you are our mother

This is a beautiful Marian prayer by one of the greatest popes of the XX century, whose memory today is unfortunately maligned by those who could not accept the changes he had brought upon the Church; and "forgotten" due to the brilliance and popularity of his predecessor and his successors . Unjustly accused of destroying the Marian traditions of the Church, yet a second look on his writings tell us otherwise. Only a saint, only a man of God would be able to lead the Church during those moments of change and unease.. only a man whose love for the Virgin could write the beautiful Marialis cultus that brought a fresher air and a more ecumenical perspective on the role of the Virgin in the economy of salvation... only a man who deeply loved Jesus and his Church could write Evangelii nuntiandi and Populorum progressio... a man indeed who lived the passion for Christ and for humanity. A man truly to be emulated.

PRAYER OF POPE PAUL VI to the Blessed Virgin Mary
You Are Our Mother

O Mary,
look upon the church,
look upon the most responsible members
of the Mystical Body of Christ
gathered about you to thank you
and to celebrate you as their Mystical Mother.

O Mary,
bless the great assembly of the hierarchical church,
which also gives birth to brothers and sisters of Christ,
the firstborn among redeemed humankind.

O Mary,
grant that this church of Christ,
in defining itself,
will acknowledge you as its most chosen mother,
daughter, and sister,
as well as its incomparable model,
its glory, its joy, and its hope.
We ask you now
that we may be made worthy of honouring you
because of who you are
and because of what you do
in the wondrous and loving plan of salvation.
Grant that we may praise you,
O holy Virgin!

O Mary,
look upon us who are your children,
look upon us who are brothers and sisters,
disciples and apostles and continuation of Jesus.
Make us aware of our vocation and our mission;
may we not be unworthy to take on,
in our priesthood,
in our word,
in the offering of our life
for the faithful entrusted to us,
the representation and personification of Christ.
O you who are full of grace,
grant that the priesthood that honours you
may itself also be holy and immaculate.

O Mary,
we pray to you
for our Christian brothers and sisters
who are still separated
from our Catholic family.
See how a glorious group of them
celebrate your cult with fidelity and love.
See also how among another group,
who are so intent on calling themselves Christians,
there now dawns the remembrance
and the veneration of you,
O most holy Lady.
Call these children of yours to the one unity
under your motherly and heavenly aid.

O Mary,
look upon all mankind,
this modern world in which
the Divine Will calls us to live and work.
It is a world that has turned its back
on the light of Christ;
then it fears and bemoans the frightening shadows
that its actions have created on all sides.
May your most human voice,
O most beautiful of virgins,
O most worthy of mothers,
O blessed among women,
invited the world to turn its eyes
toward the life that is the light of man,
toward you who are the precursor-lamp of Christ,
Who is the sole and the highest Light of the world.
Implore for the world
the true understanding of its own existence;
implore for the world
the joy of living as the creation of God
and hence the desire and the capacity
to converse, by prayer, with its Maker,
whose mysterious and blesses image
it reflects within itself.

Implore for the world
the grace to esteem everything as the gift of God
and hence the virtue to work with generosity
and to make use of such gifts wisely and providently.
Implore peace for the world.
Fashion brothers and sisters
out of persons who are so divided.
Guide us to a more ordered and peaceful society.
For those who are suffering,
today there are so many and ever new ones,
afflicted by current misfortunes,
obtain solace;
and for the dead, obtain eternal rest.
Show yourself a mother to us;
this is our prayer,
O clement, O loving,
O sweet Virgin Mary!

Amen