Cardinal Tobin: Mary: Mother of Mercy
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Vol. 7. No. 5
My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
Mary, the Merciful Lady, helps us to seek and find love and forgiveness through her Son. Mary is the Mother of Mercy because she leads us to Jesus. Images of Mary such as the Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, for which we Redemptorists are privileged to serve as guardians, and the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, both show that Mary is not a goddess, the one to be worshipped, because she casts down her eyes and points to her Son, to goodness and salvation in Him.
There is a tendency today to discredit Mary, claiming that devotion to her “keeps women in their place,” in a submissive or secondary role. In fact, the Magnificat boldly proclaims the opposite. Mary is strong. She is called blessed by all generations because of the mighty works done through her by God’s Providence.
One of my favorite examples of Mary’s strength can be found in the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. As we know, the Franciscan bishop of Mexico City, Juan de Zumárraga, refused to believe her messenger, Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, a Chichimeca Indian to whom Mary appeared speaking his language and wearing native dress. The bishop—a skeptic like Zechariah—demanded a sign, so Mary miraculously filled Juan Diego’s tilma (cloak) with roses, which were not in season at that time of year (December). When Juan returned to the bishop and opened his cloak, the miraculous image of Mary appeared embedded in his tilma.
By the grace of God, through Mary’s intercession, Bishop de Zumárraga was converted—an experience every bishop should have! Convinced by the signs that the Blessed Mother offered to him, he approved her request that a chapel be built on Tepeyac Hill. The miraculous image embedded in Juan Diego’s cloak can be seen today in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is located just outside Mexico City. This is the most popular Marian shrine in the world with more than 6 million pilgrims annually.
Mary changes hearts. She leads us to her Son and helps us to recognize him as our Redeemer. Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, is the patron saint of the Americas. Millions of Catholics and members of other Christian denominations look to her for protection from all the evils that threaten them, including illness and disease, poverty, violence, and economic or social unrest. Her words to Juan Diego, “Do not be afraid. Am I not here, your mother?” show her mercy and compassion. These are words that all of us can take to heart no matter what our circumstances are or what is causing us to be anxious or afraid.
Mary, the beautiful Lady of Tepeyac, intercede for us, your children, and protect us from all evil through the redemptive work of your Son, Jesus. May we all remember to turn to you and implore your assistance in times of trouble, loneliness, or fear.
Sincerely yours in Christ the Redeemer,
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R.
Archbishop of Newark
October–Month of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(From the website of St. Joseph’s Abbey, Spencer, Massachusetts)
On autumn mornings as we conclude Lauds, the giant window of Our Lady is often blazing bright in the glow of the rising sun. Mary is illumined by the Radiant Dawn, the Sun of Justice, who is Jesus Christ her Son. Baptized into Christ Jesus our lives are meant to glow with his presence as well. One way we may grow closer to him is by praying the Rosary. October is the Month traditionally dedicated to the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
What consolation the Rosary brings. Remembering the mysteries of Christ’s life and Our Lady’s life, we repeat Hail Mary after Hail Mary. Indeed, the mysteries of the Holy Rosary- joyful, sorrowful, glorious and luminous- are the mysteries of our own lives as well. As we pray the Rosary, we beg Our Lady to draw us closer to him who is our Light. We remember seeing parents and grandparents so often praying their rosaries, “telling their beads” as some referred to this devotion. We remember as well that for many saints the Rosary was an indispensable part of their daily prayer.
In his biography of Pope Francis, Austen Ivreigh recounts then Cardinal Bergoglio’s experience of praying with Saint John Paul:
One afternoon I went to pray the Holy Rosary that the Holy Father was leading. He was in front of us on his knees. With the Holy Father’s back to me, I entered into prayer. In the middle of the prayer, I became distracted looking at the pope, and time began to fade away. I began to imagine the young priest, the seminarian, the poet, the worker, the child from Wadowice in exactly the same posture as he was now, praying Hail Mary after Hail Mary. His witness struck me. I felt this man, chosen to guide the Church, was the summation of a path trod together with his Mother in heaven, a path that began in his childhood. And I suddenly realized the weight of the words spoken by the Mother of Guadalupe to Saint Juan Diego, “Do not be afraid. Am I not your mother?” I grasped the presence of Mary in the pope’s life. His witness did not get lost in memory. From that time onward I have prayed the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary every day. – Excerpts from The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope, Austen Ivreigh, p.275
Image: Stained glass window of Our Lady, St. Joseph’s Abbey, Spencer, Massachusetts
A Message from Pope Leo XIV: In the one Christ we are one
Mary, wondrous union of grace and freedom, urges us to have trust and courage, and to participate fully in the life of God’s people.
