Evangelii Gaudium – Apostolic Exhortation of Francis – Mary, Mother of Evangelization (Full Text)

Evangelii Gaudium is the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis published on November 24, 2013, on the proclamation of the Gospel in today’s world. Its chapter V (nn. 287-288), entitled “Mary, Mother of Evangelization,” presents a Mariological synthesis of high quality, proposing Mary as the model and mother of the whole evangelizing action of the Church.

Historical Context

Evangelii Gaudium was the first great apostolic exhortation of Francis’s pontificate and his programmatic manifesto. The Pope intended it as a response to the 2012 Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization. In its final chapter, “Spirit-Filled Evangelizers” (chap. V), Francis closes with a meditation on Mary, the model of the evangelizing style he describes throughout the document: to go out, to encounter, to accompany, to bear fruit.

Original Latin Text, Mariological Chapter (nn. 284-288)

FRANCISCUS PP.

Maria est Mater Ecclesiae evangelizantis et sine ea vera evangelizatio intelligi non potest. Ipsa est Mulier Credentium, Stella Nova Evangelizationis, Sedes Sapientiae Evangelii. (n. 284)

Maria est Mater Dei et Mater nostra: haec duplex maternitas nec separari potest nec confundi. Quia in Maria universalis Ecclesia suam matrem habet, ita singulus christianus, membra Ecclesiae existens, Mariam ut matrem experitur. (n. 285)

“Stabat Mater”, iuxta crucem stabat. Haec praesentia Mariae sub cruce non est praesentia passiva vel resignata, sed praesentia activa fidei, spei et caritatis. Per crucem Filii sui transit fides Mariae: et ideo fides Ecclesiae per crucem transit. Evangelizatio christiana hanc viam paschalem sequitur, mortem et resurrectionem Christi, et in hac via semper Maria praesens est, ut Mater et Stella guidatrix. (n. 286)

Stella Nova Evangelizationis vocatur Maria. “Stella” est imago antiqua, patristica et liturgica. In ea evangelizatores lumen habent in tenebris: stellae enim lux constans est, etiam cum nubes obscurant. Ita Maria: constans praesentia luminis in itinere Ecclesiae missionalis. (n. 287)

Ave, Maria, plena gratia; verbum Dei nostrum principium est. Maria in Verbo fidem posuit, et Verbum caro factum est in ea. Hoc est mysterium evangelizationis: Verbum ex corde credentis carnem accipit et mundo nascitur. Ita omnis evangelizator ex Maria discit: primum credere, deinde portare, tandem donare. (n. 288)

English Translation, Mariological Chapter (nn. 284-288)

FRANCIS PP.

There is a Marian style in the Church’s evangelizing activity. For each time we look to Mary, we believe once again in the revolutionary force of tenderness and affection. […] Mary knows how to recognize the traces of God’s Spirit both in great events and in those that seem imperceptible. She is a woman of prayer and work in Nazareth, so necessary for the Church. (n. 284)

Together with the Holy Spirit, Mary is always there in the midst of the people. She entered fully into the heart of a people that welcomes the gift of salvation, […] becoming the woman of listening and of mediation. (n. 285)

Standing by the Cross of Jesus was His Mother (Jn 19:25). She did not remain before the Cross by chance: she was not paralyzed by sorrow. It is her own place, the place that belongs to her as a faithful mother and attentive disciple. By remaining beside the Cross, Mary remains beside all those who suffer, the poor, the sick, those who lose their children. (n. 286)

There is a Marian style in the Church’s evangelizing activity. Every time we look to Mary, we believe once again in the transforming force of tenderness and affection. She is not only a historical figure belonging to the past […] but she is the constant traveling companion of Christians. (n. 287)

Hail Mary, full of grace, with these words all evangelization begins. Mary consented to the Word, and the Word became flesh in her. Every evangelizer learns from Mary the art of the “yes”: to say yes to God, yes to the Gospel, yes to our brethren. This “yes” is the heart of the whole mission. (n. 288)

Mary, Star of the New Evangelization

Francis takes up the expression “Star of the New Evangelization,” used by John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and gives it a coloring of his own: the star is not only a guide along the way, but a constant presence that illuminates the style of the mission. The “Marian style” of evangelization is made of listening, tenderness, closeness, mediation, the attitudes that Francis desires for the whole missionary Church.

Theological Significance

Francis’s Mariology, both in Evangelii Gaudium and in Laudato Si and Amoris Laetitia, is a Mariology of the “people”: Mary is the Mother of the people of God, who walks with her people, who knows their sufferings and their joys. It is not a Mariology of great dogmatic definitions, but of pastoral accompaniment. That does not make it any less rigorous: the three Marian titles of chapter V, Mother of the Gospel, Star of the New Evangelization, Sedes Sapientiae, are of high theological density.

Further reading

Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian Dogmas, Redemptoris Mater, Spe Salvi, Lumen Gentium chap. VIII, and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.

Learn more about the Immaculate Conception.