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Why is the most prestigious Catholic university in the United States dedicated to Mary? (I)

On a snow-covered winter day in 1842, Father Edward Sorin stood before a frozen lake in northern Indiana and did something audacious. He consecrated the land, the institution he was about to found and every soul who would ever study or work there to the Blessed Virgin Mary — and he did this not as an afterthought or pious decoration, but as the founding act itself.

That consecration wasn’t merely symbolic, something to be noted in the university’s founding documents and then quietly set aside. It was — and remains — constitutive of what Notre Dame is.

Which is why the McGrath Institute for Church Life has just released “Mary, Icon of the Church,” a new short film exploring what it means for a university to be consecrated to Our Lady, and what that consecration reveals about the inseparability of Marian devotion from authentic Christian worship.

Here’s what we sometimes forget: Mary isn’t an optional add-on to Christianity. She’s not a Catholic peculiarity that other Christians can safely ignore. Devotion to Mary is intrinsic to Christian worship because she shows us what it looks like to receive God.

Think about the Annunciation. The angel came with a message that defied every category of human understanding — a virgin would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit, and the child born of her would be the Son of the Most High, the one in whom God’s promises to David would find their fulfillment.

This is the hinge upon which all of salvation history turned, the moment when eternity broke into time and the Word prepared to take flesh. And Mary, confronted with this utterly world-shattering proposition, said yes — not because she understood the mechanics of what God was asking, but because she trusted the One asking it of her.

Her fiat was the supreme act of freedom, the moment when a human being aligned her will so completely with God’s that she became the very means by which the Incarnation occurred. As the Second Vatican Council’s “Lumen Gentium” puts it, quoting St. Irenaeus, by her obedience she “became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.”

Leonard J. DeLorenzo, April 9, 2026

catholicreview.org

Martin Scorsese’s docudrama series about the saints is featuring the queen of all saints: Mary, the mother of Jesus.

“Mary is an unbelievably inspiring character,” Matti Leshem, creator of “Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints,” said. “Regardless of your level of faith, you should be moved by her. You should be moved by her love.”

Leshem, who also serves as a director and executive producer of the series, spoke with OSV News about the second season of “The Saints” and its new episode called “Mary.” 

The hour-long extended episode promises to bring Mary’s story to life, beginning with her betrothal to Joseph. Hosted, narrated, and executive produced by Scorsese, an award-winning filmmaker, the special Easter episode is now available following its March 27 debut on Fox Nation, a subscription streaming service.

“She is the quintessential mother — and whether or not you believe that Mary is the Mother of God, on some level, she is mother of us all,” Leshem said.

Leshem, who is Jewish, echoed Scorsese, a Catholic, and his commentary in the episode. In the Easter special, Scorsese exhibits a careful, personal approach toward the Blessed Virgin Mary. He remembers the importance of Easter growing up in New York’s “Little Italy” neighborhood in the 1940s, and goes on to speak about presenting Mary in a way that reveals her maternal humanity.

“In the Christian faith, Mary is a pillar — a perfect soul who steps into her beloved son’s shadow,” Scorsese says at one point. “When you examine her life closely, you start to see her terror, her astonishment, her confusion, her sorrow, her great love. It’s a life unlike any other.” 

He adds, “We made this episode in an attempt to get closer to Mary, the mother of Jesus and really for so many of us all around the world, the mother of us all.”

Lehshem revealed that one of the episode’s final scenes came directly from Scorsese. 

“That scene at the very end where the resurrected Christ appears to his mother was (Scorsese’s) invention,” Leshem said, adding that it “really came out of his imagination and his meditations on Mary.” (...)

Leshem said that, in many ways, he is more excited about this episode than he has been about any other one. He said that those involved in the making of this series have been talking for a long time about how to create an episode about Mary.

“It’s, on one level, quite daunting, because everyone knows Mary,” he said. “Even people who aren’t Christian, people who aren’t Catholic, the world over, she’s so iconic.”

He also expressed excitement about making Mary accessible and over the idea that anyone, regardless of their faith or background, might see that her story is special.

“At the heart of it is a mother’s love,” he said, “in such a beautiful way that we really feel, we see really the story of her relationship with her son in a very human way.”

