Dives in Misericordia: “The Paschal Mystery” (9, continued)

Chapter 5 of “Dives in Misericordia” (“Rich in Mercy”) is entitled “The Paschal Mystery.” It concludes as follows:

“9. . . . It was precisely this ‘merciful’ love, which is manifested above all in contact with moral and physical evil, that the heart of her who was the Mother of the crucified and risen One shared in singularly and exceptionally - that Mary shared in. In her and through her, this love continues to be revealed in the history of the Church and of humanity. This revelation is especially fruitful because in the Mother of God it is based upon the unique tact of her maternal heart, on her particular sensitivity, on her particular fitness to reach all those who most easily accept the merciful love of a mother. This is one of the great life-giving mysteries of Christianity, a mystery intimately connected with the mystery of the Incarnation.

“‘The motherhood of Mary in the order of grace,’ as the Second Vatican Council explains, ‘lasts without interruption from the consent which she faithfully gave at the annunciation and which she sustained without hesitation under the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. In fact, being assumed into heaven she has not laid aside this office of salvation but by her manifold intercession she continues to obtain for us the graces of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, she takes care of the brethren of her Son who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home.’¹⁰⁸”

108. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium, no. 62: AAS 57 1965), p. 63.

 

To access the complete document, please visit:

Pope John Paul II: “Dives in Misericordia”