Father Casimir Wyszynski

Marian spirituality , seen in the light of Tradition, which is the spir- ituality to which the Council exhorts us.” 223 We learn from the teaching of the Second Vatican Council that trueMarian devotion “proceeds from true faith, bywhichwe are led to know the excel- lence of the Mother of God and are moved to a filial love for our Mother and to the imitation of her virtues.” 224 It is easy to notice that the Council does not reject multiple forms of piety, but clearly emphasizes the primacy of the imitation of Mary as the fruit of acknowledging her as the Mother of the Lord and the necessity of bestowing our love upon her. In 1967, a fewyears after the Council, St. Pope Paul VI released the exhortation Signummagnum , in which he reflects on Mary’s role in the work of the renewal of Christian life. He indicates that “Mary is the Mother of the Church not only because she is the Mother of Christ […] but also because ‘she shines forth to the whole community of the elect as a model of virtue.’” 225 Her pres- ence in the spiritual life of Jesus’ disciples is notable for her in- tercession and example, “.…but the cooperation of the Mother of the Church in the development of the divine life of souls does not come to an end with appeals to her Son. She exercises on re- deemed humanity another influence: that of example. […] The sweetness and the enchantment emanating from the sublime virtues of the Immaculate Mother of God attracts souls in an ir- resistible way to imitation of the Divine Model, Jesus Christ, of whom she was the most faithful image.” 226 The exhortation Marialis cultus, the task of which was to or- ganize Marian devotion according to the principles indicated by both the Council and the Post-Conciliar development of theology, provides similar teachings. Thus this document states that “the ultimate purpose of devotion to the Blessed Virgin is to glorify God and to lead Christians to commit themsel ves to a life which 223 St. John Paul II, Encyc lical Redempto ris Mater , 48 at w2.vatican.va 224 Lumen gentium , 67 at w2.vatican.va 225 St. Paul VI, Apostolic E xhortation Sig nummagnum , Part I, at w2.vatican.va 226 Ibid. 160 J ANUSZ K UMALA , MIC, P H D