Blessed Among Women, Pray for us

.

MANCINI, Francesco
Rest during the Flight to Egypt

"The marvelous work which the Creator achieved in Mary gives men and women the possibility to discover dimensions of their condition which before were not sufficiently perceived. In beholding the Mother of the Lord, women will be able to understand better their dignity and the greatness of their mission. But men too in the light of the Virgin Mother, will be able to acquire a fuller and more balanced view of their identity, of the family and of society.

Attentive consideration of the figure of Mary, as she is presented to us in Sacred Scripture as read in faith by the Church, is still more necessary in view of the disparagement she sometimes receives from certain feminist currents. The Virgin of Nazareth has, in some cases been presented as the symbol of the female personality imprisoned in a narrow, confining domesticity. Mary on the contrary, is the model of the full development of woman's vocation, since, despite the objective limits imposed by her social condition, she exercised a vast influence on the destiny of humanity and the transformation of society."

"In view of the shameful exploitation that sometimes makes woman an object without dignity, destined for the satisfaction of base passions, Mary reaffirms the sublime meaning of feminine beauty, a gift and reflection of God's beauty.

It is true that feminine perfection, as it was fully realized in Mary, can at first sight seem to be an exceptional case and impossible to imitate, a model too lofty for imitation. In fact, the unique holiness of her who from the very first moment received the privilege of the Immaculate Conception is sometimes considered unreachably distant.

However, far from being a restraint on the way of following the Lord, Mary's exalted holiness is on the contrary, destined in God's plan to encourage all Christians to open themselves to the sanctifying power of the grace of God, for whom nothing is impossible. Therefore in Mary all are called to put total trust in the divine omnipotence, which transforms hearts, guiding them towards full receptivity to his providential plan of love." -- Pope John Paul II Mary Shows Us God's Respect for Women

.