Conclusion of Letter to Priests

"A 'Eucharistic' life at the school of Mary

8. "The relationship between the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Eucharist is a very close one, as I pointed out in the Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia (cf. Nos. 53-58).

"In its own sober liturgical language, every Eucharistic Prayer brings this out. Thus in the Roman Canon we say: 'In union with the whole Church we honour Mary, the ever-virgin Mother of Jesus Christ our Lord and God.' In the other Eucharistic Prayers, honour leads to petition, as for example in Prayer II: 'Make us worthy to share eternal life with Mary, the virgin Mother of God.'

"In recent years, I have warmly recommended the contemplation of the face of Christ, especially in my Letters Novo Millennio Ineunte (cf. Nos. 23ff.) and in Rosarium Virginis Mariae (cf. Nos. 9ff.), and I have pointed to Mary as our great teacher. In the Encyclical on the Eucharist I then spoke of her as the 'Woman of the Eucharist' (cf. No. 53).

"Who more than Mary can help us taste the greatness of the Eucharistic mystery? She more than anyone can teach us how to celebrate the sacred mysteries with due fervour and to commune with her Son, hidden in the Eucharist. I pray to her, then, for all of you, and I entrust to her especially the elderly, the sick, and those in difficulty. This Easter, in the Year of the Eucharist, I gladly repeat to each of you the gentle and consoling words of Jesus: 'Behold your Mother' (Jn 19:27).

"With these sentiments, I send you my heartfelt blessing, and I wish you the profound joy of Easter.

"From Gemelli Hospital in Rome, on 13 March, the Fifth Sunday of Lent, in the year 2005, the twenty-seventh of my Pontificate."

JOHN PAUL II