Katie Yoder, April 2, 2026

OSVNews

Martin Scorsese presents the story of Mary in Easter special of ‘The Saints’

Martin Scorsese’s docudrama series about the saints is featuring the queen of all saints: Mary, the mother of Jesus.

“Mary is an unbelievably inspiring character,” Matti Leshem, creator of “Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints,” said. “Regardless of your level of faith, you should be moved by her. You should be moved by her love.”

Leshem, who also serves as a director and executive producer of the series, spoke with OSV News about the second season of “The Saints” and its new episode called “Mary.” 

The hour-long extended episode promises to bring Mary’s story to life, beginning with her betrothal to Joseph. Hosted, narrated, and executive produced by Scorsese, an award-winning filmmaker, the special Easter episode is now available following its March 27 debut on Fox Nation, a subscription streaming service.

“She is the quintessential mother — and whether or not you believe that Mary is the Mother of God, on some level, she is mother of us all,” Leshem said.

Leshem, who is Jewish, echoed Scorsese, a Catholic, and his commentary in the episode. In the Easter special, Scorsese exhibits a careful, personal approach toward the Blessed Virgin Mary. He remembers the importance of Easter growing up in New York’s “Little Italy” neighborhood in the 1940s, and goes on to speak about presenting Mary in a way that reveals her maternal humanity.

“In the Christian faith, Mary is a pillar — a perfect soul who steps into her beloved son’s shadow,” Scorsese says at one point. “When you examine her life closely, you start to see her terror, her astonishment, her confusion, her sorrow, her great love. It’s a life unlike any other.” 

He adds, “We made this episode in an attempt to get closer to Mary, the mother of Jesus and really for so many of us all around the world, the mother of us all.”

Lehshem revealed that one of the episode’s final scenes came directly from Scorsese. 

“That scene at the very end where the resurrected Christ appears to his mother was (Scorsese’s) invention,” Leshem said, adding that it “really came out of his imagination and his meditations on Mary.” (...)

Leshem said that, in many ways, he is more excited about this episode than he has been about any other one. He said that those involved in the making of this series have been talking for a long time about how to create an episode about Mary.

“It’s, on one level, quite daunting, because everyone knows Mary,” he said. “Even people who aren’t Christian, people who aren’t Catholic, the world over, she’s so iconic.”

He also expressed excitement about making Mary accessible and over the idea that anyone, regardless of their faith or background, might see that her story is special.

“At the heart of it is a mother’s love,” he said, “in such a beautiful way that we really feel, we see really the story of her relationship with her son in a very human way.”

Katie Yoder, April 2, 2026

OSVNews

In 1924, the bishops of China consecrated their nation to the Virgin Mary, and an impressive statue of Our Lady, holding the Child Jesus aloft above her head, was placed atop the basilica at the Sheshan Shrine in the Diocese of Shanghai.

This bronze statue, nearly four meters tall, was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), then restored and reinstalled in 2000 at the top of the basilica’s tower. The statue currently venerated by the faithful is a silver-plated statue of Our Lady of Victories.

Pope John Paul II spoke at length about the Sheshan Shrine during the Angelus on Sunday, August 21, 1988, and in doing so, he conveyed to the whole world the Chinese people’s appreciation for the harmony of nature and the beauty of the surroundings. He was undoubtedly also inspired by the tenderness with which the Virgin Mary gazes upon this place.

notredamedesvictoires.com

China was consecrated to Mary in 1924

In 1924, the bishops of China consecrated their nation to the Virgin Mary, and an impressive statue of Our Lady, holding the Child Jesus aloft above her head, was placed atop the basilica at the Sheshan Shrine in the Diocese of Shanghai.

This bronze statue, nearly four meters tall, was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), then restored and reinstalled in 2000 at the top of the basilica’s tower. The statue currently venerated by the faithful is a silver-plated statue of Our Lady of Victories.

Pope John Paul II spoke at length about the Sheshan Shrine during the Angelus on Sunday, August 21, 1988, and in doing so, he conveyed to the whole world the Chinese people’s appreciation for the harmony of nature and the beauty of the surroundings. He was undoubtedly also inspired by the tenderness with which the Virgin Mary gazes upon this place.

notredamedesvictoires.com