Who is the Mother of Jesus? Why do Catholics pray to Her? Does She really have the power to answer prayer?

First of all, it is proper to point out that the Lord Jesus, in founding His Church, the one Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:4; Romans 12:5), established the foundation for the ministry of each member of the Body of Christ, so that each and every soul who believes in Jesus has a role to play in the history of salvation.

Secondly, we find in practice that indeed the Lord Jesus used His disciples and apostles, during His lifetime, to spread the Gospel and to perform miracles and, after Pentecost, to multiply and grow the number of believers. The apostles were “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49), performed many miracles, and established the Church throughout most of the known world. Moreover, the miracles obtained through the intercession of the saints, even after their passage from this world of time, and likewise the many miracles performed by Mary in so many apparitions around the world since Her Assumption into Heaven, are so well documented and so enormous in number and kind, that no one who has researched this subject can in their right mind doubt the evidence that is available for all to see.

Thirdly, if the Lord Jesus is able and willing to accomplish so many miracles through His disciples and saints, how much more grace and power is He willing to bestow upon His Mother Mary, who above all the saints is clothed with the most profound virtues, gifts, and graces? So much so, in fact, that even an angel from Heaven had to declare to Mary that She was “full of grace” (Luke 1:28)?

According to Sister Mary of Agreda (in The Mystical City of God), who was shown many mysteries and hidden sacraments that filled our Lady’s life on earth as also afterwards in heaven (she was shown these things by our Lady herself, by the angels, and by the Lord Jesus), Mother Mary imitated and served and accompanied Her divine Son so perfectly in His life, death, and resurrection, that She came to share, not only in Christ’s virtues, but also in His power.

Christ gave Her during the course of His earthly existence, among many other gifts and powers, the ability to see and understand what was happening in His own soul in real time, even when Jesus was physically absent from His Mother. Mary thus accompanied Jesus at every step of the way. Due to Her profound humility, purity, and charity, Mary not only perceived everything that transpired in Christ’s immaculate soul, but She also imitated perfectly all His doings: His prayers, His acts of virtue, and His acts of knowledge and understanding.

It would take many pages to explain the breadth and depth of Mary’s graces, privileges, and the mysteries of God that She encompasses in Her Person (in fact, The Mystical City of God is about 2,700 pages long), but it is worth noting that, as a result of Her incredible love and fidelity, God saw fit to reward Mary with His own glory and power, to crown Her Queen of Heaven, and to appoint Her as Mother to all His children.

If the Lord can clothe His apostles—who had so many faults and defects and often failed Him—if the Lord can clothe His apostles with “power from on high” so that they could heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out demons (see Luke 24:49 — “And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you [the Holy Spirit]. But remain in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” ), how much more is He willing to do for the holy Mother who never once failed Him during His entire life and mission on earth?

Human nature was created in the image of God. (Genesis 1:27) As such, we have the potential, over and above the natural life we enjoy as human beings, to share in the supernatural life of God, that is, the divine nature of God. (2 Peter 1:4) This is true for every person who believes in and follows the Lord Jesus. How much more for the holy Mother of God?

God’s power is attributed to Mother Mary, not only by way of Her intercessory influence with the Lord, but also by way of God entrusting all His Mysteries and His Power to Her personally. This is a very deep truth. It is not easily understood by mere mortals. It is not even suspected or imagined by the many. But, to use a (weak) analogy, it is like the difference between (1) a King giving His authority to a man for one day and (2) placing that man on the King’s Throne forever.

Christians who serve God in this life and draw near to God, without placing any obstacle to the work of God’s grace in their soul, eventually come to be clothed with God’s own attributes, and to participate in the divine Nature of God Himself, so that they become the sons and daughters of God (this is a stupendous mystery in itself—see John 1:12), according to St John the Beloved, St Peter, St Paul, St Augustine, St Teresa of Avila, St John of the Cross, St Thomas Aquinas, and many others. How much more the holy Mother who gave human flesh to the Son of God and served Him with the most perfect fidelity and the perfection of love all His days?

We will only come to know the real greatness of Mary’s power if and when we get to Heaven. But suffice it to say, in this short letter, that God entrusted to Mary a share in His own Omnipotence, according to Sister Mary of Agreda.

There is a passage in The Mystical City of God (Volume II, Book III, paragraph 18) that accounts for the preparation of the Blessed Virgin Mary for the Annunciation, where Sister Mary of Agreda writes that because Mother Mary was to unite the two extremes of man and God in the Incarnation:

“He made Her in corresponding measure a participant in the divine Omnipotence, and gave Her power over the influences of the heavens, of the planets and elements, commanding them all to obey Her.”

All tongues should fall silent before this profound and awesome Mystery!

“He who holds his tongue is wise.” (Proverbs 10:19)

LG Sleiman