In Mary of Nazareth, we recognize our own history: the history of the Church, immersed in the common lot of humanity. By taking flesh in her, the God of life — the God of freedom — has conquered death. Yes, today we contemplate how God overcomes death — yet never without us. His is the Kingdom, but ours is the “yes” to his love that can change everything. On the Cross, Jesus freely uttered that “yes” which would strip death of its power — the death that still spreads wherever our hands crucify and our hearts remain imprisoned by fear and mistrust. On the Cross, trust prevailed; so did love, which sees what is yet to come; and forgiveness triumphed.
Mary was there, united with her Son. In our day, we are like Mary whenever we do not flee, whenever we make Jesus’ “yes” our own. That “yes” still lives and resists death in the martyrs of our time, in witnesses of faith and justice, of gentleness and peace. Thus this day of joy becomes also a day that calls us to choose – how and for whom we shall live.
The liturgy of this feast of the Assumption offers us the Gospel passage on the Visitation. Saint Luke recorded in this passage a decisive moment in Mary’s vocation. It is beautiful to recall that day, as we celebrate the crowning moment of her life. Every human story, even that of the Mother of God, is brief on this earth and comes to an end. Yet nothing is lost. When a life ends, its uniqueness shines even more clearly. The Magnificat, which the Gospel places on the lips of the young Mary, now radiates the light of all her days. One single day — the day she met her cousin Elizabeth — contains the seed of every other day, of every other season. And words are not enough; a song is needed, one that continues to be sung in the Church “from generation to generation” (Lk 1:50), at the close of every day. The surprising fruitfulness of barren Elizabeth confirmed Mary in her trust; it anticipated the fruitfulness of her “yes,” which extends to the fruitfulness of the Church and of all humanity whenever God’s renewing Word is welcomed. That day, two women met in faith, then stayed together for three months to support each other, not just in practical matters but in a new way of reading history.
And so, dear brothers and sisters, the Resurrection enters our world even today. The words and choices of death may seem to prevail, but the life of God breaks through our despair through concrete experiences of fraternity and new gestures of solidarity. Prior to being our final destiny, the Resurrection transforms — in soul and body — our dwelling on earth. Mary’s song, Magnificat, strengthens the hope of the humble, the hungry, the faithful servants of God. These are the men and women of the Beatitudes who, even in tribulation, already see the invisible: the mighty cast down from their thrones, the rich sent away empty, the promises of God fulfilled. Such experiences should be found in every Christian community. They may seem impossible, but God’s Word continues to be brought to light. When bonds are born, with which we confront evil with good and death with life, we see that nothing is impossible with God (cf. Lk 1:37).
Sometimes, unfortunately, where human self-reliance prevails, where material comfort and a certain complacency dull the conscience, this faith can grow old. Then death enters in the form of resignation and complaint, of nostalgia and fear. Instead of letting the old world pass away, one clings to it still, seeking the help of the rich and powerful, which often comes with contempt for the poor and lowly. The Church, however, lives in her fragile members, and she is renewed by their Magnificat. Even in our own day, the poor and persecuted Christian communities, the witnesses of tenderness and forgiveness in places of conflict, and the peacemakers and bridge-builders in a broken world, are the joy of the Church. They are her enduring fruitfulness, the first fruits of the Kingdom to come. Many of them are women, like the elderly Elizabeth and the young Mary — Paschal women, apostles of the Resurrection. Let us be converted by their witness!
(A selection from the homily of Pope Leo XIV on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Castel Gandolfo, August 15, 2025)
My Prayer for You
Please join me in praying this Canticle of Mary, the Magnificat (Lk 1:46–55):
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.
Amen.