One of the most beautiful expressions of the spirituality of the Council

The place of Mary in the mystery of the Church is the consequence of her fundamental place in the mystery of Christ, as Theotokos, Mother of God. Based on Scripture and the great Tradition of the Church Fathers and the Saints, the Vatican II Council brought to light the essential relationship between Mary and the Church.

Venerable Paul VI emphasized this point in his great speech at the Council given on November 21, 1964, at the time of promulgation of Lumen Gentium, when he solemnly gave Mary the title of Mother of the Church.

Ten years later, in Marialis Cultus, the same Paul VI gave one of the finest expressions of the spirituality of the Council, saying that "love for the Church will become love for Mary, and vice versa, since the one cannot exist without the other" (#28). The relationship between Mary and the Church is so intimate that it is not possible to love Mary without loving the Church, or to love the Church without loving Mary!

Fr. François-Marie Léthel, ocd

Fr. Léthel is a Discalced Carmelite from the Province of Paris and a professor at the Teresianum Pontifical Theological Faculty in Rome