𝑻𝙤𝒕𝙪𝒔 𝑻𝙪𝒖𝙨. This phrase is not only an expression of piety, or simply an expression of devotion. It is more. During the Second World War, while I was employed as a factory worker, I came to be attracted to Marian devotion. At first, it had seemed to me that I should distance myself a bit from the Marian devotion of my childhood, in order to focus more on Christ. Thanks to Saint Louis of Montfort, I came to understand that true 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄, 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒅, 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚, and the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption.
And so, I rediscovered Marian piety, this time with a deeper understanding. This mature form of devotion to the Mother of God has stayed with me over the years, bearing fruit in the encyclicals 𝑹𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒔 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒔 𝑫𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒎.
In regard to Marian devotion, each of us must understand that such devotion not only addresses a need of the heart, a sentimental inclination, but that it also corresponds to the objective truth about the Mother of God. Mary is the new Eve, placed by God in close relation to Christ, the new Adam, beginning with the Annunciation, through the night of His birth in Bethlehem, through the wedding feast at Cana of Galilee, through the Cross at Calvary and up to the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Mother of Christ the Redeemer is the Mother of the Church.
-John Paul II, 𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑜𝑝𝑒
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