{"id":5757,"date":"2016-07-11T00:00:28","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T06:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/2011\/04\/key-to-the-woman\/"},"modified":"2019-06-18T12:31:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-18T18:31:00","slug":"key-to-the-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/key-to-the-woman\/","title":{"rendered":"Key to the Woman","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"
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Knowledge of the true Catholic doctrine regarding the Blessed Virgin Mary will always be a key to the exact understanding of the mystery of Christ and of the Church.<\/strong> \u2014POPE PAUL VI, Discourse, November 21st, 1964<\/span><\/p>\n

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THERE <\/strong>is a profound key that unlocks why and how the Blessed Mother has such a sublime and powerful role in the lives of mankind, but particularly believers. Once one grasps this, not only does Mary’s role make more sense in salvation history and her presence more understood, but I believe, it will leave you wanting to reach for her hand more than ever.<\/p>\n

The key is this: Mary is a prototype of the Church. <\/em><\/p>\n

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IMMACULATE MIRROR<\/p>\n

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Holy Mary\u2026 you became the image of the Church to come\u2026<\/span> \u2014POPE BENEDICT XVI, Spe Salvi,<\/em> n.50<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the Blessed Mother’s person, she is the model and perfection <\/em>of what the Church will become in eternity. She\u00a0is the Father’s masterpiece, the “mold” that the Church is, and is to become.<\/p>\n

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When either is spoken of, the meaning can be understood of both, almost without qualification<\/strong>. \u2014Blessed Isaac of Stella, Liturgy of the Hours<\/em>, Vol. I, pg. 252<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In His encyclical, Redemtporis Mater<\/a> <\/em>(“Mother of the Redeemer”), <\/em>John Paul II notes how Mary acts as a mirror of the mysteries of God.<\/p>\n

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“Mary figured profoundly in the history of salvation and in a certain way unites and mirrors within herself the central truths of the faith.” Among all believers she is like a “mirror” in which are reflected in the most profound and limpid way “the mighty works of God.”\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014Redemptoris Mater, <\/em>n. 25<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Thus, the Church can see herself in the “pattern” of Mary.<\/p>\n

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Mary is totally dependent upon God and completely directed towards him, and at the side of her Son, she is the most perfect image of freedom and of the liberation of humanity and of the universe. It is to her as Mother and Model that the Church must look in order to understand in its completeness the meaning of her own mission.<\/strong>\u00a0 \u2014POPE JOHN PAUL II, Redemptoris Mater, <\/em>n. 37<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But then, Mary too can be seen in the image of the Church<\/em>. It is in this mutual reflection that we can learn more of Mary’s mission to us, her children.<\/p>\n

As I discussed in Why Mary?<\/a><\/em>, her role in salvation history is both as a Mother and a mediator through the<\/em> Mediator, who is Christ. [1]<\/sup><\/a>“Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked by the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix. This, however, is to be so understood that it neither takes away from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficaciousness of Christ the one Mediator.” cf. Redemptoris Mater, <\/em>n. 40, 60<\/span><\/span>