John Paul II – Familiaris Consortio n. 86 and Christifideles Laici n. 64: Mary in the family and among the laity
The two great Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortations of Saint John Paul II on the family and the laity, Familiaris Consortio (November 22, 1981) and Christifideles Laici (December 30, 1988), both end with Marian sections: Mary model of the Christian family (FC) and Mary model of Christian lay people in the world (CL).
| Pope | Saint John Paul II |
| Documents | Familiaris Consortio (1981, n. 86) | Christifideles Laici (1988, n. 64) |
| Topic | Mary in the Christian family, Mary model of the laity in the world |
Familiaris consortio n. 86, Mary in the Christian family
“Maria, totaliter mater filiis suis, postulat ut familia Christiana ad imitatem suae propriae ‘Sanctae Familiae’ Nazarethanae fiat, ubi vitam adultam Iesus exegit. Familiae Sanctae Nazarethanae imitatio est munus quod Maria fideliter recipit ab omnibus parentibus christianis qui eam praeceptoricem peragrationis suae habere desiderant”
, Mary, wholly mother to her children, asks that the Christian family become like her own “Holy Family” of Nazareth, where Jesus spent his adult life. The imitation of the Holy Family of Nazareth is the mission that Mary faithfully receives from all Christian parents who desire to have her as the guide of their pilgrimage.
John Paul II develops three dimensions of Mary’s motherhood in relation to the family:
- Model of wife and mother (in her marriage to Joseph, in her motherhood of Jesus)
- Mediatrix of matrimonial graces (the wife who sustains the wife, the mother who sustains the mother)
- Refuge of families in difficulty (especially in situations of family crisis)
Christifideles laici n. 64, Mary model of the laity
“Beatissima Virgo Maria laicis fidelibus est exemplar singulare. Ipsa enim cum tota Ecclesia universaliterque cum singulis fidelibus laicis stat in puncto convergentiae horum binarum vitae aspectuum: vitam contemplationi et vitam saeculari mundi servitio dicatam”
The Most Blessed Virgin Mary is a singular exemplar for the lay faithful. She stands with the whole Church and universally with each of the lay faithful at the point of convergence of these two aspects of life: the life dedicated to contemplation and the life dedicated to the secular service of the world.
N. 64 of Christifideles Laici is particularly important for the theology of the laity: Mary is proposed as the model of lay people because she lived out integrally the synthesis between contemplation and action in the world. Mary was not a religious in an abbey; she was a mother in a house in Nazareth. She is as close to the lay experience as it is possible to be.
Convergence of the two exhortations
Taken together, FC 86 and CL 64 develop a Marian theology of the laity:
- Mary as a married woman (FC)
- Mary as an orthodox laywoman (CL)
- Mary as a synthesis of contemplation and action (CL)
- Mary as mother of the domestic Church (FC)
Further reading
Mariology | Redemptoris Mater | Mulieris Dignitatem | Lumen Gentium ch. VIII
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