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The following is the text of a conference by Luis Cardinal Aponte Martinez, Archbishop Emeritus of San Juan Puerto Rico, delivered on the occasion of the Marian Symposium entitled Mother of the Church, held at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin,onAugust 21,2010.

Pope John Paul II, The Great, of happy memory, prophetically summoned the Church to undertake with the greatest possible diligence and comprehensibility a new global promulgation of the Good News of Jesus Christ, a worldwide “New Evangelization” of the Word of God.

Read more: Saints and Sanctity

What do we really understand when we believe in the virginal Motherhood of Mary?

We confess Mary to be “ever Virgin.” From the earliest centuries the Church has carefully defined the meaning of Mary’s perpetual virginity, particularly because a denial of this privilege immediately entails a denial either of the person or of the work, or of the outcome of the work of Her Son and Savior. This last means a denial of the Church: one, holy, catholic and apostolic. This is as true today as on the day of Pentecost. Take the Virgin Mary out of the faithful gathered as Church on that glorious day, and the day would not have been glorious,

Read more: Mary's Virginity: Before, During and After Childbirth

There are almost as many dangers in traveling through cyberspace as there are advantages. Those who move in this dimension of interpersonal communication must turn to Our Lady not only for necessary protection, but also in order to have in their hearts that Word in Whom is to be found the ultimate reason for Creation and the foundation of all truly human communication.

Cyberspace has become a popular “place” where crowds gather to “chat”, to exchange ideas, to seek answers— in short, to communicate.

Read more: Reclaiming the Cyberspace for Mary

Faith is the foundation of the spiritual life. Without this virtue, as the Letter to the Hebrews states, it is impossible to please God. While it is certainly true that Mary was indescribably great in virtue of Her Immaculate Conception and Divine Maternity, spiritual writers nevertheless talk of Her life in terms of a journey of faith.

Read more: Mary's Faith - The Gift of the Holy Spirit