Just as she loved and cared for her son Jesus, Mary wants the good of every person. She, a human being, is the model for every Christian, and by mirroring the stages of her life we can make our contribution to a new world. Even though our planet is beset with many tensions, Mary leads us in various ways to unity, and she desires this for all. She wants families united, different generations united; she asks for unity among different ethnic groups, races, and peoples; unity among Christians and unity, as far as it is possible, with the faithful of other religions and even with those who have no specific religious affiliation but seek the welfare of humankind. She reaches out to everyone, and she desires universal brotherhood. (…) May Mary, who made God the ideal of her life, help us make him our ideal as well. May Mary, who embraced the will of God in the incarnation and in her whole life, help us to fulfill his will to perfection. May she, who loved her neighbor as demonstrated in her visit to Elizabeth and at the wedding at Cana, fill our hearts with this same love. May Mary, who lived mutual love fully in the family at Nazareth, help us to practice it as well. May Mary, who was able to offer all her suffering at the foot of the cross, strengthen our hearts when we are besieged by suffering. May Mary, who is the universal mother, open our hearts to all humankind.

Chiara Lubich

(Chiara Lubich, Talk given in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, 30-11-1987, in Mary, The Transparency of God, New City Press, New York, 2003, p 81-82)