Mary and Our Spiritual Perfection
When therefore we come to look upon sin after baptism and the threat of the loss of everlasting life in this context of the Marian mystery of the Church, we begin to see the problem of striving after spiritual perfection in a new light. It was above all Augustine who pointed out this path to his hearers: he never tired of telling them that all Christians growth in holiness, from the merest simple possession of the faith to the heroic heights of spiritual virginity, is in the end nothing more than the growth of the Church in the image of Mary….What therefore is accomplished in individual souls, rising through the power of baptism to the heights of Christian virtue and perfection, is accomplished also in and by the Church. For the Church owes her growth to the many who become “Mary”: the Church is the one unique body of Christ, built up from birth unto manhood. So here once more, both in growth in holiness of individual souls and in the various developments of the life of the Church, the Church and Mary are seen as one. There is a lovely prayer in the ancient Spanish liturgy:
What was once bestowed upon the flesh of Mary, may this now be bestowed upon the spirit of the Church; that her unswerving faith may conceive Thee, O Christ, in the womb; that her spirit, freed from all stain of sin, may bring Thee to birth; that our own souls, overshadowed by the power of the Most High, may give Thee a mother’s care. Depart not from us, but rather go forth from within us!
Father Hugh Rahner, S.J.
Father Hugh Rahner (1968) was a German Jesuit priest and a renowned Church historian.
Datila wrote this 4:55 am
Filed under: Bulletins
