Pax et Bonum

Madonna Murillo

From the Directory for Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons, Congregation for the Clergy, n. 57, we are given this exhortation: “Love for Christ and for His Church is profoundly linked to love of the Blessed Virgin Mary, handmaid of the Lord. With her unique title of Mother, she was the selfless helper of her divine Son’s diaconia (cf. John 19:25-27). Love of the Mother of God, based on faith and expressed in daily recitation of the rosary, imitation of her virtues and trust in her, are indeed signs of authentic filial devotion. With deep veneration and affection Mary looks on every deacon….This love of the Virgin Mary, handmaid of the Lord, which is born and rooted in the word, will cause deacons to imitate her life. In this way a Marian dimension is introduced into the Church which is very close to the vocation of the deacon.