Church, Spirit, and Mary in the Eucharist

Introduction

Christ’s sacrificial oblation is made present in the Eucharist. It is His body “offered in sacrifice” and His blood “poured out in sacrifice” (cf. Lk 22:19-20). In this sacrificial actualization, the interiority of Christ is made present, from the incarnation (cf. Heb 10:5-7) to the giving of His life (cf. Jn 10:15ff. 15:13) into the hands of the Father (cf. Lk 23:46).

The first moment of this oblation was in the womb of Mary (cf. Heb 10:5-7). The culminating moment occurred on Calvary, where Mary was present, standing beside the cross (cf. Jn 19:25). Every one of the faithful, in participating in the sacrifice of Christ, is invited to enter into harmony with the love of Christ (cf. Jn 15:9: “remain in my love“) so as to be able to “complete” His sufferings (Col 1:24), being associated with Him as Mary was.

The eucharistic immolation of Christ is for the good of all humanity, in whose purpose Mary collaborates. Christ the Priest was consecrated in the womb of Mary. For this reason it can be affirmed: “In the sacrament of the Eucharist, the Savior, incarnate in Mary’s womb twenty centuries ago, continues to offer Himself to humanity as the source of divine life” (Tertio Millennio Adveniente 55). Jesus is “the Savior prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light to enlighten the nations” (Lk 2:30-32. Is 42:6. 49:6). Mary is part of the Epiphany of this saving mystery, sharing the same “destiny” of Christ (cf. Lk 2:35).

The “sword” prophesied by Simeon defines Mary’s attitude toward the saving plans of God. In the Incarnation Mary begot the Son of God made man and was associated with the sacrifice of the cross and with the birth of the Church. The body of Christ, offered in sacrifice, was given to us through Mary and must be offered and received through the hands of Mary. Just as through Mary this most holy body was given to us, so through her hands it must be offered and through her hands received in the sacrament.

The Second Vatican Council, in describing Mary’s participation in the sacrifice of the cross, states: “She faithfully preserved her union with her Son even to the cross, where, not without a divine plan, she stood (cf. Jn 19:25), suffering deeply with her Only-begotten and associating herself with a maternal heart to His sacrifice, lovingly consenting to the immolation of the victim she herself had brought forth” (Lumen Gentium 57).

In “Marialis cultus“, Paul VI, after citing the conciliar doctrine of Lumen Gentium 57, adds: “In order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross through the centuries, the divine Savior instituted the eucharistic sacrifice, the memorial of His death and resurrection, and entrusted it to the Church, His spouse. Above all on Sunday, He calls the faithful together to celebrate the Passover of the Lord, until He comes again: this the Church fulfills in communion with the saints of heaven and, before all else, with the Blessed Virgin, whose ardent charity and unshakable faith she imitates”, (Marialis Cultus 20).

The saints have left us the testimony of their experience, more than theological concepts, which are also valid. The phenomenology of this experience becomes an inspiration for theological reflection. Saint Bernard states: “Offer your Son, O Holy Virgin, and present to the Lord the blessed fruit of your womb. Offer for the reconciliation of us all the holy victim, pleasing to God”. Marian spirituality in relation to the sacrifice of the Eucharist points out the path of a life associated with Christ the Redeemer, so as to be able to “complete” His sufferings in one’s own existence.

The Eucharist as sacrament and banquet is the source of new life imparted by Christ, “the bread of life” (cf. Jn 6:35ff). In receiving eucharistic communion, the faithful share in the very life of Christ (cf. Jn 6:56ff. 15:5. 1Jn 4:9). The Eucharist is the sacrament of unity and of love: unity in the heart and unity in the community (cf. 2:42. 4:32).

This union becomes spousal with Christ, a sharing in the Covenant as a declaration of love. Through the Eucharist, Mary is the mother of the living (she is the New Eve). Mary, “suffering with her Son as He died on the cross, cooperated in an altogether singular way in the work of the Savior, by obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity, to restore the supernatural life of souls. For this reason she became for us a mother in the order of grace” (Lumen Gentium 61).

The motherhood of Mary, as an instrument of grace, stands in relation to the Eucharist as sacrament (sign of grace), for “from the virginal womb of the Daughter of Zion came forth He who feeds us with the bread of angels, and salvation and peace broke forth upon the whole human race” (Preface of Advent II/A). Marian spirituality in relation to the Eucharist as sacrament and communion demands harmony with the life and the sentiments of Christ, in order to undertake an itinerary of assimilating His sentiments (cf. Phil 2:5) and of deepening a passionate love for Christ.

Marian and ecclesial spirituality and the action of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharist

The action of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharist is related to Mary. In the whole ecclesial tradition, the relationship has been underscored between the Incarnation in the womb of Mary and the communication of that same Spirit on the part of Christ dying and risen, also in relation to Mary.

As Saint John Paul II tells us: “in the economy of grace, brought about under the action of the Holy Spirit, there is a singular correspondence between the moment of the Incarnation of the Word and the moment of the birth of the Church. The person who unites these two moments is Mary: Mary at Nazareth and Mary in the upper room at Jerusalem. In both cases her discreet yet essential presence indicates the path of the ‘birth of the Spirit’. Thus she who is present in the mystery of Christ as mother becomes, by the will of the Son and by the working of the Holy Spirit, present in the mystery of the Church” (Redemptoris Mater 24).

