It is our vocation to highlight Mary

Q. – This morning at St. Peter’s Square there was a sizeable group of focolarini, of people who adhere to the Movement founded by Chiara Lubich. The Pope gave them a letter and there is no doubt that this Movement, more than any other… is founded on a precisely Marian charism.
So we interviewed Chiara Lubich. Let’s listen to what she told us about the rosary and her personal experience with regard to praying to Mary.
A. – I really think that the Holy Spirit present in the Pope moves at the same rate as the Holy Spirit who works in the world. One thing quite popular nowadays is the Marian profile of the Church, that is, that profile von Balthazar spoke about, which encompasses also the petrine and other profiles. And, precisely in consonance with this, the Pope launches anew this wonderful prayer which has now become a real splendour.

Q. – The Pope adds five new mysteries to the rosary, the “mysteries of light”. What is the significance of this?
A. – I think it’s something very important, because after the tradition we had of reciting the rosary in that particular way, now other five mysteries have emerged. But they are indeed necessary! They truly complete the other mysteries. In the rosary there was something about the period before the baptism of Jesus, but there was nothing from then on up to the beginning of his passion.The public life of Jesus was lacking, which is full of light, and in which he manifests himself as the son of God.
I was really very happy. The rosary is truly a synthesis of the entire Gospel, so it is indeed – as the Pope says – a contemplative prayer. Reciting it, and thinking of each mystery, one can re-live all the life of Jesus, naturally accompanied by Mary. And this is important, because it is not just any kind of prayer, in which you say one Hail Mary after another. It is a contemplation. It is a synthesis of the truths of Christianity.
And really, after that tragic attempt of 11 September, in which the Pope himself spoke of having seen also the forces of Evil with a capital E, it was necessary to go against it with the forces of Good with the capital
G. Therefore not so much wars, but prayer! And also, we strongly feel the urgent need for the world’s goods to be shared in order to silence terrorism. Therefore the rosary – which is now emrging as something new – is what we truly need in this moment.

Q. – Chiara, today the Pope gave you a letter in which he entrusts to the Focolare Movement the prayer of the rosary.
A. – Our Movement is actually called “Work of Mary”, although it is better known as the Focolare Movement. Our norm is this: to strive to repeat Mary and to be a continuation of hers as much as it is possible. Now, this having entrusted to us … first of all, it’s a great honour, and also a commitment, it is a great joy, because – I’d like to say – it is our vocation to highlight Mary.

Q. – Mary, also as someone who helps us to bring Christ into our life, who helps us to understand Christ, she is a like a way, a go-between.
A. – Absolutely, absolutely! She is the white background on which He, Jesus, shines. I think that we cannot reach Christ without Mary. She is the way which the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, found to bring Christ on earth.

Q. – Who is Mary for you?
A. – For me, Mary is something magnificent. She is the concentrate of all the charisms, especially the charism of charisms, which is love, charity. For me, Mary is the figure of the Christian, and in a particular way, of the woman. Now that there is the tendency, I don’t know, to make woman imitate, to put her as an equal of man, perhaps looking for means we do not agree with, like making her become a priest.
I think instead that the vocation of the woman is that of imitating Mary. She brings love, which is the only thing that will remain in the next life; because in the next life many things here on earth, like the heirarchy and the sacraments, will no longer exist, only love will remain. Now she is the witness of what will remain.

Q. – What can you say to those people who see the rosary instead as a simple repititive prayer, people who cannot grasp the great spirituality it contains? How is it possible to really encounter Mary in the rosary?
A. – I remember one time I was at Assisi. I was accompanying a group of evangelicals, and there, on a wall, we found a rosary. A pastor took this rosary and said: “But, what’s the use of it? Why do you always repeat Hail Mary, Hail Mary…?”
When you love a person – I said – you would like to tell him or her a thousand times: I love you, I love you, I love you. It is not a repetition, it is a craving of the heart. So, as she is our mother, our model, she is the one who gave us the most precious thing, which is Jesus, we’ve got to tell her this a thousand times. And this is the meaning of those 150 times in which we repeat the Hail Mary every day.