Mary, Mother of God, I believe that the most sublime of your privileges is your Divine Maternity. Without that maternity, your other privileges would not exist; you yourself would not exist, for you were created only to be the Mother of God.

Your Divine Maternity is great also because this privilege is the reason for your other privileges -your Immaculate Conception, miraculous virginity, fullness of grace, assumption and the spiritual m aternity of all mankind.

I believe the teaching of the Church concerning the union of the human and divine natures in Christ, that Jesus Christ is God and man, perfect God and perfect man and that divinity and humanity are united in only one person so tha t the action of the divine nature or the human nature, are the actions of one person, the divine person, since Jesus who is God was born of you, you tire the Mother of God, If we could not say that you are the Mother of God for having given a body to the S on of God, then we could not adore this body; nor would we have been redeemed by the sacrifice of this body on the cross; nor would we be united to the divinity in receiving His body in the Eucharist.

Mary, Your divine maternity places you in a very wonde rful relationship with the three divine persons. You are the loving daughter of the Father, because, before all creatures, you were predestined to be His Daughter, at the same moment that He declared the incarnation of His Son. He bestowed marvellous privileges upon you and loved you more than all other creatures together. As Mother of the Son of God, you are associated with the Father in the generation of His Son. With the Father, you too, can say, “this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased”.

You are the Mother of the Son of God. You fulfilled the duties and enjoy the rights of a true mother. From your own flesh and blood you formed the body of your son. You nourished Him, clothed Him, educated Him, you commanded Him and He obeyed you. How can I eve r understand the great love that bound your hearts together!
You are the Bride of the Holy Spirit because according to the Gospel and the teaching of the Apostles Creed, you conceived of the Holy Spirit, the Son of God, made man. You are called the temple of the Holy Spirit because, by virtue of your Immaculate Conception and your fullness of grace, He dwells within you in a most singular manner.

Mary, your Divine Maternity is most cherished by you because it is a token of God’s special love for you. The divine motherhood permits you to love God with a very singular kind of love and to beloved by Him with an equally singular love. There is no closer bond of love among relationships than that which exists between another and her son. All your privileges inc reased your power to love God. Your Immaculate Conception permitted you to love God from the first instant of your existence; your virginity led you to vow an undivided love to Him, your fullness of grace made you capable of loving Him with the most intens e love possible. No one could ever love God with the love of a mother. Only you could love God as your son; only you could love your son as God.

Mary, my mother, the divine maternity itself, more than any particular privilege, is a mark of God’s unequalle d love for you. I rejoice with you in your holiness, which fills your heart because of such love.

I beg you to ask God that I return His love with some of the generosity and fervour with which you loved Him. (here pause to mention silently your intention for the novena).