Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix of All-Grace
Theological Reflections of Rev. Fr. Gerard Francisco P. Timoner III, O.P. on the Messages of Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace, and the Accounts of the 1948 Lipa Apparition

CENTRAL SEMINARY
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
MANILA

Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace

I. Fr. Richard A. Hernandez and Sr. Julie S. Micosa, MCSH, chair and member respectively of the New Commission to Investigate the 1948 Lipa Apparition created by Most Rev. Ramon C. Arguelles, D.D., Archbishop of Lipa, visited me last May 26, 2010 and personally requested me to assist them in their work. On May 30, 2010, I joined Fr. Hernandez, Sr. Micosa and the other members of the Commission, Dr. Irma C. Coronel, Dr. Nina M. Cadiz, Dr. Leuvy M. Tandug and Dr. Dolores de Leon, in a discussion about their work in the commission. I shared some thoughts on the theological aspects of the account of Teresita Castillo and I was requested to put the same in writing.

II. The 1978 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Document on Apparition Discernment presents a set of criteria for judgment concerning apparitions and supposed revelations. An apparition may be judged as authentic, or at least probably genuine, if it passes these criteria that include, among others, the conformity of the supposed revelation with theological doctrines and the absence of any doctrinal error attributed wrongly to God or to the Blessed Virgin Mary “(taking into account, however, the possibility that the subject may add
something by their own activity-even if this is done unconsciously-of some purely human elements to an authentic supernatural revelation, these having nevertheless to remain free from any error in the natural order. Cf. St Ignatius,
Spiritual Exercises, n. 336)”

III. The account of the apparition and messages of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Teresita Castillo was published without the customary publication details though it bears the Nihil Obstat by Msgr. Adelio A. Abella, P.A., of the Archdiocese of Cebu and the Inprimatur of His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, DD,
Archbishop of Cebu dated March 15, 2008. This official attestation (nihil obstat) that the account of the 1948 Lipa apparition written by Teresita Castillo contain nothing that is contrary to faith and morals as well as the final approval for printing (imprimatur) by Cardinal Vidal substantially fulfill the required evaluation of the doctrinal soundness of the account of the apparition and the messages attributed to the Blessed Mother. It is important to note, however, that the 1948 Lipa Apparition passes said criterion of doctrinal soundness provided that the published narrative signed by Teresita Castillo on May 27, 1997, contains all she experienced and everything she heard the BVM said; that, except for an honest memory lapse, nothing was withheld or altered in any way in order to make the account conform with her beliefs or knowledge of Church teaching,

IV. Though the theological soundness of the account and messages of the 1948 Lipa Apparition has been duly ascertained by competent ecclesiastical authorities, there are still some questions that beg for answers.

• A. There are aspects of the account that strikingly resemble the Apparition at Lourdes. First, the command to make a statue for Our Lady explicitly mentions Lourdes: I wish my statue to look as you see me and as big as that of Our Lady of Lourdes which stands inside the cloister. Second, just like St. Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, Teresing was asked by a voice to (a) to eat grass (b) and to prepare to meet Our Lady for fifteen consecutive days: “Do not fear, my child! Kiss the ground. All that I tell you must obey. For fifteen consecutive days, come to visit me in this spot. Eat a little grass, my child.” Third, both were forewarned about a life of suffering: “My daughter, suffering will always be with you until the end of your life.” Prior to the 1948 extraordinary events in Carmel Lipa, did Teresita Castillo have any access to any material about the apparition to St. Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes? If she did, she was probably inspired, even strongly influenced what she thought she “experienced” in Carmel. However, if she did not have any chance to read or hear about certain details of the apparition at Lourdes prior to her experience of the extraordinary events,could this be a significant indication that the apparition in Lipa is authentic because its resemblance (in some unique aspects) to a confirmed apparition is bona fide and not at all fabricated?
• B. The command “to wash Mother Prioress’s feet, and to drink the water I used” hardly makes sense to modern ears. Yet this is not entirely unprecedented in religious hagiography; the examples of St. Catherine of Siena drinking the pus from a woman’s tumor, and St. Margaret Alacoque swallowing the vomit of a sick nun, are hard to understand but are extraordinary examples of manifesting unconditional acceptance of the other. Did Teresing ever hear of such stories as part of her religious formation and was therefore inspired or influenced by them? If she did not, where did she get such idea?

