While Mary brings spiritual children to her Son, Jesus; our affiliation with her first rests with our relationship to the Lord. Jesus gives us his Mother as our Mother. Due to his identity and the posture of the Creator to his creatures, Jesus can never be eclipsed. We find this truth in the Rosary. While many Hail Mary prayers are said, as well as the Hail Holy Queen, the meditations are almost exclusively about Jesus and his saving work. The “fruit” of her womb gives importance to the tree that is Mary. The fact that Marian devotion and pilgrimages are often associated with healing inspires a reflection as to the WHY. No doubt when Jesus was a child or even a young man at work with wood and stone, there must have been times when there were injuries. I am reminded of several paintings of Jesus as a boy helping out in his foster father’s carpentry shop. The frozen image shows Jesus holding up a cut hand or a finger with a splinter of wood in it. Blood flows from the wound. The scene prefigures his crucifixion. One of the paintings shows Mary’s response, she immediately assists him. How many times did our mothers kiss our wounds to make them better? They bandaged our hurts and cared for us when we were sick.
As a spiritual Mother, Mary seeks to bring healing to those sons and daughters who are kin with Jesus. She cares for Jesus among the community of believers.
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