Stefania Falasca, columnist for Avvenire and Vatican correspondent, is the author of volume 25 in the series The Council's Notebooks; the volume is dedicated to Chapter VIII of the dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium on the nature of the Church, which discusses the Virgin Mary.
Virgin Mother
First of all, Mary is the Mother of God. This theme serves as the guiding thread of the chapter that the Council devotes to the Virgin. Lumen gentium affirms the importance of the Madonna in the history of salvation. It states, in fact, that, by God's will, Mary is born free from original sin and that her prompt cooperation with God's plan of salvation makes her the “mother of the living.”
Therefore, her obedience, trust, and motherhood become examples for the Church.
A major innovation
The greatest innovation introduced by the Council in addressing the Madonna consists first and foremost in the fact that a chapter on her was included in the dogmatic constitution on the nature of the Church. Chapter Eight thus marked a crucial turning point in theological reflection on the Blessed Virgin Mary.
After a heated debate, the Council decided not to write a separate document on Mary, in order to show the profound bond between Mary and the Church. Discussion of Mary is no longer presented on its own, as if she occupied an intermediate position between Christ and the Church, but is brought within the context of the Church.
The Church's most excellent member
Mary is seen as the Church's most excellent member, not outside or above it. The two realities illuminate each other. If, in fact, discussion of the Church sheds light on who Mary is, discussion of Mary sheds light on what the Church is, the “body of Christ” and, as such, “almost an extension of the incarnation of the Word.”
Reviving Marian devotion
The Second Vatican Council sought to revive Marian devotion, focusing on Mary as an important part of the salvation brought about by Jesus and highlighting her unique role in the Church's mission. In this way, it sought to foster a Marian devotion that is not superficial, but aimed at embracing Mary's own virtues, as a chosen instrument in building harmony and true brotherhood within the Church.
Mary holds the first place
Thus the Virgin Mary is the new Church, the bride of the Son of God. And the Virgin's motherhood is in every way an image of the motherhood of the Church: “The one whom the Virgin Mary gave birth to, the Church continues to give birth to every day.” Mary is the one who, in the Church, holds the highest place after Christ and is closest to us.
She is the sister and mother of the Church, a title that fully illuminates the meaning of Mary's intimate union with the Church, where she holds the first place in an eminent and singular way.
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