Who distributes grace, Mary or the Holy Spirit?

# Podcast de Mariologia: Quem Distribui a Graça – Maria ou o Espírito Santo?

Existe um fato observável por todos: em santuários dedicados à Mãe do Senhor, em pequenas capelas remotas, ou em edículas ao longo das estradas, placas de mármore ou corações de prata são expostos como oferendas por uma graça recebida. Em outros casos, são objetos votivos, como imagens de cera que muitas vezes capturam a experiência de uma graça concedida pela Virgem Maria em momentos existenciais trágicos e sem saída.

Essa experiência de graça recebida pode ser tão intensa e repetida que atribuímos ao ícone de Nossa Senhora, diante do qual rezamos, o título de “Nossa Senhora das Graças”. Muitas vezes, um santuário dedicado a ela é construído com esse título.

A razão fundamental por trás desse título está relacionada às graças recebidas através da intercessão da Virgem. Desde as origens e ao longo da história, os cristãos experimentaram Maria como uma taumaturga, ou seja, aquela que obtém de Deus a graça e a concede a quem invoca com fé:

– Cura em doenças físicas e mentais.
– Proteção em momentos de perigo na terra e no mar.
– Vitória sobre a esterilidade, concedendo a bênção da descendência.
– Livramento dos flagelos da peste e da guerra.
– Ajuda e consolo nas situações tristes e trágicas da vida.

Em suma, as pessoas recorrem a Maria para encontrar alívio em seus problemas vitais e humanamente insolúveis.

• eternal salvation.
• harmony in family relations.
• temporal graces such as health.
• success in particular circumstances.

In general, we can say that people ask Mary, first and foremost, spiritual graces, then relational ones, and finally material ones. Above all lies the conviction that Mary, interceding for us with God, can obtain any grace. This aspect has permeated popular devotion: Mary appears as a loving mother mediator who obtains everything men need for this life and for eternal life. It is not merely an intellectual conviction but an experiential perception of Mary. The understanding of why this form of living Christianity is not a question but, rather, naturalness tells us that addressing Mary with unlimited trust and experiencing her effective help in the difficult moments of life has always been part of daily faith.

The phenomenological data emerging from the behavior of devoted people before an image of Mary is the sense of “presence”: the Virgin is a “you” alive, a term of affectionate and grateful dialogue. The qualities recognized in her are maternal kindness, power, and beauty. Now in the region of light with God, who is expressed on votive boards by a crown of luminous clouds, Mary is seen in her sanctity: she is different from us, immersed in the world of sin. But she is not distant from human history because she experienced the sword of pain.

From this brief analysis, we could infer that the title of Our Lady of Grace comes from a double source. The first is of anthropological nature and encompasses the sphere of vital needs, i.e., the need for bread, work, health, family union, and growth, peace, and reconciliation in the country and the world.

The second source is the mobilizing force of the figure of Saint Mary, which activates the faith of God’s people, speaks to their hearts, and awakens the deepest emotion. In other words, it is the charm that Mary exerts on those who approach her.

After Christ, no one can compete with the Virgin Mary in personal influence over the centuries. Mariology history reveals the influence she has had and her beneficial and inspiring presence in every good work in various cultures. This interpretation is confirmed by Benedict XVI during his pilgrimage to Einsiedeln (2011):

“When Christians of all times and places turn to Mary, they are guided by the spontaneous certainty that Jesus cannot refuse the requests she presents to him as his Mother, and they base themselves on the unwavering trust that Mary is also our Mother at the same time, a Mother who experienced the greatest suffering of all, who perceives all our difficulties with us and thinks maternally about overcoming them. Many people throughout history have gone on pilgrimage to the Virgin Mary to find, in front of the image of Our Lady of Sorrows, as here in Einsiedeln, comfort and consolation.”

## Grace as Charism in the New Testament: Pauline Lists of Carisms (Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:7-30; Eph 4:11) and the Spirit as Source

When questioning the New Testament about the meaning of the word “grace,” we are introduced to God’s mysterious realm where He meets humanity. In this divine world, corresponding to the history of salvation, we discover that grace is both plural and singular. Graces are identified with:

* **Carisms** (in Greek, carisma shares its root with cháris = grace),
* **Specific helps**, while grace itself is a much deeper and more mysterious reality.

Let’s explore these two significant aspects of the divine realm intersecting with human experience: graces and grace.

New Testament texts, especially the letters of St. Paul, describe the life of the Church in various communities in Asia Minor, noting that there the Spirit distributes and awakens gifts, virtues, ministries, and carisms. The Second Vatican Council describes this ecclesial situation thusly:

> «Moreover, the Holy Spirit does not limit Himself to sanctifying and guiding the People of God through the sacraments and ministries, adorning it with virtues, but “gives to each one according to his will” (1 Cor 12:11), He also bestows on believers of every rank special graces by which they are made capable and prepared for various tasks and services useful for the renewal and wider expansion of the Church, as in these words: “To each is given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (1 Cor 12:7). These charisms, from the most extraordinary to the simplest and most widespread, are primarily adapted to the needs of the Church and intended to respond to them, and should be received with gratitude and consolation» (Lumen Gentium 12).

