Who distributes grace, Mary or the Holy Spirit?
There is a fact that can be observed by all: in shrines dedicated to the Mother of the Lord, in small chapels lost in the most remote places, in edicles along the road, marble plaques or silver hearts are exposed as a token of a grace received. Sometimes they are votive objects, such as wax images that often immortalize the experience of a grace obtained and granted by the Virgin Mary in existential moments often tragic and without an outlet.
This experience of grace received is sometimes so intense and repeated that we attribute to the icon of Our Lady, before whom we pray, the title of Our Lady of Graces. Often, a shrine dedicated to her is built with this title.
The fundamental reason for the title concerns the graces received through the intercession of the Virgin. From the origins and throughout history, Christians have experienced Mary as a taumaturge, that is, one who obtains grace from God and grants it to those who invoke her with faith:– Healing from physical and mental illnesses. – Protection in moments of danger on land and at sea. – Victory over infertility through the gift of offspring. – Deliverance from plagues and wars. – Help and consolation in the sad and tragic situations of life.In a word, people turn to Mary to help in their vital problems and humanly insoluble issues:– Eternal salvation. – Harmony in family relations. – Temporal graces such as health. – Success in particular circumstances.In general, we can say that people turn to Mary, first and foremost, for spiritual graces, then for relational intercession, and finally for material needs. This conviction is deeply held: Mary, interceding for us with God, can secure any grace. This aspect has permeated popular devotion, where Mary appears as a loving, mediating mother who provides all that humans need for this life and the next. It is not merely an intellectual conviction but an experiential perception of Mary. The understanding of why this form of living Christianity is not questioned, but rather, the naturalness of addressing Mary with unlimited trust and experiencing her effective help in difficult moments of life has always been part of everyday faith.The phenomenological data that emerges from the behavior of devoted people before an image of Mary is the sense of “presence”: the Virgin is a “you” alive, a term of affectionate and grateful dialogue. The qualities recognized in her are maternal kindness, power, and beauty. Now in the region of light with God, who is expressed on votive boards by a crown of radiant clouds, Mary is seen in her sanctity: she is distinct from us, immersed in the world of sin. Yet, she is not distant from human history because she experienced the sword of pain.From this brief analysis, we could infer that the title of Our Lady of Grace comes from a dual source. The first is of an anthropological nature, encompassing the sphere of vital needs, that is, the need for bread, work, health, family union and growth, peace, and reconciliation in the nation and the world.The second source is the mobilizing power of the figure of the Holy Virgin, which activates the faith of the people of God, speaks to their hearts, and awakens the deepest emotion. In other words, it is the charm that Mary exerts on those who approach her.After Christ, no one can compete with the Virgin Mary in personal influence over the centuries. From the history of Mariology, the influence she exerts and her beneficial and inspiring presence in all good works in various cultures emerges.This interpretation is confirmed by Benedict XVI in his pilgrimage to Einsiedeln (2011):> «When Christians of all times and places turn to Mary, they are guided by the spontaneous certainty that Jesus cannot refuse the requests she presents to him, and they base themselves on the unwavering confidence that Mary is also our Mother, a Mother who experienced the greatest suffering of all, who perceives all our difficulties with us and thinks maternally of overcoming them. How many people throughout the centuries have gone on pilgrimage to the Virgin Mary to find, before the image of Our Lady of Sorrows, as here in Einsiedeln, consolation and comfort.»
This experience of grace received is sometimes so intense and repeated that we attribute to the icon of Our Lady, before whom we pray, the title of Our Lady of Graces. Often, a shrine dedicated to her is built with this title.
