CONCLUSION

Entrustment to Mary

“A great portent appeared in heaven,
a woman clothed with the sun” (Rev 12:1)

The Woman, the Dragon and the Child

122. The Church's journey through history is accompanied by “signs” which are visible to all, yet need to be interpreted. Among such signs the Book of Revelation presents the “great portent” which appeared in the sky, which speaks of a conflict between the woman and the dragon.

The woman, clothed with the sun, in travail and ready to give birth (cf. Rev 12:1-2), can be seen as the Israel of the Prophets which gives birth to the Messiah “who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron” (Rev 12:5; cf. Ps 2:9). But she is also the Church, the People of the New Covenant, subjected to persecution and yet protected by God. The dragon is “the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world” (Rev 12:9). The conflict is an uneven one: the dragon seems to prevail, so great is his arrogance before the defenceless and suffering woman. Yet in reality the triumph belongs to the son born of the woman. In this conflict one thing is certain: the great dragon has already been defeated; “he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him” (Rev 12:9). He was defeated by Christ, God made man, through his death and resurrection, and by the martyrs “through the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Rev 12:11). And even when the dragon continues his opposition, there is no reason for fear, since his defeat has already taken place.

123. This is the certainty which heartens the Church on her pilgrim way; in the story of the woman and the dragon she reads her own history ever anew. The woman who gives birth to her son also brings to mind the Virgin Mary, especially at that moment when, transfixed by suffering at the foot of the Cross, she begets her Son anew as the victor over the prince of this world. She is then entrusted to John who in turn is entrusted to her (cf. Jn 19:26-27), and thus she becomes the Mother of the Church. Thanks to the bond uniting Mary to the Church and the Church to Mary, the mystery of the woman becomes clearer: “Mary, present in the Church as the Mother of the Redeemer, takes part, as a mother, in that 'monumental struggle against the powers of darkness,' which continues throughout human history. And by her ecclesial identification as the 'woman clothed with the sun' (Rev 12:1), it can be said that 'in the Most Holy Virgin the Church has already reached the perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle' ”.¹⁹²

124. The whole Church, then, looks to Mary. Thanks to the countless Marian shrines dotting the nations of the continent, devotion to Mary is very strong and widespread among the peoples of Europe.

Church in Europe! Continue to contemplate Mary, in the knowledge that she is “maternally present and sharing in the many complicated problems which today beset the lives of individuals, families, and nations” and is “helping the Christian people in the constant struggle between good and evil, to ensure that it 'does not fall', or, if it has fallen, that it 'rises again' ”.¹⁹³