Mary, the Co-Redemptrix in the Redemptor: A Liturgical Reflection
(No further translation is necessary as per the given rules.)On May 13, 2010, at the Shrine of Fátima, addressing the sick, Pope Benedict XVI said:«Dear sick, embrace this call of Jesus passing by you in the Most Holy Sacrament and entrust to Him all the adversities and sufferings you face so that they may become, according to His designs, a means of redemption for the whole world. You will be redeemers in the Redeemer, as you are sons in the Son. Along with the cross… stands the Mother of Jesus, our Mother.»To be a redeemer in the Redeemer is thus possible for all who surrender to Christ all their adversities, in accordance with the providence of God the Father, who completes, by mysterious design, the passion of His Son in His members (cf. Missal of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mass, Formula 11). Just as the disciples of Christ can be redeemers in the sole Redeemer, in a special and incomparable way, the Most Holy Virgin Mary, given to us as the model of the disciple who faithfully keeps the word of life (cf. Formula 10), is uniquely and irrepetibly redeeming in the Redeemer.Formed by the Holy Spirit and fully united to the sacrifice of the new Covenant (cf. Formula 12), the Mother of Jesus is redeeming in the Redeemer in a singular and ineffable manner, because, by the admirable providence of the Father, She was present at the mysteries of our salvation (cf. Formula 9). Alongside the cross, by the grace of the Father, She was a companion of the passion of the Son and felt cruelly the pains She did not suffer at giving birth to the Son, but endured them anew in the rebirth of men for Him (cf. Formula 12). Alongside Her Son’s cross, She suffered excruciating pains (cf. Formula 41), because She embraced the salvific will of God the Father and devoted Herself entirely to the work of the Son of God, serving faithfully the mystery of Redemption (cf. Formula 12).But the *Lex orandi* of the Church also affirms that, by the infinite goodness of God, the mystery of our reconciliation was accomplished in the holy Virgin Mary before all time (cf. Formula 24). Indeed, the Immaculate Virgin is the Reconciliator of sinners (cf. Formula 14), the meek Lamb that suffered with the innocent Lamb (cf. Formula 36), the Mother of the Prince of the new Covenant and associated with His mystery of salvation (cf. Formula 20).As the Holy Church, our mother and teacher, never ceases to amaze us, she teaches us to ask the Heavenly Father, through the merits of Jesus Christ, high priest, and through the pains of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, to pour out abundantly His gifts upon the earth through the Holy Spirit present in the Church (cf. Formula 11). Will it not be possible, after all, to sum up in a single word all the wonders God accomplished in His humble servant?P. João Paulo Quelhas DominguesThe role of Mary in redemption is further explored in Article 58 of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium.Lumen Gentium presents Mary as a unique cooperator in Christ’s salvific work.Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian theology, Marian apparitions, and Post-Graduate Studies in Mariology.
To deepen the theology of Mary in the redemptive mystery, consult the Encyclical Redemptoris Mater by Pope John Paul II.
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On May 13, 2010, at the Shrine of Fátima, addressing the sick, Pope Benedict XVI said:«Dear sick, embrace this call of Jesus passing by you in the Most Holy Sacrament and entrust to Him all the adversities and sufferings you face so that they may become, according to His designs, a means of redemption for the whole world. You will be redeemers in the Redeemer, as you are sons in the Son. Along with the cross… stands the Mother of Jesus, our Mother.»To be a redeemer in the Redeemer is thus possible for all who surrender to Christ all their adversities, in accordance with the providence of God the Father, who completes, by mysterious design, the passion of His Son in His members (cf. Missal of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mass, Formula 11). Just as the disciples of Christ can be redeemers in the sole Redeemer, in a special and incomparable way, the Most Holy Virgin Mary, given to us as the model of the disciple who faithfully keeps the word of life (cf. Formula 10), is uniquely and irrepetibly redeeming in the Redeemer.Formed by the Holy Spirit and fully united to the sacrifice of the new Covenant (cf. Formula 12), the Mother of Jesus is redeeming in the Redeemer in a singular and ineffable manner, because, by the admirable providence of the Father, She was present at the mysteries of our salvation (cf. Formula 9). Alongside the cross, by the grace of the Father, She was a companion of the passion of the Son and felt cruelly the pains She did not suffer at giving birth to the Son, but endured them anew in the rebirth of men for Him (cf. Formula 12). Alongside Her Son’s cross, She suffered excruciating pains (cf. Formula 41), because She embraced the salvific will of God the Father and devoted Herself entirely to the work of the Son of God, serving faithfully the mystery of Redemption (cf. Formula 12).But the *Lex orandi* of the Church also affirms that, by the infinite goodness of God, the mystery of our reconciliation was accomplished in the holy Virgin Mary before all time (cf. Formula 24). Indeed, the Immaculate Virgin is the Reconciliator of sinners (cf. Formula 14), the meek Lamb that suffered with the innocent Lamb (cf. Formula 36), the Mother of the Prince of the new Covenant and associated with His mystery of salvation (cf. Formula 20).As the Holy Church, our mother and teacher, never ceases to amaze us, she teaches us to ask the Heavenly Father, through the merits of Jesus Christ, high priest, and through the pains of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, to pour out abundantly His gifts upon the earth through the Holy Spirit present in the Church (cf. Formula 11). Will it not be possible, after all, to sum up in a single word all the wonders God accomplished in His humble servant?P. João Paulo Quelhas DominguesThe role of Mary in redemption is further explored in Article 58 of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium.Lumen Gentium presents Mary as a unique cooperator in Christ’s salvific work.Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian theology, Marian apparitions, and Post-Graduate Studies in Mariology.
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