mary

• The Hail Mary is a prayer that is very close to our heart.
• Mary, our mother, can bring us close to her Son, Jesus.
• When we pray the Rosary, we contemplate on this prayer ten times for each mystery.
• The Hail Mary is based on two important events in the fulfilment of the salvation of humankind: the announcement of the birth of Jesus by Angel Gabriel to Mary and the visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth.
• The petition to Mary is contained in the prayer: “Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death”.
• Mary gave her consent in faith at the Annunciation and maintained it without hesitation at the foot of the Cross.
• Mary’s motherhood has extended to the brothers and sisters of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties.
• Jesus, the only mediator, is the way of our prayer; Mary, His mother and ours, is wholly transparent to Him: she “shows the way” (hodigitria), and is herself “the Sign” of the way.
• By His incarnation, the Son of God has united Himself in some fashion with every man, worked with human hands, thought with a human mind, acted by human choices and loved with a human heart.
• Born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus has truly been made one of us, like us in all things, except sin.
• The story of the announcement of the birth of Jesus shows three traits of Mary: Complete Trust in God, Obedience, and Humility.
• Mary’s Fiat, or Complete Trust in God, is shown in her acceptance of the mission to be the mother of the Savior.
• Mary’s Obedience to the will of God is shown in her words, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word”.
• We do not worship Mary because worship is made to God alone, but we ask Mary, our mother, to bring us close to her Son, Jesus.
• As sons and daughters of God and of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our mother, we too, must imitate Mary’s humble response to God’s plan of love.
• Mary is called the Mother of God because through her, the Son of God was given to us, human and divine, True God and True Man.
• The doctrine of Mary being the Holy Mother of God is called Theotokos.
• Mary is always seen in relation to Jesus.
• Mary’s “Yes” or “Fiat” signals her cooperation with the saving work that her Son was to accomplish.
• Mary’s assumption does not alienate her from us, rather it inspires us to be faithful disciples, too, so that we, too, may look forward with hope to that day when we shall be with God, our Father, and with Jesus in heaven.
• Our life will be a pilgrimage of prayer, of charity, and of glorifying God who bestows on us the grace to overcome griefs and to transform our sufferings into occasion of purification and of becoming closer to His Son, Jesus.
• In proclaiming Mary as the Mother of God, we are proclaiming our faith in Jesus Christ as human and divine.
• Mary was instrumental in the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God, "the Word made flesh and made His dwelling among us (Jn 1:14)."
• Mary’s fidelity is rewarded by God when she was assumed to heaven body and soul.
• Mary is the perfect disciple because she remained faithful in following the plan of God for her Son even if she saw Him suffered greatly.
• Mary persevered in her pilgrimage of faith.
• Mary’s Humility is shown in her words, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word”.
• In proclaiming MARY as the Mother of God, we are proclaiming our faith in Jesus Christ, as human and divine.