The starting point of our reflection cannot but be chapter VIII of the Constitution Lumen Gentium which, by the way, was promulgated exactly 40 years ago this year. Its scope was emphasized by Paul VI with the following words: "It is the first time (...) that an ecumenical Council produces such a broad synthesis of Catholic doctrine concerning the place that the most Holy Mary has within the mystery of Christ and the Church" (Closing speech at the III session of Vatican II, November 21, 1964).

The Council’s outlook guides us in understanding that it is not possibile to speak about Christ, or even about His mystical body, without mentioning the Virgin Mary. For sure, the New Testament’s demureness in presenting the person and mission of the Lord’s Mother cannot be mistaken for a sign of her irrelevance. Instead, Mary has been decisive in proclaiming the truth of God made flesh and, therefore, the foundation of His entire scheme of redemption. If, on the one hand, speaking about Christ and the Chruch naturally leads us to Mary (just think about the Christological meaning of the definition of divine maternity at the Council of Ephesus of 431), on the other hand, talking about Mary’s role immediately leads us to Christ and the Church: the well-known maxim "ad Iesum per Mariam" can be accompanied by "ad Ecclesiam per Mariam", in the light of the Council’s approach. If this were not so, our devotion towards the Virgin Mary would be false, and it would be based only on our personal interpretation, and not on biblical revelation and on the ecclesial tradition of both Eastern and Western Churches.

Due to her relationship with the Church - of which she is both mother and daughter, image and mirror - Mary brings light to God’s People as a whole and to its individual members, with their respective charism, mission, condition, status, purpose… Saint Ambrose, speaking about consecrated virgins, already used to say that Mary’s life "is a rule of conduct for everyone" and not only for those who publicly devote their lives to the sequela Christi with undivided love. Actually, there is no category of believers which, by way of principle, can claim to be closer to her than others. Since Mary represents the ultimate "believer": all of Jesus’ disciples can and must identify with her, being aware that their spiritual experience in a way replicates her own. Think about what Jesus Himself said: "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it" (Lk 8:21; Mk 3:35; Mt 12:50).

Therefore, the holiness of Mary’s existence brightens every circumstance in life, since it is defined by inner attitudes which are the very foundation of Christian life, prior to the various vocations exisitng in the Church. Since Mary is the first and most perfect amongst Christ’s disciples, all Christians are invited to look up to her, fully aware that, in order to follow Christ, Mary’s virtues must be cherished: the excellence of Marian life, in order to live in Christ, has been effectively described in John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (16.10.2002). Since faith, hope and charity are the prerequisite of all – and not just one – vocations in the Church, then, by analogy, we might say that Mary’s holiness informs Christian holiness, to the extent that there is no saint who does not traspose the "Marian" profile in his or her "own" holiness.

Actually, the "Marian" profile of Christians’ holiness comes before their devotion to Mary, because it is implicit in Christ’s example. In other words, in order to pledge total allegiance to God, it is simply natural to strive for all those spiritual virtues which shine so remarkably in the Virgin Mary, icon of Christ’s Church. If all saints, in their manifold circumstances (whether they be apostles, martyrs, bishops, priests, deacons, religious or lay people, virgins or married), carry within themselves the reflecion of the Church’s holiness, none of them can declare to be "the purest image of the Church" as we say about Mary (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium 103). In Lumen Gentium 65 we find a remarkable explanation of this concept: "While in the most holy Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she is without spot or wrinkle (cf. Eph 5:27), the followers of Christ still strive to increase in holiness by conquering sin. And so they turn their eyes to Mary, who shines forth to the whole community of the elect as the model of virtues". By the way, the Marian imprint has left a deep mark in the Church, in its identity and mission, as was remarked by John Paul II when he stated that "the Marian dimension of the Church precedes the Petrine".

Just like Mary expresses and reflects the tessera of true faith, she completes and re-echoes the meaning and scope of Christian holiness: who else can state to have "touched" God’s holiness more than she can, to have hosted the Most Holy in her person - spirit, soul and body? Turning our eyes to the All-Holy means, on the one hand, understanding that "holiness" was donated to her: ever since she was first conceived, Mary has been holy because she was freely sancitfied by God; on the other hand, it means understanding that Mary’s holiness is total, selfless, steadfast correspodence with the gift of the three-fold Holy who chose her as his living temple. The gift and the answer which are implied in Mary’s holiness are underlined by the titles that were assigned to her by ecclesial tradition: home of God, abode consecrated to God, temple of God...This mystery is beautifully depicted by the Eastern icon of the Panaghía, where Mary is portrayed in a praying stance, with open arms, and carrying on her heart/lap a circle inscribing the sentence "He who the heavens themselves cannot contain": what makes Mary the Panaghía is He whom she has hosted in herself, the Holy Son of God, visible face of the invisible Father who is in heaven; and all this happened thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit and her docility in accepting her lot.

