The Eucharist, while commemorating the passion and resurrection, is also in continuity with the incarnation. At the Annunciation Mary conceived the Son of God in the physical reality of his body and blood, thus anticipating within herself what to some degree happens sacramentally in every believer who receives, under the signs of bread and wine, the Lord's body and blood. (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, par. 55)
John Paul's encyclical recalls Mary as a human person who was intimately acquainted with the Son of God, as both his Mother, and as his first disciple. In her personal "yes" to the Father, who announces the Good News of Christ's coming into the world through her, we also intuit how Christ to comes us, miraculously, through the Eucharist.
[T]here is a profound analogy between the Fiat which Mary said in reply to the angel, and the Amen which every believer says when receiving the body of the Lord. Mary was asked to believe that the One whom she conceived "through the Holy Spirit" was "the Son of God" (Lk. 1:30-35). In continuity with the Virgin's faith, in the Eucharistic mystery we are asked to believe that the same Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Mary, becomes present in his full humanity and divinity under the signs of bread and wine. (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, par. 55)
Mary first received Christ in her heart by her "yes," and then conceived Christ in her womb by God's holy action. Referring to this miraculous indwelling of Christ in Mary, Elizabeth, Mary's cousin, would acclaim Mary as the first tabernacle in history: "Blessed is she who believed!" (Lk. 1:45)
Indeed, blessed are we, too, in the precious moments following a holy Communion, becoming sanctuaries that harbor the Sacred Host that is Jesus. Our preparation beforehand and outlook after receiving him must imitate Mary's.
And is not the enraptured gaze of Mary as she contemplated the face of the newborn Christ and cradled him in her arms that unparalleled model of love which should inspire us every time we receive Eucharistic communion? (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, par. 55)
Don't be fooled into thinking these descriptions are just lofty platitudes of Mary's faith. John Paul describes a remarkably empowered person. Her times of suffering portend the highest heroic virtue.
Mary's Eucharistic faith had a sacrificial dimension that kept Calvary in view her whole life.
The tragedy of her Son's crucifixion was thus foretold [by Simeon in Lk. 2:34-35], and in some sense Mary's [place] at the foot of the Cross was foreshadowed. In her daily preparation for Calvary, Mary experienced a kind of "anticipated Eucharist"—one might say a "spiritual communion"—of desire and of oblation, which would culminate in her union with her Son in his passion, and then find expression after Easter by her partaking in the Eucharist which the Apostles celebrated as the memorial of that passion . . .
The body given up for us and made present [in the Eucharist] was the same body which she had conceived in her womb! For Mary, receiving the Eucharist must have somehow meant welcoming once more into her womb that heart which had beat in unison with hers and reliving what she had experienced at the foot of the Cross. (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, par. 56)
Devotion to Christ in the Eucharist brings dignity and strength to even our most daunting challenges and fears. Mary's Eucharistic attitude and her interior disposition can inspire us to new heights as we welcome Jesus into our hearts in Communion at Mass.
Jesus gave us every reason to be "schooled" by Mary in these things, that we may be emboldened by her witness. He made her a gift to us from the Cross at Calvary with the words to the beloved disciple, John, "Behold, your mother!" (Jn. 19:27) The pope's encyclical affirms this.
Experiencing the memorial of Christ's death in the Eucharist also means continually receiving this gift [of Mary]. It means accepting—like John—the one who is given to us anew as our Mother. It also means taking on a commitment to be conformed to Christ, putting ourselves at the school of his Mother and allowing her to accompany us. Mary is present, with the Church and as the Mother of the Church, at each of our celebrations of the Eucharist. If the Church and the Eucharist are inseparably united, the same ought to be said of Mary and the Eucharist. This is one reason why, since ancient times, the commemoration of Mary has always been part of the Eucharistic celebrations of the Churches of East and West.
Mary stands with us as we approach the altar. John Paul taught that her love of Jesus in the Eucharist is "contagious," it "warms our hearts." Mary teaches us about the transforming power of Eucharist and the necessity of staying close to Jesus in and through it.
May we be conformed to Christ ever more perfectly by her motherly example and constant intercession, for she is blessed among women. For blessed is the fruit of her womb, our Savior and Brother, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us . . .
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