We are usually accustomed to thinking about ministries, but they do not override charisms; rather, charisms are sparked by the charismatic element. This is especially true since ministries are often conferred on charismatic individuals.

As exemplified in Acts 13:2-4:

> «And serving the Lord and fasting, he said, “It is necessary that I should depart from you, for the will of God has been revealed to me.” So, after fasting and praying, and having laid hands on them, he sent them off. And they departed, sent by the Holy Spirit» (Acts 13:2-4).

Extending throughout the entire ecclesial reality, charism becomes a structuring principle of the Church, through which its members are united.

> **”Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone”** (Eph 2:20).

Based on Paul’s four lists of charisms (Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:7; 11:28-30; Eph 4:11-12), three types of charisms can be distinguished:

* **Prophetic/Preaching:** Apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, and admonishers.
* **Diaconal/Charitable:** Deacons, deaconesses, alms, nurses, widows, healers, and exorcists.
* **Governing:** Pastors, overseers, bishops.

It is established that the charism of all charisms is love/charity (cf. 1 Cor 13). Having secured the primacy of charity, Paul highlights three extraordinary gifts: faith infused by the Spirit, the gift of healing (1 Cor 12:9, 28, 30), and other miraculous powers (1 Cor 12:10, 28, 29).

These new charisms are signs of the new covenant, stemming from the operations of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:10), as it can readily be inferred that here too Paul extends the term, originally used with a specific meaning, to encompass the entire complex of phenomena mentioned. The New Testament places particular emphasis on the Holy Spirit as the source and dispenser of charisms. In the spiritual gifts of grace, the Holy Spirit is manifested and operates:

> **”Now all these things are done by one and the same Spirit, who distributes them to each one as he wills”** (1 Cor 12:11).

Therefore, Paul speaks of spiritual gifts because they are manifestations of the Spirit (1 Cor 12:1-7). The roles within the community recall the fervor of the Spirit (Rom 12:11) and serve as a demonstration of the Spirit and his power (1 Cor 2:4-5; Rom 15:19; 2 Cor 12:12; 1 Tim 1:5). The Spirit is the unifying principle **”for the common building”** (1 Cor 12:7) of the Church (1 Cor 14:3ff, 12, 26).

In practice, this first response from the New Testament guides us to view graces as spiritual gifts granted to charismatic believers and therefore linked to the mediation of people. We should not think these charisms are given only occasionally; they can be permanent for individuals classified as permanently endowed with a charisma. This perspective applies to priesthood, which Paul interprets as a ministry with a lasting function or charisma.

> **”Do not despise the spiritual gift within you, given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the presbyters”** (1 Tim 4:14; cf. 1 Tim 5:22; 2 Tim 1:6).

Graces are not isolated and considered in themselves but come directly from individuals endowed with charisms and ultimately from the Father’s Spirit and Son.

## Mary at Pentecost: 1 Corinthians 1,14. 2,1-4): Glossolalia, the Magnificat Prophecy, and the Biblical Foundation for Marian Mediation in Grace

We ask: Does Scripture attribute any of these charisms to Mary, so as to call her charismatic and thus find a biblical foundation for the communication of graces recognized by the experience of believers?

It is true that Paul does not mention the charisms attributed to the Woman who gave birth to the Son of God (cf. Galatians 4:4). The Gospel of Luke, however, perceives this silence, presenting Mary as a proto-missionary who sets out for Judea, carrying in her womb the Savior, and with her greeting provokes a charismatic effusion of the Spirit upon Elizabeth, who sees in her young relative the Mother of the Lord, and upon John, who leaps for joy in the presence of the Messiah. The song of the Magnificat that sprang from Mary’s heart is the work of prophetic spirit, for which tradition considers her a prophetess.

Luke presents Mary as endowed with a double charism:

* Announcing the Good News
* Prophecy, attributing to her a song that constitutes a doxological and pneumatic commentary on a salvific fact or event, in this case the miraculous conception of the Messiah.

In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke lists Mary among the members of the post-paschal community in Jerusalem, over whom the Spirit descends, consecrates them, and makes them witnesses to Christ risen. Even the Mother of Jesus is part of the “all” who “were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak” (Acts 2:4). Exegesis reveals in this phenomenon of tongues a certain kinship with the charism of glossolalia, which uses words derived from foreign languages.

We should have no difficulty seeing Mary among the group of prayer, allowing herself to be led by the Spirit to testify and praise God through a pre-rational language of contact with the divine mystery. Certainly glossolalia, as Paul reminds us, speaks things mysterious by inspiration that need interpretation. Therefore:

> “Let him who speaks in tongues pray for interpretation” (1 Corinthians 14:2, 13).

This interpreter can be a prophet (1 Corinthians 14:5). Mary appears among the disciples as a glossolalist and prophetess, not only because of the Magnificat but also because, as Peter believes in his speech to the crowd, the Spirit of Pentecost is poured out on all, men and women, making them capable of prophesying:

> “I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy” (Acts 2:17-18).

Post-Pentecostal prophecy focuses on the Resurrection of Jesus, but also proclaims His second coming, urging listeners to invoke the Lord’s name and thus be saved (cf. Acts 2:20-21).

To delve deeper into Mary’s mediation in the distribution of grace, consult Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Redemptoris Mater on Mary’s maternal presence in the life of the Church.

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