"God sent His Son born of a woman." Gal. 4:4 The first devotion that we find in the Church”, Blessed Alberione said, is the devotion to the Queen of Apostles, as portrayed in the Cenacle. “It lessened a bit and became obscure with the passing of centuries. You have the sweet mission of gathering the faithful around Mary, Queen of the Apostles. You are to reawaken this devotion. . . . Let us return to the sources. At the sources we find Mary, Queen of the Apostles, and if it was so at the beginning of the Church, there is nothing more certain than to draw from the ancient Faith. The water is purer when it is taken from its source.”
Alberione saw Mary as a mother who cares about everything that concerns her children. “The Pauline Family strives to live fully the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life, in the spirit of St. Paul, under the gaze of the Queen of Apostles.” Living under Mary’s gaze--this is the essence of Alberione’s Marian spirituality. Living under someone’s gaze means living in that person’s presence. For Alberione, Mary is present in the life of each Christian through every stage, from birth to death. Because presence implies relationship, living in someone’s presence means being in a relationship with that person. Mary’s presence is an active force. Marian devotion makes her present in our lives, set within the context of what Alberione called the “pact” with the Lord. The pact or covenant was first at the beginning of the institute, when scanty resources had to meet great demands. The pact was rooted in a spirit of faith that God will supply all our needs--material as well as spiritual. In extending this pact to Mary, Alberione wrote:
“Today,” Alberione wrote, “something must be done between us and Our Lady, a kind of pact must exist between her and us. I looked for something in this regard that would express well what I would like to tell you, and it seems to me that this is the most fitting: ‘Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm’ (Song 8:6). It is a seal of love, a strong seal, because love is strong as death. It would be good for us to reflect on this thought, which tells us what our devotion to Mary most holy should be. To set Mary as a seal upon our heart and upon our arm means to set devotion to Our Lady as a seal upon our whole life, to live in such a way that she is always before us, presiding over our studies, our spiritual work, our apostolate: that she be always present in our entire life.”
Marian spirituality has one purpose, to bring people to Jesus: He who is the Way, the Truth and the Life; He who is Teacher, Priest, Victim, God! “God willed us to have everything through Mary.” Jesus is the Apostle: “We have our high priest and apostle, Jesus Christ” (Heb 3:1). Mary is the apostle with Christ, in dependence on Christ, sharing in the apostolate with Christ. The Christian life begins at baptism and grows ‘until Christ is formed in you’” (Gal 4:19).
The main goal of our life is that Christ be formed in us to the point where we can say “It is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me” (Gal 2:20). Mary plays a key role. Just as she formed Jesus in her womb, bringing the Word Incarnate into the world, so she forms Jesus in us. Mary “brought forth” the Savior--in Latin, edidit. Mary then was the “editor” who brought forth the life of Christ in us. Alberione chose the word editions to describe the work he was doing--the apostolate of the editions. He wrote: The first edition: from all eternity the heavenly Father is the “Editor” of the Son. . . . The divine Son is the “Editor” of the Gospel. . . . The Holy Spirit is the Author and “Editor” of Sacred Scripture. The second edition: Mary “edits” the Word become man. Mary was the teacher of Jesus and then of all Christians. Mary was the teacher and also the first disciple of Jesus: Mary is our teacher in association with, in dependence on and in relation to Jesus Christ. Because she was a disciple, she became a teacher. In Mary there were the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge. To Mary, Alberione declared: “You gave the world the book to read, the Eternal Word.”
(Excerpts from “On Alberione and Mary by Sr. Marianne Trouve, F.S.P. Used with permission.)
Alberione saw Mary as a mother who cares about everything that concerns her children. “The Pauline Family strives to live fully the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life, in the spirit of St. Paul, under the gaze of the Queen of Apostles.” Living under Mary’s gaze--this is the essence of Alberione’s Marian spirituality. Living under someone’s gaze means living in that person’s presence. For Alberione, Mary is present in the life of each Christian through every stage, from birth to death. Because presence implies relationship, living in someone’s presence means being in a relationship with that person. Mary’s presence is an active force. Marian devotion makes her present in our lives, set within the context of what Alberione called the “pact” with the Lord. The pact or covenant was first at the beginning of the institute, when scanty resources had to meet great demands. The pact was rooted in a spirit of faith that God will supply all our needs--material as well as spiritual. In extending this pact to Mary, Alberione wrote:
“Today,” Alberione wrote, “something must be done between us and Our Lady, a kind of pact must exist between her and us. I looked for something in this regard that would express well what I would like to tell you, and it seems to me that this is the most fitting: ‘Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm’ (Song 8:6). It is a seal of love, a strong seal, because love is strong as death. It would be good for us to reflect on this thought, which tells us what our devotion to Mary most holy should be. To set Mary as a seal upon our heart and upon our arm means to set devotion to Our Lady as a seal upon our whole life, to live in such a way that she is always before us, presiding over our studies, our spiritual work, our apostolate: that she be always present in our entire life.”
