“I AM WITH YOU and will watch over you wherever you go,
and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you
until I have done what I have promised you.”
Genesis 28:15

And the angel being come in, said unto her:
Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee:
blessed art thou among women.
Luke 1, 28 (DRB)

In Catholic theology, merit refers to the quality of a good work that entitles its doer to receive a reward from God for doing His will in cooperation with His grace. This is ordained by God's mercy and justice, and the reward may include an increase in faith and charity necessary for our sanctification and justification. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "The grace of the Holy Spirit can confer true merit on us, by our adoptive filiation, and by God's gratuitous justice. Charity is the principal source of merit in us before God" (2026). Furthermore, "Moved by the Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and others all the graces needed to attain eternal life" (CCC, 2027).

Justification involves the forgiveness of sins, the removal of guilt, and the renewal of the person through sanctification. As our good deeds in faith and charity come from God's grace, we can earn actual graces for ourselves (condign merit) or others (congruous merit) by praying and denying ourselves for the salvation of souls. When Mary agreed to be the mother of the divine Messiah, she didn't seek the gift of divine motherhood solely for herself, which would have been selfish, but rather sought the benefit that would increase humanity's credit through the personal sacrifices she might have to make for the sake of mankind's redemption (Phil 4:17).

Condign merit is a theological term that refers to the goodness that is bestowed upon a person because of their actions in grace. This merit is based on the principle of commutative justice, which assumes that there is equity between service and returns. It is a reward for accomplishing good works in collaboration with the Holy Spirit, and the doer deserves this reward because they have freely consented to act in faith. If the reward that is due to condign merit is withheld, then it is considered as an act of injustice, because God has willed to obligate Himself to those who love Him. The Bible references that support this idea include Deut 5:33, Prov 3:3-4, Amos 5:14, Mt.25:21, Lk.6:33,38, Rom 2:6 13:11, 1 Cor 2:9, 15:58, Col 3:23:34, Gal 6:9, Phil 3:14, Heb 11:6, Jas 1:12, and 1 Pet 5:6. Condign merit is different from strict merit, which refers to some good that is owed by legal agreement or the equity of justice.

According to the principles of justice, only Christ has the ability to obtain the grace of justification and forgiveness we receive at baptism (Eph 2:8-9). This is because of his divine nature and his unity with the Father in substance and essence (Jn 10:30). Mary, on the other hand, was able to earn a promised reward for herself and for humanity by cooperating with divine grace and performing good works under its influence (condign merit and congruous merit). Now that she is in heaven, Mary intercedes for us and our rewards may include further graces such as faith, hope and charity, which are necessary for our growth in sanctification and justification (2 Cor 3:18; 4:16; 10:15; Col 3:10; Phil 2:13).

It is important to differentiate between the nature and extent of the merits of Jesus and Mary, which is referred to as supernatural merit in the context of grace. There is also a third kind of merit that belongs only to our Lord and Saviour, which is the highest level of merit, known as perfect condign merit. This kind of merit is perfect and most deserving of reward. It is the act of charity of the Divine Person who became man, which Jesus performed. Since it is the act of a Divine person, it is of equal value to the reward. Although Jesus did not merit the reward for himself, but for humankind, he could still condignly merit it in strict justice. This is because, in his humanity, he acted charitably as the new Head (Adam) of humanity in the fullness of grace which he possessed by divine nature (Jn 1:14). He did this so that we all might receive his grace through his merits, as he was given it in his humanity.

Mary's acts of charity and grace are considered meritorious. However, her merit is congruous and not in proportion to the reward. She performed her acts of love in a manner worthy of a supernatural reward for others, but this was not due to any natural merit of hers. Instead, her meritorious acts came from the fullness of habitual grace with which she was endowed by Divine favor (Lk 1:28; 1 Pet 2:5).

The lower merit that is assigned to human beings isn't based on strict justice, but rather on charity and friendship with God. This means that Jesus chose to come into the world more for the sake of his righteous mother than for sinful humankind. This principle is known as predilection and it refers to the fact that Mary, by consenting to be the mother of our Divine Lord, offered up her body as a living sacrifice and thus merited for us, by right of friendship with God, all that Jesus merited for us in strict justice. Although Mary could not merit anything for us de condigno, since she was not constituted head of humanity, she could still cooperate in our salvation by her congruous merits in God's grace. It's important to note that none of us can merit condignly except for our own rewards.