Saint John Paul II, in the radio message of Sunday, June 7, 1981, after second vespers of Pentecost at Saint Mary Major, said: “we give thanks to the Holy Spirit… for the birth of the Church! We give thanks for the Mother ever present in the upper room of Pentecost! We give thanks because we can also call her Mother of the Church!”. In the Eucharist, the Holy Spirit is communicated thanks to the sacrifice (blood) given by Christ (cf. Heb 9:11-14). The life that Christ communicates to us is life according to the Spirit, living water, which springs from Him as the new temple and from His open side on the cross (cf. Jn 4:10; 3:5; 7:37-39; 19:34).

Since we all receive that same Spirit and eat of the same bread, we form one single body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 10:17; Eph 4:4). In every eucharistic celebration a new Pentecost occurs, which is the communication of the Spirit as the fruit of the death and resurrection of Christ. “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to fraternal communion, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers” (Acts 2:42).

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and proclaimed the word of God with boldness. The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul, and no one said that what he possessed was his own, but everything among them was held in common. With great power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and they all enjoyed great favor (Acts 4:32-33).

This permanent coming of the Spirit, in relation to the eucharistic celebration, is also connected with the reality of Mary. “In fact, it was from Pentecost that the ‘Acts of the Apostles’ began, just as by the working of the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary Christ was conceived, and by the further descent of the Holy Spirit upon Christ at prayer He was impelled to begin His ministry” (Ad Gentes 4).

Marian spirituality in relation to the communication of the Spirit, through the Eucharist, takes concrete form in the imitation of Mary, “who conceived the incarnate Word by the working of the Holy Spirit and who then, throughout her whole existence, let herself be guided by His interior action… the woman docile to the voice of the Spirit, woman of silence and of listening, woman of hope” (Tertio Millennio Adveniente 48).

The action of the Spirit that made Mary virgin-mother also makes the Church virgin-mother, on the itinerary of holiness and of mission. The “bread of life” is “for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51). Christ becomes present in the Eucharist “for all” (Mt 26:28). The charge that Christ communicates to the apostles, to carry out this eucharistic mystery continually (“do this in memory of me“: Lk 22:19), manifests the sacramental and maternal reality of the Church, whose mission consists in prolonging in time the very mission of the Lord (Jn 17:18. 20:21).

The mission of the Church, to make Christ present in the Eucharist, is part of her motherhood: to receive Christ in order to communicate Him to all peoples. Mary is the model of this ecclesial motherhood: to receive the Word under the action of the Spirit, to be associated with Christ beside the cross, to communicate Christ to all men. The “amen” of the Church in the eucharistic celebration, as a response to the invitation of the minister (before the “Our Father“), is like the “yes” of Mary at the Annunciation: yes to the Word (to the Verbum), yes to the action of the Holy Spirit. In the eucharistic celebration, the Church manifests in its full sense her maternal reality as universal sacrament of salvation, as “the woman“, “the great sign” (Rev 12:1).

In reality, the apostolic action of the Church possesses a Marian and maternal character. The Church imitates Mary “who begot Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin, so that He might be born and grow also in the hearts of the faithful through the Church” (Lumen Gentium 65). In the time of the pilgrim Church, in which the mission without frontiers unfolds, Mary continues to help the Church to bring it about that “all the families of peoples… may be happily gathered together in peace and concord into one People of God, for the glory of the most holy and undivided Trinity” (Lumen Gentium 69). Mary and the Church are the same mother, each keeping her own particularity intact: “Maria et Ecclesia, una mater et plures“.

If the summit of ecclesial motherhood takes place in the Eucharist, after the Word of God has been heard, the relationship between Mary and the Church unfolds principally in the eucharistic celebration. In reality, the Church becomes a mother by imitating Mary, her type and model of motherhood: “The motherhood of the Church is accomplished not only according to the model and figure of the Mother of God, but also with her cooperation” (Redemptoris Mater 44. Cf. Lumen Gentium 64-65). “Mary embraces, with her new motherhood in the Spirit, each and every one in the Church and… through the Church” (Redemptoris Mater 47).

Missionary Marian spirituality stands in relation to the Eucharist. Every apostle lives “with Mary and like Mary” (Redemptoris Missio 92), in “communion of life” with her (Redemptoris Mater 45), collaborating with her active and maternal presence of intercession and affection, imitating her attitudes of generous and fruitful fidelity. Christ the Eucharist wishes to find in His Church the attitude of Mary: unconditional openness, fidelity, generosity, association, virginal motherhood… For this reason, Mary is “the model of that maternal love by which all those who, in the apostolic mission of the Church, cooperate in the regeneration of men ought to be animated” (Lumen Gentium 65. Redemptoris Missio 92).

