Mary and the Communion of Saints

The teachings of the Catholic Church on Mary and the communion of saints might be summarized in the following points:

• We profess in the Creed that Jesus is God from God, of the same being as the Father. Because Jesus, who is God, is truly born of Mary, it is right to call her the Mother of God -- as Christians have done for centuries. 
• When the Church speaks of the Immaculate Conception, we mean that God created Mary as Eve was created: without original sin. God freely did this as part of his divine plan of salvation.
• Mary is a sign of what we are all called to become: someone free from all personal sin and completely devoted to the person and mission of Jesus.
• Because Jesus has drawn all of us to himself as sisters and brothers, co-adopted heirs of his Father, his mother -- Mary -- is our mother. 
• The Church includes not only those alive today but also all those who have died in friendship with God and await the resurrection. The saints in heaven join with us in our prayer and praise of the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.

​Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #484-507, 946-962

​The Compendium of the Catholic Church has a good, short summary of the Church's dogmatic teachings with respect to Mary

​Renowned popular theologian Frank Sheed offers a beautiful reflection on the mystical body of Christ and Mary's role in it in Theology for Beginners

​Read parishioner and theologian Bob O'Gorman's chapter on Mary in The Idiot's Guide to Catholicism

​Thomas Merton offers a poetic and theological account of the Mother of God in New Seeds of Contemplation

​ Pray the Rosary! Read about how to pray the rosary here.

​ Here is another good place to read about the rosary: here.

​ Read more about the spirituality of the rosary here.

​ Need a rosary? Head to St. Mary's Bookstore downtown. It's a little tough to get started with this prayer form, but once you figure it out, you'll have a time-tested means of entering into communion with God whenever you have a couple of minutes to spare.

Weekly Meditation: Memorize the Hail Mary

The Rosary offers a lovely intersection of vocal, meditative, and contemplative prayer, and it centers chiefly on the prayer known as the Hail Mary:

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
 
One of the most well-known prayers in Catholic tradition, the Hail Mary is made up of two parts. The first half, taken from two verses in Luke's Gospel (Luke 1:28, Luke 1:42), express our gratitude and wonder at God for Mary's role in salvation history: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. The second half, which gained widespread usage in the late middle ages, ask for Mary's ongoing participation in our salvation: Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.  

This prayer serves as the basis for the rosary -- through its repetition, we seek to enter more deeply into the mysteries of Christ's life and mission. The Hail Mary is especially useful when we don't know what to pray or when we feel alone, for in Mary we are always assured of God's maternal and life-giving love. Take a few minutes to pray this prayer. Feel its rhythm, its cadence, its warmth. Try to memorize it in small bits, perhaps saying its phrases throughout the day. Let it draw you toward the mystery of God's redemption of the world, as we all await amidst great labor pains the birth of Christ in our lives.