Mary is freely accepted holiness received by grace; it is witnessed and radiated holiness, shared with everyone, without any exception or preference. Through her we have received the Holy One who sanctifies our souls.

However, if we accept the fact that Mary’s holiness does not concern only priests, or lay or religious people, we should also add that priests cannot find inspiration in their lives and ministry without referring to the All-Holy.

In this respect, I would like to elaborate on the topic of priests’ Marian spirituality, emphasizing some aspects which are not limited to the importance of cherishing our piety towards Mary, but are essential in order to fully experience the mystery that the Holy Spirit has spread in our hearts and placed in the hands of priests.

In the teachings of the Presbyterorum Ordinis, n. 18, we read that the holiness of priests thrives on the sacramental economy, which vitally unites them with Christ in all aspects of their lives, following Mary’s example and in communion with her: "In order that, in all conditions of life, they may be able to grow in union with Christ, priests, besides the exercise of their conscious ministry, enjoy the common and particular means, old and new, which the Spirit never ceases to arouse in the People of God and which the Church commends, and sometimes commands, (54) for the sanctification of her members. Outstanding among all these spiritual aids are those acts by which the faithful are nourished in the Word of God at the double table of the Sacred Scripture and the Eucharist. (55) The importance of frequent use of these for the sanctification of priests is obvious to all. The ministers of sacramental grace are intimately united to Christ our Savior and Pastor through the fruitful reception of the sacraments, especially sacramental Penance, in which, prepared by the daily examination of conscience, the necessary conversion of heart and love for the Father of Mercy is greatly deepened. Nourished by spiritual reading, under the light of faith, they can more diligently seek signs of God's will and impulses of his grace in the various events of life, and so from day to day become more docile to the mission they have assumed in the Holy Spirit. They will always find a wonderful example of such docility in the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was led by the Holy Spirit to dedicate herself totally to the mystery of man's redemption. (56) Let priests love and venerate with filial devotion and veneration this mother of the Eternal Highpriest, Queen of Apostles and Protector of their own ministry.".

From this text, we can infer how the Marian devotion which is required of priests is not determined by deviotionalist inclinations, but it is rooted in the sacrament they have received: priests are entirely consecrated to the mystery of the Redeeming Christ by the Spirit which has descended upon them. In order to promptly respond to their vocation, priests must worship and love Mary with filial devotion and veneration, according to the Council’s urgings. The adjective "filial" deserves further consideration, since it qualifies an essential bond which precedes and inspires Marian devotion itself: it is not a chivalrous tribute to a woman (Madonna), nor superficial and inconsequential sentimentalism, but rather it is obedience to the gift of Christ, according to the mutual entrustment-acceptance established bewtween Mary and the beloved disciple, in accordance with the last will and testament of our Savior. (cf. John 19:25-27). As a matter of fact, "filial" love for the Lord’s Mother, being an extension of the love felt for her by her divine Son, must possess all the features that Christ’s filial love had: He who, ever since the Incarnation, was the first one to say to Mary "totus tuus". In this respect, for those who are more sensitive to Marian spirituality, the term "filial" does not refer to the optional character of love, since it is an objective feature of being disciples-brothers of Jesus.

We know that when Jesus entrusted Mary to the care of his beloved disciple, this action did not concern only the apostle John: from that moment on she became the mother of all disciples. But since we are dealing with a relationship between individuals, we understand why Mary expresses her motherhood with respect to every child, as seen in his/her originality. Therefore priests, as ordained ministers, must be aware of the bond which joins them to Mary for her role and their role in the mystery of Christ and the Church. She who consecrated all of herself to the work of the Savior, is a founding inspiration for those who consecrate their lives in the ordained ministry to proclaim and implement God’s redeeming plan.

We should not forget that Mary is not only a model of donation to the Savior and the redeemed, but, being a Mother, she is the matrix which generates priests, who welcome her and love her with "filial" love, following the example of her Son, Jesus. Priests, due to their peculiar status, are called upon by Jesus to welcome Mary in their lives and ministry; therefore they must be prepared to introduce her within the entire realm of their beings and actions, since they are ministers acting in persona Christi. To some extent, the effectiveness of the priestly ministry is influenced by the "filial" attitude which joins priests to the Mother of God, in compliance with our Savior’s supreme will.