Marian spirituality has one purpose, to bring people to Jesus: He who is the Way, the Truth and the Life; He who is Teacher, Priest, Victim, God! “God willed us to have everything through Mary.” Jesus is the Apostle: “We have our high priest and apostle, Jesus Christ” (Heb 3:1). Mary is the apostle with Christ, in dependence on Christ, sharing in the apostolate with Christ. The Christian life begins at baptism and grows ‘until Christ is formed in you’” (Gal 4:19).
The main goal of our life is that Christ be formed in us to the point where we can say “It is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me” (Gal 2:20). Mary plays a key role. Just as she formed Jesus in her womb, bringing the Word Incarnate into the world, so she forms Jesus in us. Mary “brought forth” the Savior--in Latin, edidit. Mary then was the “editor” who brought forth the life of Christ in us. Alberione chose the word editions to describe the work he was doing--the apostolate of the editions. He wrote: The first edition: from all eternity the heavenly Father is the “Editor” of the Son. . . . The divine Son is the “Editor” of the Gospel. . . . The Holy Spirit is the Author and “Editor” of Sacred Scripture. The second edition: Mary “edits” the Word become man. Mary was the teacher of Jesus and then of all Christians. Mary was the teacher and also the first disciple of Jesus: Mary is our teacher in association with, in dependence on and in relation to Jesus Christ. Because she was a disciple, she became a teacher. In Mary there were the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge. To Mary, Alberione declared: “You gave the world the book to read, the Eternal Word.”
(Excerpts from “On Alberione and Mary by Sr. Marianne Trouve, F.S.P. Used with permission.)
TRUTH Read Gal. 4.4 Mary is God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. She is Mother of God—Theotokos. The Council of Ephesus decreed in 431 that Mary is Theotokos because her son Jesus is one person who is both God and man, divine and human.
WAY Meditate The main goal of our life is that Christ be formed in us to the point where we can say “It is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me” (Gal. 2:20). Just as Mary formed Jesus in her womb, bringing the Word Incarnate into the world, so she forms Jesus in us. Mary “brought forth” the Savior. Mary then is the “editor” who brings forth the life of Christ in us.
LIFE Pray Marian spirituality has one purpose, to bring us to Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life. “God willed us to have everything through Mary” (Alberione). Jesus is the Apostle: “We have our high priest and apostle, Jesus Christ” (Heb 3:1). Mary is the apostle with Christ, in dependence on Christ, sharing in the apostolate with Christ. The Christian life begins at baptism and grows ‘until Christ is formed in you’” (Gal. 4:19).
LIVE Act “The first to open her heart and contemplate 'the Word made flesh' was Mary, the Mother of Jesus. A humble girl of Galilee thus became the 'Seat of Wisdom'. Just like John the apostle, each of us is invited to welcome her into our homes in order to know Jesus more deeply and to feel His faithful and inexhaustible love” (Benedict XVI). Just like St. Paul and Alberione we welcome Mary as our Mother, Teacher and Queen of Apostles. Mary presents Jesus to us. The ancient hymn in Paul’s letter (Phil 2:2) is an invitation to live his kenosis, his emptying. He who took on our very nature transforms us into the icon or “likeness of Christ”. Jesus reveals and communicates to us “the true ‘face’ of the good and faithful God who loves us and does not abandon us, not even in death” (Benedict XVI). Mary goes in haste with this news and to be of service to her cousin Elizabeth. In our daily visitations we carry Jesus to others. This is an indispensable element in Pauline life. Meditate on the second joyful mystery of the rosary for inspiration and grace as you encounter people with the gospel in your daily life.
PRAYER
Mary, you had faith in the incarnation of the Son of God in your virginal womb and you became the Mother of God. Jesus entrusted himself to you from the incarnation to the ascension. I too place myself entirely into your hands. May we meditate on the words of your blessed Son as you preserved them in your heart and meditated on them. Obtain for us the grace to know, imitate and love ever more the Divine Master, Way, Truth and Life. Come, O Jesus, live in us and reign!
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