It is debated whether Mary suffered pain giving birth to Jesus. I really don't want to get into that spat. I wasn't there. The Evangelists, along with Paul and the other New Testament writers decided to keep the details of our Savior's birth shrouded in mystery, which is all the better. Certain things should only be contemplated, if at all, with fear and trembling, and that's one of them.
Whether she suffered labor pains in Bethlehem or not, there is no doubt that she suffered immense pain at the birth of the Church. Along with Pentecost, there is a patristic tradition that the Church came to be at the Crucifixion, born of the blood and water that flowed from Jesus’ pierced side. The blood represents either the Eucharist or the sacraments in general. The water refers either to the Holy Spirt or baptism. Standing at the foot of the cross: Mary and the Beloved Disciple, traditionally identified as John. They, along with the other women, are the remnant that stayed faithful when the others fled.
Mary truly suffered the pain of a mother losing a child. Bernard of Clairvaux writes that we shouldn't be surprised at this. The passionate love she had for her son was deeper than we can imagine.
There is also a patristic saying that what "was visible in our Savior has passed into His mysteries." In the sacraments Jesus' work of redemption continues. The ordained minister may be the one saying the words, but in baptism it is Christ doing the baptizing, in confession it is Christ forgiving the sins, in the Eucharist it is Christ offering His Body and Blood. As Paul says, the Church is the Body of Christ active in the world. Through that Body the mysteries are dispensed. You can't separate Church and Sacrament.
So in the Church, the Mystical Body, Mary loves us as she loves her Divine Son. Her passion for us is as a mother for her children. Because when she sees us she sees her sons and daughters.
I give thanks, because we have been given so wonderful a mother. She loves us, protects us, gives us all the good things we need, as a mother should. Most of all she leads us to her Son, whose sufferings she shared in; sufferings that bring us salvation.
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