Hail, Mary, Our Hope
In the fullness of time, God sent his Son, born of a woman (cf. Gal 4:4). This is the fundamental point of God’s divine plan of salvation, in favor of the entire human race. God saves men in Christ, in his eternal Son, born of the Virgin Mary. She who is Mother, remaining ever Virgin, is thus at the heart of the divine mystery, which joins the fullness of time with her motherhood.
Through the mystery of God’s birth in time, his Mother is placed by Him as model and announcer of salvation. From generation to generation, She, the chosen Woman, is a perpetual memory that Christ, the true Son of God and truly his Son, entered time so that all may receive, from his fullness, grace upon grace (cf. Jn 1:16). Indeed, the Son of the eternal Father and Son of Mary did not leave humanity at the mercy of its weakness. He willed to be born of the Virgin, to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life (cf. Jn 14:6).By God’s will, the Virgin is a witness to human sufferings and joys, hopes and threats. She is the Woman of hope, because She always accompanies humanity on its journey through time. In Her, history was renewed, and human time became a participant in what does not pass. And because Mary’s Maternity is virgin, looking to Her is to trust confidently in God’s action, which never fails and never disappoints.The Queen of All, Mary teaches us that the Mother of mercy is “life, sweetness, and hope for us.” Mary, who offered the human race to the Son of God, continues to offer Christ, the hope the world seeks. Against appearances and easy, fleeting answers, the Mother teaches true hope, which points to eternity. Whoever lets Mary, the Mother of holy Hope, guide them, whoever makes Her their spiritual Master, will be more attuned to things heavenly. Mary does not offer fleeting responses subject to fashions and passing feelings. Mary’s offering, in all times, is Christ, who is, who was, and who is to come (cf. Rev 11:17). Mary’s offering to us, too, is Christ, who is the same, yesterday, today, and forever (cf. Heb 13:8).Our hope, the sweet Mother, will always be a path to full life, which is Christ. Therefore, He who entered our time, through the work of the Holy Spirit, gave us his Mother as a shining star of hope. And She never ceases to show the world Christ, as She did on the night of Bethlehem.Fr. John Paul QuelhasThe theology of Mary as “our hope” finds magisterial expression in Benedict XVI’s Encyclical Spe Salvi, where Mary is contemplated as a star of hope that illuminates the Christian path.Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian Theology, Marian Apparitions, and a Postgraduate Degree in Mariology.Academic Marian Resources: Deepen your formation in Mariology and Marian Theology with the Locus Mariologicus Institute. Explore the Graduate Program in Mariology, an academic excellence.To deepen Marian devotion and prayer to the Virgin Mary, refer to the Apostolic Exhortation *Marialis Cultus* by Pope Paul VI: Marialis Cultus.
Mary, the Mother given by God: Foundation of Our Hope
Through the mystery of God’s birth in time, his Mother is placed by Him as model and announcer of salvation. From generation to generation, She, the chosen Woman, is a perpetual memory that Christ, the true Son of God and truly his Son, entered time so that all may receive, from his fullness, grace upon grace (cf. Jn 1:16). Indeed, the Son of the eternal Father and Son of Mary did not leave humanity at the mercy of its weakness. He willed to be born of the Virgin, to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life (cf. Jn 14:6).By God’s will, the Virgin is a witness to human sufferings and joys, hopes and threats. She is the Woman of hope, because She always accompanies humanity on its journey through time. In Her, history was renewed, and human time became a participant in what does not pass. And because Mary’s Maternity is virgin, looking to Her is to trust confidently in God’s action, which never fails and never disappoints.The Queen of All, Mary teaches us that the Mother of mercy is “life, sweetness, and hope for us.” Mary, who offered the human race to the Son of God, continues to offer Christ, the hope the world seeks. Against appearances and easy, fleeting answers, the Mother teaches true hope, which points to eternity. Whoever lets Mary, the Mother of holy Hope, guide them, whoever makes Her their spiritual Master, will be more attuned to things heavenly. Mary does not offer fleeting responses subject to fashions and passing feelings. Mary’s offering, in all times, is Christ, who is, who was, and who is to come (cf. Rev 11:17). Mary’s offering to us, too, is Christ, who is the same, yesterday, today, and forever (cf. Heb 13:8).Our hope, the sweet Mother, will always be a path to full life, which is Christ. Therefore, He who entered our time, through the work of the Holy Spirit, gave us his Mother as a shining star of hope. And She never ceases to show the world Christ, as She did on the night of Bethlehem.Fr. John Paul QuelhasThe theology of Mary as “our hope” finds magisterial expression in Benedict XVI’s Encyclical Spe Salvi, where Mary is contemplated as a star of hope that illuminates the Christian path.Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian Theology, Marian Apparitions, and a Postgraduate Degree in Mariology.Academic Marian Resources: Deepen your formation in Mariology and Marian Theology with the Locus Mariologicus Institute. Explore the Graduate Program in Mariology, an academic excellence.To deepen Marian devotion and prayer to the Virgin Mary, refer to the Apostolic Exhortation *Marialis Cultus* by Pope Paul VI: Marialis Cultus.Graduate Studies in Mariology
Do you want to deepen your formation in Mariology? Get to know the Graduate Program in Mariology from Locus Mariologicus – an academic formation that combines theological rigor, spiritual life, and the living tradition of the Church.Serious about studying mariology?
This article arises from the works in the Locus Mariologicus library. The Graduate Program in Mariology takes you to the same sources, with academic guidance: Scripture, the Fathers of the Church, and the Magisterium, from the first dogma to contemporary issues.
Responses