The Blessed Virgin Mary is rightly called Co-Redemptrix, for she uniquely cooperated with her divine Son in the work of human redemption. At the Annunciation, her free and total fiat—“Be it done unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38)—opened the way for the Incarnation itself. At Calvary, she offered her maternal suffering in perfect union with the Passion of Christ, standing beneath the Cross as the “New Eve,” sharing spiritually in the sacrifice of the “New Adam.” Though Christ alone is the Redeemer, Mary’s consent and compassion made her the chosen partner in that mystery, meriting the title Co-Redemptrix not by equality with Christ, but by intimate participation in His redemptive act.
Mary is also the Mediatrix of all graces, because every grace won by Christ passes through her maternal hands. From the moment she bore the Source of Grace Himself, she became the living channel through which divine life flows to mankind. As St. Bernard of Clairvaux taught, “God has willed that we should have nothing which has not passed through the hands of Mary.” Her intercession is universal because her maternal care is universal; she who once mediated the Incarnation continues to mediate the outpouring of grace in every age, presenting the petitions of her children before her Son and distributing His blessings to the faithful.
Thus, in calling Mary Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix, the Church expresses the depth of her union with Christ and her ongoing role in the salvation of souls. These titles illuminate her spiritual motherhood—her compassionate cooperation in redemption and her tireless mediation of grace. Honoring her as such does not diminish the unique mediatorship of Christ, but magnifies it, for it reveals how fully God’s mercy chooses to involve His creatures in His saving plan. Through Mary, we come more perfectly to Jesus; through her hands, all graces are dispensed, and through her example, all hearts are led back to the Redeemer.
