1. INCARNATION : She gave birth to our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ (Luke 1:35, Matt 1:18).

2. EPIPHANY: She presented the child Jesus to the world through the Magi (Matt 2:11).

3. DOCTOR OF GRACE: She is full of grace & its most perfect exemplar (Lk 1:28).

4. EFFECTIVE INTERCESSOR : She intervenes at the ordinary and also at the most critical moments (cf Jn 2:3 – Son, they have no wine).

5. SHE SEARCHES FOR US WHEN WE ARE LOST IN SIN

6. HER UNIQUE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BLESSED TRINITY: (Daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son & the Spouse of the Holy Spirit).

7. THE LAST GIFT OF JESUS CHRIST TO HUMANITY: (the Daughter of Zion and the new Eve, the Woman who was made the mother of all the living by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jn 19:27).

8. QUEEN & WOMAN OF PEACE & MOTHER OF MERCY: (cf. Her apparitions Fatima, Lourdes etc).

9. A WOMAN OF THE WORD: (She is both the Mother of the Word and a woman of the Scriptures. She lives by the Word of God daily).

10. A WOMAN OF PROFOUND GRATITUDE: Grace is her attitude. She lives entirely and gratefully for God. She lives the magnificat and she is the perfect icon of grace-attitude, cf. Lk 1:46 -55.

* Fundamentally, I love Mary because Jesus Christ was the first to do so, and in order to belong to the generation that calls her blessed Lk 1:48

Given by His Grace, The Most Reverend Valerian Okeke, the Archbishop of Onitsha, at Onitsha 9th February, 2017 at the inauguration of  Onitsha Archdiocesan  Marian Year.