Along these lines, the Holy Father has talked about Mary, Mother of priesthood, Mother of priests, urging ordained minsters to feel obliged to comply with Christ’s last will: "In fact, the beloved disciple, who, as one of the Twelve, had heard in the Upper Room the words "Do this in memory of me", was given by Christ on the Cross to his Mother, with the words: "Behold your son". The man who on Holy Thursday received the power to celebrate the Eucharist was, by these words of the dying Redeemer, given to his Mother as her "son". All of us, therefore, who receive the same power through priestly Ordination have in a certain sense a prior right to see her as our Mother. And so I desire that all of you, together with me, should find in Mary the Mother of the priesthood which we have received from Christ".

In this framework, the Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests, published by the Congregation for the Clergy in 1994, states as follows: "Priestly spirituality could not be considered complete if it were to fail to include the message of Christ's words on the Cross, in which He conferred his Mother to the beloved disciple, and, through him, to all priests called to continue his work of redemption" (n. 68).

The "filial" bond with Mary, while it allows priests to experience her motherly presence, also teaches them how to live their ministry in docility towards the Holy Spirit, imitating her role as the "bearer of Christ" for the world. On this specific point, the following excerpt from Lumen Gentium, which describes the light emanating from Mary’s "motherhood" as bringing light to all those who have been summoned to the ministry of regenerating men in God’s holiness – i.e. priests – is particularly enlightening: "The Virgin in her own life lived an example of that maternal love, by which it behooves that all should be animated who cooperate in the Apostolic mission of the Church for the regeneration of men" (n. 65).

As a commentary to this thought, the Holy Father John Paul II wrote in the Letter to Priests on Holy Thursday 1988: "May the Mother of God, become more and more a part of our priestly consciousness… We need to deepen once again this mysterious truth of our vocation: this "spiritual fatherhood" which on the human level is similar to motherhood… Thus we are speaking of a characteristic of our priestly personality that expresses precisely Apostolic maturity and spiritual "fruitfulness… Each of us should allow Mary to dwell "within the home" of our sacramental priesthood, as mother and mediatrix of that "great mystery" (cf. Eph 5:32) which we all wish to serve with our lives".

Of course, the work of the Holy and Sanctifying Spirit involves both the Father, "fountain of all holiness, and the Redeeming Son: the Ghost "proceeds from the Father to the Son", as we profess in the Symbolum. But it also implies Mary, as we can see from the pages of the New Testament. The Virgin, together with the Spirit, stands out at the time of the Incarnation and of the Pentecost, which are the beginning and outcome of the mysterium salutis performed by Christ: the Son of the Almighty became flesh in the Virgin’s womb to effuse his creating Spirit on every creature. If the effusion of the Holy Spirit in the Incarnation and the Pentecost implies Mary’s presence (Mother of Christ the Head in Nazareth – Mother of the Church, body of Christ, in the Last Supper), this cannot be devoid of meaning: we realize that her motherly assistance is in some way involved in the relentless sanctification that Christ’s Spirit performs in His disciples’ lives. And this happens according to two dimensions:

* The former refers to Mary’s mission regarding us: if we are joined to the Most Holy through undeserved grace, it is also thanks to Her who has donated Him to us. "She conceived, brought forth and nourished Christ. She presented Him to the Father in the temple, and was united with Him by compassion as He died on the Cross. In this singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the work of the Savior in giving back supernatural life to souls. Wherefore she is our mother in the order of grace" (Lumen Gentium 61).

The implications of Mary’s association with the Redeemer’s work are expounded by Cyril of Alexandria as follows: "For you, Mary, believers achieve the grace of the holy baptism...For you the apostles have preached salvation to the world". Along the same lines, we might add: "For you, Mary, the grace of the Order’s sacrament is bestowed; for you, priests are what they are; for you, priests perform the ministry of the sanctification of Christ’s limbs".

In the holy ordination, by which those who receive the sacrament conform to Christ Highpriest, we can glimpse a Marian reflection. Just like it is unthinkable to separate Christ’s priesthood from Mary’s cooperation, who donated Him "the flesh and blood" for the sacrifice of the new and eternal covenant, therefore we must conclude that the bond between Mary and priests is ordained so that they can become an offering which is pleasing to God.