Mary's act of faith in charity and grace was so meritorious that it conferred a right to a supernatural reward for humankind, even though she did not produce it herself. Christ's perfect merits, through his substantial grace of union with the Father, have produced our temporal rewards of grace and our eternal reward of salvation. However, thanks to Mary's Fiat, what her Divine Son has gained for humanity is now something that we can all hope for and receive, as long as we persevere in faith just as our Blessed Lady did. Mary heard the word of God and kept it (Lk 11:28), and so she had cause to proclaim: "My spirit rejoices in God my savior!" (Lk 1:47). She rejoiced in conceiving "God, who is salvation" (Yeshua), not only for Israel but also for the entire world because of her obedient act of faith in charity (agape) and grace.

In The Parable of the Talents, Jesus teaches us that the grace we receive from God is of no use unless we use it to help others. We must invest ourselves in ministering to others through spiritual works of mercy and self-sacrifice. The rewards we receive in the afterlife are based on the amount of effort we put into helping others find faith through acts of charity and grace. Christians who hoard their talents or refuse to use the gifts God has given them are like the servant who buried his one talent and was punished for his inaction (Mt 25:14-30). Paul was impressed by Timothy's commitment to saving souls and lamented that few others shared his zeal. The apostle rued that none of the other “fellow workers with God” in the field could match Timothy’s zeal for saving souls. “For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ” (Phil 2:21). He recognized that many people prioritize their own interests over the needs of Jesus Christ.

Jesus did not intend to sacrifice himself alone for sinners to receive the grace of redemption, only he could produce this grace for humanity. However, we can invest the graces we have received by being “fellow workers with God” (1 Cor 3:9). Mary, the mother of Jesus, wouldn't have increased in charity and sanctification or received further plenitudes of grace if she were content only with having given birth to our Lord and Savior. She was also called to suffer and die in union with him for the temporal remission of humankind’s debt of sin. A sword should pierce her soul, so that the grace of conversion would be produced and granted by her divine Son in the redemption (Lk 2:35). It wasn't enough for Mary to be the natural mother of our Lord in his humanity to have cause to rejoice in God’s gift of salvation.

The initial grace of justification and forgiveness is a gift that only Christ, as the Godman, can merit for us. It is through His theandric sacrificial act that our journey in faith towards eternal life begins (Eph 2:8-9). This has all been prepared for us by God from the beginning (Gen 3:15). Mary is the sign of humanity's restoration to the life of grace because of her charitable act of faith (Isa 7:14). Our salvation is closer now because of her Fiat. Following the example of our Blessed Lady, who precedes us in the order of grace, we must not be complacent now that we believe (Rom 13:11).

Saving faith is not passive but active. We must work towards our salvation with fear and trembling due to our lack of love for God and our neighbors. Mary, by opening her heart to God, found grace with Him (Lk 1:30) and helped gain the grace her Son produced for all human souls through his life and death on the cross as his "fellow worker." The Incarnation wouldn't have occurred if Mary had been lacking in love for God and humanity. Without the Holy Spirit's love kindled in her heart, she wouldn't have been able to endure the road to Calvary with her Son. It was this love that justified her before God and made her capable of collaborating with her Son on behalf of sinful humanity.

Divine grace is a gift from God that we must use wisely and responsibly. We can collaborate with the Holy Spirit to increase our sanctification and justification by living a life of charity and grace. As St. Paul explains, grace is multiplied when we bear fruit (merit) through faith in God's grace. Our spiritual gifts of grace must be held in faith and put to work through love, which is a joint effort between God and us. We need to do our part by investing in our salvation through faith and good works, if we hope to receive the eternal benefits that Jesus has produced for us. Simply accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior is not enough. We must actively participate in the process of salvation by living a life of faith and good works.

God sent the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary in the month of Nisan. Mary had found favor with God because she was created to do good works through His grace. Our faith through grace is what justifies us before God. However, we are not justified by faith alone. The foundation of our faith is useless unless we build our spiritual house on it and offer up acceptable spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.  St. Peter tells us that we “as living stones are built up a spiritual house” on this foundation “to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 2:5). We are not justified by faith alone; the foundation is practically useless unless the house is erected on it.

