Mary as Our Intercessor

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 22 October 2011)

Blessed Virgin Mary as our Advocate, Helper, Benefactress and Mediatrix.

Though various /many different terms are used / Whatever the term used it all brings us to call or address Mary as our Intercessor, and thus that brings me to the topic of my sharing this evening – Mary as Our Intercessor. 

I believe, for the very fact that each of us are here today in itself, shows /demonstrates/ testifies that we do recognize Mary as our Intercessor.

There is no doubt that it is because we believe that we can ask our Blessed Mother to intercede for our needs and the needs of others that, time and again, we go to her seeking her intercession.

Intercessor, as we know, originates from the word intercede – the act of interceding or offering petitionary prayer to God on behalf of others OR “to interpose on behalf of one in difficulty or in trouble, as by pleading or petition...". In the gospel, an intercessor is a go-between or advocate who represents and pleads our case to God.

To illustrate Mary’s role as our intercessor, I would like to focus on the second Luminous Mystery of the Rosary – The Wedding Feast at Cana. 

In John Chapter 2, Jesus, his mother, and his disciples are invited to a wedding banquet in the town of Cana in Galilee. At that time a wedding celebration lasted not just for a day like our celebrations but for almost a whole week. When all the wine provided for the celebration had been served and they ran out of wine, the Mother of Jesus said to him “They have no wine.” (John 2:3). It must have been a big embarrassment in Cana when the wedding party ran out of wine. Mary then interceded and sought Jesus to turn the situation around.

After Mary’s intercession and advocacy to remedy the situation at Cana, Jesus replies by saying “Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4)

Mary’s response to Jesus was to tell the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5) It shows us Mary’s total trust in the Word of God. She is the first person in John’s Gospel to show total trust in the Word of God. Mary is therefore a model Christian for us as she says, “Do whatever he tells you.”  When Mary says, “Do whatever he tells you” once again we see Mary’s importance as our intercessor, pleading on our behalf.

Her role as an intercessor is also illustrated further in the Lumen Gentium    document – quote:

“This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix. This, however, is so understood that it neither takes away anything from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficacy of Christ the one Mediator.” (Lumen Gentium Vatican II §62)

In was also in this document that the Vatican II gave Mary the title Advocate because she intercedes before God on our behalf as our advocate.

In the prayer which we pray after the Rosary, the “Hail Holy Queen”, we ask Mary to intercede before God for us. We ask Mary to be our “gracious advocate” before God.

Hence let us remember the many times each day we ask Mary to intercede before God for us, to be our Advocate, as we pray the “Hail Mary” and say,

Lastly, let us ask Mary to help us to do whatever Jesus tells us. As Mary says, “Do whatever He tells you to do.”

There are so many images of Mary as intercessor that it is impossible to detail them all here. But it is helpful to understand that all images of Mary are connected. Her role as intercessor is also connected to her role as Mother of the Church, demonstrating to all what it means to live a life of prayer, love, and action.