Reflecting on Mary,
we come to know that holiness is inconceivable
without a renewed active listening to the Word of God.
Mary lived with eyes fixed on Christ,
treasuring his every word.

 
Rosarium Virginis Mariae

O Most Blessed One, Mother of Life, Mother of Salvation,
through you, let us have access to your Son
so that through you He may receive us,
He who was given to us through you.

 
St Bernard of Clairvaux, 12th century

Hail, holy Mother!
The child to whom you gave birth
is the King of heaven and earth for ever.

 
Sedulius, 5th century

Mother of God and mother of all God's children...
maternity itself is glorified through her.

 
St. Edith Stein, 20th century

Mary, Mother of God, because of you
the light of the only-begotten Son of God
has shown upon those who sat in darkness
and the shadow of death.

 
St. Cyril of Alexandria, 5th century

Through Mary, because Christ was born of her,
we have recovered new life in place of sin,
immortality instead of mortality,
light in place of darkness.

 
St Aelred, 12th century

The Blessed Virgin Mary
must be shown every honor, preached and praised,
and invoked by us in our every need.

 
St. Thomas Aquinas, 13th century

Mary’s thoughts were God's thoughts,
her words, God's words.

 
His Holiness, Benedict XVI