Mary's Intercession

On the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, the 11th of February, the Church prays:

“God of mercy, we celebrate the feast of Mary, the sinless Mother of God. May her prayers help us to rise above our human weakness ….”

Mary s is a powerful intercessor for us before the throne of God. Some people may object and say, but isn’t Christ the sole mediator for us before God? And we may answer: What if Jesus Christ decided to delegate some mediation to other people? Can anybody prevent him from doing so? Is there any passage in Sacred Scripture that says that he cannot do this? As a matter of fact, one of the primary tasks of the priest both in the Old and the New Testament is to offer sacrifice for the people. Sacrifice is both intercession and mediation. In the common priesthood of the faithful which all Christians enjoy by the virtue of Baptism, we are called to be intercessors for the whole Church and for the whole world. The Catholic Church teaches that in the work of intercession in the Communion of Saints, Mary is primus inter pares, first among equals. This is a special gift and honor bestowed to the Mother of the Son. And God is free to distribute his gifts the way he wants. Who can question him?

In the fifth Glorious Mystery of the holy Rosary, we meditate on the coronation of Mary as Queen. The fruit of this mystery is to ask God to increase our confidence in the power of Mary’s intercession.