MANILA, Philippines - March 31 marks the Feast Day of Our Lady of the Annunciation and also the launch of the World Rosary Crusade that would pray for the Fifth Marian Dogma. Everyone is asked to fervently pray for Pope Benedict XVI and the solemn definition of the Spiritual Motherhood of Mary under her three roles of Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces, and Advocate, and to offer a special rosary for this intention on this day.

Last Jan. 1, five cardinals, including Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, wrote an invitation to all cardinals and bishops to join in their petition to the Holy Father for this dogma. Many believe that with the papal proclamation of the Marian truth of the Spiritual Motherhood of Mary will come a great release of grace from the Holy Spirit through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

To quote Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, ?The papal definition of Mary as Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate will bring great graces to the Church.?

Pope Benedict?s address

Dr. Mark Miravalle quotes the Holy Father in his Jan. 11 address on his strongest teaching to date on Our Lady?s coredemptive role with Jesus at Calvary. This address was for the World Day of the Sick last Feb. 11. The Holy Father states:

?Mary is a model of total self-abandonment to God?s will: she received in her heart the eternal Word and she conceived it in her virginal womb; she trusted in God and, with her soul pierced by a sword (cf. Lk 2:35), she did not hesitate to share the Passion of her Son, renewing on Calvary at the foot of the Cross her ?yes? of the Annunciation ? Associated with the Sacrifice of Christ, Mary, Mater Dolorosa, who at the foot of the Cross suffers with her divine Son, is felt to be especially near by the Christian community, which gathers around its suffering members who bear the signs of the passion of the Lord. Mary suffers with those who are in affliction, with them she hopes, and she is their comfort, supporting them with her maternal help. And is it not perhaps true that the spiritual experience of very many sick people leads us to understand increasingly that ?the Divine Redeemer wishes to penetrate the soul of every sufferer through the heart of His holy Mother, the first and the most exalted of all the redeemed?? (John Paul II, Salvifici Doloris, n. 26)

Our Lady of All Nations

It is interesting to note that the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her apparitions to the Dutch woman Ida Peerdeman under the title The Lady of All Nations, prophesied that there would be a new dogma?that of Mary Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate.

Although she had been appearing to Ida from 1945, Our Lady waited until after the dogma of the Assumption was declared on Nov. 11, 1950, before introducing the fifth dogma. Thus on April 1, 1951 the Blessed Virgin Mary hinted for the first time that her coredemption with her Son Jesus would become a dogma, bringing the Marian dogmas to a close.

In subsequent messages to Ida, Mary explains her role as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate. She says that The Lady of All Nations may and shall bestow Grace, Redemption, and Peace upon all peoples of this world who have recourse to her.

Bishop Tagle?s book

I read the book of Imus Bishop Chito Tagle, ?It Is the Lord,? for my reflections during Holy Week. He talked about Black Saturday as going to the place of the dead. But we need not be dead to join them. In the world there are the ?living dead? who are in despair, loneliness, poverty, hunger, anger, bitterness. Bishop Chito described Easter as going from darkness into new light. Easter means rising to grasp on a new mission that God himself will show us.

A must-read. Published by the Loyola School of Theology (LST), the book compiles the bishop?s lectures in the school. To order, call Tahanan ng Mabuting Pastol at 046-4131329.

Seven Last Words

Bro. Ben Canlas and his daughter Meng Canlas have been producing the TV program ?Seven Last Words? on Channel 9 every Good Friday for the past 21 years. It is a commitment to be able to bring the last words uttered by Jesus on the Cross to the people. For the last two episodes, Meng shot scenes in the Holy Land to make the Life, Passion and Death of Jesus more real. In the last pilgrimage, Meng?s sister Ana Lisa Canlas-San Luis, her brother-in-law Patrick San Luis, Antonio Andres, Sr. and Arlene Andres were with her. Fr. Arlo Yap, SVD the spiritual chaplain, spoke the third word in the Garden of Gethsemane for the program, while Fr. Edgar Panlilio, the other chaplain, dwelt on the fourth word inside the Church of the Annunciation at Ain Karem. It was a beautiful spiritual experience.

Thanks to the sponsors, the ?Seven Last Words? TV program is aired every year.