“And the Mother of Jesus was there”

She was there, and she was attentive

God is no spoil-sport. He sent his Son that we might have life and have it to the full (cf. Jn 10:10) both here and hereafter. It is surely striking that our Lord’s first miracle was at a celebration of romantic love, a marriage feast, and consisted in providing copious, even excessive amounts of the finest wine. Moreover this display of divine generosity was prompted by his Mother. The servants of the feast did as instructed by her – “Do whatever he tells you” – and Christ performed his first miracle.

At Cana, “the Mother of Jesus was there” (Jn 2:1) for the sake of her Son and for the sake of all her daughters and sons in Christ. In a truly maternal way, Mary’s intervention brings about great benefits for each and all of her children at that wedding. The evangelist concludes his account of the miracle in these words: “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him” (Jn 2:11). All of Mary’ children gained from her intercession with her Son: The newlyweds were spared lasting embarrassment, the steward of the feast was unwittingly saved from disgrace, the wedding guests continued to enjoy wine and of the finest quality, Christ began to show his divinity and his disciples began to believe in him. For our part, this miracle shows us God’s loving mercy and increases our faith and hope.

She is still here

It is sometimes said that the first rule of friendship is “to turn up”, or “to be there” for others. Mary “is there” for all her children in Cana and also now in the Rosary. Through this powerful devotion she leads her sons and daughters to contemplate her divine Son and in this way cooperates in his mission to sanctify us. “To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ”, as St John Paul II put it in his beautiful 2002 Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae. To really get to know what someone is like we often talk to his or her mother. A loving mother can uniquely provide an intimate portrait and understanding of her child. Knowledge leads to love, and the more we come to know Jesus through the essentially contemplative prayer which is the Rosary, the more we can come to love him and thereby grow in the identification with him which is Christian holiness. The Rosary is, in Pope Francis’ words, “communion around the Mother” (31 May 2013).

She was there and she stayed there

The wedding feast of Cana speaks of the whole paschal mystery. While being a particular historical event, this celebration was also a prophecy and an icon of the work of salvation. St John’s account of the event begins with the words: “On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee” (Jn 2:1). Because there is no reference prior to this to a first or a second day, the “third day” is seen to refer to Resurrection of Jesus “on the third day”, which sealed the new and eternal covenant of love between God and his people. In scripture, “wine” often expresses joy and love. The rich and plentiful wine of Cana also foreshadows “the Blood of the new and eternal Covenant” generously poured out by Jesus on the Cross. Also at Cana the Lord addresses his mother with the refined title of “Woman” and says that his “hour” has yet come (Jn 2:4). When that supreme “hour” of his Passion does come (cf. Jn 17:1), the same “Woman” faithfully stands by the Cross (Jn 19:25-27) and Jesus declares her to be our mother too. As at the outset of his public ministry at Cana, so too on Calvary, “the Mother of Jesus was there”.

The Rosary is a journey through the entire mystery of salvation with Mary. It is in St John Paul II’s words, “a compendium of the Gospel”.  A particularly rich prayer, both vocal and contemplative, “the succession of Hail Marys is the warp on which is woven the contemplation of the mysteries” (St Paul VI, Marialis Cultus, 1974, 46).

She is there, especially when needed

The Rosary has shown itself to be particularly effective in times of danger, anxiety or suffering, both in public and personal events. In Mexico in 1531, St Juan Diego was really stressed because his uncle was dying. He rushed off to look for a priest and avoided taking the path along which he was likely to meet Our Lady of Guadalupe. He feared that being delayed by her might stop him getting the priest on time for his dying uncle. However Our Lady came to meet him on his way and gently reminded him: “Am I not here, I, who am your mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, and between my arms? What more do you need?”

During this pandemic, “the Mother of Jesus was [and is] there” in many ways. In recent months many countries, including Ireland, have been consecrated to Our Lady asking for protection from the virus. Pope Francis asked us to pray the Rosary in the home for this same intention (Letter, 25 April 2020). In recent days, Archbishop Eamon Martin has called for a “Family Rosary Crusade against Covid” during the month of October.  The Primate of All Ireland is encouraging “families to pray the Rosary each day during October – or even one decade of the Rosary – for themselves, their loved ones and for all those whose health or livelihood is being seriously impacted by the coronavirus crisis” (Homily, 20 September 2020).

This is surely an apt moment to welcome the encouragement of St Josemaría: “The holy Rosary is a powerful weapon. Use it with confidence and you will be amazed at the results” (The Way 558). Saying the Rosary strengthens our faith, brings many graces and helps us to rediscover that Our Lady is very close to us.

She is there, vital and discreet

During these months of the pandemic, we have perhaps rediscovered the sheer beauty of fresh air. Most of the time we are not particularly conscious of the air, this vital element absolutely necessary for our life and which carries light and health with it. The air reminds the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) of Our Lady. In his poem The Blessed Virgin Compared to the Air We Breathe he stresses the irreplaceable role of Mary as the one who brings us Christ and with him eternal life and every grace, and who is at the same time, like the air, discreet, self-effacing and easy to take for granted:

“This air, which, by life’s law,

My lung must draw and draw

Now but to breathe its praise,

Minds me in many ways

Of her who not only

Gave God’s infinity

Dwindled to infancy

Welcome in womb and breast,

Birth, milk, and all the rest

But mothers each new grace

The does now reach our race –

Mary Immaculate,

Merely a woman, yet

Whose presence, power is

Great as not goddess’s

Was deemed, dreamed; who

This one work has to do –

Let all God’s glory through,

God’s glory which would go

Through her and from her flow

Off, and no way but so”.

She is there, and with her “all good things” (Wis 7:11)

Praying the Rosary brings helps us to see things with the eyes Christ. In this sense the Rosary is, as Pope Francis reminds us “a school of prayer, a school of faith”. This prayer, says the Holy Father, leads us “to reflect on the key moments of Christ’s life, so that, as with Mary and Joseph, he is the centre or our thoughts, of our attention and our actions” (1 May 2013).

Through the Rosary we come to rediscover that Mary is the mediatrix of all graces. Indeed “there is no fruit of grace in the history of salvation that does not have as its necessary instrument the mediation of Our Lady” (Benedict XVI, Brazil, 11 May 2007).

Wherever this is anything good, any grace, there is Christ, and so also “the Mother of Jesus [is] there”.