Father Bruno is a Benedictine, resistance priest from France. He is chaplain to the 
Sisters  of Our Lady Co-Redemptrix . Resistance Sisters.


Our Lady of Cana
Sermon of January 18th 2026

Last Sunday, I emphasized the words from the Gospel of the Epiphany: "They found the Child—the
Magi that is—with Mary, his Mother." Today, on the Sunday of the wedding at Cana, we also find
Jesus with Mary, His Mother. We will find the Holy Mother of God at the foot of her Son's Cross on
Good Friday (Stabat Mater). And if, with eyes of Faith and Hope, we lift our gaze to Heaven, there
again we will find Jesus with Mary, His Mother. We contemplate the Blessed Virgin as Mother of
the Redeemer in the joyful mysteries, as Co-Redemptrix in the sorrowful mysteries, and as
Mediatrix of all graces in the glorious mysteries. As for the mystery of Cana, which can be linked to
the joyful mysteries, it already foreshadows the sorrowful and glorious mysteries; we will discover
valuable insights into our Lady's Co-Redemption and her Mediation; this will be an introduction to
the series of sermons on these two themes that I had announced to you, in reparation for the outrage
inflicted on Mary Co-Redemptrix and Mary Mediatrix of all graces by the famous Doctrinal Note of
November 4th 2025, signed by Leo XIV himself.
Let us first note that the Gospel account of the wedding at Cana refutes, 2000 years in advance, the
main objection raised by this Roman docuмent (which is, incidentally, the same as that raised by
Protestants): calling Our Lady Co-Redemptrix or Mediatrix would risk obscuring the primacy of
Our Lord, the one Redeemer and the one Mediator. In Cana, the importance of the Virgin Mary's
role is evident: it is she who takes the initiative of explaining the distress of the young couple to
Jesus; but after saying a word to her Son and then a word to the servants, she disappears, so to
speak, she withdraws even before the miracle is accomplished, because she seeks only the glory of
the Savior, which is particularly evident in this circuмstance: "He manifested His glory." (This is
the conclusion of the Gospel.)
In a magnificent sermon on Our Lady, Bossuet exclaims: "Let us not be among those who think
they diminish the glory of Jesus-Christ when they hold high sentiments for the Blessed Virgin and
the saints. Such is the vain apprehension of the enemies of the Church [notably Leo XIV]...
However high a perfection we may recognize in Mary, could Jesus-Christ be jealous of it, since it
flows from Him and relates solely to His glory?"
Cana evokes Marian Co-Redemption, in the sense that the role of the Blessed Virgin during her
Son's first miracle foreshadows the role she will play on Calvary. St. John, the Evangelist who was
the best person to speak about Our Lady, however only mentions her twice: at Cana and on Calvary.
In both cases, Jesus calls her “Woman,” on the one hand to show her that her intervention will go
beyond her strict mission as Mother of the Redeemer, and on the other hand to invite her to a
sacrifice that touches precisely on her motherhood: at Cana, at the beginning of Our Lord's public
life, it is the sacrifice of separation after thirty years of intimacy in Nazareth; at Calvary, it is the
much more terrible sacrifice of the death of her Child. This sacrifice is like a condition imposed by
God on Mary so that she can exercise her spiritual motherhood: in order to receive John as her son,
she must accept the loss of Jesus. To be not only the Mother of the Redeemer but also His associate,
the Co-Redemptrix, she must sacrifice herself, and sacrifice herself precisely as a Mother.
Let us add that by asking Our Lord to be, through a miracle, the “Savior of the wedding,” Our Lady
is in fact begging Him to manifest Himself as the Savior of mankind: “He manifested His glory.”
She had desired this for a long time, but it was necessary to wait until the beginning of His public
life, when the work of our salvation truly began. Since the Incarnation, she had collaborated for
thirty years to the preparation of this work as the Mother of the Redeemer; now it was a question of
collaborating as an associate, as Co-Redemptrix, to the very work of our Redemption, which would
be consummated on Calvary but which began with His public life. St. John refers to the miracle at
Cana as the “beginning of miracles,” the starting point of a series of miracles that will culminate in

the greatest of all: the Resurrection, where Jesus will once again “manifest His glory.” The fact that
the Evangelist emphasizes the essential role that the Virgin Mary plays in this “beginning of
miracles” suggests her association with, her collaboration in, the entire work of redemption, which
is so aptly called Co-Redemption.
A little over a century ago, the theologian who was responsible for preparing the draft of a Mass of
Mary Mediatrix chose as the Gospel passage the Passion that we read on the feast of the
Immaculate Heart and on other occasions. Rome suggested using the Gospel of the wedding at Cana
instead. In the end, the Gospel of Calvary was retained, but Rome's desire is understandable: in the
Gospel of Calvary, Our Lord proclaims the spiritual motherhood of Our Lady (“behold your son”),
which is the foundation of her mediation; Cana is the exercise of mediation itself.
This mediation appears to be universal: it is undoubtedly the only intervention of the Blessed Virgin
during her public life, but this intervention brings about the “beginning of miracles,” the miracle
that will, in a way, led to all the others.
– The mediation of the Virgin Mary is wonderfully effective: after replying that “His hour” has not
yet come, Jesus in fact anticipates the hour planned by the Father for His first miracle, for the first
public manifestation of his glory.
– The principal good that Our Lady desires to obtain for us through her powerful mediation is faith,
as St. John remarks at the end of the Gospel: “He revealed His glory, and his disciples believed in
him.” Abraham was called the “father of all believers”; Mary deserves even more the title of
“Mother of all believers.”
– Not only of all believers, but also of all living beings: “Mother of all living beings” is the meaning
of the name Eve; the new Eve is in turn, but in a much deeper sense, the “Mother of all living
beings.” And her mediation is essentially the exercise of her spiritual motherhood, itself based on
divine motherhood and on Co-Redemption: as the Mother of Jesus, united to Him by the closest
bond, she is in the best position to claim His favors; as Co-Redemptrix, intimately associated with
the Redeemer in the work of our salvation, in the acquisition of graces, she is best able to obtain the
graces that flow from Redemption and apply its fruits. Being our Mother, she makes it her duty to
intercede for us; being the Mother of God, her intercession possesses a unique power.
At the beginning of the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, we invoke her as “Mother of divine grace”:
this beautiful title means not only that Our Lady gave birth to the source of grace (her divine
motherhood), but also and above all that she gave birth to us in pain at the foot of the Cross (her
spiritual motherhood). It is as a Mother that she contributed here below to earning us grace; it is as a
Mother that, from Heaven above, she distributes grace to us. This double divine disposition gives
grace a maternal face, a maternal modality. Divine grace—which comes from the Father—is
transmitted to us by a Mother. This highlights the essential aspect of grace, namely that it is a fruit
of God's love for us, a gift that God gives us out of love. It is to help us better understand how much
He loves us, that is, how much He is a Father, that God communicates His own life—grace—to us
through the hands of a Mother, the “Mother of divine grace.”