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Introduction
There is a legend about a vision that St. Dominic
received of Our Lady and the saints in heaven. In it St
Dominic seems to have seen our Blessed Mother surrounded
by the saints belonging to different religious
congregations. But his own brethren he did not see. When
he complained to the Blessed Mother about it she called
him closer to herself and, opening her mantle, showed
him the multitude of his brethren resting secure under
her maternal protection.
Though this is a legend about St. Dominic and
his brethren, yet it could well be the experience of
every one who ‘runs to the aid of Mary.’ Every one of
them will be granted the protection of her maternal
care. But this is more so in the case of her beloved
priests, because they are especially loved by Mary. Mary
especially loves priests because God in his infinite
love and compassion has commissioned them to continue
the work of redemption that his Son accomplished on the
cross. And Mary is the medium through whom God
communicates that mission. This she does most of all
through the ministration of the priests.
Every priest is intimately connected with
Mary. Every priest who values his priesthood must
contemplate the greatness of Mary and recognize her role
in the work of redemption. Devotion to Mary is not an
option for him. It is part of the essence of his
priestly vocation. Why is this so?
The greatness of Mary
St. Thomas Aquinas says that when human beings love,
they see the beauty and goodness of the object first and
then love that object. On the contrary, when God loves,
he begins by creating and filling the object of his love
with goodness and beauty. He values that object more
than the good that is in it, for the goodness therein is
a sign of his love for the thing that he creates.
The more God loves a thing the more goodness he bestows
on it. “The soul’s perfection is the surest sign of the
love which God bears for it.” Fr. Garrigou Lagrange
says, “No created being would be better than another if
it had not been loved in a greater degree by God.”
Mary’s greatness consists primarily in the fact that she
was the one most loved, therefore most graced.
On
Mary was bestowed the highest grace because she was to
be the mother of Jesus, the Eternal High Priest. She was
to bear the Divine Son in her womb and thus make
incarnation possible. Her ‘fiat’ was very
crucial, according to the Divine plan, for the
incarnation to be possible, (though not absolutely,
because God could have chosen other ways to redeem us;
he chose this way because he wanted to elicit human
co-operation in redeeming us). Therefore God created
Mary ‘full of grace.’ She is the greatest of all men and
women because God made her so.
We
must not forget that it was not merely by her physical
maternity that she co-operated with the will of God, but
more so by her charity. Her heart was so full of God
that she willed all that God willed. She actively
desired that the Word of God dwell among us in all his
glory. By her ‘fiat’ she united her will with
that of God. By this consent she entered into the
mystery of the Divine Word.
St
Augustine
wrote, “By love she conceived in her heart the Divine
Son before she conceived him in her womb.”
Mary’s greatness consists not merely in her role in the
incarnation. She also co-operated in the work of
Redemption. Her mission of love is ever more manifest in
her co-operation in the work of redemption. The heart of
Mary so united itself to the Passion of Jesus on Calvary
that it was pierced by a sword when the body of Jesus
was broken. Because of her role in the work of
redemption she should have had a charity in proportion
to her mission worthy of the infinite love of Jesus. Her
love must meet no obstacle, neither from her soul, nor
from her will nor from her mind. This is why she is the
Immaculate Virgin. Thus the sanctity of Mary surpasses
that of all the saints put together.
Mary, Mother of priests
A
priest receives his priesthood from Christ. Since
priesthood is such a sublime office, it is clear that
God must have been shaping, from their very conception,
the ones whom he would call to be priests (Cf. Jer 1:5).
Priestly vocation is a gift from God that he gives to
those whom he wishes (Cf. Mk 3:13). He also bestows on
them the necessary graces and gifts that they need to
carry out the mission that they are entrusted with.
Jesus wished that what was accomplished on the cross be
communicated to the church and to the whole of humanity.
He entrusted that task to priests, by ordaining them at
the last supper and by formally entrusting Mary, the
representative of those who seek Christ, to the care of
the Beloved disciple, the representative of the
Apostles.
It
was of the greatest interest to Mary to see that the
work that her Son inaugurated on the cross be carried on
to its perfection. It was also the plan of God to
entrust that work to the Apostles and through them to
priests. Thus Mary too would take special care to assist
priests in their ministry.
But the obvious question may be asked: Does Mary (and
Jesus) care for priests only because they carry on the
work of Jesus? The answer is an affirmative ‘No.’ As we
saw at the beginning of this article, God values the
object of his love more than the good that is in it, for
the goodness therein is a sign of his love for the thing
that he creates. The priesthood that a priest receives
is a sign of God’s love for him and his free choice of
him. Mary loves the priest not merely because he carries
out the work of her Son, but because God has chosen to
love him in this special way.
Dignity of priesthood and Mary’s prayer
Mary values the dignity of the priest and intercedes for
and with him. From the cross Jesus entrusted his mother
to the care of the Beloved Disciple and that of the
disciple to the mother. “And from that hour the disciple
took her to his own home” (Jn 19:26-27). After the
ascension Mary persevered in prayer with the Apostles in
the upper room. There she asked God that what her Son
and she had merited on
Calvary
be granted to the apostles and to the faithful. She
continues to intercede for priests and for the church
that God may grant to them what she had once obtained
for the Apostles.
Mary knows that Christ has consigned his mission, his
word and his very body and blood to priests. Mary sees
the dignity of the priest as she sees that of Christ.
She contemplates in the priest the priesthood of Christ.
It is said that St. Francis and St. Catherine kissed the
hands of priests even when by revelation they knew the
wretchedness of their souls. Mary would do the same
because the dignity of a priest is known to Mary much
more than to anyone else.
Priests are sons of Mary
Priests are sons of Mary. If we are to remain faithful
as priests we must be devoted to Mary. To be ‘devoted’
means to be ‘delivered up’, to be ‘given’. Devotion to
Mary is not a mere pious practice. Just as Jesus’
devotion took concrete shape in his abandonment to the
will of the Father (Jn 17:4; Heb 10:7-10) so Mary too
united her will to that of the Father at the
annunciation and at the foot of the cross. The union of
wills was perfect. In the same manner the priest who is
devoted to Mary must unite his will to that of God after
her example. As the life of Christ was consecrated to
the authentic proclamation of the loving will of the
Father, so too the life of priests should be consecrated
to his name and to the proclamation of his word. In this
way he will bring the maternity of Mary to its complete
fruitfulness.
Conclusion
The life of a priest is enriched by a true devotion to
Mary. It consists first of all in contemplating her
greatness, which is a sign of God’s love and mercy for
her and for humanity. The priest should daily run to her
for protection and guidance as she is eager to help him
just as she was eager to help her Son. Devotion to Mary
is not to be considered a pious option, but rather a
privilege and a duty. |
