Mariology Society of America
President Reflects on Rosary and Our Lady's Comeback
By Ann Schneible
ROME, SEPT. 6, 2012 (Zenit.org).-
"Through this Year of Faith, in the new evangelization of the Church, Mary
is the mother who is also the leader of evangelization" -- these are the
words of Father James Phalan, president of the Mariology Society of America,
and a participant in this year's conference "Mariology since Vatican
II," hosted by the Pontifical Antonianum University and currently under
way in Rome.
The 23rd International Marian Mariological congress, which was
organized by the International Pontifical Marian Academy, runs all this week, exploring
the theme of Marian devotion and theological methodology in the years following
the Second Vatican Council.
In addition to his position as president of the Mariology Society
of America, Father Phalan is a member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross
where he serves as director of Family Rosary International, continuing the work
of Servant of God Father Patrick Peyton. Over the week of the conference,
Father Phalan contributed to two workshops that explored post-Vatican II
Mariology.
Father Phalan spoke with ZENIT about Vatican II and Marian
devotion in these post-conciliar years.
ZENIT: What did Vatican II contribute to the understanding of
Mary?
Father Phalan: Vatican II said nothing novel about Mary. What's
important to realize in Vatican II is its methodology for the renewal of the
Church. John XXIII wanted to have this "aggiornamento," this renewal
of the Church, through a return to our sources, through a return to Scripture,
through a return to the Tradition of the Church (particularly the Fathers of
the Church), and to the liturgical tradition of the Church, to then be able to
respond to the needs of the Church in the modern world as we see in Gaudium et
Spes.
That same methodology was applied to our reflection on the Blessed
Virgin Mary. That did require a bit of a shift because that wasn't really the
exact methodology that had been used regarding our reflection on the Blessed
Virgin Mary for several hundred years before the council. That was a bit of a
change attitude which, mistakenly, was taken as an implication that we changed
the teaching about Mary. We didn't change the teaching about Mary.
ZENIT: Perhaps there was a time of "silence" about Mary
after Vatican II. How has Marian devotion developed in this post-conciliar
period?
Father Phalan: It's true; for those of us who lived through the
years after the Second Vatican Council, there was a collapse of Marian
reflection in the Church for a variety of reasons. As I said, there was a shift
in the methodology, but then there were also other things going on in the
world. In brief, the implementation of Vatican II collided with the very
disjointed intense social change that was happening in the late 1960s.
There was this collapse in reflection and devotion, particularly
in developed countries, less so in the developing world. In South America and
Africa, Christianity was still very new; the Philippines remain very strong.
Speaking about the "developed" world, there was a marked
decline in Marian devotion, and this still is the case. Marian devotion is not
at all what it was 60 years ago in the Catholic Church in the United States,
Canada and Europe. But we can see the signs of new growth. There is lots of
rebirth in interest in the rosary. There's lots of desire to understand who
Mary is. There are a lot of new movements within the Church that are
rediscovering the importance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, prayer of the rosary,
and her place in family prayer especially.
There is still a long ways to go. A part of it is that there is
not a whole lot of preaching about Mary that people hear in their local
parishes. There needs to be a deepening of Mariological reflection embraced by
the whole Church, and particularly by the clergy. In many seminaries, the
clergy hasn't studied much about the Blessed Virgin Mary. Hopefully an event
like this -- this international Mariological congress, and through other events
-- there will be a lot of promotion of Marian devotion through the Year of
Faith. Hopefully those will be moments that will help people again to rediscover
who Mary is in the Church.
Paul VI declared Mary "Mother of the Church" at the end
of the Vatican Council. Mary is the one who is waiting for us now, as we want
to help people rediscover their faith. Through this Year of Faith, in the new
evangelization of the Church, Mary is the mother who is also the leader of
evangelization. This is a time that we can hopefully rediscover this more, and
help these new shoots of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary to keep blossoming
forth.
ZENIT: What is the role of the rosary in bringing about this
renewal, especially among young people?
Father Phalan: It is really interesting to see how there is this
natural attraction to the rosary; it shows that there is something really
compelling about the rosary. It's a sign of our Christian identity. The more we
understand it theologically, and the more our clergy and Church leadership
really embrace what is really the theology of the Church about the Blessed
Virgin Mary as taught in Vatican II, then we understand what the rosary is.
It's a powerful tool of evangelization.
The rosary is so easy to learn, and the Rosary is a way of prayer
– a tried-and-true way of prayer for families. There is a power that people
discover in it; they may not even need to be able to explain it. What the Popes
have really been urging us to understand, repeatedly through centuries, and
especially since Vatican II, is that the rosary is a beautiful way for us to
come to know Christ. John Paul II said that the rosary is a school of prayer.
It is the school of Mary, through which the rosary can be the way in which we
contemplate the face of Christ, with Mary. The rosary is about the meditation
on the life of Christ. The Mysteries of the Rosary which many people often just
kind of pass over – they are missing the meat! It's like going to a big banquet
and eating just the bread on the table and thinking that's the whole meal. The
substance of the rosary is really how Mary teaches about Jesus. Mary brings us
to Jesus. Mary helps us to love Jesus the way she loves Jesus and to know Jesus
the way she knows Jesus.
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