Mary had complete faith in the words of the angel Gabriel. She believed in what he spoke of, which was the concept of incarnation. Mary was the first human being to know about the Holy Trinity, and she accepted it wholeheartedly. Her Fiat marked the foundation of her new pilgrimage of faith. However, for the grace of redemption to be gained for all humanity by her Son, Mary had to be constructed as a spiritual house upon this foundation. This required much spiritual sacrifice in union with her Son on behalf of all living souls. In the order of grace, Mary stands pre-eminent among the common priesthood of believers in Christ's Mystical Body. Because of her moral participation in the redemption, we, too, have been offered and received this grace of divine adoption.

Mary played a significant role in bringing countless souls to her Lord. Her unique gift of Divine Maternity allowed her to pronounce her Fiat in charity and grace, which brought the living Font of all grace into the world for the salvation of souls. As her Son's chief steward of grace, Mary sacrificed herself for God's goodness and love and for the reconciliation of poor sinners to God. In the order of grace, Mary led all of Christ's disciples to gain souls for him. She followed in her Son's footsteps, taking up her cross and carrying it with him in spirit along the Via Dolorosa.

Our Lady, as a faithful servant or the handmaid of God, did not only concern herself with the privilege of being the mother of Jesus and the responsibility of raising Him. She also acknowledged her role in God's plan of redemption and was willing to make great personal sacrifices to aid in the salvation of human souls.

Mary understood that her faith was not something she could keep to herself for her own benefit. God expected her to share her faith with others, even if it meant facing many trials, just like the Christian martyrs who followed her (Rev 7:14). Mary did not seek the Divine Maternity as an eternal reward, but rather eternal life with God. She believed that this reward could only be attained by self-sacrifice, by spreading God's word and helping to make His truth known to everyone, including the Gentiles.

Mary understood deep within her soul what her divine Son would reveal with the establishment of his heavenly kingdom. She knew that those who already had much would be given even more, but those who had little would have even that taken away. Mary couldn’t earn her maternal blessing or eternal life if she failed to use the talents she received through the merits of her divine Son. She needed to offer sacrifices to God, worship Him spiritually, and suffer for the sins of the world and the conversion of sinners. Her divine motherhood served as a way to make temporal reparations for the sins of the world.

When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and greeted her with the words "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you," Mary was confused about the meaning of the angel's words. She had a feeling that God must have sent His messenger to ask something of her that was of great importance. Mary was aware of the Jewish tradition of God appearing to the patriarchs, judges, and prophets, and calling them to take on difficult tasks that could take a lifetime to complete.

In the Bible, there are accounts of God's promises to His people and His assurance of His presence with them. When God confirmed the covenant He made with Abraham through his grandson Jacob, He said, "I AM WITH YOU and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you" (Gen 28:15). Similarly, when God called Moses to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, He said, "I WILL BE WITH YOU. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain" (Ex 3:12). Joshua was also called by God to lead the Israelites into battle to claim the land God promised them. God assured Joshua, "No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, I WILL BE WITH YOU. I will never leave nor forsake you" (Josh 1:5).

God chose David, a humble shepherd boy, to be the head of His everlasting kingdom in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah. When He reminded David of His faithfulness to him, He said, "I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. I HAVE BEEN WITH YOU wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. When your days are fulfilled, and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom" (2 Sam 7:9,12). Additionally, when God called Jeremiah to be a prophet for the nations, He said, "Do not be afraid of them, for I AM WITH YOU and will rescue you" (Jer 1:8).

"The words 'the Lord is with you' may have signaled to Mary that God was calling her to embark on a great mission, which could be as difficult and demanding as it was for the Hebrew heroes who had gone before her. Sensing her uneasiness, the angel Gabriel assured her not to fear, for she 'had found grace with God' (Lk 1:30). The good news Mary received from the angel dispelled all her anxieties (vv. 31-33), but what she feared in her humility was whether she would be up to the task. It wasn't that she dreaded what she might have to suffer or didn't trust God. So, when she pronounced her fiat joyfully, she affirmed that God would be her 'refuge' and 'fortress' in whom she could 'trust' (Ps 9:12), for God alone was her 'help' and her 'salvation,' in whom she had nothing to fear (Ps 27:1). In God alone was her soul at rest.

