dear father Angelo,

What does the invocation Mystic Rose with which we address Mary in the Loreto Litany mean?

I thank you and greet you

Alessandra

Priest’s response

Dearest Alessandra,

as promised, I will transcribe for you cardinal Newman’s comment on this title given to Mary.

Mystical rose

“Our Lady is the most beautiful flower ever seen in the spiritual world.

It is through the power of God’s grace that all the flowers of holiness and glory have sprung from this arid and desolate land. And Mary is their queen. This is why she is called a rose: because the rose is rightly considered the most beautiful flower of flowers. But there is even more: Mary is the mystical, or hidden, rose, since mystical means hidden. How is Mary “hidden” from us more than other saints? What is the value of this singular title that we apply to her in a special way? The answer to this question leads us to consider a third reason, which justifies the reunion of Mary’s sacred body with her soul and her Assumption into heaven immediately after her death, before the general resurrection on the last day. And it’s this: If her body wasn’t in heaven, where would it be now? How do we explain the fact that the place where it might be remains unknown to us? Why don’t we hear about her tomb as if it were in a specific place? Why aren’t pilgrimages made there? And why are there no relics of her like there are other saints?

A natural instinct makes us reverent towards the places where our dead are buried. We bury great men with much honor. Saint Peter speaks of David’s tomb, still well known in his day, although he had died several centuries earlier. When our Lord was taken down from the cross He was placed in a precious tomb. Great honor was paid to the tomb of Saint John the Baptist, as is clear from the testimony of Saint Mark who speaks of it as a universally known place. Since ancient times, Christians from all over the world have gone to Jerusalem to venerate the holy places. And when the persecutions ended, they paid special veneration to the bodies of the martyrs and saints, as happened to Saint Stephen, Saint Mark, Saint Barnabas, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and the other apostles and martyrs. They took them to the largest cities, exposed them to public veneration and sent their relics to the various Christian communities. From the beginning a great characteristic of the Church has been that of being devout and reverent towards the bodies of the saints.

Now if there was one that should be most venerated and loved, it was the body of the Blessed Virgin. So why do we know nothing about it and its relics? Because she really is the hidden rose. Is it conceivable that those who were so thoughtful and reverent towards the bodies of the saints and martyrs have forgotten the body of her who is the queen of martyrs and saints, and the Mother of the Lord. This is impossible. Why then is Mary the hidden Rose? Only and certainly because her sacred body is no longer on earth, but is in heaven” (see NEWMAN, Mary, p. 211-212).

Don’t you think it is beautiful?

I thank you, I greet you and I bless you and your family.

Father Angelo

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