The Intercessory Power of Mary: The Mother of Entire Humanity

Upon the birth of other Christian religions, cleaving from the Roman Catholic Church, the role of Mary in the Christian faith has been downplayed or to a certain extent obliterated. The salvific historical importance of her “fiat” is thrown into oblivion, down to the dustbin of Christian memory. For some, she holds no importance in redeeming mankind. To others, she was a mere mortal on earth, a human being like any other mother who just gave birth to a child. Thus, the mocking echo against the Catholic would always resound: “Why do they worship Mary? Why do they pray to her? Do pagans do that?" It is quite saddening as well that some Catholics themselves are perplexed about the place of Mary in Christian faith. They are tossed unto the sea of confusion, blending into the tides of other Christian faiths, and so swiftly shift to other Christian religions to satisfy their own personal beliefs—without assiduously excavating first the answers from their own Catholic faith.

According to the Catholic Church’s teachings, to correct and to dispel the erroneous perspectives of other Christian religions anent worshiping Mary, Catholics do not, I emphasize, worship Mary, for clearly only God should be worshiped. The correct view is “adoration,” for Catholics only adore with immense wonder, not worship, Mary for playing a significant divine role in the theatrical scene of redeeming mankind by giving her precious consent to be the bearer of the Redeemer of the world, which was a humble submission that made salvation possible. Also, Catholics are only continuing the already and undeniably fulfilled prophecy of Mary who, filled with grace, herself spoke: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth, all generations will call me blessed.” (Luke 1:46-48) It was already foretold that she would be called blessed, and so she is—it should never be contradicted.

Contrary to what other Christian religions say, Catholics are not praying to Mary like a God but are communicating to her like a real Mother, who in fact is still alive in the afterlife hearing our petitions. Prayers to Mary are requests for her “intercession” on behalf of the petitioner before her Son, Jesus, who Himself is God. By intercession is meant “speaking or intervening on behalf of another,” and she intercedes for us because of all the saints the face of the earth had witnessed, it is Mary who is the closest to God, being the latter’s beloved Mother. But the confounded Catholic or any other Christian would say: “But I can pray directly to God. Why would I need her intercession?” I would gently whisper to him in retort to that a series of questions: “Is that how much you look up yourself? That high? That you as a mere wretched servant, clothed in rags of unworthiness, would cross and penetrate, through your prayer, without the hindrance of sin, the Heavenly Kingdom so as to speak to and demand from the King a favor of yours?”

On the other hand, at the doorsteps of the Heavenly Kingdom, one in the spirit of prayer would see the Mother of the King standing and inviting every faithful to come to her as she would serve as a guide in the vastness of the Heavenly Kingdom—so that one will not be lost in faith—and be the speaker for them before her Son, Jesus. The most astonishing scriptural portrait of the intercessory power of Mary is encrypted in the story of the Wedding Feast at Canaa. Here, in a marriage celebration at Canaa, Mary and Jesus were invited, and so they attended. Unfortunately, the married couple ran out of wine for the guests, so forthwith Mary told her Son, “They have no wine,” to which Jesus answered, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” Meaning, such precise moment was not yet the appointed time for Jesus to perform miracles. But Mary confidently said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” So Jesus asked His disciples to fill the jars with water, and so He performed a miracle and made them wine. (John 2:1-12) Extracting therefrom the relational essence between the Mother and the Son, it yields to this divine truth: Jesus publicly defied His own law to obey and to please His Mother, Mary, who interceded for or spoke on behalf of the married couple and the rest of the guests. Such is the intercessory power of Mary, as she showed a prayer way stronger than any other prayer by man—a prayer that can make God defy His own law.

Therefore, Mary should, without a tinge of doubt, have a place in Christian faith. For her prayer, aimed at humanity’s good, reaches without delay nor denial the ears of God. Doubtless, Jesus loves so much His Mother, from whom His divine flesh was taken—the flesh that resurrected and gloriously carried to Heaven. Now, if you still doubt why you should call Mary your Mother, I invite you to engrave in your heart with a spirit of faithful reflection this passage, with the image in your mind of Christ’s crucifixion, being the setting thereof: “When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, 'Woman, here is your son,' and to the disciple, 'Here is your mother.' From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.” (John 19:26-28) The disciple herein is John; and John represents the entire faithful followers of Christ, serving as the epitome that we ought to embrace in the internal abode of our hearts the Mother of Christ, who is lovingly and mercifully given to us by no less than Christ Himself.

And so, the faithful little child would ask now with divine curiosity: “How then could my Mother effectively intercede for me before my God?” I would wholeheartedly answer him as a fellow little child: “My dear, pray the rosary with all your heart.”