The fundamental reason for the title concerns the graces received through the intercession of the Virgin. From the origins and throughout history, Christians have experienced Mary as a taumaturge, that is, one who obtains grace from God and grants it to those who invoke her with faith:– Healing from physical and mental illnesses. – Protection in moments of danger on land and at sea. – Victory over infertility through the gift of offspring. – Deliverance from plagues and wars. – Help and consolation in the sad and tragic situations of life.In a word, people turn to Mary to help in their vital problems and humanly insoluble issues:– Eternal salvation. – Harmony in family relations. – Temporal graces such as health. – Success in particular circumstances.In general, we can say that people turn to Mary, first and foremost, for spiritual graces, then for relational intercession, and finally for material needs. This conviction is deeply held: Mary, interceding for us with God, can secure any grace. This aspect has permeated popular devotion, where Mary appears as a loving, mediating mother who provides all that humans need for this life and the next. It is not merely an intellectual conviction but an experiential perception of Mary. The understanding of why this form of living Christianity is not questioned, but rather, the naturalness of addressing Mary with unlimited trust and experiencing her effective help in difficult moments of life has always been part of everyday faith.The phenomenological data that emerges from the behavior of devoted people before an image of Mary is the sense of “presence”: the Virgin is a “you” alive, a term of affectionate and grateful dialogue. The qualities recognized in her are maternal kindness, power, and beauty. Now in the region of light with God, who is expressed on votive boards by a crown of radiant clouds, Mary is seen in her sanctity: she is distinct from us, immersed in the world of sin. Yet, she is not distant from human history because she experienced the sword of pain.From this brief analysis, we could infer that the title of Our Lady of Grace comes from a dual source. The first is of an anthropological nature, encompassing the sphere of vital needs, that is, the need for bread, work, health, family union and growth, peace, and reconciliation in the nation and the world.The second source is the mobilizing power of the figure of the Holy Virgin, which activates the faith of the people of God, speaks to their hearts, and awakens the deepest emotion. In other words, it is the charm that Mary exerts on those who approach her.After Christ, no one can compete with the Virgin Mary in personal influence over the centuries. From the history of Mariology, the influence she exerts and her beneficial and inspiring presence in all good works in various cultures emerges.This interpretation is confirmed by Benedict XVI in his pilgrimage to Einsiedeln (2011):> «When Christians of all times and places turn to Mary, they are guided by the spontaneous certainty that Jesus cannot refuse the requests she presents to him, and they base themselves on the unwavering confidence that Mary is also our Mother, a Mother who experienced the greatest suffering of all, who perceives all our difficulties with us and thinks maternally of overcoming them. How many people throughout the centuries have gone on pilgrimage to the Virgin Mary to find, before the image of Our Lady of Sorrows, as here in Einsiedeln, consolation and comfort.»
Grace as a Gift in the New Testament: Pauline Lists of Charisms (Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:7-30; Eph 4:11) and the Spirit as Source
When we question the New Testament about the meaning of the word grace, we are introduced to the mysterious world of God that encounters human beings. In this world of God, which corresponds to the history of salvation, we discover that grace is different in the plural and singular. Graces are identified with:– Charisms (in Greek, carisma has the same root as cháris = grace), – particular helps, while grace is a much deeper and more mysterious reality.Let us examine these two great meanings of the divine world that encounters the human world: graces and grace.The New Testament texts, especially the letters of Saint Paul, describe the life of the Church in the various communities of Asia Minor and note that there the Spirit distributes and awakens gifts, virtues, ministries, and charisms. The Second Vatican Council describes the ecclesial situation with these words:> «Moreover, the Holy Spirit does not limit himself to sanctifying and guiding the people of God through the sacraments and ministries, adorning them with virtues, but also «gives to each one according to his will» (1 Cor 12:11), he also bestows on the faithful of all ranks special graces, making them capable and ready to assume various tasks and offices useful for the renewal and greater expansion of the Church, as in those words: «To each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good» (1 Cor 12:7).These charisms, from the most extraordinary to the simplest and most widespread, are above all adapted to the needs of the Church and intended to respond to them, and should be received with gratitude and consolation (Lumen Gentium 12).Usually we are accustomed to ministries, but these do not overlap with charism, on the contrary, charism is evoked by the charismatic element. Especially because ministries are preferentially conferred on charismatic men.Acts 13, 2-4: “Serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said: