[Message from our Executive Director, Daniel Wasserman-Soler]
Dear friends,
On New Year’s Day, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. In the reflection below, Pope St. John Paul II explains a deepening in his devotion to our Blessed Mother. The passage comes from Gift and Mystery, an essay on his priestly vocation:
A change took place in my understanding of devotion to the Mother of God. I was already convinced that Mary leads us to Christ, but at that time I began to realize also that Christ leads us to his Mother. At one point I began to question my devotion to Mary, believing that, if it became too great, it might end up compromising the supremacy of the worship owed to Christ. At that time, I was greatly helped by a book by Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort entitled Treatise of True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin. There I found the answers to my questions. Yes, Mary does bring us closer to Christ; she does lead us to him, provided that we live her mystery in Christ.
How can we live the Virgin Mary’s “mystery in Christ”? Later in his reflection, St. John Paul points us to the Angelus prayer. Its words “express the deepest reality of the greatest event ever.” Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ!
Yours in Jesus and His Mother,
Daniel Wasserman-Soler
Executive Director
Lumen Christi Institute