Why the Church calls Mary “the Gate of Heaven”

In her great wisdom, the Church, who is an expert in humanity, offers words that give great hope to the faithful for the crucial hour ("Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now and at the hour of our death"). But praying Mary in this way does not constitute a nostalgic regression towards a childish state. On the contrary, it is a projection towards a future where we know that our Mother has preceded us and is now awaiting us.

If we pray to Mary at the hour of our death, it is also because she alone, since the day of her Assumption, has joined her Son Jesus in the glory of heaven with her body and soul. This is why she is able to welcome us as a "good hostess" in Paradise.

Mary totally fulfilled the course of a human destiny. She precedes us, awaits us, and we hope that she will welcome us. That is why the liturgy of the Church calls her "the Gate of Heaven that always remains open" and begs us to look at the star to reach the haven of all happiness.

Fr. Guillaume de Menthière

Excerpt from the book Je vous salue Marie (Hail Mary), Paris 2000