Mary's soul was at peace when she was called upon by the angel to engage with God in His work of salvation. God sent His messenger to Mary because he impacted her stillness. In her spiritual state, she saw God as the only one she could trust - omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, holy, sovereign, faithful, infinite, and good. God would certainly exalt Himself over His enemies who were also Mary's enemies. All Mary could do, in the meantime, was surrender herself to God and trust in His plan, whatever trials and hardships she might have to endure together with her divine Son. Her greatest enemy must never be herself by losing her trust in God and relying solely on her strength and personal resources. If she cooperated with God like her ancestors, all should work for the greater good. We can be sure that our valiant Lady implicitly expressed her thoughts in her Magnificat (Lk 1:46-55).

A faithful saying:
for if we be dead with him,
we shall live also with him.
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.
2 Timothy 2, 11-12

The Catholic Church has taught since Pentecost that Christ is the only one who redeemed the world by suffering and dying for its sins. He freed us from the law's curse by becoming a curse for us. In other words, God willed that Jesus should bear all of our iniquities to satisfy His justice. This was necessary for humanity to be reconciled to Him and delivered from the stain of original sin, which all of Adam's descendants inherited after he lost the original justice and sanctity. Our personal sins could not be forgiven, and our collective guilt could not be removed unless Christ was bruised for our offenses.

Although Jesus did not bear the punishment for our sins, he did take upon himself the punishment we all deserve in order to reconcile us with God. This required him to suffer and die unjustly, thus restoring justice between God and humanity. By doing so, Jesus merited all the graces we need for our spiritual rebirth, sanctification, and justification before God, allowing us to become more like him (2 Cor 5:21).

Approximately two thousand years ago, our Lord worked with his blessed mother so that everyone could be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:1-4). The apostle Paul wrote that we are workers together with (sunergountos/sunergo συνεργός, οῦ, ὁ)  God and that we should not receive the grace of God in vain (2 Cor 6:1). Furthermore, God works for good with (sunergei eis agathon)  those who love Him (Rom 8:28). God worked for the good of all humanity with (sunergei/ συνεργέω) Mary when He sent the angel Gabriel to her with His proposal. God bestowed upon the mother of our Lord a complete and perfect endowment of His grace so that she could be completely faithful and up to the task. This is why she was chosen to bear the son of God.

Mary would have received God's grace in vain if she had decided to bury her talent or the gift of divine motherhood by being satisfied with just giving birth to Jesus and nurturing him in his childhood. However, she was also called to be his disciple and take up her cross after him. By doing this, she was truly blessed (Lk 11:28). Mary understood that her faith was a continuous process that required good works done in charity (agape) and grace for the sanctification or justification of her soul to be saved by serving God. In the order of grace, our Blessed Handmaid has exemplified what we must do to inherit eternal life: acts of sacrificial love (Mt 19:16-22).

God's messenger greeted Mary, acknowledging her as "God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for [her] to do" (Ephesians 2:10). This was made possible in anticipation of her Son, who through his suffering and death, obtained the grace of justification and forgiveness for her. Mary did not receive this grace on her own natural merits but from God through her Son's foreseen merits. It is important to note that no soul can enter Heaven without first suffering and dying to self. This requires the actual, cooperative graces of faith, hope, charity, humility, patience, and fortitude.  Mary's Fiat or agreement to God's plan, carried with it the understanding that she would have to faithfully endure, with the help of God's grace, personal sorrow and suffering through her moral participation in the Incarnation to make temporal satisfaction to God for the sins of the world.

Our Blessed Lady did not receive the grace bestowed upon her in vain. She invested it in the salvation of souls, which required that she suffer in union with her Son's suffering and anguish for the ungratefulness of sinners. Mary's first trial of faith came soon after Jesus was born when she and her infant Son were forced to flee into Egypt because of King Herod's decree (Mt 2: 13-23). The shadow of the Cross descended on Mary in Bethlehem on a cold, inimical night where her pilgrimage of faith, enshrouded in obscurity, began. The manger was the door through which she stepped after it had been opened at the Annunciation. Her joy in giving birth to the Messiah had to be qualified by her sorrow in giving new birth to humanity beneath the weight of the Cross (Rev 12:1-2).