* The latter dimension concerns our relationship with the All-Holy: in order to really be united with the Most Holy, we draw close to Mary so that we might learn, from her, how to live the holiness of the faith in the Church. This is what the Apostles did in the Last Supper, together with the Mother of God who implored "by her prayers the gift of the Spirit, who had already overshadowed her in the Annunciation" (LG 59). Ever since that fifiteth day from the dawn of the Son’s resurrection, Mary keeps finetuning the prayer of the Christian comunity, invoking the Sancitfying Spirit on the ministry of priests, teaching them how to welcome Him every day, with dignity, docility and perseverance.

The Marian spirituality of so many Holy priests prompts us to welcome Mary in our lives, which means leaving her enough space so that she, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can reproduce the living Jesus Christ in our souls. "Let us cast ourselves into Mary, like wax in a mold, to be exactly like Christ", Montfort would still tell priests nowadays. Paul VI himself expressed the same concept as follows: "Mary is the marvelous model of total devotion to God; for us She is not only the example, but also the guarantee to always be true to the consecration by which we have dedicated our entire lives to God".

To the question "What does Mary say to priests", it is easy to answer referring to the simple - albeit important - words she said to the servants during the wedding of Cana: "Do whatever he tells you" (John 2:5). Connecting these words with the ones Jesus said during the Last Supper - "Do this in memory of me" - is quite evocative. Being truly devoted to Mary essentially means obeying Christ in an existential way, allowing Him to "relive" in our persons and our priestly ministry. Briefly speaking, Mary reminds us to beahve according to the vocation we received through the imposition of hands in a motherly way, which means to always cherish the memory of the holy mysteries we celebrate at the altar in persona Christi in our daily lives.

Heeding Mary’s urgings: "Do whatever Jesus tells you", for us priests means letting the Mother of the Highest and Eternal Priest form our spirit: she educates us to holiness and is always with us along the way; she summons us to convert to holiness; she introduces us to the communion with Christ in the Church.

In order to be fruitful, love, contemplation, prayer and praise to Mary must lead us to "imitate her virtues", as is recalled in Lumen gentium 67. From her we learn: the beatitude of faith; the peace of mind to be driven by the here I am, even when everything is not clear; how to persevere in the vocation we received, of which we are but humble servants and not masters; the missionary spirit by which we are always ready to bring Christ to our bretheren, just like she did when she went to visit Elizabeth; the Eucharistic attitude of the Magnificat; how to cherish in our hearts our meditations on words and deeds; the receptive silence before the mystery which is beyond us; the strength to embrace with joy the suffering of Easter; love for the Body of Christ which is the Church. A summary of the fruits which are brought to priests by the acceptance of Mary as Mother and spiritual Mistress is provided by n. 68 of the Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests published by the Congregation for the Clergy: " The Blessed Virgin then becomes the Mother who leads them to Christ, who makes them sincerely love the Church, who intercedes for them and who guides them toward the Kingdom of heaven. Every priest knows that Mary, as Mother, is also the most distinguished modeller of his priesthood, since it is she who moulds the priestly soul, protects it from dangers, from routine and discouragement, and maternally safeguards it, so he may grow in wisdom, age and grace, before God and men (cf Lk 2:40). But they are not devout sons if they do not know how to imitate the virtues of Mary. The priest will look to Mary to be a humble, obedient and chaste minister and to give testimony of charity in the total surrender to God and to the Church".

Like other things, Marian spirituality needs time to develop and mature. I am thinking about formation in seminaries and learning institutions, and life-long education for the clergy.

In order to live in communion with Mary and follow her example, we must know the mystery, cherishing a Marian spirituality which is detached from unjustified maximalist and minimalist attitudes, in tune with the place that the Lord’s Mother must have within the priestly experience, learning how to rediscover the "Mystery" from her, so that it can then be spread, in order to transfuse the holy mysteries into men’s existence.

Mary’s holiness is open to the mystery of God, the Church, Mankind and the inseparabile communion with the Eternal in the heavenly Jerusalem. In this Congress, the different and complementary features of holiness have been emphasized, namely: Trinitarian, Christological, pneumatological, ecclesial, Eucharistic, Apostolic. At this point, I wonder: can Mary be considered as a "compendium" who re-echoes all these dimensions in her holiness? This is why we, as priests, aware that she is the "matrix" of our priesthood, must love her with filial love and help others to grow in this love.