Day Eight:“…there is great significance to that ‘womanhood’ which was lived in such a sublime way by Mary. In fact, there is present in the ‘womanhood’ of a woman who believes, and especially in a woman who is ‘consecrated’, a kind of inherent ‘prophecy’ (cf. Mulieris Dignitatem, 29), a powerfully evocative symbolism, a highly significant ‘iconic character’, which finds its full realization in Mary and which also aptly expresses the very essence of the Church as a community consecrated with the integrity of a ‘virgin’ heart to become the ‘bride’ of Christ and ‘mother’ of believers. When we consider the ‘iconic’ complementarity of male and female roles, two of the Church's essential dimensions are seen in a clearer light: the ‘Marian’ principle and the Apostolic- Petrine principle (cf. ibid., 27).” (John Paul II, Letter to Women, 11)
The Catechism of the Catholic Church draws from the wealth of John Paul II’s wisdom as well:
#773 In the Church this communion of men with God, in the "love [that] never ends," is the purpose which governs everything in her that is a sacramental means, tied to this passing world. "[The Church's] structure is totally ordered to the holiness of Christ's members. And holiness is measured according to the 'great mystery' in which the Bride responds with the gift of love to the gift of the Bridegroom." Mary goes before us all in the holiness that is the Church's mystery as "the bride without spot or wrinkle." This is why the "Marian" dimension of the Church precedes the “Petrine”.
Today, allow Jesus to attend to your heart. Ask Him to do so. For just as "the Eternal Father Himself accomplished in the holy heart of His beloved daughter, the glorious Virgin Mary, that which He commands all faithful souls to do when He says, 'Put me as a seal upon Thy heart' (Song 8:6). With His own hand He has impressed on her heart a perfect semblance of the divine qualities of His love, which consequently is a perfect image of the sanctity, wisdom, goodness, mercy, benignity, charity, and all the other perfections of the infinite love of the Father."
–St. John Eudes
The Bride of Christ, the Church, is often crying out for His love through her members who are broken and wounded. They are in need of the love of Christ, the Man who was pierced and wounded for His Bride. Lowering Himself for her, Christ not only loves His wounded Bride, but also sees in her the fullness (holiness) she is called to in all her beauty. It is in Christ’s redeeming love that she is perfected and made whole. Therefore, the Bride is invited to respond to this love which is poured upon her. Today let Jesus love you in your weaknesses, pain, and brokenness. Pray that you may love with the heart of Mary, that you may attend to the Heart that longs to be loved by you.
Mary, Queen of Love, pray for us!
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