Mary played an important role as her son's helpmate, but this also required her to suffer and die to her maternal self. In order for the redemption to be completed, Mary had to willingly endure all the sorrow that only a loving mother could experience for her child. Her motherly love was perhaps the only way God's justice could be fully appeased and temporal satisfaction could be made for the world's sins. Our sorrowful Lady was called by the angel to make up for what was lacking in her Son's afflictions, in her own afflictions for the salvation of souls. While Jesus would make both temporal and eternal satisfaction to the Father for humankind's sins, this could not be done without the temporal satisfaction that his mother must make to repair humanity's broken relationship with God. Mary satisfied God by suffering in filial love for God, who was offended by sin, with a motherly love for her Son, who suffered and died because of sin, and with the love our heavenly Father had for all humanity that was ravaged by sin ever since the fall of Adam and Eve.

When we suffer, we can offer our pain to God as a way to acknowledge our sins and show our steadfast love towards Him. Through our suffering and by dying to self, we can repair our relationship with God and restore balance that was lost through our sinful actions. God's absolute justice and holiness demand temporal punishment for our sins, but Jesus has given redemptive value to our suffering through his passion and death. As members of His body, we must follow Jesus' example and endure suffering to cleanse ourselves of sin and pay our temporal debt. God wills us to endure temporal punishments for our sins because His absolute justice and holiness demand it. “God rules the world in justice, and he judges the people with equity” (Ps 9:8).

Through Christ's merits, our suffering has redemptive value, but only if we offer it to God in union with our Lord and Saviour, and with humble and contrite hearts. Our natural desires often lead us to commit sins, but by offering our suffering to God, we can make amends for them. Mary, through her example, made temporal reparation for the world's sins possible. When the angel greeted her, the Lord was with her, and she was already willing to endure any cross God might present her with as a sin offering for others.

It was through suffering that "man should not perish but have eternal life" (Jn 3:16). By Christ's death on the cross, spiritual death has been conquered, and the second death is no longer an irrevocable prospect facing humankind. Suffering and death are evil in character, but our Lord and Savior has made them a basis of something good. Suffering involves pain and loss because of sin, but when offered to God in union with Christ's suffering and death, it can serve to reconcile us to God. Whenever we suffer or face death, we can give back to God that which we denied Him, our love for the sake of His love and goodness. Those who have truly acknowledged their guilt before God and are contrite in spirit accept their suffering and death to this world that temporarily appeases the Divine justice and renders the eternal satisfaction Christ has made for them personally applicable (Dan 12:10; Sirach 2:5; Zech 13:8-9; 1 Cor 3:15-17; Jude 1:23).

The Virgin Mary was without sin from the moment God created her and bestowed her with a fullness of sanctifying grace. However, she was still able to merit temporal satisfaction for us before God for our sins because she accepted her pain and loss and offered her sorrow to God on our behalf. She was sorry for the sins that had offended God and was willing to make reparation for them because of her love for God, who was grieved by our sins. God was pleased with her spiritual sacrifice and accepted it as a sweet offering sufficient to restore the equity of justice between Him and humankind in union with Christ's temporal satisfaction in his humanity. As the new Eve and "helpmate" of the new Adam, Mary is our co-Redemptrix, "Mother with the Redeemer," having merited the grace of redemption, not in coordination with her Son's merits but in cooperation with them.

Sin and death are no longer in absolute control over us, all thanks to Christ's work on the cross. However, to be saved, we must now take up our own cross alongside Him, as mentioned in Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, and Luke 9:23. This means that we need to have a repentant faith that involves doing penance by willingly making personal sacrifices and suffering for God due to our sins and those of others. We have an enormous debt to God for all the offenses we've committed against His love and goodness. Jesus didn't suffer and die for us so that we can stop owing God what He rightfully deserves from us. Instead, we should pay Him back through our acts of self-denial, which are considered our "spiritual worship," as stated in Romans 12:1-2.

