CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - In an article in today's edition we present the entire reflection given by Pope Benedict XVI concerning the Role of Mary as a Model of Prayer and the Prototype of the Christian Life and Vocation. The Pope has been offering a marvelous series on prayer during his Wednesday teachings in St Peter's Square. Part of our mission is to expose as many as possible to the powerful teaching of the successor of St. Peter.  

In this instruction he said, "The Christian life involves a continuing, ongoing walk with the Lord. He has invited each of us into an intimate, personal, exchange of love, a life of communion. This kind of intimacy with a living, loving God is the interior meaning of Mary's Fiat, her Magnificat, and the example of her life."

Catholic Online has launched a new web site entirely dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God. It is intended to help the faithful throughout the world to engage in precisely the kind of reflection on Mary that this wonderful talk encourages. Mary always points us to her Son and Savior.

We ask you to visit this virtual pilgrimage site regularly and to spread the word of its existence. Like everything we do, we have offered this site as a for profit entity. In other words, it relies on revenue derived from advertising, not contributions. We hope that Catholic and other Christian ministries, missions, businesses and enterprises will realize the value of what we are offering and identify with our mission to bring people to Jesus Christ the way he came to us, through his Mother.

We have one of the largest global internet footprints in the entire world. All who love the Lord and His Mother can spread the good news of their own work and mission by advertising on this site dedicated to Mary, Mother of God. 

The message of Mary is the message of the Gospel, to repent and believe the Good news. The message of Mary is conversion to Her Son by saying "yes" to God's invitation. That is the path to true peace. Her response to the Angel "I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be to me according to your Word" (Luke 1:38), proposes to every man and woman the new way of living called the Christian life.

The Christian life involves a continuing, ongoing walk with the Lord. He has invited each of us into an intimate, personal, exchange of love, a life of communion. This kind of intimacy with a living, loving God is the interior meaning of Mary's Fiat, her Magnificat, and the example of her life.

She speaks this message in word and deed. She is the message. When we understand the message of conversion which Mary proclaims and make it our own, we allow the Love that Mary bore in her body to be incarnated in and through us as well.

Gregory of Nyssa wrote: "What came about in bodily form in Mary, the fullness of the godhead shining through Christ in the Blessed Virgin, takes place in a similar way in every soul that has been made pure. The Lord does not come in bodily form, for 'we no longer know Christ according to the flesh', but He dwells in us spiritually and the father takes up His abode with Him, the Gospel tells us. In this way the child Jesus is born in each of us".

Each of us must learn to say "Yes" to God. We are called to respond with our entire being, with a Fiat of surrendered love.We are called to live a "surrendered life" of love. When we do so, our positive response marks the beginning of a participation in the very life of the God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We become sons and daughters of the Most High and enter into the life of the living God.In Him we find our deepest identity, our real selves, through our participation in the One who made us, who redeems us, and who transforms us by His continual grace. Our holiness comes through touching the Holy God, through being filled with His life and love.

Conversion begins, and continues, as we say our own "Fiat" with our words and our deeds. It opens up into a new and dynamic way of living with God, and in God. As we lose ourselves in Him, we find ourselves again, made new and completed. This holy exchange-our life for His-is the essence of the Christian journey and pilgrimage. It is not about power - but powerlessness. It is not about increase -  but decrease. It is not about becoming greater - but about becoming smaller. In short, Mary's message is about surrendered love, the love that holds nothing back.

Centuries of Christian people have learned that as we lose ourselves in Him, He reveals Himself as a God who can, does and will act in our very real, human daily experiences. He makes it possible for us to have a genuine relationship, a dialogue, a life of communion with Him. ...