What a marvelous title! Throughout Our Lord’s earthly life, Mary was ever at His side.  Now, and for all the ages, she is close at hand in His Eucharistic presence. She is with us when we receive her divine Son in Holy Communion.  She is near every tabernacle, as we adore the Blessed Sacrament. Truly, Mary is Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
   

    The Gospels reveal to us how closely Mary is linked to the Holy Eucharist.  By her Fiat, she gave flesh and blood to the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.  The Son of God became the Son of Mary in the mystery of the Incarnation.  This is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord that we now receive in Holy Communion. In the inscrutable designs of Almighty God, He would not put His plan for the redemption of man into motion, without the consent of the Virgin.
   

    In an act of perfect obedience and humility, Mary, the New Eve, surrenders her will totally to the will of God.  Without hesitation she voices to Gabriel the response that heaven was waiting to hear: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord.  Be it done unto me according to thy word" (Luke 1:38).  And the Word was made Flesh!  God became Man!  His mission of our salvation begins in the Virgin Mary's womb. 
   

    Never had God been so completely pleased with one of His children.  Never again will He be so pleased.  Mary is the apple of the Father's eye (Psalms 17:8).  Can it not be said that it was precisely at this moment of the Annunciation that Our Blessed Mother made her First Holy Communion?  At the instant of her Yes, she became the living tabernacle of the Most High God!   
       

    In his marvelous encyclical, Marialis Cultis, Pope Paul VI teaches us that the liturgical renewal has "properly considered the Blessed Virgin in the mystery of Christ, and, in harmony with tradition, has recognized the singular place that belongs to her in Christian worship as the holy Mother of God and the worthy Associate of the Redeemer" (N.15). 
   

    The rich meaning of Pope Paul's words becomes clearer as we reflect on the scene at Calvary.  "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, His mother" (John 19:25).  Suffering with her Son, Mary endures an agony beyond all telling.  Pope Pius XII explained it in this way: "(On Calvary) Mary bore with courage and confidence the tremendous burdens of her sorrows and desolation.  Truly, the Queen of Martyrs, more than all the faithful `filled up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ for the sake of His Body, which is the Church'" (Mystici Corporis, N.110). 
   

    By the will of Jesus Christ, Mary is the Co-Redemptrix of the human race.  She, the "worthy Associate of the Redeemer," teaches us the true meaning of participation at Mass.  As she stood by the Cross of Calvary, she stands by us at every Sacrifice of the Mass.  Our Blessed Lady inspires us to bring our own crosses to the Mass.  There, we place them in her loving hands.  Mary, Our Mother of Sorrows, teaches us to unite our sufferings with her Son's sufferings, "for the sake of His Body, which is the Church" (Colossians 1:24). 
   

    Our Divine Lord told us: "Whoever wishes to be My disciple must deny his very self, take up his cross each day, and follow in My steps" (Luke 9:24).  He sends us crosses but He does not let us carry them alone.  He is with us; Mary is with us.  When we unite our sufferings with the "sufferings of Christ," then the trials and tribulations of this life take on tremendous significance.  This is the reason that the saints welcomed sufferings.  By their sufferings, they were united with Christ.  At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, when the priest lifts the paten and offers Jesus, the Sacred Victim, to the Heavenly Father, let us unite our crosses with His.  Then, participation becomes a living reality.
   

    Blessed Mother in heaven, because of our sins, the "sword pierced your heart."  In atonement, Jesus suffered and died on the Cross.  We come to you with true sentiments of repentance.  Teach us to truly participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  Teach us to love your Divine Son in the Blessed Eucharist!
   

    Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of the Diocese of Lincoln attested to this wonderfully in his recent article on the Immaculate Conception.  "There are many ways in which Mary is linked to the Holy Eucharist.  It was, after all, she who gave to God the body and blood that He joined to the soul of Jesus, which He created and then united to His divinity in her womb.  This is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ that we receive in Holy Communion" (Southern Nebraska Register, December 9, 1994).

 

    Jesus is the Light of the World Who unites us with Him in Holy Communion.  As Mary handed Him to Simeon, she presents Him to us in the Holy Eucharist. When Our Blessed Lord comes to us in Holy Communion, let us receive Him with the devotion of Mary and Joseph.  May we take Him into our arms with the love and devotion of that, "Just and pious man," Simeon.  We too can say: "Now Lord, you can dismiss your servant!"