Set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. So, after fasting and praying, and laying their hands on them, they sent them off. And they went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus” (Acts 13:2-4).Extending to the whole ecclesial reality, charism becomes a structuring principle of the Church, by which its members are:“Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20).Based on the four lists of charisms presented by Paul (Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:7, 11:28-30, Ephesians 4:11-12), three types of charisms can be distinguished:Queriomatic or prophetic (apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, and admonishers).Diaconal or charitable service (deacons, deaconesses, alms, nurses, widows, healers, and exorcists).Governmental (pastors, directors, bishops).It is established that the charism of all charisms is love/charity (1 Corinthians 13). Having secured the primacy of charity, Paul highlights three extraordinary gifts: faith infused by the Spirit, the gift of healing (1 Corinthians 12:9, 28, 30), and other miraculous powers (1 Corinthians 12:10, 28, 29).These are new events, signs of the new covenant, which date back to the operations of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:10), as it can easily be thought that here too the term, used at first with a particular sense, is extended by St. Paul to the whole complex of phenomena mentioned.A particular emphasis of the New Testament is the reference to the Holy Spirit as the origin and dispenser of charisms.In the spiritual gifts of grace, the Holy Spirit is manifested and operates:> “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:11). Thus Paul speaks of spiritual gifts, because they are manifestations of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:1-7). The functions in the community recall the fervor of the Spirit (Romans 12:11) and are a demonstration of the Spirit and His power (1 Corinthians 2:4-5; Romans 15:19; 2 Corinthians 12:12; 1 Timothy 1:5). The Spirit is the unitary principle “for the unity of all” (1 Corinthians 12:7), for the building up of the Church (1 Corinthians 14:3ff, 12, 26).In practice, this first response of the New Testament guides us to graces as spiritual gifts granted to charismatic faithful and, thus, linked to the mediation of persons. We should not think that these charisms are given only once, but they can be permanent to qualify a person as permanently endowed with a charism. This perspective applies to the priesthood, which Paul interprets as a ministry with a permanent function or charism.> “Do not despise the spiritual gift within you, which was given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the presbyters” (1 Timothy 4:14; cf. 1 Timothy 5:22; 2 Timothy 1:6).Graces are not isolated and considered in themselves, but they come immediately from persons endowed with charisms and, ultimately, from the Spirit of the Father and the Son.Mary at Pentecost (Acts 1:14; 2:1-4): glossolalia, prophecy of the Magnificat, and the biblical foundation for Marian mediation in grace
We wonder: does Scripture attribute any of these charisms to Mary, so as to call her charismatic and, thus, find a biblical basis for the communication of graces recognized by the faithful’s experience?It is true that Paul does not mention the charisms attributed to the Woman who gave birth to the Son of God (cf. Galatians 4:4). The Gospel of Luke perceives this silence, presenting Mary as a proto-missionary who sets out for Judea, carrying in her womb the Savior, and with her greeting provokes the charismatic effusion of the Spirit on Elizabeth, who sees in her young relative the Mother of the Lord, and on John, who leaps with joy in the presence of the Messiah. The canticle of the Magnificat that sprang from Mary’s heart is the work of a prophetic Spirit, for which tradition considers her a prophetess.Luke presents Mary as endowed with a double charism:- the announcement of the good news
- a prophecy, attributing to her a song that constitutes a doxological and pneumatic commentary on a salvific fact or event, in this case, the miraculous conception of the Messiah.
In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke lists Mary among the members of the post-Paschal community in Jerusalem, over whom the Spirit descends, consecrates, and makes witnesses of Christ risen. Even the Mother of Jesus is part of the “all” who “were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them to speak” (Acts 2:4). Exegesis reveals in this phenomenon of tongues a certain kinship with the charism of glossolalia, which uses words derived from foreign languages.
“He who speaks with the gift of tongues should pray for interpretation” (1 Corinthians 14:2, 13).
This interpreter can be a prophet (1 Corinthians 14:5). Mary appears among the disciples as a glossolalist and prophetess, not only because of the Magnificat, but also because, as Peter believes in his speech to the crowd, the Spirit of Pentecost is poured out on all, men and women, making them capable of prophesying:
“I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy” (Acts 2:17, 18).
Post-Pentecostal prophecy focuses on the Resurrection of Jesus, but also announces his return, urging listeners to invoke the Lord’s name and thus be saved (cf. Acts 2:20-21).
To deepen Mary’s mediation in the distribution of grace, consult the encyclical Redemptoris Mater by John Paul II, on Mary’s maternal presence in the life of the Church.
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