Last Saturday I was at Mass and the priest celebrate a votive Mass of Our Lady. In the preface—the prayer recited by the priest before the consecration—there was a sentence that struck me and which is significant for both the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady and the Feast of the Queenship of Mary which is celebrated a week later. The prayer reads as follows:
Raised to the glory of heaven, she accompanies your pilgrim Church with a mother’s love, and watches in kindness over the Church’s homeward steps, until the Lord’s Day shall come in glorious splendour.
Roman Missal, Preface from the Votive Mass of Our Lady Mother of the Church
This sentence struck me because it gives a particular perspective on the mystery of Our Lady and on the mystery of man. Christ’s ascension did not mean that he abandoned us. Rather, it means that he took our humanity to the right hand of the Father so he would intercede for our salvation, in order that he may lead not only those in his company but everyone, from all places and all times, to their true home. Similarly, these liturgical celebrations give a maternal touch to the mystery of salvation because, following Our Lady’s assumption into Heaven, her mission as Mother of Jesus’ disciples did not end with her death, but with a glorified body like Christ’s—and like the glorified bodies of those who have died united to Christ will have—Our Lady cares for us all wherever we are and accompanies us towards our heavenly home.
Our Lady is a mother that cares for us, accompanies us in our life’s journey, and spreads her mantle of protection over us. Because she is truly our mother, this mantle does not stifle our liberty but rather increases it because she is a mother that allows her children space while at the same time remaining present. She does not stop being a mother when her children become adults and leave home. Parents who have or are experiencing this situation can understand this stage in life. On the other hand, we can also understand this when in this free space we were able to take our state in life while other close family members remained as guides and support. And, if this was not our experience due to obstacles we have had to face, we do feel that something was not quite right. This is why we continue to turn to Our Lady and place our hand in hers: so that she may continue to protect and guide us. She accompanies us wherever we go—even if we go astray, she will never abandon us—with full confidence that, step by step, she will walk with us and lead us to her Son’s glory, who became man like us so, as Our Lady has already experienced, we too can become like him, and see him as he is (see 1 Jn 3:2).