Mary, All Powerful Suppliant
Fr. Victor Devy, SMM
MARY’s SPIRITUAL MOTHERHOOD is not a mere honorary title, it is a function, an ever active function in this universe of ours. To this day Mary continues not only to communicate spiritual life to all of God’s children but also to protect and foster that same life until it reaches its fulness in Christ.
To express such a unique role many expressions have been coined, such as, distribution of graces, subjective redemption, all powerful intercession, etc. By them we can better understand its extent. St. Louis de Montfort has given us the quintessence of these diverse appellations when he described Mary’s role in redemption in these words: ”God the Father made an assemblage of all the water; and He named it the sea (mare). He made an assemblage of all His graces and He called it Mary (Maria), . . . God the Son has communicated to His Mother all that He acquired, hy His life and His death, His infinite merits anal His admirable virtues … It is by her that He applies His merits to His members hers, and” that He communicates His virtues and distributes His graces.
The power of Mary’s intercession stems from the fact that if is above all a mother’s prayer . . .
God the Holy Spirit has communicated His unspeakable gifts to Mary, His faithful Spouse; and He has chosen her to be the dispenser of all He possesses … and He gives no heavenly gift to men which He does not have pass through her virginal hands..” (T. D. Nos. 23-25)
One will readily understand that if de Montfort uses comparisons it is merely to help us grasp a reality which is far deeper still and full of mystery. I refer to such expressions as, ”mysterious canal,” ”aqueduct,” “hands of Mary,” etc. These metaphors, drawn from our human way of speaking, bear a symbolical character and must not be taken literally and in an altogether materialistic sense because the reality implied is totally spiritual and heavenly.
It may be well to point out, too, that it is altogether advantageous for us to reflect on this aspect of Our Lady’s mediation. The reason is that if we understand it well, we shall be more inclined to place ourselves at her service“, as loving children. If it is true that God reveals Himself to souls who are not seeking Him (Rom, 10:20), it is even more certain that He gives Himself to those who seek Him. So it is with devotion to Mary. At times she reveals herself to souls who do not know her, but she gives herself more especially to those who know her and who strive to place themselves completely under her maternal influence.
Painting: The Virgin at the Annunciation: Carlos Dolci (1653)
This picture of Dolci’s painting that resides in Paris, France today, was selected because it also depicts Our Lady in Prayer, something this article discusses.
Our Lady prays for us and offers up to God the prayers that arise from the earth to her.
In the New Testament
We find in the New Testament many striking examples of the efficacy of Our Lady’s prayers. It is true that for the greater part of her life here on earth, Our Lady was the “Woman wrapped in silence” and that many “great things” God did for her will ever remain a mystery to us, in this vale of tears; but, on the other hand, the facts that have been recorded for future generations in the gospels, have been selected because of their profound significance. One has but to recall such narratives as, the Incarnation, the Presentation in the Temple, the Visitation and the Marriage Feast at Cana. It has been remarked, and justly so, that the prodigious growth of the early Church is more readily understood when we consider the great power of intercession of the Mother of Jesus, she who during those first years was the most eminent member of the Church militant.
Although these recorded events are things of the past, they still live on in their principle. In other words, Mary’s maternal love, which was their principle, still lives on and continues to function to this very day, although under different conditions since she is now in heaven. It is therefore our purpose to seek enlightenment on this most important subject of Mary’s part in the sanctification of souls. That is why we must study the question of the distribution of the graces of redemption in its full, divinely established perspective.
Christ our Mediator
Holy Scripture unceasingly holds up before our eyes what we are before God. It is in Him that we live, and move, and are, as St. Paul reminded the Athenians (Acts 17:28). In God alone is found the perfect and infinite source of all life, both natural and supernatural. “Every perfect gift comes to us from the Father etc. ” (James 1:17). Yes, every perfect gift comes to us from God through the Only and Supreme Mediator that God has constituted between Himself and us —Jesus Christ, Our Lord. He is the only Sovereign Priest, the only Redeemer and Savior. If it pleases Him to join unto Himself ministers and cooperators, none of these possesses the eminent superiority that is His and His alone. In eternal glory, Jesus Christ continues the work He” has already begun while on earth: ”Therefore he is able at all times to save those who come to God through him, since he lives always to make intercession for them.” (Heb. 7:25).
This attitude is also that of the privileged creature Jesus has willed to associate with Himself in His Passion and glory. Mary’s attitude, her sentiments have never for one moment changed either with respect to God, to Christ or to us; she is ever living to intercede for those who wish to draw near to God through His divine Son. Her intercession is all powerful, it is maternal, it is enlightened from on high: she knows, she wills, she can. One could go on multiplying indefinitely the qualificatives of Mary’s mediation, but these three will suffice to stimulate our devotion.
“Enlightened Mediation”
We have said that Our Lady’s intercession is “enlightened from on high”; to understand this one must remember that while yet on earth, Our Lady’s prayers were enlightened only by her simple, unshakable faith; but hence-forth, in glory, enlightened by the limitless and perfect light of the beatific vision, Our Lady prays for us and offers up to God the prayers that arise from the earth to her. We know that perfect beatitude for the souls in heaven comprises the knowledge of anything that may be of interest to them here on earth such as, their family, their friends, their country, their Church, etc. Now, are there any limits to the interest of the Immaculate Heart of Mary? Is there
someone here on earth in whom she is not interested?
No. Her interests are as broad as the world redeemed by Christ; her interests are the interests of the Heart of Jesus Himself. Thus it is that by a ceaseless and ever beatifying contemplation, Mary sees God’s designs over us, over our lives, over our needs. She sees them better than we do (thank God!), and her solicitude can rectify what is imperfect in our prayers and intentions.
“Maternal Mediation”
Our Lady’s intercession is nothing else than a Mother’s prayer. And here we strike at the very roots of Our Lady’s mediation; that which distinguishes her from all other creatures It is her Spiritual Motherhood that gives to her supplications a character of universality in the supernatural life, the like of which can be found in no one else in the whole universe. Both her solicitude for us and her power of intercession extend to all the circumstances and phases of our spiritual life, whether we view it from the standpoint of its origin, its growth, its protection or its fulness. The closing words of de Montfort’s consecration express this limitless confidence in Mary’s intercession in a remarkable way: ”O faithful Virgin, make me in all things so perfect a disciple, imitator, and slave of the Incarnate Wisdom, Jesus Christ thy Son, that I may attain, by thine intercession and by thine example, to the fulness of His age on earth and of His glory in heaven”
All Powerful Mediation
Finally, Mary’s prayer is all powerful. The efficacy of prayer is obviously measured by the intensity of charity and the intimacy between God and a soul. That is why great saints can more readily receive favors from God than ordinary Christians. But Our Lady is not only the greatest of all saints; she has been set apart, both in dignity and in sanctity, above the angels and the elect. The fulness of her charity and the perfect conformity that exists between her prayers and God’s Will, have merited for her, before the throne of God, an influence and power that has been rightly characterized by the name of The All Powerful Suppliant.
If we now recall to mind the formulas used by holy Mother the Church in her public prayers (or those which she recommends for private use), we shall be forced to admit that they are all inspired with this same confidence in the efficacy and universality of Mary’s power of intercession The Church knows that, from her very infancy, all God’s graces have been granted her through Mary because, as St. Bernard says: ”This is lhe will of God Who wished us to have all things Through Mary.”
