Une Minute avec Marie
Faire connaître et aimer Marie
The Assumption not only tells us that Mary ascended "into Heaven", but also that she does not remain there in a state of blissful inactivity. She listens to her Son, who is "in agony until the end of time" says Blaise Pascal, and earnestly prays that we will follow Him.
Our own hope is to join her some day, not just in reaching eternal happiness with God, but also in bringing it to our fellow human beings.
The truth is, devotion to the Virgin Mary is not an option or marginal tradition. It is not a devotion among a thousand others, but the means we have been given to fully understand who we are and our vocation as human beings, who need a Father and a Mother in heaven.
If we sometimes find this a little childish or naive, so much the better! Let us rejoice, for this proves that we are not dried-up ideologues, and it reminds us that it is to children and the simple-minded that the Kingdom has been promised (Matthew 18:1-5).
Dr. Jean Duchesne
Emeritus Professor of English at Condorcet College in Paris. A founder of the French edition of Communio, he was Cardinal Lustiger’s Special Adviser and is now his literary executor. He is part of the Oasis Scientific Committee and of the Observatory for Faith and Culture of the Episcopal Conference of France, and directs the Catholic Academy of France.