The Saints Witness to Mary Coredemptrix

The mind of a saint is supernaturally disposed to the truth. The more sanctified the human heart, the more docile is the human mind to revealed mysteries of faith. The saints have sacrificed all worldly desires for the sake of the heavenly paradise, and therefore have much less propensity for their intellects being skewed or confused due to attachments of the world—human agenda, ecclesiastical or otherwise, which can obscure divine truths and impede their assent.

The testimony of the saints and blesseds represents the highest, most trustworthy level of sensus fidelium—that common consensus of Christian faith found within the People of God, which is in its own way inspired and protected by the Spirit of Truth. (1)

The “voice of the people” (vox populi), according to the ancient Church maxim, is an echo of the “voice of God” (vox Dei). Among this vox populi chorus, the witness of the saints offers the most pure and genuine refrain in recognizing, living, and sometimes dying for Christian truth. It is therefore particularly valuable to listen to their songs in praise of Mary Co-redemptrix.

We are keenly aware of the limitations of our treatment of the illustrious and expansive testimony by God’s saints to their Mater Dolorosa. We restrict ourselves here to the most recent testimonies, in fact, only those saints and blesseds who have died within the last hundred years. This genus is itself radically limited to those who have been canonized or beatified within one hundred years of death.

St. Gemma Galgani († 1903) was an Italian saint who in her short twenty-five years of life experienced many supernatural manifestations, including visions of Jesus, diabolical attacks, and the stigmata. During some of her recorded ecstasies, St. Gemma speaks powerfully of the Mother’s coredemptive sufferings at Calvary:

Oh wicked sinners, stop crucifying Jesus, because at the same time you are also transfixing the Mother…. Oh my Mother, where do I find you? Always at the foot of the Cross of Jesus… Oh what pain was yours!… I no longer see one sacrifice only, I see two of them: one for Jesus, one for Mary!… Oh my Mother, if one were to see you with Jesus he would not be able to say who is the first to expire: is it you or Jesus? (2)

What compassion you show me, oh my Mother, to see you so every Saturday at the foot of the Cross!… Oh! I no longer see one Victim only, but there are two. (3)

St. Gemma writes to her spiritual director of the sufferings of the Blessed Virgin from the time of Jesus’ birth onward as she painfully pondered his Crucifixion:

Oh what great sorrow it must have been for the Mother, after Jesus was born, to think that they had then to crucify Him! What pangs she must have always had in her Heart! How many sighs she must have made, and how many times she must have wept! Yet she never complained. Poor Mother! (4)

. . . truly, then, when she sees Him being crucified . . . that poor Mother was transfixed by many arrows . . . Therefore my Mother was crucified together with Jesus. (5)

We have previously discussed the ecclesiastical approval of Mary Co-redemptrix which took place under the pontificate of Pope St. Pius X († 1914). (6) During his pontificate, three documents of the Roman Curia refer to the “merciful Co-redemptrix of the human race,” “our Co-redemptrix” and “Co-redemptrix of the human race.” (7) In his own words, the canonized Pope instructs in his 1904 Marian encyclical, Ad Diem Illum of the “communion of life and sorrows between Mother and Son” in her offering of the redemptive victim: “(Mary would have) the task of guarding and nourishing the Victim, and of placing Him on the altar. From this is derived that communion of life and of sorrows between Mother and Son, sorrows to which, for both of them in equal manner, can be applied the words of the Prophet: ‘My life is consumed in sorrow, my years are passed in groaning’ (Ps. 30: 1).” (8)

St. Pius X moreover invokes our Immaculate Mother as the “Reparatrix of the lost world” and therefore the “Dispensatrix of all the treasures which Jesus merited for us with his bloody death.” (9) He also quotes St. Bonaventure in speaking of the depth of the Mother’s redemptive participation at Calvary, stating that Mary “so participated in the (Son’s) suffering that, if it were possible, she would have been most happy to suffer herself all the torments which were supported by the Son.” (10)

St. Francis Xavier Cabrini († 1917), the first American citizen to be canonized, gives repeated laud to the Co-redemptrix in her teachings and sayings. (11) She calls the Blessed Virgin the “New Eve, true Mother of the Living” who was “chosen by God to become the Co-redemptrix of the human race.” (12) Mother Cabrini also elaborates upon the coredemptive papal teachings of her contemporary, St. Pius X, in this commentary on the Co-redemptrix:

If the glory of giving life to our Redeemer pertained to her, then also, as our Holy Father said so well, the office of guarding and preparing the Sacred Victim of the human race for sacrifice pertained to her as well. Mary was not only the Mother of Jesus in the joys of Bethlehem, but even more so on Calvary, . . . and there she merited to become our most worthy Co-redemptrix. (13)

St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe († 1941) is the “Immaculata’s theologian” and therefore he is also theologian of the Co-redemptrix. The Polish martyr-saint who himself heroically lived the mystery of Coredemption by offering his life in exchange for another prisoner at Auschwitz, offers exceptional tribute to the Co-redemptrix as the predestined partner with the predestined Redeemer in restoring grace to mankind: “From that moment (of the Fall) God promised a Redeemer and a Co-redemptrix saying: ‘I will place enmities between thee and the Woman, and thy seed and her Seed; She shall crush thy head.'” (14) St. Maximilian goes on to encourage the more complete understanding of Mary Co-redemptrix for our contemporary times: “Clearly, our relationship with Mary Co-redemptrix and Dispensatrix of graces in the economy of Redemption was not understood from the beginning in all its perfection. But in these, our times, faith in the Blessed Virgin Mary’s mediation continues to grow more and more each day.” (15)

This wisdom concerning the maturity of doctrinal development of Co-redemptrix as an essential part of her universal mediation led St. Maximilian to be one of the first, along with the renowned Belgian Cardinal Mercier, to encourage the solemn papal definition of Our Lady’s mediation in 1923. Aware of the intentions of Pope Benedict XV to establish three theological commissions to study the question of the definability of Mary’s universal mediation, (16) St. Maximilian calls for prayers to Our Mother to hasten its solemn proclamation, since Our Lady’s role as the Mediatrix of all graces constitutes the underlying theological basis for the act of Marian consecration and for the activities of his Militia Immaculatae (Army of the Immaculate).

Cardinal Mercier says: “With the briefing of November 28, 1922, the Holy Father told us of his decision to nominate three delegations: one in Rome, another in Spain and the third in Belgium. They were to examine in detail the following problem: does the mediation of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary belong to the revealed truths, and can it be a matter of definition?”

. . . On this truth the Militia bases its activities. We have recourse to the Immaculata and we are instruments in Her hands, because She distributes all the graces of conversion and sanctification to the inhabitants of this valley of tears. Furthermore, we clearly profess this truth in our act of consecration to the Virgin Mary because every grace passes through Her hands from the Sweetest Heart of the pure Jesus to us. But on what basis? Let us look at history. All conversions have always come through Mary, and every saint had a particular devotion to her. The Fathers and the Doctors of the Church have proclaimed that She, the second Eve, has repaired what the first destroyed: that She is the channel of all graces, that She is our hope and refuge, that we receive our graces through her. In his encyclical on the Rosary (Sept. 22, 1891), Pope Leo XIII says: “It can be affirmed in all truth that according to the divine will nothing of the immense treasury of grace can be communicated to us except through Mary.” Let us pray, therefore, that our Holy Mother may expedite the solemn proclamation of this Her privilege, so that all humanity may run to Her feet with complete trust, since today we are in great need of Her protection. (17)

The Co-redemptrix and Ecumenism

St. Leopold Mandic († 1942), a Croatian Capuchin priest stationed in Padua, was an internationally celebrated confessor and spiritual director for almost forty years. Physically weak, suffering from numerous difficulties of body and speech due to several illnesses, he was a spiritual giant who spent twelve hours a day in the confessional as an ordained “channel of reconciliation.” An apostle and “victim for ecumenism,” St. Leopold offered his life to the Co-redemptrix for the re-unification of the Oriental Churches with the Church of Rome. So extraordinarily dedicated was this saint to Mary Co-redemptrix that he had a lifelong desire to author a book in defense of the Blessed Mother as “Co-redemptrix of the human race,” and the “channel of every grace” that comes from Jesus Christ. (18)

