John Paul II – dives in misericordia, no. 9: Mary, Mother of Mercy (1980)

The encyclical Dives in Misericordia (November 30, 1980) is the second encyclical of Saint John Paul II, after the programmatic Redemptor Hominis (1979). Devoted to divine mercy, it contains in no. 9 a Mariological synthesis of exceptional depth: Mary as “Mother of Mercy,” the one who experienced God’s mercy in a unique way and who for that reason can mediate mercy to all.

Latin text – no. 9 (Mater misericordiae)

“Maria etiam est, quae modo singulari et extraordinario, sicut nemo alius, misericordiam experta est, simulque, modo etiam extraordinario, propriis sacrificiis cordis sui possibilem fecit participationem misericordiae Dei. Hoc sacrificium intime conexum est cum cruce Filii eius, ad cuius pedem stetit super Calvariam”

Mary is also the one who in a singular and extraordinary way, like no other, experienced mercy, and at the same time, in an equally extraordinary way, made possible, through the sacrifices proper to her heart, participation in the mercy of God. This sacrifice is intimately connected with the cross of her Son, at whose foot she stood on Calvary.

English translation – no. 9 continued

Mary is at the same time the one who most “knows” God as Mercy: she knows its price, she knows how great it is. In this sense, we also call her Mother of Mercy: “Mater Misericordiae” or “Mater misericordiae Dei.” These titles have a profound theological meaning, because they express the particular cooperation with God that was reserved to Mary alone, the Mother of the incarnate Word.

No one like her has experienced to the depths the mystery of the Cross, that staggering summit of the revelation of merciful love. Still more: no one like her knows how to receive into the heart the specific tonality of mercy: “misericordia eius a progenie in progenies” (Lk 1:50).

The three levels of the Mariology of mercy

John Paul II develops the Mariology of mercy on three levels:

1. Mary experiences mercy: she is the first beneficiary of divine mercy (Magnificat: “The Mighty One has done great things for me”)
2. Mary cooperates with mercy: by her fiat, by her suffering at the Cross, by her participation in the salvific mystery
3. Mary intercedes for mercy: she presents herself as the Mother who asks for mercy for her sinful children

The Magnificat as the hymn of mercy

John Paul II reads the Magnificat (Lk 1:46-55) as the most explicit biblical canticle of divine mercy. Mary’s words, “misericordia eius a progenie in progenies timentibus eum” (His mercy extends from generation to generation to those who fear Him), sum up the biblical theology of hesed (faithful mercy) and of rahamim (maternal compassion) that Mary expresses in her mystical experience.

From dives in misericordia to the Jubilee of 2000

The Marian theology of mercy developed in 1980 would be taken up again twenty years later in the Jubilee of Mercy of 2000, which would see the canonization of Saint Faustina Kowalska. Mary as “Mater Misericordiae” would become the axis of post-John Paul II spirituality, culminating in the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy of Francis (2015-2016).

Further reading

Mariology | Redemptoris Mater | Mulieris Dignitatem | Deus Caritas Est | Postgraduate Program in Mariology