"Mary is close to us as no other human being is. She is both Mother to the Redeemer and Mother to the Church. She is totally and perpetually emptied of herself. She has given herself entirely to Christ and calls us to do the same. In the Immaculate we find the essence of the Church without distortion. We ourselves must learn from her to be "ecclesial souls" so that we may present ourselves as "blameless," in Paul's words, in the sight of the Lord."

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI