Mary, Mother of Priests

The Virgin Mary and the Year for Priests

Today, as at the beginning of every calendar year, we celebrate Mary as the most holy Mother of God, defined as such by Council of Nicea in 325 AD and witnessed by twenty centuries of the Christian faithful as our loving mother too. On this Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, let us take a moment to reflect on Mary as the Mother of Priests.

The basis of Mary's love for priests is her perfect relationship with the High Priest, Jesus Christ. The Letter to the Hebrews (7:1-7) describes the high priestly dignity of Jesus who is said to be a priest "in the line of Melchizedek," that is, not of the Mosaic priesthood, but rather of a priesthood that will never pass away. After conquering the power of the devil once-for-all on Calvary, Jesus Christ eternally offers that one sacrifice to the Father for the salvation of souls, and the men who are chosen to serve in the priestly class in His Church have the duty to perpetuate that one sacrifice in time by celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Of the many things that priests have to do, it is the most important!

Mary is not only the Mother of Jesus' human nature, but She is the Mother of His Priesthood too because She gave Him birth, nurtured Him, educated Him in the ways of the Chosen People and faithfully stood by Him at the altar when He was offering the perfect sacrifice, namely, His own death. She was not a pious bystander to the formation of His priestly character. Mary was His seminary.

Mary, too, stands by us priests when we offer our lives and sacrifices in union with the one great sacrifice of Christ. She helps us remain faithful to Christ and to the Church in times of great apostasy and persecution. The challenges to the priesthood in the modern era have been more ferocious than we have seen for many centuries. Not only have the atheistic movements of the last two centuries sought to stamp out the Church, but they have come against the priesthood in a vicious and systematic way. One needs only learn a little about the internment camps of the Nazis and Communists to know that priests took a disproportionate share of the suffering in the last century. Nor have the revolt against morality, and the modern feminist and dissenting movements left the priesthood unscathed, as we know too well. Indeed, Mary knows it better than anyone, which is why She dedicates loving attention to the priests who have often been called her first sons.

If I may ask any favor of the faithful in this Year for Priests, I would ask simply that you commend us to the Mother of the High Priest on a regular basis. Mary loves priests very deeply, not only because she sees in us the reflection of her Son, but because she knows how necessary the priestly office is for the sanctification of souls. She is perfectly aware of our many weaknesses and foibles, but she loves us anyway! Please ask her to protect us, to guide us, to purify us like the "sons of Levi" so that we may be able to offer "fitting due sacrifice to the Lord" (Malachi 3:3-4) for the salvation of souls.

[I would like to let all our readers know that I will be starting off the year in Rome for a January 4-8 conference of priests sponsored by the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy (CCC) in collaboration with the Australian CCC. I ask your kind prayers for the fruitfulness of the visit and promise to remember all of you at the holy places, especially St. Peter's Basilica where I will be privileged to concelebrate Mass with the Holy Father on the Feast of the Epiphany, still celebrated on January 6th in Italy.]

Sincerely,

Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,

President, Human Life International