The Mother of Hope

In this Jubilee Year, the Virgin Mary, Mother of Hope, bears witness to the centrality of Christ, God with us and our hope. If Jesus is Emmanuel, who is always with us, His Mother too is at our side, as Mother and Teacher, teaching the way to Him. She who believed, without reservation, the words spoken to her from the Lord continues to show Christ to the world and to lead the world to Christ. From the hands of Mary, we receive true Hope, Christ.

Mary, Mother of Hope: The Teaching of John Paul II

Saint John Paul II taught that “if Jesus is Life, Mary is the Mother of Life. If Jesus is Hope, Mary is the Mother of Hope. If Jesus is Peace, Mary is the Mother of Peace, Mother of the Prince of Peace” (Homily, January 1, 2002). Jesus Christ, although He is unique and unrepeatable by His divinity and by His virginal conception and birth, is the Son of Mary.

Therefore, inseparably united to the mystery of Jesus Christ, incarnate, dead, and risen for our salvation, is also the mystery of Mary, the woman from whom the Son of God received His flesh, and the mystery of the Church, the mystical body of Christ. It is a single mystery of love and, therefore, of freedom (cf. Benedict XVI, Angelus, August 15, 2025).

Following Mary on the Path of Christian Hope

From generation to generation, the Virgin Mary is the great Teacher of the Christian life. Looking to her, we understand the true value of earthly greatness and the full meaning of the Christian vocation. When we invoke her as Mother of Hope, we know that she leads us to love, adore, and serve Jesus, the blessed fruit born of her womb.

She helps to enliven, more and more, our belonging to the Church, encouraging us not to be afraid to take on the responsibilities of credible witnesses to God’s love in our time and in our daily lives. The Mother of Hope is the Mother of the Church, to which she is intimately bound.

By trusting in and imitating the Mother of Hope, one learns to go out to meet those who no longer hope for anything nor place their hope in anyone. Mary is the one who knows how to turn a stable for animals into the home of Jesus with a few poor swaddling cloths and a mountain of tenderness (Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 286). For many brothers and sisters, Hope can be “a little swaddling cloth,” capable of warming life with lost tenderness.

As pilgrims of hope, with all humility and trust, we place in Mary’s hands all human longings, which she will lovingly deliver to Him who is the Life, the Hope, and the Peace.

Fr. João Paulo Quelhas Domingues

The theology of Mary as Mother of Hope is contemplated in the Encyclical Spe Salvi of Benedict XVI, where Mary is presented as the star of hope who guides pilgrims through history.

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To deepen your devotion to Mary, Mother of Hope, consult the Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus of Pope Paul VI.