Mary, Coredemptrix (Good Friday)
By Father Scott Archer April 2, 2021 No grief could be more profound than the sinless Mother of God gazing upon her only Son as He suffered and gave His life on the cross for our redemption. The words of the Stabat Mater attempt to depict the sorrow of the ever-Virgin Mary and her union to Christ in His agony. " At the cross her station keeping,/ Stood the mournful Mother weeping,/ Close to Jesus to the last." The suffering of Our Lady, however, was not in vain and was in the plan of God. A title we use for Our Lady is Coredemptrix. Christ is the sole Redeemer of mankind and it was necessary for Mary to be redeemed by her Son’s death, though God applied the merits of His future death in a prevenient way at the first instant of her conception. The title Coredemptrix means she played a subordinate but indispensable role in the redemption by freely giving her assent to be the Mother of God; furthermore, she cooperated intimately in the events of our redemption. St. John Paul ...