What is unique about Mary among all humans?• Mary’s Yes to God’s invitation to

be the Mother of the Son of God, the Savior of the world, is a defining moment in Salvation history and in the history of the world.

• Catholics look to Mary as ‘a mother’, as Jesus asked us to do.

What is unique about Mary among all humans?The Early Years of Mary’s Motherhood• Mary believed Jesus to be the

Savior of the world and she encouraged him to start out on his mission.

• At the wedding feast at Cana Mary knew that Jesus’ time had come. (John 2:1−11)

• Throughout her whole life, ‘Mary responded with the obedience of faith’ (CCC, no. 494). Mary is a model of faith for us.

What is unique about Mary among all humans?Mary, ‘The Ark of the Covenant’, Has a Unique Role in God’s Plan• The Virgin Mary’s Yes to becoming

the Mother of the Son of God set in motion the coming about of ‘the new and everlasting covenant’ with humankind, which would be sealed through the blood of Jesus.

• For while Jesus was ‘the eternal Son of the Father’ conceived by the Holy Spirit, his ‘humanity [was] drawn from her own’ (CCC, no 485). Mary’s Yes was the beginning of new life for humanity.

What is unique about Mary among all humans?Mary, ‘The Ark of the Covenant’, Has a Unique Role in God’s Plan

What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.

CCC, no. 487

Mary, full of grace

Mary, full of grace• God chose Mary to become the Mother of the Son of God ‘from

all eternity’ for this extraordinary role in his plan of Salvation (CCC, no. 488).

• ‘Through the centuries, the Church has become ever more aware that Mary … was redeemed from the moment of her conception’ (CCC, no. 491).

Mary, full of grace

Immaculate Conception‘The Immaculate Conception is the dogma proclaimed in Christian Tradition, that from the first moment of her conception, Mary—by the singular grace of God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ—was preserved immune from Original Sin’ and ‘she remained free from all personal sin throughout her life’.

CCC, no. 508; see also CCC, no. 491

Mary, full of grace

Theotokos• ‘God-bearer’ or ‘Mother of God’• Ancient and traditional title of Mary

Mary, full of grace

Panagia• ‘All-holy’• Widely used in Eastern Christianity

Mary, full of grace

MediatrixThe title ‘Mediatrix’ was given to Mary to express her unique relationship to Christ and to the Church. The word ‘mediator’ means ‘one who links or reconciles separate or opposing parties’. Jesus Christ is the ‘one mediator between God and the human race’ (1 Timothy 2:5). . . . Mary too is sometimes called Mediatrix in virtue of her cooperation in the saving mission of Christ, who alone is the unique Mediator between God and humanity.

CCC, nos. 480, 618, 970, 1544

Mary, full of grace

Marian Liturgical FeastsSolemnity of Mary, Mother of God• Celebrated on January 1 and is a Holy Day of Obligation.• Remembers and celebrates Mary as Theotokos, Mother of God.

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord• Celebrated on February 2.• Remembers when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the

Temple at Jerusalem.

Mary, full of grace

Marian Liturgical FeastsSolemnity of the Annunciation• Celebrated on March 25, nine months before Christmas.• Remembers Mary’s conception of Jesus by the power of the

Holy Spirit.Feast of the Visitation• Celebrated on May 31.• Remembers Mary’s visit to Elizabeth.Solemnity of the Assumption• Celebrated on August 15 and is a Holy Day of Obligation.• Remembers that Mary was assumed, body and soul, into

heaven at the end of her life.

Mary, full of grace

Marian Liturgical FeastsSolemnity of the Immaculate Conception• Celebrated on December 8 and is a Holy Day of Obligation.• Remembers that Mary was always free from sin.Memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe• Celebrated on December 12.• Remembers Mary’s appearance to St. Juan Diego.

Mary’s response to God

Song of the Church• The Church describes the Magnificat

as ‘the song both of the Mother of God and of the Church’ (CCC, no. 2619).

• Mary’s song places particular emphasis on God’s special favor for the poor—for those who need God’s favor most—and therefore points to the preferential love that the Church itself must have for the poor.

• The Magnificat is a powerful hymn of liberation, uniting praise and glory of God with the mandate to work with and for the poor.

Mary’s response to God

Mary’s Nurturing of Jesus• Mary and Joseph nurtured and supported

Jesus throughout his whole life. Their lives, words and actions helped Jesus give ‘flesh-and-blood shape’ to the great values by which he lived.

• Mary’s relationship with her only Son deepens ourawareness of the unique role she had in God’s plan for our Salvation.

• Mary, the Mother of the Church, desires to play a similar role in our lives today.

Mary’s response to God

AssumptionThe dogma that when the Blessed Virgin Mary’s earthly life was finished, because she was sinless, she was kept from corruption and taken soul and body into heavenly glory.

USCCA, 505; see also CCC, no. 966

Mary’s response to God

The Magnificat Ministry—An Inspiration Today• The scene of the Visitation is the inspiration behind the ministry

to Catholic women called the Magnificat.• The Magnificat Meal is a gathering for women to come together

and share one another’s company in the atmosphere of God’s presence and love and to engage in communal worship and prayer.

Blessed Virgin Mary, Model of DiscipleshipEver-VirginMary retained her virginity before, after andduring the birth of Jesus. Mary’s perpetual virginity ‘is the sign of her faith … and of her undivided gift of herself to God’s will’ (CCC, no. 506).

Mother of the ChurchThe Church has come to understand Jesus’ words to Mary and the beloved disciple as saying to us, ‘Mary is your mother, too. As God is my Father and your father, Mary is my Mother and your mother.’

Blessed Virgin Mary, Model of Discipleship

Mary, Exemplar DiscipleMary is ‘the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church’ (CCC, no. 507). The Church looks to Mary, the First Disciple of Christ and the Mother of the Church, in hope because she is the first and best flowering of who and what we have been called to become.

Blessed Virgin Mary, Model of DiscipleshipMary, Model of True Friendship• The Gospel account of the encounter between Mary and

Elizabeth is one of the great stories of friendship in the Bible.• The two women and their unborn sons were united by the

strongest of bonds: family and friendship—of blood first, and then by their missions in the drama of God’s plan of Salvation.

• Mary and Elizabeth were both strong women of faith, who shared their joy and the anguish of an executed son.

Blessed Virgin Mary, Model of DiscipleshipFavorite prayers to Mary• Hail Mary

• Hail Holy Queen

• Memorare

The Black Madonna,Częstochowa, Poland

• The icon is revered by Polish Catholics around the world.

• One legend tells that it was painted by St. Luke as Mary told him about the life of Jesus.

• It was brought from the Ukraine in 1382 by Prince Ladislaus of Poland and endured damage from swords and arrows.

• Mary, Our Lady of Częstochowa became honored as the Queen and Protector of Poland.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

• Our Blessed Lady appeared to Juan Diego onDec. 9, 1531 on Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City.

• ‘The Lady’ told Juan to go to the bishop andrequest a shrine to be built on that spot. Thebishop dismissed Juan several times.

• On his fourth attempt, Juan presented BishopZumarraga with roses in his cloak; this was ‘themiracle of the pink roses’.

• The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared on Juan’s cloak and is now in the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

• Juan Diego was canonized a saint on July 31, 2002.• Our Lady of Guadalupe is the Patron of the Americas and her

feast day is celebrated on December 12.