Mary and the Eucharist, the re-encounter in the third millennium

When we speak of Mary and the Eucharist, we can find at least three connections between these two great gifts offered by the Father to humanity on the path:1. The Incarnation: The Foundation of the Relationship between the Eucharist and MaryThe first link between the Eucharist and Mary is given through the mystery of the Incarnation. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, Mary gives human nature to the Son of the Most High, that is, the body and blood He will offer on the Cross for the salvation of the world.The same body and blood generated by Mary will be offered as food and drink to the faithful in the Eucharist. Therefore, Saint John Paul II prostrates himself before the Son of Mary present in the sacrament of the altar and adores Him with deep faith and great wonder, as he testified when he said:Let me, my dear brothers and sisters, surrender myself with intimate elevation, in the company and comfort of your faith, to my testimony of faith in the Most Holy Eucharist:Hail, true body born of the Virgin Mary, who truly suffered and was sacrificed on the cross for man! (Ecclesia de Eucharistia 59).This means that we would not have the Eucharist without Mary, because it was her Mother who gave Jesus the body and blood He offered as food and drink to His disciples. At the root of the sacrament, we find the Virgin of Nazareth who can repeat the words of wisdom spoken by Jesus:“Come and eat the bread and drink the wine that I have prepared” (Proverbs 9:5).2. Mary, the Eucharistic WomanThe second relationship of Mary with the Eucharist can be traced indirectly from her inner attitude entirely related to the person of Christ and His mysteries, therefore also to the greater sacrament of His presence:Mary is an eucharistic woman throughout her life. Looking at Mary as her model, the Church is also called to imitate her relationship with this most holy mystery (Ecclesia de Eucharistia).

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In the spiritual portrait painted by the Evangelists Luke and John, Mary is depicted as a deeply religious woman who embraces the Word of God with exemplary faith and remains attentive to the events surrounding her Son, preserving and meditating on all things in her heart (cf. Jn 2:5, Lk 2:19.51).

When Mary heard her Son speak about the bread of life that He would offer, the Virgin absorbed those mysterious words and continually pondered their meaning. Present at the Last Supper, Mary anticipated the apostles’ faith in the Eucharistic mystery and, after Pentecost, joined the Christian community in joyfully and simply sharing in the breaking of the bread (cf. Acts 2:46). The whole Church enters Mary’s school, the eucharistic woman, to learn the dispositions and attitudes to adopt towards the Eucharist.

3. Mary present in the liturgical celebration

Mary is not merely a figure from history, associated with the historical Jesus and the early Church, from whom we should draw inspiration and with whom we can identify. She is a living person who, along with all the saints, but in a special way, participates in and intercedes during the celebration of the Eucharist. Thus, Pope Saint John Paul II wrote:

«Mary is present, with the Church and as Mother of the Church, in every one of our Eucharistic celebrations» (Ecclesia de Eucharistia 57).

Therefore, it is no surprise that in all Eastern and Western rites, the offering of the Eucharist is made in communion with the whole celestial and terrestrial Church, with all its living and deceased members, especially with Mary.

The Mother of Jesus is invoked as the Mother of God and ever-Virgin Mary, because her dedication/consignation to the Lord is analogous to the surrender of our lives that is continually renewed in the Eucharistic sacrifice. As we can see, the more we place ourselves in Mary’s school and let her guide us (Ecclesia de Eucharistia 57), the better we can celebrate and live the Eucharist.

In one sentence: Who will teach us more about the Eucharist than Mary?

Conclusion

After conceiving Christ in her virgin womb through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Mother of the Lord does not keep Him in the intimacy of the house in Nazareth. She moves her missionary feet swiftly towards the mountain to bring Him to Elizabeth and Zechariah, who await the Messiah as the rising sun from high, to illuminate those in darkness and in the shadow of death (Lk 1:78-79). Similarly, as Christians, once we receive the Eucharist, we are invited to return to our environment, in contact with the secularized culture that breathes the forgetfulness of God and cultivates human self-sufficiency.Our task is to awaken in consciences the need for the Creator, without whom the creature disappears (cf. Gaudium et Spes 36), and the urgent call to fraternity and dialogue because “we have no fear to speak of God and to bring signs of faith. The ‘culture of the Eucharist’ promotes a culture of dialogue, which finds strength and nourishment in it” (Mane nobiscum Domine 26).To deepen the Marian dimension of the liturgical celebration, we recommend the reading of the Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus by Paul VI.For further study: explore Mariology, Marian theology, Marian apparitions, and the Postgraduate Studies in Mariology.