Marian Devotion: Marian Apostolate ©

The charts below are direct quotes from Post-Vatican II Magisterial Documents concerning the theme, Marian Apostolate. These teachings of the Catholic Church may prove useful to include in talks, in homilies or for research. For the full title and document data, click on the abbreviation code (for example, BYM leads you to the document, Behold Your Mother). This will also lead you to the complete document on this website or assist you in locating it elsewhere.

For an index of the documents used in the study see: List of Magisterial Documents
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Documents	VII. Marian Devotion / 3. Marian Apostolate
Lumen Gentium, 1964	The Church...in her apostolic work too, rightly looks to her who gave birth to Christ,...in order that through the Church he could be born and increase in the hearts of the faithful. 65 In her life the Virgin has been a model of that motherly love with which all who join in the Church's apostolic mission for the regeneration of mankind should be animated. 65
Mense Maio, 1965	the Christian people enriched with spiritual gifts [because of pious practice of honoring Mary in May] 5
Christi Matri Rosarii, 1968	[theme: praying the rosary for world peace ]
Behold Your Mother (USA), 1973	In its apostolic work the Church looks to Mary. (LG 65) 80 Defenders of unborn life do well to appeal to the first part of the Hail Mary. Elizabeth's words, "Blessed is the fruit of your womb," are true in a real sense of every unborn child. 132
Redemptoris Mater, 1987	"The Church in her apostolic work also rightly looks to her who brought forth Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin, so that through the Church Christ may be born and increase in the hearts of the faithful also." (LG 65) 28 During this time of vigil [second Christian Millennium], Mary, through the same faith which made her blessed, especially from the moment of the Annunciation, is present in the Church's mission, present in the Church's work of introducing into the world the Kingdom of her Son. (cf. LG 13) 28 [presence through] - the faith and piety of individual believers - through the traditions of Christian families or "domestic churches," -of parish and missionary communities, -religious institutes and dioceses; - through the radiance and attraction of the great shrines [individuals, local groups, nations and societies, continents, Land of Palestine - the spiritual homeland of all Christians, of the many churches in Rome and throughout the world, Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima, Jasna Gora and the others] 28 One could perhaps speak of a specific "geography" of faith and Marian devotion, which includes all these special places of pilgrimage where the People of God seek to meet the Mother of God in order to find, within the radius of the maternal presence of her "who believed," a strengthening of their own faith. For in Mary's faith ... an interior space was reopened within humanity which the eternal Father can fill "with every spiritual blessing." It is the space "of the new and eternal Covenant," (Roman Missal, consecration of a chalice) and it continues to exist in the Church ... 28 In the faith which Mary professed ... the Church "strives energetically and constantly to bring all humanity ... back to Christ its Head in the unity of his Spirit." (LG 13) 28 "(God) has anointed me to preach good news to the poor," (cf. Lk. 4:18) the Church has sought from generation to generation and still seeks today to accomplish that same mission. The Church's love of preference for the poor is wonderfully inscribed in Mary's Magnificat. 37 Mary truly proclaims the coming of the "Messiah of the poor." (cf. Is. 11:4; 61:1) Drawing from Mary's heart, from the depth of her faith expressed in the words of the Magnificat, the Church renews ever more effectively in herself the awareness that the truth about God who saves, the truth about God who is the source of every gift, cannot be separated from the manifestation of his love of preference for the poor and humble, that love which, celebrated in the Magnificat, is later expressed in the words and works of Jesus. 37
The VM in Intellectual and Spiritual Formation, 1988	virtuous model of the Church, which is inspired by her in the exercise of faith, hope and charity (cf. LG 53,63,65), and in apostolic work (cf. LG 65) 9
To All Consecrated Persons, Marian Year, 1988	The Marian Year began on the Solemnity of Pentecost, so that everyone, together with Mary, might feel invited to the Upper Room, from which the entire apostolic history of the church from generation to generation takes it beginning ... Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit you have built your lives and your vocation on the principle of a special consecration, a total self-giving to God. This invitation to the Upper Room at Pentecost means that you must renew and deepen your awareness of your vocation in two directions. The first consists in strengthening the apostolate contained in your consecration itself; the second consists in giving new life to the many different apostolic tasks which derive from this consecration in the context of the spirituality and goals of your communities and institutes, and of each of you individually. 26 [Paragraphs 26f speak of forms of apostolate according to the various forms of consecrated life]
Vita Consecrata, 1996	[See also catechetics below (docs8.html) and prayer (docs7-2.html) above]

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