Mary's journey along the Via Dolorosa to the top of Calvary was a great act of worship to God. It was a painful walk as she sorrowfully watched her beloved Son suffer and die a cruel and shameful death. As a mother, she offered up the greatest sacrifice to God anyone could have. Her Son's suffering and death proved to be the heaviest cross she would ever have to carry so that everyone might be saved. She was chosen to be the mother of our Lord so that a sword should pierce her soul. This was to appease the Divine justice and open the gates for the formal application of her Son's work of salvation. By joining his mother's anguish with his paschal sacrifice, Jesus formally saved the world from sin and death. However, for our salvation to be instrumentally applied on a personal level, we must suffer with Our Blessed Mother in the name of the Lord.

We must strive to follow Mary's example, as she followed her Son, in order to receive the benefits of Christ's merits, which he applied to us through his paschal sacrifice. Our Lady of Sorrows suffered and died with Jesus on Calvary so that we too can be saved. In her message to the three shepherd children, Our Lady of Fatima reminded us that no soul can enter heaven without first enduring trials for God. This is in accordance with the teachings of Mark 8:35 and Philippians 3:8.

The women and the beloved disciple who were with Mary suffered greatly due to their love for Jesus, but their love paled in comparison to the perfect and unconditional love of a mother for her child. Mary, our Blessed Mother, offered a sweet oblation that fully satisfied God and appeased Him for the sins that grieved Him. The blessed fruit of her womb provided a temporal satisfaction that was unparalleled and made for the remission of humankind's temporal debt of sin. In the order of grace, the Blessed Virgin Mary is our Mother of Mercy. Her impeccable perseverance in faith and moral courage in collaboration with God in His saving work make her rightfully the Queen of Apostles and of Martyrs.

The teachings of St. Paul and St. Peter gave hope and strength to early Christians who were mercilessly persecuted and martyred by the Romans. According to St. Paul, we all have a part to play in the work of redemption through suffering (subjective redemption). He encouraged his listeners to endure any suffering they might face because of their faith in Christ, as it was for the greater good. He reminded them that just as they shared abundantly in Christ's sufferings, they would also share abundantly in comfort (2 Cor 1:5), which refers to a share in Christ's glory that can only be achieved through suffering, just as our Lord suffered for the sake of God's goodness and love in a spirit of self-sacrifice (objective redemption). In doing so, we can help to pay the temporal debt of sin in union with our Lord's temporal and eternal expiation.

Just like the apostles who suffered for Christ's sake, Mary also endured the pain of watching her Son die on the Cross. Her participation in her Son's suffering was a spiritual service to humanity and was of greater value than the apostles' sufferings. This is because it was part of the hypostatic order of Christ's incarnation. Her spiritual work of mercy extended beyond the present time and embraced all humanity throughout salvation history.

Hence, God decided that, in order to redeem the world, Mary had to stand before the Cross and suffer interior anguish due to her love for God and hatred of sin. This helped to restore justice between God and humankind, and was achieved by cooperating with God in her sorrow and uniting it with her Son's afflictions. Mary’s sacrifice for sin in praise and thanksgiving was made on humanity’s behalf by restoring moral equilibrium between God and man. Her sacrifice was made in humbleness of heart and in a broken spirit of humanity.

Mary, the Queen of Virgins, completed an act of contrition on behalf of all of us while standing valiantly against the powers of darkness on Golgotha. Her lamp never dimmed and became extinguished, and the sanctifying light of faith that radiated from her soul strengthened her to overcome and defeat dark spiritual forces (Mt 25:1-13). Mary's final perseverance in grace helped deliver humanity from the snares of death and restore it to new life with God.

The debt of sin that we owe to God is temporal and eternal. If only the temporal atonement for our sins was necessary, then Mary's suffering at the cross would have had no redemptive value that embraces and leads to eternal life with God. However, since Jesus desired to have a mother to become man to make temporal and eternal expiation for sin, Mary's role as a mother was essential to our salvation, and her suffering at the cross had supernatural and saving merit. Without Mary, the new Adam could have been created from the dust of the earth alone (Gen 2:&), but with her, we have the privilege of being redeemed and saved.

