Among the many titles given to Mary is "Queen of all the Saints". In one of his many reflections on Mary, Saint John Paul II proclaimed: "This woman of faith, Mary of Nazareth, the Mother of God, has been given to us a model of our pilgrimage of faith. From Mary we learn to surrender to God's will in all things. From Mary we learn to trust even when all hope seems gone. From Mary we learn to love Christ, her Son, and the Son of God. For Mary is not only the Mother of God, she is the Mother of the Church as well." (Oct. 6, 1979)
I discovered something which forced me to examine my limited understanding of Mary and my youthful perceptions of Catholic practice which I had picked up from other Christians leery of Catholic piety and practice. I discovered that the early Christian Fathers loved Mary personally. They had a special devotion to her. In fact, some of the most profound of the ancient writings concerning the special role of Mary in the plan of salvation were written in the earliest centuries of the Christian Church.
"By canonizing some of the faithful, i.e., by solemnly proclaiming that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God's grace, the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors. "The saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult moments in the Church's history." Indeed, "holiness is the hidden source and infallible measure of her apostolic activity and missionary zeal." (CCC #828)
Among them all, the "God - bearer", in Greek the Theotokos, the Mother of the Lord, was always given the place of honor at the side of the King of Kings, her Son and Savior Jesus Christ. In the very next paragraph the Catechism explains: "But while in the most Blessed Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle, the faithful still strive to conquer sin and increase in holiness. And so they turn their eyes to Mary - in her, the Church is already the "all-holy." (CCC #829).
