MOTHER OF THE CHURCH
Promulgating The Blessed Virgin Mary
As Mother Of The Church At The
Closing Of The Third Session Of
Vatican Council II
By Pope Paul VI
November 21, 1964
THE TRIPLE CROWN
OR TIARA
THE POPE'S OFFICIAL HEADDRESS
Following is a chapter of the speech delivered
November 21, 1964, by Pope Paul VI
at the closing of the third session
at Vatican Coundil II.
Our thought, Venerable Brothers, cannot but rise
with sentiments of sincere and filial gratitude to the Holy Virgin.
Also, to her whom We like to regard as the Protectress of the present Council,
the witness of Our toil, Our most kindly adviser, because it is to her,
as a heavenly patron, together with St. Joseph, that the work of our Ecumenical
Assembly was entrusted by Pope John XXIII right from the start.
Moved by these same sentiments, last year we offered
to the Most Blessed Mary a solemn act of common homage, by gathering in
the Liberian Basilica, round the image venerated with the glorious title
of Salus Populi Romani (Salvation of the Roman people.)
Most Exalted Position
This year, the homage of our Council appears much more
precious and significant. By the promulgation of today's Constitution,
which has as its crown and summit a whole chapter 
dedicated
to Our Lady, we can rightly affirm that the present session ends as an
incomparable hymn of praise in honor to Mary.
It is the first time, in fact--and saying it fills
our souls with profound emotion--that an Ecumenical Council presents such
a vast synthesis of the Catholic Doctrine regarding the place which the
Blessed Mary occupies in the mystery of Christ and of the Church.
This corresponds to the aim which this Council set
itself of manifesting the countenance of the Holy Church, to which Mary
is closely linked, and of which, as it has been authoritatively affirmed,
she is portio maxima, portio optima, portio praecipua, portio electissima
[greatest,
finest, principal, most elect part].
Our Lord's Will
Truly, the reality of the Church is not exhausted in
its Hierarchical structure, in its Liturgy, in its Sacraments, in its Juridical
Ordinances. The intimate, the primary source of its sanctifying effectiveness
is to be sought in its Mystic Union with Christ; a union which we cannot
conceive as separate from her who is the Mother of the Word Incarnate and
whom Jesus Christ Himself wanted closely united to Himself for our salvation.
Thus the loving contemplation of the marvels worked by God in His Holy
Mother must find its proper perspective in the vision of the Church.
And knowledge of the true Catholic Doctrine on Mary will always be a key
to the exact understanding of the mystery of Christ and of the Church.
Fullfillment Of A Wish
Meditation on these close relationships between Mary
and the Church, so clearly established in today's Conciliar Constitution,
makes Us feel that this is the most Solemn and appropriate moment to fulfill
a wish which, after We mentioned it at the end of the preceding session
very many Council Fathers made their own, pressing for an explicit declaration
at this Council of the motherly role of the Virgin among the Christian
people. To achieve this aim, We have felt it opportune to Consecrate
in this very public Session a title which was suggested in honor of the
Virgin from various parts of the Catholic world and which is particularly
dear to us because it sums up in an admirable synthesis the privileged
position reorganized by the Council for the Virgini in the Holy Church.
"Mother Of The Church"
Therefore, for the glory of the Virgin Mary and
for Our own consolation, We proclaim the Most Blessed Mary Mother of the
Church, that is to say of all the people of God, of the faithful as well
as of the Pastors, who call her the most loving Mother. And We wish
that the Mother of God should be still more honored and invoked by the
entire Christian people by this most sweet title.
This is a title, Venerable Brothers, not new to
Christian piety; it is precisely by this title, in preference to all others,
that the faithful and the Church address Mary. It truly is part of
the 
genuine
substance of devotion to Mary, finding its justification in the very dignity
of the Mother of the Word Incarnate.
Basis: Divine Maternity
Just as, in fact, the Divine Maternity is the basis
for her special relationship with Christ, and for her presence in the economy
of salvation brought about by Jesus Christ, thus it also constitutes the
principal basis for the relations between Mary and the Church, since she
is the mother of Him Who, right from the time of His Incarnation in her
virginal bosom, joined to Himself as head of His Mystical Body which is
the Church. Mary, then as Mother of Christ, is mother also of all
the faithful and of all the Pastors.
It is therefore with a soul full of trust and filial
love that We raise Our glance to her, despite Our unworthiness and weakness.
She, who has given Us in Jesus the fountainhead of grace, will not fail
to succor the Church, now flourishing through the abundance of the gifts
of the Holy Ghost and setting herself with new zeal to the fulfillment
of its mission of salvation.
Yet Close To Us
And Our trust is even more lively and fully corroborated
if We consider the very close links between this heavenly Mother of Ours
and mankind. Although adorned by God with the riches of admirable
prerogatives, to make her a worthy Mother of the Word Incarnate, she is
nevertheless very close to us. Daughter of Adam, like ourselves,
and therefore our sister through ties of nature, she is, however, the creature
who was preserved from Original Sin in view of the merits of the Savior,
and who possesses besides the privileges obtained the personal virtue of
a total and exemplary faith, thus deserving the evangelical praise beata
quae credidisti (blessed art thou who believe). In
her earthly life, she realized the perfect image of the disciple of Christ,
reflected every virtue, and incarnated the evangelical beatitudes proclaimed
by Christ. Therefore in her, the entire Church, in its incomparable
variety of life and of work, attains the most authentic form of the perfect
imitation of Christ.
