Just that name suffices: Mary

In Mary’s eyes

Mercy towards the weak, the sick, the defeated and the suffering, in the eyes of a pagan could seem like weakness. Instead, in the eyes of Mary, love and therefore compassion, heroic charity, indulgence, and renunciation out of love for our brother, were gestures of magnanimous strength, and values, meaning to say generosity which surpasses every earthly measure. And vile, weak and defeated is whoever does not have compassion, does not help his brother in need, and does not cry with him, sharing in his trials. And vile is the person who, in the face of the injured man on the road, runs away, and escapes in the face of human and divine duties. If someone slaps you, and you respond in the same way, it means you were unable to dominate yourself, and you did not have the strength to break the spiral of inhumanity. Instead, if you check yourself and do not take revenge, you are implementing an ideal of superior strength, which socially brings a benefit whereas revenge spurs a sequence of evil doings.

Igino Giordani, The only love, New City, Roma, 1974, p. 68

Mary’s Magnificat

God «who saved Israel, his servant, remembering his mercy …», concludes Mary: and it means that divine government culminates in mercy. And this is confirmed in the attitude of that Jesus, of whose love Mary speaks about, when he gave the crowd food and cured the sick, and also when he beat the mercenaries in the temple and shouted his condemnation against hypocrites. The concept is explained in the existence of Mary herself: in all her assistance through the generations who will call her blessed. It is a title that is the fruit of the gratitude of billions of creatures, also non-Christians, for the unending compassion, full of concreteness with which she ran to their aid. 

Igino Giordani, The only love, cit., p. 69

Mercy

Mercy, as the heroism of charity, is the essence of God’s redemptive action: and of the mercy of Mary and the saints, the Church and of many children of God – the fullness of life. Christ is in our midst. And upon reading about all those changes the Omnipotent operated, according to the Virgin of Nazareth, not a few Christians saw in the Magnificat a revolutionary text. Truly, it is the hymn of the Christian revolution. But its more revolutionary aspect lies precisely in that which is its principle: mercy. Out of mercy it does not destroy but creates, since love produces only love. As she will say, shortly in the same house, Zacchary, at the birth of the Precursor, great changes come about «through the acts of mercy of our God, out of which he will visit us, the Sun rising from above to enlighten those lying in the darkness and shadows of death ….». The Magnificat specifies the directives of the evolution process, changes and rebirth, in which, socially and politically besides spiritually, the evangelical ideal is expressed.  It is a change that starts off from love and is concretely expressed in mercy.”

Igino Giordani, The only love, cit., pp. 69-70

Mary Desolate

As the tragedy of one’s time digs into and wounds the heart of the humble people, also in the heart of Mary that tragedy took place, since the person of her Son was overturning humanity of all time and humanly speaking, she was the centre of pain. The Desolate. How can we love Mary Desolate, understand her (meaning, bringing her home with us) and be one with her if we do not also suffer in some way: if we do not absorb a drop of that flood of anguish that caved in on her heart?

Igino Giordani, Mary perfect model, New City, Rome, 1988, p. 121-122

Prayer – work – suffering – joyfulness

Mary was poor but helped by the evangelic enlightenment of her Son, accepted that poverty as an aspect of her liberty. To define her conduct it would suffice to say that she loved all, loved each one, and was always a loving person: a servant of God in person. The joy of Mary was God in her, God who gave a meaning and value to what came about in her also in suffering. After Jesus, no other creature really suffered as much as she did, only that she did not ruin her pain, but made it the fuel of her love. It was prayer, work, suffering, and joy : so Mary did not have time for boredom. She spent her free time serving, and the hours of silence and rest were used to meditate.

Igino Giordani, Mary perfect model, New City, Rome, 1988, p. 215-217