According to God's will, the Son should have a helpmate like the first Adam did, but this time she would be at enmity with the serpent and undo Eve's transgression by crushing the head of the serpent with her immaculate foot (as mentioned in Genesis 2:18 and 3:15). Mary was chosen to repair all the minor incidents that led to Adam's catastrophic fall from grace. The superabundance of God's plan to redeem mankind wouldn't have been perfect and complete without her moral participation. The serpent's head couldn't have been entirely crushed if his victory over the woman and Adam's helpmate had remained unresolved, and he could have forever gloated over it in his pride against God. The woman, too, would then have remained interminably at enmity with the serpent, with no final resolution ever being reached in Eve's transgression. After all, she greatly contributed to the fall of her husband, Adam, as his unfaithful bride.

So, it had to take God’s faithful virgin bride to untie the sinful knot that Eve had made. The new Adam chose to justify humankind with the new Eve’s vindication of the woman. Eve stood before the tree that bore the forbidden fruit, and then something terrible happened to our spiritual detriment; the new Eve stood before the tree which bore the fruit of her womb so that where sin abounded, grace would abound even more to our spiritual benefit (Rom 5:20). Through the birth of Jesus Christ to the virgin Mary, humanity was given a chance at redemption. 

Mary is considered the prototype of the Church because of her unwavering faith and her ability to endure suffering. When Mary stood beneath the cross, she watched her Son being wounded for the sake of humanity. Despite her deep sorrow, Mary looked to her Son and tried to emulate his meek and humble nature. It was only through this display of moral courage that Mary was able to take up her own cross and contribute to the birth of the Church, which is comprised of redeemed humanity.

Jesus, being born of a woman, offered himself to the Father for the eternal expiation of sin. However, his mother was called to suffer alongside him to cover the temporal debt on behalf of humanity. In the story of David, while God forgave him for his mortal sins of murder and adultery, He still took David's child from him because of his sins (2 Sam 2:14). This was done to restore justice between them. Even though David's sins were forgiven, he still owed God something in return for having taken something from Him. David had taken away God's sovereign dignity. Our Blessed Mother restored what sinful humanity had taken from God through pride and selfishness by suffering for our sake.

Although Jesus has already sufficiently atoned for our sins, suffering and death still exists. This is because mankind is still indebted to God for all the sins committed, whether in the past, present, or future. These sins require reparation to remit the temporal debts. The purpose of satisfaction is to repair the offense given to God and make Him favorable to us again. An act of reparation can be satisfactory to God only if it is painful in some way.

God, in his righteousness and wisdom, chose a morally courageous woman who would accept all the sorrows that should come her way so that He would be appeased in His justice. The Son should not have to redeem the world alone with no moral responsibility on humanity’s part for its personal sins. That's why this woman had to be a spotless ewe, a woman worthiest to be associated with the holy Lamb of God as his helpmate and the anti-type of Eve, our co-Peccatrix ("woman with the sinner") She would satisfactorily make temporal reparation for the world’s sins together with her Son’s temporal and eternal expiation.

Since the earliest times, Catholic Christians have always revered the Blessed Virgin Mary as a model of selflessness and devotion to God. Mary was completely detached from worldly concerns such as personal gain, fame, or pleasure. Instead, she focused her life on living in accordance with God's will and the teachings of the Torah. Everything she did was aimed at glorifying God. Mary is the spiritual mother of all believers who have been redeemed through Christ's sacrifice on the cross. It was from the cross that Jesus entrusted Mary to be the mother of all believers (Jn 19:26-27). Mary, who had given birth to Jesus and raised him, was now called to be the mother of all those who would follow him because of her sacrificial offering and greatest act of worship on Golgotha.

“Adam had to be recapitulated in Christ, so that death might be swallowed up
in immortality, and Eve in Mary, so that the Virgin, having become another
virgin’s advocate, might destroy and abolish one virgin’s disobedience by
the obedience of another virgin.”
St. Irenaeus, Proof of the Apostolic Preaching, 33
(AD 190)

Sing, barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate
woman than of her who has a husband,
says the Lord.

Enlarge the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide
do not hold back; lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes.

For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
your descendants will dispossess nations
and settle in their desolate cities.
Isaiah 54, 1-3