Please select this link to retrieve Brother Brian’s class notes for this 15 LECTURE SERIES titled “Mary, Our Lady, 
Mother of God, and Our Mother” delivered in Santa Fe in July of 2015. Brother Brian has prepared this reverent look at Our Lady as a commentary on Pope Saint John Paul II’s encyclical Redemptoris Mater.
Excerpt from “MARY, OUR LADY…” (page 11):
“Her openness to the Holy Spirit was perfectly feminine. Wide open, she received Jesus, and nourished His life. She believed perfectly, so she saw God in this tiny babe. God’s perfect plan is that she nourish our lives, because we are Christ’s brothers and sisters. She is the mother we so desperately need. No wonder that John Paul turned to her so often and so entirely. His immense intimacy with Mary overflows to us, enlivening our love for our heavenly mother. Love is the perfect way to relate to mothers, earthly and heavenly. Mothers are all about love. Their personal examples make all mothers models of personal love. Mothers must believe that the wiggling little baby is worth birthing, bathing, diapering, and feeding. Great is their faith. Mothers must obey their babes, to meet every need. Mothers stand tall because they stoop to meet baby’s need. It is impossible to adequately express the love, faith, and obedience of earthly mothers. How much more do Mary’s virtues exceed expression.”
Topics with page numbers from Class Handouts titled
“Mary, Our Lady, Mother of God, and Our Mother”:
St. John Paul’s Account of Mary Mothering 1
Another Way to Express this Abounding Truth, by Pope Benedict XVI 3
Christ Reveals Mary 4
Ask Mary to Believe as She Does 6
Mary’s Uniqueness in Christ 6
God’s Life Lives in Us as Faith Which Obeys 9
Mother of the Messiah 12
Mary, Our Silent Mother 15
Mary at the Foot of the Cross 21
Behold Your Mother 24
Mary’s Maternal Care 27
Mary at the Center of the Pilgrim Church 29
Mary’s Faith and Love Support Christ’s Salvation 32
How Does Mary Mediate? 38
Mary the Spirit’s Spouse Spreads the Spirit’s Flame 41
Mary Mothers the Church and Every Person 44
The Essence of Mary’s Motherhood 47
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