Saturday, April 19, 2008

Mary and Her Son



From the book Ecco tua Madre (Behold your Mother) by Stefano De Fiores, Citta' Nuova Editrice, Rome, 2007 p. 119 (translation mine) commenting on the Encyclical of Pope John Paul II on the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Mary Model of Contemplation of the Face of Christ
Unquestionably Mary's relationship to the face of Christ is intimate and unique. Without citing Dante, the pope agrees with him in recognizing in Mary "the face which is most like to that of Christ", Paradiso XXXII, 85) in as much as there exists a communion not only of physical characteristics because of the genetic patrimony communicated to Christ by her alone in as much as she is the virginal mother, but also an there is an affinity both of the spiritual order and also pertaining to the level of holiness given because of their common belonging to the poor ones of Yahweh.

The contemplation of Christ has in Mary its insuperable model. The face of the Son belongs to her by special title. It is in her womb that he was formed, taking from her also a human likeness that evokes a spiritual intimacy certainly even more great.
Pope John Paul II, The Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 10



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