St. Leopold refers to the Mother as “Co-redemptrix of the human race” no less than thirteen times, and also rekindles the medieval and modern title of “our Redemptrix.” (19) So stouthearted a defender of the Co-redemptrix was Leopold, that above one of his images he once wrote the following personal testimony: “I, friar Leopold Mandic Zarevic, firmly believe that the most Blessed Virgin, insofar as she was Co-redemptrix of the human race, is the moral fountain of all grace, since we have received all from her fullness.” (20)

To convey the unconditional nature of dedication to the Co-redemptrix lived by this Patron of Church reunification, St. Leopold writes this oath of victimhood in his own hand, wherein he offers his entire life “in submission to the Co-redemptrix of the human race” for the “redemption” and reconciliation of the Oriental peoples: “In truth, before God and the Blessed Virgin, confirming all by oath, I myself am obliged, in submission to the Co-redemptrix of the human race, to exert all my life’s strength, in accord with the obedience I owe my superiors, for the redemption of all dissident Oriental peoples from schism and error.” (21)

The human witness of St. Leopold to both the undeniable truth of Mary Co-redemptrix and the authentic imperative of Christian ecumenism provides concrete proof in a canonized human life that generous Church devotion to Mary Co-redemptrix in no way opposes authentic Catholic ecumenical activity. In fact, the “Minister of reconciliation” (22) shows us that the Co-redemptrix is the Marian means for true Christian reconciliation as “our Common Mother,” (23) to use the expression of John Paul II. Thus, the Mother Co-redemptrix is also the Mother of the Ecumenical Movement, and never its obstacle.

Along with the example of St. Leopold, we have the example of John Paul II, who was both “fully Marian and fully ecumenical.” He was Pope of the Co-redemptrix without violating the true meaning or imperative of Christian ecumenism. For the ecumenical mission of the Church consists of prayer as its “soul” and dialogue as its “body” in seeking true Christian unity with the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church of Jesus Christ. (24) In his encyclical on ecumenism, Ut Unum Sint, the Holy Father forbids all doctrinal compromise in efforts to achieve this goal: “In the Body of Christ, ‘the way, the truth, and the life’ (Jn. 14:6), who could consider legitimate a reconciliation brought about at the expense of truth?” (25)

Therefore, it is not an authentic Catholic option to believe “either” in Mary Co-redemptrix or in ecumenism, but rather a duty and obligation to believe in both. For it is precisely through the role of Mary Co-redemptrix that the reunion of Christians will occur.

The acclaimed philosopher, convert and cloistered Carmelite nun, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross († 1942) has been proclaimed the “Co-patroness of Europe.” Born of a Jewish family as Edith Stein, St. Teresa Benedicta was another victim of Auschwitz. Before the final offering of her life she gave the world her philosophically personalist insights and her mystical meditations.

Deeply devoted to Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Teresa Benedicta spent numerous hours of prayer before the image of the Sorrowful Mother, and described the Mother Co-redemptrix as our entry into the “redemptive order.” (26) Like her Heavenly Mother, she was first an “illustrious daughter of Israel” (27) before becoming a disciple of Christ.

In her theological treatise, Scientia Crucis, in which she discusses the knowledge of the Cross according to St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa Benedicta confirms with Dionysius that the human person’s greatest act is to co-operate with God in human salvation: “The divinest of all divine work is to co-operate with God in the salvation of souls.” (28) But it is Our Lady who co-operates in this divine work beyond all creatures. St. Teresa Benedicta states in a truly pregnant line that the role of the Co-redemptrix transcends the merely human level of activity and enters the supernatural realm of human co-operation: “Mary leaves the natural order and is placed as Co-redemptrix alongside the Redeemer.” (29)

The humble Mary of Nazareth departs from the natural order of being as a daughter of Adam and Eve, and accepts her predestination by God to become the spiritual Mother of all peoples. She does this by being “placed alongside the Redeemer” in the supernatural order, the hypostatic order, the universally redemptive order. She is the spiritual Mother of all peoples through her co-operation with God for the salvation of souls, the “divinest of divine works.” The Jewish-born Carmelite and Co-patroness of Europe further reveres the ultimate Daughter Zion as the “Collaboratrix of Christ the Redeemer.” (30)

Opus Dei Founder, St. Josemaria Escrivá († 1975) was an exceptional modern apostle who perennially encouraged the members of the worldwide “Work of God” to appreciate their Heavenly Mother in all her salvific roles. St. Jose Maria vigorously defends our Lady as the Co-redemptrix in this passage where he applauds the papal usage of the Co-redemptrix title and its doctrine:

