Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Madrid (Fides Service) - During their plenary assembly in November the Catholic Bishops of Spain announced a national “Year of Immaculate Mary” from 8 December 2004 to 8 December 2005. The reason given was the 150th anniversary of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. This event will be undoubtedly "a time of special grace to intensify devotion and love for the Mother of God and Mother of the Church ", said Cardinal Antonio M. Rouco Varela, Archbishop of Madrid and President of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, moreover coinciding with the Year of the Eucharist being celebrated by the universal Church, the Year of Immaculate Mary “will be an opportunity to contemplate Mary as the ‘woman of the Eucharist’ model for the Church."
For the occasion the Bishops issued a message calling for personal and community renewal of consecration to Immaculate Mary. The document has three parts: significance of the Marian dogma; Marian testimony of the Church in Spain; consecration to Immaculate Mary.
The Bishops recall that the definition of the dogma was the culmination of a long process of reflection on the figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary and that the dogma underlines three aspects of the faith: "The close bond between Mary and the mystery of Christ and his Church, the fullness of salvation worked in Mary and absolute enmity between Mary and sin ". "In Mary - the document affirms - we contemplate the beauty of a pure life dedicated to the Lord. The holiness of the Church which God desires for all his sons and daughters shines in Mary ". Mary is for all Christians a model according to their respective vocations: "Children find in her maternal protection and guidance. Young people find in her a model of purity open to authentic love. For married couples Mary is a refuge and model to make their union a community of life and love. For virgins and consecrated persons she is a sure sign of the hundred percent promise already in this life for all who offer themselves totally to God".
"In Spain evangelisation and transmission of the faith have always gone hand in hand with a special love for the Blessed Virgin Mary " the Bishops recall: “If Spain is a ‘Land of Our Lady’, it is mainly due to widespread devotion to Immaculate Mary".
The document ends recalling that “the new challenges which face us as Christians in a world ever more in need of the light of the Gospel, can only be faced if we experience the maternal protection of our Mother Immaculate Mary" and inviting all the dioceses to honour Mary our Mother by making a pilgrimage to Pilar, Saragozza, 21 and 22 May 2005, with a solemn act of consecration to her Immaculate Heart.
Various initiatives organised for the Year of Immaculate Mary proclaimed in Spain include an exhibition of works of art which refer to the dogma at Almudena Cathedral in Madrid from 1 May to 12 October 2005.(RG) (Agenzia Fides 6/12/2004; Righe 36 - Parole 493)
