem.][57]

 

Likewise, in the Prayer over the Gifts in the second Mass of Mary, Image and Mother of the Church [Beata Maria Virgo, Imago et Mater Ecclesiæ, II] Our Lady is presented as

 

the shining model of true worship for your Church and of our duty to offer ourselves as a holy victim, pleasing in your eyes.  [... quæ Ecclesiæ tuæ spiritalis cultus fulget exemplar, quo nosmetipsos exhibere debemus hostiam sanctam tibique placentem.][58]

 

D.  Sharer in the Sufferings of Christ

 

In the course of his pontificate Pope John Paul II has frequently commented on the text of Col. 1:24, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church."  In his Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris of 11 February 1984 he did so with explicit reference to Our Lady's "compassion"[59] or sharing in the sufferings of Christ:

 

As a witness to her Son's passion by her presence, and as a sharer in it by her compassion, Mary offered a unique contribution to the Gospel of suffering, by embodying in anticipation the expression of St. Paul which was quoted at the beginning.  She truly has a special title to be able to claim that she "completes in her flesh" -- as already in her heart -- "what is lacking in Christ's afflictions."  [quippe quæ præsens adesset, particeps effecta passionis compatiendo; Illa enim prorsus particularem causam habet ut dicat se «adimplere in carne sua -- quemadmodum iam in corde fecit -- ea quæ desunt passionum Christi».][60]

 

This idea of Mary's compassion or co-suffering[61] in the spirit of Col. 1:24 is brought out magnificently in the Opening Prayer of the first Mass of Mary at the Foot of the Cross  [Beata Maria Virgo iuxta Crucem Domini, I]:

 

Lord our God, in your mysterious wisdom you fill out the passion of Christ through the suffering that his members endure in the many trials of this life.  As you chose to have the mournful mother stand by your Son in his agony on the cross, grant that we too may bring love and comfort to our brothers and sisters in distress.  [Deus, qui passionem Christi tui in eius membris, infinitis vitæ ærumnis vexatis, arcano perficis consilio, concede, quæsumus, ut, sicut Filio tuo in cruce morienti, perdolentem Matrem astare voluisti, ita et nos, beatam Virginem imitati, fratribus laborantibus caritate et solacio semper adsimus.][62]

 

Father Joncas' comment about this prayer is that it

 

exquisitely unites the Pauline teaching of the suffering members of the Church bringing to completion the saving passion of Christ (cf. Col. 1:24), the share Mary had in the agony of her Son on the cross, and the mission of Christians to alleviate suffering by bearing it in solidarity with others.[63]

 

The above-cited prayer finds a splendid complement in the Prayer after Communion on the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows [Beatæ Mariæ Virginis Perdolentis Memoria].

 

As we honor the compassionate love of the Virgin Mary, may we make up in our own lives whatever is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the good of the Church. [... ut, compassionem beatæ Mariæ Virginis recolentes, ea in nobis pro Ecclesia adimpleamus, quæ desunt Christi passionum.][64]

 

While, indeed, all of us are called to "bring to completion the saving passion of Christ", there is no doubt that no other human being shared as fully as Mary in the passion of Christ and, if the sober Roman liturgy does not say this in so many words, it does so equivalently by the frequent repetition of this theme. Since space does not allow us to linger over each recurrence, let us take particular note of some representative texts.  The Opening Prayer of the Mass of Our Lady of Sorrows articulates this theme in the classical and synthetic Roman manner.

 

Father, as your Son was raised on the cross, his mother Mary stood by him, sharing his sufferings.  May your Church be united with Christ in his suffering and death and so come to share in his rising to new life ... [Deus, qui Filio tuo in cruce exaltato compatientem matrem astare voluisti, da Ecclesiæ tuæ, ut Christi passionis cum ipsa consors effecta, eiusdem resurrectionis particeps esse mereatur.].[65]

 

Unfortunately, the official English translation of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) fails to do justice to the rich theological content of this prayer.  In the first place the translation doesn't clearly state that Mary's presence and sharing in Christ's sufferings was willed by the Father.  Secondly, it doesn't render accurately the request that the "Church may be her [Mary's] companion in the passion of Christ."[66]  The request of the prayer, quite clearly, is that, as God willed that Mary should share in the suffering of Christ, we (as members of the Church) pray to be her companions in sharing in Christ's passion, so as to share in his resurrection.  Here the understanding is that participation in Mary's compassion is a privileged way of sharing in Christ's passion in order to share in his resurrection.  Hence Mary's co-suffering (compassion) is presented as a paradigm for the entire Church.

