There is only one God," St. Paul teaches, "and one Mediator between God and man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.1 The Virgin Mary cooperated in a most singular way in the work of the Mediator.
The Virgin Mary cooperated in a most singular way in her Son's work of redemption throughout her life. In the first place, the free consent she gave at the Annunciation of the Angel was necessary for the Incarnation to take place. It was, says St. Thomas Aquinas,2 as if God the Father had awaited the assent of humanity through the voice of Mary. Her divine Maternity made her intimately united to the mystery of the Redemption until its consummation on the Cross, where she was associated in a particular and unique way to the pain and death of her Son. There she received us all, in the person of St. John, as her children. Therefore, "Mary's maternal mission in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather serves to demonstrate its power. "3 She is the Mediatrix before the Mediator, who is her Son; it is "a mediation in Christ "4 which, "far from hindering the immediate union of believers with Christ, fosters it.
Already on earth, Mary exercised this maternal mediation in sanctifying John the Baptist in Elizabeth's womb6. And also in Cana, at the Virgin's request, Jesus performed his first miracle7; a maternal prodigy that solved a small domestic problem at the wedding she was invited to attend. St. John points out the spiritual fruits of this intervention: and his disciples believed in him. The Virgin would intercede close to her Son - like all mothers - on many occasions that the Gospels have not recorded. "Ascended into heaven, she has not ceased this saving mission, but by her manifold intercession she continues to obtain for us the gifts of eternal salvation. With her motherly love she takes care of the brothers of her Son, who are still on pilgrimage and are in dangers and anxiety until they are led to the blessed homeland. For this reason, the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church with the titles of Advocate, Helper, Help, Mediatrix "8. Through her intercession before her Son, Our Lady obtains and distributes to us all graces, with prayers that can never be disappointed. What can Jesus deny the One who begot him and carried him in her womb for nine months, and was always with him, from Nazareth until his death on the Cross? The Magisterium has taught us the sure way to attain all that we need. By the express will of God," Pope Leo XIII teaches us, "no good is granted to us except through Mary; and as no one can come to the Father except through the Son, so generally no one can come to Jesus except through Mary. 9 Let us not hesitate to ask again and again of her who has been called the supplicant Omnipotence. She always listens to us, even now.
Let us not fail to place before her benevolent gaze those needs, perhaps small ones, that trouble us at the present moment: domestic conflicts, financial difficulties, an exam, a competitive examination, a job that is necessary for us.... And also those that refer to the soul and that should worry us more: the distance from God or the correspondence to the vocation of a relative or a friend, the grace to overcome a difficult situation or to advance in a virtue, to learn to pray better....
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us? In Heaven, very close to her Son, she directs our prayer before him, straightens it, if it was less than upright in some way, and perfects it.