MARY AND THE CHURCH - III

MARIAN TONE
One of the lesser known but still very important characteristics of the Second Vatican Council is what our present Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, called its "Marian tone". This tone "marked the Council from its beginning". The year after he announced his intention to call the 21st ecumenical council in the Church's history, Blessed Pope John XXIII recommended that the entire Church have "recourse to the powerful intercession of Mary, Mother of grace, to pray for the Council", and he called the Blessed Virgin Mary "the heavenly patroness of the Council". It was on the Feast of the Purification of Mary in 1962, that Blessed John XXIII issued a command that the Council should begin on October 11th, of that year, explaining that he chose that date because it was the anniversary of what the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus did on that date in the year 431 A.D., which was to declare and proclaim that Mary was validly and legitimately to be called "Theotokos" or "Mother of God". In his opening address to the Second Vatican Council Blessed John XXIII said that he "entrusted the Council itself to Mary, the Help of Christians, the Help of Bishops, imploring her motherly assistance for the successful outcome of the Council's work."

Pope John Paul II noted that "the Council Fathers also turned their thoughts expressly to Mary in their message to the world at the opening of the Council's sessions, when they said: We, the successors of the Apostles, joined together in prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, form one apostolic body. Thus, they linked themselves, in communion with Mary, to the early Church awaiting the Holy Spirit (Acts of the Apostles 1:14)." The Holy Father then goes on to say, "The exposition about Mary in chapter eight of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church clearly shows that terminological precautions did not prevent a very rich and positive presentation of basic doctrine, an expression of faith and love for Mary, whom the Church acknowledges as Mother and model."

CANTICLE OF CANTICLES The Book of the Bible called the "Canticle of Canticles" or the "Song of Songs" (which is a Hebrew expression meaning the greatest of all songs) is a poem about ideal human love, describing the depth and sacredness of the married union of a man and woman. However, in the light of the New Testament, Catholic Tradition has always interpreted the message of that Book as mainly talking about the nuptial union between Christ and the Catholic Church, having within it a symbol as well of the union of Jesus and the individual Christian soul and of the Holy Spirit placing the Blessed Virgin Mary in the history of salvation (Matthew 9:15; John 3:29; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23-32; Revelation 19:7).

Father Louis-Francis d'Argenten wrote, "Since it is true that the Holy Church is the well-beloved Spouse of Jesus Christ, Who speaks to her in the sacred Canticle, and similarly that all the souls who make up a part of this Church may speak to Him as the whole does of which they are a part, it is most certain that the most holy Virgin, who is the first and noblest among the souls that make up the Church, she who has the highest worth in herself alone and who is more beloved by God and more favored with His grace than all the rest of the Church together, is truly that dear Spouse, that dove, that unique and incomparable one to whom the whole Canticle is addressed. That is why the authoritative commentators give three senses to all the words of the Song of Songs: the one concerning the Church in general, the other concerning each soul in particular, and the third, which is apparently the principal one, concerning the most holy Virgin."

Geoffrey of Admont wrote, "All the mysteries of this Book fit perfectly either the Universal Church or each faithful soul in the bosom of the Church, conveying in a spiritual manner the mutual love of Bridegroom and Bride. They nevertheless seem to fit more specially the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, above all souls, was full of special love and grace and deserved above all to be specially loved by the divine Bridegroom."

LINKAGE
Pope Paul VI, who presided over the Second Vatican Council after the death of Blessed John XXIII, linked the thought of the Council with the Canticle of Canticles, joining the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the reality of the Church in his great Apostolic Exhortation entitled "Marialis Cultus". There he called Mary the perfect model of the Catholic Church at worship and prayer. Pope John Paul II remarked that this assertion of his predecessor "is a corollary to the truth that points to Mary as a paradigm for the People of God on the way to holiness."

"That the Blessed Virgin is an exemplar in this field derives from the fact that she is recognized as the excellent exemplar of the Church in the order of faith, charity, and perfect union with Christ, that is, of that interior disposition with which the Church, the beloved Spouse, closely associated with her Lord, invokes Christ, and through Him worships the eternal Father."

Saint Ephrem said the "whole Church rejoices in the Blessed Virgin and participates in her privileges. Together with her the whole Church hears the call of the Bridegroom in the Canticle, Come from Libanus, and she replies, Come let us go forth...across the centuries towards the consummation (Revelation 22:20)."

THE COUNCIL
Pope John Paul II writes, "After proclaiming Mary a "preeminent member", the "type" and "model" of the Church, the Second Vatican Council said: "The Catholic Church, taught by the Holy Spirit, honors her with filial affection and piety as a most beloved mother..... Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, as it always existed, although completely singular, differs essentially from the cult of adoration which is offered to the incarnate Word, as well as to the Father and the Holy Spirit, but is most favorable to that cult, adoring God alone." The Holy Father says, "There is a continuity between Marian devotion and the worship given to God. The honor paid to Mary is ordered to and leads to adoration of the most Blessed Trinity." The Council taught, "The various forms of piety towards the Mother of God, which the Church, within the limits of sound and orthodox doctrine, according to the conditions of time and place and the nature and ingenuity of the faithful, has approved, bring it about that while Mary is honored, her Son, through Whom all things have their being (Colossians 1:15-19)...is rightly known, loved, and glorified and all His commands are observed."