This theme of companionship with Mary in sharing in the work of the redemption is beautifully highlighted in the Prayer over the Gifts of the first Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Image and Mother of the Church,  [Beata Maria Virgo, Imago et Mater Ecclesiæ I]:

 

... warm our hearts with the love of the Virgin Mary, mother of the Church, and join us more closely with her in sharing the redeeming work of her Son.  [... caritate Virginis Mariæ, Ecclesiæ Matris, inflammemus et operi redemptionis cum ea arctius sociari mereamur.][67]

 

It is precisely by the charity which Mary bears for her children as Mother of the Church that we ask to be inflamed and thus merit to be intimately associated with her in the work of the redemption. This prayer, in effect, recognizes the uniqueness of Our Lady's coredemptive role.

Among the numerous other liturgical texts which could be adduced illustrating Mary's sharing in the suffering of Christ, let us take note of but two more.  The first comes from the Preface of the third Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Image and Mother of the Church [Beata Maria Virgo, Imago et Mater Ecclesiæ III].

 

You have given the Blessed Virgin Mary to your Church as the perfect image of its role as mother and of its future glory.  She is a virgin unsurpassed in purity of faith, a bride joined to Christ in an unbreakable bond of love and united with him in his suffering.  [Qui Ecclesiæ tuæ beatam Virginem Mariam materni muneris et futuræ gloriæ purissimam dedisti imaginem:  virginem fidei integritate conspicuam: sponsam indissolubili amoris vinculo Christo coniunctam atque illius sociatam passioni ...][68]

 

This composition gives evidence of a refined theological and poetic quality in linking the themes of Mary as mother, virgin and spouse. Of particular interest to us is the paralleling of her spousal relationship to Christ[69] with her being the sharer of his passion. The second text is yet another evocative depiction of Mary's intimate union with her Son in his suffering which is presented in the Preface of the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Fairest Love [Beata Maria Virgo, Mater Pulchræ Dilectionis]:

 

Beauty was hers in the passion of her Son:  in her meekness she shared the suffering of the Lamb of God, her Son, silent before his executioners, and won for herself a new title of motherhood.  [... pulchra in Filii passione, eius purpurata cruore, mitis agna mitissimo Agno compatiens, novo matris ornata munere ...][70]

 

Admittedly, this magnificent Latin composition is a challenge to unravel in English.  The allusion "silent before his executioners" is not found in the Latin, but what is stated is that "beautiful in the passion of her Son, purpled by his blood," Mary is "the meek ewe-lamb suffering with the Lamb most meek".

 

E.  Presenting her Son to the Father

 

In his Letter Inter Sodalicia of 22 May 1918 Pope Benedict XV put the mystery of Mary's coredemption in bold relief.  He said:

 

Mary suffered and, as it were, nearly died with her suffering Son; for the salvation of mankind she renounced her mother's rights and, as far as it depended on her, offered her Son to placate divine justice; so we may well say that she with Christ redeemed mankind.  [Scilicet ita cum Filio patiente et moriente passa est et pæne commortua, sic materna in Filium jura pro hominum salute abdicavit placandæque Dei justitiæ, quantum ad se pertinebat, Filium immolavit, ut dici merito queat, Ipsam cum Christo humanum genus redemisse.][71]

 

So united with God's salvific will was Mary, says the Pope, that "as far as it depended on her, [she] offered her Son to placate divine justice."  This motif of Mary as the Virgin offering her Son to the Father is one which we find taken up in the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary in at least three places.  First we find it expressed succinctly in the Prayer over the Gifts of the Mass of Holy Mary, Fountain of Light and Life [Sancta Maria, Fons Lucis et Vitæ]:

 

All-holy Father, receive this offering which the Church, our virginal mother, makes in imitation of the mother of Christ.  [Suscipe, sancte Pater, hanc oblationem, quam Matrem Christi imitans, tibi offert virgo Ecclesia.