All prayers Prayers to the Virgin Mary

Mary holds a unique place in the Church. How can we not understand the filial attachment of millions of believers to a feminine figure, perceived as closer, gentler and more consoling than that of a God, even if he is tender and caring? Mary is the one who protects, guides, soothes….

Over the centuries, the Catholic Church has questioned the place that the mother of Jesus should occupy in the lives of believers. Based on the texts of the Gospels and the prayers of the faithful, it has given Mary a status and a role that have varied but that should neither be exaggerated nor, on the contrary, minimized! Mary is called Mother of God, but she is not a goddess.

She is above all a woman who, because she was the first to respond to God's total love, guides us to do the same. A discreet and silent figure in the Gospel, Mary is also the one who leads to Jesus, teaches him to pray, to gradually enter into his intimacy and to love him.

Always a virgin and yet a mother

The Gospel of Luke tells that Mary who was "a virgin, betrothed to a man" received a visit from an angel announcing the coming of a child with his words: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." Chosen by God to be the mother of his Son, Mary therefore became the mother of a child without having had sexual relations with her fiancé. She remained a virgin and yet gave birth.

This virginity, often contested, is not a disregard for sexuality. It means that Jesus is indeed of divine origin. Mary's virginity is a mystery that deepens in prayer. It took this young girl a lot of courage, faith and total availability to the work of God to become a mother. In this, Mary is a model for us and for the Church.

Mother of Jesus, therefore Mother of God

In 431 at the Council of Ephesus, the Church affirmed for the first time that Mary is also Mother of God since Jesus is the Son of God and God himself. This expression, Mother of God, does not say that it was Mary who gave Jesus his divinity. But it says that Mary gave birth to the one who comes from God. It was by gradually understanding who Jesus was that Christians formulated what they also understood about Mary. And what they understood filled them with veneration.

Conceived without sin

Very quickly, Christians meditated on the life of Mary by asking themselves this question: how could a woman, marked like any human being by sin, inner struggle, weaknesses, and failings, conceive and give birth to a child like Jesus, bearer of divine reality? To answer this question, the words of the Angel at the Annunciation give some elements of an answer: "Rejoice, full of grace" (Luke 1:28). From this grace with which she is filled, the Catholic Church has understood, over the centuries, that Mary had been conceived by her parents while being preserved from the sin of men: she is "full of grace". This is what is called the Immaculate Conception.

This dogma was defined on December 8, 1854 by Pope Pius IX. That Mary was preserved from sin does not mean that she is far from us: she remains a creature of God, she remains on the side of men, she is with us. But she indicates to us that following her, we are called to holiness.

The Assumption

How did Mary's earthly life end? The Bible says nothing on this subject and Christian traditions are diverse. It was only on November 1, 1950 that Pope Pius XII solemnly defined, after consulting all the bishops who were unanimous on this point, that "the Immaculate Mother of God, Mary ever virgin, after having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed in body and soul to heavenly glory." The Assumption means that Mary, after her death, was assumed into heaven by God. The first human creature to enter with her body and soul into the glory of God, she prefigures our destiny. Eastern Christians (Orthodox) speak of the Dormition of Mary, a sweet sleep that reveals a mystery.

Mother of the Church

The first Christians very quickly attached great importance to the presence of Mary at the foot of the cross of her son, Jesus. They remember these words then said to John: "Behold your mother" (John 19:27). But the expression Mother of the Church did not see the light of day until the end of the Second Vatican Council (in 1963). Pope Paul VI then proclaimed Mary Mother of the Church, that is to say Mother of her faithful and her pastors.

Mary helps us, enlightens us, guides us, leads us to Jesus. Because she was his first disciple, Mary teaches us to listen to him and to keep trust in him.

What can we ask of Mary?

We address God, we pray to him and it is he who hears us… But we can invoke Mary and the saints, ask them for help and assistance. Mary is the one who intercedes for us with God. She "carries" our prayers to him, she is our "advocate". We can also ask Mary for faith, courage, strength and gentleness, because she has never lacked all of these, and she gently precedes us on this path. Finally, quite simply, we can ask her to teach us to pray and to lead us to Jesus.

Did Mary have other children after Jesus?

The Lateran Council will consecrate the expression "always virgin" in 649. Catholic tradition has never interpreted literally the mention of Jesus' brothers and sisters in the Gospel of Mark (chapter 6, verse 3), but in the broad sense (cousins ​​and other family ties). This affirmation (which many Protestants do not share) stems from a long meditation by the Church: Mary, mother of God, entirely devoted to her only Son, could not have conjugal intimacy.

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