Marie Holds the Whole Church Within Herself

Mary features in all three stages of the history of salvation: the time before Christ, the period of his earthly life and the time after his return to heaven.

She is the fruit of Israel’s process of preparation and cultivation. She is the true eschatological daughter of Zion, the perfect expression of the chosen people. This is made clear in references to the Annunciation in Luke 2: 28 –30 in the text of Sophonius 3: 14-17.

The mystical body, manifest in the visible, universal church, is already mysteriously present in its two original members, Christ and His mother. God wanted communion between Himself and those who are saved to find expression in faith (Luke 1:45), love, obedience and humility, but also through dialogue and clear understanding (Luke 1: 34). At the inception of his work, God creates, in a limited way, a model of what will later be established universally.

The childhood gospels also describe several links between Mary and the Church: when Mary praises the Lord (Luke 1: 46 b), her prayer is a universal one and will become the Church’s prayer. Almost all Biblical experts think that the Magnificat was already used as a prayer in the first Christian gatherings. The adoration of the Magi foreshadows the conversion of the nations and their entry into the Lord’s church. Matthew makes it clear that the wise men see Mary and her Child as one (Matt. 2:11). Luke emphasizes that Mary recollects and ponders over what has happened: she thinks deeply about them and stores them in her heart (Luke 2:19).

To the Hebrew way of thinking, this effort of memory is a source of dynamism and life. (In Hebrew, the root of the word ‘memory’ conjures up the mystery of man’s fertility.) Thus, Mary’s effort is important to the life of the Church...

We discover Mary at Cana where she speaks to Jesus on man’s behalf, and where she invites man to place his trust in Jesus. Following this, Mary remains on the outside while Jesus collects around him those who will form the hierarchy of the Church. In this state of separation, Mary foreshadows what the Church will have to endure after Easter, mystically deepening its communion with the Son by faith, rather than knowing Him in the flesh.

Experiencing Christ’s death at the cross pierces her heart. At this same time, she becomes the disciple’s mother (John 19: 25-26). As the daughter of Zion, she gives birth to a new people (Is. 66:7). Mary, just as Eve after Cain kills Abel, gives birth to a new son (Gen. 4:25).

She also foreshadows the motherhood of the Church in which other sons are born of water and the spirit (John 19: 30, 34). We find Mary discreetly close to the apostles in the upper room. The Spirit then descends on the gathering as it came down to Mary at the Annunciation. And just as the Spirit had led Mary through the mountains and hills of Judea bearing the Lord to the one who prepared the way for him, so He leads the Church in carrying the Lord to the four corners of the earth (Acts 1:8).

The fullness of Mary’s grace and holiness enriches the innermost mystical body of the Church, wonderfully contributing to the effectiveness of its evangelical ministry. Finally, on a day that history has not recorded, Mary rejoined the risen Christ for ever. As a symbol in heaven, she has gone before the Church to glorify the Lord who will be all things to all men.

It is not possible to summarize Mary’s relationship with the Church in a single sentence: in the person of Mary, by adopting an attitude of faithful obedience, Israel becomes the Lord’s Church. Mary is both the precursor and the forerunner of the Church.

Mary holds the Church within herself just as a seed contains a whole plant. At Pentecost, Mary is one of the 120 (Acts 1:15) and one of the 3,000 (Acts 2:41). She is a member of the Church from which merges the important role of the apostles.

The ministering Church is in communion with Christ, acting on his behalf as long a sour earthly world shall last; the age-long communion between Mary and the Church, and essentially theological communion, shall never end.

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