Riccardi

Paris, April 26, 1998 We are perhaps too used to seeing the mother of Jesus from a devotional point of view, rather than considering her role in the universal plan of providence.  This can make it difficult to understand the deep inner conviction which led to Chiara Lubich wanting to re-live Mary, who is a model for everyone. Nicole: In Paradise 1949 you understood Mary in a new and splendid way. Can you tell us something about your relationship with her today? Chiara:  All right, yes. How do I see Mary now? I see her as being very great, very, very, very great because that is how she is. I no longer see her as the young girl from Nazareth, as she is often shown in little statues. No, I know that she is very great! … We can’t imagine nor will we ever be able to imagine how great Mary is. So let’s use all our imagination, all the ideas we might have in order to fathom something of how great

Prague 30th April 2001 Chiara Lubich’s answer to a question put to her at the meeting with the community of the Focolare Movement in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Marie: “Chiara, you have a special relationship with the Holy Spirit. Could you tell us about this?” Chiara: With regard to the Holy Spirit, I must admit I have a relationship with the Holy Spirit which arises out of love, certainly, but also out of necessity.   What would I do without the Holy Spirit? It would be useless for me to go and speak; it would be useless to…. For example, I ask the Holy Spirit for help many times a day, and above all, I do this with the other focolarine and focolarini, because Jesus said that if we ask together, it is easier to obtain the Holy Spirit. Jesus also told us it is easy to obtain the Holy Spirit, because if a father does not give you a scorpion instead of bread, but gives you bread, so too