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Besides being the Solemnity of the Assumption, August 15, 2008, is also the 20th anniversary of Mulieris Dignitatem, the apostolic letter of the Servant of God John Paul II regarding, as the title in English states, “the dignity and vocation of women on the occasion of the Marian Year.”
In that document the Holy Father emphasized that, in recent years, the dignity and vocation of women was a subject that had obtained “exceptional prominence” (no. 1). Thus, with the conclusion of the Marian Year as a backdrop, he wished to contribute to the discussion, convinced that the Church has much to offer about such a pivotal topic.
It was no accident that the pontiff chose the Marian Year—and the Solemnity of the Assumption—to make a statement about the meaning of womanhood. The Blessed Virgin Mary is cherished as “the ‘woman’ of the Bible” (no. 2). The maiden of Nazareth “intimately belongs to the salvific mystery of Christ, and is therefore also present in a special way in the mystery of the Church” (ibid.).
Since Our Lady has a unique significance in the life of the Church, we may claim—without any stretch—that so, too, does she in the life of each member of the Church. Each baptized person—man or woman, boy or girl—and indeed, every member of the human race, inherits “the exceptional link between this ‘woman’ and the whole human family” (ibid.).
True Freedom: Mary’s Fiat
Two decades after the publication of Mulieris Dignitatem, we turn our attention again to the Woman and her meaning for women today. Click here to continue. |