The Supreme Pontiffs have rightly called Mary “Co-redemptrix.” At that point, together with her Son who was suffering and dying, she suffered and almost died; at that point she abdicated her maternal rights over her Son for the salvation of humanity and immolated Him, insofar as she was able, in order to placate the justice of God; thus one can rightly say that she redeemed the human race together with Christ. In this fashion we are in a better position to understand that moment of the Lord’s Passion which we should never grow tired of meditating upon: “Stabat iuxta crucem Jesus Mater eius,” “Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother” (Jn. 19:25). (31)

Regarding the historic saint-stigmatist, St. Pio of Pietrelcina († 1968), truly no introduction is necessary, nor would one be adequate.

Padre Pio’s consecration and oblation to the Coredemptive Madonna was boundless within the confines of hyperdulia. The mystical saint of the confessional would constantly direct his penitents to the Mother of Sorrows and perennially gave them the sacramental penance of reciting seven Hail Mary’s to the Lady of Sorrows; several penitents report that before he could fully announce this Marian title he would often break into tears. (32)

His perpetual accolade to the Mother of Sorrows and Co-redemptrix contained within his myriad counsels in the confessional and his daily spiritual advice can be summarized by a written testimony to the Co-redemptrix from one of his letters: “Now I seem to be penetrating what was the martyrdom of our most beloved Mother…. Oh, if all people would but penetrate this martyrdom! Who could succeed in suffering with this, yes, our dear Coredemptrix? Who would refuse her the good title of Queen of Martyrs?” (33)

The Blesseds

A number of contemporary Blesseds join their voices to the saints who praise Mary Co-redemptrix.

Blessed Bartolo Longo († 1926) has recently been the object of renewed veneration, due to John Paul II’s prominent quoting of the “Apostle of the Rosary” in his 2002 Apostolic Letter on the Rosary, Rosarium Virginis Mariae. (34) Our Lady is “all-powerful by grace” professes Blessed Bartolo, and he repeatedly invokes the Immaculate One as “our Co-redemptrix and Dispensatrix of Graces.” (35) His heartfelt invocation to the Co-redemptrix for his times should likewise become our own prayerful petition for ours: “O Holy Virgin, fulfill today your office of being our Co-redemptrix.” (36)

Religious founder and protégé of St. John Bosco, Blessed Luigi Orione († 1940) utilizes the Co-redemptrix title: “Mary is Co-redemptrix of humanity; she is our most tender Mother because she even wept, especially for this reason….” (37)

The great Marian Cardinal of Milan, Blessed Idlephonse Cardinal Schuster († 1954) promulgates an authoritative Mariology of Mary Co-redemptrix with generous usages of the Co-redemptrix title throughout his prolific theological writings, homilies, and catechetical works. (38)

he cardinal-theologian presents an elaborate Mariology of the Co-redemptrix: “Even in Heaven Mary exercises the office of being our Advocate, that office which Jesus entrusted to her on Calvary; this is so that the Redemption might completely repair the fall, even in superabundance. To Adam and Eve, sinners and the source of original sin in this world, God has countered with Christ and Mary, the Redeemer and Coredemptrix of the human race.” (39) Regarding the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, he writes:

The special devotion to the Sorrows of the Virgin, Coredemptrix of the human race, was already within the soul of the Christian people many centuries ago . . . (The modern September 15 Feast, however, was) rather the feast of the triumph of the Blessed Mother who, at the foot of the Cross, precisely by means of her cruel martyrdom, redeemed the human race together with her Son, and merited the triumph of her exaltation above all the choirs of Angels and Saints. (40)

In his commentary of the Presentation, Blessed Idlephonse says of the elderly Simeon that he “already discerns from afar the Cross planted on Calvary, and he foresees Mary Coredemptrix at the foot of the Cross with her Heart transfixed by the sword . . . Mary heard the old man, understood, but did not utter a word. Her unbloody martyrdom began from that moment, but she kept silence, because the victim usually keeps quiet and does not speak.” (41)

Blessed James Alberione († 1971), a modern apostle of social communications and evangelization, is Founder of the Pious Society of St. Paul, which has disseminated Catholic books and media resources to the four corners of the earth. His extensive Mariology of Coredemption is theologically astute while at the same time appealing to the Christian heart:

As Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemani agreed to offer Himself, so too Mary gave her consent to the immolation and, insofar as it stood within her power, she immolated her Son. Her consent was in a different mode, but similar to that given for the Incarnation . . . And the union of wills and intentions and sorrows between Mother and Son never came to be interrupted throughout Their lives; and much less was that union broken on Calvary . . . As a result of that union of sorrows, wills and intentions between Mary and Jesus Christ, Mary became Reparatrix and our Coredemptrix and the Dispensatrix of the fruits of the Cross . . . The Redeemer is Jesus alone. Jesus is the principal Mediator by office; Mary is the secondary and associated Redemptrix to this great work by the divine will. (42)

With succinct theological precision, Blessed Alberione explains the Mother’s lifelong coredemptive mission: “(She) suffered in union with Jesus the Redeemer; she was Coredemptrix. She knew that this was her mission, to give worthy satisfaction for sin, to reopen Heaven, to save mankind. She fulfilled this, her office, from Jesus’ crib even to Calvary, and to Jesus’ Sepulcher.” (43) With the same precision, he identifies Mary’s role in grace acquisition and its result in grace distribution: “(Mary) cooperated in the acquisition of grace, and therefore she is Coredemptrix; she exposes our needs to God, and therefore she is Mediatrix of grace; she loves us and communicates the divine mercy to us, and therefore she is our spiritual Mother.” (44)

From the company of recent Venerables, we cite the eminent scripture scholar and missionary to China, Venerable Gabriel Mary Allegra († 1974). Venerable Gabriel staunchly defended the dogmatic definability of Mary as Co-redemptrix and Mediatrix of all graces, particularly on its biblical foundations: (45) “I firmly believe and with all my strength I will preach to the rest of the faithful that the title of Coredemptrix is theologically exact in explaining the part that Mary had in the work of our salvation.” (46) This eminently respected scripture scholar tells us: “The afflictions of Mary and those of Jesus were but one affliction which made two Hearts to suffer . . . The Compassion of Mary increased the suffering of Jesus and the Passion of Jesus was the source of Mary’s sorrows. This double offering redeemed the world.” (47) Venerable Allegra furthermore notes that “Mary merited the title, Co-redemptrix” (48) and that “she intimately united herself to her dying Son on the Cross as our Co-redemptrix.” (49)

We end this unified song of praise from the Christian elect with the solo voice of the recently beatified Mother Teresa of Calcutta († 1997), whose Mariological profundity-in-simplicity resound in a 1993 letter of support for the dogmatic definition of Mary Co-redemptrix:

14, August 1993

Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe

Mary is our Coredemptrix with Jesus. She gave Jesus his body and suffered with him at the foot of the cross.

Mary is the Mediatrix of all grace. She gave Jesus to us, and as our Mother she obtains for us all his graces.

Mary is our Advocate who prays to Jesus for us. It is only through the Heart of Mary that we come to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.

The papal definition of Mary as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate will bring great graces to the Church.

All for Jesus through Mary.

God bless you

M. Teresa, M.C. (50)

This article is from the thirteenth chapter of “With Jesus”: The Story of Mary Co-redemptrix, Queenship Publications, 2003. The book is available from our online store.

Notes

(1) Cf. M. de Maria, “Il ‘sensus fidei’ e la ‘Corredentrice,'” Maria Corredentrice, Frigento, 2000, vol. 3, p. 8. For extended treatments, cf. S. M. Miotto, “La voce dei Santi e la ‘Corredentrice,'” Maria Corredentrice, pp. 189-223; S. Manelli, F.I., “Marian Coredemption in the Hagiography of the 20th Century,” Mary Co-redemptrix: Doctrinal Issues Today, pp. 191-261; Note: The majority of references contained in this chapter can be found in these two more comprehensive works.

(2) St. Gemma Galgani, Estasi, Diario, Autobiografica, Scritti vari, Rome, 1988, p. 24.

(3) Ibid., p. 34.

(4) St. Gemma Galgani, Lettere, Rome, 1979, p. 106.

(5) Ibid.

(6) Cf. Chapter XI.

(7) Cf. ASS 41, 1908, p. 409; AAS 5, 1913, p. 364; AAS 6, 1914, p. 108.

