The Second Vatican Council's dogmatic constitution on the Church Lumen Gentirim (1964) assigned its last and longest chapter like a crown to a treatment of Mary's role in the plan of salvation and in the mystery of the Church, as the mother of the Incarnate Word and equivalently of the Mystical Body. Rather than considering her in herself the Council Fathers gave us the authentic teachings of the Church regarding Mary by presenting her in relation to Christ and the Church, in an integration of mariology with ecclesiology in the light of Christology. This reorientation of the way we perceive Mary, after the initial hiatus, has brought a more real mariology into currency and with it a more real and abiding devotion to her, splendidly assisted by Paul VI's Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus (1974) and John Paul II's Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Mater (1987) and other statements.

As the Mother of the Son of God, the beloved daughter of the Father, and the temple of the Holy Spirit, and as the immaculate one assumed into heaven, Mary typifies the communion with God to which humankind is called. As a creature of God's special grace, Mary images the Church as the sacrament of union with God. In her the Church as the icon of intimacy with the Triune God has already achieved the perfection toward which the People of God is on pilgrimage. Mary is truly the model of the Church in her faith and obedience, in her total attentiveness and submission to the Word of God, in her Spirit-filled charity and joy in proclaiming God's wonderful deeds, and in her prayerfulness and unswerving fidelity all the way to the cross. She is the beacon of hope illuminating the way the community of the faithful must tread. Like a mother, Mary is the teacher of Christian life, the one who points the way, the loving one who is already there and who assures us who are still struggling along.

But Mary is not only for the Church the model of virtues, she is also the Church's archetype in the mission of mediating to the world the salvation in Christ. If the Church is the sacrament of salvation in Christ, Mary in her divine maternity is indeed a unique partner and instrument of God's saving design. Without taking away anything from nor adding anything to the dignity and efficacy of Christ our one Mediator, Mary in the order of grace continues to care and intercede for the salvation of us all. In her subordinate role in the plan of salvation, Mary inspires the Church to the same faithfulness and self-realization in grace.

That is why the Church in contemplating Mary in connection with Christ Jesus and with God's People cannot but burst out in praises to God for her and in a rich variety of loving devotions to her. Perfected in the love of God, Mary is the Mother of Jesus Christ and our mother too. The Church proceeding from true faith discovers in Mary her own original image in accordance to God's will.