VIRGIN MARY IS THE PERFECT MODEL OF THE CHURCH – POPE LEO XIV
Photo Source: The Catholic Leader
The Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, during the General Audience held on May 13 at St. Peter’s Square, described the Blessed Virgin Mary as the perfect model of the Church, both as Mother and faithful member of the ecclesial community.
The Audience coincided with the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, a day celebrated by Catholics worldwide in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s apparitions at Fatima.
In his catechesis, Pope Leo XIV explained that the Virgin Mary, as Mother of the Church, teaches all the faithful to love, serve, and remain committed to the Church community.
Quoting from the Second Vatican Council’s 1964 Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen gentium, the Holy Father stated:
“In the Mother of the Lord, the Church contemplates her own mystery, not only because she finds in Her the model of virginal faith, maternal charity, and the spousal covenant to which she is called, but also and above all because in Her she recognizes her own archetype, the ideal figure of what she is called to be.”
The Pope invited Christians to reflect deeply on their relationship with the Church and with the Blessed Virgin Mary, asking:
“Do I live my participation in the Church with humble and active faith? Do I recognize in her the community of the covenant that God has given me to respond to His infinite love? Do I feel that I am a living part of the Church, in obedience to the pastors given by God? Do I look to Mary as a model, an outstanding member and Mother of the Church, and ask Her to help me be a faithful disciple of her Son?”
Pope Leo XIV further emphasized that Mary is “the mother of the whole Church,” who continually brings forth children in Christ. He reminded the faithful that they can always turn to her with filial confidence, assured of her protection, love, and intercession.
Revisiting the teachings of Lumen gentium, the Pontiff encouraged all Christians to recognize Mary as “the model and the pre-eminent member and mother of the entire ecclesial community.”
He explained that through God’s grace, Mary became the one who brought Jesus Christ into the world through her profound faith and virginal love. According to the Holy Father, Mary remains:
“the perfect model of what the Church is called to be: a creature of the Word of the Lord and mother of the children of God, begotten in docility to the Holy Spirit.”
The Pope concluded by describing the Blessed Virgin Mary as the “icon of the Mystery,” explaining that in her shines both God’s gratuitous choice and humanity’s free response of faith.
“Mary is therefore the icon of the Mystery, that is, of the divine plan of salvation, once hidden and now revealed in its fullness in Jesus Christ.”
The Holy Father finally invoked the Holy Spirit upon all the faithful, praying for the grace to participate fully in the life of the Church and asking that Holy Mother Church may continue to grow in every believer.
Anita Aryeh,
DEPSOCOM, Accra.