"Render Due Honor"
We trust then, that with the Promulgation of the Constitution
on the Church, sealed by the Proclamation of Mary as Mother of the Church,
that is to say of all the faithful and all the Pastors, the Christian people
may, with greater ardor, turn to the Holy Virgin and render to her
the honor and devotion due to her.
As for Ourselves, just as at the invitation of Pope
John XXIII We entered the Council hall, along with "Mary, the Mother of
Jesus," so at the close of the third session We leave this Temple with
the most holy and sweet name of Mary, Mother of the Church.
As a sign of gratitude for her loving assistance,
lavished on Us during this last conciliar period, let each of you, Venerable
Brothers, pledge himself to hold high among the Christian people the name
and the honor of Mary, indicating in her the model of faith and of the
full response to any call from God, the model of the full assimlation of
the searching of Christ and of His charity, so that all the faithful, united
in the name of the common Mother, may feel themselves ever more firmly
rooted in the Faith and in union with Jesus Christ, and at the same time
fervent in charity toward the brothers, promoting love for the poor, dedication
to justice and defense of peace. As the great St. Ambrose exhorted:
ait
in singulis Mariae anima ut magnificet Dominum; sit in singulis spiritus
Mariae et exulted in Deo [Let the soul of Mary be in individuals,
that it may magnify the Lord; let the spirit of Mary be in individuals,
that it may rejoice in the Lord].
A Means, Not An End
Above all, We desire that it should be made clear that
Mary, the humble handmaid of the Lord, exists only in relation to God and
to Christ, our sole Mediator and Redeemer. And likewise, may the
true nature and the aims of the Marian veneration in the Church be illustrated,
particularly where there are many separated brothers, so that those who
are not part of the Catholic Community may understand that devotion to
Mary, far from being an end in itself, is instead a means essentially ordained
to orient souls to Christ and thus unite them with the Father in the love
of the Holy Ghost.
Special Mention: Fatima
While We turn in ardent prayer to the Virgin, that she
may bless the Ecumenical Council and 
the
entire Church, hastening the hour of union of all Christians, Our glance
opens on the endless horizons of the whole world, the object of the most
lively care of the Ecumenical Council, and which Our venerated predecessor,
Pius XII of venerated memory, not without inspiration from on high, solemnly
Consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Today, We consider it
particularly opportune to recall this act of Consecration. Bearing
this in mind, We have decided to send a special mission to Fatima in the
near future in order to carry the Golden Rose to the sanctuary of Fatima,
more dear than ever not only to the people of the noble Portuguese nation--always,
but particularly today, dear to Us--but also known and venerated by the
faithful throughout the entire Catholic world. In this manner We
intend to entrust to the care of this heavenly Mother the entire human
family, with its problems and anxieties, with its legitimate aspirations
and ardent hopes.
The Holy Father's Plea To Mary
O, Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, to you We recommend
the entire Church and Our Ecumenical Council!
You Auxilium Episcoporum, aid of Bishops,
protect and assist the Bishops in their Apostolic Mission, and all those
Priests, Religious and laymen, who help them in their arduous work.
You who were presented by your Son Himself, at the
moment of His redeeming Death, as Mother to His best-loved Disiple, remember
the Christian people who entrust themselves to you.
Remember all your sons, support their prayers to
God, preserve their faith, strengthen their hope, increase their charity.
Remember those who are in tribulation, in need,
in danger and particularly those who suffer persecution and who are in
prison because of their faith. For these, O Virgin, obtain fortitude 
and
hasten the desired day of just freedom.
Look with benign eyes on our separated brothers
and condescend to unite us, you who brought forth Christ as a bridge of
unity between God and men.
O, temple of light without shadow and without blemish,
intercede with your only Son, Mediator of our reconciliation with the Father
that He may have mercy on Our shortcomings and may dispel any difference
between us, giving us the joy of loving.
To your Immaculate Heart, O Mary, we finally recommend
the entire human race. Lead it to the knowledge of the sole and true
Savior, Jesus Christ; protect it from the scourges provoked by sin, give
to the entire world peace in truth, in justice, in liberty and in love.
And let the entire Church, by celebrating this great
Ecumenical Assembly, raise to the God of mercy the majestic hymn of praise
and thanksgiving, the hymn of joy and of exultation, because the Lord has
worked great things through you, O clement, O pious, O sweet Virgin Mary.
The National Pilgrim Virgin Statue
of the United States of America
Pope Paul VI placed the entire Mystical Body of
Christ under the protection of Our Lady of Fatima at the closing of the
Third Session of Vatican Council II in union with all of the Bishops of
the entire world on November 21, 1964.
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