With the flowers all abloom and the sweet fragrance of roses in the air, it is easy to see how our thoughts and hearts turn to our Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven and of earth. During this month, Catholics, both in church and in the privacy of their own homes, offer up special prayers and veneration to Our Blessed Mother.

Many faithful Catholics have held a special love for the Blessed Mother, and rightly so. She is after all the perfect example of how we are to follow Christ. She completely submitted herself to His Will. She knew that there was going to be pain and sacrifice but she also knew that this was exactly what God desired of her…and even though her humble submission was wrought with agony and immense pain, her heart being pierced with Seven Swords…. She placed all of her trust into the hands of the One Who created her… She gave back to the Lord everything that she was able…

Throughout the centuries many Popes have established devotions and written about the Blessed Mother and her role in the Church. Pope Paul VI proclaimed her to be the “Mother of the Church.” In an excerpt taken from his address we read:

 “The doctrine of the Church presents itself as an exaltation of mankind. And you know where it reaches its summit: in the human creature who possesses within herself, through divine privilege, the fullness of human perfection and who was chosen to give to the Word of God, when He became man for our salvation, our flesh, our nature; to be, that is to say, the Mother of Christ –  God- man- according to the flesh, and our spiritual Mother through the mystical union which makes us brothers in Christ. As we know, Mary has a most singular position. She, too, is a member of the Church; she is redeemed by Christ, she is our sister, but, by virtue of being chosen to be the Mother of the Redeemer of mankind, and because of her perfect and eminent representation of the human race, she has the right to be called, morally and typically, the Mother of all men, and especially ours, of us, the believers and the redeemed, the Mother of the Church, the Mother of the faithful.

“For this reason, beloved sons and daughters, we are happy to announce that we will end this session of the council, which has traced the doctrine of the Church, with the joy of acknowledging to Our Lady the title which she well deserves of Mother of the Church.

It will be this title which will help us to celebrate the Most Holy Mary as the loving Queen of the world, the maternal center of unity, the pious hope of  our salvation.”

Unfortunately many of our Christian brothers and sisters have fallen away from this fundamental truth of Mary and her role in the salvation of man. God knew from the moment of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden that He would need to send His Son to redeem mankind… He knew that this was going to be one of those all in moments... Everything had to be perfect…He could not risk it to chance...He chose perfection… He created the Blessed Mother from the beginning of time to save mankind…She had to be perfect… She had to be Immaculate...After all, she was going to be the tabernacle of the Most High…She had to be spotless…blemish free…and totally devoted to God in thought…in word and in deed…every single one of them!

As we enjoy these last days of the Easter season, with our hearts still filled with the joy of the Resurrection… let us not forget to spend some extra time in this month of mothers, to honor our Blessed Mother, the ever Virgin Mary… sending to her our spiritual bouquets and our special Marian prayers. Remember our devotion to the Blessed Mother will only aid in our salvation…She will never stand between you and Her Son…she will only draw you in closer union to One Who has redeemed us all.