Publisher's Synopsis
The Blessed Virgin Mary is the humane mother of our Savior. She is our great intercessor. She is the ideal woman who is an epitome of good moral values with indescribable endowment and all-encompassing qualities of ideal mother. The book captures the unequaled intrinsic and extrinsic spectacular qualities of the immaculate mother which radiate beyond reproach as made manifest in her sinless and ever virgin nature, thus her body suffered no decay. Mother Mary, as revealed in the book, is an embodiment of unparalleled example of ideal mother and woman as enumerated in her litany. What is more is her pondering character which culminated in her subtle and soothing words made evident in the wedding in Cana. We imagine her behold the torture and shameful treatment given to her Son on the way to Calvary, and eventually to the grave for no atom of sin. For any woman and mother, this is the highest point of grieve, the hardest nut to crack and the swallowing of a bone with sharp ends at all joints. In all these, she remained resolute to the will of God. Mary immaculate in this text is a woman of honour. Here is a divine example of a woman in leadership, a salvage of woman integrity in whom God encoded all virtues. Mary the Mother of God is therefore, worthy of emulation by any positive thinking and meaningful mother, wife and girl child who is aspiring to possess the earth and commune with the saints. In my research on woman in authority/governance in Igbo land, the people attested that good mothers inoculate good morals, norms and values in the family and society at large. They are only the vehicle, through which life is brought into. This is because; only ideal mothers embark on tough journeys with their families, societies and the Church even to crucifixion as Mary did. Little wonder "the tender care of a woman" as revealed in the text "ceases not to a child she bears." In the Bible, we are informed that Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit had said of Mary, "Of all women, you are the most blessed'' (Lk1:42). And the Blessed Virgin Mary inspired by the same Holy Spirit had responded and sang to God in thanksgiving "Yes, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed"(Lk1:48) Hence, our mission in this reflection is to present anew our most blessed woman, who, of all women, in all generations, has reached the pinnacle of womanhood and motherhood. She remains the model that every woman and mother should look up to and emulate her exemplary life; demonstrated in the family, in the Church and in the society. Actually, we are experiencing in our time, to some regrettable extent, the degrading and debasing of the dignity and identity of womanhood. And with the current confusion of values, the beauty of womanhood is today evaluated by the standards of mere externality, at times giving way to the promotion of nudity through the so called beauty contests and fashion parades of our time. There is more lasting beauty. It involves moral beauty, spiritual beauty, intellectual beauty and lastly, physical beauty. Interestingly, the personality of the Blessed Virgin Mary encompasses all these. And the powers and glories of womanhood lie in discovering and applying these beautiful moral, spiritual, intellectual and physical qualities of the blessed woman, virgin and mother in the affairs of today's woman, in the family, Church and state. Viewed from these all inclusive angles, the movie stars, worldly celebrities, political figures fall short of standard as ideal model for every woman; the Blessed Virgin Mary wins the contest. Thus promoting her qualities, virtues and lifestyle is promoting a perfect culture of morality, piety, wisdom and all round progressiveness and culture of life. This will in turn gradually dethrone the rampant culture of vices, a culture of death experienced in the life of most of today's women Enjoy reading a faith-strengthening, instructive and inspiring book on our Lady, the Blessed Virgin M