(8) St. Pius X, Ad Diem Illum, 12.

(9) Ibid.

(10) Ibid.

(11) Cf. G. de Luca, Parole sparse della Beata Cabrini, Rome, 1938.

(12) Ibid., p. 164, 169.

(13) Ibid., p. 170.

(14) St. Maximilian Kolbe, Scritti, Rome, 1997, n. 1069. Also cf. L. Iammorrone, “Il mistero di Maria Corredentrice in san Massimiliano Kolbe,” Maria Corredentrice, vol. 2, pp. 219-256; H. M. Manteau-Bonamy, O.P., Immaculate Conception and the Holy Spirit, pp. 99-102.

(15) St. Maximilian Kolbe, Scritti, n. 1229.

(16) Both Spanish and Belgian commissions strongly recommended the solemn definition of Mary’s universal mediation; the Roman commission’s conclusions were never officially published, cf. M. O’Carroll, C.S.Sp., “The Fifth Marian Dogma and the Commission: Theological Gaps,” Contemporary Insights on a Fifth Marian Dogma, p. 143.

(17) St. Maximilian Kolbe, “The Mediation of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary,” Rycerz Niepokalanej, 1923, vol. 3, pp. 45-46.

(18) Cf. P. E. Bernardi, Leopoldo Mandic: Santo della riconciliazione, Padua, 1990, p. 118.

(19) Cf. P. Tieto, Suo umile servo in Cristo, vol. 2, Scritti, Padua, 1992, p. 117. Also for an extended treatment, cf. P. Stemman, “Il mistero di Maria ‘Corredentrice’ nella vita e negli Insegnamenti di san Leopoldo Mandic,” Maria Corredentrice, Frigento, 1999, vol. 2, pp. 257-276.

(20) St. Leopold Mandic, Scritti, vol. 2, p. 124.

(21) Cf. Stemman, “Il mistero di Maria ‘Corredentrice,'” p. 269. The original Latin text is as follows: “Vere coram Deo et Deiparae Virgini, interposita sacramenti fide, me obstrinxi in obsequium Corredemptricis humani generis, disponendi omnes ratione vitae meae iuxta oboedientiam meorum superiorum in redemptionem Orientalium Dissidentium a schismate et errore.” St. Leopold Mandic, Scritti, vol. 2, p. 97.

(22) Cf. Stemman, “Il mistero di Maria ‘Corredentrice,'” p. 262.

(23) John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, 30

(24) Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Ut Unum Sint, 21, 28.

(25)Ut Unum Sint, 18.

(26) Cf. F. Oben, Edith Stein, Alba House, 1988, pp. 57-61, 67.

(27) Pope John Paul II, Beatification Discourse in Cologne, May 1, 1987.

(28) Edith Stein, The Science of the Cross: A Study of St. John of the Cross, eds. Dr. Lucy Gelber and Fr. Romaeus Leuven, O.C.D., trans. Hilda C. Graef, Henry Regnery Co., 1960, p. 215.

(29) Ibid. Cf. also Sr. M. F. Perella, “Edith Stein. Ebrea, carmelitana, martire,” Palestra del Clero, 1999, vol. 78, p. 695. Note: A contemporaneous author from the Rhineland countries is the Swiss mystic and stigmatist, Adrienne von Speyr († 1967), who was a close associate of the Swiss theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar. The inseparability of thought between von Balthasar and von Speyr is confirmed by von Balthasar himself: “I want to try to prevent anyone after my death from undertaking the task of separating my work from that of Adrienne von Speyr. This is not in the least possible” (Hans Urs von Balthasar, Unser Auftrag, 11). The recipient of hundreds of revelations during her lifetime, von Speyr puts forth an outstanding theological and mystical account of the Mother Co-redemptrix. In her book, Mary in the Redemption (Ignatius Press, 2003), she uses the title ten times throughout the work amidst penetrating theological insights. For example: ” . . . And Mary is so loyal to the Father that in her own Son she sees both the one who has been appointed by the Father (for she is always one with the Father’s will) and increasingly, through the Son, the Father himself. However, it will be much harder for the Son to take her, the innocent, with him into his Passion and to make use of her purity in a way that involves her in the work of redemption and makes her Co-redemptrix. It will be much harder to involve one who is immaculate in all this than a convert, who has many personal things for which to atone and therefore gladly cooperates in bearing a share of the common guilt. The sacrificing of the Mother here approaches the killing of the ‘innocents'” (Mary in the Redemption, p. 32).

And also from von Speyr: ” . . . Since the Son chose her as his Mother, she will remain his Mother even in his death. He has chosen her for everything, and her co-redemption was already planned and contained in her pre-redemption. She was, therefore, Co-redemptrix when she gave birth to him. Her giving birth was an act dedicated to the Son so that he might fulfill his mission, an act whose meaning is contained in his divine-human mission. And this meaning is not lost on Mary. She remains his Mother whether he is in her, whether he has gone forth from her, or whether he hangs on the Cross” (Mary in the Redemption, p. 83-84).

(30) St. Teresa Benedicta, Beata Teresa Benedetta della Croce, Vita Dottrina, Testi inediti, Rome, 1997, p. 1997

(31) St. Jose Maria Escrivà, Amici di Dio. Omelie, Milan, 1978, p. 318; also cf. Miotto, “La voce dei Santi e la ‘Corredentrice,'” p. 215; F. Delelaux, “Nel dolore invocare e imitare Maria Corredentrice,” Eco del Santuario dell’Addolorata, Castelpetroso, 1995, n. 3, pp. 6-8, n. 4, pp. 3-5.

(32) A. Negrisolo, N. Castello, S. M. Manelli, Padre Pio nella sua interiorità, Rome, 1997, pp. 123.

(33) St. Padre Pio, Epistolario, San Giovanni Rotondo, 1992, vol. 3, p. 384; cf. also these works on Padre Pio: Castello, Manelli, La “dolce Signora” di Padre Pio, Cinisello Balsamo, Italy, 1999; Manelli, “Maria SS.ma Corredentrice nella vita e negli scritti di Padre Pio da Pietrelcina,” Maria Corredentrice, Frigento, vol. 2, pp. 277-294; M. Da Pobladura, Alla scuola spirituale di Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, San Giovanni Rotondo, 1978; F. Da Riese, P. Pio da Pietrelcina crocifisso senza croce, Foggia, 1991.

(34) John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, October 16, 2002, 43.

(35) Bl. Bartolo Longo, I quindici sabati del santo Rosario, Pompeii, 1996 ed., p. 62; English trans., The Fifteen Saturdays, Pompeii, 1993, p. 65.

(36) Bl. Bartolo Longo, I quindici sabati, pp. 98, 101.

(37) Bl. Luigi Orione, cited in anthology Con don Orione verso Maria, Rome, 1987, p. 215; cf. also Miotto, “La voce dei Santi e la ‘Corredentrice.'”

(38) Cf. I. Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum. Note storiche e liturgiche sul Messale Romano, Turin-Rome, 1928, vol. 9; L’Evangelo di Nostra Donna, Milan, 1954.

(39) Ibid., vol. 8, p.181.

(40) Ibid., vol. 7, p. 89.

(41) Schuster, L’Evangelo di Nostra Donna, p. 67.

(42) G. Alberione, Maria Regina degli Apostoli, Rome, 1948, pp. 110-111; cf. also Manelli, “Maria Corredentrice nel pensiero del venerabile Giacomo Alberione,” Maria Corredentrice, Frigento, 2000, pp. 163-188.

(43) Alberione, Brevi meditazioni per ogni giorno dell’anno, Rome, 1952, vol. 1, pp. 452-453.

(44) Alberione, Le grandezze di Maria Feste di Maria Santissima, Albano, 1954, p. 42.

(45) Cf. Murabito, “La Corredenzione di Maria nel pensiero del venerabile Padre Gabriele Allegra,” Maria Corredentrice, Frigento, 1999, vol. 2, pp. 195-314.

(46) G. M. Allegra, Fasciculus Florum, Quaderno, Nov. 18, 1939; Archivio della Vice Postulazione.

(47) Allegra, I sette dolori di Maria, Castelpetroso, 1995, pp. 30-31.

(48) Ibid., p. 30.

(49) Allegra, Il Cuore Immacolato di Maria, Acireale, 1991, p. 132.

(50) Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, Letter to Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici, Aug. 14, 1993, Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici Archives, Hopedale, Ohio.