A May Gift for Our Mother:
A Letter to Our
Holy Father
On June
3, 2006, His Eminence, Telesphore Cardinal Toppo of Ranchi, India was received
in private audience by our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. During the audience,
Cardinal Toppo formally presented to His Holiness a petition on behalf of
approximately forty cardinals and bishops for the solemn papal
definition of Our Lady’s doctrinal role as the Spiritual Mother of all Peoples
under its three essential aspects as Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces,
and Advocate.
This
monumental presentation to our Holy Father was the fruit of a 2005
international Marian symposium on Marian Coredemption which was conducted at
Fatima and co-sponsored by six cardinals: their Eminences, Edouard Cardinal
Gagnon of Canada; Telesphore Cardinal Toppo of India; Luis Cardinal Aponte
Martínez of Puerto Rico; Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil of India; Ernesto Cardinal
Corripio Ahumada of Mexico; and Ricardo Cardinal Vidal of the Philippines. The participating cardinals and bishops from
all parts of the world discussed Our Lady’s privileges as the Co-redemptrix of
humanity with and under Jesus Christ, our divine Redeemer, and her subsequent
roles as Mediatrix of all graces and universal Advocate for humanity. The symposium led to the formulation and
signing of a formal petition by the cardinals and bishops present to our Holy
Father for the proposed fifth Marian dogma of Our Lady’s role as Spiritual
Mother of all humanity and its three unique maternal functions.
The formal petition presented to Pope Benedict XVI in the name of these cardinals and bishops also specified that the solemn papal definition of Our Lady’s spiritual motherhood would constitute a significant contribution to the Church’s mission of ecumenism. The proposed papal definition would clearly specify on the highest level of Church authority, and with the greatest theological precision, that the human participation of Mary Most Holy in the work of Redemption is completely subordinate and dependent upon the role of Jesus Christ, who alone as our divine and human Redeemer could satisfy God’s infinite justice and remove the true burden of sin. This solemn declaration and clarification would end any mistaken notion that the title, “Co-redemptrix,” which popes, saints, and Church writers have used for Our Lady for over 600 years, places Mary on a level of equality with Jesus Christ, but would rather explain that it denotes her unique cooperation with Jesus in the work of Redemption.
Most
recently, our beloved Holy Father beautifully articulated the Church doctrine
of Our Lady’s Coredemption in his 2007 Post-Synodal Exhortation, Sacramentum Caritatis. Here Pope Benedict quotes the Second Vatican
Council’s principal teaching on Marian Coredemption (Lumen Gentium, 58), and confirms that Our Mother was “completely
involved in the redemptive mission of Jesus”:
Mary
is the great Believer who places herself confidently in God’s hands, abandoning
herself to his will. (102) This mystery deepens as she becomes completely
involved in the redemptive mission of Jesus. In the words of the Second Vatican
Council, “the blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and
faithfully persevered in her union with her Son until she stood at the Cross,
in keeping with the divine plan (cf. Jn 19:25), suffering deeply with
her only-begotten Son, associating herself with his sacrifice in her mother’s
heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of the victim who was born of
her. Finally, she was given by the same Christ Jesus, dying on the Cross, as a
mother to his disciple, with these words: ‘Woman, behold your Son.’” (103) From
the Annunciation to the Cross, Mary is the one who received the Word, made
flesh within her and then silenced in death. It is she, lastly, who took into
her arms the lifeless body of the one who truly loved his own “to the end” (Jn
13:1).
… She is the Immaculata, who receives
God’s gift unconditionally and is thus associated with his work of salvation
(SC, 33).
Now,
my friends in Jesus and Mary, it is our turn to manifest our love for our
Mother and our desire to see her solemnly crowned on earth for what she is
already crowned in heaven.
Following
the example of these heroic Marian cardinals and bishops, let us manifest our
minds and hearts to our Holy Father for the solemn papal definition of Our
Lady’s spiritual motherhood as Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces, and
Advocate. Please send a brief personal note to Pope Benedict, expressing your
own heartfelt desire for the fifth Marian Dogma of Mary as the Spiritual Mother
of all peoples. Your personal petition can be in any form that you
would like to express, from your heart, concerning your desire to have our Holy
Father solemnly proclaim Our Lady as the world’s Spiritual Mother. The Holy Father’s postal address is:
His
Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI
Apostolic Palace
00120 Vatican City
(Europe)
For
those who do not feel comfortable writing their own brief note to Pope
Benedict, they may use a lay version of the petition that the Fatima symposium
cardinals and bishops presented to the Holy Father (which can be found at the
end of this article). You may also obtain this petition form by downloading it
from the home page of either www.motherofallpeoples.com or www.voxpopuli.org.
During
this upcoming Marian month of May, please consider dedicating the month, out of
love for our common Mother, to the spreading of this movement for petitioning
our Holy Father for the fifth Marian dogma to your friends, parishes, your
prayer groups, or at any appropriate Eucharistic or Marian celebration.
My
friends, our Holy Father is truly the Vicar of Jesus on earth. Open your hearts to him as a spiritual
child. Let him know that you continue
to pray and long for the Dogma of Mary Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix, and
Advocate. If you previously signed a
petition to Pope John Paul II, you can tell him that, too, but that you also
want him to know personally that your desire for our Mother’s roles to be
solemnly proclaimed remains present in your heart and in your prayers.
Without
the papal definition of Mary as the Spiritual Mother of all Peoples, the
Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces, and Advocate, the historic and
universal Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary which was prophesied at
Fatima, will not, we believe, take place.
The Heavenly Father wills that his Immaculate Virgin Daughter be
properly recognized by humanity for the role, which she played with Jesus in
the Redemption—then, and only then, will the full bountiful graces of an “era
of peace” be granted to the world.
Moral
degeneration, natural disaster, and regional war and terrorism increase in our
world experience by the year. We need a new Pentecost. We need a new heavenly release of grace and
peace. We need the peace that only God
can provide for our world through our Lady.
We need the Dogma.
Please
take just a few minutes during the month of May which honors our Most Blessed
Mother and send a petition, personal or form, to our Holy Father, Pope Benedict
XVI, and with the utmost filial respect and love ask him to prayerfully
consider proclaiming the fifth Marian Dogma for the sublime benefit of the
Church and of the world, which remains in a state of serious crisis.
Spread
the word of this international petition effort for Our Lady as the Holy Spirit
leads you.
Thank
you for your potential “fiat” to Our Mother, Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix, and
Advocate. May She forever keep you and
yours tightly wrapped in her Immaculate mantle of grace, redemption, and peace.
In the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Dr. Mark Miravalle
Professor of Theology and Mariology
Franciscan University of Steubenville
April 25, 2007
Feast of St. Mark
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------