Mary, the Church, the Spirit, and the Eucharist in the hope of the coming

The eucharistic celebration always expresses the deep desire for the definitive coming of the Lord: “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes” (1 Cor 11:26). It is an active and demanding expectation (“come, Lord Jesus“: Rev 22:20), for it is urgent to bring about the “gathering up of all things in Christ” (Eph 1:10). The tone is one of hope, as confidence in the coming of the Lord and also as a straining toward the definitive encounter of the whole Church and of all humanity with Christ.

In the homily delivered at Saint Mary Major on Saturday, December 8, 1979, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Pope John Paul II invited us to prepare for this definitive coming of Christ, the “third and definitive Advent“: “Mary is the beginning of the third Advent, because from her comes into the world He who will bring about that eternal choice… and He remains continually in it, ever present… thus the third Advent does not take us away from her, but continually allows us to remain in His presence, close to her”.

In the eucharistic celebration we manifest that our path goes toward the definitive Passover. “The woman clothed with the sun” (Rev 12:1), figure and personification of the Church, has already arrived at glorification. Looking toward this goal, the Church lives in confident and “eschatological” straining toward “the new heaven and the new earth” (Rev 21:1). The figure of Mary Assumed into heaven, glorified in body and soul, indicates the final transformation brought about by the Eucharist. The bread and the wine become the body and blood of Jesus, and at the same time an efficacious sign of the eschatological transformation of all creation and of all humanity.

The maternal action of Mary and her association with the redemptive mystery have a profound bond with the eschatological dynamism of the eucharistic body and of the mystical body of Christ. The Church, impelled by Marian spirituality as a eucharistic-eschatological straining, walks without ceasing on the path of holiness and of mission, feeling herself identified with Mary, for she regards her as her “type” (her figure and personification), “intimately united to the Church” (Lumen Gentium 63). The ecclesial attitude of harmony with and imitation of Mary takes concrete form in openness to the saving plans of God (Lk 1:28-29.38), fidelity to the action of the Spirit (Lk 1:35.39-45), contemplation of the Word (Lk 1:46-55. 2:19.51), spousal association with Christ (Lk 2:35. Jn 2:4), sacrificial self-giving to Christ the Redeemer (Jn 19:25-27), until reaching the eschatological fullness of the “new heaven and the new earth” (Rev 21:1. 2 Pet 3:13).

Marian spirituality in relation to the Eucharist (eucharistic-Marian spirituality) is always one of encounter with Christ, which takes concrete form in union, imitation, transformation. The theology of Marian spirituality refers to the active presence of Mary, to her saving influence, throughout this whole christological process. Like Mary and with her, the Church, as she celebrates and adores the Eucharist, listens, prays, and offers herself (cf. Marialis Cultus 17-20).

The Eucharist, in all its aspects (presence, sacrifice, communion, pneumatology, mission and eschatology), always recalls the model and the maternal help of Mary. The Marian-evangelical model is one of fidelity (fiat), thanksgiving (magnificat), contemplation, spousal love (Cana), association (stabat), prayer to the Spirit (Upper Room of Pentecost).

In this way the Church, with Mary and like Mary, can deliver Christ, present in the Eucharist, to all humanity. Marian spirituality, which flows from the eucharistic celebration and adoration, takes concrete form in “communion of life” with her (Redemptoris Mater 45), collaborating with her active and maternal presence of intercession and affection, imitating her attitudes of openness to the plans of God, fidelity to the Holy Spirit, contemplation of the Word, spousal union with Christ, oblative self-giving, hope and eschatological straining.

Since Mary is the “figure and excellent model in faith and charity” (Lumen Gentium 53), the Church finds her, especially in the celebration of eucharistic worship, as her teacher of the spiritual life (that is, of life according to the Spirit): “Model of the whole Church in the exercise of divine worship, Mary is also clearly a teacher of the spiritual life for individual Christians” (Marialis Cultus 21). Therefore, “Mary, without taking anything away from the centrality of Christ and of His Spirit, is present in every Sunday of the Church. It is the very mystery of Christ that requires it” (Dies Domini 86).

The relationship between Mary, the Church, the Holy Spirit, and the Eucharist is explored in depth in the encyclical Redemptoris Mater of John Paul II, which presents Mary as the model of the eucharistic Church.

Conclusion

Today, as twenty centuries ago, the peoples come to the new Jerusalem, “filled with light“, and say: “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw His star rise, and we have come to adore Him” (Mt 2:2). Eucharistic-Marian spirituality will make the Church the “universal sacrament of salvation” (Ad Gentes 1). The Holy Spirit, who made Mary virgin-mother and who transforms the bread and the wine into the body and blood of Jesus, is the same Spirit “who scatters the ‘seeds of the Word’, present in rites and cultures, and prepares them to ripen in Christ” (Redemptoris Missio 28).

This action of the Spirit (in the Eucharist) “must not be separated from the particular action that He carries out in the body of Christ which is the Church” (Redemptoris Missio 29). If the Church, in the eucharistic celebration and in daily life, imitates the attitude of virginal and maternal self-giving of Mary (Mother of the bread of life), the peoples, who already have an evangelical preparation, will find “the Child with Mary His mother” (Mt 2:12) in the new Jerusalem, filled with light, mother of peoples (Is 60:1-6, in relation to Gal 4:26).

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