Redemptoris Mater (English)
Overview
Pope John Paul II promulgated Redemptoris Mater (The Mother of the Redeemer) in 1987. The encyclical is a complex exploration of Mariology. The first section, “Mary in the Mystery of Christ,” explains Mary’s role in the divine plan of salvation. The second section, “The Mother of God at the Center of the Pilgrim Church,” discusses Mary’s continuing role as the perfect “mirror” of faith. The pope explains that Mary’s journey of faith becomes one with that of the Church at Pentecost. “Thus, from the very first moment, the Church ‘looked at’ Mary through Jesus, just as she ‘looked at’ Jesus through Mary.” In the third and final section, “Maternal Mediation,” the pope explores Mary as Mediatrix, as the intercessor in unity with both her Son and the pilgrim Church. “Thus, throughout her life, the Church maintains with the Mother of God a link which embraces, in the saving mystery, the past, the present, and the future, and venerates her as the spiritual mother of humanity and the advocate of grace.”
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- Explores Mary’s role in the divine plan
- Examines Mary as the model for the Church
- Discusses Mary as Mediatrix
Top Highlights
“Mary is ‘full of grace,’ because it is precisely in her that the Incarnation of the Word, the hypostatic union of the Son of God with human nature, is accomplished and fulfilled.” (source)
“For the messenger greets Mary as ‘full of grace’; he calls her thus as if it were her real name. He does not call her by her proper earthly name: Miryam (= Mary), but by this new name: ‘full of grace.’” (source)
“The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience; what the virgin Eve bound through her unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosened by her faith.’” (source)
“The maternal role of Mary towards people in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power’:94 it is mediation in Christ.” (source)
“In the mystery of Christ she is present even ‘before the creation of the world,’ as the one whom the Father ‘has chosen’ as Mother of his Son in the Incarnation.” (source)
- Title: Redemptoris Mater
- Author: John Paul II
- Publisher: Libreria Editrice Vaticana
- Publication Date: 1987
John Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyla) (1920–2005) served as Pope for 26 years (1978–2005). In 1942, he felt called to the priesthood and began courses in the clandestine seminary of Krakow. Wojtyla was ordained to the priesthood on November 1, 1946, and shortly after, was sent to Rome where he worked under Garrigou-Lagrange. In 1958, he was appointed as the titular bishop of Ombi and auxiliary of Krakow and in 1964 was appointed as the archbishop or Krakow. Three years later, he was elevated to Cardinal.
In 1978, Karol Wojtyla was elected Pope, where he took on the name John Paul II. As Pope, he was instrumental in ending communism in his native Poland. He significantly improved the Catholic Church’s relationship with Judaism, Islam, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. He has been acclaimed as one of the most influential leaders of the twentieth century.
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