Mary and the Eucharist: The Mystery of Faith Reflected in the Mother
Mary and the Eucharist: the Eucharistic mystery reflected in the Mother of Jesus, the woman of the Eucharist.
Mary and the Eucharist: Introduction
The relationship between Mary and the Eucharist is one of the most fruitful in contemporary Mariology. In the last chapter of the encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Saint John Paul II devoted memorable pages to Mary and the Eucharist, calling her “woman of the Eucharist”. To understand Mary and the Eucharist is to enter the heart of the mystery of faith.
I. Mary and the Eucharist: The Incarnate Word
The first foundation of Mary and the Eucharist is the Incarnation. Mary gave flesh to the Word: the same flesh that, in the Eucharist, becomes the food of the Church. Without Mary’s “let it be done to me”, there is no Incarnation; without the Incarnation, there is no Eucharist. Mary and the Eucharist are thus inseparably linked from the Annunciation onward.
II. Mary and the Eucharist in the Magnificat
The Magnificat (Lk 1:46-55) is, according to John Paul II, Mary’s Eucharistic canticle. In Mary and the Eucharist the same theme resounds: praise of God, remembrance of His wonders, communion with the poor. Every Mass, in the Eucharistic liturgy, is an ecclesial Magnificat; every Magnificat of Mary is a Eucharistic anticipation.
III. Mary and the Eucharist at the Foot of the Cross
The axis of Mary and the Eucharist is the Cross. On the Cross, Christ gives His body and blood for us; it is this same reality that the Eucharist makes present. Mary, at the foot of the Cross, lives the sacrifice of her Son. At this point, Mary and the Eucharist meet: Mary is the first to share in the Eucharistic Calvary.
IV. Mary and the Eucharist in the Apostolic Church
Acts 1:14 and 2:42 also ground Mary and the Eucharist in the life of the early Church. Mary is with the apostles, persevering “in the breaking of bread”. Mary and the Eucharist thus become a constitutive dimension of the Church from its very beginnings.
V. Mary and the Eucharist Today
Living Mary and the Eucharist today means taking part in Mass with the heart of Mary: in faith, adoration, and offering. It also means praying the Rosary before the Blessed Sacrament, consecrating oneself to Mary out of love for the Eucharist, and living Communion like Mary. Explore this more deeply in Ecclesia de Eucharistia, ch. VI.
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