Dear Father Angelo,

This is the second time I’ve written to you, and first of all I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the precious work you do, not only for your “good advice” but above all because your answers reveal the beauty of friendship with God and the paternal exhortation of those who, for our sake, urge us by every means not to turn away from it. Of this authorship towards us we can only be grateful to the Lord Our God, because he disseminates our lives with people or experiences who, with the help of the Holy Spirit, remind us of the love and tenderness that God has for each of us.

I was reading your answer to the question published on 09/09/2009 about Maria and some considerations arose that I wanted to submit to her.

1. Mary brought Jesus into the world, and just as pastors turned to the Mother to see the Son and be able to worship Him, similarly, to reach Jesus, we too can pass more effectively through the intercession of his Mother to present our praise, thanksgiving, and adoration.

2. What child can resent honoring his mother? If, moreover, in earthly life Mary has been present wherever her Son was present and has suffered the pains of His Passion together with the Son, the more she will now be united with the Son and where He is she will also be present. Am I wrong to think that way? And if in the Holy Mass we bloodlessly relive the sacrifice of Jesus, am I also wrong to believe in the simultaneous presence of Mary at the foot of the altar at the moment of the Consecration?

3. So many times to meditate on the mysteries of God’s Love I find it useful to start from earthly realities: if everything that is created and that is good speaks to us of God and helps us in understanding the mystery of God’s love for man then, starting from earthly realities can I know more the heavenly ones? For example, I imagine a mother who decides to talk to a teacher after her son expresses some discomfort with his school career. Doesn’t the mother try to adapt her son’s language to that of the teacher? Doesn’t she also take into account her son’s knowledge to make requests better? So I think Mary does with us, that she not only presents our prayers to the Son, but also makes them more in accordance with his will and also integrates them with requests that we don’t even think are necessary to us. Is it correct to use this method to delve deeper into celestial realities?

Thank you not only for your work but also for your prayers for our benefit, I too will pray for you and your Brothers

Corrado

Response from the priest

Dear Corrado,

1. I thank you for the good words you have had towards me. I wonder if the Lord will tell me the same at the end of my days too!

2. I confirm the accuracy of everything you have written.

In particular on the second point: not only is Our Lady at the foot of the altar and assisting us, but Jesus, offering his passion to the Father for our redemption, also incessantly offers Mary’s passion.

In fact God gave Mary such a pure and holy heart so that at the foot of the cross she would be united with the new Adam in the act of redemption as the new Eve.

Jesus awaited from Mary this participation in his sorrows, he united her with his passion and made her co-redeeming for all of us.

3. It is true that Jesus on the cross combined the sacrifices, good works and prayers of all men with his sacrifice.

It was the sacrifice made on behalf of all humanity.

But Our Lady was not united with the passion of Jesus only as one of many creatures, or even just as the greatest and holiest of creatures.

No, but she was united in it in a very particular way, because her vocation was all particular.

Mary is at the foot of the cross as the new Eve united with the new Adam.

And just as Eve was the mother of all living in bodily life, so Mary is the mother of all living in grace.

I thank you very much for the prayers you make for me and my brothers.

I assure you of my memory in prayer and bless you.

Father Angelo

Questo articolo è disponibile anche in: Italian