Pope
Francis has made Marian devotees and Mariologists smile in the first few days
of his papacy. In his initial actions,
homilies, and addresses, Pope Francis has made it a point to honor the Virgin
Mary. He made a personal pilgrimage to
Santa Maria Maggiore, he has called upon the Holy Spirit through Mary’s
intercession, and he has called Mary Mother of the Church and the Star of
Evangelization. Given his already
expressed Marian piety, it will be interesting to see the continued development
of it throughout his papacy. Since we now
know Pope Francis has a filial love for the Virgin Mary, it would be wise to
look at his Mariological beliefs as Cardinal Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos
Aires. In Part One, I will look at Pope
Francis’s Marian devotion from a wider perspective with material gathered from
the Internet. In Part Two, I will
specifically look at a series of homilies that Cardinal Bergoglio delivered on
an annual basis as Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
Eucharistic
Marian Devotion and Ecclesiology
In
2005, Cardinal Bergoglio addressed the Synod of Bishops with a specific address
on Mary and the Eucharist.[1] In 2008 during the International Eucharistic
Congress held in Quebec City in Canada, Cardinal Bergoglio shared similar
insights into Mary and the Eucharist as he did in 2005. Since nearly 5 years have passed since that
Eucharistic Congress, I did not remember that Cardinal Bergoglio delivered a catechesis,
even though I was an attendee at the Congress.
Whispers in the Loggia provided a link to his catechesis. In it, we find a remarkable reflection on the
connection between Mary and the Eucharist.
Bergoglio
begins by calling Mary the woman of the Eucharistic covenant. He says that if we want to appreciate the richness
of the Church and the Eucharistic, we must not forget Mary. Bergoglio makes an interesting analogy; he
compares Mary to Russian dolls known as nestling dolls or Matryoshkas. These Russian dolls are unique as there are
six dolls, ranging from smallest to largest, and each of the dolls fit into
each other. Bergoglio said that Mary was
like the Russian dolls, and that Our Lady is the smallest of the dolls because
in her we see the mystery of the bond that allows the gift of God to be shared
with the world, the Universal Church and each single soul. Mary is an instrument that gives way to
something greater, namely Jesus, who gives us the Eucharist and the
Church. By making Mary the littlest of
the dolls, we acknowledge her humility as it leads to things much greater.
Cardinal
Bergoglio then reflected on three aspects of Mary and the Eucharist:
accompaniment, trust, and hope. Mary is
a member of the Church. Furthermore she
was present at participated in the Eucharist of the early Church (Acts of the
Apostles). The second attribute of Mary,
trust, is an attitude of abandonment which we see exemplified by Mary’s fiat at
the Annunciation. Thirdly, Bergoglio spoke
of the Eucharistic covenant as hope, that there is something of
anticipation. He uses the analogy of
transforming into new wineskins.
Cardinal Bergoglio reflected on how Mary and the Church are the first
new wineskins of Jesus Christ. He first
points to Mary as being the first Eucharistic image with Jesus contained within
her womb. The Church is also being
transformed into new wineskin because of the covenant the Lord made with her. The Church is holy and pure; she is a
faithful spouse; she is the Mother. Furthermore
Mary was sanctified because she was the source of God’s gift for the world. Similarly God is sanctifying the Church just
as he did his mother.
Just a last Eucharistic,
Mariological, and Ecclesiological reflection, Bergoglio described a Marian and
Eucharistic spirituality as part of the School of Mary. He suggested the Magnificat was the very
program of what Mary teaches us. Mary anticipated
God’s program of salvation; similarly the Eucharist is the anticipation of the
creation of new history. The Eucharist,
he described, is celebrating poverty for the Church and for everyone. It is a sharing of Our Lady’s
spirituality. It seems that Cardinal
Bergoglio was right about the spirituality of Mary being expressed in the Magnificat. Mary’s prayer is a perfect prayer of
thanksgiving after communion. “My soul
proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for
he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.” Mary received Christ into her own life by
becoming the Mother of God. Bergoglio
said that we can ask God for same grace to receive Holy Communion in the same
way Mary received Christ. [2]
It is clear from
Cardinal Bergoglio’s reflections that his ecclesiological views are shaped by
the Eucharist and Mary. Bergoglio
referenced Isaac of Stella in his catechesis, “what is said of the whole Church
is said of Mary, and each individual faithful soul.” Cardinal Bergoglio sought to reflect on this
analogy by comparing Mary and the Church to the Russian dolls and new
wineskins. Bergoglio described Mary as
the bond between Jesus and his bride the Church, between God and each person. If that is Eucharistic, Mariological
ecclesiology, then I do not know what is!
Protectress
During his initial comments after his
papal announcement, Pope Francis invoked Mary’s protection for Pope Emeritus
Benedict XVI and he stated he was going to visit Mary and ask her to protect
Rome. His first speech as Pope hailed Mary’s
role as protectress. This reference to Mary
was not unique, but was one that was used on other occasions. In a letter to the Carmelite nuns of Buenos Aires,
Cardinal Bergoglio closed with “Let us look towards Saint Joseph, to Mary, the
Child, and let us ask with fervor that they will defend the Argentine family in
this moment. … May Jesus bless you, and may the
Blessed Virgin protect you.” [3] Pope
Francis even then used this image of Mary as a protectress. It will be interesting to see how frequently
Pope Francis will use this invocation of Mary’s intercession throughout his
papacy.
A
Model
Mary
is a unique person in the history of salvation.
Unlike Jesus who was a divine person with a human and divine nature,
Mary is one of us. She was a human
person called into relationship with God.
This should make her relatable.
The Apostolic Exhortation Marialis
Cultus focused on the anthropological aspect of Mary’s relationship to
humanity. Paul VI spoke of the
difficulty some have in connecting with Mary because of the modern world. Nevertheless, Paul VI held Mary up as an
individual to be imitated because of her abandonment to God’s will.[4]
In 2006, Cardinal
Bergoglio addressed the issue of Church unity.
A key component to unity he argued was service. To this end, he encouraged bishops to follow
the example of service given by Mary in the gospels. He called Mary “the first disciple, will give us the paternal ‘tenderness’
and the fraternal ‘compassion’ to exhort our people and to exhort ourselves to
make our joy perfect ‘by remaining very united’.”[5] In the first few days of his papacy, Pope
Francis has painted the picture that he wants to unify the Church and calls the
Church to servant leadership. Also
notice another theme that is emerging in Pope Francis’s papacy, that of
fraternity, that is praying for one another as a community of believers,
viewing each other as a brother and sister in Christ. In his papacy, I expect Pope Francis to call
upon this image of Mary again and again.
Concluding Remarks
From the research available through online searches, it seems
that the themes already being embraced by Pope Francis in the first days of his
papacy were themes that were present in his ministry as an archbishop. This first part only looked at one facet of
his Marian devotion. In the second part,
I will be looking at specific addresses given by Cardinal Bergoglio throughout his
years as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, beginning with 1999-2013. The second part of this series will take some
time to research and write, but I would anticipate its publication next weekend
(hopefully). These same initial themes will be found in his other Mariological reflections; these reflections will however allow us to look at a consistent development and more specific topics. So until then, let us
continue to look at the current Marian thoughts of Pope Francis in the
beginning days of his papacy.
[1] C.f. The future Pope Francis on the Eucharist and Mary,
Catholic Culture, March 14, 2013, http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=17309
[4] C.f. Marialis Cultus, 29-37.
