Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel

Mary: Mediatrix of Mercy 169 co-operation in his work o f salvation. Mary carries out this last aspect of her dedication to Jesus ‘under Him,’ that is, in a condi­ tion o f subordination, which is the fruit o f grace. However, this is true co-operation, because it is realized ‘with H im ,’ and beginning with the Annunciation, it involves active participation in the work o f redemption. ‘Rightly therefore,’ the second Vatican Council observes, ‘the Fathers see Mary not merely as passively engaged by God, but as freely co-operating in the work o f man’s salvation through faith and obedience, for, as St. Irenaeus says, she ‘being obedient, became the cause o f salvation for herself and the whole human race’ {Adv. Haer. Ill, 22, 4).2 A year later, in the Holy Father’s Wednesday Audience of 9 April, 1997,3 he explained how this co-operation of the Blessed Virgin in the redemption is “unique and unrepeatable:” However, applied to Mary, the term “co-operator” acquires a specific meaning. The collaboration of Christians in salvation takes place after the Calvary event, whose fruits they endeavor to spread by prayer and sacrifice. Mary, instead, co-operated during the event itself and in the role o f mother; thus her co-operation embraces the whole of Christ’s saving work. She alone was associated in this way with the redemptive sacrifice that merited the salvation of all mankind. In union with Christ and in submission to Him, she col­ laborated in obtaining the grace o f salvation for all humanity. The Blessed Virgin’s role as co-operator has its source in her divine motherhood. By giving birth to the One who was destined to achieve man’s redemption, by nourishing Him, presenting Him in the temple and suffering with Him as He died on the Cross, ‘in a wholly singular way she co-operated ... in the work o f the Savior’ {Lumen Gentium, no. 61). Although God’s call to co-oper­ ate in the work o f salvation concerns every human being, the par­ ticipation o f the Savior’s Mother in humanity’s Redemption is a unique and unrepeatable fact.4 In another Wednesday Audience, after explaining the Blessed Virgin’s “intimate participation in Jesus’ entire life,” the Holy Father paused to reflect on the Virgin’s participation at Calvary: However, the Blessed Virgin’s association with Christ’s mis-