V. The Marian title Mediatrix of All Graces has a long history. Pope Benedict XV, acting upon the petition of Desiré-Félicien-François-Joseph Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Mechelen, Belgium, declared that in Belgium and other dioceses that would request it, the Feast of Mary Mediatrix of All Graces will be celebrated on the 31st of May. The Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution of the Church Lumen Gentium affirmed the title “Mediatrix” as one of the legitimate titles of the BVM: Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked by the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix. This, however, is to be so understood that it neither takes away from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficaciousness of Christ the one Mediator (LG 62). Though the Council did not explicitly acknowledge the title “Mediatrix of All Graces,” it used as reference papal teachings that affirm the universal mediation of the Blessed Mother. For instance, in the footnote (LG Chapter VIII footnote #17) to the aforementioned passage, the Council cites, among others, the Encyclical of St. Pius X, Ad diem illum, Feb. 2, 1904 where the Pope wrote: But Mary as St. Bernard fittingly remarks (De Aquaeductu 4) is the channel’ or, even, the neck, through which the body is joined to the head, and likeivise through which the head exerts its power and strength on the body. ‘For she is the neck of our Head, by which all spiritual gifts are communicated to His Mystical Body’ (St. Bernardine of Siena, Quaitrag. De Evangelio aeterno, Sermo X, a. 3. c. 3.)

VI. The messages attributed to the Blessed Mother (Lipa 1948) are already part of the faith and practice of the Church e.g., the loving obedience of the Blessed Mother to Jesus, the need to pray especially for priests and consecrated persons, the importance of praying and offering sacrifices for those who do not believe etc. But the self-appellation “I am Mary Mediatrix of All Grace” seems unprecedented and invites a closer theological scrutiny. It seems novel because the title that was known until 1948 uses the plural: Mediatrix of All Graces. If Teresing had heard of the Marian feast in Belgium or learned about the movements that advocate the definition of a 5th Marian Dogma, she must have wondered whether she heard the BVM inaccurately; she must have been tempted to “correct” what she thought would be imprecise, for until that time, the title was Mediatrix of All Graces (plural) and not Mediatrix of All Grace (singular). To be sure, this is a matter for theologians to study and debate.

BUT WHAT IF the message truly came from the Blessed Mother and Teresing heard her accurately? Then, it appears that the BVM was correcting, if not refining, a title accorded to her earlier! Her feast as “Mediatrix of All Graces” was already being celebrated since 1921. IF she truly revealed herself in 1948 as “Mediatrix of All Grace,” was she conveying an important teaching about how we should look at her proper place in salvation history, in our journey back to the Father? Could it be that the BVM is inviting us to look at her mediatory role as distributrix of all graces as subordinate to and grounded on her more important role as the Mother of “Divine Grace”, i.e., Mother of Jesus Christ who is Uncreated Grace and Mediator of ALL graces. In other words, Mary’s Universal Mediation flows from her cooperation in the Incarnation, the same divine mystery that made her Theotokos (1st Marian Dogma). The title Mediatrix of All Graces (plural) is anchored on her intercessory role in heaven after the Assumption (4th Marian Dogma). Certainly, Mary did mediate or intercede for the miracle at Cana to happen; but it does not mean that she interceded for all the other miracles performed by Jesus during his earthly ministry. Mary was already “Mediatrix of All Grace” long before she can be rightly called “Mediatrix of All Graces”. In other words, the title “Mediatrix of All Graces ([plural] Mary as distributrix of “created graces” from her privileged position in heaven) is subordinate to and dependent upon the Divine Motherhood of Mary whereby she became the Mediatrix of All Grace ([singular] Mary as Mother of Divine Grace, Uncreated Grace, Jesus, Son of God). The title “Mediatrix of All Grace” guards against the error of supposing that since she media

tes all graces, one could receive grace from the BVM alone, apart from Christ. Addressing her as “Mediatrix of All Grace” makes us ever mindful of her intimate bond with Jesus Our Lord; it makes us focus our attention more on Divine Grace rather than graces, on the Giver than the gifts.

Humbly submitted to the members of the Commission for whatever good purpose it may serve them.

[SIGNED]
Fr. Gerard Francisco Timoner III, OP
June 1, 2010

Fr. Gerard Francisco Timoner III, OP was appointed a member of the International
Theological Commission for 2014-2019. It is the duty of the International Theological Commission to study doctrinal problems of great importance, especially those which present new points of view, and in this way to offer its help to the Magisterium of the Church, particularly to the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican to which it is attached. The President of the International Theological Commission is the
Cardinal Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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Source: Mary Mediatrix of All Grace website